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Aftershock in Aceh Province; President Bush Speaks out About Tsunami Disaster
Aired December 29, 2004 - 14:00 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing story out of Saudi Arabia. A car bomb goes off in that country's capital, Riyadh. We are following developments there at this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we did everything we could to grab people, but the water was just so powerful that you can only hang on to people so long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: American tsunami survivors come home. You are going to hear about how they managed to stay alive.
O'BRIEN: The stunning impact of the tsunami on the planet as a whole. Views from above reveal why the waves might make current maps obsolete.
LIN: And in the midst of utter sorrow a moment of pure joy. A boy reunited with his father in Thailand. More on this and on other lost and found stories straight ahead.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Kyra has the day off.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
We begin in a corner of the Earth long isolated by war and now decimated by a force of nature. This, as you're about to see, is Aceh Province on the northern end of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. There it is. That's what's left of it
Almost four days after 30-foot tsunamis ravaged the Indian Ocean rim, the U.N. estimates one person in four in parts of Aceh Province, long the center of a bitter insurgency, is dead. You are looking at the bodies of the dead.
More than 45,000 are confirmed dead across Indonesia, most of them in Aceh. And that brings the total dead in a dozen countries to 80,000-plus, with untold thousands still unaccounted for.
Now Aceh Province and some nearby Indian islands were further terrorized late today by a serious aftershock. CNN senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy is in the Indonesian city and provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE CHINOY, CNN SR. ASIA CORRESPONDENT: We've had a fairly significant aftershock here. The U.S. Geological Survey saying it was 6.1 on the Richter scale. It was a big jolt. We all felt it.
People in the building where I'm staying ran outside. The folks you can see behind me are refugees, people who have lost their homes. They too very frightened.
It was an unsettling experience. Certainly the biggest aftershock that we felt in the two days that I've been here.
Meanwhile, out and around in Banda Aceh, it's still a very, very grim situation. You still see bodies on many streets not yet removed. There simply don't seem to be enough emergency workers to do that.
A trickle of aid is beginning to come in now. Some of the main international aid agencies like Doctors Without Borders are here. The Australian military brought in a planeload of supplies. But it's still a long way to get those desperately needed supplies to the people who most need them.
And still, the big question mark, the fate of hundreds of thousands of people in the western parts of this territory along the shoreline closest to the epicenter of the quake. We're just not sure what happened to them. But U.N. officials here are saying it's possible the final death toll could be between 50,000 and 80,000 people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: In addition to spawning deadly tsunamis, did Sunday's undersea earthquake change maps and clocks as well? Geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, figures that as one tectonic plate slid beneath the other, it made the Earth more impact, causing it to spin about three-millionths of a second faster.
Now, what about literally moving the Earth? Look at these satellite images from Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The before photos show the beach on a normal day taken on January 1, 2004. These coming from the digital globe satellite.
This after image was taken about four hours after the tsunami struck. Now, it's hard to make out the structural damage, but you can see the flooded streets, pools of water that go far inland from the ocean. You can also see gullies and huge channels of water draining from the city and then running back into the sea.
More scientific interest in Sri Lanka regarding animals. The question, where did they go? Despite the widespread devastation and huge loss of human life, wildlife enthusiasts in Sri Lanka surprised to see no evidence of large-scale deaths of animals on the island nation. Some believe it's an indication animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground.
LIN: Wouldn't that be amazing? All right.
Well, nearly half of the deaths being counted so far in India have occurred in the chain of islands hundreds of miles from the Indian mainland. Reporter Martin Geissler has reached one of the islands and has just sent in this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN GEISSLER, REPORTER (voice-over): Set aside from the outside world by geography and choice, the Andaman and Nicobar islanders have resisted change for centuries. Now life here will never be the same again. Whole communities have washed away.
This is Car, Nicobar. It's almost impossible for foreigners to get here. Islands like this are so remote, it's been difficult to fully assess the damage until now. But today the governor of this territory told me just how serious the situation is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Car, Nicobar, total people is 20,000. Half of them are missing.
GEISSLER (on camera): These islands are so close to the earthquake's epicenter, that even if there had been an early warning system, it would have made no difference. The waves hit here within minutes.
The islands themselves are scattered over 1,000 kilometers. And that geography is proving a real problem to the relief effort.
