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Ukraine Elections; Scope of Tsunami Devastation Continues to Unfold

Aired December 27, 2004 - 13:32   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to Ukraine, where vote counting in yesterday's presidential runoff is almost complete. Now according to election officials, opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko holds a commanding lead.
CNN's Jill Dougherty is live in Kiev and joins us now with the latest -- Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, we're back on the Independence Square, where the Orange Revolution took place, and there are still a lot of people here. This night, they are waiting to hear from Viktor Yushchenko. He has not shown up, however. But that hasn't stopped them from celebrating. And of course, what they're celebrating is that count that has been taking place by the Central Election Commission. They have about 99.8 percent of the votes counted, and Viktor Yushchenko is leading by about 8 percent points. So that's certainly unassailable. And you can almost bet that the next president, of course, will be Viktor Yushchenko.

However, some very strong comments coming from his opponent, the man whom he defeated. That is Victor Yanukovych, the prime minister. He says he is not going to concede, that he feels that the rights of his voters were infringed, and he is going to go to the court to try to redress his grieves. So we still have some dispute, but certainly at this point the Central Election Commission, Betty, is saying that Viktor Yushchenko is the winner. They do officially, however, have to make that determination. And that's probably -- after that, we'll probably hear from Mr. Yushchenko himself.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Jill Dougherty, live in Kiev for us. Thank you, Jill.

We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As the scope of the tsunami devastation continues to unfold, these are the latest casualties statistics from the hardest hit nation. In Sri Lanka, the official count stands at more 10,500. In India, at least 6,200 dead. In Indonesia, the government is reporting more than 4,400 victims thus far, but that number could go much higher. And in Thailand, 870 reported dead.

NGUYEN: Now to Sri Lanka. The island nation just east of India is described as the region hardest hit by the tsunamis. More than 10,000 people are reported dead. Thousands more still missing. And an estimated one million people displaced by the staggering rush of water. Yesterday as the dramatic events were unfolding, CNN was able to speak with an American man visiting Sri Lanka, Celebrity decorator, Nate Berkus, a regular on the Oprah Winfrey show, spoke with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield about a vacation turned into a nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATE BERKUS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were completely devastated yesterday morning around 9:00 in the morning. We desperately, desperately need help from the government here. We're without water. We're without food and many of us are injured. There are women and children here who are -- there's a pregnant woman with broken ribs.

The Sri Lankan army seems to only have very few helicopters here that have touched down and taken away very few of the injured people. We've all been sleeping in a field throughout the night and right now, I believe, it's about 4:00 in the morning here. I'm with about a group of 50 tourists as well as many locals and it's just been utter devastation, bodies everywhere, and just really absolutely horrible, horrible devastation.

WHITFIELD: Nate, can you kind of replay for us where you were at the time of the tsunami hitting the area where you are and exactly what transpired?

BERKUS: There was absolutely no warning. I was asleep in a beach front cottage. I heard a loud noise, all of a sudden the roof was ripped off of my cottage and my friend and I were taken out to sea, just taking in currents that were so strong with debris and cars and animals and people, tearing by. We were able to hang onto a telephone pole with a mattress wedged between us for literally 30 seconds. There was a calm in the storm and then another wave hit. Both of us were torn away from the phone pole. I finally climbed onto a roof of a home, because the water pushed me behind the home and sat out the rest of the waves on top of this structure, which luckily held but many people have died there. A lot of us are injured here. I'm very scraped up, but luckily I'm OK and I'm still missing my friend.

WHITFIELD: And the other people around you, was it a sense of everything happening so fast. It was even difficult for you all to kind of cling to one another or help one another? Was it really every man for him or herself?

BERKUS: Well, I mean, really against that kind of force of nature, there was nothing any of us could do. There were definitely people helping one another in the aftermath, helping to reunite families and helping to understand exactly what was going on but the bottom line is we desperately need help here and we need it first thing, as soon as the sun comes up here which is in a couple of hours. I understand the American government has something under way, I hope that that's true because we are really very desperate.

