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CNN Live Saturday

Coverage of Tsunami Disaster in South Asia

Aired January 01, 2005 - 18:00   ET

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

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


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there.
I'm Carol Lin.

And welcome to a special edition of CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Straight ahead this hour, extensive coverage of the tsunami disaster. Twelve CNN correspondents are among dozens of staffers on the ground in South Asia, bringing you the stories from all the angles.

A young man finds his way to get help out of his homeland, or to his homeland. He's organizing relief efforts while others his age are outside playing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had to let go of one of them and I just thought I'd better let go of the one that's the oldest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: An amazingly horrible predicament for a mother -- which child to save. We are going to devote nearly a half hour to tsunami survivor stories in their own words.

But first, a look at the stories in the news right now.

U.S. military helicopters today brought relief supplies into pats of Indonesia that have been cut off for nearly a week. Of the 140,000 deaths in the tsunami disaster, at least 80,000 were in Indonesia. This is the first aid you're watching right there to reach these desperate survivors. More is on the way, though.

Japan today promised to spend a half a billion dollars on aid.

And flash floods caused by heavy rains are threatening the flow of that aid in Sri Lanka. The floods have forced about 3,000 tsunami survivors into refugee camps. And in the coming days, about a thousand U.S. Marines will arrive in Sri Lanka to help with the aid and recovery effort.

And members of a Sri Lankan community near Washington, D.C. attended a memorial service this afternoon. It was organized by a member of a Catholic parish in Potomac, Maryland. More than 45,000 Sri Lankans were killed by the tsunamis. Confetti, noise makers and tons of other trash have been cleared away from Times Square. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thanked sanitation workers today for their efforts. Despite the memorial service crowd last night, police arrested only a handful of people on disorderly conduct charges and one man for carrying a loaded rifle.

An Atlantic right whale is swimming freely today off the coast of South Carolina. Rescuers freed the young whale Friday from 150 feet of lobster fishing gear that was wrapped around it. Scientists say if they had not untangled it from the equipment, the whale could have died.

And now we are going to continue with our extensive coverage of the aftermath of this massive tsunami.

We are going to begin right now in Phuket, Thailand, a resort island straight from a picture postcard before the tsunamis struck almost a week ago.

Right now, though, it's one of those countless places in South Asia bearing the dead and looking for the missing, and trying to take care of those who survived.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is there right now -- Aneesh, what is happening today?

Is help on the way for those people?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good evening.

As you say, the efforts here are taking place on seemingly infinite levels. So much to be done for so many different groups.

The death toll now hovering around 5,000. That number coming from the capital city of Bangkok. But provincial reports here suggest it could already be well above that. The Thai prime minister himself saying it could go as high as 8,000. Other reports are that it could nearly double.

The reason is that some 6,500 people remain missing. A large number of all of these casualties are foreign tourists, and within that 6,500, more than 3,000 are Swedish tourists. This is a big time for Swedish tourists to come here. And they make up the predominance of those that are missing.

As they go forward, they are finding now, Carol, pockets of bodies, which is what they've expected given the large number of missing. Yesterday on Phi Phi Island alone, some 25 to 30 bodies found trapped, huddled under a destroyed pier. And as they clear the rubble similar scenes are expected.

Now, aid is getting into some of the hardest hit areas. Here in Thailand they were lucky that most of the infrastructure was kept intact in terms of roads and they are airlifting a lot of things in, as well. Meantime, the Thai prime minister starting to lead the effort on an early warning sign, appointing the former head of the meteorological society here to look into how that would take place.

It is likely, Carol, that that will be a major issue at next week's meeting in Jakarta.

LIN: Aneesh, it's remarkable to see these pictures of so much aid now just beginning to arrive for these people.

We had some other pictures come into the CNN Center and it is going to be hard for me to believe that the people that we're going to see in these pictures we're going to show the audience shortly are actually tourists on the beaches out there?

RAMAN: That's right, Carol. It is quite surreal. Two very stark images. You have the relief efforts ongoing. You have debris being cleared. You have bodies being found. But you also have on these beach fronts people starting to come and do what vacationers do -- sunbathe, swim, jet ski. It is very odd to see them together, but very critical for the people who are part of this local economy.

Most of Phuket is largely still standing, with Phi Phi completely devastated, with the coastal area of Khao Lak completely gone.

The hotel owners and people in the tourism industry on Phuket feel the responsibility of trying to salvage this critical economy. Some $10 billion U.S., Carol, come as revenue to this country from tourism. And some thousands of livelihoods are dependent upon it. They work for these three months and they fund themselves for the year.

So keeping the living, surviving families alive and well and funded is of critical concern.

So hotels that are able to are trying to open up. But early signs, despite those pictures, not encouraging. Seventy percent of reservations have been canceled. The Thai tourism minister, though, wants to see this island up and running within a month, trying to keep people who depend on this industry alive and well -- Carol.

LIN: I understand the desperation of local businesses, but it's still beyond me who could sit on a beach and sunbathe when there's still the chance that bodies may be recovered on that very same beach.

Aneesh Raman, thank you very much, reporting live from video phone in Phuket.

Well, U.S. Marines are being dispatched to help with the relief effort in Sri Lanka. The first 200 of a contingent that could grow to more than a thousand will arrive on Monday. India already has sent its navy to help the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

CNN's Satinder Bindra reports from one of those ships off the southwestern part of the island, near Galle.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the largest humanitarian mission undertaken by the Indian Navy outside its waters. In all, it's deployed 11 ships in this tsunami struck region and seven of these ships are along the coast of Sri Lanka. Three of the Indian ships are just off the coast of Galle, which is in southern Sri Lanka.

I'm standing on one of them and there are two other ships here. One is a floating medical hospital. The other ship is carrying supplies and a lot of experts who can help Sri Lanka as it continues to reconstruct its shattered economy.

Now, the Indian ships are carrying a lot of medical supplies, a lot of other essential ingredients that Sri Lanka will need. So far, Indian helicopters on board these ships have delivered six tons of supplies and they say they have the capacity to deliver some 20 tons more. India has also donated $25 million to Sri Lanka and Indian officials say this symbolizes the warm ties that exist between these neighbors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a bond that ties ordinary Sri Lankans and ordinary Indians that is most heartening to witness, especially in times such as these. People in India have reached out to people in Sri Lanka.

BINDRA: The Indian Navy's most immediate task is to clear out Galle's clogged harbor. Several fishing boats and trawlers are sunk in there. The Indians are most concerned about the fear of an epidemic and they say they're watching the situation here along Sri Lanka's southern coast closely.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, on board the INS Sutlej along Sri Lanka's southern coast.

LIN: Help is on the way. And so are official observers. A U.S. delegation is heading to the region tomorrow and the Bush administration is making plans for a week of mourning for the tsunami victims.

CNN's Elaine Quijano has more now on the U.S. response to the disaster.

She joins me from Crawford, Texas, near the president's ranch -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Carol.

That's right, President Bush says that the U.S. is already hard at work helping the affected countries. And today he made another public gesture as a sign of respect for those killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): One day after upping the U.S.' initial aid pledge from $35 million to $350 million, President Bush, in his weekly radio address, ordered another show of support for the tsunami victims.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have signed a proclamation calling for our nation's flag to be flown at half staff this coming week. As the people of this devastated region struggle to recover, we offer our love our compassion and our assurance that America will be there to help.

QUIJANO: To reinforce that missing, the president is dispatching Secretary of State Colin Powell to view the damage in South Asia firsthand. On Friday, Powell met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York and said as needs are assessed, the U.S. could pledge more money.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not sure 350 is the end number. It's the number that we've settled on for now.

QUIJANO: The president is also sending his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to help lead the U.S. delegation. The governor oversaw emergency response efforts after four hurricanes hit his state last year.

TRENT DUFFY, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE SECRETARY: He has extensive experience in the south Florida with relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. He's also the president's brother. I think it signifies the high level of importance that the president puts on this delegation.

