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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Jake Mazza; Winter Weather Batters California

Aired January 08, 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: Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Here's what's happening right now in the news.
Another winter storm is battering California and the Pacific Northwest with rain and snow. And there are avalanche warnings in some places. And up to 200 vehicles are stranded by snow in San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California. I've got full coverage coming up.

Indonesia now says 77,000 of its people are missing as a result of the tsunami, and that is more than 10 times the estimate it made yesterday. And it means the regional death toll is going to climb well above 155,000 people. In depth reports in 10 minutes.

And now, the military is admitting a coalition aircraft bombed the wrong house near Mosul, Iraq, killing five people and a family. A spokesman says it happened today during an operation to capture the leader of a rebel cell. A written statement expresses regrets for the loss of possibly innocent lives.

Good evening, I'm Carol Lin, and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. They are some of the most remote places hit by the tsunami and the pictures out of the region are sometimes difficult to watch. We admit that. What happened to everyone who lived in the area now called the Ghost Coast?

And what if a terrorist attack happened in your neighborhood? Would you know what to do? Well, tonight, in our CNN "Security Watch," a look at what every person should have ready in the event of an attack.

But right now, we are going to begin with the latest on that major snowstorm out of the west. More snow is blanketing the region today, causing white out conditions in some areas and stranding quite a number of people. Our correspondents are checking out all the news developments. Miguel Marquez is in San Bernardino County, just east of Los Angeles. Sean Callebs is in Tahoe City, in Northern California, and right now, our Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center. So let's begin with Miguel in Southern California.

Southern California is not used to this kind of snow.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's not very good out here at all. The rain is coming down opposite where we are. We're at the base of the San Bernardino National Forest and that's really where the story is taking off today. The San Bernardino Fire Department telling us that a nine mile strip of Highway 18, up in the National Forest, 100 to 200 cars are stuck in three to four feet of snow, and many of those motorists have been stuck there for much of the night. Crews saying that they don't have much choice but to go in by snow cat and then to dig their way in by hand to get to each and every car because the snow is so deep. It's very difficult for them to know exactly where the cars are and where they are backed up. Firefighters telling us that it appears that cars are backed up one after the other after the other, sort of a chain reaction that occurred all night long.

We talked to -- one couple tells us that they were there since 11 p.m. this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like, how long am I going to wait, how much food do I have, and I'm freezing, I'm shivering.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, are we going to freeze? Are we going to freeze?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, who's coming out to help us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now, they were there since 11:00 p.m. last night, of course.

We are now looking at a live picture of what's normally a dry river here, where the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Creek and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Creek washes normally come down, right near San Bernardino about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The National Weather Service telling us that they expect up to 15 inches in the mountains and the foothills where we are in Southern California. And so, you know, that's just about a record because the normal amount of rain for the year in Southern California, the average amount, is 15 inches. We are already up to 17 inches. And if they get to 15 inches in the foothills here, it's going to send that level probably up to somewhere near record levels.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: Right. And because those folks aren't used to the snow, it's an even bigger battle. So Miguel, what happens if, you know, those cars get backed up on the highway and there's a medical emergency. What if there's some woman out there ready to have a baby? How are they going to get to her?

MARQUEZ: Well, it's difficult to know. It's very slow going. They had a 911 call this morning from one of the cars where they were -- the motorist told the 911 operator they were having difficulty breathing. It's not clear if they were having a heart attack or if the snow was just piling up and they were having difficulty breathing in a car or if they were just panicking. But, apparently, it's not very easy going up there, that people are very cold in those cars. And it's not clear how quickly rescuers are going to be able to get to them. It's a nine mile area. It's a very rough area up there. It's a very mountainous area up there, so, it's going to be some time, it seems, before they can get to all of those cars and figure out who's in them and how they're doing -- Carol.

LIN: You're going to have some interesting stories to cover throughout this storm. Thanks very much, Miguel.

All right, we want to go to Northern California now. Snow plows are waging a battle to keep the roadways clear near Tahoe City on the California/Nevada border. It is a battle they are not always winning. Our Sean Callebs is there, where the snow has been steadier and getting much higher.

And look, I can hardly see you, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can imagine what people out here are dealing with. And right now, a gust of wind coming up. This is pretty good microcosm of what people in this area have had to deal with for the past 24 hours. It's 6:00 out East, 3:00 -- think about it, mid-afternoon out here. You can barely see. White out conditions, very dangerous too.

I also want to take you back to show you what's going on here where we are. This area, a plow went through about an hour ago. They cut all the way down the asphalt and you can see how much snow is built up just within the last hour.

And Carol, as you mentioned, it is just getting worse and worse and worse out here. Look at this building right here. The snow that has piled up on the roof, that is becoming a problem. A number of garages in this area, reports that they have already collapsed because of the weight. And with this winter storm warning in effect until 10:00 p.m. local time on Monday, it is going to get worse before it gets any better.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): Think of these as nature's yardsticks. Even to a mountain area accustomed to 200 inches of snowfall each year, this is extreme. Matt Daniels is used to clearing large snowfalls, but freely admits this job is a struggle even with his massive snowplow.

MATT DANIELS, SNOWPLOW CONTRACTOR: It's a great battle and we have a ball doing it. The big boy in a big toy.

CALLEBS: But it's dangerous behind the wheel for all other drivers. The deep drifts and the fresh snow have much of the Tahoe area on the California/Nevada line socked in. Fierce, gusting winds are blowing snow, causing dangerous white out conditions.

SGT. BILL LANGTON, PLACER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It's very difficult to see when everything turns white. And when the wind blows, the fresh, powdery snow around, it's very difficult to see. It comes times when you can't see much farther than your windshield wipers.

CALLEBS: Local authorities say a number of highways leading to the resort areas have been closed in part, because the roads aren't safe and, in part, because officials have been triggering controlled explosions in the mountains in an effort to alleviate the threat of an avalanche.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And really, Carol, that is another significant story going on here. Clearly, a very popular ski area. We've talked to a number of the resorts. One got 20 inches of snow at the base overnight, more than two feet half way up the mountain. It's going to be even higher. They haven't been able to get up there and gauge that. Crews, ski patrol will go out first thing in the morning and look at the areas that could be suspect. They do those controlled blasts and try to limit the danger from an avalanche. But with this snow coming down and down and down, it -- no telling how high it's going to get before this winter storm warning ends Monday. We could be here for a while, Carol.

LIN: You bet, and all those skiers who went up for the long weekend, even too much snow can be too much of a good thing for those ski resorts. Sean, you stay safe out there.

All right, it looks like this wild weather is going to last for a while. In fact, right there Sean Callebs was, not far from there, they're expecting six feet of snow overnight.

Well, now, we're going to move on to South Asia and the latest developments in the tsunami disaster. In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the U.S. Navy is part of an effort to get a desperately needed hospital up and running. A team of workers is cleaning out the muddy remains of the tsunamis from the building. And a United Nations official reports substantial progress in distributing aid to the survivors of the disaster. But, he says the biggest challenges still remaining Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan is seeing the devastation firsthand, now. He was in Sri Lanka today as part of his tour of the disaster area. The total death toll in South Asia -- and it continues to change -- but so far from the tsunamis, it stands now, more than 155,000 people dead. That figure is still expected to rise, especially with the number of dead found in Indonesia.

Now, almost two weeks after the deadly tsunamis, we are getting chilling, new images of what it looked like when they came ashore. For example, take a look at this. This is amateur video that was taken at a resort Thai island. And you can already see the people running away from the beach as they spot the water. Look at that. Now, massing on the horizon, and coming towards them, the sea then virtually swallows up the sand, the palm trees, the chairs, the umbrellas. Everything is gone in a split second. All of a sudden, the blue water turns this terrifying, muddy brown. It's a torrent that's carrying anything away in its path, and it rises right above to roof level of the resort bungalows. Incredibly, you can see later, this water is reversing direction. In just a moment, you're going to see it there up to the rooftops of those bungalows. And once it starts reversing direction, watch as it starts to suck everything back out to sea along with the debris it had just pushed inland.