WHITFIELD: And Nate, you mentioned your friend is still missing. What kind of efforts are under way to try to locate your friend? BERKUS: Well, right now, I'm part of one sort of area with all of the -- it's nighttime here. It's pitch-black outside, and part of just one little area of survivors. Our hope is that there are other little pocket of survivors throughout the island. I'm in a town called Aragon Bay, which is near the town of (INAUDIBLE) which is a tourist area here in Sri Lanka on the east coast. And apparently, there is a -- we have been cut off, this section of this group of people and myself have been cut off completely from the mainland because the bridges were destroyed that connect this part of the island to the mainland of the island. So we're hoping that with the current being as strong as it was, that we are not the only survivors here stranded on this part, that there are people who have survived, including my friend, Fernando (INAUDIBLE) on the other side.

WHITFIELD: Are there any locals there who are trying to come to the aid of and you other foreign tourists there to give you a sense as to what to do next, given that this is a very foreign experience for most people?

BERKUS: Yeah, I mean, there's a language barrier here, obviously. I'm sitting here with nothing, no passport, no money, no anything in shorts that somebody gave me. There is not really a sense what we're going to be doing other than a lot of people have spoken to the British embassy, a man named Colin Martin, who's a defense minister has been on the phone.

There are a couple of cars with power that we can plug telephones into to be in touch with the different embassies, and we've been told that helicopters are coming to air lift us out as soon as the sun comes up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Could a disaster like the one in Asia happen here in the United States? Joining us now to help us understand the catastrophe, and explain the tsunami warning system is Paul Whitmore. He is the geophysicist in charge of the West Coast and the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

Paul, good to have you with us.

PAUL WHITMORE, TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER: Hello.

O'BRIEN: I guess it's worth pointing out the reason you're in Palmer, Alaska, is Alaska has experienced a tremendous tsunami cataclysm about 40 years ago now.

WHITMORE: That's right. In 1964 there was a major tsunami south of Alaska trigger -- that killed a lot of people in Alaska and in the West Coast did some damage also. After that event, the tsunami warning system was started in Alaska. We originally had three different observatories located throughout the state and over the years, those have been condensed into the one here in Palmer. We've also taken on responsibility for issuing warnings to the West Coast of the United States and British Columbia, also. O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of what you do there in Palmer, not too far away from Anchorage, Alaska. From your facility, how are you able to attract these events, the earthquakes themselves, as well as the possibility that they might create these tsunamis?

WHITMORE: We have a network of seismometers that transmit information into the center here in Palmer. And with this network we're able to locate earthquakes anyplace in the world very soon after they occur. And our object is to get our warnings out as quickly as possible so we base our warnings just on earthquake location and magnitude. If it's a big enough earthquake that it could trigger a tsunami and it's near the coast, we'll call a warning to those people who could be affected by the wave within a couple of hours.

O'BRIEN: Now, you also -- I know have you some deep water buoys. I have on your Web site, you can actually see these and actually see some of the data virtually in realtime here. As you toggle over them, they sort of give you a little sign wave, which I gather indicates in these cases that it's normal tidal activity. What do these buoys do for you, how much additional information do they provide you and help you provide warnings for people?

WHITMORE: Well, once we've issued the warnings, at that point we need to determine the severity of the tsunami. And these buoys give us an idea of what the deep ocean signature of the tsunami is. And given that, we can propagate -- mathematically propagate the wave towards shore to figure out how big the wave will be when it hits shore.

So they give us the ability to cancel warnings quickly if there is no danger, and the ability to determine, you know, roughly speaking, how big a wave will be, is it going to be disastrous, is it going to be just dangerous to those near the coast? They're important for that. And we also use those in conjunction with a network of sea level gauges that are near the shores. We have about 100 gauges throughout the Pacific basin.

O'BRIEN: Yes. We have a graphic up right now which gives you a sense of it. All these -- it's hard to read, but each one of these rectangular boxes here indicates one of these sensors. What does that do for you, when you're talking about sea level gauges on the coast, how much information can that provide you, how can that help you determine where a tsunami might have formed?

