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Severe Weather Hits Numerous States; Myanmar Still Suffering

Aired May 12, 2008 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN GRAHAM, DISABLED DRIVER'S SON: And I saw him towing the car and I said well she has a handicap thing. And he says it's not displayed. I said well let me display it, he said ok, display it and I'll put the car down.
JACK PENNING, REPORTER, KGW (voice over): Sara had forgotten to put her placard in the window. But when she presented it, the tow truck driver didn't give up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir --

GRAHAM: He wouldn't put the car down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got my handicap thing out of the door, put it up and the guy wouldn't put it down.

GRAHAM: And he said well now I need $195.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tow company's owner says the driver was trying to recover his cost.

GARY COE, RETRIEVER TOWING: He has gone through the expense of patrolling, doing all of the labor to hook the car up and so he charges a drop fee.

RON ANDERSON, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: Come out immediately and asks the tow truck driver to put your vehicle down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he wouldn't do it.

ANDERSON: And he wouldn't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The post office and police eventually convinced the driver to drop the car.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, the news is unfolding live on this Saturday, May 10th. Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. Standing by right now in the severe weather center alongside our buddy Reynolds Wolf, he's keeping an eye on a severe weather system that could affect millions of people in this country that have already been hit pretty hard.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Also ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, there are signs of hope amid growing desperation in Myanmar. Aid is finally arriving and we have a CNN correspondent in country. He's going to join us with the latest in just a few minutes.

HOLMES: But again, we will start right here in a very busy place, and a busy man, Reynolds Wolf, insult to injury is what we're talking about here. And some people are just saying give me a break. They just went through this and are now under the gun again.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Some of the identical neighborhoods, the same places that were affected about a week ago.

HOLMES: It seems like every week.

WOLF: I know and here we are in pretty much the same scenario. We're going to see a lot of it moving into places like Alabama and Georgia eventually. Folks this is what I'm talking about, if you take a look right here on the computer screen, you'll notice the areas that are shaded in orange and red. If you can't see a good shot of that, what I'm going to do is have you walk over with me over here to the wall. We'll get a better view of it, a big bird's eye view of the areas affected by this severe weather outbreak. One of the reasons why the storm prediction center has issued a moderate and a slight risk for many of these spots is because of all of the atmosphere components that are coming into play here. We've got a lot of moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. Not only is it moist, it is very -- it's very warm. And with that warm air moving through, warm air has a tendency to rise, and when you have a frontal boundary it's going to drift its way across parts of the southeast, it's going to enhance lift, which is going to give us a good chance of some strong storms, large hail, perhaps even some tornados for much of the southeast and the gulf coast. Not just for today but into tomorrow too. We're going to see this move into the Carolinas. I was talking about that heat today, if you're out and about in places like Atlanta, back into Dallas, you're going to be feeling it today with high temperatures that will be into the 80s, into the 90s. For the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro plex, about 94 degrees the high, 82 in Atlanta, but with the high humidity, it's going to feel even warmer. So it's going to be a pretty rough day for us, but we're going to keep you up to speed every single hour as this weather situation unfolds. It should be a very interesting day for us. Back to you at the news desk.

HOLMES: Sometimes interesting is not good.

WOLF: Absolutely.

HOLMES: We appreciate you being on top of it Reynolds, thanks so much buddy.

NGUYEN: One week after the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, aid is just now trickling in. Myanmar's military rulers are accepting some humanitarian aid, including a single U.S. cargo plane that is due on Monday. But they're still keeping aid workers out. Instead, they're distributing the aid themselves along with propaganda messages. Despite the widespread devastation, the government is holding a referendum on the proposed constitution today. The government claims it is a step toward democracy, but critics dismiss it as a ploy by the military to regain control. The United Nations estimates the death toll in Myanmar at anywhere from 63,000 to 100,000. CNN has a correspondent in Myanmar. Now we can't name this person for security reasons, but this person is on the phone with us right now. And want to talk to him live first off if you would please give us the situation on the ground where you are.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation here on the ground is what we're seeing a few government workers, at least, starting to clear streets here. But that's usually just in the bigger cities. When you get out of town into the smaller places that really isn't happening. What we're hearing from the really devastated areas is that really none of the aid has arrived there yet. We're hearing that people are sort of banding together, especially the town elders are going out and trying to organize aid themselves. They often have to go very long ways, use boats to try to get aid for the people that are really suffering in a lot of these very remote villages. I was able to visit a refugee camp actually just yesterday and they were saying, it was a very small refugee camp, but it was about 600 to 800 people and they are saying that they are effectively going to have to shut that place down. They were going to shut it down that day or maybe the day after because they'd simply run out of food, they'd run out of medicine. And they were almost out of water. Now, of course, the question came to mind, where are those people going to go if you shut down a camp for displaced people? And they said they were just going to send them out and hope they would go back to where they came from. But those, of course, are the devastated areas that these people had to flee from because they're absolutely destroyed. It's a very uncertain future for those people and that aid is really getting less and less by the day. Betty?

