Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Families Searching for Missing in Thailand May be Denied Closure; Sri Lanka Remote Areas Completely Wiped Out; A Quarter of Population Killed in One Indonesian Province; Police Lured into Trap in Baghdad; Two Explosions Set Off in Saudi Arabia
Aired December 29, 2004 - 13:00 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We listened to the wave breaking on the beach. There was a big bang as it came through those trees. I suppose we'd reached about here before we were -- we were washed away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CO-HOST: Amazing. Family story of survival. A firsthand account of the disaster from another father who says he's one of the lucky ones.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: These pictures show the absolute devastation the tsunamis left behind in Indonesia. This hour, why there is growing concern that, in addition to the horrible human death toll, the destruction could also impact the future of global terrorism.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
LIN: And I'm Carol Lin, in for Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
O'BRIEN: And we return this hour, as we have so many hours, this final week of 2004, to loss and grief beyond our comprehension. That's a phrase from President Bush's first public comments on the tsunami catastrophe in southern Asia, where, by CNN's count, more than 80,000 people lost their lives.
More than half of those are here in remotest Indonesia. And the toll will almost surely rise higher, not even counting deaths from disease in the weeks ahead.
Mr. Bush announced a four-nation partnership along with Japan, Australia and India to organize relief operations, vowing to, quote, "we will prevail over the destruction."
India itself lost thousands to the monster waves. Experts look for six to eight weeks of emergency funding before the focus and more funding turn to reconstruction. The U.N. says this is absolutely crunch day for evaluating short-term needs and formulating a strategy for meeting them. The World Health Organization estimates five million people now lack food, water, shelter, and/or basic sanitation in the region. LIN: Miles, the government of Thailand now estimates that double the number of tourists died for every Thai national lost in the weekend onslaught.
CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Kao Lak.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll alone rose to some 1,200 people, accounting for more than 60 percent of the overall casualties in this country. Bodies are still being taken out from the completely devastated shoreline.
We're now close to four days after those walls of water, as so many people have described them, came crashing down. Yet bodies are still being pulled out.
Yesterday, Carol, we're told you couldn't even stand where we are. The stench of the bodies was that strong. Now it's starting to stabilize here. Rescue and relief efforts trying to move further north to the hardest hit areas. Hotels that are all but gutted.
The Sophie Hotel (ph) is one of them, marquee hotels, that had -- that were filled to capacity with foreign tourists, many of whom are still missing and perhaps thought to be underneath that rubble.
Thousands of people remain missing overall in Thailand. And as we go each day further, the hope of finding any of them -- any of them alive dwindles that much more.
Today, Carol we can tell you this has been the first full day of relief efforts where no survivor has been found here.
LIN: Aneesh, what are the families of these tourists going to be able to do to recover any of the bodies?
RAMAN: Well, that's actually becoming a critical issue now. We're now, as we say, some four days away. The bodies that have yet to be found, the bodies that will be found tomorrow, are so decomposed that identification is now nearly impossible.
So for the families who still consider their loved ones missing, now closure itself seems to also be eluding them.
As you've seen before, there have been pictures of -- of the dead that were posted at the hospital so identifications could take place. They don't even have that option any more.
We've been here all day long. And a mother has been sitting next to us on a blanket, looking out at the destruction behind us. That is where her daughter was last known to be, where she worked. And every day since this disaster, she's come and sat here, hoping now what seems to be impossible, that her daughter will return. And slowly starting to come to grips with what is likely to be the reality, that she is gone.
And so for people all over the world who knew people here, that is now taking place, Carol. LIN: Aneesh Raman in Khao Lak. It is unimaginable the grief that people are going through there, thank you -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Sri Lanka confirms more than 23,000 killed, 4,000 more still missing. Every structure on that island nation's coast, southern coast, said to be damaged or lost altogether.
CNN's Hugh Riminton is in Colombo.
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time now, we're starting to see what's been going on on the east coast of Sri Lanka, Miles. This is a very remote area. It's an area where the rescue officials have been a little bit concerned, been very concerned, in fact, that the ratio in this area of the dead to the living from this disaster could be worse than anywhere else.
What we have seen, with the first pictures that have started to emerge from the east coast, is a place that seems to be almost empty of people. It's a strange and eerie sight, given that we're used to seeing the more built-up urban areas, where there are still people around, despite all the destruction.