WHITMORE: Again, that gives us an idea of the severity of the tsunami. What we see on those gauges isn't necessarily the highest wave, but we can take the results from what we see on those gauges and input those into tsunami models to determine maybe how big the wave will be elsewhere, is there places that it can be more severe?

O'BRIEN: Now that gives the Pacific rim a measure of safety that perhaps didn't exist in the Indian Ocean. Why wasn't there as many sensors in that location and given what has happened here, should there be?

WHITMORE: Well, I'm sure that will change now. But historically speaking, the Indian Ocean has not had the danger level that the Pacific Basin has had, as far as tsunamis and tsunami deaths.

O'BRIEN: So, clearly this is something where you learn the hard way. But -- and this is clearly what happened, which 40 years ago, an event in Alaska caused this. How safe are we collectively against tsunamis? Does more need to be done to put more of these buoys out, more of these sensors, to give us more of a lead time?

WHITMORE: Well, really the best thing to do as far as saving lives -- the existing warning system can help those that are a measure or distance away from the tsunami, that might be oh, say 30, 40 minutes, an hour away from the tsunami. We can get messages to those people. But the majority of people who get killed in tsunamis are right near the coast and our warnings may not reach those people quick enough. So education of those near the coast to know that if they feel a strong earthquake, they need to get inland or to high ground and not wait for a warning.

O'BRIEN: Paul Whitmore is the scientist in charge at the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, where it is a balmy 18 degrees Fahrenheit today. Paul, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

WHITMORE: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: If you're watching this and you want to send help, stay tuned. Up next, a LIVE FROM report on the relief agencies collecting money and supplies to Southeast Asia. We'll tell you how you can get involved and do something.

Also, the holiday weekend was anything but a holiday for thousands of passengers of U.S. Airways and Comair. We'll have the latest on those two troubled airlines ahead.

And remembering Reggie White. The NFL loses a towering presence on the field and off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The world is reacting swiftly to Sunday's deadly events in Southeast Asia. Millions of dollars in aid have already been pledged and physical aid is also on the way in the form of rescue teams, doctors and supplies. CNN's Allan Chernoff is in New York with more on what is shaping up to be a massive relief project. Tell us about this project, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, the relief organizations are emphasizing that thousands more could die as a result of unsanitary conditions, contaminated drinking water, and, of course, also the potential spread of disease. Now among the organizations that are collecting money right now, first of all, the American Red Cross which, as you know, is affiliated with the International Society of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. They are asking for money. CARE also -- they are emphasizing shelter, food and also drinking water. And Americares, this is an organization that actually receives donations from pharmaceutical companies. They provide the medicine, and the donations actually go to transporting those medicines. So Americares says a donation of $1,000 will result in more than $3,000 of worth of medicine being sent overseas. And they in fact have an airlift plan within the next 48 hours.

Even so, the relief organizations are saying that this is such a tremendous disaster, the challenges they are facing right now are simply immense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPH GORDER, AMERICARES: When you think about the geographical scope we're faced with here, across nine countries, thousands of miles, remote islands, it's just absolutely daunting the task that we and the greater international relief community have in front of us. So we're trying the best that we can to prioritize according to need and accessibility, but certainly it will be weeks and months to come of relief efforts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: In come cases in fact, the relief organizations themselves have been victims. In fact, OXFAM had an office in Sri Lanka that was flooded. They lost lots of equipment, their telecom is down there, so a very, very difficult situation. Betty, you know this is going to take a very long time to get all the relief that's needed, but they're doing whatever they can to get help out there, and of course it is a monumental task that will take, clearly, tens of millions of dollars.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. But they're trying to get it done as quickly as they can. Allan Chernoff in New York for us. Thank you, Allan.

Well, some other stories making news across America right now. USAirways is struggling to recover from a holiday weekend of canceled flights, lost luggage and angry passengers. There were massive pileups of luggage at its facility in Philadelphia. The airline apologized, saying it is embarrassed by the disruptions.