I'm going to have Matthew Chance live in our 10:00 hour to talk about the amazing devastation there.

All right, now, it's reversing. There you see it. It's remarkable, the power of Mother Nature.

In the meantime, I was talking about Indonesia. Seventy-seven thousand people are now reported missing from the deadly tsunami. That is a dramatic increase from yesterday. When the health ministry announced just 6,700 people unaccounted for. Indonesian, U.S. and Australian soldiers have descending up on a badly damaged hospital in Banda Aceh. And their mission right now is to make it usable again, a truly challenging task as you're going see with CNN senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SENIOR ASIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cleaning up Banda Aceh's main hospital, Zimal Abudeen (ph). The tsunami was shoulder high when it reached here. It left the entire ground floor covered in thick, black mud. Patients never had a chance.

DR. BERNARD HANRAIAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY: The facility has really been completely devastated. When we got here, there were only the dead in the ward.

CHINOY: The bodies are gone now, but the muck remains. Almost everything needed to run a modern hospital is ruined. And frequent tropical downpours have turned the hospital grounds into a quagmire. In the past few days, though, the Indonesians, who have help from American and Australian soldiers, have managed to clear one small corner of the hospital. It's now able to handle around 20 patients.

(on camera): As makeshift as it is, the fact that this hospital is functioning at all represents progress. The only other two hospitals in Banda Aceh still in tact have been so overwhelmed, they stopped accepting patients days ago.

(voice-over): In a sticky room from which the mud has just been removed, 9-year-old Mufasa (ph) struggles for life. She has pneumonia and lacerations sustained during the tsunami. Nearby, anemic and malnourished is 8-month-old Reema (ph). She'd gone with virtually no food or water for days after the disaster until she got here.

Many of the patients have tetanus or pneumonia. This man just had a stroke. Dr. Sia Freeza (ph) is a Jakarta-based obstetrician who rushed to Acheh to help. He says the hospital needs everything.

"We don't have enough beds," he says. "We don't have enough clean water and we're short of certain specific drugs."

But help is on the way. The Germans, Pakistanis, Chinese and Singaporeans have sent medical teams. And the Australian army is opening a portable operating theater just outside the hospital's main entrance.

MAJ. PAUL VYLEVELD, AUSTRALIAN ARMY: This is assignment that military would do in war-like operations by simply set up a field hospital to deal with causalities.

CHINOY: In this muddy frontline, the battle to save lives is far from over.

Mike Chinoy, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: In a very different part of the world, the Middle East, Palestinians are prepared to make history. They are one day away from electing a successor to Yasser Arafat. A report from Ramallah, coming up.

Plus, dealing with disaster. Are Americans prepared? Well, straight ahead, how neighborhood activists are training to respond to tragedy.

And later, gadgets and gizmos, what's hot this year? We are going to take you live to Las Vegas for a peek at the Consumer Electronics Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It's the election eve in the Middle East, a critical election indeed. Palestinians are going to the polls tomorrow to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat who passed away. The voting will be closely watched by international observers as well as the Israelis who are just beginning to lift security restrictions to allow that election to happen. CNN's John Vause reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two one, Abu Mazen, No. 1.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even before the first vote is cast, there is little doubt that Abu Mazen, also known as Mahmoud Abbas, will win.

Murad Odea (ph) runs his father's jewelry store in Ramallah. Like most Palestinians, he's planning to vote for Mahmoud Abbas. It's because quite simply, he says, he's tired of the fighting, tired of the bloodshed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want peace. Me too. I want peace, you know? That's why I want to vote for Mazen. He is a nice guy.

VAUSE: But many Palestinians complain that Israel hasn't kept a promise to ease travel restrictions ahead of the polls. Around the West Bank, from Bethlehem to Nablus and to Ramallah, security was tight at Israeli checkpoints, with long lines of Palestinians waiting to pass.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: I really urge the Israeli government to honor its commitments, to withdraw and to remove the road blocks in order for us to have free and fair elections.

VAUSE: The Israelis say they never promised to remove checkpoints, but rather passage would be easier and in places, temporary road blocks had been cleared.

YIGAL PALMOR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY: We still need to control the movement of Palestinians into Israeli areas. So these road blocks, these major road blocks have not been removed.

VAUSE: But international observers warn that problems at checkpoints could bring into question the legitimacy of the election.

MARK STEPHENS, E.U. OBSERVER: If there are problems at checkpoints, some people cannot get to polling stations, then people are going to raise serious questions about the process.

VAUSE: And after an off duty Israeli soldier was killed by a militant outside Nablus on Friday, Israel says its forces may be sent into Palestinian towns and cities. That warning came by a former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, here as an official observer. He met with Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before visiting Yasser Arafat's tomb.

(on camera): Regardless of who wins the election, one thing is clear. It must be free, fair, and democratic if the next Palestinian leader is to have the credibility he'll need to restart peace negotiations with Israel.

John Vause, CNN, Ramallah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, American Secretary of State Colin Powell went to Africa and spoke out very frankly about a different, very deadly threat, and he's talking about AIDS. He was talking to a group of young people in Nairobi, Kenya about the disease that last year killed 150,000 Kenyans. That is 150,000 people in one country. The secretary of state said that people need to talk more frankly about AIDS, admit to themselves the number of people that it is killing in Africa and how it is transmitted, that would be transmitted sexually.

In the meantime, Senator John Kerry says he hopes his meeting today in Damascus with Syria's president will help improve relations between that country and the United States. The White House has accused Syria of letting insurgents cross into Iraq. Now, Syria is denying that. John Kerry is on a two-week tour of the region. The former Democratic presidential candidate will be in the West Bank for tomorrow's elections.

In the meantime, he's raised nearly $80,000 for tsunami victims and he's hoping to raise a lot more. You're looking at him. He's only 14 years old.

And just when you thought you'd heard and seen the worst, the stories of suffering only continue, but this time, they're going to really capture your heart even more so.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The sheer magnitude of last month's tsunami disaster has prompted a lot of people to take action, to try to raise money. But I talked with a very special 8th grader from Newton, Massachusetts. Jake Mazza, frankly, as a 14-year-old, he was pretty disappointed about the amount of money that some countries initially pledged to the disaster, so, he decided to do something about it. He's a special kid and his father happens to be very wealthy, a venture capitalist. This is what Jake had to tell me earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE MAZZA, RAISING MONEY FOR VICTIMS: I am an average kid my age, just an average kid with a very good idea.

LIN: Well, how did you -- how did you get the idea to tap into your father's friends?

MAZZA: Well, we thought -- we saw France had only raised -- had only originally donated $136,000 to the tsunami, and, I decided that I would try to raise just over that to 137,000. And I decided that 800 kids at my middle school wouldn't have as much money as 800 venture capitalists.

LIN: Which would be very true. So, what did you do? What did you do next?

MAZZA: Well, I raided my dad's e-mail list and phone numbers and I got their e-mails, and I sent it out to all of them. And when they got it, I was prepared to call a lot of them, and follow up on the e- mail I sent them, and ask them for a contribution.

LIN: What was their reaction when they found out that it wasn't their father who was actually e-mailing and calling, it was his 14- year-old son?

MAZZA: They were surprised. They usually compliment me on the idea and how well I'm doing. They usually like the idea. They think it's very good that I'm doing this for kids in Southeast Asia.

LIN: And this idea has really snowballed because so far you've raised, what? How much now?

MAZZA: Just under $80,000.

LIN: Pretty good. And in addition to that General Motors has gotten involved. What are they going to do to match what you raise?

MAZZA: Every 200,000 I raise, they will give a pickup truck worth about $60,000 to relief in Southeast Asia, and, they will give it to help carry supplies and other things.

LIN: Jake, it sounds like you not only have a big heart, but you might be cut out to be a pretty good business person someday.

MAZZA: Well, yes, that is possibly what I want to be when I grow up. I'd also -- might want to be a soccer player or a criminal lawyer.

LIN: Well, right now, you're being a big help to the people who need it the most. Thanks very much, Jake. Good luck with the project.

MAZZA: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Jake is well under way, $80,000, smart kid. By the way, he had permission from his dad to raid his e-mail list.