NGUYEN: You know, that just sounds so unrealistic. Let's send you back to where you came from, well, where they came from is devastated. Many parts just no longer exist. It's nothing but water. So let me ask you this. When it comes to aid and especially in those remote places, are people questioning where is the help? Are they wondering what is happening to the aid that is coming in the country? Or do they even know that some aid has arrived?

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly it appears to me when I talk to them that people are expecting that aid will arrive and they are wondering where those resources are. Certainly many feel that as the aid is becoming less and less, they're telling us we do understand that our country has a big problem. This is a country in crisis is something that I hear again and again. And you do get impression that these people are expecting aid and hoping that will come in very soon. Now it doesn't seem that they're aware of the political situation that is going on. And at least, if they are aware of the political situation, they're not really inclined to talk about it. I was in one of these refugee camps. Once I mentioned the word government, is the government closing this place down, people became very, very quiet and were very reluctant to talk to me about that role the government might have played in that. People are very reluctant to open up, but they do seem to expect and want aid to come into the country and they do hope that it comes very fast. Because when you talk to the people and once you get through that first reluctance, they are very much aware of how bad the situation is. Betty?

NGUYEN: Let's talk about the politics for just a minute. Instead of distributing the aid through aid workers, the government I understand is distributing it themselves. And along with propaganda messages, in fact, there's a referendum that's being voted on today. How is it that people are going to the polls when many of them don't even have food or water?

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically what they did is, this referendum was long-planned and they postponed it in the parts that are the worst hit. But nevertheless, you're absolutely right, this referendum did go forward today in the parts that weren't that badly hit or not hit by the cyclone. But still, people are obviously questioning why that is happening. Why when you have this crisis situation in this country are you holding a referendum in other parts of the country where, of course, you need people manning the polls where of course you're going to need security forces to ensure that nothing happens there? It's really a situation that many people here can't get their heads around that they're wondering why is this going forward at this time? And certainly many people especially in the areas that are mostly affected, and you also have to realize that a lot of people who are living in the areas that are not affected have relatives in the areas that are affected. Certainly people in this country at this point have different things to think about than going to a referendum at this point.

NGUYEN: No doubt. All right. Our CNN correspondent in Myanmar. And we do appreciate your information. Do stay safe as you continue that reporting there.

Well western reporters are not welcome in Myanmar, but CNN's Dan Rivers managed to slip in a little bit earlier this week. Now that he is out, he's filed this reporter's notebook detailing his experiences. But we do want to give you a warning because some of the pictures may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The furious winds of cyclone Nargis have ripped apart towns and villages, tens of thousands were dead and the airports have been shut for two days. We were on the first flight in when it reopened and we were shocked at what we saw. Yangon was choked with fallen trees, there were plenty of soldiers, but many seem to be standing doing nothing. And then there were the lines for fuel. Finding fuel for our car was also a nightmare and all the while we had to be careful we weren't being followed by the authorities. It just goes on and on and on for miles, really. There was limited electricity and communications were fraught. But we were still managing to report on what was happening. We have to change hotels every day. Now my reports were on air, I was a marksman. Having to sneak in and out of a hotel through the back stairs. So that they don't know we're here because we understand that the authorities are now looking for me specifically.

