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Political Implications of U.S. Tsunami Aid; Concern in Iraq Over Food Rations
Aired January 06, 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.
MILES O'BRIEN: Today's formal count of the presidential electoral votes temporarily on hold this hour. Some Democratic representatives are challenging the Ohio ballot, claiming voting irregularities. The challenge was joined by California Senator Barbara Boxer. Democrats say they are not challenging President Bush's victory, but they are calling attention to the need for election reform.
The number of Americans confirmed dead in the tsunami disaster now stands at 17. 18 others presumed dead. The State Department is trying to determine the whereabouts of more than 2,000 Americans who may have been in harm's way.
And the AIDS crisis in Africa tragically hits home for former South African President Nelson Mandela. His son, Makgatho Mandela, died today in Johannesburg of AIDS-related complications. He was 54- years-old. In announcing his death, Nelson Mandela said South Africans must fight the stigma surrounding the disease.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The tsunami crisis has left so many Americans heartbroken. And for one man in New England, it was a call to action. CNN's Aaron Brown caught up him in the Indonesia's Aceh province.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An hour after arriving in a place he had no business going to in the first place, Bob Bell, a financial consultant from New Hampshire, with training as a paramedic, was tending to a 16-year-old amputee. How he came to this moment is in some ways as interesting as the moment itself.
ROBERT BELL, U.S. VOLUNTEER: It started as just kind of a thought at night on the Internet with the kids asleep and the plan just literally fell into place. The candid answer without trying to jam my religion down anybody is, you know, it's really, for me personally it's really -- it's really walking the walk and walking the talk.
You know you see a lot of athletes and a lot of people with, "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets around and I've worn one for a long while and I'm not trying to sound like anything funny but literally that's how it kind of unfolded.
BROWN: So, knowing no one, no connections to any group, he flew to Jakarta on his own, made calls, found a group willing to take him on and an hour later he was, as he would say, walking the walk. What were you confronted with?
BELL: Immediately I mean there were literally, there was no time for introductions. It was kind of hello, hello, and then one of the docs just said you need to get on that truck.
BROWN: And what was on that truck?
BELL: We were emptying the trucks that you see behind us here that are cargo carriers. We drove into the city, into Aceh and went to the clinics where these people have been essentially, you know, from the time the tsunamis hit until present have been sitting in these clinics.
BROWN: To this point the kind of care they had gotten was what?
BELL: I think the kind of care that they got, the fair answer to that is the very, very best that could be given under these conditions and I honestly would not have wanted to be in the position of these docs making the calls that they had to make.
BROWN: The calls they had to make were amputations without anesthetic. Everyone in that tent an amputee, everyone in that tent teaching Bob Bell something about life itself.
BELL: This is the human spirit defined in this country at this time. These are people that despite unbelievable personal injuries and unbelievable conditions and nothing to go back to have decided to live and they're doing everything they possibly can to drive forward.
I mean this is the epitome of the human spirit and it is -- it's more than humbling to watch these people because I don't understand a word they say. All I can do is watch. It's very helpless.
Now, he's OK. He's doing all right, huh?
BROWN: Just before sundown at the end of a long and draining day, Bob's 16-year-old and the rest from the tent are placed gently on stretchers, carried to the tarmac and a cargo plane that will take them to a real hospital.
Bob will never see the 16-year-old again but tomorrow and for the next three weeks there will be others and then Bob goes home, back to his life, back to his three kids, lessons learned and lessons taught.
What do you want your kids to learn from this?
BELL: There are kids' moms and dads right now that are going away for six months, nine months, 12 months at a time that are going into wartime situations that may or may not come home.
Aaron Brown, CNN, Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Walking the walk. The U.S. government has pledged hundreds of millions in tsunami aid to Muslim Indonesia and other countries. CNN Senior political analyst Bill Schneider looks at what the U.S. stands to gain and lose in the Arab world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Secretary of State Colin Powell raised the prospect of a political dividend for America's humanitarian effort.
POWELL: I think it does give the Muslim and the rest of the world an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action.
SCHNEIDER: The U.S. relief effort has been extensively reported in the Muslim and Arab press. Will it help? Maybe.