Several islands remain completely cut off. No contact has been made with them, and officials here concede they have no idea what's become of the thousands of people who live on them.
(voice-over): For those who have been rescued, a refugee center has been set up in Port Blair, the tiny capital of these islands. Fifteen hundred were there when we visited, with more arriving all the time. Relatives search desperately for the name of a loved one on the admissions board.
It's safer for them to camp outside here. Significant tremors are still being felt every day. The people cling to what little they have left. Many have nothing.
(on camera): What has happened to the island?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The island is totally destroyed. Worst.
GEISSLER (voice-over): They don't know what to do now. Everything is gone. This refuge may only be open for a few more days, but most have no homes to go back to. And these are the lucky ones.
Martin Geissler, ITV News, in Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: With each passing day we get a clearer picture of the magnitude of what occurred on Sunday. Fresh handicam tapes still coming to light, and the footage is truly astonishing.
In Thailand, vacationers swept from the beach by the massive surge of water. Chairs, floats and other materials all whizzing by.
Now, in Indonesia, another massive surge. Probably thousands of tons of water on the island of Sumatra. This is the place where the confirmed tally of dead has risen so dramatically just today.
And in Sri Lanka, horrendous torrents of water pushing vehicles, pieces of buildings and possessions large and small. And then the occasional glimpse of victims desperately hanging on. Almost inevitably they are swept away.
LIN: Well, President -- President Bush has been criticized by some for not saying enough, perhaps not even giving enough to this disaster. We are going to talk to CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash, who's got that story. She's standing by live in Crawford, Texas, where the president vacationing.
Dana, what did the president have to say today?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, it was the first time we saw the president, the first time he spoke publicly since he's been here on vacation for four days. He got here on Sunday, the same day that the tsunamis swept Asia. And he came out saying that he believes obviously that this is a tragic incident that resulted in death beyond comprehension.
And he said that he had just come from a National Security Council meeting where he spoke by video conference from his ranch with his top officials, the vice president, the secretaries of state and defense, where he talked to them about an international coalition he says the U.S. is helping form to coordinate immediate humanitarian relief around the world. He also said he spoke with some world leaders.
There you see him speaking with the president of Sri Lanka. He also spoke with leaders from Thailand, Indonesia and India, saying to all of them, he said, that he promises to help them assess the needs on the ground which he says is vitally important, and also help with the long-term recovery efforts.
No new announcements of aid beyond the $35 million that he talked about yesterday. But Mr. Bush was asked and did say that he talked to the leaders about the need for a worldwide early warning system to alert people about tsunamis and other natural disasters. But when Mr. Bush was asked if the United States was prepared with such an early warning system, he appeared stumped by the question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can't answer your question specifically, do we have enough of a warning system for the West Coast. I am going to -- I am now asking that to our -- our agencies in government to let -- let us know. I mean, that's a very legitimate question.
Clearly, there wasn't a proper warning system in place for that part of the world. And it seems like to me it makes sense for the world to come together to develop a warning system that will help all nations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the president's spokesman said later that Mr. Bush has directed his secretaries of Commerce and Interior to look into what exactly the U.S. is prepared with, what the system is in place. The president also took issue with a comment earlier in the week from a U.N. representative who said, in general, the U.S. and other wealthy nations have not given enough in foreign assistance. The president called that comment misguided and ill-informed, and was armed with some statistics, saying that just last year -- or this year alone, 2004, the U.S. gave $2.4 billion in aid.
And to those Americans who are looking to give, to help the folks in Asia, Mr. Bush said that it's important that people think about perhaps not sending blankets and clothes, things that they are perhaps thinking about sending. That it's best, he said, to send cash, to send money, because that is the best way to match what's given with what's needed on the ground -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much. Dana Bash reporting live in Crawford, Texas, where the president is on vacation.
In fact, you want to get a perspective on how much emergency aid is getting into that region? Every hour more supplies and manpower arrive in the battered areas. For example, a team of 22 U.S. military experts is already there trying to assess what is most need and where.
Now, the United States, as Dana was reporting, has made available $35 million for on-the-spot spending. And the Bush administration says that that may only be the beginning.
Japan has pledged $30 million in aid. Saudi Arabia another $10 million. More than $7.5 million is coming from Australia, and Germany has offered up nearly $3 million. Other nations are stepping forward as well.