Now similar delays plagued Delta subsidiary Comair, stranding thousands. Bad weather and a computer crash added up to a weekend of canceled flights. The airline says it hopes to resume its full schedule by Wednesday.

And Ford is expanding its recall of Escapes and Mazda Tributes, both sport utility vehicles. Insurance officials say the rear lift gate can open during a crash. Ford owns one-third of Mazda.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is celebrating his record- setting achievement, throwing 49 touchdown passes in a single season. That beats the old record set by Dan Marino.

Now afterward, Manning said he was getting, quote, all emotional and that after his own father, Marino is still his favorite football player -- Miles.

NFL fans and players are mourning the loss of Reggie White, considered one of the game's greatest defensive players. He was also an ordained minister leading to his nickname "the minister of defense."

CNN's Steve Overmyer has more on White's accomplishments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You'd be hard- pressed to find a competitor that put more fear in a quarterback than Reggie White. The 13-time pro bowler was perhaps the best defensive lineman ever. Left the game as the NFL's all-time sacks leader. Sunday White passed away of unknown causes at the youthful age of 43.

MIKE HOLMGREN, COACHED WHITE IN GREEN BAY: He was a very special football player. Everyone knows that, Hall of Fame, great player. But he was really a fine human being. I mean -- and laughing and fun all the time. Just a real pleasure. He was a wonderful man.

OVERMYER: The fact he won two defensive MVP awards and helped the Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl 31 left little doubt his intensity on the field. But his positive spirit and lighthearted nature left an indelible mark on those who knew the man outside the lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it wasn't Elvis, he was impersonating somebody in the locker room. You know, it seemed like, you know, once a week he would walk into -- I'd walk into the defensive meeting and the meeting had already started and Reggie was running it.

OVERMYER: White was an ordained Christian minister, earning him the nickname the minister of defense. As much of his life revolved around church and football, maybe it's no coincidence he passed on a Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a great player, obviously, great man, great friend. We'll miss him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: Also coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, we will get the latest on our top story, of course, the deadly tsunamis and earthquake in Southeast Asia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 27, 2004 - 13:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to Ukraine, where vote counting in yesterday's presidential runoff is almost complete. Now according to election officials, opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko holds a commanding lead.
CNN's Jill Dougherty is live in Kiev and joins us now with the latest -- Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, we're back on the Independence Square, where the Orange Revolution took place, and there are still a lot of people here. This night, they are waiting to hear from Viktor Yushchenko. He has not shown up, however. But that hasn't stopped them from celebrating. And of course, what they're celebrating is that count that has been taking place by the Central Election Commission. They have about 99.8 percent of the votes counted, and Viktor Yushchenko is leading by about 8 percent points. So that's certainly unassailable. And you can almost bet that the next president, of course, will be Viktor Yushchenko.

However, some very strong comments coming from his opponent, the man whom he defeated. That is Victor Yanukovych, the prime minister. He says he is not going to concede, that he feels that the rights of his voters were infringed, and he is going to go to the court to try to redress his grieves. So we still have some dispute, but certainly at this point the Central Election Commission, Betty, is saying that Viktor Yushchenko is the winner. They do officially, however, have to make that determination. And that's probably -- after that, we'll probably hear from Mr. Yushchenko himself.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Jill Dougherty, live in Kiev for us. Thank you, Jill.

We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As the scope of the tsunami devastation continues to unfold, these are the latest casualties statistics from the hardest hit nation. In Sri Lanka, the official count stands at more 10,500. In India, at least 6,200 dead. In Indonesia, the government is reporting more than 4,400 victims thus far, but that number could go much higher. And in Thailand, 870 reported dead.

NGUYEN: Now to Sri Lanka. The island nation just east of India is described as the region hardest hit by the tsunamis. More than 10,000 people are reported dead. Thousands more still missing. And an estimated one million people displaced by the staggering rush of water. Yesterday as the dramatic events were unfolding, CNN was able to speak with an American man visiting Sri Lanka, Celebrity decorator, Nate Berkus, a regular on the Oprah Winfrey show, spoke with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield about a vacation turned into a nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATE BERKUS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were completely devastated yesterday morning around 9:00 in the morning. We desperately, desperately need help from the government here. We're without water. We're without food and many of us are injured. There are women and children here who are -- there's a pregnant woman with broken ribs.

