Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

United Nations Announces Tsunami Relief Conference; School Beating Caught on Tape

Aired December 30, 2004 - 15:00   ET

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

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


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking the headlines right now in the news, half a billion dollars, that's how much has been pledged already for the immense humanitarian effort in South Asia. Next week, the United Nations plans to appeal for millions more to help those who lost nearly everything in the tsunamis.
And some members of Congress want to see the enormity of the disaster for themselves. Representative Jim Leach of Iowa plans to head a delegation to Thailand and Sri Lanka next week.

Al Qaeda is watching, that's the gist of a new FBI bulletin to the nation's police agencies. A Homeland Security official says the directive details surveillance techniques al Qaeda used to case financial sites in the Northeast, but says there's no indication a terrorist attack is imminent.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first, ground zero of the tsunami disaster. The massive waves that rolled from the Far East all the way to Africa had their first encounter with land on Sumatra. The Indonesian island sits a mere 100 miles from the earthquake's epicenter. And for the first time today, we're seeing what occurred to the island's West Coast.

CNN's Atika Shubert is on Sumatra. She's in the coastal city of Medan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We flew today over the town of Meulaboh on the west coast of Aceh. That's closest to the epicenter.

And, as you can see from the aerial footage, this town has just been demolished; 80 percent of the structures there have been destroyed. Markets and schools were just swept up in the tsunami wave. This was actually hit twice, first by the earthquake, which shattered buildings, destroyed roads, cut off communication, and then the tsunami wave came in and killed thousands.

The estimated death toll here is between 10,000 to 15,000. Anywhere from a quarter to nearly half of the town's population is believed to have been killed. What makes the situation worse is that this is one of the last places to receive aid. The reason for that is because communications were cut off. It was not accessible by road.

And now aid is only beginning to trickle in by sea and by air. The planes that we took from Meulaboh today were the first ones to try and land on the damaged airstrip there. Fortunately, they were able to get through and provide food and water. But, clearly, more help is needed, particularly clear water, to make sure that people, survivors, are able to live, are able to avoid the diseases that could kill them, even if the earthquake and tsunami wave didn't.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Medan, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Now, yesterday, we showed you some satellite photographs taken over Sri Lanka before and after those massive waves hit. Today, let's take a look at some other pictures, these from Sumatra. This is Banda Aceh, the island's northern tip.

And before we go to the after, focus on the colors, in particular the distinct colorations of the buildings in the city. Now let's ago after. Big difference, huh? A lot less color, of course, because of the flooding, those vibrant blues and pinks instead replace by a dullish brown. That is the color of the earth the structures had once stood upon or just muddy water.

Here is another before picture, same part of the world. What you see there in the middle is the grounds of a mosque. You can see that kind of ornate garden there. Take a look at the greenish area right in the middle. It appears to be grass now. Look at it now, big torrents of water, the grass gone. The streets surrounding the complex appear to be covered with dusty stuff that is probably washed up material or mud.

Now, here's the final before and after. It's a look at part of the coastline before the waves hit. Now the after. See the cut?

LIN: Wow.

O'BRIEN: Much less land, a lot more water and a cut in the barrier island there. These satellite photographs come to CNN from DigitalGlobe.com. Thanks to them.

LIN: Yes. That's the best aerial representation I've seen of what actually happened out there.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

LIN: Well, the United Nations is stepping to the fore of the global relief effort. Today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced an international donors conference to be held within the next two weeks.

CNN's Richard Roth is at the U.N. with more on what's happening there.

Richard, why the need for a meeting, when, clearly, the need is pretty apparent?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a standard operation when it comes to international crises. There are formal meetings. There are pledges already coming in, half a billion so far from governments and institutions such as the World Bank.

Secretary-General Annan, though, is now marshaling forces to get aid to the people in the affected countries. He says he's not going to let them down. This is the first meeting he held today after breaking off of a vacation out West. He met with the agency heads of various U.N. institutions, such as UNICEF and the United Nations Development Program, which will be talking in the field and helping the millions so far.