O'BRIEN: Amid all the devastation, unbelievable stories of survival to tell you about. This 4-year-old Thai boy back with his family in Phuket after spending, get this, more than two days in the top of a tree. His father says the boy was playing near their wood house when the tsunami struck. He was stranded offshore in a small boat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was frightened. I did not think I would survive. The rescue team found my son in the mangrove, not me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And remember this toddler from Sweden? He too found safe and sound in Phuket hours after being ripped from his grandmother's arms. Two days later, Hannis (ph) finally relocated with his father, who located in a local hospital. Obviously an emotional moment.
As well as his grandparents and uncle. They have been found. A very bittersweet moment, of course. His mother remains among the missing.
LIN: Well, those two boys are among the survivors. Straight ahead, I'm going to be talking with a relief worker who is hoping to help other children, perhaps as many as a million children devastated by the tsunami.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I landed on the roof of the mosque. I reached out and held on to a piece of wood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: And the story of two sisters who made it to a hospital in Indonesia and befriended a lost boy. How they are helping each other make it.
And later, the tsunami from space. What satellite images reveal about the impact of this powerful force of nature.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: We've got some news coming in and some picture there's of Sedona, Arizona. That you are looking at, Oak Creek, an area where some 300 people have been evacuated because winter storms have brought so much rain that something like in some parts of that particular area, 11 feet of water rose literally overnight.
Also, a 14-mile section of State Road 89A, which runs between Sedona and Flagstaff, was closed. A lot of rain in that area. We're going to keep an eye on that. No report of any injuries so far -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: More than half the known dead in Asia's tsunami cataclysm are in Indonesia. CNN's Atika Schubert with the grief- stricken survivors in Aceh, Indonesia, first and probably worst hit province.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the lucky ones. Udah (ph) is 8 years old. He was playing outside his house when a tsunami wave swallowed him whole. He does not remember how he got to this hospital. The only people he speaks to are Suryati and Mardiana (ph), two sisters swept by the tsunami waves. They have lost their children and 13 members of their family.
"The water was black,"" Suryati tells us. "I swallowed so much water as it carried me out of the village turning me over and over. I landed on the roof of the mosque. I reached out and held on to a piece of wood with all my strength. That's what saved me."
They found Udah (ph) weeping near the hospital morgue. "We tried to help him and get a doctor to look at his eye," Mardiana says. "His parents, his whole family are gone." In the midst of this devastation they have become a family.
(on camera): We came to this hospital to talk to victims like Udah (ph), but within minutes we were surrounded by other victims, people looking for their missing family members, all with their own horrific stories; every one of them asking why the world has not responded faster to this horrific disaster in Aceh.
(voice-over): Everyone in this hospital has lost at least one family member. They tell stories of entire villages wiped out, bodies as far as they can see. This man cries to us, "Please tell the world. Where is America? Please help to round up the bodies. There is no one left to save. Just help us bury the dead."
This hospital has virtually no doctors or staff, either killed or searching for their own missing families. This Malaysian volunteer was the first doctor we saw, he has covered major earthquakes before. This he says is the worst he's seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have got no water. Sanitation is zero. The commodes are overflowing. There is no access to clean water right now. People are sleeping on the streets. There's no food. Most of the people over here, they have not eaten in about three days.
SCHUBERT: Mercy Malaysia was the first international aid agency in Aceh, more help is needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anyone expected anything like this. No one expected it, it happened so fast.
SCHUBERT: Until more help arrives, Mardiana (ph), Suryati and Udah (ph) are doing the best they can, if only to comfort each other.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, horrified relief workers say a third of those killed by the tsunamis in Asia may be children. Bob Laprade, director of emergency response for Save the Children, is with me now from Washington, D.C.
Bob, good to have you. BOB LAPRADE, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Good to be here.
LIN: We were talking not too long ago on the telephone when you got a call in from Sri Lanka. What are you hearing from your people on the ground so far?
LAPRADE: Well, one of the biggest problems that we're confronting, as your story just showed, are separated children. Are trying to get children registered and get the parents registered and somehow reunify them.
LIN: That's got to be a chaotic situation. I mean, that's got be kind of a chaotic situation when you -- when you look at the devastation that we're showing in just some of these pictures, and these children who look so lost and so alone.