MOHAMMED ALAMI, AL-JAZEERA TV CORRESPONDENT: The footage of U.S. soldiers giving, you know, bottles of water will go a long, long way to rectify some of those bad images streaming out of Iraq and elsewhere.
SCHNEIDER: But maybe not far enough. For one thing, the U.S. has to meet high expectations.
ALAMI: It's very natural for people in the Middle East and around the world to expect the country as such powerful as the United States and rich as the United States to do something in face of such disaster.
SCHNEIDER: It may be difficult for Americans to understand, but people in the Muslim world who are not free, who see themselves as victims of their own repressive governments, may feel less sympathy for others.
SALAMEH NEMATT, WASHINGTON BUREAU, AL HAYAT: There are people who think, you know, why should we care about the others when we cannot solve our own problems? We have our own humanitarian disasters.
SCHNEIDER: Salameh Nematt, a columnist for the Arab newspaper "Al-Hayat," says many don't see the U.S. as on their side.
NEMATT: On the one hand it looks like it's helping Muslims, it's helping on a humanitarian scale. On the other, the war in Iraq and the situation in the Palestinian territories give a different message, if you like.
SCHNEIDER: In building good will, U.S. policies are likely to matter most to Muslims.
MOHAMMED ALAMI, AL-JAZEERA TV CORRESPONDENT: When you are faced with two major conflicts in the area, Iraq and Israeli-Palestinian issue, probably what this administration will do about this too, probably, will have more than feelings people get from seeing good footage.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: A programming note for you. We want to remind you about CNN's special primetime tsunami coverage tonight. We'll get the latest from correspondents all throughout the region. Our special report, "Turning the Tide," begins at 7:00 Eastern time. 10:00 Eastern, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour host our primetime special, "Saving the Children." Be sure to stay with us for all of that.
PHILLIPS: We turn our attention to Iraq next. There are reports of food shortage there, but are Iraqi politicians aware of it? CNN talks with an Iraqi ministry official who says he's not having any problems, so what's the real story?
Later on LIVE FROM, gizmos and gadgets, the latest at the Consumer Electronics Show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: In Iraq, famine or feast. There's a rising concern among Iraqis about low food supplies and rising food costs. Some Iraqis complain they can't afford to even feed their families even with rations. CNN's Jeff Koinange is Baghdad with a closer look at the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sale Hanza (ph) is a former civil servant who lives off his monthly retirement benefit of $80. He would normally be buying food for his large family at the local market, but nowadays he simply can't afford it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not enough money to buy food for 11 people at the market.
KOINANGE: And that's why he comes here, to this food distribution center now run by the interim government.
(on camera): There was a time where in warehouses like this, sacks wheat and grain would be stacked all the way up to the roof. Nowadays though, traders here feel those days are long gone and that food supplies are fast running out. Food distribution. Part of a $7 billion a year program introduced in the country after coalition forces first overran Iraq in 1990. Every Iraqi citizen is entitled to food rations to supplement their income, everything from rice to beans to powdered milk
MOHAMMED MUSTAFA, DISTRIBUTOR (through translator): We normally distribute eight to nine items including rice, tea, sugar and so on. But in the last two to three months, we've only received three of nine items and this makes the people worry and it also causes prices to go up. KOINANGE (voice-over): In some places, prices have gone up three to four times what they used to be. Many here blame the rise on insurgent attacks on food convoys, transporting grains and other products from ports as far as away as Basra and Umkasar (ph) in the south. Add to that the numerous kidnappings of truck drivers and the situation becomes one of growing concern.
MUSTAPHA AL-JABOURI, IRAQI TRADE MINISTER: We are concerned. We have lost a lot of our drivers. Most of them being killed by those thieves on the road.
KOINANGE: Iraq's interim government insists it has food supplies to last at least three months. After that, they say, it's anyone's guess. And for Sale Hamza, it means tightening his belt even more
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (though translator): Where am I going to get the money to buy food?
KOINANGE: A question the country's trade minister can only respond by saying this, too, shall pass.
AL-JABOURI: We have faced a lot of problems before and get through. This is part of our life and part of our jobs. We get used to it. Some people might be panicked from something. For us, it is just a normal day.