Though it's tough from these meetings to get a sense of the massive work ahead, Kofi Annan later saying that international cooperation must be stressed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: This is an unprecedented global catastrophe, and it requires an unprecedented global response. Over the past few day, it has registered deeply in the consciousness and conscience of the world, as we seek to grasp the speed, the force, and magnitude with which it happened. But we must also remain committed for the longer term. We know that the impact will be felt for a long time to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Annan also met with ambassadors from 11 or 12 affected countries, from Southeast Asia and Somalia, Annan saying he is not going to exclude a trip by himself to the region, but, right now, Annan is going to be coordinating forces alongside with the man on his right there, Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian chief.

Egeland saying he's satisfied with the amount of contributions coming in so far. Jan Egeland, his humanitarian aide saying that the real risk may be diarrhea, more people in certain countries from the disease afterward than were affected by the tsunami waves -- Carol, back to you.

LIN: All right, thanks very much, Richard Roth with the very latest from the United Nations -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Secretary of State Colin Powell made the rounds today at the embassies of the several nations wracked by the disaster. He signed a condolence book at the Embassy of Sri Lanka, picture seen there.

America's current pledge of assistance, about $35 million, that does not count Defense Department funds being spent right now. And members of Congress are pledging additionally aid through legislation.

Meanwhile, U.S. corporations stepping up to offer millions in donations money or supplies. Here are just a few of those pitching in, Pfizer, CitiCorp, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson. Many companies such as Starbucks and eBay offering donation opportunities to their customers. Amazon.com posted a big donation link to the Red Cross almost immediately after news of the disaster broke.

It has already raised, with the help of its customers, $5 million for the Red Cross.

LIN: well, coastal Thailand today is a picture of fading hope and growing desperation. Muddled by confusion, the official Thai death count stands as just under over -- or actually over 1,800, but one official says some 3,500 bodies have already been found on Phangnga Province.

Now, through it all, a fervent campaign to link victims, survivors and the still unaccounted for with their families.

More on that from CNN's Aneesh Raman in Phuket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Phuket's administrative center, this is really the heart of the relief efforts for the entire region. A massive area that is now enormously crowded with people desperately looking to find loved ones.

Now on the left, a wall of the missing. Posters being put together by relatives desperately seeking those that are displaced. Here's one of a 5-year-old German boy from Khao Lak, the area that has seen the highest casualty rate. Number's being post by his mother.

To the right, an American that remains missing. A number there, as well. For anyone that has any information on where these individuals are.

The is the side of hope. On the other side to my right is where the despair exists. These are pictures of the dead, taken so that relatives can come to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

But as we now go forward into the fourth day of these relief efforts, the bodies being found are beyond recognition at times, so decomposed. So for some relatives, even though closure, as grim as it is, will be elusive.

The entire area is sort of a tent city. Behind me, you'll see where they're distributing clean water, where they're giving out food. Also, given the large number of foreigners involved, Thais from across the country have come here who speak French, who speak German, to try and communicate.

Really, every emotion possible exists here. There is hope. There is despair. But the overriding one is a sense of collective empathy from the Thai people, who have come with such an outpouring of support for the large numbers of tourists who were displaced in a land that they do not call home.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, southern Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: If anyone could be more frantic than family members of the missing, it would be those charged with finding them. For American Embassy workers, it's a daunting task of figuring out who might still be out there, while knowing that good outcomes are in dwindling supply.

CNN's Hugh Riminton met one such embassy worker in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Marc Williams leads the hunt for lost Americans.

MARC WILLIAMS, U.S. EMBASSY: We're planning kind of a land foray down to the south to look for areas where there's concentrations of Americans who are reported missing.

RIMINTON: Sometimes there's good news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She called her, yes, next of kin. She is OK. Thank you.

RIMINTON: But on the latest count, more than 100 U.S. citizens remain unaccounted for.

WILLIAMS: Here, you see people going through master lists of the missing. It's an ongoing process. Sometimes, we think we're doing better because the number of found keeps going up and then, all of a sudden, we'll get a bunch of calls and e-mails saying that we need to look for more people.