It's a low-lying coastal area, in many cases, little more than a sand spit, with the lagoons on the inside. It took the full brunt of the tsunami. It was facing directly towards the epicenter of the quake.
And it seems in many cases, the waves have come over, wiped out almost all structures between the normal high tide mark and the lagoons inside. People have been washed away, roads and road bridges have been washed away. A full assessment of that is still yet to be made.
We do hear a report of one doctor, who's working in that area, trying to treat 4,000 casualties in a single hospital that has been partly destroyed. He has stayed at his post.
There has been an effort to airlift more doctors in to help him out late today. And in that one district alone, Ampara (ph) district, two other hospitals have been completely wiped from the face of the earth -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hugh Riminton, thank you very much -- Carol.
LIN: Miles, adding to the misery in the remote and devastated Aceh province of Indonesia today was a mighty aftershock, registering at 6.2, something akin to the Northridge Quake here in the United States. Those fears of more tsunamis have so far not been realized.
This time yesterday, the confirmed death toll across Indonesia was less than 5,000. Today, it is 45,000 and climbing. The United Nations says a quarter of the population in the Aceh Province is dead.
CNN's Mike Chinoy is in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what was once the bustling port area of Banda Aceh. In a few moments on Sunday morning it became a disaster area and it remains so today.
You can see, a few meters behind me, on the other side of this bridge, about 40 bodies. They must have been collected and brought there after the tidal wave. They're covered in blue plastic. But they've been lying there, decomposing in the tropical sun, for at least a few days. No one has come to collect them.
And that's hardly a unique sight around here. There are bodies all over the place. And it's a real public health hazard.
The force of the tsunami is more even than the power of the earthquake is what people here talk about. And you get a sense of just how powerful those waves were.
These boats were thrown against this bridge, smashed up against this bridge. And another boat on the far side thrown on top of houses on the far shore.
All around, the ground is littered with the bits and pieces of daily life: I.D. card, pieces of clothing, a fan, a photograph, testament to an entire community that was completely devastated.
And you can see, over here, just how extensive that devastation was. Every building has been leveled. It's clear that this big piece of concrete was brought down by the force of the quake. But the smaller pieces were the corrugated tin roofs of what were homes and shops, completely leveled. And there's no question that there would be bodies decomposing inside there.
In fact, the whole issue of bodies is a real problem. You can see over here, more bodies that have been lying in the middle of this bridge. The authorities are very concerned about public health implications of this, possible spread of epidemics, the contamination of drinking water.
For the citizens of Banda Aceh, they are walking around this area in a kind of a daze, many of them with kerchiefs to cover their noses, because the stench of the decomposing bodies is so unbearable. People just moving around. There's no aid coming in yet. Too shocked to figure out what to do, not certain where help will come from.
And this is the situation in the center of the capital of a province. God only knows how much worst it must be in the outlaying areas where the fate of hundreds of thousands of other Indonesians remains unknown.
Mike Chinoy, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: The scene behind me is Port Blair, India, the capital of a group of some 350 islands that are closer to Indonesia and Thailand than mainland India. Refugees from those islands, said to be coming here by the hundreds, leaving behind them unknown numbers of dead. Some of the smaller islands may be completely wiped out.
Officially, the Indian death toll stands right now at 10,000.
Amid the sorrow, scattered rays of joy for some, as in the case of 20-month-old Swedish boy who finally has been reunited with his father. We brought you the story yesterday of young Hannes Bergstrom, swept away from his grandfather's arms in Phuket, Thailand, only to turn up alone at a Phuket hospital.
Relatives in Europe saw pictures him in the media, contacted the hospital, and they were able to contact his uncle and grandmother. Today, Hannes rejoined his father, whose own injuries, at least for now, are all but forgotten. The young boy's mother, last we heard, still missing.
LIN: Well, some time in the next hour, a U.S. Air Force transport plane is due in the Sri Lankan capital, filled with medical supplies from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or AID.
Now that group says the $35 million the U.S. pledged as a down payment for disaster relief has drained its budget, and it will be asking Congress for more money.
From Crawford, Texas, today, the president vowed to stand with the affected governments for the long haul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's two issues that are involved, obviously, in these disasters. One, what can we do immediately to help? And then, what needs to happen in the long term to help these countries rebuild?
And we're still at the stage of immediate help. But slowly but surely, the size of the problem will become known, particularly when it comes to rebuilding infrastructure and community, to help these affected parts of the world get back up on their feet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A U.S. aircraft carrier and a Marine expeditionary unit are also being sent on missions of mercy to the Indian Ocean rim.