There were two guys basically sitting in a car outside of our hotel, looked like they could have been sitting waiting and watching. It's really difficult not to get completely paranoid and ridiculous here because you kind of feel like everyone is potentially military intelligence and they're all looking for you. We spent more than eight hours driving to the worst affected area through torrential rain, which was compounding the misery of survivors huddled in the debris of their own homes. The roads are terrible. There are also numerous check points, we're forced to find another way in. We finally manage to get to the heart of the eerie water delta where the devastation was appalling. We'd narrowly avoided being arrested and we were effectively on the run. I almost got caught in the last town. The police have my photo and they took the rest of my team in and were questioning them and showing them my photo and they were let go and I caught up with them afterwards. We then drove down, we hit a check point, we got turned around, and we decided basically that we were going to get caught so we pulled off the road, we've taken a boat up here and we're now stuck in the middle of the eerie water delta with about two snickers bars and a dairy can of fuel to last us.

We try to push further into the delta, but just after this video we shot, we're detained by the police, somehow we talk our way out and decide it's time for me to leave. I'm left feeling angry the junta has spent so much time hunting us while the bodies of tens of thousands of poor souls are abandoned and decomposing. We even filmed bodies being carried and unceremoniously dumped in the river. Perhaps this is why the regime is so keen to keep us out. Dan Rivers, CNN, Myanmar.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: It is just so hard to take in. We know that some of you may want to help. And at cnn.com, we do have a special page on the devastation in Myanmar, complete with links to aid agencies that are organizing help for that region. It is a chance for you to impact your world. So let us be your guide.

HOLMES: After seven weeks of deadly violence in Baghdad's Sadr City, a cease fire announcement. The Iraqi government and a spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr have confirmed the agreement. It's due to go into effect no later than tomorrow morning. The violence in the Sadr City neighborhood has claimed about 1,000 lives since March. Aid groups say more than 6,000 people have been forced out of their homes there. Fighting continues elsewhere in the country. Iraqi forces are backed by U.S. forces have launched an offensive in a particular province that is a stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq.

More clashes in Lebanon to tell you about. Three more people killed today and the prime minister speaking out just a few hours ago. He says the Lebanese people are quote being held hostage by our own brothers. Hezbollah militants have taken control of western Beirut, two people were killed in a drive by shooting at a funeral there today, another was killed in clashes outside the northern city of Tripoli. 24 people have died in Lebanon since violence broke out Wednesday. And just a short time ago, the Lebanese army issued a statement on two causes of the conflict. It's promising to reinstate the chief of security at the Beirut airport and review an order to bring Hezbollah's telecommunication system under state control. NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S. and up next for the democrats, the West Virginia primary.

HOLMES: As Hillary Clinton attends a mother's day event in New York today and Barack Obama campaigning in Oregon. Also, this is what he was doing in Oregon.

NGUYEN: Can he do it?

HOLMES: Come on.

NGUYEN: He just stepped over it.

HOLMES: He's a basketball player, he's not a track star. Clearing this hurdle, no big deal, but the race for the White House not quite over yet.

NGUYEN: That's right, Hillary Clinton is still running even though her superdelegate lead is dwindling, and many now say it's time for her to possibly bow out for this presidential bid.

HOLMES: Also, everything bigger in Texas. Including the weddings. We're heading to Crawford for Jenna Bush's big day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hillary Clinton battles on as Barack Obama cuts into her superdelegate lead. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser with the CNN election express in Charleston, West Virginia. Let's talk about that superdelegate lead. Not much of a lead anymore.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: No, not much of a lead anymore. Used to be that Hillary Clinton was way ahead in superdelegates by over 100, but now by our count at CNN she's down to a four-point lead. T.J., why do superdelegates matter? Because we don't expect Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to come through the primary process when it ends on June 3rd with the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the democratic nomination. So it's going to fall to the superdelegates, these democratic elected governors, members of congress, party officials, they're the ones who will ultimately put somebody over the top and we've seen a steady flow of superdelegates in the last two months going toward Barack Obama.

HOLMES: We're talking about the superdelegates here that are going to be keeping an eye on what's happening in the race, including what happens in West Virginia on Tuesday. Are they going to be watching that closely? Is it going to sway them one way or another what ever happens in West Virginia?

STEINHAUSER: Yeah, it could have a little bit of an impact. 28 delegates at stake when West Virginia votes in three days. This is a state that is really tailor made for Hillary Clinton when you look at the demographics. A lot of blue collar workers here, working class people, not many upscale voters, very few African-Americans. She's up in the polls big time, I mean 30 or 40 points in some of the polls we've seen. So it'll help her and give her a little bit of momentum, it won't really help her catch up much with Barack Obama. But maybe it'll show once again that Barack Obama's having trouble reaching out and grabbing those working class blue collar voters.