RIMINTON: A fresh tsunami alert is immediately relayed to those in the field. As well as searching for the missing and the dead, the embassy welcomes the simply bewildered and exhausted.

(on camera): For traumatized survivors in Sri Lanka and across the entire region, home can suddenly seem like it's a long way away. The embassy uses simple psychological tricks to try to ease the pain of that sense of dislocation.

WILLIAMS: They see the Marine guard. We try give them a Coke or Mountain Dew and kind of reassure them that they're in safety and this is just the first step on a long process on the way home, but they're truly in some ways walking wounded.

RIMINTON (voice-over): One of those in Matthew O'Connell.

MATTHEW O'CONNELL, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: By the time I had already gotten ahold of the embassy, somehow, they had already gotten ahold of my family back in America, and I hadn't even contacted them here. Someone I think had taken my name in the hospital.

RIMINTON: The truth is, some Americans are beyond rescue. In a quiet moment, the consul signs the death papers. WILLIAMS: I think I have to say it's the worst part of my job, truly the worst part of my job. The only thing that might be worse is when you have to call the families and tell them.

RIMINTON: He has no illusions. It's a task he expects to repeat in the days ahead.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Some survivors ran to higher ground. Others grabbed something and just hung on. We found a survival story with an ironic twist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: American scuba divers find out that being underwater was the key to staying alive. That's straight ahead.

Plus, we'll take you inside a shelter where you can actually find some hope amid the devastation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Want to update you now on the latest death toll, 116,000 and growing, most of them in Indonesia, the rest in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere within Indian Ocean coasts. Millions have been displaced by the disaster.

CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with some of them in southwestern Sri Lanka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have gotten some exclusive access into one of the displacement camps that we've been hearing so much about, concerns from health care officials about epidemics, cholera, dysentery, Hepatitis-A and malaria. At least in this displacement camp in the south of Sri Lanka, we haven't seen those things develop yet.

But one good thing we are seeing is some action. Finally starting to see supplies arriving. Starting to see doctors arriving as well. Lots of people donating clothing, donating other sorts of supplies, you can see a big pile of clothes over here.

This is a structure where a lot of these folks will sleep tonight. Still there's not enough clean water. There's not enough safe food. And there's not enough shelter. About 3,000 people are going to be staying in this particular settlement camp tonight. And those numbers will likely continue to grow. We'll continue to bring you all the latest details.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Now, the flip side of the heartbreaking stories we've had to bring you in abundance this week are the breathtaking stories of survival.

Here's one from CNN's Miguel Marquez in Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How to survive a tsunami -- for one lucky couple it was scuba diving directly in its path.

FAYE LINDA WACHS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were sucked down to 40 meters very quickly, which is deeper than you want to be diving with an open water certification.

MARQUEZ: Faye Linda Wachs and her husband Gene Kim were exploring a shipwreck about seven miles off Thailand's Phi Phi Islands when the tsunami swept past them.

GENE KIM, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: I consider myself a novice to intermediate diver. This is the first time I had to do an emergency ascent...

WACHS: Yes.

KIM: ... under unusual and harsh circumstances. So it was terrifying.

MARQUEZ: They attempted to surface by inflating their life vests, but the massive current of water racing toward Thailand's shore pulled them into deeper water.

KIM: I was getting tossed around. I bumped up a couple times against the wreck itself and swam up as hard as I could, looked at my gauge and I was still dropping.

MARQUEZ: They had just survived a tsunami. Only hours later, when they headed for their hotel, did they realize it.

WACHS: The island is essentially gone. We left paradise. It was a beautiful island. And we came back to just hell.

MARQUEZ: They helped rescue and care for the injured. With all their belongings swept out to sea, they returned home wearing only swimsuits, still counting themselves as lucky.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: What a story.

A school bully picks on a smaller child. Why, you ask, is this news today? Well, the incident turned violent. And another student taped the whole thing. We'll show you what happened and why the sheriff's department is watching the tape ahead on LIVE FROM.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, in Hollywood, I'm Sibila Vargas. What's the entertainment industry doing to help out victims of the devastating quake? I'll have that when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: For many students, bullying can be part of the high school experience. But when one student is caught on camera beating down another classmate, the police get involved.