All you have to do is log on to our web site to find out how you can help. At CNN.com/quake you're going to find links to relief agencies, as well as emergency hotline numbers just in case you're trying to track down someone in the region. The site also has maps and background on tsunamis and, of course, up to the minute news about the crisis.
O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN. Reports out of Saudi Arabia, two blasts hit an area near the interior ministry in Riyadh. This, according to Al Arabiya Television. It happened about 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, a little more than 40 minutes ago, 8:30 p.m. local time. Unclear on casualties, or what may be behind it. We're obviously following it very closely.
As soon as we get some more details for you, we'll bring them to you. But two blasts reported near the interior ministry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Well, from the tsunami crisis to the critical situation in Iraq. A booby-trapped building leads to the deaths of Iraqi police officers. We'll go live to Baghdad for more on that.
And we'll have more on the tsunami. We'll take you to the Nicobar Islands in the India Ocean, where survivors are loading onto planes, trying to get out.
Also, how will the survivors deal with the emotional strain of the many weeks and months ahead? We'll talk with a doctor who has helped people in similar disasters later on LIVE FROM.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Iraqi security forces are under continuing attack in the weeks ahead of the historic election in that country. Today, insurgents lured police officers into a booby-trapped house and blew it up.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in Baghdad where it happened.
Jeff, how were they lured into this house? What called them there?
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what we know, Carol. It happened in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliya in western Baghdad. Police received an anonymous tip from a caller, saying there was a man on top of -- on the roof of a building, firing at residents.
Police rushed into the scene, got into the building, and the building blew up. U.S. military sources tell us the bomb may have weighed as much as 1,000 kilograms. Twenty-eight people dead. Among them, nine policemen.
Several buildings in the area razed to the ground, and the rescue workers still sifting through the rubble. More deaths expected in there.
Now this is the first of its kind, a booby-trap attack in Baghdad. As you recall, Carol, this was the modus operandi, if you will, in Falluja when U.S. military overran that town several months ago. There, insurgents were booby-trapping everything from buildings to cars to dead bodies, and even entire streets.
Officials here on the ground say it sets a very dangerous precedent for the upcoming elections.
Now this just in -- shortly -- to CNN. An Iraqi insurgency group calling itself Ansar al-Sunnah -- this is the group that claimed responsible for the suicide bombing at Camp Marez in Mosul, that killed 22, including 18 U.S. servicemen and contractors.
Well, they've announced that they are going to target all Iraqis in the upcoming elections. Now, why is this significant? It comes exactly two days after an audiotape message by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, urging all Iraqis to boycott that January 30 election -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Jeff Koinange, live in Baghdad, thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: All right. This just in, just as well. We've been telling you about this pair of bombings apparently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, happened about 45 minutes ago, about 8:30 p.m. local time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Authorities there are confirming to us it was at least one car bombing there near the interior ministry for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We're getting additional details as they come in. We heard a report earlier of a couple of explosions.
Once again, as we get further clarity on it, we'll bring it to you.
Which brings us to Ken Robinson, our security analyst, who tracks matters relating to this and other things. Ken, we were going to talk about some other matters. We'll get to them. But I just want to get a couple thoughts from you right now on Saudi Arabia, as this recurrent target of terror right now.
It's worth reminding people that this is -- for al Qaeda, the focus of a lot of their attention.
KEN ROBINSON, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's part of the focus, Miles, because most of the western world views Saudi Arabia as being ground zero for this Salafist (ph), ideologically-minded hate organization that's kind of hijacked Islam and using it as a cover for its status. Al Qaeda embraced that ideology and now it's spread to, like, 60 countries.
O'BRIEN: And it is interesting that in the kingdom, where it is a very closed society, attempts at ringing security around these places continually have been thwarted.
What does that tell you about their efforts to try to fight al Qaeda within their own borders?
ROBINSON: Well, it's been -- it's been alluded to as like a boomerang that came back to haunt them.
The kingdom, for the longest time, kind of winked and nodded at the Wahhabists, who were proselytizing this around the world this kind of hate ideology, but it never came home to them.