The Sri Lankan army seems to only have very few helicopters here that have touched down and taken away very few of the injured people. We've all been sleeping in a field throughout the night and right now, I believe, it's about 4:00 in the morning here. I'm with about a group of 50 tourists as well as many locals and it's just been utter devastation, bodies everywhere, and just really absolutely horrible, horrible devastation.

WHITFIELD: Nate, can you kind of replay for us where you were at the time of the tsunami hitting the area where you are and exactly what transpired?

BERKUS: There was absolutely no warning. I was asleep in a beach front cottage. I heard a loud noise, all of a sudden the roof was ripped off of my cottage and my friend and I were taken out to sea, just taking in currents that were so strong with debris and cars and animals and people, tearing by. We were able to hang onto a telephone pole with a mattress wedged between us for literally 30 seconds. There was a calm in the storm and then another wave hit. Both of us were torn away from the phone pole. I finally climbed onto a roof of a home, because the water pushed me behind the home and sat out the rest of the waves on top of this structure, which luckily held but many people have died there. A lot of us are injured here. I'm very scraped up, but luckily I'm OK and I'm still missing my friend.

WHITFIELD: And the other people around you, was it a sense of everything happening so fast. It was even difficult for you all to kind of cling to one another or help one another? Was it really every man for him or herself?

BERKUS: Well, I mean, really against that kind of force of nature, there was nothing any of us could do. There were definitely people helping one another in the aftermath, helping to reunite families and helping to understand exactly what was going on but the bottom line is we desperately need help here and we need it first thing, as soon as the sun comes up here which is in a couple of hours. I understand the American government has something under way, I hope that that's true because we are really very desperate.

WHITFIELD: And Nate, you mentioned your friend is still missing. What kind of efforts are under way to try to locate your friend? BERKUS: Well, right now, I'm part of one sort of area with all of the -- it's nighttime here. It's pitch-black outside, and part of just one little area of survivors. Our hope is that there are other little pocket of survivors throughout the island. I'm in a town called Aragon Bay, which is near the town of (INAUDIBLE) which is a tourist area here in Sri Lanka on the east coast. And apparently, there is a -- we have been cut off, this section of this group of people and myself have been cut off completely from the mainland because the bridges were destroyed that connect this part of the island to the mainland of the island. So we're hoping that with the current being as strong as it was, that we are not the only survivors here stranded on this part, that there are people who have survived, including my friend, Fernando (INAUDIBLE) on the other side.

WHITFIELD: Are there any locals there who are trying to come to the aid of and you other foreign tourists there to give you a sense as to what to do next, given that this is a very foreign experience for most people?

BERKUS: Yeah, I mean, there's a language barrier here, obviously. I'm sitting here with nothing, no passport, no money, no anything in shorts that somebody gave me. There is not really a sense what we're going to be doing other than a lot of people have spoken to the British embassy, a man named Colin Martin, who's a defense minister has been on the phone.

There are a couple of cars with power that we can plug telephones into to be in touch with the different embassies, and we've been told that helicopters are coming to air lift us out as soon as the sun comes up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Could a disaster like the one in Asia happen here in the United States? Joining us now to help us understand the catastrophe, and explain the tsunami warning system is Paul Whitmore. He is the geophysicist in charge of the West Coast and the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

Paul, good to have you with us.

PAUL WHITMORE, TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER: Hello.

O'BRIEN: I guess it's worth pointing out the reason you're in Palmer, Alaska, is Alaska has experienced a tremendous tsunami cataclysm about 40 years ago now.

