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Admiral Fargo Speaks Out on U.S. Tsunami Relief Efforts
Aired January 04, 2005 - 14:30 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the CNN Web site has been posting messages from people trying to find family and friends caught in the tsunamis. In come cases the appeals have happy endings. In other cases, people have gotten very valuable information.
Joining us now in the studio to report the latest on this, CNN'S Veronica De La Cruz. So, you obviously have been receiving lots of e- mails.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots. Kyra, the response we've been receiving has been overwhelming, actually. You know, six to ten per minute is what we're seeing. They're pouring in by the thousands. And what we wanted to share with you exactly what we are getting into the newsroom.
This one coming from somebody asking for information on Ajeena Kurian and family who are vacationing in India. They're from Michigan. Asking, "Ajeena please contact Jeemi to let us know your whereabouts. Also, Ian is awaiting your return to challenge you to a game of chess. We are praying for you and your family's safe return." So very personal, a lot of these email appeals.
PHILLIPS: And are people responding?
DE LA CRUZ: They are. It's been amazing. We have some happy endings to report, some great reunion stories. This one looking for a family who is vacationing in Phuket and the response was actually from the family. The family saying, "We were on the beach when the tsunami hit and we knew to run when we saw the sea was higher than us. We ran for our lives. It was very, very close. If the water had risen a little faster or we had started running two seconds later, we would surely have been washed away and never seen again."
PHILLIPS: So, even folks that are writing in and asking if you can find a certain person or where they could be, are you able to connect people immediately?
DE LA CRUZ: We have been. The way it's working is almost like a message board. We are posting these email appeals. People are looking at the email addresses and a lot of people are just writing in, offering words of hope and inspiration. Also information as to what the areas look like. People are saying my family is vacationing in Phuket. And then people will say, you know, this part of the island looks like this and so on and so forth.
And I do have one more email that I did want to share with you. This one coming from somebody looking for a Rebecca Dauncey, who lives in Pulau Weh. She was building a bungalow on the island and is well- known in the area." And the interesting thing about this is that Rebecca heard about this and sent a text to her friend with an update and the update saying, "On the island. Still no electricity or telephone. Medicine finished days ago and food getting short. A lot of people lost everything but are just glad to be alive."
PHILLIPS: Wow, that's amazing. I mean, just technology and what it can do within all of that.
DE LA CRUZ: It's amazing.
PHILLIPS: All right, so folks that are watching this or interested in logging on, what's the process?
DE LA CRUZ: What you can do is you can send us your emails at tsunami@cnn.com. Also, if you're interested in reading these appeals, you can log on to our Web site and that is at cnn.com/tsunami.
PHILLIPS: All right, Veronica, thanks so much.
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Miles?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: If you have children who've been watching the news lately, chances are they have a lot of questions about the tsunami disaster. They sure do in my house. How can you help them come to terms with it? We don't have so many answers, do we? We could all learn a lesson from one grade school teacher in New York. She encouraged her students to talk about the tragedy. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something very tragic happened over the weekend, over the last five days. Did any of you hear the news and hear what had gone on? Ayre (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: There was a big tsunami.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I came in this morning, it was a natural opening. What happened over break. And the kids right away started talking about it and what causes it and where was it and the magnitude of people that had perished in this.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's like so scary. One second you're just there, and then everything's gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You kind of open up a subject and you let them go with it. You see how deep their thoughts are about it. How far do they want to go with it? How much can they handle? So in this particular subject, there were lots of terrible issues that did arise. Questions about parents losing children, and children losing parents. And parents making choices between children.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I heard a story that a mom had two kids, and like a 14-month-old, and a 5-year-old, and she had to let one of them go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But again, you open up a topic and you let them kind of go with it. You keep in mind how far you want them to go. But you don't quite know what they're ready to handle till you hear them start to talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's like what if your mom and dad just went there, or something, and it's like, next minute you don't know if they're alive, you don't know if they're dead, you don't know what's the story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Try to get them to close their eyes and kind of visualize -- what's it's like? What's it like for those people on the other side of the world? You know, how do they feel? They're kids. What do kids want? What are kids feelings? How would you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Same as them, like sad. Scared. Like I wouldn't know what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We could help donate money. We could start fund-raisers.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We could give them food.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We should send them like medicine and vitamins because they're probably weak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We always work at having them get into somebody else's shoes because empathy is the beginning of all of this. Empathy and understanding. I think they just have to sometimes be quieted down from their regular life. And they need to have the space to think. And that's what happens in a classroom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We want to take you now live to the Pentagon, Admiral Thomas Fargo briefing reporters on relief efforts for the tsunami victims.