Reporter Kevin Freeman with affiliate WJW has the story from Lorain County, Ohio. And I have to warn you, the images you're about to see may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN FREEMAN, WJW REPORTER (voice-over): This video was recorded by a 14-year-old student in a math class at Midview High School in Lorain County. The teacher is distracted, talking to two students when a 15-year-old is seen taunting a boy sitting at his desk.

CAPT. RICH RESENDEZ, LORAIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: When he stands up and defends himself, well, that's when it turns from just some maybe horseplay to the flicking of the arm to the violent confrontation.

FREEMAN: The boy tries to push away his attacker. But then the 15-year-old student lays punch after punch after punch to the 14-year- old's face and head. You can hear other students laugh until the teacher realizes what's happening.

JIM RYKACESKI, MIDVIEW SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: Once he was aware of what's happened, he took swift action and brought the students to the office.

FREEMAN: School superintendent Jim Rykaceski says the student seen doing the punching and the one running the camera were suspended. Investigators believe the camera operator knew what was going to happen.

RESENDEZ: You'll see that he looks back to make sure that the tape is rolling.

FREEMAN: The victim told police that the student has been threatening and assaulting him almost every day since the beginning of the school year.

RYKACESKI: We were unaware of that. The student didn't come forward. He didn't tell us. I think he was trying to deal with it himself.

FREEMAN (on camera): It appears this was not the first videotaped classroom attack. After investigators watched the entire tape, they saw another similar attack on a student in a classroom.

(voice-over): Fights and bullying are not unusual in high schools, but rarely are they videotaped.

RYKACESKI: I think it's on a higher level because it was on a video. When you see it, it is, like I said earlier, it's disturbing. It is upsetting.

RESENDEZ: I think we need to make an example of this particular type of action, that, one, you can't pick on people. You can't bully people. This is a school system. This is a school where you go to learn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, our thanks to affiliate WJW for that report. The victim in that tape was bruised, but returned to school the next day.

O'BRIEN: It's just nauseating, sickening, to see that.

LIN: Well, what about some charges? I thought the police officer said made an example, but are they going to press charges?

O'BRIEN: You got to ask what the teacher was doing there, too.

LIN: Not much.

O'BRIEN: Busy classroom, but nevertheless.

All right, we could talk about that for longer, but let's press on, shall we?

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: OK, now it's time to touch base with CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas.

Sibila, has there been any kind of reaction in Hollywood from the earthquake and the tsunamis?

VARGAS: Well, Miles, by now, we've heard of some of the celebrities that were caught in the middle of the devastating tsunami. "Hero" star Jet Li was one that was lucky to escape with his life. But now two of his fellow comrades are getting involved with the relief efforts.

Action star Jackie Chan is packing a punch in the right direction. The kung fu king pitched in 500,000 Hong Kong dollars -- that's about 65,000 U.S. dollars -- to the United Nations' children's fund. Chan said the donation was small, but he hoped that it would prompt others to get involved and give.

And actor Chow Yun-Fat is celebrity opening his checkbook. "The Replacement Killers" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star is also putting his money where his mouth is. Chow has donated 200,000 Hong Kong dollars to the relief efforts -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I understand Linkin Park is getting in the act here?

VARGAS: Well, you know, this is really cool. Alternative rock act Linkin Park is teaming up with the American Red Cross to set up the Music for Relief Charity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: The rockers are no strangers to the region. Last June, the Southern California rap quartet performed several shows in Thailand, Indonesia and this one that you're seeing on the screen in Malaysia.

The band has already donated $100,000 of their own money and they're asking their fans and their peers to chip in. Now, money raised by the fund will help aid in providing needed health supplies, food and water for the homeless. And donations, they can be made to www.musicforrelief.org.

So, as you can see, some people are getting involved. And I'm sure that we're going to start hearing from more celebrities that are getting involved -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Sibila, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

That about wraps it up for us on LIVE FROM today. Thanks for being with us.