QUIJANO: At the United Nations, the man who days ago characterized the U.S. and other rich nations as stingy is now praising the U.S.' contribution.

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: The U.S., the wealthiest nation in the world, is doing a phenomenal job in this unprecedented challenge, not only a very large cash donation, but also bringing in military and civil defense assets.

QUIJANO: The U.S. military says it has ships, planes, helicopters and personnel being put to work in several of the affected countries, including Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The goal? To deliver and distribute water, food and medicine to survivors.

7(END VIDEO TAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, a congressional delegation led by Iowa Republican Jim Leach is also traveling to the region, as is the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, who is a doctor. Meantime, the U.S. military says that so far, 10,000 to 12,000 military personnel have been deployed as part of the relief effort. One official calling the mobilization "quite an accomplishment considering it's happened in less than a week" -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thanks very much.

Elaine Quijano live in Crawford.

We also have this programming note. Elaine was talking about the secretary of state going to the region. Well, Secretary of State Colin Powell is going to be Wolf Blitzer's guest tomorrow on "LATE EDITION." So be sure to tune in at 12:00 Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.

In the meantime, some of the most vulnerable tsunami victims are orphans, children who escaped from the rushing water only to lose their group home in Sri Lanka. But U.S. families who have learned of their plight are opening their hearts and their wallets.

Our Jeanne Meserve reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DIYANA SANDERS, SAMARITAN CHILDREN'S HOME: "Dear Mrs. Sanders, we wish you and your family many prayers throughout this tragedy."

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mail has brought Diyana Sanders condolences and checks.

DIYANA SANDERS: This is a check for $100, for $800, $500, $250.

MESERVE: In one day, a total of $7,400 to rebuild the orphanage Diyana's brother Dayalan Sanders established on a sliver of seaside in Sri Lanka in 1994.

DAYALAN SANDERS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, SAMARITAN CHILDREN'S HOME: She's just 10 years old and she's been with us just a couple of months.

MESERVE: Dayalan left a comfortable life in the U.S., selling his home to finance the building of the orphanage and help the children in his native country.

KAMALAM SANDERS, DAYALAN'S MOTHER: Since he was a little boy, he was always a very caring person. He would collect money in a little purse and give it away to beggars.

MESERVE: Twenty-eight children found a home at the orphanage until last Sunday.

DAYALAN SANDERS: There are no words in human speech to describe what we saw. It was a 30-foot wall of sea just bearing down on us like an angry monster.

MESERVE: Dayalan crammed the orphans and his family into one small boat, which uncharacteristically started on the first try.

DIYANA SANDERS: The boat capacity was only 15 people. There were like 30 to 33 people crammed in there trying to get across the lagoon to the city. And there were all dead bodies in this lagoon. And there were people holding onto rafters and branches and screaming to them and asking them to help them.

MESERVE: Dayalan and the children survived. The orphanage did not.

KANYA SANDERS, DAYALAN'S SISTER: It's been incomprehensible and just, you know, mind blowing. But, you know, we are so, so thankful and grateful to god, you know, that they were saved so miraculously.

MESERVE: Dayalan's family and friends in Maryland immediately set about raising the estimated $400,000 it will take to rebuild the orphanage. Two newspaper stories have helped generate a torrent of calls. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Samaritan Home Relief. How can I help you?

MESERVE: And contributions.

DIYANA SANDERS: Wow! $1,500. Amazing. "My sympathy to you and your fellow countrymen from Sri Lanka. I hope this gift will help toward building the orphanage."

MESERVE: An orphanage that Sri Lanka needs more now than ever before.

Jean Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: And we have yet another story of a remarkably big heart in a very young boy. Straight ahead on this special edition of CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I've got the story of a 14-year-old with his face buried in a computer. But he's not playing video games. He is helping his homeland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly this wave took up almost -- it must have been about 85 percent of the horizon and was coming towards us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back.

Here's a quick check of the latest developments on the tsunami disaster.

Relief aid is arriving in more remote and devastated parts of Indonesia. These are some exclusive pictures that our Mike Chinoy got on assignment covering the U.S. military delivering some goods.

You can see how urgent the situation is. And even veteran U.S. military personnel engaged in relief efforts are absolutely shocked by the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CPO GERRY SCHWARTZ, U.S. NAVY: Mike it was absolutely overwhelming. I've got 20 years in naval aviation. I've picked everyone up from downed aviators to stranded mariners. Never before had I experienced anything as overwhelming. Fearful, yet really exhilarating to see that we're actually helping those in need. And they are clearly in need, dire need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: And Pope John Paul II used his special mass today to praise the generous response to the tsunami disaster. He is saying a special prayer for the victims. The pope says the outpouring of aid in the wake of such devastation is a sign of hope for the new year.

A southern California television station is helping to raise money for victims of the tsunamis. KSCI-TV is holding a telethon today to collect donations for Red Cross and World Vision relief funds. Both charities are channeling aid to locations across Southern Asia, and that particular TV station carries a lot of Asian programming.

Well, he's only 14-years-old and he's pitching in to help his homeland.

Up next, I'm going to be talking with Roshan Baddeliyanage.

You are going to be amazed at what he's done to gather aid for victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka.

And we are just minutes away from a very emotional segment. Survivors of the tsunami, in their own words.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: All around the world, people are doing what they can to get aid to the tsunami survivors. But it isn't just the grownups who are helping out. 14-year-old Roshan Baddeliyanage has set up a Web site and started collecting food and clothes to help the people of Sri Lanka, where he was born.

And there he is. He joins me now from Washington.

Roshan, hats off to you for someone so young to get involved in such a big project.

You were born in Sri Lanka. I have to ask you about your family.

Is everybody OK?

ROSHAN BADDELIYANAGE, RAISING MONEY FOR RELIEF: Most of my family, everybody that, my close relatives are OK, except for our distant relatives from my dad's side. My dad's aunts, they passed away in the tsunami.

LIN: I'm sorry to hear that.

How did you get this idea stateside to try to do something?

BADDELIYANAGE: I saw the pictures of the children and I just didn't know what to do at first. I asked people to help me out, try to do something, but they weren't sure what to do. So I just got on the computer and made a Web site.

LIN: And what does it say on your Web site?

BADDELIYANAGE: Excuse me?

LIN: What does it say on your Web site? What are you asking people for? What do you think the people in Sri Lanka need most? BADDELIYANAGE: Oh, right now the Sri Lankans need like ladies clothing right now. That's what I heard. That's the latest news. And any kind of food, dry food, canned food, clothing items, anything right now.

LIN: What kind of response you have gotten?

BADDELIYANAGE: I've gotten a big response right now. A lot of people are sending me e-mails, phone calls, like a lot of messages on my cell. So I'm just replying to everybody and people are just dropping by to donate a lot of stuff right now.

LIN: How much stuff have you gotten?

BADDELIYANAGE: Pretty much my basement is, like has a lot of stuff in it right now.

LIN: A lot of stuff. All right, a lot of aid organizations, Roshan, say that what they need most, frankly, is cash so that they can buy supplies on the ground over there, that it's very expensive to ship clothing and items here from the States.

How are you going to get this stuff over there? Have you encountered any problems there?

BADDELIYANAGE: Right now the people are also donating cash, like checks. I have established an account. It's checks payable to help Sri Lanka. And it goes straight to that account and it's going to be wire transferred to Sri Lanka. And right now is, our main thing is not only cash, because people at that time may not be able to buy clothing or the items they need at that time, like food. So there's a couple of airlines that I'm contacting to help me out. So I'm looking for transportation, a transportation system to get all the items in Sri Lanka right now to...

LIN: Roshan, I get the feeling that you're a young man who doesn't take no for an answer very easily. You seem pretty determined.

BADDELIYANAGE: Yes, ma'am.

LIN: All right.

Well, Roshan, you're doing -- you're doing your family proud. And I hope, I wish you good luck in getting some of that aid and especially that money to aid organizations who can make a difference on the ground.

BADDELIYANAGE: Yes.

