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Secretary Powell Shocked by Devastation; Capitol Hill Staffer Shares Tsunami Survival Story

Aired January 05, 2005 - 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, CO-HOST: A survivor lying on beach when the tsunami hit lives through the devastation and is back to her job on Capitol Hill. She'll share her story with us this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My quiet moments and when I wake up in the morning and first open my eyes that I realize it's very real. It's not just a bad nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: The agony for American families waiting to hear word, did their loved ones live through the disaster?

Also, a story only on CNN. A U.S. admiral speaks to us from aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard about why this mission of mercy is different from all the other naval orders.

O'BRIEN: And President Bush in Collinsville, Illinois. He's talking about medical malpractice this afternoon. We'll have the speech when it happens this hour.

From Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Sixteen dead, 20 more presumed dead, roughly 3,500 reports and queries still to be investigated. That's the bottom line on American victims of the Indian Ocean tsunamis a week and a half ago, disasters the U.S. secretary of state admits he's never seen anything like.

Colin Powell over flew the obliterated Aceh province of Indonesia today as staffers back in Washington more than doubled the apparent U.S. death toll. Powell is said to be impatient with efforts to reconcile the long list of Americans who may or may not have been in harm's way.

The overall death toll is approaching 156,000, chiefly in northern Indonesia, southern Thailand, southern India and Sri Lanka. The victims were remembered today in three minutes of silence observed across Europe at high noon.

President Bush is said to be doing what he's asking every American to do, contribute to aid groups. Word of a $10,000 presidential donation came as Mr. Bush flew to Illinois for a speech we'll bring you live in just a few minutes.

And for comprehensive coverage of the Indian Ocean rim, keep your clicker only to CNN. We've got 19 correspondents and anchors, plus dozens of producers and crews and support staff in all the affected countries.

O'BRIEN: Colin Powell says he can't begin to imagine the horror of the ocean onslaught, but today the visiting VIP has a pretty clear idea of the results.

Here's CNN's John King in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a stunning bird's eye view: the devastation of Banda Aceh stretching nearly 100 miles. Mud and water where roads and homes once stood. Other buildings ripped to pieces. Residents by the thousands washed away in the giant wave.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through the families and all of the people who heard this noise coming and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave.

KING: Ships tossed like toys, trees snapped like matchsticks. This pilot describes Secretary Powell as in shock as he looked down on a place where they are still counting the dead, still searching for bodies and still aching for food 10 days later.

POWELL: I've been in war and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this.

KING: On the ground, an update from relief workers on the humanitarian requirements. The displaced in Banda Aceh now number an estimated 400,000.

Secretary Powell was told desperately needed relief flights are slowed by air traffic control problems. With the permission of Indonesian officials, U.S. and Australian military units will rush to make improvements.

POWELL: We can increase the throughput, as it's called, the rate of arrival of planes and supplies, and that's what we'll be working on.

KING: U.S. officials have shipped 16,000 tons of rice and soybeans to Indonesia, but much of it is being trucked to Banda Aceh from three days away. Deliveries were suspended once already this week for eight hours because of a firefight between Indonesia troops and separatist rebels.

The emotional visit left the U.S. delegation stunned.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: It is with a heavy heart that we're here, but we're friends forever. KING: Governor Bush is heading back to the United States. Next for Secretary Powell is a regional conference in Jakarta to coordinate relief and reconstruction, then a visit to Sri Lanka for another look at the tsunami's fury.

(on camera) Secretary Powell and his delegation were on the ground here less than two hours, rushing in and out so that their visit would not complicate or delay the urgent relief effort.

In fact, while the delegation took its helicopter tour and met with relief workers here on the ground, Secretary Powell's plane circled the island overhead, so as to not clog this critical runway.

John King, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Along with the tsunami destruction and the relief efforts, there are, of course, these incredible stories of survival. We just keep hearing them again and again. They're so compelling.

One American couple was celebrating an anniversary in Thailand. The giant wave struck. Susan Sweat happens to be a staffer here on Capitol Hill. As best as we know, the only Capitol Hill staffer to have been there for the actual tsunami.

She got back on Saturday. Glad to be back, I know.