HOLMES: And having trouble closing the deal. Paul Steinhauser for us, we appreciate you this morning. Always good to see there with the election express in Charleston, West Virginia. Thank you, and we want to talk about what's next for Senator Clinton. Now with CNN contributor Carl Bernstein who joins us now from New York. So you hear it there, we've been kind of hearing this drum beat for the last several days. Obama almost some saying taking a victory lap around Capitol Hill this week. Should Clinton get out now in your opinion?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm not one to give advice to candidates.

HOLMES: Give us some.

BERNSTEIN: No thank you, especially to Hillary Clinton. Look, what's going on now, I spoke to one of the high command in the Obama campaign the other day. And he said, look, Hillary Clinton is now trying to land the plane. The question is and this is not him talking, these are other people talking now, is how is she going to land it? Is she going to come in for one last carpet bombing run or is she going to bring it down softly in a way that tries to bring the party together? She wants the vice presidency nomination in the view of people around her who know her well.

HOLMES: Wait a minute, are you saying that she wants to be on this ticket with Obama?

BERNSTEIN: Certainly the people who know her best and I'm not talking now about people who are in the high command of the campaign, but rather people who go way back with her whose counsel she seeks and has sought through this campaign on personal and political matters, now they believe that she wants it, that she'll seek it. And they also know that Obama is probably indisposed to giving it to her. But she's got a lot of leverage. And part of bringing the plane down is the question of whether she can bring it down in such a way that he has little choice but to give her the vice presidency on his ticket.

HOLMES: Are you telling me she's trying to, and I think I'm hearing you right, she is trying to muscle her way on to that ticket to give him no other options but to pick her?

BERNSTEIN: Certainly that is the view of those who know her very, very well.

HOLMES: What's your view?

BERNSTEIN: I don't know because I haven't talked to her about it.

HOLMES: And you talk about landing this plane, as you say.

BERNSTEIN: It's a fraught exercise. Because, first of all, nobody knows what's in the pilot's head. HOLMES: You talk about landing the plane, so has the idea of becoming the nominee in your opinion, and I know you might put it off on somebody else who knows her or is close to her, but in your opinion has the thought of becoming the nominee gone away now? And you talk about landing the plane.

BERNSTEIN: Look, it's speculative, but I certainly don't think that it's gone away totally in Hillary Clinton's head. In this sense, she's still hoping for a miracle. Her people are hoping for a miracle. They're still looking for information that might undermine Obama's candidacy, which is to say Harold Dickies the other day, her strategist was talking about an October surprise, meaning a piece of nasty information that might sink Obama, but it would be a May surprise. The question is, this low road of campaigning is something that is one of the reasons she's in such trouble with the superdelegates. What she said the other day about white voters that has been widely quoted to USA Today has so shocked and I think appalled is the only word I can use so many superdelegates and members of congress in the Democratic Party that she has also got to land this plane in such a way that the reputation of the Clinton legacy and brand is not shredded.

HOLMES: Carl, just quickly, what do you know of her, and you know her well. You think that she is capable, she wants to bring this man down if she can't be the nominee, she wants to bring this party down? That's in her?

BERNSTEIN: No, no, no don't put words in my mouth like that.

HOLMES: I'm just checking now --

BERNSTEIN: No. Again, I think the thought of if there is some October surprise in May, the idea of it would be such that she could still win the nomination by another Reverend Wright type event that would be brought to the fore. No, I think she knows well enough by now that she's got to bring this party together no matter what she does or her legacy and that of her husband are really going to be in terrible trouble and that means a lot to them.

HOLMES: Well, all right, I certainly don't want to put words in your mouth, you know enough, you have enough words in there for all of us.

BERNSTEIN: I didn't mean to --

HOLMES: You got enough for all of us. I don't need to give you anymore. All right, Carl Bernstein, we appreciate your time this morning.

BERNSTEIN: Thank you.

HOLMES: You enjoy the rest of your weekend. And we want to check that primary calendar here now.