I would like to say thank you to all my donors so far, all the people that are donating items and the U.S. government especially, is coming through, from the bottom of my heart, because everybody is just pitching in and a lot of children are just helping out and everything.

LIN: Yes. And it's nice to see the kids, especially. Roshan...

BADDELIYANAGE: Yes.

LIN: ... Baddeliyanage, 14-years-old, making a difference in this world.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

BADDELIYANAGE: Thank you for having me here.

LIN: We've got another story about a young child and an experience she will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It was just horrible. It sounded like a jet engine just right maybe five feet behind you, people screaming as maybe the water hit them. And there was trees cracking, houses exploding. It was just so horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Through the eyes of a child. Hers is not only an amazing survival story. You are going to hear from many others who narrowly escaped death, coming up right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Survivors have been recounting their harrowing experiences across Southern Asia one after another, telling how fate or chance or an unexpected hero saved them from the deadly waves when the tsunamis hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wave hit and we have big waves in the channel. It wasn't a wave. It was the wave that hit, but there was a - it was just a solid wall behind it. And it just kept coming. Nothing was going to stop that wave. And it was just the biggest wave I've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wave is a good 15, 20 feet tall, easy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get in! Get in! Get in!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first indications we had was vibrations, which came through fully at about 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. And then I was in my bed at the time. First I heard a crashing sound coming through from the front of the building. We were lucky because the hotel we were in had an underground carport, which took a large part of the impact. But the wave came through on the first floor. I heard a crashing, banging, screaming sound. I rushed out the front to see people basically bleeding everywhere, broken bones, people thrown into, out of windows, debris everywhere. We were under about 10 feet of water at the time. And the situation was terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way any person can tell you what emotion you feel when you see a wall of water one story high fill up the lobby of a hotel, park three cars in the back of the lobby, and you see people swimming around in that and you don't know what you can do to get them out of there. There is no emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were having coffee and the woman in the coffee shop said to us, "The water is too high." And she kept saying that. And we said, "What does that mean?" And not a minute later she just screamed, "Run!" And we all just started running. And the water came really quickly.

So we started jogging through the streets, just trying to get to the mountains. And my friend and I just started running and every time we turned a corner, we thought we lost, or the water had stopped. But when we'd come to a through street, the water would be there. So we ran for about several streets with the water right at our heels. And then when we got to, behind several buildings and streets, we got to the base of the mountain and it was like a mass exodus out of the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't judge how fast it was moving because it was behind me. We were just running. But, you know, it was carrying everything that it had destroyed on its way in, it was carrying it on its way out. So there was furniture and buildings and pieces of everything.

TAMIL NADU, INDIA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Suddenly there were huge waves that hit the seashore and people started running helter-skelter. A lot of women were trapped because they couldn't run. And a lot of children were also trapped. About 60 people are supposed to have died. We have never seen anything like this before and we are really very scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have never seen anything like this before and we are really very scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I lost everyone and everything," says this 30-year-old Usnyati (ph). "My four children and my husband are gone, gone. I was holding my 8-month-old in the waters, but the waves pulled us apart."

NDR SHEIKH ELMI, FISHERMAN: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We've never seen anything like this. We were fishing normally in the sea when we were shocked by the huge waves. We fled for shore and parade for Allah to save our lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I was alone and shouted for help, but no one was here. Everything got washed away, including boat and net. Nothing is left in any house. All our belongings are gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I thought, OK, it's going to stop. It's going to hit our ankles. My youngest daughter dropped her journal and I went to pick it up. And when I picked it up, I heard this sound that can only be described as perhaps a jet engine bearing down on us and trees starting to break. And then what looked like a wave that was just 10 to 15 feet, not in the traditional sense of a wave, but water, massive water rushing at us, closing a gap. I didn't think we've ever run that fast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water just came up like a gigantic wave and took the water bungalow. It took all of the deck. The deck came flying in through the windows and I said let's get out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started off being able to stand up in it. And then cupboards and chairs and mattresses started coming at you. And I got out of the way and ended up on some sort of like pier going out to sea. And there was people on the beach in the early morning just being washed out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We climbed up this tree while the water was still breaking right at our feet, the waves. We headed up the tree and went higher and higher until we were right at the top and we couldn't go any higher. And we just waited until the water level eventually dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before the wave came in, there was a massive undertow. And in 15 to 30 seconds, something like 200 yards -- I'm sorry, 2,000 yards of water just got sucked right out to sea. And anybody who was in the water at that point up to their knees or so got yanked right out. There was just no hope for those people. People described seeing literally thousands of people on this beach one minute and the next minute, those people were gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly we saw the water advanced. To start with, we thought it was just the sea really just going on, getting a little angry. Then the second wave was a lot stronger. And we rushed upstairs. It happened a few times with about an hour in between. And the third wave that hit the hotel devastated the bottom half, the lower floors and so on. And we were trapped on the third floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children were playing on the beach when I came running down to find them and my wife Libby. The sea off Khoyar (ph) was a flat calm, but with one big exception. A 20-foot wave was coming inshore very quickly, indeed. Five-year-old Peter was staring at the wave, mesmerized. I lurched forward and grabbed him.

Obviously, with the wave pursuing us pretty rapidly, Peter and I were moving rather more quickly than we are this morning. My wife Libby and my daughter Elizabeth headed for our bungalow over there. But I knew that myself and the little fellow here simply wouldn't make it. We listened to the wave breaking on the beach. There was a big bang as it came through those trees.

I suppose we'd reached about here before we were washed away. We were then carried about 40 yards. The wave carried us both through this little gap between these two bungalows. All the time I was acutely aware of all the debris that the wave had picked up on its journey. Peter and I ended up actually down there in this field. And here are some of the tree trunks and other bits of debris that the wave carried with us. Fortunately, they missed us. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rooms filled up within 30 seconds, first of all, to about three foot. And then we all got out of the rooms. And then one of our friends has got a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but we couldn't get out of the room. And he woke up and was asleep on his bed lying and woke up in water. We had to throw the TV threw the window to climb out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You turned around and all of a sudden there was about a 25- or a 30-foot wall of water rushing towards you, probably at about 40 miles an hour. And you had little time to try and get to higher ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having stood in the water and literally within two seconds from ankle height it came to shoulder height. You usually imagine tidal waves much like those you see in the movies, the big crescent wave. The waves that hit Phuket -- and certainly from the reports I've had from other resorts -- they all came in very hard and fast. It was a bit like watching a bath run to the top.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a terrible roaring rose. And we looked through the glass doors and this torrent of mighty water just came down the steps and through the doors. And washed me away (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The glass doors were it washed me away into a playroom and glass doors were smashed by the water. And I just couldn't keep my footing. I was very frightened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was this hut and we heard a little girl crying. All we heard was her whimpering. So we went in there and dragged her out. She ended up going to the hospital. And we just found out today that she didn't make it, either. But four others in that hut, all of them perished yesterday. And this was a small village, about 800 people, and we lost five right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children are less able to run away from this kind of a flood. They're less able to hang onto a tree. They're less able to swim for their lives. And so we're afraid that, in fact, children were disproportionately affected, especially those who were caught in the raging torrents.

JEFF EKKELKAMP: I'm searching for my mother, Ria Ekkelkamp. She's from Holland. She's 53 years old. She's missing from the Khao Lak's Merlin Beach Resort. We have still hope and we are not going to leave without her, strange, but dead or alive, we have to find her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had three false alarms already. Last night we found someone on Khao Lak who was called Piers Symon. That was spelt with a Y rather than I in the surname. And when we managed to track him down at about midnight, it was someone completely different from England who was on holiday. So you have lots of leads which you follow and you get excited and then you'll find some information which sort of takes you off of that trail.