Susan, your story, you were on the island of Phi Phi and you heard the wave was coming. You headed for high ground, essentially?

SUSAN SWEAT, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We did, but not until we saw the effects of it on the western side of our island. I was laying on a beach on the eastern side when they evacuated us up to higher ground. And we got the residual effects on our side but definitely felt the wave coming through to pass between two hills and saw it sweep onto our island, our beach first.

O'BRIEN: You must have been incredulous seeing that wave come at you, and really not fully understanding what it really meant.

SWEAT: We had no idea. When I looked down on the beach and saw this debris rushing into the -- into the ocean, I thought it was a landslide.

So when they evacuated us to higher ground, I ran and got my husband who ran back out to the beach to videotape it. And that's when he turned and saw the wave coming at us. That's when we really took off running.

O'BRIEN: What happened after that? Did you see -- were there a lot of people around you that were injured or killed as a result?

SWEAT: We -- luckily, all of the guests on our resort in Phi Phi made it up to the top of the hill. Several locals did not. We heard of at least seven that we know of that were -- that were killed. Some of those being children that were swept out to sea.

As far as injured, there were at least a dozen severely injured that we saw with I.V.'s and head wraps and that type of thing evacuated to the top of the hill throughout the -- top of the hill throughout the day, which is where we stayed all day and all night.

O'BRIEN: We've seen pictures since then of people lying on the beach as the work goes on behind them. You've probably seen those kinds of pictures. Could you have done that, given what had gone on in that place?

SWEAT: You know, I think a lot of these folks are in shock. There's so much damage, so much just disaster all around. And a sense of helplessness, and where do we help and where are we hindering help? I know that we thought that a lot. We tried to help as much as we could, but then at some point you just need to step back and let -- let the officials there do their job.

O'BRIEN: Final thought here. You know, you have a unique perspective here as a staffer who was there. And your boss is on the appropriations committee, and there are some other committees that he participates in that certainly the subject will come up.

How will your personal experience come into play?

SWEAT: I think it definitely makes it a little more personal for my boss and for the appropriations committee staff, knowing that one of our own was -- was almost taken by this. Obviously, God was looking ought out for me and -- and allowed my husband and I to return. S

And so I hope that we can use our close brush with death to effect some good, and that might be here on Capitol Hill and also in whatever efforts we can do in private sector or in giving money and encouraging people to understand the immense tragedy that's happened.

O'BRIEN: Susan Sweat, happy to be back I know.

SWEAT: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And we wish you well here on Capitol Hill as the effort continues to get relief to that region. Thank you very much.

SWEAT: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's called Operation Unified Assistance. Seven ships, a Marine expeditionary unit and a Coast Guard cutter. Thirty- four tons of humanitarian aid that's assisting one of the largest disaster relief operations to date.

Admiral Christopher Ames is the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Five. And I talked to him by phone aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL CHRISTOPHER AMES, U.S. NAVY: Navy Marine Corps team as part of Expeditionary Strike Group 5 offers tremendous power projection capabilities ashore. And we do that across a variety of ships in the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, ships that carry a lot of aircraft.

We carry, in fact, some 35 aircraft, 21 of which are helicopters that have great lifting capacity. Heavy lift and medium lift, as we like to call them.

And a flight deck on Bonhomme Richard with -- of 10 spots, a miniature aircraft carrier if you looked at it, along with landing spots on two other ships that provide us the ability to pick stores and bring them in to those in need.

And we, apart from that, we have landing craft. And these are very special craft, five of which are landing craft air cushion. And they ride on a cushion of air and skip across the wave tops at 40-50 knots, running right up onto the beach, and a more traditional craft that carries 300 tons of supplies.

So we're able to deliver very quickly urgently needed medical and humanitarian support and supply requirements ashore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And in addition to all the unique aircraft, Admiral Ames told me about the more than 200,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies airlifted to the isolated and devastated regions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMES: In the bellies of these large ships, we carry water purification systems; medical and dental care; a host of badly needed engineering equipment ashore, to include bulldozers and forklifts and seven-ton trucks, 35 of those; 115 Humvees; a few distribution methods both of meals ready to eat and water.