Next week the candidates turn to West Virginia, Democrats vote there on Tuesday. Oregon and Kentucky hold primaries May 20th. The final contest June 1st in Puerto Rico. Betty and I are fighting over covering that particular primary. And in Montana and South Dakota on the third as well. Tune in today for CNN "Ballot Bowl," your chance to learn more about the candidates' plans. Hear from them unfiltered, "Ballot Bowl" today at 3:00 eastern, noon pacific.

NGUYEN: No votes needed here. But President Bush is preparing to give his daughter Jenna away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Please excuse me if I'm a little sleepy. 3:00 a.m. this morning, the red phone rang.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George W. Bush is embarking on a new role, father-in-law.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Urgent call from the wedding planner. Jokes aside, today's wedding is a big deal for the father of the bride. And we're going to take you deep in the heart of Texas for details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Gets you in the mood for a wedding, doesn't it? We still have several hours before Jenna Bush ties the knot, but the tiny town of Crawford is teaming with the curious all hoping to get a peek at the first daughter. CNN's Elaine Quijano, well she wasn't actually invited to the wedding, that's why you see her standing in front of a tractor, but she is in Crawford and she joins us now with the latest on this hush-hush wedding. What do you know, Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, you know, yesterday was the official start of the wedding weekend. There was a bridal lunch, a rehearsal dinner, and a Texas-size celebration we're told afterwards, all of it really a prelude to the big event later tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): He may be the leader of the free world, but in the twilight of his presidency --

BUSH: Please excuse me if I'm a little sleepy, 3:00 a.m. this morning the red phone rang.

QUIJANO: George W. Bush is embarking on a new role, father-in- law.

BUSH: It was the damn wedding planner.

QUIJANO: For months President Bush has made light of becoming father of the bride to daughter Jenna, even joking about how future son-in-law Henry Hager asked his permission for Jenna's hand.

BUSH: So the guy comes to see me and he says, "I want to marry your daughter." I said, done deal.

QUIJANO: The lightness belies the emotional intensity of his daughter getting married.

BUSH: I've got a lot on my mind, by the way. Getting ready to march down the aisle.

QUIJANO: Twenty six year old Jenna Bush was born in Dallas, Texas, one minute after fraternal twin Barbara. Jenna is said to be more like her father, gregarious and fun-loving, qualities that landed her in trouble early on in her father's presidency for underage drinking. Her mischievous streak still apparent, campaigning for her father in 2004. But since then, Jenna Bush has carved out a different identity while entering adulthood, as a schoolteacher, a UNICEF intern, and a book author. Now as a bride, she's made clear she shares her father's affinity for her home state by having her wedding at her parents' Crawford ranch.

JENNA BUSH: I think the White House is a historical, beautiful building, of course and place. But I wanted to have something more private and something that fit my personality a little bit more.

QUIJANO: Jenna Bush did offer a glimpse into her relationship with her father during a phone call while appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" last December.

J. BUSH: Dad?

G. BUSH: Yes, baby.

J. BUSH: Are you mad?

G. BUSH: No, not at all. I do want to say Merry Christmas to the audience and I want to tell my little girl I love her.

QUIJANO: Now, as he prepares to give her away at her wedding, George W. Bush the father is learning to let go.

G. BUSH: It's been a blessing to see them grow up and I'm real proud of them.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, the president will be leaving office in eight months and has said privately he will like grandchildren sooner rather than later. A point he's already made to daughter Jenna as he considers life beyond the White House. Betty?

NGUYEN: Man, he is ratcheting up the pressure already. The wedding still has a few hours to go before it even gets underway. Speaking of, any idea of what the dress looks like? What those bridesmaids which aren't really bridesmaids' dresses are going to look like?

QUIJANO: Yeah, you know that's a really good question, I'll get to that in just a moment. But Jenna's gown is actually an Oscar de la Renta creation. And because the setting is here in Crawford, they're going to be surrounded by native Texas wild flowers like these for instance, so the colors of the attendants' dresses are going to be essentially reflecting what they're seeing around them. So this will give you a sense of not only what they'll be holding, perhaps bouquet wise but also what the dresses themselves will look like. On the issue of what the difference is between attendants and bridesmaids, there's been a lot of discussion. Apparently the tradition here in Texas is to have what is called a house party. Think of it as sort of VIP guests essentially who don't necessarily have a role in the actual wedding, but they're very close friends. And it's sort of a place of honor for these attendants. Now, they are going to be outfitted in these dresses. The maid of honor, we should mention is going to be Jenna's twin sister, Barbara Bush. And as far as the actual theme goes, it'll be taking place near a lake in front of an alter and cross made of Texas limestone, more than 200 family and friends looking on. And reporters, as we all know, being kept very far away. We're about seven miles from the Bush ranch. Betty?