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 30, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking the headlines right now in the news, half a billion dollars, that's how much has been pledged already for the immense humanitarian effort in South Asia. Next week, the United Nations plans to appeal for millions more to help those who lost nearly everything in the tsunamis.
And some members of Congress want to see the enormity of the disaster for themselves. Representative Jim Leach of Iowa plans to head a delegation to Thailand and Sri Lanka next week.

Al Qaeda is watching, that's the gist of a new FBI bulletin to the nation's police agencies. A Homeland Security official says the directive details surveillance techniques al Qaeda used to case financial sites in the Northeast, but says there's no indication a terrorist attack is imminent.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first, ground zero of the tsunami disaster. The massive waves that rolled from the Far East all the way to Africa had their first encounter with land on Sumatra. The Indonesian island sits a mere 100 miles from the earthquake's epicenter. And for the first time today, we're seeing what occurred to the island's West Coast.

CNN's Atika Shubert is on Sumatra. She's in the coastal city of Medan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We flew today over the town of Meulaboh on the west coast of Aceh. That's closest to the epicenter.

And, as you can see from the aerial footage, this town has just been demolished; 80 percent of the structures there have been destroyed. Markets and schools were just swept up in the tsunami wave. This was actually hit twice, first by the earthquake, which shattered buildings, destroyed roads, cut off communication, and then the tsunami wave came in and killed thousands.

The estimated death toll here is between 10,000 to 15,000. Anywhere from a quarter to nearly half of the town's population is believed to have been killed. What makes the situation worse is that this is one of the last places to receive aid. The reason for that is because communications were cut off. It was not accessible by road.

And now aid is only beginning to trickle in by sea and by air. The planes that we took from Meulaboh today were the first ones to try and land on the damaged airstrip there. Fortunately, they were able to get through and provide food and water. But, clearly, more help is needed, particularly clear water, to make sure that people, survivors, are able to live, are able to avoid the diseases that could kill them, even if the earthquake and tsunami wave didn't.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Medan, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Now, yesterday, we showed you some satellite photographs taken over Sri Lanka before and after those massive waves hit. Today, let's take a look at some other pictures, these from Sumatra. This is Banda Aceh, the island's northern tip.

And before we go to the after, focus on the colors, in particular the distinct colorations of the buildings in the city. Now let's ago after. Big difference, huh? A lot less color, of course, because of the flooding, those vibrant blues and pinks instead replace by a dullish brown. That is the color of the earth the structures had once stood upon or just muddy water.

Here is another before picture, same part of the world. What you see there in the middle is the grounds of a mosque. You can see that kind of ornate garden there. Take a look at the greenish area right in the middle. It appears to be grass now. Look at it now, big torrents of water, the grass gone. The streets surrounding the complex appear to be covered with dusty stuff that is probably washed up material or mud.

Now, here's the final before and after. It's a look at part of the coastline before the waves hit. Now the after. See the cut?

LIN: Wow.

O'BRIEN: Much less land, a lot more water and a cut in the barrier island there. These satellite photographs come to CNN from DigitalGlobe.com. Thanks to them.

LIN: Yes. That's the best aerial representation I've seen of what actually happened out there.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

LIN: Well, the United Nations is stepping to the fore of the global relief effort. Today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced an international donors conference to be held within the next two weeks.

CNN's Richard Roth is at the U.N. with more on what's happening there.

Richard, why the need for a meeting, when, clearly, the need is pretty apparent?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a standard operation when it comes to international crises. There are formal meetings. There are pledges already coming in, half a billion so far from governments and institutions such as the World Bank.

Secretary-General Annan, though, is now marshaling forces to get aid to the people in the affected countries. He says he's not going to let them down. This is the first meeting he held today after breaking off of a vacation out West. He met with the agency heads of various U.N. institutions, such as UNICEF and the United Nations Development Program, which will be talking in the field and helping the millions so far.