In the meantime, we're going to be talking about preparing for the unthinkable right here in the United States. How ready do you think you are or any of the Americans you know if a disaster were actually to strike right here at home? Well, some residents of the nation's capital are thinking straight ahead, so, we're going to show you how.

Plus, seeing the devastation firsthand. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is touring South Asia.

And five years after two girls disappeared, a jailed man tells officials where their bodies might be found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, as I promised you earlier, we are going to keep on top of all this breaking news related to the extreme weather that we're experiencing right here in the United States. Right now, one of the big anxieties out west, because they're getting so much snow is avalanches. California officials are trying to control tons of snow from crashing down the mountain slopes by setting off explosions. That is very dangerous work. Our Jason Bellini is live right now via videophone in South Tahoe City, California, with more -- Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. I decided to go where it's warm. I'm in the Alpina Coffee House. I've been talking to some would-be skiers and is ay would-be because they'd like to be on the mountains, some of them, but the roads to these mountains are closed and the reason for that, one of the big reasons, is avalanche danger. Snow, too much of a good thing in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See that little flash? How'd you like that?

BELLINI (voice-over): Bob Davis, a supervisor with the California Transit Agency has remote controlled cannons blasting Highway 89's avalanche zones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have our normal -- we have our normal crew. And it shakes you pretty good, doesn't it?

BELLINI: With perfect avalanche conditions in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, vast stretches of roads connecting cities and towns here are closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're just trying to do our job and keep the roads open and safe. And sometimes it's a little more than we can keep up with, but we're doing the best we can with what we have.

BELLINI: What they have are snow blowers slowly clearing away mini avalanches.

(on camera): I'm standing in the middle of the road. And you can see how high the snow has gotten from the controlled avalanche that came off the ridge right up there. All along this road are ridges where snow, this thick, heavy snow is really piling up. They have to do these controlled avalanches otherwise; they could have snow banks like this coming down on cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's four slide zones in there.

BELLINI (voice-over): Davis says it's been years since he's seen a storm this fierce, this immobilizing. He's doing the best he can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELLINI: Carol, many people here in the coffee house are saying that they haven't seen a storm like this in years in this area. So they're staying in, staying warm, out of the cold and snow -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much, Jason. Lucky for them, they get to stay inside. I know you are probably going to hit the road once again and find another great story. Jason Belinni, live in Tahoe City.

Well, the United Nations says relief supplies should reach everyone in Sri Lanka by the end of the weekend. When aid workers arrive in many of the countries hard hit villages, they will likely see many tsunami survivors in a state of shock, all with their own stories of suffering. All are almost beyond belief. Bill Neely has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This coast will forever be haunted by the tens of thousands who died here. Even in death, they have no peace. Ghost towns pepper the coast, their populations dead or gone. Cut off now by the broken roads and the sea that took their people. This is a ghost coast, haunted by water.

Along it, today, the Royal Navy searched for bridges and roads to repair. A quick look was enough. There are hundreds to choose from. And even with a hundred men, they can't do much. There will be no bright new dawns on this coast. The berived and the broken are everywhere. This woman lost all her children, four of them. But the dying isn't done. The man they're burying swallowed so much water he couldn't breathe properly and died overnight after 12 days of suffering. They buried him in the sand, facing away from the sea that killed him.

The coastal hospitals are full and there may be more deaths. Hamid (ph) was eight days old when he, too, filled up with sea water. Habiba (ph) lost three of her children. She has one boy left but Abdul has been brain damaged by the disaster. The doctors say he'll die and aren't treating him anymore. This 4-month-old boy was found bruised in the debris. No one knows who he is, but five couples say he's their child. So much loss, so much desperation on this coast.

DR. KOPAL MUHUNTHAN: The only answer to these problems is to scientifically prove that this is their baby by doing some genetic -- studying their genes.

NEELY: Many hospitals are destroyed. Medical aid is getting through but, like the food and water, it's slow in coming, even as the world's donations multiple.

JONG WOOK LEE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The attention of the world is focused on this issue, and also, the people will watch how this money will be used.

NEELY: But in some places on this coast, there's nowhere left to deliver aid to, and few alive to get it.

(on camera): This was a world turned upside down in seconds that will stay like this for years because it's like this for hundreds of miles. Boats in the main street, bodies in the rubble left to rot. An unnatural world that will never be rebuilt as it was.

(voice-over): A world turned upside down where boys do the work of their dead fathers or stare as the mass graves that hold their parents. He's lost his family of five. But everyone here has his own private hell. They stare at the wreck of their lives. No one, no donation can ever replace their loss on this haunted shore.

Bill Neely, ITV News, on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: As we've promised, how you can prepare for a disaster. Some Washington, D.C. area residents are preparing for an event they hope will never happen. They've spent today how to mobilize their neighborhoods in case of a natural disaster or even a terrorist attack. CNN's Gary Nuremberg is in Washington bureau with more details.

Gary, that must have been very interesting. GARY NUREMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was, Carol. You know a lot of attention is paid to first responders, the fire fighters and police who rush to the scene of a disaster to provide immediate help. But when they can't get through, it's a different ball game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to sit there for three seconds, make sure you put one foot out.

NUREMBERG (voice-over): Getting ready for her basketball game with tips from her father, Zena (ph) Peterson knows preparedness is key. Her dad has tried to prepare the family for an emergency like a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

TODD PETERSON, NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: You know what are the phone numbers, what's the quickest route to a hospital.

NUREMBERG (on camera): You think you're ready?

PETERSON: No, I don't. I think that there's -- you know some of the things you hear about now that could happen, I don't know how we would react.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a massive power outage, all of D.C., Maryland.

NUREMBERG (voice-over): Peterson's neighborhood rehearsed community disaster response this weekend, running through possible scenarios...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're expecting the wind chills to be down between 15 and 25 below.

NUREMBERG: ...and charting neighborhood response.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need a local map. We need a first aid kit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's alone? Who has a caretaker?

NUREMBERG (on camera): The people at today's exercise are, by definition, activists who are making a conscious effort to be prepared. But, as they think about their communities, it often means a recognition that many of their neighbors won't be prepared.

(voice-over): That's where neighbors like Sally McDonald come in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seemed to collapse during the shaker.

(voice-over): When earthquakes taught California emergency responders that fire trucks and rescue vehicles sometimes can't get through the rubble, local residents were trained in community response, what to do, how to organize while official help is on the way. McDonald has had that training in D.C. and has her emergency kit with special tools ready to go when the neighborhood needs her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It shuts off the gas. It shuts off the water. You can you break windows with it. You can pry open things with it.

NUREMBERG: Neighbor, Samantha Nolan, has an emergency kit customized to the needs of her family.

SAMANTHA NOLAN, DISASTER DRILL PARTICIPANT: If you have children in the house, they're going to be bored. So they don't always talk about this, but I always keep games and cards and other entertainment for kids.

NUREMBERG: Neighborhood planning here is hard to avoid.

CAROL ZACHARY, DISASTER DRILL PARTICIPANT: When they come to honor our postman to my house in three weeks, I'm already gathering a list of things that we better do as a neighborhood to make sure that we are all in touch and we're all prepared. I've already got it planned.

NUREMBERG: And having a plan, they hope, will help the next time disaster does strike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NUREMBERG: The D.C. government is trying a number of things to try to get neighborhoods ready for disasters or terrorism, among them, a text messaging service that provides updated information to anyone who signs up. Neighborhood planners said that, Carol, is invaluable.

LIN: You get, Gary. Thank you very much. You got us all thinking about what to do just in case. Thank you.

Stay tuned, of course, to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

All right, now on to other matters about security. A tip from a murder suspect could end years of uncertainly for an Oklahoma family. Authorities believe a man in jail in Alabama charged with two murders in two states could hold the key to more crimes and he's talking. Our Sara Dorsey has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oklahoma investigators have a new place to look for the bodies of 16-year-old Ashley Freeman and Laura Bible. The latest tip coming from a man already behind bars. Against his lawyer's wishes, 31-year-old Jeremy Jones, charged with two murders in Alabama and Georgia, has told investigators to look in a mine shaft. This after the girls went missing from his home state of Oklahoma in 1999. It's a tip the families hope will bring some closure.