WHITMORE: That's right. In 1964 there was a major tsunami south of Alaska trigger -- that killed a lot of people in Alaska and in the West Coast did some damage also. After that event, the tsunami warning system was started in Alaska. We originally had three different observatories located throughout the state and over the years, those have been condensed into the one here in Palmer. We've also taken on responsibility for issuing warnings to the West Coast of the United States and British Columbia, also. O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of what you do there in Palmer, not too far away from Anchorage, Alaska. From your facility, how are you able to attract these events, the earthquakes themselves, as well as the possibility that they might create these tsunamis?

WHITMORE: We have a network of seismometers that transmit information into the center here in Palmer. And with this network we're able to locate earthquakes anyplace in the world very soon after they occur. And our object is to get our warnings out as quickly as possible so we base our warnings just on earthquake location and magnitude. If it's a big enough earthquake that it could trigger a tsunami and it's near the coast, we'll call a warning to those people who could be affected by the wave within a couple of hours.

O'BRIEN: Now, you also -- I know have you some deep water buoys. I have on your Web site, you can actually see these and actually see some of the data virtually in realtime here. As you toggle over them, they sort of give you a little sign wave, which I gather indicates in these cases that it's normal tidal activity. What do these buoys do for you, how much additional information do they provide you and help you provide warnings for people?

WHITMORE: Well, once we've issued the warnings, at that point we need to determine the severity of the tsunami. And these buoys give us an idea of what the deep ocean signature of the tsunami is. And given that, we can propagate -- mathematically propagate the wave towards shore to figure out how big the wave will be when it hits shore.

So they give us the ability to cancel warnings quickly if there is no danger, and the ability to determine, you know, roughly speaking, how big a wave will be, is it going to be disastrous, is it going to be just dangerous to those near the coast? They're important for that. And we also use those in conjunction with a network of sea level gauges that are near the shores. We have about 100 gauges throughout the Pacific basin.

O'BRIEN: Yes. We have a graphic up right now which gives you a sense of it. All these -- it's hard to read, but each one of these rectangular boxes here indicates one of these sensors. What does that do for you, when you're talking about sea level gauges on the coast, how much information can that provide you, how can that help you determine where a tsunami might have formed?

WHITMORE: Again, that gives us an idea of the severity of the tsunami. What we see on those gauges isn't necessarily the highest wave, but we can take the results from what we see on those gauges and input those into tsunami models to determine maybe how big the wave will be elsewhere, is there places that it can be more severe?

O'BRIEN: Now that gives the Pacific rim a measure of safety that perhaps didn't exist in the Indian Ocean. Why wasn't there as many sensors in that location and given what has happened here, should there be?

WHITMORE: Well, I'm sure that will change now. But historically speaking, the Indian Ocean has not had the danger level that the Pacific Basin has had, as far as tsunamis and tsunami deaths.

O'BRIEN: So, clearly this is something where you learn the hard way. But -- and this is clearly what happened, which 40 years ago, an event in Alaska caused this. How safe are we collectively against tsunamis? Does more need to be done to put more of these buoys out, more of these sensors, to give us more of a lead time?

WHITMORE: Well, really the best thing to do as far as saving lives -- the existing warning system can help those that are a measure or distance away from the tsunami, that might be oh, say 30, 40 minutes, an hour away from the tsunami. We can get messages to those people. But the majority of people who get killed in tsunamis are right near the coast and our warnings may not reach those people quick enough. So education of those near the coast to know that if they feel a strong earthquake, they need to get inland or to high ground and not wait for a warning.

O'BRIEN: Paul Whitmore is the scientist in charge at the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, where it is a balmy 18 degrees Fahrenheit today. Paul, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

WHITMORE: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: If you're watching this and you want to send help, stay tuned. Up next, a LIVE FROM report on the relief agencies collecting money and supplies to Southeast Asia. We'll tell you how you can get involved and do something.

Also, the holiday weekend was anything but a holiday for thousands of passengers of U.S. Airways and Comair. We'll have the latest on those two troubled airlines ahead.