Boy, we can make a lot of water. We have special machines that can take saltwater and purify it and turn it into crystal clear drinking water. And they're capable of making 24,000 gallons a day.

As well as ladders as we call them, large rubber tubes that carry 500 to 2,000 to 20,000 gallons of water. This water is critically needed for those so desperate now in the western side of Sumatra in the province of Aceh in Indonesia.

PHILLIPS: Tell me about the mind-set. You're used to dealing with wars within the past few years and now, you're involved with this humanitarian effort. How has that affected your men and women?

AMES: It's an intense and sobering feeling on board. Everyone is leaning forward to aggressively do his or her best to ensure as we come off the coast of Meulaboh. And shortly we'll be ready to launch and deliver the greatest impact to the -- to relieve the suffering, to terminate the loss of life that's been ongoing for so many days since the tsunami struck.

You know, I talked a moment ago, frankly, about the number of aircraft we have and the tremendous landing craft and these giant ships and aircraft carriers who are now participating in Operation Unified Assistance.

But I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the greatest asset that we have are the men and women, the sailors, the Marines, the Coast Guardsmen. The sons and daughters from across all points of our country are out here dedicated and determined to do the best to deliver with speed and purpose to the people of Indonesia who need the most the supplies we carry on board.

PHILLIPS: Admiral Christopher Ames, quite a mission, sir. Thank you so much for your time today.

AMES: Thank you, it's been my pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Kyra Phillips once again mining that Rolodex for military brass.

Kyra, and I don't mean to make light of it, but I'm curious. You got to know a lot of these guys during the initial invasion of Iraq. Did they talk about, you know, the differences and similarities between that mission and this mission? I assume they'd much rather be involved in a mission like this.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's interesting that you ask that because I did say to them, I mean all of these guys, men and women, were involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom. And I asked them all that question: wow, you're so used to war planning and taking down the enemy. Now you're saving lives.

Let's get to that more in just a minute, Miles. Thank you so much.

Let's go straight to the president, the lawsuits of Madison County is what we're calling it about. President Bush about to talk about his push for limits on jury awards for medical mistakes.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.

PHILLIPS: Let's listen in.

(LIVE EVENT)

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 January 5, 2005 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: A survivor lying on beach when the tsunami hit lives through the devastation and is back to her job on Capitol Hill. She'll share her story with us this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My quiet moments and when I wake up in the morning and first open my eyes that I realize it's very real. It's not just a bad nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: The agony for American families waiting to hear word, did their loved ones live through the disaster?

Also, a story only on CNN. A U.S. admiral speaks to us from aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard about why this mission of mercy is different from all the other naval orders.

O'BRIEN: And President Bush in Collinsville, Illinois. He's talking about medical malpractice this afternoon. We'll have the speech when it happens this hour.

From Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Sixteen dead, 20 more presumed dead, roughly 3,500 reports and queries still to be investigated. That's the bottom line on American victims of the Indian Ocean tsunamis a week and a half ago, disasters the U.S. secretary of state admits he's never seen anything like.

Colin Powell over flew the obliterated Aceh province of Indonesia today as staffers back in Washington more than doubled the apparent U.S. death toll. Powell is said to be impatient with efforts to reconcile the long list of Americans who may or may not have been in harm's way.

The overall death toll is approaching 156,000, chiefly in northern Indonesia, southern Thailand, southern India and Sri Lanka. The victims were remembered today in three minutes of silence observed across Europe at high noon.

President Bush is said to be doing what he's asking every American to do, contribute to aid groups. Word of a $10,000 presidential donation came as Mr. Bush flew to Illinois for a speech we'll bring you live in just a few minutes.

And for comprehensive coverage of the Indian Ocean rim, keep your clicker only to CNN. We've got 19 correspondents and anchors, plus dozens of producers and crews and support staff in all the affected countries.

O'BRIEN: Colin Powell says he can't begin to imagine the horror of the ocean onslaught, but today the visiting VIP has a pretty clear idea of the results.

Here's CNN's John King in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a stunning bird's eye view: the devastation of Banda Aceh stretching nearly 100 miles. Mud and water where roads and homes once stood. Other buildings ripped to pieces. Residents by the thousands washed away in the giant wave.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through the families and all of the people who heard this noise coming and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave.