LORENE BIBLE, LAURA BIBLE'S MOTHER: I pray this is it, you know. And, you ask me that how can you pray that your child may be dead. Well, if that's what I have to face, a reality whether it's now or five years more down the road, is still going to -- the end result is going to be the same.

DORSEY: The girls were discovered missing at the same time that the bodies of Freeman's parents were found shot to death and burned in their mobile home. Jones was named as a person of interest in that case. Up until now, investigators said they have exhausted all other leads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt, we want to put an end to it, and for the families, who I know personally, you know, we want to give them some relief.

DORSEY: Another possibility all connected to a man charged with a similar crime in Alabama. Jones is currently in jail there, charged with the murder of Lisa Nickels, who was also shot to death and her home set ablaze. Jones is also charged in Georgia with the death of Amanda Greenwell. She was Jones' neighbor.

(on camera): Jones' lawyer told CNN his client maintains his innocence, but did confirm Jones told authorities where they could look for the bodies of the missing girls and said Jones knew them and where they lived. The Craig County sheriff's office is planning on releasing a statement next week with details regarding the search.

Sara Dorsey, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And in other news across America, Chicago police are searching for a gunman who killed at least two people and wounded five others in a nightclub. Officers say shooting started early this morning when the club refused to admit four private party goers to its first floor because it was closing.

Chicago-based Tribune Media Services is no longer distributing Armstrong Williams' column. And the National Association of Black Journalists is calling on all broadcast and print media to drop him. The conservative black commentator has confirmed he took taxpayer money to promote the Bush administration's education agenda.

Even as Democrat Christine Gregoire prepares for her inauguration as governor of Washington State Wednesday, Republican, Dino Rossi, says he is going to seek a revote. A hand recount gave Gregoire a razor thin 129-vote victory. Rossi argues thousands of votes could not be matched to voters.

Newt Gingrich for president? The Republican former House speaker plans to tour Iowa and New Hampshire to promote his new book criticizing President Bush's Iraqi policies. He tells the Associated Press a run for the White House in 2008 is possible.

Well, they say they're still friends, but Hollywood power couple, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are calling it quits. More on this super star separation straight ahead.

And...

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: I'm technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Coming up, we're going to have some of the hottest gadgets here on the show floor. And believe me, there are a lot of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Las Vegas is packed this weekend with the latest in electronic gadgets and people who crave them. The Consumer Electronics Show ends tomorrow. CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins me now with a look at some of the newer products.

Daniel, what's on the horizon? How's this going to change our lives?

SIEBERG: Well, Carol, there are a lot of ways it could change your lives and we've got a few of them here. It turns out, when you get about 2,000 companies together; there are a lot of gadgets in a very large amount of space. So here to join us to help sort through some of this is Tom Merritt from CNET.

And Tom, we're talking about CNET's next big ideas. Is that the name?

TOM MERRITT, CNET: Yes, the next big thing awards was our intent to go through the show floor and find the products that are most likely to exemplify the biggest, new trends of the coming year.

SIEBERG: All right. Now everywhere we go on the show floor, there seems to be another flat screen monitor. There's plasma, LCD, but now we have to add another acronym, DLP.

MERRITT: Yes, DLP stands for digital light processing and it's a lamp-based technology that gives you a brighter picture than you would see from an LCD. It's not as bright as plasma but it has a better resolution. In fact, the winner of our best in show is the Samsung 67-inch DLP TV. It has 1,080 P resolution, which basically just means you get all the pixels, all the resolution. It's the best picture we've seen.

SIEBERG: All right. Now, of course, everybody is hoping for the prices to come down, but -- you know, one day. Back here, speaking of images and resolution, the Kodak Easy Share camera. What's so unique about this?

MERRITT: The -- yes, Kodak's been really emphasizing their friendly technology, getting the pictures out of your camera. But they've really done one step better than everybody else by adding wireless technology. This little antenna here opens up and this camera can actually e-mail pictures to people from the camera without connecting it to anything. So can you go to a coffee shop, sit down and get a wireless connection to a Starbucks and e-mail away.

SIEBERG: All right, saves you some time. Now, speaking of on the go, Ibicuity. What's new with this one? MERRITT: Ibicuity Digital Corporation has announced an HD radio. So you've heard of HD TV, well, this is digital radio. And this is competition for SMITH: Radio and Cyrious (ph), the satellite radio providers. It gives you a higher quality radio signal in your regular -- from your regular stations that you're familiar with. So they're claiming AM radio would sound like FM, and FM radio would sound like CD. They're going to have 2,500 stations on board within the next two years and they'll have around 80 receivers coming out in cars that you buy.

SIEBERG: All right, we have just a few seconds left so we can squeeze in the sling box. Now, this is interesting. Not very glamorous but it...

MERRITT: No, it's not all that pretty, but it's fun. You plug this into your entertainment system and to your home computer network, and you can actually access your TV programs from your DVR anywhere you go on the road, view them over your lap top.

SIEBERG: Very handy. Well, Tom Merritt, thank you so much for helping us out, from CNET. We will be keeping an eye on all these technologies. A lot of sneak previews here at the show, Carol, so you sort of have to wait for them to come out in stores a lot of the times.

LIN: You bet. And for those of us who think a microwave oven is pretty high tech, Daniel...

SIEBERG: They're pretty high tech. They're pretty high tech.

LIN: Yes, I guess if you break it down. Thanks so much, Daniel. Have fun out there.

SIEBERG: Thanks.

LIN: Straight ahead tonight, the Pitts are calling it quits. Why? Will Hollywood's most beautiful couple decide to go their separate ways? But first, here's Mark Shields to tell us what's ahead on "THE CAPITAL GANG."

Hi, Mark.

MARK SHIELDS, CO-HOST, "THE CAPITAL GANG": Hey, Carol. Carol, we'll look at the tsunami disaster, and what the rest of the U.S. -- of the world and the U.S. are doing about it, the confirmation hearings of Alberto Gonzalez, plus, CNN's Mike Chinoy reporting directly from Indonesia. All that and much more, right here, next, on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, it's the end for one of Hollywood's most storybook romances. In a prepared statement, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston announced they've separated after a romance that was glamorous even by Hollywood standards. CNN's Brooke Anderson has the story and reaction from fans. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): News about the breakup of Hollywood's most beautiful couple left fans surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad Brad's single.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's kind of interesting. I thought they were probably the coolest couple in Hollywood, so I'm a little surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked. That's awful.

ANDERSON: In a joint statement Friday evening, Hollywood power couple, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, announced that they are formally separating. The couple met in 1998 when they were set up by their agents on a dinner date, keeping their relationship a secret for months. They eventually wed in July of 2000 in an elaborate ceremony at the Malibu home of television executive Marcy Carsey (ph).

It wasn't long before tabloid reports predicted the couple's demise. Eyebrows were first raised in 2003 when Aniston forgot to thank her husband during her Golden Globe acceptance speech for her work in "Friends." Last summer, some linked Pitt to Angelina Jolie, his co-star in the upcoming "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Others cited Aniston's reluctance to start a family as the reason for their marital tension. Speculation peaked after reports that Aniston canceled her husband's 41st birthday plans. Shortly afterwards, she was photographed not wearing her wedding ring at Los Angeles International Airport.

In their statement, the couple said their split was amicable -- quote -- "Our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another."

The couple co-own a production company called Plan B Entertainment whose production credits include "Troy." And now it appears that both Pitt and Aniston will be seeking a Plan B for their love lives as well.

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We're going to have more on this at our prime time show at 10:00.

That's all the time we have for this hour though. Coming up next, "THE CAPITAL GANG." And then at 8:00 Eastern, a special report, "SAVING THE CHILDREN." And at 9:00, Larry King and his guests tonight, former Presidents Bush and Clinton. And I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern tonight. What is really behind the Pitt/Aniston split. Well, tonight's guest, "Entertainment Tonight's" Kevin Frazier says he knows.