And then recently, Osama bin Laden aggressively has wanted to destabilize the kingdom, overthrow the monarchy, which he feels is corrupt because it allowed the westerners and the U.S. in particular to be near the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. And so the al Qaeda is directly targeting the leadership within that organization, within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
O'BRIEN: And this strict interpretation of the Quran that these Wahhabis embrace is something that the kingdom has allowed to occur. It is something that is very organic. It begins at the earliest stages of the schooling.
And for the kingdom, for the ruling family, to stay in power, they have had to allow this to occur. Perhaps now the rubber's meeting the road on this.
ROBINSON: Well, it really is. You know, I don't think that there's a problem with a strict interpretation of Islam. What the west had a problem with is a militant, Jihadist, terrorist application, and using strict interpretations of Islam as its cover, to -- to defend its policies and its procedures. That's where the problem is, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, we were going to talk about changes at the CIA, but I'd rather shift to this other subject that we're going to bring up, because it relates more strongly to what we're talking about here.
And this is -- walk people down the logic, which takes us from this terrible, natural disaster, a tsunami, which as many thousands dead as we have there, and how that could really lay the groundwork for another generation of terror.
And how -- how can the U.S. at this juncture perhaps thwart that possibility?
ROBINSON: Several things. South Asia has had problems, instability problems for years. There have been wars of liberation. There have been insurgencies. There have been terrorist groups which have been local, which have now, over the last few years, since 9/11, become global in their nature.
Many of the planning phases for several attacks in the west, the attack against the USS Cole, the Bali -- the Bali discotheque bombing, the planned bombing of 12 airliners over the Pacific Ocean, the planning for 9/11, which occurred, all happened in south Asia. South Asia is important. It's part of this threat, this global Jihadist threat.
And so these governments, being unstable already, and in some cases being perceived as illegitimate by their populations, now has this huge effect of not being able to provide for their people.
There's a short window of time here, Miles, where the United States government could seize the moment and rise in a very, very big way, almost like a Marshall Plan, to come in here. Because this part of the world has the largest population of Muslims on earth. It's a way for the U.S. to establish legitimacy.
O'BRIEN: And -- but are you optimistic that that will occur?
ROBINSON: Well, the government of the United States certainly is moving. But they were pretty slow in the first three days in terms of coming out publicly with what their intent was.
The -- we can only hope that at central intelligence, analysis is being done about the importance of this. At State Department, public diplomacy recognizes that this short window of opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the -- of these Islamic people and to show that the United States is not against Islam, it is against militant Islam, and maybe make a difference in the lives of the next generation so that they don't turn to terrorism and we don't have to fight them, as well as the generation that the west is fighting now.
O'BRIEN: Words that we hope resonate all throughout the corridors of power in Washington. Ken Robinson, always a pleasure. Thank you for offering your insights today on that and other matters. We appreciate it.
ROBINSON: Thanks, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just climbed up to a roof of the hotel and then the roof was getting high enough to where I just had to jump on a tree.
O'BRIEN: An American tsunami survivor describes what he saw. Next, you'll hear the rest of his story.
The tsunami, as seen by satellite. We'll show you an amazing perspective on the disaster.
And next on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is just a wonderful, loving woman that would do anything for her children.
O'BRIEN: A 55-year-old mom gives her daughter and son-in-law the ultimate gift, triplets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Got some news across America right now.
U.S. Airways, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, is doing everything it can to avoid a repeat of that Christmas fiasco that left thousands of passengers stranded or without their baggage.
So many airline employees called in sick, the airline simply couldn't handle the passenger load. So now it's asking some of its employees at Philadelphia's airport to work over New Year's weekend for free. We're going to be following that story.
Also, a Pennsylvania man definitely was not in the Christmas spirit this year. The 21-year-old told police he was angry that his parents didn't give him any presents. So he burnt down their house. No one was hurt. And the suspect is now facing charges.
A Virginia woman will be thanking her mother for years to come for her Christmas gift. Yesterday, 55-year-old Tina Cade gave birth to triplets that she carried as a surrogate for her daughter. The babies, two boys and a girl, were due in February. But they are now in intensive care.
O'BRIEN: Well, the events in south Asia have certainly put worry about record rainfalls in the west into some degree of perspective. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is here to tell us, nevertheless, about what is a serious problem THERE on the West Coast.
Hello, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Rob Marciano, thank you very much -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Not only the weather is keeping people home, but also the fact their airplanes may not be taking off. Air travel is just getting back to normal after a computer glitch left thousands stranded over Christmas weekend.