ADM. THOMAS FARGO, CMDR, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND: ... on Sunday, the 26th of December will necessitate one of the most complex humanitarian disaster relief efforts in recent history.
Striking nearly all shores of the Indian Ocean, millions of people in multiple countries faced unimaginable destruction in a brief period of time.
At the U.S. Pacific Command, we began a planning effort in the first 24 hours of this catastrophe. On Monday we communicated directly with our ambassadors in the region and the senior military leaders in several of the worst-hit countries. Our goal was to understand how our capacity and supply could best be used to help regional neighbors in need.
A joint task force under the command of Lieutenant General Rusty Blackman was ordered stood up at the same point in time. Damage assessment teams were ordered to Indonesia and to Thailand and Sri Lanka within 48 hours to let us know the dimension of this catastrophe and at the same time provide the immediate relief that we knew was going to be required, like water and medical aid.
To the greatest degree possible, we wanted to begin moving resources simultaneously with our assessments. We ordered the Abraham Lincoln carrier group to proceed at best speed from Hong Kong toward Indonesia. We then ordered the USS Bonhomme Richard expeditionary group from an area that was just south of Guam toward Indonesia, also at best speed.
We knew from our recent disaster response in the Philippines and our 1991 response to cyclonic flooding in Bangladesh, which was Operation Sea Angel, that immediate needs were going to be drinking water and shelter and food and medical support.
A key lesson from all of these events was the value of helicopter vertical lift. The ability to rapidly apply needed capabilities in response to a crisis reflects well, I believe, on our force posture and investment in the Asian-Pacific region. The speed with which we will bring forces and have brought forces, such as the carrier and expeditionary groups, as well as P3s and C-130s, to bear for immediate employment is critical in a region characterized by vast distances of time and space.
As I mentioned earlier, we stood up initially Joint Task Force 536, now redesignated as Combined Support Force or CSF. And that's led, once again, by Lieutenant General Rusty Blackman. And this was important to manage the magnitude of this crisis operation.
Our combined support force will help coordinate the contributions of our military, other nations and other organizations. Our strong ally Thailand quickly responded to our request to allow us to center General Blackman's operations in Utapao, thus strengthening the capacity of U.S. forces providing relief in the region.
From that hub location, he's ensuring close coordination of all elements on the ground and at sea while synchronizing multiple efforts in the region to support nations as they best see fit.
It's important to point out that this likely could not have happened without our ongoing security cooperation efforts designed to strengthen our alliance with Thailand and all the countries of this region and the fact that we've been able to build enduring habits of cooperation for over a long period of time.
We should all be proud of our service members, as well as the other governmental and nongovernmental organizations, all of whom are responding quickly with great energy and compassion. They're putting an extraordinary humanitarian face on a particularly large undertaking.
There's an important point that I'd like to reiterate.
We see our job as one of assistance. Many organizations, international, national, governmental, and nongovernmental, have joined together to help. We've coordinated closely with the State Department and with USAID, and we're in support to the host nation who's responsible for its citizens.
So the U.S. Pacific Command and the combined support force bring unique capacity quickly to support these dedicated volunteers.
All of us are working together to lend a hand, mindful that we do so in a way that meets the requests of our host governments. And we join with many to provide assistance and relief.
It's hard for us to comprehend the devastation suffered by so many.
And over the next days, and weeks, and months, we'll push forward to provide aid and comfort, responding with a team of dedicated countries and organizations, and we'll continuously improve our efforts as we go.
Thank you.
And now I'll be happy to take your questions.
QUESTION: Admiral, how many Marines from the Bonhomme Richard group are going to be going ashore?
QUESTION: And where are they going to do that? And what will their duties be?
FARGO: I think it's hard to say what the numbers that will actually go ashore are. It will be very dependent on the specific priorities and tasks that are laid out.
Obviously, a number will go ashore to provide helicopter lift, because Bonhomme Richard has both H-53s and H-46s. And their lift capacity, their carrying capacity, exceeds those of the H-60s that we currently have in Indonesia.
There'll also be medics. I suspect there'll be engineering capability from the Bonhomme Richard that also goes ashore.
So it will be dependent on the task. Some will remain ashore for significant periods of times, but other will use the seabase as a point to provide support.