KOINANGE: A normal day that, for Iraqis like Sale Hamza and his 11 children, is fast turning into an uphill battle for survival.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, one Iraqi official has reduced the food security problem to no more than preelection campaign hype. CNN international anchor Jonathan Mann, just hours ago, a few hours ago, spoke with the senior adviser to Iraq's Ministry of Interior.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBAH KADHIM, IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTRY: These problems do happen occasionally in Iraq but otherwise, generally, there is hope and there is no reason why one shouldn't have adequate nourishment for the people.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INT'L CORRESPONDENT: Then why do other news agencies, why does our own correspondent in Baghdad report to us that people in the capital city can't get the food they need?
KADHIM: Well, I'm surprised to hear that because I personally do my own shopping and I find no difficulty in getting it.
MANN: Well, forgive me. I'm going to interrupt. I presume you don't live on rationed food, though.
KADHIM: Well, no. I mean, I don't eat very much, as it happens. So I eat adequately. But I don't see a problem in that, that has come to our attention from any of the journalists. And I do deal with many of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: CNN's Jonathan Mann joins me now. He seemed a little bit out of touch and taken back when you said that to him. Kind of wonder what's going on.
MANN: You do wonder because just today (AUDIO GAP) victims for insurgents is well-known in Iraq. It's been going on for months and months.
PHILLIPS: We had a little bit of a problem with audio there. I think now we've got you hooked up. Let me just kind of ask you again because I called Jeff Koinange and talked to him about the story that he did there, as he spent time at these areas that divvy out the rations. I've talked to you quite a bit since you interviewed this representative for the interim government. These rations that are sold are different from NGOs and like, Iraqi Red Cross. I mean, this is the interim government that's controlling this, right?
MANN: Right. The United Nations used to give out this food through the oil-for-food program that's come under...
PHILLIPS: ... which we know has become a huge scandal.
MANN: Say no more about that. Basically, this was the sanctions program -- the Iraqi response to the sanctions program. So the U.N. was giving out food. Now it's the Iraqi government that's giving out food. Private, non-governmental organizations are giving out food. There are a lot of sources for food and there are ordinary markets. But this is the way an Iraqi can spend 15 cents to get $35 or even $50 worth of food, depending what the markets or the black-market is charging.
It's a complicated situation and the food is not absent. There's no starvation, but we're in a situation where there may be corruptions taking some of the food away. There may be simple supply and logistical problems. There is certainly an enormous huge security problem. So when people go to the store, one or two items may not be there or their ration may not be complete. And if you're trying to feed a big family like that man was, that's a real problem.
PHILLIPS: I guess it's sort of frustrating, too, when you think OK, the new interim government and you don't want to hear words of corruption once again. I mean, that's what surrounded Saddam Hussein. You mentioned the security. Jeff mentioned it also. When you interviewed this representative from the government, did he admit to rising numbers of attacks on truck drivers with food?
MANN: Interestingly enough, he said nothing had changed. He said the security situation was not getting worse. What we know from the numbers that being compiled by news agencies is that the number of attacks is going up in general in Iraq. It's been bad there, it's getting worse leading up to the elections. And there's a specific kind of problem here. If a politician like the gentleman we interviewed goes out, he's well protected. Many journalists are themselves well-protected when they go out. If you're a truck driver carrying ten tons of sugar, you're not protected. Everyone can see that's a problem. And so they're trying to reorganize so that there is at least a police or maybe even better, a military convoy that will travel with these food convoys to keep these men safe and to keep the food moving.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan Mann, from CNNi. Great interview. Thanks for being with us today. We appreciate your reporting.
MANN: Talk to you again soon.
PHILLIPS: All right.
O'BRIEN: Ahead on LIVE FROM, interracial couples getting threatening letters. Actors, athletes, everyday citizens report getting them.
But first, let's go live now to Las Vegas. CNN's Daniel Sieberg.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Miles, I've got a gadget here that your kids are going to be asking you about and probably big kids as well. This is the Sony PlayStation Portable, just one of the many devices here at the Consumer Electronics Show. We'll be talking about that and much more when we come back.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from the floor. As you know, we've been telling but the group of House Democrats that challenged the Ohio electoral votes. We actually saw a representative come up on the floor and talk about the problems involving Ohio and the voting. Well, the House and the Senate both went into about a two-hour debate. Right now, the Senate vote is under way. We'll continue to follow it. And as you know, don't worry about a recount or a problem with the election. I mean, it stands the way it does, but this is a way for politicians to protest that they weren't happy the way the voting went with regard to electoral votes in Ohio. We'll continue to follow it -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year for those of us who have a hankering for the latest and greatest phones, PDAs iPods and the like. We're talking about, of course, the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas where manufacturers roll out their cool new toys and people like Dan Sieberg go there to drool -- no they're actually there to report on it.