NGUYEN: Maybe they'll flip you some wedding cake or something. At least for being there and trying to cover it as best you can. Elaine Quijano joining us live, thank you, Elaine.

HOLMES: And as we heard earlier, the wedding is going to be outdoors there and the time of the wedding it's supposed to be 92 degrees there. We'll see how that Oscar de la Renta gown holds up. Hopefully they won't get any severe weather that's actually expected across much of the south. Reynolds Wolf in the CNN weather center tracking all of the storms. He'll have the latest for us. There he is, where he's coming up our way in just about five minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We want to take you to a breaking story we're keeping an eye on out of the Sudan right now. Right now we understand that rebel fighters and government forces are battling in the capital of Khartoum. According to many reports and many reporters there on the ground, this is the closest the rebels have come to Khartoum, the capital there, in quite some time. This fighting has been going on for some five years. Really a lot of people have taken a lot of interest in what's been happening in Sudan, specifically the Darfur region where rebels have been battling with government forces, for again some five years. Hundreds of thousands by some estimates killed, millions displaced by all of this, but right now the fighting has intensified. Some of the most intense fighting we have seen in quite some time according to reports there on the ground. But the Sudanese army now has deployed forces into the capital battling with rebels on the outside of Khartoum, the outside of the capital, but right now this is the closest, according to some that the rebels have gotten to Khartoum. So again, intense fighting, we're keeping an eye on right now, intense situation happening in the Sudan. We'll continue to update you as we get all updates into our NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: There's also new information just in dealing with Myanmar, and the need for aid into the country. The U.S. has been allowed one single plane of supplies, but we have just learned from a senior U.S. military official that they're going to be watching that plane land there on Monday, that U.S. plane filled with supplies. And if all goes well, two flights are planned scheduled to depart on Tuesday. Now there's no word on whether the Myanmar government has allowed for that to occur. We know one has indeed been allowed, but at this point, if everything goes off smoothly on Monday, with that plane load of supplies from the U.S., there is a plan in place to possibly send two more planes on Tuesday. Again, this from a senior U.S. military official, this information just now coming into CNN, of course, we'll continue to follow this for you.

And along those lines, though. Myanmar, millions homeless, tens of thousands dead, and many who survived last week's cyclone might not survive the aftermath because of a desperate need for relief supplies. A California man was in Myanmar at the height of that storm, and he tells his story to CNN affiliate KRON.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TWAN LAMB, KRON: Just a few days into Harold Nathan's trip, a deadly cyclone swept through southern Burma killing an estimated 100,000 people.

HAL NATHAN, FOUNDATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF BURMA: Big trees slammed into houses and buildings, windows broken out, tin roofs ripped off. And electric wire all over the roads. There wasn't one standing telephone pole that I saw.

LAMB: Nathan has visited Burma 22 times in the past eight years for humanitarian efforts to learn more about Buddhism and to provide money for education and health care. But what he saw this time was beyond belief.

NATHAN: I came back with a really heavy heart knowing that the extent of the human suffering that was occurring. Almost dream-like at first because I would look at a street that I was familiar with and say I'm on the wrong street because all of the trees were down.

LAMB: When the cyclone hit, Nathan was in northern Burma, an area unscathed by the cyclone. However all flights to an airport in southern Burma were canceled. On the way to the airport Nathan witnessed tragedy after tragedy, and at one point he too feared for his survival.

NATHAN: The sense of feeling trapped and only having a limited amount of money there, made me start thinking, at the time, I don't know how long I'm going to be here, what's it going to be like? What's the food supply going to be like? There was already no electricity, there was already no hot water.

LAMB: With devastating scenes like this, Nathan feels he needs to go back to Burma sooner than later.

NATHAN: It intensifies my awareness of how privileged I am. And the future is uncertain. There's never a time like now to try to give back. I'm going back soon, exactly when I'm unsure at this point. But I would like to do what I can to help the people.