But you have to remain positive. You know, miracles do happen. And if you start to believe that the worst has happened, you start to crumble. So you just remain positive all the time. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was horrible. It sounded like a jet engine just right maybe five feet behind you. People screaming as maybe the water hit them. It was trees cracking, houses exploding. It was just so horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the water in the middle of the sea and I didn't have anything with me. My bag was gone, washed off in the water. I had only my top on. I just -- so I started swimming. I have the God-given gift of swimming. I have to swim. I started swimming with lots and lots of hope that I might find somebody, my father, that my family might be waiting for me in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I still have hopes that my parents are alive searching for me in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I am all right, papa, mama. Please come back again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then it came in again. I could hear my wife scream. I knew where she was. And I was hiding behind a wall. And I went around to get her. And then just all hell broke loose. And that was the last time I saw her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I was at work when some people came to me and told me that huge waves were lashing the shore and my family was in danger. I rushed home and managed to rescue my mother. I took her to the hospital. By the time I returned, I realized my daughter was missing. I looked up hospitals for her but could not find her. After three days, I found her body in the debris of my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We left paradise. It was a beautiful island and we came back to just hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We never felt that it was a tsunami. It was a big tide. They had big tides there every day. Well, it came and went and everybody calmed down and came back to look at the damage, find their loved ones. That's when the second wave came.

An elderly lady was stuck in the side of a balcony and she was lying in the water on her back with her head just barely above water. Chairs and benches and all sorts of junk were piling up on her and crushing her. Her elderly husband couldn't help her, but two other guys came running up and five of us pulled her out of there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of panic. You know, a lot of people were hysterical. A lot of the children were grabbing hold of me and people around, and like a lot of the mothers of children who don't -- like there was one particular mother who had about three or four children around and obviously she didn't have enough arms to hold her children. She was imploring me to grab hold of her children and look after her children, which I did.

So I was trying to grab hold of as many people as possible, as well as secure myself when the second wave hit. There was like a sea of dead bodies, children and women mainly. And the majority of them were children. So I had to clear a path through the water by pushing these people away and heading as far inland as possible. So it was just a case of survival at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But to be here and see it sitting home and see it on the television. So we have to be here and see what we can do, if we can find her or figure out what happened to her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since it happened on (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I just stopped by the phone, you know, 24/7. I haven't heard from him. So, you know, I took the bull by the horns and am flying out tomorrow to Thailand myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have sent pictures out. There's posters all around the hospitals, you know? Everybody is trying their best.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many regions still untouched by medical hands. My personal opinion, having seen the destruction, is that the counts that have been given based on the body counts, only a small fraction of the final death toll, what it's likely to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps the biggest challenge now is the water and the sanitation and the emergency food and the emergency shelter for hundreds of thousands of homeless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We are trying to provide people what they require the most at this time, like food, utensils, water, clothing, et cetera.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all water and sanitation equipment -- water tanks, pumps, taps and latrine slabs. So basically toilet facilities. There's 27 tons going on the plane. And what it will do is bring clean water to at least 175,000 people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going our best here. We're collecting money. Yesterday, as well, we collected money from the temple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are bringing everything -- clothes, materials, and medicine, syringes, bandages, whatever there are needed, they are bringing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a huge operation, clearly. We're four days out from this event already. Bodies are lying unrefrigerated, deteriorating rapidly. The Thai authorities have done a quite excellent job, I think, in quite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. This would challenge the most developed country in the world, the scale of this problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The sea is like a mother, the land our father," he says. "We love the sea and respect it like God. But now we are wary. We are petrified," he says. "We wonder now, can we continue our livelihood on the high seas?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were so generous. They were missing goats. They were missing their families. And they brought up food and supplies and we all sort of camped out on top of this jungle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was speaking with people who have lost their homes and a number of fishermen that lost their livelihoods. And to be able to get on a plane and get away from it left me with a very unsettling feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were no villages left standing between Meulaboh and Chalan, which is about 100 kilometers north of Meulaboh. It's like a nuclear blast has hit the area. And it's completely leveled everything, except just for a few structures. We've seen nothing at all of the ones that were built out of wood and thatched roofs, and that constitutes probably the most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Entire families have been wiped away. Children have been separated from their parents. There are dead bodies all over. We are more worried about the people who are in the forest and are injured because no aid reached them yet. I hope the government can do something for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "My boat is somewhere out there," he says. "I don't know where my family is."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The water was rising and the sea was coming. We ran for our lives, but it caught us and the water almost came up to our necks. We managed to escape from the first wave, which destroyed our house. The second wave came and took us by surprise. There was just so much water I didn't know what to do.

When the second wave came, we were looking for our son. And my husband went out to search for him and found him in a tree. He rescued him and both of them were running for their lives. Later, my son was found alive, but my husband was missing. He had been drowned.

We don't know what to do next. Right now we don't have a source of income. We'll need to look for jobs, but they are scarce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): My main thoughts were about the people who died. Nothing was clear. We figured some had been taken to sea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I brought my friend here. They're dead. I don't have found their body. I have nothing but, nothing left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I saw him, it was really exciting for me. When you see what happened, you see the carnage and you realize that, how lucky we are as a family.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They called him the miracle boy. And today there was one more miracle waiting for little Hannes Bergstroem. His father. The 20-month-old was separated from his parents when the tsunami hit Phuket. An American family found him unconscious, wrapped in blankets at the top of a hill. No one knew if he'd even survive. But he did. His father, recovering from his injuries in another hospital, wondered if he'd ever see his little boy again. His prayers were answered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was frightened. I did not think I would survive. The rescue team found my son in the main grove, not me. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had to let go of one of them. And I just thought I'd better let go of the one that's the oldest. And a lady grabbed hold of him for a moment, but she said that she had to let him go because she was going under. And I was screaming, trying to find him, and we thought he was dead.

I'm just so thankful that I've still got my two kids with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine that if you had just lost your entire worldly possessions and perhaps more -- parents, children -- that you would turn around and offer kindness. One man went down to the village or whatever was left of it, I don't know how he did it. And he brought up rice, and some of the best tasting rice we've ever had. And he didn't have to do that. I don't know why he did it. And I think it's a testament to the Thai people, the generosity of spirit, just a magical, magical group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We want to continue to bring you up to date on what's being done to help the people suffering after the major tsunami in South Asia. Among the groups heading to that region to assist with relief efforts are search and rescue teams from Virginia and California. The team members are well trained in disaster response, with experience in past disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes and even the 9/11 terror attacks.

CNN's Denise Belgrave has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The destruction left behind by massive tsunami waves in Southeast Asia gives pause to even the most experienced rescuers.

BATTALION CHIEF DEWEY PERKS, FAIRFAX COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE: No one's ever seen it to this magnitude before. BELGRAVE: Fairfax Fire and Rescue, an elite group with extensive disaster experience, is en route to the area to help. Six Fairfax County rescuers departed from Washington's Dulles Airport and they were joined by six colleagues from Los Angeles.

BATTALION CHIEF JIM POWERS, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We've trained extensively with Fairfax and we've learned a lot from Fairfax. And so this is our first time out of the chute. BELGRAVE: But the disaster has a very different focus for this group. PERKS: It is different from what we normally do with urban search and rescue. But it's all about humanitarian response and relief. BELGRAVE: The trademark search and rescue dogs are going to stay put for this one.

POWERS: We're just carrying what we've got on our back, which is basically assessment equipment. We've got cameras, we've got cell phones, satellite phones, computers, cameras, because our job is to assess the situation, see what is ongoing, actually relieve some assessment teams that are already in place. BELGRAVE: Both of these teams are exceptionally well trained to deal with this kind of a humanitarian relief effort. But they also have to deal with the emotional fallout from a disaster of this magnitude.

POWERS: At some point in time, we put our emotions on the back shelf and we need to function and do the job we were sent to do there. And then at some later date, then we can sit back and really realize what we've gone through and try to cope with that with our families and our friends and our churches. BELGRAVE: Medical team director Steven Chin says that making a difference is what keeps them all going.

STEVE CHIN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's made a difference that we're able to bring something good to help somebody somewhere and help actually the people in their own countries help themselves, really, is what it boils down to. BELGRAVE: Denise Belgrave, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: And please stay tuned to CNN for special tsunami coverage throughout the night, including our in depth coverage from the region.