LAPRADE: It really is. It's very chaotic, and people are suffering I think very much from the psychological trauma of -- of what's just happened. And organizations like Save the Children are actually trying to do things to give some sense of normalcy to what's going on, and to also try to identify those that -- that are really are having trouble coping, because it's so massive.
LIN: So when you say register the parents or the children, is that a matter of just trying to grab people off the street and trying to match names?
LAPRADE: Partially. There's a screening process, but basically trying to get children-- children's names, which is not so difficult with teenagers. But you can imagine, with youngsters, you can't even get their names or the names of their parents. But somehow doing that and then matching them to their families and getting them back in a safe manner.
LIN: What kind of success rate have you had in the past?
LAPRADE: Well, fortunately for natural disasters a lot of this happens spontaneously even before aid workers and others get there. But, still, a lot of people do slip through the cracks, as your story just showed. A small boy in a hospital disoriented, not even knowing his name, not knowing where he's going, is unfortunately quite a common occurrence.
LIN: How many children in total do you think are now -- either have lost a parent or are orphaned or homeless or injured?
LAPRADE: I would say easily close to a million just given the demographics of the Asian countries that we're talking about. There are fairly large families, and if we're talking 60,000 adults, there are a lot of children right now.
LIN: Oh, Bob, that is a heartbreaking number. You yourself have suffered a personal loss. You lost a friend in Phuket.
LAPRADE: That's true. And I think I can really understand the difficulty that -- that millions of people right now in Asia are suffering.
LIN: Yes. Bob, at the same time, when you talk to people on the ground, your staff -- you have staff in Sri Lanka and elsewhere -- have you heard of -- I mean, we talked about this little boy, Swedish boy being reunited with his father. I was talking to you earlier about a baby that was found floating on a mattress reunited with the parents. Have you yourself heard any miraculous stories out of this disaster?
LAPRADE: Well, just in the last few hours, Save the Children has had a great story. We had been in Aceh since 1976, working there with the local health authorities and others. And we do have staff on the ground, and we thought we had lost three staff very unfortunately. But miraculously, one of the staff members came walking into town this morning.
LIN: Walked in.
LAPRADE: So it's been a real miracle for -- he walked in -- for Save the Children. So that was...
LIN: Pretty amazing.
LAPRADE: It's still tragic about the others, but it surely was great to hear that story.
LIN: There is -- there can be some good coming out of bad and some hope. Thanks very much, Bob Laprade, Save the Children.
LAPRADE: Thank you.
LIN: You've got a big mission ahead.
O'BRIEN: Seismic forces and rushing walls of water adding up to utter devastation. Ahead on LIVE FROM, a geophysicist shares his take on the impact of the tsunami and how it literally changed the face of the Earth.
Also ahead, a mother's true love. A 55-year-old woman becomes a surrogate for triplets.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. Airways is looking for a few good men and women to work over the New Year's weekend for free.
We'll have that story coming up on LIVE FROM. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: News "Across America" now.
The rain keeps coming and coming. Parts of southern California still being doused with record rainfall. More than six inches has fallen in downtown L.A. since yesterday. More wet weather expected today. A California couple is suing the makers of Children's Motrin, claiming it caused their daughter to go blind. The lawsuit alleges the 7-year-old girl took the painkiller, days later she went blind. The family is asking for damages and for a label to be placed on the medicine warning that it could lead to an allergic reaction that can cause blindness.
And talk about an amazing gift from one mother to her daughter. Yesterday, 55-year-old Tina Cade (ph) gave birth to triplets that she carried as a surrogate for her daughter. The babies, two boys and a girl, were due in February and are in intensive care.
It kind of makes you think of that "I'm my own grandpa thing," you know, because it's kind of confusing about who is mom and who...
LIN: Yes. And daughter won't be thanking her after those every- two-hour feedings, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LIN: Maybe grandma will be there for that, too.
O'BRIEN: Well, she had an interesting position as grandma and ma kind of thing.
LIN: Well, birth mother.
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's it.
All right. After too many U.S. Airways employees called out sick last weekend, the airline is pulling out all stops to field a full staff over New Year's. Is that too much to ask, a full staff?