So how are you, Dan? Are you having fun.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's going well here, Miles. At last count, the official number of gadgets here was about 785 million give or take a few thousand on either end. So to help us sort through all this stuff here, we're joined right by Suzanne Kantra from Popular Science magazine.
And Suzanne, we finally got our hands on a device here that's been talked about for a while. It's going to be going up against Nintendo's Gameboy, right?
SUZANNE KANTRA, POPULAR SCIENCE: It is. And it's the PlayStation's PSP or "Portable PlayStation." And it has all their wonderful gaming on here, but in addition to that, you can watch movies, you can listen to music, you can load your own photos. And so for what's going to be probably a 200 price point is going to give you a lot of entertainment value.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne, can you angle that screen a little bit more so we can see it a little better. There's a little reflection. It's a pretty good screen. I know you'd better watch that, because Daniel Sieberg is quite a gamer, I bet he is going to try to snag that thing from you.
SIEBERG: I did get my hands on one earlier, actually, Miles. And it took me a while to put it down. They have their own proprietary format, by the way, UMD, or Universal Media Disc.
KANTRA: Yes. And it's a little disk that slips into the back. You're going to be able to record your own comments (UNINTELLIGIBLE) onto it or in the future, buy prepackaged media.
SIEBERG: All right. Lots to talk about that one, about a couple of hundred bucks, right? Now the next one we're going to talk about. This is not a pocket-sized device we have here.
KANTRA: No, it's not. From Yamaha, it's a digital sound protector. And you can notice here these tiny little speakers, there are 40 of them. And together, they create five distinct -- four distinct sound feels for the true surround sound experience. So this one you would mount this under a plasma display, $1500. So a wonderful alternative to the traditional...
O'BRIEN: So wait a minute, you don't have to set up the six speakers that you normally would with surround sound, you can just do it with one?
KANTRA: You can do it with this and then you would add a subwoofer for the true deep sound. But this gives you everything that you would need.
O'BRIEN: The tricky part would be hiding it. I think Sandy (ph) would really hate the looks of that thing. But anyway...
KANTRA: Well, but you can put the speaker grill back on it.
SIEBERG: Right. There's a speaker grill for it.
O'BRIEN: There you go. All right. Go ahead, Daniel.
SIEBERG: All right. We've got about a minute left. And we've got some more stuff here that's for audiophiles. In this case, no wires involved.
KANTRA: No wires, from Creative Labs. It for their ZenMicro (ph). It pops into this tiny little cradle here and creates a sound bubble that can be up to one meter across. And unlike using radio frequency, which could have some interference, it uses a magnetic induction technology and creates a nice little sound bubble.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Wait, wait, wait, what's a sound bubble. I don't get that.
KANTRA: It's a sound bubble and it can...
SIEBERG: A virtual sort of sound bubble...
KANTRA: Yes, a virtual sound bubble.
SIEBERG: Like you're wearing a helmet in a way that's taking your sound with you.
KANTRA: Right. It's almost like a little helmet. And it can sense how far away the headset is. So it expands and contracts.
O'BRIEN: Can you put it on. Just let me see what it looks like real quickly, because we've got to go. OK. A Sound Bubble. All right. How is that different than just wearing headsets? I don't get it.
KANTRA: No cord.
O'BRIEN: No cord, sound bubble.
KANTRA: No cord.
O'BRIEN: OK. Now I get it.
KANTRA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. Guys, thank you very much.
SIEBERG: All right.
O'BRIEN: I learned something new. I appreciate it, Suzanne Kantra who's with Popular Science magazine. Daniel Sieberg, our god of geekdom is out there at the Consumer Electronics Show -- Kyra.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's almost the top of the hour, and we've got the latest on tsunami relief efforts, plus we follow one group's aid effort from its inception in Houston, Texas, to delivery in Sri Lanka. With all the outpouring of generosity for South Asia, are other places in need going without? We'll tackle that just ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 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 6, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN: Today's formal count of the presidential electoral votes temporarily on hold this hour. Some Democratic representatives are challenging the Ohio ballot, claiming voting irregularities. The challenge was joined by California Senator Barbara Boxer. Democrats say they are not challenging President Bush's victory, but they are calling attention to the need for election reform.