QUESTION: Admiral Fargo, you mentioned the critical role that helicopters have played...
PHILLIPS: That's the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Thomas Fargo, briefing reporters there on the relief efforts for tsunami victims, updating them on what's happening off the battle group Abraham Lincoln -- USS Abraham Lincoln, out in the Indian Ocean. As you know, a number of helicopter squadrons have been bringing in relief task forces, food and water, and also medics to treat the victims there from the tsunami devastated areas. He's talking about a number of other ships now coming into the region. The expeditionary strike group five and that will be off the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ship. They'll be arriving soon. So we'll continue to update you as we get updated from the admiral there, U.S. Pacific Command.
Well, more big name celebs are lending their names and their checkbooks to the tsunami relief effort. We're live from L.A. with that coming up next.
Also next hour, we're going to take you aboard a U.S. helicopter squadron playing a critical role in delivering that aid. CNN's Atika Shubert, she was on that aircraft.
How much money are Arab nations giving to the tsunami victims? It suddenly doubled. We'll have more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, as you cut a check to aid tsunami victims, you may wonder how relief organizations are spending your money. CNN'S Allan Chernoff has been analyzing their IRS statements. Here's what he found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN-FN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Corporate donations of medical supplies keep arriving at AmeriCares. The relief group is transporting the goods to established charities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. Normally $99 of every $100 donated goes to relief. But for tsunami aid, AmeriCares president promises every cent will go for assistance.
CURT WELLING, PRESIDENT, AMERICARES: We are greatly benefited by the fact that we have wonderful relationships with most of the world's major pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies. And so, that means that an awful lot of the things that we get are donated to us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling the American Red Cross.
CHERNOFF: The American Red Cross, the giant of U.S. relief agencies, spends $300 million a year on administration and fund- raising. Even so, it too, is relatively efficient, $91 of every $100 donated goes for assistance at home and overseas. Altogether, the American Red Cross spends just over $3 billion a year on assistance.
Save the Children also delivers $91 worth of aid for every $100 donated. Doctors Without Borders has very low administrative expenses. It relies on volunteers. It accepts no money from the U.S. government. And so, the group spends a lot for fund-raising. As a result, $85 every $100 goes for aid. That's slightly below the median for international relief organizations.
Those who track relief groups say providing aid in the Third World is not cheap. ROBERT OTTENHOFF, PRESIDENT & CEO, GUIDESTAR: We've got to remember that these are organizations that have staffs to support, and activities to run. So you can't expect them to have no overhead costs.
CHERNOFF: Oxfam, the hunger relief group, says better than 90% of tsunami donations get to the victims. But Oxfam concedes its ongoing projects overseas and college fund-raising are labor intensive. During normal times, just $77 of each $100 donation is directed towards assistance programs.
(on camera): Every relief organization pursues its mission in a different fashion. Some routes require more time and money than others. So there's no precise apples to apples comparison of all the organizations trying to address the humanitarian crisis.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: More Hollywood celebrities are offering aid to tsunami victims and someone else is offering something very curious on eBay. Let's check in with CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas in L.A. with that. Hello, Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Miles. Yesterday I told you about Sandra Bullock's $1 million donation. And now more celebrities are following suit, opening their hearts to the victims of the devastating tsunami. Leonardo DiCaprio was opening his wallet. The "Aviator" star who spent time on Phi Phi Island in Thailand while filming "The Beach" has made what is only being described as a huge contribution to Unicef. And late night TV also got into the spirit of giving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": We did this once before after 9/11. Well, thanks a lot. And we raised a lot of money for the families of the -- people were great. So for the next three weeks, we're going to ask all our guests and celebrities to come out and -- that's why get whites. So we're going to sign this, all the big stars will sign it, we'll put it up on eBay and we'll donate all the money to the Red Cross to help the victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: That was Jay Leno last night donating a Harley Davidson Road King, which he plans to have signed by his celebrity guests. Leno did the same thing after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: How much did they get for that motorcycle, Sibila?
VARGAS: Well, that motorcycle went for $360,000. Now, some of the celebrities that autographed the bike were Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington, John Travolta and Angelina Jolie. And I'm sure that the list will be just as impressive for this auction.
Well, this next item is going up for auction. It may not be going to a good cause, but it will be getting a lot of attention. Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's ex, is reportedly planning to sell her wedding band to the highest bidder on eBay. Jackson purchased the two carat rock in Sydney and gave it to Rowe after they married. The winning bidder will reportedly receive a letter of authenticity verifying that the ring belonged to Jackson's ex.