LIN: Yes. Well, a price to be paid, or perhaps not paid. David Haffenreffer has that story.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired December 29, 2004 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing story out of Saudi Arabia. A car bomb goes off in that country's capital, Riyadh. We are following developments there at this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we did everything we could to grab people, but the water was just so powerful that you can only hang on to people so long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: American tsunami survivors come home. You are going to hear about how they managed to stay alive.
O'BRIEN: The stunning impact of the tsunami on the planet as a whole. Views from above reveal why the waves might make current maps obsolete.
LIN: And in the midst of utter sorrow a moment of pure joy. A boy reunited with his father in Thailand. More on this and on other lost and found stories straight ahead.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Kyra has the day off.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
We begin in a corner of the Earth long isolated by war and now decimated by a force of nature. This, as you're about to see, is Aceh Province on the northern end of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. There it is. That's what's left of it
Almost four days after 30-foot tsunamis ravaged the Indian Ocean rim, the U.N. estimates one person in four in parts of Aceh Province, long the center of a bitter insurgency, is dead. You are looking at the bodies of the dead.
More than 45,000 are confirmed dead across Indonesia, most of them in Aceh. And that brings the total dead in a dozen countries to 80,000-plus, with untold thousands still unaccounted for.
Now Aceh Province and some nearby Indian islands were further terrorized late today by a serious aftershock. CNN senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy is in the Indonesian city and provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE CHINOY, CNN SR. ASIA CORRESPONDENT: We've had a fairly significant aftershock here. The U.S. Geological Survey saying it was 6.1 on the Richter scale. It was a big jolt. We all felt it.
People in the building where I'm staying ran outside. The folks you can see behind me are refugees, people who have lost their homes. They too very frightened.
It was an unsettling experience. Certainly the biggest aftershock that we felt in the two days that I've been here.
Meanwhile, out and around in Banda Aceh, it's still a very, very grim situation. You still see bodies on many streets not yet removed. There simply don't seem to be enough emergency workers to do that.
A trickle of aid is beginning to come in now. Some of the main international aid agencies like Doctors Without Borders are here. The Australian military brought in a planeload of supplies. But it's still a long way to get those desperately needed supplies to the people who most need them.
And still, the big question mark, the fate of hundreds of thousands of people in the western parts of this territory along the shoreline closest to the epicenter of the quake. We're just not sure what happened to them. But U.N. officials here are saying it's possible the final death toll could be between 50,000 and 80,000 people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: In addition to spawning deadly tsunamis, did Sunday's undersea earthquake change maps and clocks as well? Geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, figures that as one tectonic plate slid beneath the other, it made the Earth more impact, causing it to spin about three-millionths of a second faster.
Now, what about literally moving the Earth? Look at these satellite images from Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The before photos show the beach on a normal day taken on January 1, 2004. These coming from the digital globe satellite.
This after image was taken about four hours after the tsunami struck. Now, it's hard to make out the structural damage, but you can see the flooded streets, pools of water that go far inland from the ocean. You can also see gullies and huge channels of water draining from the city and then running back into the sea.
More scientific interest in Sri Lanka regarding animals. The question, where did they go? Despite the widespread devastation and huge loss of human life, wildlife enthusiasts in Sri Lanka surprised to see no evidence of large-scale deaths of animals on the island nation. Some believe it's an indication animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground.
LIN: Wouldn't that be amazing? All right.
Well, nearly half of the deaths being counted so far in India have occurred in the chain of islands hundreds of miles from the Indian mainland. Reporter Martin Geissler has reached one of the islands and has just sent in this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN GEISSLER, REPORTER (voice-over): Set aside from the outside world by geography and choice, the Andaman and Nicobar islanders have resisted change for centuries. Now life here will never be the same again. Whole communities have washed away.
This is Car, Nicobar. It's almost impossible for foreigners to get here. Islands like this are so remote, it's been difficult to fully assess the damage until now. But today the governor of this territory told me just how serious the situation is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Car, Nicobar, total people is 20,000. Half of them are missing.
GEISSLER (on camera): These islands are so close to the earthquake's epicenter, that even if there had been an early warning system, it would have made no difference. The waves hit here within minutes.
The islands themselves are scattered over 1,000 kilometers. And that geography is proving a real problem to the relief effort.