So what's being done to ensure that that never happens again? David Haffenreffer is at the New York Stock Exchange with that story.
So I take it, David, it wasn't just U.S. Airways that had it rough?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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 December 29, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We listened to the wave breaking on the beach. There was a big bang as it came through those trees. I suppose we'd reached about here before we were -- we were washed away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CO-HOST: Amazing. Family story of survival. A firsthand account of the disaster from another father who says he's one of the lucky ones.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: These pictures show the absolute devastation the tsunamis left behind in Indonesia. This hour, why there is growing concern that, in addition to the horrible human death toll, the destruction could also impact the future of global terrorism.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
LIN: And I'm Carol Lin, in for Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
O'BRIEN: And we return this hour, as we have so many hours, this final week of 2004, to loss and grief beyond our comprehension. That's a phrase from President Bush's first public comments on the tsunami catastrophe in southern Asia, where, by CNN's count, more than 80,000 people lost their lives.
More than half of those are here in remotest Indonesia. And the toll will almost surely rise higher, not even counting deaths from disease in the weeks ahead.
Mr. Bush announced a four-nation partnership along with Japan, Australia and India to organize relief operations, vowing to, quote, "we will prevail over the destruction."
India itself lost thousands to the monster waves. Experts look for six to eight weeks of emergency funding before the focus and more funding turn to reconstruction. The U.N. says this is absolutely crunch day for evaluating short-term needs and formulating a strategy for meeting them. The World Health Organization estimates five million people now lack food, water, shelter, and/or basic sanitation in the region. LIN: Miles, the government of Thailand now estimates that double the number of tourists died for every Thai national lost in the weekend onslaught.
CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Kao Lak.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll alone rose to some 1,200 people, accounting for more than 60 percent of the overall casualties in this country. Bodies are still being taken out from the completely devastated shoreline.
We're now close to four days after those walls of water, as so many people have described them, came crashing down. Yet bodies are still being pulled out.
Yesterday, Carol, we're told you couldn't even stand where we are. The stench of the bodies was that strong. Now it's starting to stabilize here. Rescue and relief efforts trying to move further north to the hardest hit areas. Hotels that are all but gutted.
The Sophie Hotel (ph) is one of them, marquee hotels, that had -- that were filled to capacity with foreign tourists, many of whom are still missing and perhaps thought to be underneath that rubble.
Thousands of people remain missing overall in Thailand. And as we go each day further, the hope of finding any of them -- any of them alive dwindles that much more.
Today, Carol we can tell you this has been the first full day of relief efforts where no survivor has been found here.
LIN: Aneesh, what are the families of these tourists going to be able to do to recover any of the bodies?
RAMAN: Well, that's actually becoming a critical issue now. We're now, as we say, some four days away. The bodies that have yet to be found, the bodies that will be found tomorrow, are so decomposed that identification is now nearly impossible.
So for the families who still consider their loved ones missing, now closure itself seems to also be eluding them.
As you've seen before, there have been pictures of -- of the dead that were posted at the hospital so identifications could take place. They don't even have that option any more.
We've been here all day long. And a mother has been sitting next to us on a blanket, looking out at the destruction behind us. That is where her daughter was last known to be, where she worked. And every day since this disaster, she's come and sat here, hoping now what seems to be impossible, that her daughter will return. And slowly starting to come to grips with what is likely to be the reality, that she is gone.
And so for people all over the world who knew people here, that is now taking place, Carol. LIN: Aneesh Raman in Khao Lak. It is unimaginable the grief that people are going through there, thank you -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Sri Lanka confirms more than 23,000 killed, 4,000 more still missing. Every structure on that island nation's coast, southern coast, said to be damaged or lost altogether.
CNN's Hugh Riminton is in Colombo.
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time now, we're starting to see what's been going on on the east coast of Sri Lanka, Miles. This is a very remote area. It's an area where the rescue officials have been a little bit concerned, been very concerned, in fact, that the ratio in this area of the dead to the living from this disaster could be worse than anywhere else.
What we have seen, with the first pictures that have started to emerge from the east coast, is a place that seems to be almost empty of people. It's a strange and eerie sight, given that we're used to seeing the more built-up urban areas, where there are still people around, despite all the destruction.
It's a low-lying coastal area, in many cases, little more than a sand spit, with the lagoons on the inside. It took the full brunt of the tsunami. It was facing directly towards the epicenter of the quake.