I'm going to be back with a check of the headlines right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired January 1, 2005 - 18:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there.
I'm Carol Lin.

And welcome to a special edition of CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Straight ahead this hour, extensive coverage of the tsunami disaster. Twelve CNN correspondents are among dozens of staffers on the ground in South Asia, bringing you the stories from all the angles.

A young man finds his way to get help out of his homeland, or to his homeland. He's organizing relief efforts while others his age are outside playing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had to let go of one of them and I just thought I'd better let go of the one that's the oldest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: An amazingly horrible predicament for a mother -- which child to save. We are going to devote nearly a half hour to tsunami survivor stories in their own words.

But first, a look at the stories in the news right now.

U.S. military helicopters today brought relief supplies into pats of Indonesia that have been cut off for nearly a week. Of the 140,000 deaths in the tsunami disaster, at least 80,000 were in Indonesia. This is the first aid you're watching right there to reach these desperate survivors. More is on the way, though.

Japan today promised to spend a half a billion dollars on aid.

And flash floods caused by heavy rains are threatening the flow of that aid in Sri Lanka. The floods have forced about 3,000 tsunami survivors into refugee camps. And in the coming days, about a thousand U.S. Marines will arrive in Sri Lanka to help with the aid and recovery effort.

And members of a Sri Lankan community near Washington, D.C. attended a memorial service this afternoon. It was organized by a member of a Catholic parish in Potomac, Maryland. More than 45,000 Sri Lankans were killed by the tsunamis. Confetti, noise makers and tons of other trash have been cleared away from Times Square. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thanked sanitation workers today for their efforts. Despite the memorial service crowd last night, police arrested only a handful of people on disorderly conduct charges and one man for carrying a loaded rifle.

An Atlantic right whale is swimming freely today off the coast of South Carolina. Rescuers freed the young whale Friday from 150 feet of lobster fishing gear that was wrapped around it. Scientists say if they had not untangled it from the equipment, the whale could have died.

And now we are going to continue with our extensive coverage of the aftermath of this massive tsunami.

We are going to begin right now in Phuket, Thailand, a resort island straight from a picture postcard before the tsunamis struck almost a week ago.

Right now, though, it's one of those countless places in South Asia bearing the dead and looking for the missing, and trying to take care of those who survived.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is there right now -- Aneesh, what is happening today?

Is help on the way for those people?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good evening.

As you say, the efforts here are taking place on seemingly infinite levels. So much to be done for so many different groups.

The death toll now hovering around 5,000. That number coming from the capital city of Bangkok. But provincial reports here suggest it could already be well above that. The Thai prime minister himself saying it could go as high as 8,000. Other reports are that it could nearly double.

The reason is that some 6,500 people remain missing. A large number of all of these casualties are foreign tourists, and within that 6,500, more than 3,000 are Swedish tourists. This is a big time for Swedish tourists to come here. And they make up the predominance of those that are missing.

As they go forward, they are finding now, Carol, pockets of bodies, which is what they've expected given the large number of missing. Yesterday on Phi Phi Island alone, some 25 to 30 bodies found trapped, huddled under a destroyed pier. And as they clear the rubble similar scenes are expected.

Now, aid is getting into some of the hardest hit areas. Here in Thailand they were lucky that most of the infrastructure was kept intact in terms of roads and they are airlifting a lot of things in, as well. Meantime, the Thai prime minister starting to lead the effort on an early warning sign, appointing the former head of the meteorological society here to look into how that would take place.

It is likely, Carol, that that will be a major issue at next week's meeting in Jakarta.

LIN: Aneesh, it's remarkable to see these pictures of so much aid now just beginning to arrive for these people.

We had some other pictures come into the CNN Center and it is going to be hard for me to believe that the people that we're going to see in these pictures we're going to show the audience shortly are actually tourists on the beaches out there?

RAMAN: That's right, Carol. It is quite surreal. Two very stark images. You have the relief efforts ongoing. You have debris being cleared. You have bodies being found. But you also have on these beach fronts people starting to come and do what vacationers do -- sunbathe, swim, jet ski. It is very odd to see them together, but very critical for the people who are part of this local economy.

Most of Phuket is largely still standing, with Phi Phi completely devastated, with the coastal area of Khao Lak completely gone.

The hotel owners and people in the tourism industry on Phuket feel the responsibility of trying to salvage this critical economy. Some $10 billion U.S., Carol, come as revenue to this country from tourism. And some thousands of livelihoods are dependent upon it. They work for these three months and they fund themselves for the year.

So keeping the living, surviving families alive and well and funded is of critical concern.

So hotels that are able to are trying to open up. But early signs, despite those pictures, not encouraging. Seventy percent of reservations have been canceled. The Thai tourism minister, though, wants to see this island up and running within a month, trying to keep people who depend on this industry alive and well -- Carol.

LIN: I understand the desperation of local businesses, but it's still beyond me who could sit on a beach and sunbathe when there's still the chance that bodies may be recovered on that very same beach.

Aneesh Raman, thank you very much, reporting live from video phone in Phuket.

Well, U.S. Marines are being dispatched to help with the relief effort in Sri Lanka. The first 200 of a contingent that could grow to more than a thousand will arrive on Monday. India already has sent its navy to help the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

CNN's Satinder Bindra reports from one of those ships off the southwestern part of the island, near Galle.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the largest humanitarian mission undertaken by the Indian Navy outside its waters. In all, it's deployed 11 ships in this tsunami struck region and seven of these ships are along the coast of Sri Lanka. Three of the Indian ships are just off the coast of Galle, which is in southern Sri Lanka.

I'm standing on one of them and there are two other ships here. One is a floating medical hospital. The other ship is carrying supplies and a lot of experts who can help Sri Lanka as it continues to reconstruct its shattered economy.

Now, the Indian ships are carrying a lot of medical supplies, a lot of other essential ingredients that Sri Lanka will need. So far, Indian helicopters on board these ships have delivered six tons of supplies and they say they have the capacity to deliver some 20 tons more. India has also donated $25 million to Sri Lanka and Indian officials say this symbolizes the warm ties that exist between these neighbors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a bond that ties ordinary Sri Lankans and ordinary Indians that is most heartening to witness, especially in times such as these. People in India have reached out to people in Sri Lanka.

BINDRA: The Indian Navy's most immediate task is to clear out Galle's clogged harbor. Several fishing boats and trawlers are sunk in there. The Indians are most concerned about the fear of an epidemic and they say they're watching the situation here along Sri Lanka's southern coast closely.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, on board the INS Sutlej along Sri Lanka's southern coast.

LIN: Help is on the way. And so are official observers. A U.S. delegation is heading to the region tomorrow and the Bush administration is making plans for a week of mourning for the tsunami victims.

CNN's Elaine Quijano has more now on the U.S. response to the disaster.

She joins me from Crawford, Texas, near the president's ranch -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Carol.

That's right, President Bush says that the U.S. is already hard at work helping the affected countries. And today he made another public gesture as a sign of respect for those killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): One day after upping the U.S.' initial aid pledge from $35 million to $350 million, President Bush, in his weekly radio address, ordered another show of support for the tsunami victims.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have signed a proclamation calling for our nation's flag to be flown at half staff this coming week. As the people of this devastated region struggle to recover, we offer our love our compassion and our assurance that America will be there to help.

QUIJANO: To reinforce that missing, the president is dispatching Secretary of State Colin Powell to view the damage in South Asia firsthand. On Friday, Powell met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York and said as needs are assessed, the U.S. could pledge more money.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not sure 350 is the end number. It's the number that we've settled on for now.

QUIJANO: The president is also sending his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to help lead the U.S. delegation. The governor oversaw emergency response efforts after four hurricanes hit his state last year.

TRENT DUFFY, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE SECRETARY: He has extensive experience in the south Florida with relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. He's also the president's brother. I think it signifies the high level of importance that the president puts on this delegation.

QUIJANO: At the United Nations, the man who days ago characterized the U.S. and other rich nations as stingy is now praising the U.S.' contribution.