The number of Americans confirmed dead in the tsunami disaster now stands at 17. 18 others presumed dead. The State Department is trying to determine the whereabouts of more than 2,000 Americans who may have been in harm's way.
And the AIDS crisis in Africa tragically hits home for former South African President Nelson Mandela. His son, Makgatho Mandela, died today in Johannesburg of AIDS-related complications. He was 54- years-old. In announcing his death, Nelson Mandela said South Africans must fight the stigma surrounding the disease.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The tsunami crisis has left so many Americans heartbroken. And for one man in New England, it was a call to action. CNN's Aaron Brown caught up him in the Indonesia's Aceh province.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An hour after arriving in a place he had no business going to in the first place, Bob Bell, a financial consultant from New Hampshire, with training as a paramedic, was tending to a 16-year-old amputee. How he came to this moment is in some ways as interesting as the moment itself.
ROBERT BELL, U.S. VOLUNTEER: It started as just kind of a thought at night on the Internet with the kids asleep and the plan just literally fell into place. The candid answer without trying to jam my religion down anybody is, you know, it's really, for me personally it's really -- it's really walking the walk and walking the talk.
You know you see a lot of athletes and a lot of people with, "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets around and I've worn one for a long while and I'm not trying to sound like anything funny but literally that's how it kind of unfolded.
BROWN: So, knowing no one, no connections to any group, he flew to Jakarta on his own, made calls, found a group willing to take him on and an hour later he was, as he would say, walking the walk. What were you confronted with?
BELL: Immediately I mean there were literally, there was no time for introductions. It was kind of hello, hello, and then one of the docs just said you need to get on that truck.
BROWN: And what was on that truck?
BELL: We were emptying the trucks that you see behind us here that are cargo carriers. We drove into the city, into Aceh and went to the clinics where these people have been essentially, you know, from the time the tsunamis hit until present have been sitting in these clinics.
BROWN: To this point the kind of care they had gotten was what?
BELL: I think the kind of care that they got, the fair answer to that is the very, very best that could be given under these conditions and I honestly would not have wanted to be in the position of these docs making the calls that they had to make.
BROWN: The calls they had to make were amputations without anesthetic. Everyone in that tent an amputee, everyone in that tent teaching Bob Bell something about life itself.
BELL: This is the human spirit defined in this country at this time. These are people that despite unbelievable personal injuries and unbelievable conditions and nothing to go back to have decided to live and they're doing everything they possibly can to drive forward.
I mean this is the epitome of the human spirit and it is -- it's more than humbling to watch these people because I don't understand a word they say. All I can do is watch. It's very helpless.
Now, he's OK. He's doing all right, huh?
BROWN: Just before sundown at the end of a long and draining day, Bob's 16-year-old and the rest from the tent are placed gently on stretchers, carried to the tarmac and a cargo plane that will take them to a real hospital.
Bob will never see the 16-year-old again but tomorrow and for the next three weeks there will be others and then Bob goes home, back to his life, back to his three kids, lessons learned and lessons taught.
What do you want your kids to learn from this?
BELL: There are kids' moms and dads right now that are going away for six months, nine months, 12 months at a time that are going into wartime situations that may or may not come home.
Aaron Brown, CNN, Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Walking the walk. The U.S. government has pledged hundreds of millions in tsunami aid to Muslim Indonesia and other countries. CNN Senior political analyst Bill Schneider looks at what the U.S. stands to gain and lose in the Arab world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Secretary of State Colin Powell raised the prospect of a political dividend for America's humanitarian effort.
POWELL: I think it does give the Muslim and the rest of the world an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action.
SCHNEIDER: The U.S. relief effort has been extensively reported in the Muslim and Arab press. Will it help? Maybe.
MOHAMMED ALAMI, AL-JAZEERA TV CORRESPONDENT: The footage of U.S. soldiers giving, you know, bottles of water will go a long, long way to rectify some of those bad images streaming out of Iraq and elsewhere.