Well, from the real thing to the box office green. No one saw more of it in 2004 than everyone's favorite green ogre.
Shrek and Donkey are surely living the high life. Their sequel "Shrek 2" gobbled up $436 million in ticket sales, making it the top grossing film of 2004 and the third highest grossing film of all time. "Spiderman 2" came in second place, webbing in $373.4 million and Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" redeemed $370.3 million. That's a lot of green, Miles.
O'BRIEN: That's some real change. Sibila Vargas, thank you very much. Ready for some football? Next, more Americans than ever say they are big fans. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So Congress is back after the holiday break. What should lawmakers be focusing on in 2005? Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport joins us live from Princeton, New Jersey with all the answers. How much confidence does the public have in Congress right now, Frank?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP: Let's show you what the priorities are for Congress and we'll also look at the confidence that the public has in our elected representatives as you asked there, Kyra.
First of all we gave Americans a list a couple weeks ago of about 18 different issues that Congress could deal with now that it's back in session. These are the top five, Iraq perhaps not surprisingly a little over half of Americans said that's extremely important, terrorism, education, health care costs, then the economy and Social Security tied at 40 percent.
Now here's the bottom five. It doesn't mean this chart that Americans don't think these are important, they're just lower in priority at this moment in time. The environment, that's surprising to a lot of people, 24 percent of Americans think that's extremely important right now for Congress to deal with. Tort reform, one of President Bush's key issues, not all that exciting to the American public. Abortion, civil rights laws and same-sex marriages all near the bottom.
In answer to your question, Kyra, about the confidence that Americans have in Congress, it's just not very good. 41 percent is the current job approval rating that Americans give Congress. By way of comparison, I went back to January '97, that's the last time a president has been reelected, Clinton was reelected a couple of months after that.
It was also 41 percent but look how much more divided it is. Look carefully here. This red bar is Republicans and almost two- thirds of Republicans say they approve of the job Congress is doing. Down to only 20 percent of Democrats. So there's a huge perceptual gap, bigger than in was back in Clinton's day. The Senate and Congress in both instances controlled by Republicans. But for whatever reasons, Americans are a little more political as they look at Congress than they were in the past.
PHILLIPS: Let's shift gears a bit and talk about confidence in another area, OK? Auburn beat Virginia Tech last night in the Sugar Bowl. But the big game, the big game is tonight when USC, let me mention USC and Oklahoma meet in the Orange Bowl for the BCS National Championship. I'm not bitter that USC is not in the Rose Bowl. Actually I am a little bit. Let's talk about football fans and the faith in the BCS.
NEWPORT: Sounds like we have a USC alumni here.
PHILLIPS: How did you know that, Frank?
NEWPORT: I didn't know that but I'm very smart at intuiting things like that. Well, you know, it's going to be a greatly exciting game tonight. But as I'll show you in a second, fans aren't all that excited about the way it came about. 47 percent of Americans are college football fans. And that's actually come up (UNINTELLIGIBLE). A lot of interest particularly among men, about twice as many men are fans as women. But here's the issue.
We gave Americans three choices and said which of these should be the case for this whole BCS system. 40 percent want a playoff system, like basketball where you start with 64 teams and winnow it down. Just 30 percent want the current system, this complex system we're dealing with right now, and 26 percent would want a one-game playoff which would mean Auburn would play the winner of tonight's game this weekend. So although we'll all be excited about the game tonight a lot of these fans just don't like the system at this point. Good luck to USC Trojans. I can tell you have a real interest there.
PHILLIPS: Thank you very much, Frank -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So much for fair and balanced for you, huh?
PHILLIPS: There is no fair and balanced when it comes to the USC Trojans. Let's just get that straight right now.
O'BRIEN: Got to press on. Some big military contractors are finding, well, they're a little nervous right now. You can call it the fight over fighters. The Raptor, F-22 might get rapped. Right, Susan Lisovicz?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Susan Lisovicz -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: We take you straight to Canton, Mississippi right now after almost a year of Iraqi deployment, we are told the 112th Military Police Company has now returned from Iraq. The members of this Canton-based police battalion are arriving back after they had been guarding members of Iraq's interim government. Part of the Mississippi National Guard. They also were in charge of protecting the U.S. embassy and the United Nations headquarters. Welcome home to those men and women. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 4, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the CNN Web site has been posting messages from people trying to find family and friends caught in the tsunamis. In come cases the appeals have happy endings. In other cases, people have gotten very valuable information.