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: The U.S., the wealthiest nation in the world, is doing a phenomenal job in this unprecedented challenge, not only a very large cash donation, but also bringing in military and civil defense assets.

QUIJANO: The U.S. military says it has ships, planes, helicopters and personnel being put to work in several of the affected countries, including Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The goal? To deliver and distribute water, food and medicine to survivors.

7(END VIDEO TAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, a congressional delegation led by Iowa Republican Jim Leach is also traveling to the region, as is the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, who is a doctor. Meantime, the U.S. military says that so far, 10,000 to 12,000 military personnel have been deployed as part of the relief effort. One official calling the mobilization "quite an accomplishment considering it's happened in less than a week" -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thanks very much.

Elaine Quijano live in Crawford.

We also have this programming note. Elaine was talking about the secretary of state going to the region. Well, Secretary of State Colin Powell is going to be Wolf Blitzer's guest tomorrow on "LATE EDITION." So be sure to tune in at 12:00 Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.

In the meantime, some of the most vulnerable tsunami victims are orphans, children who escaped from the rushing water only to lose their group home in Sri Lanka. But U.S. families who have learned of their plight are opening their hearts and their wallets.

Our Jeanne Meserve reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DIYANA SANDERS, SAMARITAN CHILDREN'S HOME: "Dear Mrs. Sanders, we wish you and your family many prayers throughout this tragedy."

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mail has brought Diyana Sanders condolences and checks.

DIYANA SANDERS: This is a check for $100, for $800, $500, $250.

MESERVE: In one day, a total of $7,400 to rebuild the orphanage Diyana's brother Dayalan Sanders established on a sliver of seaside in Sri Lanka in 1994.

DAYALAN SANDERS, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, SAMARITAN CHILDREN'S HOME: She's just 10 years old and she's been with us just a couple of months.

MESERVE: Dayalan left a comfortable life in the U.S., selling his home to finance the building of the orphanage and help the children in his native country.

KAMALAM SANDERS, DAYALAN'S MOTHER: Since he was a little boy, he was always a very caring person. He would collect money in a little purse and give it away to beggars.

MESERVE: Twenty-eight children found a home at the orphanage until last Sunday.

DAYALAN SANDERS: There are no words in human speech to describe what we saw. It was a 30-foot wall of sea just bearing down on us like an angry monster.

MESERVE: Dayalan crammed the orphans and his family into one small boat, which uncharacteristically started on the first try.

DIYANA SANDERS: The boat capacity was only 15 people. There were like 30 to 33 people crammed in there trying to get across the lagoon to the city. And there were all dead bodies in this lagoon. And there were people holding onto rafters and branches and screaming to them and asking them to help them.

MESERVE: Dayalan and the children survived. The orphanage did not.

KANYA SANDERS, DAYALAN'S SISTER: It's been incomprehensible and just, you know, mind blowing. But, you know, we are so, so thankful and grateful to god, you know, that they were saved so miraculously.

MESERVE: Dayalan's family and friends in Maryland immediately set about raising the estimated $400,000 it will take to rebuild the orphanage. Two newspaper stories have helped generate a torrent of calls. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Samaritan Home Relief. How can I help you?

MESERVE: And contributions.

DIYANA SANDERS: Wow! $1,500. Amazing. "My sympathy to you and your fellow countrymen from Sri Lanka. I hope this gift will help toward building the orphanage."

MESERVE: An orphanage that Sri Lanka needs more now than ever before.

Jean Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: And we have yet another story of a remarkably big heart in a very young boy. Straight ahead on this special edition of CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I've got the story of a 14-year-old with his face buried in a computer. But he's not playing video games. He is helping his homeland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly this wave took up almost -- it must have been about 85 percent of the horizon and was coming towards us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back.

Here's a quick check of the latest developments on the tsunami disaster.

Relief aid is arriving in more remote and devastated parts of Indonesia. These are some exclusive pictures that our Mike Chinoy got on assignment covering the U.S. military delivering some goods.

You can see how urgent the situation is. And even veteran U.S. military personnel engaged in relief efforts are absolutely shocked by the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CPO GERRY SCHWARTZ, U.S. NAVY: Mike it was absolutely overwhelming. I've got 20 years in naval aviation. I've picked everyone up from downed aviators to stranded mariners. Never before had I experienced anything as overwhelming. Fearful, yet really exhilarating to see that we're actually helping those in need. And they are clearly in need, dire need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: And Pope John Paul II used his special mass today to praise the generous response to the tsunami disaster. He is saying a special prayer for the victims. The pope says the outpouring of aid in the wake of such devastation is a sign of hope for the new year.

A southern California television station is helping to raise money for victims of the tsunamis. KSCI-TV is holding a telethon today to collect donations for Red Cross and World Vision relief funds. Both charities are channeling aid to locations across Southern Asia, and that particular TV station carries a lot of Asian programming.

Well, he's only 14-years-old and he's pitching in to help his homeland.

Up next, I'm going to be talking with Roshan Baddeliyanage.

You are going to be amazed at what he's done to gather aid for victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka.

And we are just minutes away from a very emotional segment. Survivors of the tsunami, in their own words.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: All around the world, people are doing what they can to get aid to the tsunami survivors. But it isn't just the grownups who are helping out. 14-year-old Roshan Baddeliyanage has set up a Web site and started collecting food and clothes to help the people of Sri Lanka, where he was born.

And there he is. He joins me now from Washington.

Roshan, hats off to you for someone so young to get involved in such a big project.

You were born in Sri Lanka. I have to ask you about your family.

Is everybody OK?

ROSHAN BADDELIYANAGE, RAISING MONEY FOR RELIEF: Most of my family, everybody that, my close relatives are OK, except for our distant relatives from my dad's side. My dad's aunts, they passed away in the tsunami.

LIN: I'm sorry to hear that.

How did you get this idea stateside to try to do something?

BADDELIYANAGE: I saw the pictures of the children and I just didn't know what to do at first. I asked people to help me out, try to do something, but they weren't sure what to do. So I just got on the computer and made a Web site.

LIN: And what does it say on your Web site?

BADDELIYANAGE: Excuse me?

LIN: What does it say on your Web site? What are you asking people for? What do you think the people in Sri Lanka need most? BADDELIYANAGE: Oh, right now the Sri Lankans need like ladies clothing right now. That's what I heard. That's the latest news. And any kind of food, dry food, canned food, clothing items, anything right now.

LIN: What kind of response you have gotten?

BADDELIYANAGE: I've gotten a big response right now. A lot of people are sending me e-mails, phone calls, like a lot of messages on my cell. So I'm just replying to everybody and people are just dropping by to donate a lot of stuff right now.

LIN: How much stuff have you gotten?

BADDELIYANAGE: Pretty much my basement is, like has a lot of stuff in it right now.

LIN: A lot of stuff. All right, a lot of aid organizations, Roshan, say that what they need most, frankly, is cash so that they can buy supplies on the ground over there, that it's very expensive to ship clothing and items here from the States.

How are you going to get this stuff over there? Have you encountered any problems there?

BADDELIYANAGE: Right now the people are also donating cash, like checks. I have established an account. It's checks payable to help Sri Lanka. And it goes straight to that account and it's going to be wire transferred to Sri Lanka. And right now is, our main thing is not only cash, because people at that time may not be able to buy clothing or the items they need at that time, like food. So there's a couple of airlines that I'm contacting to help me out. So I'm looking for transportation, a transportation system to get all the items in Sri Lanka right now to...

LIN: Roshan, I get the feeling that you're a young man who doesn't take no for an answer very easily. You seem pretty determined.

BADDELIYANAGE: Yes, ma'am.

LIN: All right.

Well, Roshan, you're doing -- you're doing your family proud. And I hope, I wish you good luck in getting some of that aid and especially that money to aid organizations who can make a difference on the ground.

BADDELIYANAGE: Yes.

I would like to say thank you to all my donors so far, all the people that are donating items and the U.S. government especially, is coming through, from the bottom of my heart, because everybody is just pitching in and a lot of children are just helping out and everything.