KING: Ships tossed like toys, trees snapped like matchsticks. This pilot describes Secretary Powell as in shock as he looked down on a place where they are still counting the dead, still searching for bodies and still aching for food 10 days later.

POWELL: I've been in war and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this.

KING: On the ground, an update from relief workers on the humanitarian requirements. The displaced in Banda Aceh now number an estimated 400,000.

Secretary Powell was told desperately needed relief flights are slowed by air traffic control problems. With the permission of Indonesian officials, U.S. and Australian military units will rush to make improvements.

POWELL: We can increase the throughput, as it's called, the rate of arrival of planes and supplies, and that's what we'll be working on.

KING: U.S. officials have shipped 16,000 tons of rice and soybeans to Indonesia, but much of it is being trucked to Banda Aceh from three days away. Deliveries were suspended once already this week for eight hours because of a firefight between Indonesia troops and separatist rebels.

The emotional visit left the U.S. delegation stunned.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: It is with a heavy heart that we're here, but we're friends forever. KING: Governor Bush is heading back to the United States. Next for Secretary Powell is a regional conference in Jakarta to coordinate relief and reconstruction, then a visit to Sri Lanka for another look at the tsunami's fury.

(on camera) Secretary Powell and his delegation were on the ground here less than two hours, rushing in and out so that their visit would not complicate or delay the urgent relief effort.

In fact, while the delegation took its helicopter tour and met with relief workers here on the ground, Secretary Powell's plane circled the island overhead, so as to not clog this critical runway.

John King, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Along with the tsunami destruction and the relief efforts, there are, of course, these incredible stories of survival. We just keep hearing them again and again. They're so compelling.

One American couple was celebrating an anniversary in Thailand. The giant wave struck. Susan Sweat happens to be a staffer here on Capitol Hill. As best as we know, the only Capitol Hill staffer to have been there for the actual tsunami.

She got back on Saturday. Glad to be back, I know.

Susan, your story, you were on the island of Phi Phi and you heard the wave was coming. You headed for high ground, essentially?

SUSAN SWEAT, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We did, but not until we saw the effects of it on the western side of our island. I was laying on a beach on the eastern side when they evacuated us up to higher ground. And we got the residual effects on our side but definitely felt the wave coming through to pass between two hills and saw it sweep onto our island, our beach first.

O'BRIEN: You must have been incredulous seeing that wave come at you, and really not fully understanding what it really meant.

SWEAT: We had no idea. When I looked down on the beach and saw this debris rushing into the -- into the ocean, I thought it was a landslide.

So when they evacuated us to higher ground, I ran and got my husband who ran back out to the beach to videotape it. And that's when he turned and saw the wave coming at us. That's when we really took off running.

O'BRIEN: What happened after that? Did you see -- were there a lot of people around you that were injured or killed as a result?

SWEAT: We -- luckily, all of the guests on our resort in Phi Phi made it up to the top of the hill. Several locals did not. We heard of at least seven that we know of that were -- that were killed. Some of those being children that were swept out to sea.

As far as injured, there were at least a dozen severely injured that we saw with I.V.'s and head wraps and that type of thing evacuated to the top of the hill throughout the -- top of the hill throughout the day, which is where we stayed all day and all night.

O'BRIEN: We've seen pictures since then of people lying on the beach as the work goes on behind them. You've probably seen those kinds of pictures. Could you have done that, given what had gone on in that place?

SWEAT: You know, I think a lot of these folks are in shock. There's so much damage, so much just disaster all around. And a sense of helplessness, and where do we help and where are we hindering help? I know that we thought that a lot. We tried to help as much as we could, but then at some point you just need to step back and let -- let the officials there do their job.

O'BRIEN: Final thought here. You know, you have a unique perspective here as a staffer who was there. And your boss is on the appropriations committee, and there are some other committees that he participates in that certainly the subject will come up.

How will your personal experience come into play?