LAMB: In San Francisco, Twan Lamb, KRON 4 news.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Hal Nathan will join us live in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Hear more of his story, what he saw, how he survived that cyclone. That's in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM here on CNN.

NGUYEN: World Vision is a Christian humanitarian group fighting poverty around the world, Myanmar included. And on the phone with me right now from Myanmar is Tim Costello with World Vision. Tim, the first thing I want to ask you about is the aid that's actually getting into the country and into the hands of the people in need, how is that going so far?

TIM COSTELLO, WORLD VISION: Well, what I can tell you is that the aid we are distributing, we have some 600 Burmese on staff. We've been here 30 years so the people respect us and trust us and thankfully so do the military. The aids that we've had in our storehouses in country, the rice we've brought in Yangon here, is getting into the hands of the neediest people. The most really difficult thing is many staff who are pretty exhausted know it's not enough. Many of them in tears knowing that there are people we haven't reached because that aid coming in from outside is still being blocked. And we have a very narrowed pipeline and we need this massive big pipeline.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about that quickly. The aid that's being blocked. Is this aid being seized by the Junta government?

COSTELLO: A lot of it is just the aid that was to come in with particularly the heavy lifting of helicopters and planes to get quickly to people in need. The roads are clogged and there's a six- hour wait just to fill up your tank with gas, which is what all of us have to do. A lot of it just hasn't been given the permission to come in. We are hopeful our World Vision planes coming from Dubai, 40 tons, which we've been waiting for clearance for three days is at last going to get clearance. That's the case with many other NGOs, that's been the case with the U.N. The green light just hasn't been given.

NGUYEN: Why is that? It's been a week now since the cyclone struck. Why is it that the government hasn't allowed more aid organizations and aid itself into that country? What's the rub here? I know you've been negotiating with the government. What are they saying?

COSTELLO: This is a government that points to the military winning independence from Burma and Myanmar or protecting the people from maintaining the nation and saying in its hour of crisis, we the military, can meet all the needs of the people. Look, what's absolutely true is that hurricane Katrina with what was the wealthiest nation on earth struggled to meet the need. This is a very poor country, not a wealthy country. This cyclone will have much more long lasting devastation on the economy and the people than the tsunami that hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Because the Tsunami went through three kilometers and this cyclone's gone 250 kilometers inland, and the scale and the level of human suffering is just mind boggling.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. We understand that it has destroyed some 2,000 square miles of land. And a lot of that is still under water. So it's really a race against time to get this aid in country. Tim Costello with World Vision, we do appreciate what you're doing, we appreciate your information. Best of luck to you. I know your work is so very important there on the ground. Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

NGUYEN: And we know that you, the viewer, may want to help the situation. So at cnn.com, we do have a special page on the devastation in Myanmar, it's complete with links to aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. It's also a chance for you to impact your world. So let us be your guide.

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HOLMES: After months of gloomy economic news hinting at a recession, there is a glimmer of hope. The U.S. trade deficit declined in a major way in March. The Commerce Department reports it fell 5.7 percent in February to $58.2 billion, still a big number there.

NGUYEN: Yeah, it is, but this was due to a 2.9 percent decline in imports in March, the biggest drop since 2001. So what this means is that Americans are spending much less than before, especially on imported goods.

HOLMES: But, many people have been forced to cut back on spending because, of course, many have lost their jobs.

NGUYEN: But you know that's just part of the story believe it or not. Because it really depends on if you are a man or a woman. Why is that? Josh Levs joins us now to explain the battle of the sexes apparently.

JOSH LEVS: Because we're always talking about job losses. I just learned this, this week, it's pretty much for guys not for women. We are the ones bearing the brunt of these job losses.

NGUYEN: No kidding? It's terrible.

LEVS: She's not happy.

NGUYEN: But wait, it gets bad for women too.

LEVS: Yes it does. Let me start off with this. And first of all, kit was an article from Business Week. They were calling it the slump, it's a guy thing. So I checked with the Bureau of Labor statistics and it's true. Take a look at these numbers, between November and April, the number of men working dropped from 75.8 million to 75.1 million. Meanwhile, number of women working went up, 65 to 65.3 million. So you've got 700,000 fewer guys working and 300,000 more women working. Now these, the figures you're looking at, they're for Americans over age 20. Why that gender gap? A big reason is the sectors. Construction and manufacturing have been hurt badly and those are dominantly male sectors, meanwhile, some majority female sectors like education and healthcare have gone up. But as "Business Week" points out here, this is hardly good news for women. As Betty was just teasing there. There you go. Their pay is stagnant and the so-called female economy cannot stay strong for long they say if the so-called male economy weakens too much. That's the basic idea there. It's not great news for women but the job loss is more among men.