LIN: Yes. And it's nice to see the kids, especially. Roshan...

BADDELIYANAGE: Yes.

LIN: ... Baddeliyanage, 14-years-old, making a difference in this world.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

BADDELIYANAGE: Thank you for having me here.

LIN: We've got another story about a young child and an experience she will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It was just horrible. It sounded like a jet engine just right maybe five feet behind you, people screaming as maybe the water hit them. And there was trees cracking, houses exploding. It was just so horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Through the eyes of a child. Hers is not only an amazing survival story. You are going to hear from many others who narrowly escaped death, coming up right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Survivors have been recounting their harrowing experiences across Southern Asia one after another, telling how fate or chance or an unexpected hero saved them from the deadly waves when the tsunamis hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wave hit and we have big waves in the channel. It wasn't a wave. It was the wave that hit, but there was a - it was just a solid wall behind it. And it just kept coming. Nothing was going to stop that wave. And it was just the biggest wave I've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wave is a good 15, 20 feet tall, easy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get in! Get in! Get in!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first indications we had was vibrations, which came through fully at about 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. And then I was in my bed at the time. First I heard a crashing sound coming through from the front of the building. We were lucky because the hotel we were in had an underground carport, which took a large part of the impact. But the wave came through on the first floor. I heard a crashing, banging, screaming sound. I rushed out the front to see people basically bleeding everywhere, broken bones, people thrown into, out of windows, debris everywhere. We were under about 10 feet of water at the time. And the situation was terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way any person can tell you what emotion you feel when you see a wall of water one story high fill up the lobby of a hotel, park three cars in the back of the lobby, and you see people swimming around in that and you don't know what you can do to get them out of there. There is no emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were having coffee and the woman in the coffee shop said to us, "The water is too high." And she kept saying that. And we said, "What does that mean?" And not a minute later she just screamed, "Run!" And we all just started running. And the water came really quickly.

So we started jogging through the streets, just trying to get to the mountains. And my friend and I just started running and every time we turned a corner, we thought we lost, or the water had stopped. But when we'd come to a through street, the water would be there. So we ran for about several streets with the water right at our heels. And then when we got to, behind several buildings and streets, we got to the base of the mountain and it was like a mass exodus out of the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't judge how fast it was moving because it was behind me. We were just running. But, you know, it was carrying everything that it had destroyed on its way in, it was carrying it on its way out. So there was furniture and buildings and pieces of everything.

TAMIL NADU, INDIA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Suddenly there were huge waves that hit the seashore and people started running helter-skelter. A lot of women were trapped because they couldn't run. And a lot of children were also trapped. About 60 people are supposed to have died. We have never seen anything like this before and we are really very scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have never seen anything like this before and we are really very scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I lost everyone and everything," says this 30-year-old Usnyati (ph). "My four children and my husband are gone, gone. I was holding my 8-month-old in the waters, but the waves pulled us apart."

NDR SHEIKH ELMI, FISHERMAN: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We've never seen anything like this. We were fishing normally in the sea when we were shocked by the huge waves. We fled for shore and parade for Allah to save our lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I was alone and shouted for help, but no one was here. Everything got washed away, including boat and net. Nothing is left in any house. All our belongings are gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I thought, OK, it's going to stop. It's going to hit our ankles. My youngest daughter dropped her journal and I went to pick it up. And when I picked it up, I heard this sound that can only be described as perhaps a jet engine bearing down on us and trees starting to break. And then what looked like a wave that was just 10 to 15 feet, not in the traditional sense of a wave, but water, massive water rushing at us, closing a gap. I didn't think we've ever run that fast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water just came up like a gigantic wave and took the water bungalow. It took all of the deck. The deck came flying in through the windows and I said let's get out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started off being able to stand up in it. And then cupboards and chairs and mattresses started coming at you. And I got out of the way and ended up on some sort of like pier going out to sea. And there was people on the beach in the early morning just being washed out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We climbed up this tree while the water was still breaking right at our feet, the waves. We headed up the tree and went higher and higher until we were right at the top and we couldn't go any higher. And we just waited until the water level eventually dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before the wave came in, there was a massive undertow. And in 15 to 30 seconds, something like 200 yards -- I'm sorry, 2,000 yards of water just got sucked right out to sea. And anybody who was in the water at that point up to their knees or so got yanked right out. There was just no hope for those people. People described seeing literally thousands of people on this beach one minute and the next minute, those people were gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly we saw the water advanced. To start with, we thought it was just the sea really just going on, getting a little angry. Then the second wave was a lot stronger. And we rushed upstairs. It happened a few times with about an hour in between. And the third wave that hit the hotel devastated the bottom half, the lower floors and so on. And we were trapped on the third floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children were playing on the beach when I came running down to find them and my wife Libby. The sea off Khoyar (ph) was a flat calm, but with one big exception. A 20-foot wave was coming inshore very quickly, indeed. Five-year-old Peter was staring at the wave, mesmerized. I lurched forward and grabbed him.

Obviously, with the wave pursuing us pretty rapidly, Peter and I were moving rather more quickly than we are this morning. My wife Libby and my daughter Elizabeth headed for our bungalow over there. But I knew that myself and the little fellow here simply wouldn't make it. We listened to the wave breaking on the beach. There was a big bang as it came through those trees.

I suppose we'd reached about here before we were washed away. We were then carried about 40 yards. The wave carried us both through this little gap between these two bungalows. All the time I was acutely aware of all the debris that the wave had picked up on its journey. Peter and I ended up actually down there in this field. And here are some of the tree trunks and other bits of debris that the wave carried with us. Fortunately, they missed us. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rooms filled up within 30 seconds, first of all, to about three foot. And then we all got out of the rooms. And then one of our friends has got a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but we couldn't get out of the room. And he woke up and was asleep on his bed lying and woke up in water. We had to throw the TV threw the window to climb out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You turned around and all of a sudden there was about a 25- or a 30-foot wall of water rushing towards you, probably at about 40 miles an hour. And you had little time to try and get to higher ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having stood in the water and literally within two seconds from ankle height it came to shoulder height. You usually imagine tidal waves much like those you see in the movies, the big crescent wave. The waves that hit Phuket -- and certainly from the reports I've had from other resorts -- they all came in very hard and fast. It was a bit like watching a bath run to the top.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a terrible roaring rose. And we looked through the glass doors and this torrent of mighty water just came down the steps and through the doors. And washed me away (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The glass doors were it washed me away into a playroom and glass doors were smashed by the water. And I just couldn't keep my footing. I was very frightened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was this hut and we heard a little girl crying. All we heard was her whimpering. So we went in there and dragged her out. She ended up going to the hospital. And we just found out today that she didn't make it, either. But four others in that hut, all of them perished yesterday. And this was a small village, about 800 people, and we lost five right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children are less able to run away from this kind of a flood. They're less able to hang onto a tree. They're less able to swim for their lives. And so we're afraid that, in fact, children were disproportionately affected, especially those who were caught in the raging torrents.

JEFF EKKELKAMP: I'm searching for my mother, Ria Ekkelkamp. She's from Holland. She's 53 years old. She's missing from the Khao Lak's Merlin Beach Resort. We have still hope and we are not going to leave without her, strange, but dead or alive, we have to find her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had three false alarms already. Last night we found someone on Khao Lak who was called Piers Symon. That was spelt with a Y rather than I in the surname. And when we managed to track him down at about midnight, it was someone completely different from England who was on holiday. So you have lots of leads which you follow and you get excited and then you'll find some information which sort of takes you off of that trail.