Joining us now in the studio to report the latest on this, CNN'S Veronica De La Cruz. So, you obviously have been receiving lots of e- mails.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots. Kyra, the response we've been receiving has been overwhelming, actually. You know, six to ten per minute is what we're seeing. They're pouring in by the thousands. And what we wanted to share with you exactly what we are getting into the newsroom.
This one coming from somebody asking for information on Ajeena Kurian and family who are vacationing in India. They're from Michigan. Asking, "Ajeena please contact Jeemi to let us know your whereabouts. Also, Ian is awaiting your return to challenge you to a game of chess. We are praying for you and your family's safe return." So very personal, a lot of these email appeals.
PHILLIPS: And are people responding?
DE LA CRUZ: They are. It's been amazing. We have some happy endings to report, some great reunion stories. This one looking for a family who is vacationing in Phuket and the response was actually from the family. The family saying, "We were on the beach when the tsunami hit and we knew to run when we saw the sea was higher than us. We ran for our lives. It was very, very close. If the water had risen a little faster or we had started running two seconds later, we would surely have been washed away and never seen again."
PHILLIPS: So, even folks that are writing in and asking if you can find a certain person or where they could be, are you able to connect people immediately?
DE LA CRUZ: We have been. The way it's working is almost like a message board. We are posting these email appeals. People are looking at the email addresses and a lot of people are just writing in, offering words of hope and inspiration. Also information as to what the areas look like. People are saying my family is vacationing in Phuket. And then people will say, you know, this part of the island looks like this and so on and so forth.
And I do have one more email that I did want to share with you. This one coming from somebody looking for a Rebecca Dauncey, who lives in Pulau Weh. She was building a bungalow on the island and is well- known in the area." And the interesting thing about this is that Rebecca heard about this and sent a text to her friend with an update and the update saying, "On the island. Still no electricity or telephone. Medicine finished days ago and food getting short. A lot of people lost everything but are just glad to be alive."
PHILLIPS: Wow, that's amazing. I mean, just technology and what it can do within all of that.
DE LA CRUZ: It's amazing.
PHILLIPS: All right, so folks that are watching this or interested in logging on, what's the process?
DE LA CRUZ: What you can do is you can send us your emails at tsunami@cnn.com. Also, if you're interested in reading these appeals, you can log on to our Web site and that is at cnn.com/tsunami.
PHILLIPS: All right, Veronica, thanks so much.
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Miles?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: If you have children who've been watching the news lately, chances are they have a lot of questions about the tsunami disaster. They sure do in my house. How can you help them come to terms with it? We don't have so many answers, do we? We could all learn a lesson from one grade school teacher in New York. She encouraged her students to talk about the tragedy. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something very tragic happened over the weekend, over the last five days. Did any of you hear the news and hear what had gone on? Ayre (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: There was a big tsunami.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I came in this morning, it was a natural opening. What happened over break. And the kids right away started talking about it and what causes it and where was it and the magnitude of people that had perished in this.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's like so scary. One second you're just there, and then everything's gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You kind of open up a subject and you let them go with it. You see how deep their thoughts are about it. How far do they want to go with it? How much can they handle? So in this particular subject, there were lots of terrible issues that did arise. Questions about parents losing children, and children losing parents. And parents making choices between children.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I heard a story that a mom had two kids, and like a 14-month-old, and a 5-year-old, and she had to let one of them go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But again, you open up a topic and you let them kind of go with it. You keep in mind how far you want them to go. But you don't quite know what they're ready to handle till you hear them start to talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's like what if your mom and dad just went there, or something, and it's like, next minute you don't know if they're alive, you don't know if they're dead, you don't know what's the story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Try to get them to close their eyes and kind of visualize -- what's it's like? What's it like for those people on the other side of the world? You know, how do they feel? They're kids. What do kids want? What are kids feelings? How would you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Same as them, like sad. Scared. Like I wouldn't know what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We could help donate money. We could start fund-raisers.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We could give them food.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: We should send them like medicine and vitamins because they're probably weak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We always work at having them get into somebody else's shoes because empathy is the beginning of all of this. Empathy and understanding. I think they just have to sometimes be quieted down from their regular life. And they need to have the space to think. And that's what happens in a classroom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We want to take you now live to the Pentagon, Admiral Thomas Fargo briefing reporters on relief efforts for the tsunami victims.