SCHNEIDER: But maybe not far enough. For one thing, the U.S. has to meet high expectations.
ALAMI: It's very natural for people in the Middle East and around the world to expect the country as such powerful as the United States and rich as the United States to do something in face of such disaster.
SCHNEIDER: It may be difficult for Americans to understand, but people in the Muslim world who are not free, who see themselves as victims of their own repressive governments, may feel less sympathy for others.
SALAMEH NEMATT, WASHINGTON BUREAU, AL HAYAT: There are people who think, you know, why should we care about the others when we cannot solve our own problems? We have our own humanitarian disasters.
SCHNEIDER: Salameh Nematt, a columnist for the Arab newspaper "Al-Hayat," says many don't see the U.S. as on their side.
NEMATT: On the one hand it looks like it's helping Muslims, it's helping on a humanitarian scale. On the other, the war in Iraq and the situation in the Palestinian territories give a different message, if you like.
SCHNEIDER: In building good will, U.S. policies are likely to matter most to Muslims.
MOHAMMED ALAMI, AL-JAZEERA TV CORRESPONDENT: When you are faced with two major conflicts in the area, Iraq and Israeli-Palestinian issue, probably what this administration will do about this too, probably, will have more than feelings people get from seeing good footage.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: A programming note for you. We want to remind you about CNN's special primetime tsunami coverage tonight. We'll get the latest from correspondents all throughout the region. Our special report, "Turning the Tide," begins at 7:00 Eastern time. 10:00 Eastern, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour host our primetime special, "Saving the Children." Be sure to stay with us for all of that.
PHILLIPS: We turn our attention to Iraq next. There are reports of food shortage there, but are Iraqi politicians aware of it? CNN talks with an Iraqi ministry official who says he's not having any problems, so what's the real story?
Later on LIVE FROM, gizmos and gadgets, the latest at the Consumer Electronics Show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: In Iraq, famine or feast. There's a rising concern among Iraqis about low food supplies and rising food costs. Some Iraqis complain they can't afford to even feed their families even with rations. CNN's Jeff Koinange is Baghdad with a closer look at the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sale Hanza (ph) is a former civil servant who lives off his monthly retirement benefit of $80. He would normally be buying food for his large family at the local market, but nowadays he simply can't afford it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not enough money to buy food for 11 people at the market.
KOINANGE: And that's why he comes here, to this food distribution center now run by the interim government.
(on camera): There was a time where in warehouses like this, sacks wheat and grain would be stacked all the way up to the roof. Nowadays though, traders here feel those days are long gone and that food supplies are fast running out. Food distribution. Part of a $7 billion a year program introduced in the country after coalition forces first overran Iraq in 1990. Every Iraqi citizen is entitled to food rations to supplement their income, everything from rice to beans to powdered milk
MOHAMMED MUSTAFA, DISTRIBUTOR (through translator): We normally distribute eight to nine items including rice, tea, sugar and so on. But in the last two to three months, we've only received three of nine items and this makes the people worry and it also causes prices to go up. KOINANGE (voice-over): In some places, prices have gone up three to four times what they used to be. Many here blame the rise on insurgent attacks on food convoys, transporting grains and other products from ports as far as away as Basra and Umkasar (ph) in the south. Add to that the numerous kidnappings of truck drivers and the situation becomes one of growing concern.
MUSTAPHA AL-JABOURI, IRAQI TRADE MINISTER: We are concerned. We have lost a lot of our drivers. Most of them being killed by those thieves on the road.
KOINANGE: Iraq's interim government insists it has food supplies to last at least three months. After that, they say, it's anyone's guess. And for Sale Hamza, it means tightening his belt even more
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (though translator): Where am I going to get the money to buy food?
KOINANGE: A question the country's trade minister can only respond by saying this, too, shall pass.
AL-JABOURI: We have faced a lot of problems before and get through. This is part of our life and part of our jobs. We get used to it. Some people might be panicked from something. For us, it is just a normal day.