And it seems in many cases, the waves have come over, wiped out almost all structures between the normal high tide mark and the lagoons inside. People have been washed away, roads and road bridges have been washed away. A full assessment of that is still yet to be made.
We do hear a report of one doctor, who's working in that area, trying to treat 4,000 casualties in a single hospital that has been partly destroyed. He has stayed at his post.
There has been an effort to airlift more doctors in to help him out late today. And in that one district alone, Ampara (ph) district, two other hospitals have been completely wiped from the face of the earth -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hugh Riminton, thank you very much -- Carol.
LIN: Miles, adding to the misery in the remote and devastated Aceh province of Indonesia today was a mighty aftershock, registering at 6.2, something akin to the Northridge Quake here in the United States. Those fears of more tsunamis have so far not been realized.
This time yesterday, the confirmed death toll across Indonesia was less than 5,000. Today, it is 45,000 and climbing. The United Nations says a quarter of the population in the Aceh Province is dead.
CNN's Mike Chinoy is in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what was once the bustling port area of Banda Aceh. In a few moments on Sunday morning it became a disaster area and it remains so today.
You can see, a few meters behind me, on the other side of this bridge, about 40 bodies. They must have been collected and brought there after the tidal wave. They're covered in blue plastic. But they've been lying there, decomposing in the tropical sun, for at least a few days. No one has come to collect them.
And that's hardly a unique sight around here. There are bodies all over the place. And it's a real public health hazard.
The force of the tsunami is more even than the power of the earthquake is what people here talk about. And you get a sense of just how powerful those waves were.
These boats were thrown against this bridge, smashed up against this bridge. And another boat on the far side thrown on top of houses on the far shore.
All around, the ground is littered with the bits and pieces of daily life: I.D. card, pieces of clothing, a fan, a photograph, testament to an entire community that was completely devastated.
And you can see, over here, just how extensive that devastation was. Every building has been leveled. It's clear that this big piece of concrete was brought down by the force of the quake. But the smaller pieces were the corrugated tin roofs of what were homes and shops, completely leveled. And there's no question that there would be bodies decomposing inside there.
In fact, the whole issue of bodies is a real problem. You can see over here, more bodies that have been lying in the middle of this bridge. The authorities are very concerned about public health implications of this, possible spread of epidemics, the contamination of drinking water.
For the citizens of Banda Aceh, they are walking around this area in a kind of a daze, many of them with kerchiefs to cover their noses, because the stench of the decomposing bodies is so unbearable. People just moving around. There's no aid coming in yet. Too shocked to figure out what to do, not certain where help will come from.
And this is the situation in the center of the capital of a province. God only knows how much worst it must be in the outlaying areas where the fate of hundreds of thousands of other Indonesians remains unknown.
Mike Chinoy, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: The scene behind me is Port Blair, India, the capital of a group of some 350 islands that are closer to Indonesia and Thailand than mainland India. Refugees from those islands, said to be coming here by the hundreds, leaving behind them unknown numbers of dead. Some of the smaller islands may be completely wiped out.
Officially, the Indian death toll stands right now at 10,000.
Amid the sorrow, scattered rays of joy for some, as in the case of 20-month-old Swedish boy who finally has been reunited with his father. We brought you the story yesterday of young Hannes Bergstrom, swept away from his grandfather's arms in Phuket, Thailand, only to turn up alone at a Phuket hospital.
Relatives in Europe saw pictures him in the media, contacted the hospital, and they were able to contact his uncle and grandmother. Today, Hannes rejoined his father, whose own injuries, at least for now, are all but forgotten. The young boy's mother, last we heard, still missing.
LIN: Well, some time in the next hour, a U.S. Air Force transport plane is due in the Sri Lankan capital, filled with medical supplies from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or AID.
Now that group says the $35 million the U.S. pledged as a down payment for disaster relief has drained its budget, and it will be asking Congress for more money.
From Crawford, Texas, today, the president vowed to stand with the affected governments for the long haul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's two issues that are involved, obviously, in these disasters. One, what can we do immediately to help? And then, what needs to happen in the long term to help these countries rebuild?
And we're still at the stage of immediate help. But slowly but surely, the size of the problem will become known, particularly when it comes to rebuilding infrastructure and community, to help these affected parts of the world get back up on their feet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A U.S. aircraft carrier and a Marine expeditionary unit are also being sent on missions of mercy to the Indian Ocean rim.