ADM. THOMAS FARGO, CMDR, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND: ... on Sunday, the 26th of December will necessitate one of the most complex humanitarian disaster relief efforts in recent history.
Striking nearly all shores of the Indian Ocean, millions of people in multiple countries faced unimaginable destruction in a brief period of time.
At the U.S. Pacific Command, we began a planning effort in the first 24 hours of this catastrophe. On Monday we communicated directly with our ambassadors in the region and the senior military leaders in several of the worst-hit countries. Our goal was to understand how our capacity and supply could best be used to help regional neighbors in need.
A joint task force under the command of Lieutenant General Rusty Blackman was ordered stood up at the same point in time. Damage assessment teams were ordered to Indonesia and to Thailand and Sri Lanka within 48 hours to let us know the dimension of this catastrophe and at the same time provide the immediate relief that we knew was going to be required, like water and medical aid.
To the greatest degree possible, we wanted to begin moving resources simultaneously with our assessments. We ordered the Abraham Lincoln carrier group to proceed at best speed from Hong Kong toward Indonesia. We then ordered the USS Bonhomme Richard expeditionary group from an area that was just south of Guam toward Indonesia, also at best speed.
We knew from our recent disaster response in the Philippines and our 1991 response to cyclonic flooding in Bangladesh, which was Operation Sea Angel, that immediate needs were going to be drinking water and shelter and food and medical support.
A key lesson from all of these events was the value of helicopter vertical lift. The ability to rapidly apply needed capabilities in response to a crisis reflects well, I believe, on our force posture and investment in the Asian-Pacific region. The speed with which we will bring forces and have brought forces, such as the carrier and expeditionary groups, as well as P3s and C-130s, to bear for immediate employment is critical in a region characterized by vast distances of time and space.
As I mentioned earlier, we stood up initially Joint Task Force 536, now redesignated as Combined Support Force or CSF. And that's led, once again, by Lieutenant General Rusty Blackman. And this was important to manage the magnitude of this crisis operation.
Our combined support force will help coordinate the contributions of our military, other nations and other organizations. Our strong ally Thailand quickly responded to our request to allow us to center General Blackman's operations in Utapao, thus strengthening the capacity of U.S. forces providing relief in the region.
From that hub location, he's ensuring close coordination of all elements on the ground and at sea while synchronizing multiple efforts in the region to support nations as they best see fit.
It's important to point out that this likely could not have happened without our ongoing security cooperation efforts designed to strengthen our alliance with Thailand and all the countries of this region and the fact that we've been able to build enduring habits of cooperation for over a long period of time.
We should all be proud of our service members, as well as the other governmental and nongovernmental organizations, all of whom are responding quickly with great energy and compassion. They're putting an extraordinary humanitarian face on a particularly large undertaking.
There's an important point that I'd like to reiterate.
We see our job as one of assistance. Many organizations, international, national, governmental, and nongovernmental, have joined together to help. We've coordinated closely with the State Department and with USAID, and we're in support to the host nation who's responsible for its citizens.
So the U.S. Pacific Command and the combined support force bring unique capacity quickly to support these dedicated volunteers.
All of us are working together to lend a hand, mindful that we do so in a way that meets the requests of our host governments. And we join with many to provide assistance and relief.
It's hard for us to comprehend the devastation suffered by so many.
And over the next days, and weeks, and months, we'll push forward to provide aid and comfort, responding with a team of dedicated countries and organizations, and we'll continuously improve our efforts as we go.
Thank you.
And now I'll be happy to take your questions.
QUESTION: Admiral, how many Marines from the Bonhomme Richard group are going to be going ashore?
QUESTION: And where are they going to do that? And what will their duties be?
FARGO: I think it's hard to say what the numbers that will actually go ashore are. It will be very dependent on the specific priorities and tasks that are laid out.
Obviously, a number will go ashore to provide helicopter lift, because Bonhomme Richard has both H-53s and H-46s. And their lift capacity, their carrying capacity, exceeds those of the H-60s that we currently have in Indonesia.
There'll also be medics. I suspect there'll be engineering capability from the Bonhomme Richard that also goes ashore.
So it will be dependent on the task. Some will remain ashore for significant periods of times, but other will use the seabase as a point to provide support.
QUESTION: Admiral Fargo, you mentioned the critical role that helicopters have played...