SWEAT: I think it definitely makes it a little more personal for my boss and for the appropriations committee staff, knowing that one of our own was -- was almost taken by this. Obviously, God was looking ought out for me and -- and allowed my husband and I to return. S

And so I hope that we can use our close brush with death to effect some good, and that might be here on Capitol Hill and also in whatever efforts we can do in private sector or in giving money and encouraging people to understand the immense tragedy that's happened.

O'BRIEN: Susan Sweat, happy to be back I know.

SWEAT: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And we wish you well here on Capitol Hill as the effort continues to get relief to that region. Thank you very much.

SWEAT: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's called Operation Unified Assistance. Seven ships, a Marine expeditionary unit and a Coast Guard cutter. Thirty- four tons of humanitarian aid that's assisting one of the largest disaster relief operations to date.

Admiral Christopher Ames is the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Five. And I talked to him by phone aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL CHRISTOPHER AMES, U.S. NAVY: Navy Marine Corps team as part of Expeditionary Strike Group 5 offers tremendous power projection capabilities ashore. And we do that across a variety of ships in the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, ships that carry a lot of aircraft.

We carry, in fact, some 35 aircraft, 21 of which are helicopters that have great lifting capacity. Heavy lift and medium lift, as we like to call them.

And a flight deck on Bonhomme Richard with -- of 10 spots, a miniature aircraft carrier if you looked at it, along with landing spots on two other ships that provide us the ability to pick stores and bring them in to those in need.

And we, apart from that, we have landing craft. And these are very special craft, five of which are landing craft air cushion. And they ride on a cushion of air and skip across the wave tops at 40-50 knots, running right up onto the beach, and a more traditional craft that carries 300 tons of supplies.

So we're able to deliver very quickly urgently needed medical and humanitarian support and supply requirements ashore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And in addition to all the unique aircraft, Admiral Ames told me about the more than 200,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies airlifted to the isolated and devastated regions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMES: In the bellies of these large ships, we carry water purification systems; medical and dental care; a host of badly needed engineering equipment ashore, to include bulldozers and forklifts and seven-ton trucks, 35 of those; 115 Humvees; a few distribution methods both of meals ready to eat and water.

Boy, we can make a lot of water. We have special machines that can take saltwater and purify it and turn it into crystal clear drinking water. And they're capable of making 24,000 gallons a day.

As well as ladders as we call them, large rubber tubes that carry 500 to 2,000 to 20,000 gallons of water. This water is critically needed for those so desperate now in the western side of Sumatra in the province of Aceh in Indonesia.

PHILLIPS: Tell me about the mind-set. You're used to dealing with wars within the past few years and now, you're involved with this humanitarian effort. How has that affected your men and women?

AMES: It's an intense and sobering feeling on board. Everyone is leaning forward to aggressively do his or her best to ensure as we come off the coast of Meulaboh. And shortly we'll be ready to launch and deliver the greatest impact to the -- to relieve the suffering, to terminate the loss of life that's been ongoing for so many days since the tsunami struck.

You know, I talked a moment ago, frankly, about the number of aircraft we have and the tremendous landing craft and these giant ships and aircraft carriers who are now participating in Operation Unified Assistance.

But I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the greatest asset that we have are the men and women, the sailors, the Marines, the Coast Guardsmen. The sons and daughters from across all points of our country are out here dedicated and determined to do the best to deliver with speed and purpose to the people of Indonesia who need the most the supplies we carry on board.

PHILLIPS: Admiral Christopher Ames, quite a mission, sir. Thank you so much for your time today.

AMES: Thank you, it's been my pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Kyra Phillips once again mining that Rolodex for military brass.

Kyra, and I don't mean to make light of it, but I'm curious. You got to know a lot of these guys during the initial invasion of Iraq. Did they talk about, you know, the differences and similarities between that mission and this mission? I assume they'd much rather be involved in a mission like this.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's interesting that you ask that because I did say to them, I mean all of these guys, men and women, were involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom. And I asked them all that question: wow, you're so used to war planning and taking down the enemy. Now you're saving lives.

Let's get to that more in just a minute, Miles. Thank you so much.

Let's go straight to the president, the lawsuits of Madison County is what we're calling it about. President Bush about to talk about his push for limits on jury awards for medical mistakes.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.

PHILLIPS: Let's listen in.

(LIVE EVENT)

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