Though it's tough from these meetings to get a sense of the massive work ahead, Kofi Annan later saying that international cooperation must be stressed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: This is an unprecedented global catastrophe, and it requires an unprecedented global response. Over the past few day, it has registered deeply in the consciousness and conscience of the world, as we seek to grasp the speed, the force, and magnitude with which it happened. But we must also remain committed for the longer term. We know that the impact will be felt for a long time to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Annan also met with ambassadors from 11 or 12 affected countries, from Southeast Asia and Somalia, Annan saying he is not going to exclude a trip by himself to the region, but, right now, Annan is going to be coordinating forces alongside with the man on his right there, Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian chief.

Egeland saying he's satisfied with the amount of contributions coming in so far. Jan Egeland, his humanitarian aide saying that the real risk may be diarrhea, more people in certain countries from the disease afterward than were affected by the tsunami waves -- Carol, back to you.

LIN: All right, thanks very much, Richard Roth with the very latest from the United Nations -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Secretary of State Colin Powell made the rounds today at the embassies of the several nations wracked by the disaster. He signed a condolence book at the Embassy of Sri Lanka, picture seen there.

America's current pledge of assistance, about $35 million, that does not count Defense Department funds being spent right now. And members of Congress are pledging additionally aid through legislation.

Meanwhile, U.S. corporations stepping up to offer millions in donations money or supplies. Here are just a few of those pitching in, Pfizer, CitiCorp, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson. Many companies such as Starbucks and eBay offering donation opportunities to their customers. Amazon.com posted a big donation link to the Red Cross almost immediately after news of the disaster broke.

It has already raised, with the help of its customers, $5 million for the Red Cross.

LIN: well, coastal Thailand today is a picture of fading hope and growing desperation. Muddled by confusion, the official Thai death count stands as just under over -- or actually over 1,800, but one official says some 3,500 bodies have already been found on Phangnga Province.

Now, through it all, a fervent campaign to link victims, survivors and the still unaccounted for with their families.

More on that from CNN's Aneesh Raman in Phuket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Phuket's administrative center, this is really the heart of the relief efforts for the entire region. A massive area that is now enormously crowded with people desperately looking to find loved ones.

Now on the left, a wall of the missing. Posters being put together by relatives desperately seeking those that are displaced. Here's one of a 5-year-old German boy from Khao Lak, the area that has seen the highest casualty rate. Number's being post by his mother.

To the right, an American that remains missing. A number there, as well. For anyone that has any information on where these individuals are.

The is the side of hope. On the other side to my right is where the despair exists. These are pictures of the dead, taken so that relatives can come to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

But as we now go forward into the fourth day of these relief efforts, the bodies being found are beyond recognition at times, so decomposed. So for some relatives, even though closure, as grim as it is, will be elusive.

The entire area is sort of a tent city. Behind me, you'll see where they're distributing clean water, where they're giving out food. Also, given the large number of foreigners involved, Thais from across the country have come here who speak French, who speak German, to try and communicate.

Really, every emotion possible exists here. There is hope. There is despair. But the overriding one is a sense of collective empathy from the Thai people, who have come with such an outpouring of support for the large numbers of tourists who were displaced in a land that they do not call home.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Phuket, southern Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: If anyone could be more frantic than family members of the missing, it would be those charged with finding them. For American Embassy workers, it's a daunting task of figuring out who might still be out there, while knowing that good outcomes are in dwindling supply.

CNN's Hugh Riminton met one such embassy worker in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Marc Williams leads the hunt for lost Americans.

MARC WILLIAMS, U.S. EMBASSY: We're planning kind of a land foray down to the south to look for areas where there's concentrations of Americans who are reported missing.

RIMINTON: Sometimes there's good news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She called her, yes, next of kin. She is OK. Thank you.

RIMINTON: But on the latest count, more than 100 U.S. citizens remain unaccounted for.

WILLIAMS: Here, you see people going through master lists of the missing. It's an ongoing process. Sometimes, we think we're doing better because the number of found keeps going up and then, all of a sudden, we'll get a bunch of calls and e-mails saying that we need to look for more people.