Several islands remain completely cut off. No contact has been made with them, and officials here concede they have no idea what's become of the thousands of people who live on them.
(voice-over): For those who have been rescued, a refugee center has been set up in Port Blair, the tiny capital of these islands. Fifteen hundred were there when we visited, with more arriving all the time. Relatives search desperately for the name of a loved one on the admissions board.
It's safer for them to camp outside here. Significant tremors are still being felt every day. The people cling to what little they have left. Many have nothing.
(on camera): What has happened to the island?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The island is totally destroyed. Worst.
GEISSLER (voice-over): They don't know what to do now. Everything is gone. This refuge may only be open for a few more days, but most have no homes to go back to. And these are the lucky ones.
Martin Geissler, ITV News, in Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: With each passing day we get a clearer picture of the magnitude of what occurred on Sunday. Fresh handicam tapes still coming to light, and the footage is truly astonishing.
In Thailand, vacationers swept from the beach by the massive surge of water. Chairs, floats and other materials all whizzing by.
Now, in Indonesia, another massive surge. Probably thousands of tons of water on the island of Sumatra. This is the place where the confirmed tally of dead has risen so dramatically just today.
And in Sri Lanka, horrendous torrents of water pushing vehicles, pieces of buildings and possessions large and small. And then the occasional glimpse of victims desperately hanging on. Almost inevitably they are swept away.
LIN: Well, President -- President Bush has been criticized by some for not saying enough, perhaps not even giving enough to this disaster. We are going to talk to CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash, who's got that story. She's standing by live in Crawford, Texas, where the president vacationing.
Dana, what did the president have to say today?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, it was the first time we saw the president, the first time he spoke publicly since he's been here on vacation for four days. He got here on Sunday, the same day that the tsunamis swept Asia. And he came out saying that he believes obviously that this is a tragic incident that resulted in death beyond comprehension.
And he said that he had just come from a National Security Council meeting where he spoke by video conference from his ranch with his top officials, the vice president, the secretaries of state and defense, where he talked to them about an international coalition he says the U.S. is helping form to coordinate immediate humanitarian relief around the world. He also said he spoke with some world leaders.
There you see him speaking with the president of Sri Lanka. He also spoke with leaders from Thailand, Indonesia and India, saying to all of them, he said, that he promises to help them assess the needs on the ground which he says is vitally important, and also help with the long-term recovery efforts.
No new announcements of aid beyond the $35 million that he talked about yesterday. But Mr. Bush was asked and did say that he talked to the leaders about the need for a worldwide early warning system to alert people about tsunamis and other natural disasters. But when Mr. Bush was asked if the United States was prepared with such an early warning system, he appeared stumped by the question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can't answer your question specifically, do we have enough of a warning system for the West Coast. I am going to -- I am now asking that to our -- our agencies in government to let -- let us know. I mean, that's a very legitimate question.
Clearly, there wasn't a proper warning system in place for that part of the world. And it seems like to me it makes sense for the world to come together to develop a warning system that will help all nations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the president's spokesman said later that Mr. Bush has directed his secretaries of Commerce and Interior to look into what exactly the U.S. is prepared with, what the system is in place. The president also took issue with a comment earlier in the week from a U.N. representative who said, in general, the U.S. and other wealthy nations have not given enough in foreign assistance. The president called that comment misguided and ill-informed, and was armed with some statistics, saying that just last year -- or this year alone, 2004, the U.S. gave $2.4 billion in aid.
And to those Americans who are looking to give, to help the folks in Asia, Mr. Bush said that it's important that people think about perhaps not sending blankets and clothes, things that they are perhaps thinking about sending. That it's best, he said, to send cash, to send money, because that is the best way to match what's given with what's needed on the ground -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much. Dana Bash reporting live in Crawford, Texas, where the president is on vacation.
In fact, you want to get a perspective on how much emergency aid is getting into that region? Every hour more supplies and manpower arrive in the battered areas. For example, a team of 22 U.S. military experts is already there trying to assess what is most need and where.
Now, the United States, as Dana was reporting, has made available $35 million for on-the-spot spending. And the Bush administration says that that may only be the beginning.
Japan has pledged $30 million in aid. Saudi Arabia another $10 million. More than $7.5 million is coming from Australia, and Germany has offered up nearly $3 million. Other nations are stepping forward as well.