KOINANGE: A normal day that, for Iraqis like Sale Hamza and his 11 children, is fast turning into an uphill battle for survival.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, one Iraqi official has reduced the food security problem to no more than preelection campaign hype. CNN international anchor Jonathan Mann, just hours ago, a few hours ago, spoke with the senior adviser to Iraq's Ministry of Interior.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBAH KADHIM, IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTRY: These problems do happen occasionally in Iraq but otherwise, generally, there is hope and there is no reason why one shouldn't have adequate nourishment for the people.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INT'L CORRESPONDENT: Then why do other news agencies, why does our own correspondent in Baghdad report to us that people in the capital city can't get the food they need?
KADHIM: Well, I'm surprised to hear that because I personally do my own shopping and I find no difficulty in getting it.
MANN: Well, forgive me. I'm going to interrupt. I presume you don't live on rationed food, though.
KADHIM: Well, no. I mean, I don't eat very much, as it happens. So I eat adequately. But I don't see a problem in that, that has come to our attention from any of the journalists. And I do deal with many of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: CNN's Jonathan Mann joins me now. He seemed a little bit out of touch and taken back when you said that to him. Kind of wonder what's going on.
MANN: You do wonder because just today (AUDIO GAP) victims for insurgents is well-known in Iraq. It's been going on for months and months.
PHILLIPS: We had a little bit of a problem with audio there. I think now we've got you hooked up. Let me just kind of ask you again because I called Jeff Koinange and talked to him about the story that he did there, as he spent time at these areas that divvy out the rations. I've talked to you quite a bit since you interviewed this representative for the interim government. These rations that are sold are different from NGOs and like, Iraqi Red Cross. I mean, this is the interim government that's controlling this, right?
MANN: Right. The United Nations used to give out this food through the oil-for-food program that's come under...
PHILLIPS: ... which we know has become a huge scandal.
MANN: Say no more about that. Basically, this was the sanctions program -- the Iraqi response to the sanctions program. So the U.N. was giving out food. Now it's the Iraqi government that's giving out food. Private, non-governmental organizations are giving out food. There are a lot of sources for food and there are ordinary markets. But this is the way an Iraqi can spend 15 cents to get $35 or even $50 worth of food, depending what the markets or the black-market is charging.
It's a complicated situation and the food is not absent. There's no starvation, but we're in a situation where there may be corruptions taking some of the food away. There may be simple supply and logistical problems. There is certainly an enormous huge security problem. So when people go to the store, one or two items may not be there or their ration may not be complete. And if you're trying to feed a big family like that man was, that's a real problem.
PHILLIPS: I guess it's sort of frustrating, too, when you think OK, the new interim government and you don't want to hear words of corruption once again. I mean, that's what surrounded Saddam Hussein. You mentioned the security. Jeff mentioned it also. When you interviewed this representative from the government, did he admit to rising numbers of attacks on truck drivers with food?
MANN: Interestingly enough, he said nothing had changed. He said the security situation was not getting worse. What we know from the numbers that being compiled by news agencies is that the number of attacks is going up in general in Iraq. It's been bad there, it's getting worse leading up to the elections. And there's a specific kind of problem here. If a politician like the gentleman we interviewed goes out, he's well protected. Many journalists are themselves well-protected when they go out. If you're a truck driver carrying ten tons of sugar, you're not protected. Everyone can see that's a problem. And so they're trying to reorganize so that there is at least a police or maybe even better, a military convoy that will travel with these food convoys to keep these men safe and to keep the food moving.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan Mann, from CNNi. Great interview. Thanks for being with us today. We appreciate your reporting.
MANN: Talk to you again soon.
PHILLIPS: All right.
O'BRIEN: Ahead on LIVE FROM, interracial couples getting threatening letters. Actors, athletes, everyday citizens report getting them.
But first, let's go live now to Las Vegas. CNN's Daniel Sieberg.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Miles, I've got a gadget here that your kids are going to be asking you about and probably big kids as well. This is the Sony PlayStation Portable, just one of the many devices here at the Consumer Electronics Show. We'll be talking about that and much more when we come back.
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PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from the floor. As you know, we've been telling but the group of House Democrats that challenged the Ohio electoral votes. We actually saw a representative come up on the floor and talk about the problems involving Ohio and the voting. Well, the House and the Senate both went into about a two-hour debate. Right now, the Senate vote is under way. We'll continue to follow it. And as you know, don't worry about a recount or a problem with the election. I mean, it stands the way it does, but this is a way for politicians to protest that they weren't happy the way the voting went with regard to electoral votes in Ohio. We'll continue to follow it -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year for those of us who have a hankering for the latest and greatest phones, PDAs iPods and the like. We're talking about, of course, the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas where manufacturers roll out their cool new toys and people like Dan Sieberg go there to drool -- no they're actually there to report on it.