All you have to do is log on to our web site to find out how you can help. At CNN.com/quake you're going to find links to relief agencies, as well as emergency hotline numbers just in case you're trying to track down someone in the region. The site also has maps and background on tsunamis and, of course, up to the minute news about the crisis.
O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN. Reports out of Saudi Arabia, two blasts hit an area near the interior ministry in Riyadh. This, according to Al Arabiya Television. It happened about 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, a little more than 40 minutes ago, 8:30 p.m. local time. Unclear on casualties, or what may be behind it. We're obviously following it very closely.
As soon as we get some more details for you, we'll bring them to you. But two blasts reported near the interior ministry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Well, from the tsunami crisis to the critical situation in Iraq. A booby-trapped building leads to the deaths of Iraqi police officers. We'll go live to Baghdad for more on that.
And we'll have more on the tsunami. We'll take you to the Nicobar Islands in the India Ocean, where survivors are loading onto planes, trying to get out.
Also, how will the survivors deal with the emotional strain of the many weeks and months ahead? We'll talk with a doctor who has helped people in similar disasters later on LIVE FROM.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Iraqi security forces are under continuing attack in the weeks ahead of the historic election in that country. Today, insurgents lured police officers into a booby-trapped house and blew it up.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in Baghdad where it happened.
Jeff, how were they lured into this house? What called them there?
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what we know, Carol. It happened in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliya in western Baghdad. Police received an anonymous tip from a caller, saying there was a man on top of -- on the roof of a building, firing at residents.
Police rushed into the scene, got into the building, and the building blew up. U.S. military sources tell us the bomb may have weighed as much as 1,000 kilograms. Twenty-eight people dead. Among them, nine policemen.
Several buildings in the area razed to the ground, and the rescue workers still sifting through the rubble. More deaths expected in there.
Now this is the first of its kind, a booby-trap attack in Baghdad. As you recall, Carol, this was the modus operandi, if you will, in Falluja when U.S. military overran that town several months ago. There, insurgents were booby-trapping everything from buildings to cars to dead bodies, and even entire streets.
Officials here on the ground say it sets a very dangerous precedent for the upcoming elections.
Now this just in -- shortly -- to CNN. An Iraqi insurgency group calling itself Ansar al-Sunnah -- this is the group that claimed responsible for the suicide bombing at Camp Marez in Mosul, that killed 22, including 18 U.S. servicemen and contractors.
Well, they've announced that they are going to target all Iraqis in the upcoming elections. Now, why is this significant? It comes exactly two days after an audiotape message by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, urging all Iraqis to boycott that January 30 election -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Jeff Koinange, live in Baghdad, thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: All right. This just in, just as well. We've been telling you about this pair of bombings apparently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, happened about 45 minutes ago, about 8:30 p.m. local time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Authorities there are confirming to us it was at least one car bombing there near the interior ministry for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We're getting additional details as they come in. We heard a report earlier of a couple of explosions.
Once again, as we get further clarity on it, we'll bring it to you.
Which brings us to Ken Robinson, our security analyst, who tracks matters relating to this and other things. Ken, we were going to talk about some other matters. We'll get to them. But I just want to get a couple thoughts from you right now on Saudi Arabia, as this recurrent target of terror right now.
It's worth reminding people that this is -- for al Qaeda, the focus of a lot of their attention.
KEN ROBINSON, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's part of the focus, Miles, because most of the western world views Saudi Arabia as being ground zero for this Salafist (ph), ideologically-minded hate organization that's kind of hijacked Islam and using it as a cover for its status. Al Qaeda embraced that ideology and now it's spread to, like, 60 countries.
O'BRIEN: And it is interesting that in the kingdom, where it is a very closed society, attempts at ringing security around these places continually have been thwarted.
What does that tell you about their efforts to try to fight al Qaeda within their own borders?
ROBINSON: Well, it's been -- it's been alluded to as like a boomerang that came back to haunt them.
The kingdom, for the longest time, kind of winked and nodded at the Wahhabists, who were proselytizing this around the world this kind of hate ideology, but it never came home to them.
And then recently, Osama bin Laden aggressively has wanted to destabilize the kingdom, overthrow the monarchy, which he feels is corrupt because it allowed the westerners and the U.S. in particular to be near the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. And so the al Qaeda is directly targeting the leadership within that organization, within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
O'BRIEN: And this strict interpretation of the Quran that these Wahhabis embrace is something that the kingdom has allowed to occur. It is something that is very organic. It begins at the earliest stages of the schooling.