And remembering Reggie White. The NFL loses a towering presence on the field and off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The world is reacting swiftly to Sunday's deadly events in Southeast Asia. Millions of dollars in aid have already been pledged and physical aid is also on the way in the form of rescue teams, doctors and supplies. CNN's Allan Chernoff is in New York with more on what is shaping up to be a massive relief project. Tell us about this project, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, the relief organizations are emphasizing that thousands more could die as a result of unsanitary conditions, contaminated drinking water, and, of course, also the potential spread of disease. Now among the organizations that are collecting money right now, first of all, the American Red Cross which, as you know, is affiliated with the International Society of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. They are asking for money. CARE also -- they are emphasizing shelter, food and also drinking water. And Americares, this is an organization that actually receives donations from pharmaceutical companies. They provide the medicine, and the donations actually go to transporting those medicines. So Americares says a donation of $1,000 will result in more than $3,000 of worth of medicine being sent overseas. And they in fact have an airlift plan within the next 48 hours.

Even so, the relief organizations are saying that this is such a tremendous disaster, the challenges they are facing right now are simply immense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPH GORDER, AMERICARES: When you think about the geographical scope we're faced with here, across nine countries, thousands of miles, remote islands, it's just absolutely daunting the task that we and the greater international relief community have in front of us. So we're trying the best that we can to prioritize according to need and accessibility, but certainly it will be weeks and months to come of relief efforts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: In come cases in fact, the relief organizations themselves have been victims. In fact, OXFAM had an office in Sri Lanka that was flooded. They lost lots of equipment, their telecom is down there, so a very, very difficult situation. Betty, you know this is going to take a very long time to get all the relief that's needed, but they're doing whatever they can to get help out there, and of course it is a monumental task that will take, clearly, tens of millions of dollars.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. But they're trying to get it done as quickly as they can. Allan Chernoff in New York for us. Thank you, Allan.

Well, some other stories making news across America right now. USAirways is struggling to recover from a holiday weekend of canceled flights, lost luggage and angry passengers. There were massive pileups of luggage at its facility in Philadelphia. The airline apologized, saying it is embarrassed by the disruptions.

Now similar delays plagued Delta subsidiary Comair, stranding thousands. Bad weather and a computer crash added up to a weekend of canceled flights. The airline says it hopes to resume its full schedule by Wednesday.

And Ford is expanding its recall of Escapes and Mazda Tributes, both sport utility vehicles. Insurance officials say the rear lift gate can open during a crash. Ford owns one-third of Mazda.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is celebrating his record- setting achievement, throwing 49 touchdown passes in a single season. That beats the old record set by Dan Marino.

Now afterward, Manning said he was getting, quote, all emotional and that after his own father, Marino is still his favorite football player -- Miles.

NFL fans and players are mourning the loss of Reggie White, considered one of the game's greatest defensive players. He was also an ordained minister leading to his nickname "the minister of defense."

CNN's Steve Overmyer has more on White's accomplishments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You'd be hard- pressed to find a competitor that put more fear in a quarterback than Reggie White. The 13-time pro bowler was perhaps the best defensive lineman ever. Left the game as the NFL's all-time sacks leader. Sunday White passed away of unknown causes at the youthful age of 43.

MIKE HOLMGREN, COACHED WHITE IN GREEN BAY: He was a very special football player. Everyone knows that, Hall of Fame, great player. But he was really a fine human being. I mean -- and laughing and fun all the time. Just a real pleasure. He was a wonderful man.

OVERMYER: The fact he won two defensive MVP awards and helped the Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl 31 left little doubt his intensity on the field. But his positive spirit and lighthearted nature left an indelible mark on those who knew the man outside the lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it wasn't Elvis, he was impersonating somebody in the locker room. You know, it seemed like, you know, once a week he would walk into -- I'd walk into the defensive meeting and the meeting had already started and Reggie was running it.

OVERMYER: White was an ordained Christian minister, earning him the nickname the minister of defense. As much of his life revolved around church and football, maybe it's no coincidence he passed on a Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a great player, obviously, great man, great friend. We'll miss him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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NGUYEN: Also coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, we will get the latest on our top story, of course, the deadly tsunamis and earthquake in Southeast Asia.

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