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 8, 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: Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Here's what's happening right now in the news.
Another winter storm is battering California and the Pacific Northwest with rain and snow. And there are avalanche warnings in some places. And up to 200 vehicles are stranded by snow in San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California. I've got full coverage coming up.

Indonesia now says 77,000 of its people are missing as a result of the tsunami, and that is more than 10 times the estimate it made yesterday. And it means the regional death toll is going to climb well above 155,000 people. In depth reports in 10 minutes.

And now, the military is admitting a coalition aircraft bombed the wrong house near Mosul, Iraq, killing five people and a family. A spokesman says it happened today during an operation to capture the leader of a rebel cell. A written statement expresses regrets for the loss of possibly innocent lives.

Good evening, I'm Carol Lin, and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. They are some of the most remote places hit by the tsunami and the pictures out of the region are sometimes difficult to watch. We admit that. What happened to everyone who lived in the area now called the Ghost Coast?

And what if a terrorist attack happened in your neighborhood? Would you know what to do? Well, tonight, in our CNN "Security Watch," a look at what every person should have ready in the event of an attack.

But right now, we are going to begin with the latest on that major snowstorm out of the west. More snow is blanketing the region today, causing white out conditions in some areas and stranding quite a number of people. Our correspondents are checking out all the news developments. Miguel Marquez is in San Bernardino County, just east of Los Angeles. Sean Callebs is in Tahoe City, in Northern California, and right now, our Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center. So let's begin with Miguel in Southern California.

Southern California is not used to this kind of snow.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's not very good out here at all. The rain is coming down opposite where we are. We're at the base of the San Bernardino National Forest and that's really where the story is taking off today. The San Bernardino Fire Department telling us that a nine mile strip of Highway 18, up in the National Forest, 100 to 200 cars are stuck in three to four feet of snow, and many of those motorists have been stuck there for much of the night. Crews saying that they don't have much choice but to go in by snow cat and then to dig their way in by hand to get to each and every car because the snow is so deep. It's very difficult for them to know exactly where the cars are and where they are backed up. Firefighters telling us that it appears that cars are backed up one after the other after the other, sort of a chain reaction that occurred all night long.

We talked to -- one couple tells us that they were there since 11 p.m. this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like, how long am I going to wait, how much food do I have, and I'm freezing, I'm shivering.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, are we going to freeze? Are we going to freeze?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, who's coming out to help us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now, they were there since 11:00 p.m. last night, of course.

We are now looking at a live picture of what's normally a dry river here, where the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Creek and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Creek washes normally come down, right near San Bernardino about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The National Weather Service telling us that they expect up to 15 inches in the mountains and the foothills where we are in Southern California. And so, you know, that's just about a record because the normal amount of rain for the year in Southern California, the average amount, is 15 inches. We are already up to 17 inches. And if they get to 15 inches in the foothills here, it's going to send that level probably up to somewhere near record levels.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: Right. And because those folks aren't used to the snow, it's an even bigger battle. So Miguel, what happens if, you know, those cars get backed up on the highway and there's a medical emergency. What if there's some woman out there ready to have a baby? How are they going to get to her?

MARQUEZ: Well, it's difficult to know. It's very slow going. They had a 911 call this morning from one of the cars where they were -- the motorist told the 911 operator they were having difficulty breathing. It's not clear if they were having a heart attack or if the snow was just piling up and they were having difficulty breathing in a car or if they were just panicking. But, apparently, it's not very easy going up there, that people are very cold in those cars. And it's not clear how quickly rescuers are going to be able to get to them. It's a nine mile area. It's a very rough area up there. It's a very mountainous area up there, so, it's going to be some time, it seems, before they can get to all of those cars and figure out who's in them and how they're doing -- Carol.

LIN: You're going to have some interesting stories to cover throughout this storm. Thanks very much, Miguel.

All right, we want to go to Northern California now. Snow plows are waging a battle to keep the roadways clear near Tahoe City on the California/Nevada border. It is a battle they are not always winning. Our Sean Callebs is there, where the snow has been steadier and getting much higher.

And look, I can hardly see you, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can imagine what people out here are dealing with. And right now, a gust of wind coming up. This is pretty good microcosm of what people in this area have had to deal with for the past 24 hours. It's 6:00 out East, 3:00 -- think about it, mid-afternoon out here. You can barely see. White out conditions, very dangerous too.

I also want to take you back to show you what's going on here where we are. This area, a plow went through about an hour ago. They cut all the way down the asphalt and you can see how much snow is built up just within the last hour.

And Carol, as you mentioned, it is just getting worse and worse and worse out here. Look at this building right here. The snow that has piled up on the roof, that is becoming a problem. A number of garages in this area, reports that they have already collapsed because of the weight. And with this winter storm warning in effect until 10:00 p.m. local time on Monday, it is going to get worse before it gets any better.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): Think of these as nature's yardsticks. Even to a mountain area accustomed to 200 inches of snowfall each year, this is extreme. Matt Daniels is used to clearing large snowfalls, but freely admits this job is a struggle even with his massive snowplow.

MATT DANIELS, SNOWPLOW CONTRACTOR: It's a great battle and we have a ball doing it. The big boy in a big toy.

CALLEBS: But it's dangerous behind the wheel for all other drivers. The deep drifts and the fresh snow have much of the Tahoe area on the California/Nevada line socked in. Fierce, gusting winds are blowing snow, causing dangerous white out conditions.

SGT. BILL LANGTON, PLACER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It's very difficult to see when everything turns white. And when the wind blows, the fresh, powdery snow around, it's very difficult to see. It comes times when you can't see much farther than your windshield wipers.

CALLEBS: Local authorities say a number of highways leading to the resort areas have been closed in part, because the roads aren't safe and, in part, because officials have been triggering controlled explosions in the mountains in an effort to alleviate the threat of an avalanche.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And really, Carol, that is another significant story going on here. Clearly, a very popular ski area. We've talked to a number of the resorts. One got 20 inches of snow at the base overnight, more than two feet half way up the mountain. It's going to be even higher. They haven't been able to get up there and gauge that. Crews, ski patrol will go out first thing in the morning and look at the areas that could be suspect. They do those controlled blasts and try to limit the danger from an avalanche. But with this snow coming down and down and down, it -- no telling how high it's going to get before this winter storm warning ends Monday. We could be here for a while, Carol.

LIN: You bet, and all those skiers who went up for the long weekend, even too much snow can be too much of a good thing for those ski resorts. Sean, you stay safe out there.

All right, it looks like this wild weather is going to last for a while. In fact, right there Sean Callebs was, not far from there, they're expecting six feet of snow overnight.

Well, now, we're going to move on to South Asia and the latest developments in the tsunami disaster. In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the U.S. Navy is part of an effort to get a desperately needed hospital up and running. A team of workers is cleaning out the muddy remains of the tsunamis from the building. And a United Nations official reports substantial progress in distributing aid to the survivors of the disaster. But, he says the biggest challenges still remaining Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan is seeing the devastation firsthand, now. He was in Sri Lanka today as part of his tour of the disaster area. The total death toll in South Asia -- and it continues to change -- but so far from the tsunamis, it stands now, more than 155,000 people dead. That figure is still expected to rise, especially with the number of dead found in Indonesia.

Now, almost two weeks after the deadly tsunamis, we are getting chilling, new images of what it looked like when they came ashore. For example, take a look at this. This is amateur video that was taken at a resort Thai island. And you can already see the people running away from the beach as they spot the water. Look at that. Now, massing on the horizon, and coming towards them, the sea then virtually swallows up the sand, the palm trees, the chairs, the umbrellas. Everything is gone in a split second. All of a sudden, the blue water turns this terrifying, muddy brown. It's a torrent that's carrying anything away in its path, and it rises right above to roof level of the resort bungalows. Incredibly, you can see later, this water is reversing direction. In just a moment, you're going to see it there up to the rooftops of those bungalows. And once it starts reversing direction, watch as it starts to suck everything back out to sea along with the debris it had just pushed inland.

I'm going to have Matthew Chance live in our 10:00 hour to talk about the amazing devastation there.