And for the kingdom, for the ruling family, to stay in power, they have had to allow this to occur. Perhaps now the rubber's meeting the road on this.
ROBINSON: Well, it really is. You know, I don't think that there's a problem with a strict interpretation of Islam. What the west had a problem with is a militant, Jihadist, terrorist application, and using strict interpretations of Islam as its cover, to -- to defend its policies and its procedures. That's where the problem is, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, we were going to talk about changes at the CIA, but I'd rather shift to this other subject that we're going to bring up, because it relates more strongly to what we're talking about here.
And this is -- walk people down the logic, which takes us from this terrible, natural disaster, a tsunami, which as many thousands dead as we have there, and how that could really lay the groundwork for another generation of terror.
And how -- how can the U.S. at this juncture perhaps thwart that possibility?
ROBINSON: Several things. South Asia has had problems, instability problems for years. There have been wars of liberation. There have been insurgencies. There have been terrorist groups which have been local, which have now, over the last few years, since 9/11, become global in their nature.
Many of the planning phases for several attacks in the west, the attack against the USS Cole, the Bali -- the Bali discotheque bombing, the planned bombing of 12 airliners over the Pacific Ocean, the planning for 9/11, which occurred, all happened in south Asia. South Asia is important. It's part of this threat, this global Jihadist threat.
And so these governments, being unstable already, and in some cases being perceived as illegitimate by their populations, now has this huge effect of not being able to provide for their people.
There's a short window of time here, Miles, where the United States government could seize the moment and rise in a very, very big way, almost like a Marshall Plan, to come in here. Because this part of the world has the largest population of Muslims on earth. It's a way for the U.S. to establish legitimacy.
O'BRIEN: And -- but are you optimistic that that will occur?
ROBINSON: Well, the government of the United States certainly is moving. But they were pretty slow in the first three days in terms of coming out publicly with what their intent was.
The -- we can only hope that at central intelligence, analysis is being done about the importance of this. At State Department, public diplomacy recognizes that this short window of opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the -- of these Islamic people and to show that the United States is not against Islam, it is against militant Islam, and maybe make a difference in the lives of the next generation so that they don't turn to terrorism and we don't have to fight them, as well as the generation that the west is fighting now.
O'BRIEN: Words that we hope resonate all throughout the corridors of power in Washington. Ken Robinson, always a pleasure. Thank you for offering your insights today on that and other matters. We appreciate it.
ROBINSON: Thanks, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just climbed up to a roof of the hotel and then the roof was getting high enough to where I just had to jump on a tree.
O'BRIEN: An American tsunami survivor describes what he saw. Next, you'll hear the rest of his story.
The tsunami, as seen by satellite. We'll show you an amazing perspective on the disaster.
And next on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is just a wonderful, loving woman that would do anything for her children.
O'BRIEN: A 55-year-old mom gives her daughter and son-in-law the ultimate gift, triplets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Got some news across America right now.
U.S. Airways, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, is doing everything it can to avoid a repeat of that Christmas fiasco that left thousands of passengers stranded or without their baggage.
So many airline employees called in sick, the airline simply couldn't handle the passenger load. So now it's asking some of its employees at Philadelphia's airport to work over New Year's weekend for free. We're going to be following that story.
Also, a Pennsylvania man definitely was not in the Christmas spirit this year. The 21-year-old told police he was angry that his parents didn't give him any presents. So he burnt down their house. No one was hurt. And the suspect is now facing charges.
A Virginia woman will be thanking her mother for years to come for her Christmas gift. Yesterday, 55-year-old Tina Cade gave birth to triplets that she carried as a surrogate for her daughter. The babies, two boys and a girl, were due in February. But they are now in intensive care.
O'BRIEN: Well, the events in south Asia have certainly put worry about record rainfalls in the west into some degree of perspective. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is here to tell us, nevertheless, about what is a serious problem THERE on the West Coast.
Hello, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Rob Marciano, thank you very much -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Not only the weather is keeping people home, but also the fact their airplanes may not be taking off. Air travel is just getting back to normal after a computer glitch left thousands stranded over Christmas weekend.
So what's being done to ensure that that never happens again? David Haffenreffer is at the New York Stock Exchange with that story.
So I take it, David, it wasn't just U.S. Airways that had it rough?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