RIMINTON: A fresh tsunami alert is immediately relayed to those in the field. As well as searching for the missing and the dead, the embassy welcomes the simply bewildered and exhausted.

(on camera): For traumatized survivors in Sri Lanka and across the entire region, home can suddenly seem like it's a long way away. The embassy uses simple psychological tricks to try to ease the pain of that sense of dislocation.

WILLIAMS: They see the Marine guard. We try give them a Coke or Mountain Dew and kind of reassure them that they're in safety and this is just the first step on a long process on the way home, but they're truly in some ways walking wounded.

RIMINTON (voice-over): One of those in Matthew O'Connell.

MATTHEW O'CONNELL, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: By the time I had already gotten ahold of the embassy, somehow, they had already gotten ahold of my family back in America, and I hadn't even contacted them here. Someone I think had taken my name in the hospital.

RIMINTON: The truth is, some Americans are beyond rescue. In a quiet moment, the consul signs the death papers. WILLIAMS: I think I have to say it's the worst part of my job, truly the worst part of my job. The only thing that might be worse is when you have to call the families and tell them.

RIMINTON: He has no illusions. It's a task he expects to repeat in the days ahead.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Some survivors ran to higher ground. Others grabbed something and just hung on. We found a survival story with an ironic twist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: American scuba divers find out that being underwater was the key to staying alive. That's straight ahead.

Plus, we'll take you inside a shelter where you can actually find some hope amid the devastation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Want to update you now on the latest death toll, 116,000 and growing, most of them in Indonesia, the rest in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere within Indian Ocean coasts. Millions have been displaced by the disaster.

CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with some of them in southwestern Sri Lanka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have gotten some exclusive access into one of the displacement camps that we've been hearing so much about, concerns from health care officials about epidemics, cholera, dysentery, Hepatitis-A and malaria. At least in this displacement camp in the south of Sri Lanka, we haven't seen those things develop yet.

But one good thing we are seeing is some action. Finally starting to see supplies arriving. Starting to see doctors arriving as well. Lots of people donating clothing, donating other sorts of supplies, you can see a big pile of clothes over here.

This is a structure where a lot of these folks will sleep tonight. Still there's not enough clean water. There's not enough safe food. And there's not enough shelter. About 3,000 people are going to be staying in this particular settlement camp tonight. And those numbers will likely continue to grow. We'll continue to bring you all the latest details.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Now, the flip side of the heartbreaking stories we've had to bring you in abundance this week are the breathtaking stories of survival.

Here's one from CNN's Miguel Marquez in Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How to survive a tsunami -- for one lucky couple it was scuba diving directly in its path.

FAYE LINDA WACHS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were sucked down to 40 meters very quickly, which is deeper than you want to be diving with an open water certification.

MARQUEZ: Faye Linda Wachs and her husband Gene Kim were exploring a shipwreck about seven miles off Thailand's Phi Phi Islands when the tsunami swept past them.

GENE KIM, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: I consider myself a novice to intermediate diver. This is the first time I had to do an emergency ascent...

WACHS: Yes.

KIM: ... under unusual and harsh circumstances. So it was terrifying.

MARQUEZ: They attempted to surface by inflating their life vests, but the massive current of water racing toward Thailand's shore pulled them into deeper water.

KIM: I was getting tossed around. I bumped up a couple times against the wreck itself and swam up as hard as I could, looked at my gauge and I was still dropping.

MARQUEZ: They had just survived a tsunami. Only hours later, when they headed for their hotel, did they realize it.

WACHS: The island is essentially gone. We left paradise. It was a beautiful island. And we came back to just hell.

MARQUEZ: They helped rescue and care for the injured. With all their belongings swept out to sea, they returned home wearing only swimsuits, still counting themselves as lucky.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: What a story.

A school bully picks on a smaller child. Why, you ask, is this news today? Well, the incident turned violent. And another student taped the whole thing. We'll show you what happened and why the sheriff's department is watching the tape ahead on LIVE FROM.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, in Hollywood, I'm Sibila Vargas. What's the entertainment industry doing to help out victims of the devastating quake? I'll have that when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: For many students, bullying can be part of the high school experience. But when one student is caught on camera beating down another classmate, the police get involved.