PHILLIPS: That's the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Thomas Fargo, briefing reporters there on the relief efforts for tsunami victims, updating them on what's happening off the battle group Abraham Lincoln -- USS Abraham Lincoln, out in the Indian Ocean. As you know, a number of helicopter squadrons have been bringing in relief task forces, food and water, and also medics to treat the victims there from the tsunami devastated areas. He's talking about a number of other ships now coming into the region. The expeditionary strike group five and that will be off the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ship. They'll be arriving soon. So we'll continue to update you as we get updated from the admiral there, U.S. Pacific Command.
Well, more big name celebs are lending their names and their checkbooks to the tsunami relief effort. We're live from L.A. with that coming up next.
Also next hour, we're going to take you aboard a U.S. helicopter squadron playing a critical role in delivering that aid. CNN's Atika Shubert, she was on that aircraft.
How much money are Arab nations giving to the tsunami victims? It suddenly doubled. We'll have more.
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PHILLIPS: Well, as you cut a check to aid tsunami victims, you may wonder how relief organizations are spending your money. CNN'S Allan Chernoff has been analyzing their IRS statements. Here's what he found.
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ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN-FN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Corporate donations of medical supplies keep arriving at AmeriCares. The relief group is transporting the goods to established charities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. Normally $99 of every $100 donated goes to relief. But for tsunami aid, AmeriCares president promises every cent will go for assistance.
CURT WELLING, PRESIDENT, AMERICARES: We are greatly benefited by the fact that we have wonderful relationships with most of the world's major pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies. And so, that means that an awful lot of the things that we get are donated to us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling the American Red Cross.
CHERNOFF: The American Red Cross, the giant of U.S. relief agencies, spends $300 million a year on administration and fund- raising. Even so, it too, is relatively efficient, $91 of every $100 donated goes for assistance at home and overseas. Altogether, the American Red Cross spends just over $3 billion a year on assistance.
Save the Children also delivers $91 worth of aid for every $100 donated. Doctors Without Borders has very low administrative expenses. It relies on volunteers. It accepts no money from the U.S. government. And so, the group spends a lot for fund-raising. As a result, $85 every $100 goes for aid. That's slightly below the median for international relief organizations.
Those who track relief groups say providing aid in the Third World is not cheap. ROBERT OTTENHOFF, PRESIDENT & CEO, GUIDESTAR: We've got to remember that these are organizations that have staffs to support, and activities to run. So you can't expect them to have no overhead costs.
CHERNOFF: Oxfam, the hunger relief group, says better than 90% of tsunami donations get to the victims. But Oxfam concedes its ongoing projects overseas and college fund-raising are labor intensive. During normal times, just $77 of each $100 donation is directed towards assistance programs.
(on camera): Every relief organization pursues its mission in a different fashion. Some routes require more time and money than others. So there's no precise apples to apples comparison of all the organizations trying to address the humanitarian crisis.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: More Hollywood celebrities are offering aid to tsunami victims and someone else is offering something very curious on eBay. Let's check in with CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas in L.A. with that. Hello, Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Miles. Yesterday I told you about Sandra Bullock's $1 million donation. And now more celebrities are following suit, opening their hearts to the victims of the devastating tsunami. Leonardo DiCaprio was opening his wallet. The "Aviator" star who spent time on Phi Phi Island in Thailand while filming "The Beach" has made what is only being described as a huge contribution to Unicef. And late night TV also got into the spirit of giving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": We did this once before after 9/11. Well, thanks a lot. And we raised a lot of money for the families of the -- people were great. So for the next three weeks, we're going to ask all our guests and celebrities to come out and -- that's why get whites. So we're going to sign this, all the big stars will sign it, we'll put it up on eBay and we'll donate all the money to the Red Cross to help the victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: That was Jay Leno last night donating a Harley Davidson Road King, which he plans to have signed by his celebrity guests. Leno did the same thing after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: How much did they get for that motorcycle, Sibila?
VARGAS: Well, that motorcycle went for $360,000. Now, some of the celebrities that autographed the bike were Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington, John Travolta and Angelina Jolie. And I'm sure that the list will be just as impressive for this auction.
Well, this next item is going up for auction. It may not be going to a good cause, but it will be getting a lot of attention. Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's ex, is reportedly planning to sell her wedding band to the highest bidder on eBay. Jackson purchased the two carat rock in Sydney and gave it to Rowe after they married. The winning bidder will reportedly receive a letter of authenticity verifying that the ring belonged to Jackson's ex.