So how are you, Dan? Are you having fun.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's going well here, Miles. At last count, the official number of gadgets here was about 785 million give or take a few thousand on either end. So to help us sort through all this stuff here, we're joined right by Suzanne Kantra from Popular Science magazine.
And Suzanne, we finally got our hands on a device here that's been talked about for a while. It's going to be going up against Nintendo's Gameboy, right?
SUZANNE KANTRA, POPULAR SCIENCE: It is. And it's the PlayStation's PSP or "Portable PlayStation." And it has all their wonderful gaming on here, but in addition to that, you can watch movies, you can listen to music, you can load your own photos. And so for what's going to be probably a 200 price point is going to give you a lot of entertainment value.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne, can you angle that screen a little bit more so we can see it a little better. There's a little reflection. It's a pretty good screen. I know you'd better watch that, because Daniel Sieberg is quite a gamer, I bet he is going to try to snag that thing from you.
SIEBERG: I did get my hands on one earlier, actually, Miles. And it took me a while to put it down. They have their own proprietary format, by the way, UMD, or Universal Media Disc.
KANTRA: Yes. And it's a little disk that slips into the back. You're going to be able to record your own comments (UNINTELLIGIBLE) onto it or in the future, buy prepackaged media.
SIEBERG: All right. Lots to talk about that one, about a couple of hundred bucks, right? Now the next one we're going to talk about. This is not a pocket-sized device we have here.
KANTRA: No, it's not. From Yamaha, it's a digital sound protector. And you can notice here these tiny little speakers, there are 40 of them. And together, they create five distinct -- four distinct sound feels for the true surround sound experience. So this one you would mount this under a plasma display, $1500. So a wonderful alternative to the traditional...
O'BRIEN: So wait a minute, you don't have to set up the six speakers that you normally would with surround sound, you can just do it with one?
KANTRA: You can do it with this and then you would add a subwoofer for the true deep sound. But this gives you everything that you would need.
O'BRIEN: The tricky part would be hiding it. I think Sandy (ph) would really hate the looks of that thing. But anyway...
KANTRA: Well, but you can put the speaker grill back on it.
SIEBERG: Right. There's a speaker grill for it.
O'BRIEN: There you go. All right. Go ahead, Daniel.
SIEBERG: All right. We've got about a minute left. And we've got some more stuff here that's for audiophiles. In this case, no wires involved.
KANTRA: No wires, from Creative Labs. It for their ZenMicro (ph). It pops into this tiny little cradle here and creates a sound bubble that can be up to one meter across. And unlike using radio frequency, which could have some interference, it uses a magnetic induction technology and creates a nice little sound bubble.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Wait, wait, wait, what's a sound bubble. I don't get that.
KANTRA: It's a sound bubble and it can...
SIEBERG: A virtual sort of sound bubble...
KANTRA: Yes, a virtual sound bubble.
SIEBERG: Like you're wearing a helmet in a way that's taking your sound with you.
KANTRA: Right. It's almost like a little helmet. And it can sense how far away the headset is. So it expands and contracts.
O'BRIEN: Can you put it on. Just let me see what it looks like real quickly, because we've got to go. OK. A Sound Bubble. All right. How is that different than just wearing headsets? I don't get it.
KANTRA: No cord.
O'BRIEN: No cord, sound bubble.
KANTRA: No cord.
O'BRIEN: OK. Now I get it.
KANTRA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. Guys, thank you very much.
SIEBERG: All right.
O'BRIEN: I learned something new. I appreciate it, Suzanne Kantra who's with Popular Science magazine. Daniel Sieberg, our god of geekdom is out there at the Consumer Electronics Show -- Kyra.
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PHILLIPS: Well, it's almost the top of the hour, and we've got the latest on tsunami relief efforts, plus we follow one group's aid effort from its inception in Houston, Texas, to delivery in Sri Lanka. With all the outpouring of generosity for South Asia, are other places in need going without? We'll tackle that just ahead on LIVE FROM.
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