Reporter Kevin Freeman with affiliate WJW has the story from Lorain County, Ohio. And I have to warn you, the images you're about to see may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN FREEMAN, WJW REPORTER (voice-over): This video was recorded by a 14-year-old student in a math class at Midview High School in Lorain County. The teacher is distracted, talking to two students when a 15-year-old is seen taunting a boy sitting at his desk.

CAPT. RICH RESENDEZ, LORAIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: When he stands up and defends himself, well, that's when it turns from just some maybe horseplay to the flicking of the arm to the violent confrontation.

FREEMAN: The boy tries to push away his attacker. But then the 15-year-old student lays punch after punch after punch to the 14-year- old's face and head. You can hear other students laugh until the teacher realizes what's happening.

JIM RYKACESKI, MIDVIEW SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: Once he was aware of what's happened, he took swift action and brought the students to the office.

FREEMAN: School superintendent Jim Rykaceski says the student seen doing the punching and the one running the camera were suspended. Investigators believe the camera operator knew what was going to happen.

RESENDEZ: You'll see that he looks back to make sure that the tape is rolling.

FREEMAN: The victim told police that the student has been threatening and assaulting him almost every day since the beginning of the school year.

RYKACESKI: We were unaware of that. The student didn't come forward. He didn't tell us. I think he was trying to deal with it himself.

FREEMAN (on camera): It appears this was not the first videotaped classroom attack. After investigators watched the entire tape, they saw another similar attack on a student in a classroom.

(voice-over): Fights and bullying are not unusual in high schools, but rarely are they videotaped.

RYKACESKI: I think it's on a higher level because it was on a video. When you see it, it is, like I said earlier, it's disturbing. It is upsetting.

RESENDEZ: I think we need to make an example of this particular type of action, that, one, you can't pick on people. You can't bully people. This is a school system. This is a school where you go to learn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, our thanks to affiliate WJW for that report. The victim in that tape was bruised, but returned to school the next day.

O'BRIEN: It's just nauseating, sickening, to see that.

LIN: Well, what about some charges? I thought the police officer said made an example, but are they going to press charges?

O'BRIEN: You got to ask what the teacher was doing there, too.

LIN: Not much.

O'BRIEN: Busy classroom, but nevertheless.

All right, we could talk about that for longer, but let's press on, shall we?

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: OK, now it's time to touch base with CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas.

Sibila, has there been any kind of reaction in Hollywood from the earthquake and the tsunamis?

VARGAS: Well, Miles, by now, we've heard of some of the celebrities that were caught in the middle of the devastating tsunami. "Hero" star Jet Li was one that was lucky to escape with his life. But now two of his fellow comrades are getting involved with the relief efforts.

Action star Jackie Chan is packing a punch in the right direction. The kung fu king pitched in 500,000 Hong Kong dollars -- that's about 65,000 U.S. dollars -- to the United Nations' children's fund. Chan said the donation was small, but he hoped that it would prompt others to get involved and give.

And actor Chow Yun-Fat is celebrity opening his checkbook. "The Replacement Killers" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star is also putting his money where his mouth is. Chow has donated 200,000 Hong Kong dollars to the relief efforts -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I understand Linkin Park is getting in the act here?

VARGAS: Well, you know, this is really cool. Alternative rock act Linkin Park is teaming up with the American Red Cross to set up the Music for Relief Charity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: The rockers are no strangers to the region. Last June, the Southern California rap quartet performed several shows in Thailand, Indonesia and this one that you're seeing on the screen in Malaysia.

The band has already donated $100,000 of their own money and they're asking their fans and their peers to chip in. Now, money raised by the fund will help aid in providing needed health supplies, food and water for the homeless. And donations, they can be made to www.musicforrelief.org.

So, as you can see, some people are getting involved. And I'm sure that we're going to start hearing from more celebrities that are getting involved -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Sibila, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

That about wraps it up for us on LIVE FROM today. Thanks for being with us.

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