All right, now, it's reversing. There you see it. It's remarkable, the power of Mother Nature.

In the meantime, I was talking about Indonesia. Seventy-seven thousand people are now reported missing from the deadly tsunami. That is a dramatic increase from yesterday. When the health ministry announced just 6,700 people unaccounted for. Indonesian, U.S. and Australian soldiers have descending up on a badly damaged hospital in Banda Aceh. And their mission right now is to make it usable again, a truly challenging task as you're going see with CNN senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SENIOR ASIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cleaning up Banda Aceh's main hospital, Zimal Abudeen (ph). The tsunami was shoulder high when it reached here. It left the entire ground floor covered in thick, black mud. Patients never had a chance.

DR. BERNARD HANRAIAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY: The facility has really been completely devastated. When we got here, there were only the dead in the ward.

CHINOY: The bodies are gone now, but the muck remains. Almost everything needed to run a modern hospital is ruined. And frequent tropical downpours have turned the hospital grounds into a quagmire. In the past few days, though, the Indonesians, who have help from American and Australian soldiers, have managed to clear one small corner of the hospital. It's now able to handle around 20 patients.

(on camera): As makeshift as it is, the fact that this hospital is functioning at all represents progress. The only other two hospitals in Banda Aceh still in tact have been so overwhelmed, they stopped accepting patients days ago.

(voice-over): In a sticky room from which the mud has just been removed, 9-year-old Mufasa (ph) struggles for life. She has pneumonia and lacerations sustained during the tsunami. Nearby, anemic and malnourished is 8-month-old Reema (ph). She'd gone with virtually no food or water for days after the disaster until she got here.

Many of the patients have tetanus or pneumonia. This man just had a stroke. Dr. Sia Freeza (ph) is a Jakarta-based obstetrician who rushed to Acheh to help. He says the hospital needs everything.

"We don't have enough beds," he says. "We don't have enough clean water and we're short of certain specific drugs."

But help is on the way. The Germans, Pakistanis, Chinese and Singaporeans have sent medical teams. And the Australian army is opening a portable operating theater just outside the hospital's main entrance.

MAJ. PAUL VYLEVELD, AUSTRALIAN ARMY: This is assignment that military would do in war-like operations by simply set up a field hospital to deal with causalities.

CHINOY: In this muddy frontline, the battle to save lives is far from over.

Mike Chinoy, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: In a very different part of the world, the Middle East, Palestinians are prepared to make history. They are one day away from electing a successor to Yasser Arafat. A report from Ramallah, coming up.

Plus, dealing with disaster. Are Americans prepared? Well, straight ahead, how neighborhood activists are training to respond to tragedy.

And later, gadgets and gizmos, what's hot this year? We are going to take you live to Las Vegas for a peek at the Consumer Electronics Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It's the election eve in the Middle East, a critical election indeed. Palestinians are going to the polls tomorrow to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat who passed away. The voting will be closely watched by international observers as well as the Israelis who are just beginning to lift security restrictions to allow that election to happen. CNN's John Vause reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two one, Abu Mazen, No. 1.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even before the first vote is cast, there is little doubt that Abu Mazen, also known as Mahmoud Abbas, will win.

Murad Odea (ph) runs his father's jewelry store in Ramallah. Like most Palestinians, he's planning to vote for Mahmoud Abbas. It's because quite simply, he says, he's tired of the fighting, tired of the bloodshed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want peace. Me too. I want peace, you know? That's why I want to vote for Mazen. He is a nice guy.

VAUSE: But many Palestinians complain that Israel hasn't kept a promise to ease travel restrictions ahead of the polls. Around the West Bank, from Bethlehem to Nablus and to Ramallah, security was tight at Israeli checkpoints, with long lines of Palestinians waiting to pass.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: I really urge the Israeli government to honor its commitments, to withdraw and to remove the road blocks in order for us to have free and fair elections.

VAUSE: The Israelis say they never promised to remove checkpoints, but rather passage would be easier and in places, temporary road blocks had been cleared.

YIGAL PALMOR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY: We still need to control the movement of Palestinians into Israeli areas. So these road blocks, these major road blocks have not been removed.

VAUSE: But international observers warn that problems at checkpoints could bring into question the legitimacy of the election.

MARK STEPHENS, E.U. OBSERVER: If there are problems at checkpoints, some people cannot get to polling stations, then people are going to raise serious questions about the process.

VAUSE: And after an off duty Israeli soldier was killed by a militant outside Nablus on Friday, Israel says its forces may be sent into Palestinian towns and cities. That warning came by a former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, here as an official observer. He met with Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before visiting Yasser Arafat's tomb.

(on camera): Regardless of who wins the election, one thing is clear. It must be free, fair, and democratic if the next Palestinian leader is to have the credibility he'll need to restart peace negotiations with Israel.

John Vause, CNN, Ramallah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, American Secretary of State Colin Powell went to Africa and spoke out very frankly about a different, very deadly threat, and he's talking about AIDS. He was talking to a group of young people in Nairobi, Kenya about the disease that last year killed 150,000 Kenyans. That is 150,000 people in one country. The secretary of state said that people need to talk more frankly about AIDS, admit to themselves the number of people that it is killing in Africa and how it is transmitted, that would be transmitted sexually.

In the meantime, Senator John Kerry says he hopes his meeting today in Damascus with Syria's president will help improve relations between that country and the United States. The White House has accused Syria of letting insurgents cross into Iraq. Now, Syria is denying that. John Kerry is on a two-week tour of the region. The former Democratic presidential candidate will be in the West Bank for tomorrow's elections.

In the meantime, he's raised nearly $80,000 for tsunami victims and he's hoping to raise a lot more. You're looking at him. He's only 14 years old.

And just when you thought you'd heard and seen the worst, the stories of suffering only continue, but this time, they're going to really capture your heart even more so.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The sheer magnitude of last month's tsunami disaster has prompted a lot of people to take action, to try to raise money. But I talked with a very special 8th grader from Newton, Massachusetts. Jake Mazza, frankly, as a 14-year-old, he was pretty disappointed about the amount of money that some countries initially pledged to the disaster, so, he decided to do something about it. He's a special kid and his father happens to be very wealthy, a venture capitalist. This is what Jake had to tell me earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE MAZZA, RAISING MONEY FOR VICTIMS: I am an average kid my age, just an average kid with a very good idea.

LIN: Well, how did you -- how did you get the idea to tap into your father's friends?

MAZZA: Well, we thought -- we saw France had only raised -- had only originally donated $136,000 to the tsunami, and, I decided that I would try to raise just over that to 137,000. And I decided that 800 kids at my middle school wouldn't have as much money as 800 venture capitalists.

LIN: Which would be very true. So, what did you do? What did you do next?

MAZZA: Well, I raided my dad's e-mail list and phone numbers and I got their e-mails, and I sent it out to all of them. And when they got it, I was prepared to call a lot of them, and follow up on the e- mail I sent them, and ask them for a contribution.

LIN: What was their reaction when they found out that it wasn't their father who was actually e-mailing and calling, it was his 14- year-old son?

MAZZA: They were surprised. They usually compliment me on the idea and how well I'm doing. They usually like the idea. They think it's very good that I'm doing this for kids in Southeast Asia.

LIN: And this idea has really snowballed because so far you've raised, what? How much now?

MAZZA: Just under $80,000.

LIN: Pretty good. And in addition to that General Motors has gotten involved. What are they going to do to match what you raise?

MAZZA: Every 200,000 I raise, they will give a pickup truck worth about $60,000 to relief in Southeast Asia, and, they will give it to help carry supplies and other things.

LIN: Jake, it sounds like you not only have a big heart, but you might be cut out to be a pretty good business person someday.

MAZZA: Well, yes, that is possibly what I want to be when I grow up. I'd also -- might want to be a soccer player or a criminal lawyer.

LIN: Well, right now, you're being a big help to the people who need it the most. Thanks very much, Jake. Good luck with the project.

MAZZA: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Jake is well under way, $80,000, smart kid. By the way, he had permission from his dad to raid his e-mail list.