Well, from the real thing to the box office green. No one saw more of it in 2004 than everyone's favorite green ogre.
Shrek and Donkey are surely living the high life. Their sequel "Shrek 2" gobbled up $436 million in ticket sales, making it the top grossing film of 2004 and the third highest grossing film of all time. "Spiderman 2" came in second place, webbing in $373.4 million and Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" redeemed $370.3 million. That's a lot of green, Miles.
O'BRIEN: That's some real change. Sibila Vargas, thank you very much. Ready for some football? Next, more Americans than ever say they are big fans. Stay with us.
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PHILLIPS: So Congress is back after the holiday break. What should lawmakers be focusing on in 2005? Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport joins us live from Princeton, New Jersey with all the answers. How much confidence does the public have in Congress right now, Frank?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP: Let's show you what the priorities are for Congress and we'll also look at the confidence that the public has in our elected representatives as you asked there, Kyra.
First of all we gave Americans a list a couple weeks ago of about 18 different issues that Congress could deal with now that it's back in session. These are the top five, Iraq perhaps not surprisingly a little over half of Americans said that's extremely important, terrorism, education, health care costs, then the economy and Social Security tied at 40 percent.
Now here's the bottom five. It doesn't mean this chart that Americans don't think these are important, they're just lower in priority at this moment in time. The environment, that's surprising to a lot of people, 24 percent of Americans think that's extremely important right now for Congress to deal with. Tort reform, one of President Bush's key issues, not all that exciting to the American public. Abortion, civil rights laws and same-sex marriages all near the bottom.
In answer to your question, Kyra, about the confidence that Americans have in Congress, it's just not very good. 41 percent is the current job approval rating that Americans give Congress. By way of comparison, I went back to January '97, that's the last time a president has been reelected, Clinton was reelected a couple of months after that.
It was also 41 percent but look how much more divided it is. Look carefully here. This red bar is Republicans and almost two- thirds of Republicans say they approve of the job Congress is doing. Down to only 20 percent of Democrats. So there's a huge perceptual gap, bigger than in was back in Clinton's day. The Senate and Congress in both instances controlled by Republicans. But for whatever reasons, Americans are a little more political as they look at Congress than they were in the past.
PHILLIPS: Let's shift gears a bit and talk about confidence in another area, OK? Auburn beat Virginia Tech last night in the Sugar Bowl. But the big game, the big game is tonight when USC, let me mention USC and Oklahoma meet in the Orange Bowl for the BCS National Championship. I'm not bitter that USC is not in the Rose Bowl. Actually I am a little bit. Let's talk about football fans and the faith in the BCS.
NEWPORT: Sounds like we have a USC alumni here.
PHILLIPS: How did you know that, Frank?
NEWPORT: I didn't know that but I'm very smart at intuiting things like that. Well, you know, it's going to be a greatly exciting game tonight. But as I'll show you in a second, fans aren't all that excited about the way it came about. 47 percent of Americans are college football fans. And that's actually come up (UNINTELLIGIBLE). A lot of interest particularly among men, about twice as many men are fans as women. But here's the issue.
We gave Americans three choices and said which of these should be the case for this whole BCS system. 40 percent want a playoff system, like basketball where you start with 64 teams and winnow it down. Just 30 percent want the current system, this complex system we're dealing with right now, and 26 percent would want a one-game playoff which would mean Auburn would play the winner of tonight's game this weekend. So although we'll all be excited about the game tonight a lot of these fans just don't like the system at this point. Good luck to USC Trojans. I can tell you have a real interest there.
PHILLIPS: Thank you very much, Frank -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So much for fair and balanced for you, huh?
PHILLIPS: There is no fair and balanced when it comes to the USC Trojans. Let's just get that straight right now.
O'BRIEN: Got to press on. Some big military contractors are finding, well, they're a little nervous right now. You can call it the fight over fighters. The Raptor, F-22 might get rapped. Right, Susan Lisovicz?
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O'BRIEN: Thank you, Susan Lisovicz -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: We take you straight to Canton, Mississippi right now after almost a year of Iraqi deployment, we are told the 112th Military Police Company has now returned from Iraq. The members of this Canton-based police battalion are arriving back after they had been guarding members of Iraq's interim government. Part of the Mississippi National Guard. They also were in charge of protecting the U.S. embassy and the United Nations headquarters. Welcome home to those men and women. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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