O'BRIEN: Amid all the devastation, unbelievable stories of survival to tell you about. This 4-year-old Thai boy back with his family in Phuket after spending, get this, more than two days in the top of a tree. His father says the boy was playing near their wood house when the tsunami struck. He was stranded offshore in a small boat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was frightened. I did not think I would survive. The rescue team found my son in the mangrove, not me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And remember this toddler from Sweden? He too found safe and sound in Phuket hours after being ripped from his grandmother's arms. Two days later, Hannis (ph) finally relocated with his father, who located in a local hospital. Obviously an emotional moment.
As well as his grandparents and uncle. They have been found. A very bittersweet moment, of course. His mother remains among the missing.
LIN: Well, those two boys are among the survivors. Straight ahead, I'm going to be talking with a relief worker who is hoping to help other children, perhaps as many as a million children devastated by the tsunami.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I landed on the roof of the mosque. I reached out and held on to a piece of wood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: And the story of two sisters who made it to a hospital in Indonesia and befriended a lost boy. How they are helping each other make it.
And later, the tsunami from space. What satellite images reveal about the impact of this powerful force of nature.
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LIN: We've got some news coming in and some picture there's of Sedona, Arizona. That you are looking at, Oak Creek, an area where some 300 people have been evacuated because winter storms have brought so much rain that something like in some parts of that particular area, 11 feet of water rose literally overnight.
Also, a 14-mile section of State Road 89A, which runs between Sedona and Flagstaff, was closed. A lot of rain in that area. We're going to keep an eye on that. No report of any injuries so far -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: More than half the known dead in Asia's tsunami cataclysm are in Indonesia. CNN's Atika Schubert with the grief- stricken survivors in Aceh, Indonesia, first and probably worst hit province.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the lucky ones. Udah (ph) is 8 years old. He was playing outside his house when a tsunami wave swallowed him whole. He does not remember how he got to this hospital. The only people he speaks to are Suryati and Mardiana (ph), two sisters swept by the tsunami waves. They have lost their children and 13 members of their family.
"The water was black,"" Suryati tells us. "I swallowed so much water as it carried me out of the village turning me over and over. I landed on the roof of the mosque. I reached out and held on to a piece of wood with all my strength. That's what saved me."
They found Udah (ph) weeping near the hospital morgue. "We tried to help him and get a doctor to look at his eye," Mardiana says. "His parents, his whole family are gone." In the midst of this devastation they have become a family.
(on camera): We came to this hospital to talk to victims like Udah (ph), but within minutes we were surrounded by other victims, people looking for their missing family members, all with their own horrific stories; every one of them asking why the world has not responded faster to this horrific disaster in Aceh.
(voice-over): Everyone in this hospital has lost at least one family member. They tell stories of entire villages wiped out, bodies as far as they can see. This man cries to us, "Please tell the world. Where is America? Please help to round up the bodies. There is no one left to save. Just help us bury the dead."
This hospital has virtually no doctors or staff, either killed or searching for their own missing families. This Malaysian volunteer was the first doctor we saw, he has covered major earthquakes before. This he says is the worst he's seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have got no water. Sanitation is zero. The commodes are overflowing. There is no access to clean water right now. People are sleeping on the streets. There's no food. Most of the people over here, they have not eaten in about three days.
SCHUBERT: Mercy Malaysia was the first international aid agency in Aceh, more help is needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anyone expected anything like this. No one expected it, it happened so fast.
SCHUBERT: Until more help arrives, Mardiana (ph), Suryati and Udah (ph) are doing the best they can, if only to comfort each other.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, horrified relief workers say a third of those killed by the tsunamis in Asia may be children. Bob Laprade, director of emergency response for Save the Children, is with me now from Washington, D.C.
Bob, good to have you. BOB LAPRADE, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Good to be here.
LIN: We were talking not too long ago on the telephone when you got a call in from Sri Lanka. What are you hearing from your people on the ground so far?
LAPRADE: Well, one of the biggest problems that we're confronting, as your story just showed, are separated children. Are trying to get children registered and get the parents registered and somehow reunify them.
LIN: That's got to be a chaotic situation. I mean, that's got be kind of a chaotic situation when you -- when you look at the devastation that we're showing in just some of these pictures, and these children who look so lost and so alone.