In the meantime, we're going to be talking about preparing for the unthinkable right here in the United States. How ready do you think you are or any of the Americans you know if a disaster were actually to strike right here at home? Well, some residents of the nation's capital are thinking straight ahead, so, we're going to show you how.

Plus, seeing the devastation firsthand. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is touring South Asia.

And five years after two girls disappeared, a jailed man tells officials where their bodies might be found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, as I promised you earlier, we are going to keep on top of all this breaking news related to the extreme weather that we're experiencing right here in the United States. Right now, one of the big anxieties out west, because they're getting so much snow is avalanches. California officials are trying to control tons of snow from crashing down the mountain slopes by setting off explosions. That is very dangerous work. Our Jason Bellini is live right now via videophone in South Tahoe City, California, with more -- Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. I decided to go where it's warm. I'm in the Alpina Coffee House. I've been talking to some would-be skiers and is ay would-be because they'd like to be on the mountains, some of them, but the roads to these mountains are closed and the reason for that, one of the big reasons, is avalanche danger. Snow, too much of a good thing in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See that little flash? How'd you like that?

BELLINI (voice-over): Bob Davis, a supervisor with the California Transit Agency has remote controlled cannons blasting Highway 89's avalanche zones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have our normal -- we have our normal crew. And it shakes you pretty good, doesn't it?

BELLINI: With perfect avalanche conditions in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, vast stretches of roads connecting cities and towns here are closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're just trying to do our job and keep the roads open and safe. And sometimes it's a little more than we can keep up with, but we're doing the best we can with what we have.

BELLINI: What they have are snow blowers slowly clearing away mini avalanches.

(on camera): I'm standing in the middle of the road. And you can see how high the snow has gotten from the controlled avalanche that came off the ridge right up there. All along this road are ridges where snow, this thick, heavy snow is really piling up. They have to do these controlled avalanches otherwise; they could have snow banks like this coming down on cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's four slide zones in there.

BELLINI (voice-over): Davis says it's been years since he's seen a storm this fierce, this immobilizing. He's doing the best he can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELLINI: Carol, many people here in the coffee house are saying that they haven't seen a storm like this in years in this area. So they're staying in, staying warm, out of the cold and snow -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much, Jason. Lucky for them, they get to stay inside. I know you are probably going to hit the road once again and find another great story. Jason Belinni, live in Tahoe City.

Well, the United Nations says relief supplies should reach everyone in Sri Lanka by the end of the weekend. When aid workers arrive in many of the countries hard hit villages, they will likely see many tsunami survivors in a state of shock, all with their own stories of suffering. All are almost beyond belief. Bill Neely has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This coast will forever be haunted by the tens of thousands who died here. Even in death, they have no peace. Ghost towns pepper the coast, their populations dead or gone. Cut off now by the broken roads and the sea that took their people. This is a ghost coast, haunted by water.

Along it, today, the Royal Navy searched for bridges and roads to repair. A quick look was enough. There are hundreds to choose from. And even with a hundred men, they can't do much. There will be no bright new dawns on this coast. The berived and the broken are everywhere. This woman lost all her children, four of them. But the dying isn't done. The man they're burying swallowed so much water he couldn't breathe properly and died overnight after 12 days of suffering. They buried him in the sand, facing away from the sea that killed him.

The coastal hospitals are full and there may be more deaths. Hamid (ph) was eight days old when he, too, filled up with sea water. Habiba (ph) lost three of her children. She has one boy left but Abdul has been brain damaged by the disaster. The doctors say he'll die and aren't treating him anymore. This 4-month-old boy was found bruised in the debris. No one knows who he is, but five couples say he's their child. So much loss, so much desperation on this coast.

DR. KOPAL MUHUNTHAN: The only answer to these problems is to scientifically prove that this is their baby by doing some genetic -- studying their genes.

NEELY: Many hospitals are destroyed. Medical aid is getting through but, like the food and water, it's slow in coming, even as the world's donations multiple.

JONG WOOK LEE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The attention of the world is focused on this issue, and also, the people will watch how this money will be used.

NEELY: But in some places on this coast, there's nowhere left to deliver aid to, and few alive to get it.

(on camera): This was a world turned upside down in seconds that will stay like this for years because it's like this for hundreds of miles. Boats in the main street, bodies in the rubble left to rot. An unnatural world that will never be rebuilt as it was.

(voice-over): A world turned upside down where boys do the work of their dead fathers or stare as the mass graves that hold their parents. He's lost his family of five. But everyone here has his own private hell. They stare at the wreck of their lives. No one, no donation can ever replace their loss on this haunted shore.

Bill Neely, ITV News, on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: As we've promised, how you can prepare for a disaster. Some Washington, D.C. area residents are preparing for an event they hope will never happen. They've spent today how to mobilize their neighborhoods in case of a natural disaster or even a terrorist attack. CNN's Gary Nuremberg is in Washington bureau with more details.

Gary, that must have been very interesting. GARY NUREMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was, Carol. You know a lot of attention is paid to first responders, the fire fighters and police who rush to the scene of a disaster to provide immediate help. But when they can't get through, it's a different ball game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to sit there for three seconds, make sure you put one foot out.

NUREMBERG (voice-over): Getting ready for her basketball game with tips from her father, Zena (ph) Peterson knows preparedness is key. Her dad has tried to prepare the family for an emergency like a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

TODD PETERSON, NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: You know what are the phone numbers, what's the quickest route to a hospital.

NUREMBERG (on camera): You think you're ready?

PETERSON: No, I don't. I think that there's -- you know some of the things you hear about now that could happen, I don't know how we would react.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a massive power outage, all of D.C., Maryland.

NUREMBERG (voice-over): Peterson's neighborhood rehearsed community disaster response this weekend, running through possible scenarios...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're expecting the wind chills to be down between 15 and 25 below.

NUREMBERG: ...and charting neighborhood response.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need a local map. We need a first aid kit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's alone? Who has a caretaker?

NUREMBERG (on camera): The people at today's exercise are, by definition, activists who are making a conscious effort to be prepared. But, as they think about their communities, it often means a recognition that many of their neighbors won't be prepared.

(voice-over): That's where neighbors like Sally McDonald come in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seemed to collapse during the shaker.

(voice-over): When earthquakes taught California emergency responders that fire trucks and rescue vehicles sometimes can't get through the rubble, local residents were trained in community response, what to do, how to organize while official help is on the way. McDonald has had that training in D.C. and has her emergency kit with special tools ready to go when the neighborhood needs her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It shuts off the gas. It shuts off the water. You can you break windows with it. You can pry open things with it.

NUREMBERG: Neighbor, Samantha Nolan, has an emergency kit customized to the needs of her family.

SAMANTHA NOLAN, DISASTER DRILL PARTICIPANT: If you have children in the house, they're going to be bored. So they don't always talk about this, but I always keep games and cards and other entertainment for kids.

NUREMBERG: Neighborhood planning here is hard to avoid.

CAROL ZACHARY, DISASTER DRILL PARTICIPANT: When they come to honor our postman to my house in three weeks, I'm already gathering a list of things that we better do as a neighborhood to make sure that we are all in touch and we're all prepared. I've already got it planned.

NUREMBERG: And having a plan, they hope, will help the next time disaster does strike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NUREMBERG: The D.C. government is trying a number of things to try to get neighborhoods ready for disasters or terrorism, among them, a text messaging service that provides updated information to anyone who signs up. Neighborhood planners said that, Carol, is invaluable.

LIN: You get, Gary. Thank you very much. You got us all thinking about what to do just in case. Thank you.

Stay tuned, of course, to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

All right, now on to other matters about security. A tip from a murder suspect could end years of uncertainly for an Oklahoma family. Authorities believe a man in jail in Alabama charged with two murders in two states could hold the key to more crimes and he's talking. Our Sara Dorsey has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oklahoma investigators have a new place to look for the bodies of 16-year-old Ashley Freeman and Laura Bible. The latest tip coming from a man already behind bars. Against his lawyer's wishes, 31-year-old Jeremy Jones, charged with two murders in Alabama and Georgia, has told investigators to look in a mine shaft. This after the girls went missing from his home state of Oklahoma in 1999. It's a tip the families hope will bring some closure.