NGUYEN: And in terms of pay, where do females stack up against the men?

LEVS: Right, well over the long-term, women have been slowly catching up to men in annual salary, but bad news over the past year. Let's take a quick look at this if we can. This "Business Week" analysis says here that while the pay gap has been gradually narrowing, there you go, it actually widened over the past year. This was from first quarter of 2007 until the first quarter of this year. So the medium usual weekly earnings for men, it grew by 4.6 percent, while for women, just 3.1 percent. So what you can see is, overall, the gap got worse between men and women over the past year.

NGUYEN: So you've lost jobs, men have, but they're making more money.

LEVS: Yes.

HOLMES: At least you're employed.

NGUYEN: So I need a loan, essentially. All right guys, I'll be waiting for that.

Speaking of your money. Let's talk about your house, your job, your savings, your debt. Learn how "Issue #1" the economy is affecting you. I know you're well aware of it. It is "Issue #1" and it's all next week at noon eastern right here on CNN.

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NGUYEN: NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Fredericka Whitfield.

HOLMES: Fredricka, good morning to you this morning?

WHITFIELD: Good morning to you all. Yes, good to see you as well. I know it's been a very busy morning, it's going to be a busy midday, as well. Straight up in the noon hour, Myanmar, so many different moving parts on that story. More UN aid is expected to arrive and hopefully delivered this weekend. U.S. aid is being delivered on Monday. Will all of this aid be distributed to the people who need it most? A week now after that cyclone, we know earlier this week many of it, 38 tons of UN aid was confiscated by the government so it will be interesting to see. Exactly what's going to take place next, we have correspondents who are there in Myanmar, still be reporting for us. And Dan Rivers was one of the correspondents who was in for a moment, and he had some incredible, an incredible experience that he's going to be conveying to us on how the junta was hunting him down as he was reporting, trying to keep him from continuing to show the world about exactly what's happening in Myanmar. We're also going to talk to an American who is now state side, he's back in California. But he spent a lot of time as a humanitarian in Burma and he has an incredible story to tell about how, where he was during the cyclone and how he was able to get out. And what his thoughts are now about trying to help.

NGUYEN: So he was there when the cyclone came ashore.

WHITFIELD: Right. A lot coming up.

NGUYEN: Good information. Fredricka, thank you.

HOLMES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you guys.

HOLMES: And our latest CNN heroes efforts literally saved a man's life. Liz McCartney and her boyfriend moved 1,000 miles from Washington all the way to New Orleans to help rebuild St. Bernard Parish.

NGUYEN: A place where just about every home was left uninhabitable by hurricane Katrina. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katrina destroyed families, homes, we were a normal red-blooded American family, and one day it took to wipe us out. I was so beaten down, I was going to blow myself away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Katrina hit, I was living in Washington, D.C. I couldn't believe the pictures that I was looking at. I wanted to come down to New Orleans and volunteer. I naively thought that six months later you'd see all kinds of progress. But St. Bernard Parish looked like the storm had just rolled through. We realized very quickly that we were going to move to New Orleans. It was just something that we felt like we had to do. I'm Liz McCartney and I'm helping families rebuild in St. Bernard Parish. 100 percent of all homes in St. Bernard Parish were deemed uninhabitable. (INAUDIBLE) means that the house is going to be demolished. The problems in this community are widespread. The solutions are really simple. The St. Bernard project can take a house that was gutted down to the studs, hang the sheet rock, put in new floors. We do all of that work in about 12 weeks for about $12,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These volunteers have come and spent the week at my house working hard for nothing. The St. Bernard project, Liz, and her group, they saved my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once you get one family back, other families are more confident and they're willing to come back, as well. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little by little, one house at a time, we'll be back. I feel it, I know it.

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HOLMES: McCartney and her boyfriend rely on donations and they focus on helping people they consider most in need, seniors, families with kids.

NGUYEN: So if you want to nominate your hero, tell us their story at cnn.com/heroes.

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