LAPRADE: It really is. It's very chaotic, and people are suffering I think very much from the psychological trauma of -- of what's just happened. And organizations like Save the Children are actually trying to do things to give some sense of normalcy to what's going on, and to also try to identify those that -- that are really are having trouble coping, because it's so massive.
LIN: So when you say register the parents or the children, is that a matter of just trying to grab people off the street and trying to match names?
LAPRADE: Partially. There's a screening process, but basically trying to get children-- children's names, which is not so difficult with teenagers. But you can imagine, with youngsters, you can't even get their names or the names of their parents. But somehow doing that and then matching them to their families and getting them back in a safe manner.
LIN: What kind of success rate have you had in the past?
LAPRADE: Well, fortunately for natural disasters a lot of this happens spontaneously even before aid workers and others get there. But, still, a lot of people do slip through the cracks, as your story just showed. A small boy in a hospital disoriented, not even knowing his name, not knowing where he's going, is unfortunately quite a common occurrence.
LIN: How many children in total do you think are now -- either have lost a parent or are orphaned or homeless or injured?
LAPRADE: I would say easily close to a million just given the demographics of the Asian countries that we're talking about. There are fairly large families, and if we're talking 60,000 adults, there are a lot of children right now.
LIN: Oh, Bob, that is a heartbreaking number. You yourself have suffered a personal loss. You lost a friend in Phuket.
LAPRADE: That's true. And I think I can really understand the difficulty that -- that millions of people right now in Asia are suffering.
LIN: Yes. Bob, at the same time, when you talk to people on the ground, your staff -- you have staff in Sri Lanka and elsewhere -- have you heard of -- I mean, we talked about this little boy, Swedish boy being reunited with his father. I was talking to you earlier about a baby that was found floating on a mattress reunited with the parents. Have you yourself heard any miraculous stories out of this disaster?
LAPRADE: Well, just in the last few hours, Save the Children has had a great story. We had been in Aceh since 1976, working there with the local health authorities and others. And we do have staff on the ground, and we thought we had lost three staff very unfortunately. But miraculously, one of the staff members came walking into town this morning.
LIN: Walked in.
LAPRADE: So it's been a real miracle for -- he walked in -- for Save the Children. So that was...
LIN: Pretty amazing.
LAPRADE: It's still tragic about the others, but it surely was great to hear that story.
LIN: There is -- there can be some good coming out of bad and some hope. Thanks very much, Bob Laprade, Save the Children.
LAPRADE: Thank you.
LIN: You've got a big mission ahead.
O'BRIEN: Seismic forces and rushing walls of water adding up to utter devastation. Ahead on LIVE FROM, a geophysicist shares his take on the impact of the tsunami and how it literally changed the face of the Earth.
Also ahead, a mother's true love. A 55-year-old woman becomes a surrogate for triplets.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. Airways is looking for a few good men and women to work over the New Year's weekend for free.
We'll have that story coming up on LIVE FROM. Don't go away.
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O'BRIEN: News "Across America" now.
The rain keeps coming and coming. Parts of southern California still being doused with record rainfall. More than six inches has fallen in downtown L.A. since yesterday. More wet weather expected today. A California couple is suing the makers of Children's Motrin, claiming it caused their daughter to go blind. The lawsuit alleges the 7-year-old girl took the painkiller, days later she went blind. The family is asking for damages and for a label to be placed on the medicine warning that it could lead to an allergic reaction that can cause blindness.
And talk about an amazing gift from one mother to her daughter. Yesterday, 55-year-old Tina Cade (ph) gave birth to triplets that she carried as a surrogate for her daughter. The babies, two boys and a girl, were due in February and are in intensive care.
It kind of makes you think of that "I'm my own grandpa thing," you know, because it's kind of confusing about who is mom and who...
LIN: Yes. And daughter won't be thanking her after those every- two-hour feedings, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LIN: Maybe grandma will be there for that, too.
O'BRIEN: Well, she had an interesting position as grandma and ma kind of thing.
LIN: Well, birth mother.
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's it.
All right. After too many U.S. Airways employees called out sick last weekend, the airline is pulling out all stops to field a full staff over New Year's. Is that too much to ask, a full staff?
LIN: Yes. Well, a price to be paid, or perhaps not paid. David Haffenreffer has that story.
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