LORENE BIBLE, LAURA BIBLE'S MOTHER: I pray this is it, you know. And, you ask me that how can you pray that your child may be dead. Well, if that's what I have to face, a reality whether it's now or five years more down the road, is still going to -- the end result is going to be the same.

DORSEY: The girls were discovered missing at the same time that the bodies of Freeman's parents were found shot to death and burned in their mobile home. Jones was named as a person of interest in that case. Up until now, investigators said they have exhausted all other leads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt, we want to put an end to it, and for the families, who I know personally, you know, we want to give them some relief.

DORSEY: Another possibility all connected to a man charged with a similar crime in Alabama. Jones is currently in jail there, charged with the murder of Lisa Nickels, who was also shot to death and her home set ablaze. Jones is also charged in Georgia with the death of Amanda Greenwell. She was Jones' neighbor.

(on camera): Jones' lawyer told CNN his client maintains his innocence, but did confirm Jones told authorities where they could look for the bodies of the missing girls and said Jones knew them and where they lived. The Craig County sheriff's office is planning on releasing a statement next week with details regarding the search.

Sara Dorsey, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And in other news across America, Chicago police are searching for a gunman who killed at least two people and wounded five others in a nightclub. Officers say shooting started early this morning when the club refused to admit four private party goers to its first floor because it was closing.

Chicago-based Tribune Media Services is no longer distributing Armstrong Williams' column. And the National Association of Black Journalists is calling on all broadcast and print media to drop him. The conservative black commentator has confirmed he took taxpayer money to promote the Bush administration's education agenda.

Even as Democrat Christine Gregoire prepares for her inauguration as governor of Washington State Wednesday, Republican, Dino Rossi, says he is going to seek a revote. A hand recount gave Gregoire a razor thin 129-vote victory. Rossi argues thousands of votes could not be matched to voters.

Newt Gingrich for president? The Republican former House speaker plans to tour Iowa and New Hampshire to promote his new book criticizing President Bush's Iraqi policies. He tells the Associated Press a run for the White House in 2008 is possible.

Well, they say they're still friends, but Hollywood power couple, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are calling it quits. More on this super star separation straight ahead.

And...

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: I'm technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Coming up, we're going to have some of the hottest gadgets here on the show floor. And believe me, there are a lot of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Las Vegas is packed this weekend with the latest in electronic gadgets and people who crave them. The Consumer Electronics Show ends tomorrow. CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins me now with a look at some of the newer products.

Daniel, what's on the horizon? How's this going to change our lives?

SIEBERG: Well, Carol, there are a lot of ways it could change your lives and we've got a few of them here. It turns out, when you get about 2,000 companies together; there are a lot of gadgets in a very large amount of space. So here to join us to help sort through some of this is Tom Merritt from CNET.

And Tom, we're talking about CNET's next big ideas. Is that the name?

TOM MERRITT, CNET: Yes, the next big thing awards was our intent to go through the show floor and find the products that are most likely to exemplify the biggest, new trends of the coming year.

SIEBERG: All right. Now everywhere we go on the show floor, there seems to be another flat screen monitor. There's plasma, LCD, but now we have to add another acronym, DLP.

MERRITT: Yes, DLP stands for digital light processing and it's a lamp-based technology that gives you a brighter picture than you would see from an LCD. It's not as bright as plasma but it has a better resolution. In fact, the winner of our best in show is the Samsung 67-inch DLP TV. It has 1,080 P resolution, which basically just means you get all the pixels, all the resolution. It's the best picture we've seen.

SIEBERG: All right. Now, of course, everybody is hoping for the prices to come down, but -- you know, one day. Back here, speaking of images and resolution, the Kodak Easy Share camera. What's so unique about this?

MERRITT: The -- yes, Kodak's been really emphasizing their friendly technology, getting the pictures out of your camera. But they've really done one step better than everybody else by adding wireless technology. This little antenna here opens up and this camera can actually e-mail pictures to people from the camera without connecting it to anything. So can you go to a coffee shop, sit down and get a wireless connection to a Starbucks and e-mail away.

SIEBERG: All right, saves you some time. Now, speaking of on the go, Ibicuity. What's new with this one? MERRITT: Ibicuity Digital Corporation has announced an HD radio. So you've heard of HD TV, well, this is digital radio. And this is competition for SMITH: Radio and Cyrious (ph), the satellite radio providers. It gives you a higher quality radio signal in your regular -- from your regular stations that you're familiar with. So they're claiming AM radio would sound like FM, and FM radio would sound like CD. They're going to have 2,500 stations on board within the next two years and they'll have around 80 receivers coming out in cars that you buy.

SIEBERG: All right, we have just a few seconds left so we can squeeze in the sling box. Now, this is interesting. Not very glamorous but it...

MERRITT: No, it's not all that pretty, but it's fun. You plug this into your entertainment system and to your home computer network, and you can actually access your TV programs from your DVR anywhere you go on the road, view them over your lap top.

SIEBERG: Very handy. Well, Tom Merritt, thank you so much for helping us out, from CNET. We will be keeping an eye on all these technologies. A lot of sneak previews here at the show, Carol, so you sort of have to wait for them to come out in stores a lot of the times.

LIN: You bet. And for those of us who think a microwave oven is pretty high tech, Daniel...

SIEBERG: They're pretty high tech. They're pretty high tech.

LIN: Yes, I guess if you break it down. Thanks so much, Daniel. Have fun out there.

SIEBERG: Thanks.

LIN: Straight ahead tonight, the Pitts are calling it quits. Why? Will Hollywood's most beautiful couple decide to go their separate ways? But first, here's Mark Shields to tell us what's ahead on "THE CAPITAL GANG."

Hi, Mark.

MARK SHIELDS, CO-HOST, "THE CAPITAL GANG": Hey, Carol. Carol, we'll look at the tsunami disaster, and what the rest of the U.S. -- of the world and the U.S. are doing about it, the confirmation hearings of Alberto Gonzalez, plus, CNN's Mike Chinoy reporting directly from Indonesia. All that and much more, right here, next, on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, it's the end for one of Hollywood's most storybook romances. In a prepared statement, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston announced they've separated after a romance that was glamorous even by Hollywood standards. CNN's Brooke Anderson has the story and reaction from fans. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): News about the breakup of Hollywood's most beautiful couple left fans surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad Brad's single.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's kind of interesting. I thought they were probably the coolest couple in Hollywood, so I'm a little surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked. That's awful.

ANDERSON: In a joint statement Friday evening, Hollywood power couple, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, announced that they are formally separating. The couple met in 1998 when they were set up by their agents on a dinner date, keeping their relationship a secret for months. They eventually wed in July of 2000 in an elaborate ceremony at the Malibu home of television executive Marcy Carsey (ph).

It wasn't long before tabloid reports predicted the couple's demise. Eyebrows were first raised in 2003 when Aniston forgot to thank her husband during her Golden Globe acceptance speech for her work in "Friends." Last summer, some linked Pitt to Angelina Jolie, his co-star in the upcoming "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Others cited Aniston's reluctance to start a family as the reason for their marital tension. Speculation peaked after reports that Aniston canceled her husband's 41st birthday plans. Shortly afterwards, she was photographed not wearing her wedding ring at Los Angeles International Airport.

In their statement, the couple said their split was amicable -- quote -- "Our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another."

The couple co-own a production company called Plan B Entertainment whose production credits include "Troy." And now it appears that both Pitt and Aniston will be seeking a Plan B for their love lives as well.

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We're going to have more on this at our prime time show at 10:00.

That's all the time we have for this hour though. Coming up next, "THE CAPITAL GANG." And then at 8:00 Eastern, a special report, "SAVING THE CHILDREN." And at 9:00, Larry King and his guests tonight, former Presidents Bush and Clinton. And I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern tonight. What is really behind the Pitt/Aniston split. Well, tonight's guest, "Entertainment Tonight's" Kevin Frazier says he knows.

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