But you have to remain positive. You know, miracles do happen. And if you start to believe that the worst has happened, you start to crumble. So you just remain positive all the time. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was horrible. It sounded like a jet engine just right maybe five feet behind you. People screaming as maybe the water hit them. It was trees cracking, houses exploding. It was just so horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the water in the middle of the sea and I didn't have anything with me. My bag was gone, washed off in the water. I had only my top on. I just -- so I started swimming. I have the God-given gift of swimming. I have to swim. I started swimming with lots and lots of hope that I might find somebody, my father, that my family might be waiting for me in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I still have hopes that my parents are alive searching for me in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I am all right, papa, mama. Please come back again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then it came in again. I could hear my wife scream. I knew where she was. And I was hiding behind a wall. And I went around to get her. And then just all hell broke loose. And that was the last time I saw her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I was at work when some people came to me and told me that huge waves were lashing the shore and my family was in danger. I rushed home and managed to rescue my mother. I took her to the hospital. By the time I returned, I realized my daughter was missing. I looked up hospitals for her but could not find her. After three days, I found her body in the debris of my house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We left paradise. It was a beautiful island and we came back to just hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We never felt that it was a tsunami. It was a big tide. They had big tides there every day. Well, it came and went and everybody calmed down and came back to look at the damage, find their loved ones. That's when the second wave came.

An elderly lady was stuck in the side of a balcony and she was lying in the water on her back with her head just barely above water. Chairs and benches and all sorts of junk were piling up on her and crushing her. Her elderly husband couldn't help her, but two other guys came running up and five of us pulled her out of there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of panic. You know, a lot of people were hysterical. A lot of the children were grabbing hold of me and people around, and like a lot of the mothers of children who don't -- like there was one particular mother who had about three or four children around and obviously she didn't have enough arms to hold her children. She was imploring me to grab hold of her children and look after her children, which I did.

So I was trying to grab hold of as many people as possible, as well as secure myself when the second wave hit. There was like a sea of dead bodies, children and women mainly. And the majority of them were children. So I had to clear a path through the water by pushing these people away and heading as far inland as possible. So it was just a case of survival at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But to be here and see it sitting home and see it on the television. So we have to be here and see what we can do, if we can find her or figure out what happened to her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since it happened on (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I just stopped by the phone, you know, 24/7. I haven't heard from him. So, you know, I took the bull by the horns and am flying out tomorrow to Thailand myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have sent pictures out. There's posters all around the hospitals, you know? Everybody is trying their best.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many regions still untouched by medical hands. My personal opinion, having seen the destruction, is that the counts that have been given based on the body counts, only a small fraction of the final death toll, what it's likely to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps the biggest challenge now is the water and the sanitation and the emergency food and the emergency shelter for hundreds of thousands of homeless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We are trying to provide people what they require the most at this time, like food, utensils, water, clothing, et cetera.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all water and sanitation equipment -- water tanks, pumps, taps and latrine slabs. So basically toilet facilities. There's 27 tons going on the plane. And what it will do is bring clean water to at least 175,000 people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going our best here. We're collecting money. Yesterday, as well, we collected money from the temple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are bringing everything -- clothes, materials, and medicine, syringes, bandages, whatever there are needed, they are bringing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a huge operation, clearly. We're four days out from this event already. Bodies are lying unrefrigerated, deteriorating rapidly. The Thai authorities have done a quite excellent job, I think, in quite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. This would challenge the most developed country in the world, the scale of this problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The sea is like a mother, the land our father," he says. "We love the sea and respect it like God. But now we are wary. We are petrified," he says. "We wonder now, can we continue our livelihood on the high seas?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were so generous. They were missing goats. They were missing their families. And they brought up food and supplies and we all sort of camped out on top of this jungle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was speaking with people who have lost their homes and a number of fishermen that lost their livelihoods. And to be able to get on a plane and get away from it left me with a very unsettling feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were no villages left standing between Meulaboh and Chalan, which is about 100 kilometers north of Meulaboh. It's like a nuclear blast has hit the area. And it's completely leveled everything, except just for a few structures. We've seen nothing at all of the ones that were built out of wood and thatched roofs, and that constitutes probably the most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Entire families have been wiped away. Children have been separated from their parents. There are dead bodies all over. We are more worried about the people who are in the forest and are injured because no aid reached them yet. I hope the government can do something for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "My boat is somewhere out there," he says. "I don't know where my family is."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The water was rising and the sea was coming. We ran for our lives, but it caught us and the water almost came up to our necks. We managed to escape from the first wave, which destroyed our house. The second wave came and took us by surprise. There was just so much water I didn't know what to do.

When the second wave came, we were looking for our son. And my husband went out to search for him and found him in a tree. He rescued him and both of them were running for their lives. Later, my son was found alive, but my husband was missing. He had been drowned.

We don't know what to do next. Right now we don't have a source of income. We'll need to look for jobs, but they are scarce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): My main thoughts were about the people who died. Nothing was clear. We figured some had been taken to sea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I brought my friend here. They're dead. I don't have found their body. I have nothing but, nothing left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I saw him, it was really exciting for me. When you see what happened, you see the carnage and you realize that, how lucky we are as a family.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They called him the miracle boy. And today there was one more miracle waiting for little Hannes Bergstroem. His father. The 20-month-old was separated from his parents when the tsunami hit Phuket. An American family found him unconscious, wrapped in blankets at the top of a hill. No one knew if he'd even survive. But he did. His father, recovering from his injuries in another hospital, wondered if he'd ever see his little boy again. His prayers were answered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was frightened. I did not think I would survive. The rescue team found my son in the main grove, not me. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had to let go of one of them. And I just thought I'd better let go of the one that's the oldest. And a lady grabbed hold of him for a moment, but she said that she had to let him go because she was going under. And I was screaming, trying to find him, and we thought he was dead.

I'm just so thankful that I've still got my two kids with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine that if you had just lost your entire worldly possessions and perhaps more -- parents, children -- that you would turn around and offer kindness. One man went down to the village or whatever was left of it, I don't know how he did it. And he brought up rice, and some of the best tasting rice we've ever had. And he didn't have to do that. I don't know why he did it. And I think it's a testament to the Thai people, the generosity of spirit, just a magical, magical group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We want to continue to bring you up to date on what's being done to help the people suffering after the major tsunami in South Asia. Among the groups heading to that region to assist with relief efforts are search and rescue teams from Virginia and California. The team members are well trained in disaster response, with experience in past disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes and even the 9/11 terror attacks.

CNN's Denise Belgrave has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The destruction left behind by massive tsunami waves in Southeast Asia gives pause to even the most experienced rescuers.

BATTALION CHIEF DEWEY PERKS, FAIRFAX COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE: No one's ever seen it to this magnitude before. BELGRAVE: Fairfax Fire and Rescue, an elite group with extensive disaster experience, is en route to the area to help. Six Fairfax County rescuers departed from Washington's Dulles Airport and they were joined by six colleagues from Los Angeles.

BATTALION CHIEF JIM POWERS, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We've trained extensively with Fairfax and we've learned a lot from Fairfax. And so this is our first time out of the chute. BELGRAVE: But the disaster has a very different focus for this group. PERKS: It is different from what we normally do with urban search and rescue. But it's all about humanitarian response and relief. BELGRAVE: The trademark search and rescue dogs are going to stay put for this one.

POWERS: We're just carrying what we've got on our back, which is basically assessment equipment. We've got cameras, we've got cell phones, satellite phones, computers, cameras, because our job is to assess the situation, see what is ongoing, actually relieve some assessment teams that are already in place. BELGRAVE: Both of these teams are exceptionally well trained to deal with this kind of a humanitarian relief effort. But they also have to deal with the emotional fallout from a disaster of this magnitude.

POWERS: At some point in time, we put our emotions on the back shelf and we need to function and do the job we were sent to do there. And then at some later date, then we can sit back and really realize what we've gone through and try to cope with that with our families and our friends and our churches. BELGRAVE: Medical team director Steven Chin says that making a difference is what keeps them all going.

STEVE CHIN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's made a difference that we're able to bring something good to help somebody somewhere and help actually the people in their own countries help themselves, really, is what it boils down to. BELGRAVE: Denise Belgrave, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: And please stay tuned to CNN for special tsunami coverage throughout the night, including our in depth coverage from the region.

I'm going to be back with a check of the headlines right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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