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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Wolf Blitzer Reports: The Tsunami Disaster

Aired January 03, 2005 - 17:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now. You're watching American air power at work. It's a race against time to save those in the area hit hardest by the tsunami. As the disaster enters its second week, we're seeing new pictures and new stories from the region. And they're both inspiring and alarming. Stand by for hard news on a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: THE TSUNAMI DISASTER.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Plight of the living. As the death toll rises, the survivors struggle to carry on.

Aid for Asia.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I ask every American to contribute as they are able to do so.

BLITZER: The president puts his predecessors in charge of passing the hat. We'll hear from the former presidents.

Heavy lifting. High tech help arrives in the region, locals have a low tech solution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The elephants help us evacuate survivors or bodies that could possibly be trapped under the rubble.

BLITZER: "Open Water." This hit movie told about divers stranded in the shark-infested sea. Now he will tell us about his own brush with a killer whale.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, January 3, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: More than a week after disaster struck, bodies are still being recovered, and the death count continues to climb. CNN's sources report almost 155,000 people are dead. Officials fear starvation and disease will now start taking their own toll. Indonesia is reporting more than 94,000 dead, with thousands still missing. In Sri Lanka, the death toll stands at more than 46,000, with another 14,000 missing.

As a massive mercy mission gathers steam relief is reaching the tsunami survivors. But in the shattered towns and villages of Indonesia, thousands remain at risk. Dan Rivers reports from Aceh province which got the worst of the killer quake and the waves which followed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They've waited a week for this, and now their patience is exhausted. Hunger and desperation turning this rice distribution point into an ugly scrum (ph). The aid is now arriving but more is needed as Banda Aceh City starts to turn from the horror of the dead to the plight of the living. But there is still chaos here, just look at this extraordinary scene. Looters have tried to steal gas from this wrecked trawler, the subsequent fire finished off what remained of the mosque. The airport is now the nexus of the multinational aid operation, food and medicine arriving from all over the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to fly wherever we're needed to get supplies back and people back and forth to people most affected by this.

RIVERS: The Royal Air Force has also flown over with equipment, vehicles and supplies. But in rural Aceh, it's a different story. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was a town of just 20,000, but now it has 6,000 refugees living in its midst. Villagers have donated clothes for the survivors of the tsunami, this poor inland community, happy to help their devastated coastal neighbors. Hamed Ali (ph) spent four days working here after losing his wife and children. He's staying here with his brother. He's opened the doors to his tiny house. These people have gone through so much, but in order to survive they can't rest. They ask why they were spared, while so many other died, if it will happen again. Mothers sing their babies to sleep, but this nightmare will not be ended by a simple lullaby. Dan Rivers, ITV News, Aceh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: In Thailand, the search for survivors on the country's devastated southwestern coast is quickly turned into the grim task of recovering and identifying bodies. The official death toll of Thais and foreign tourists killed is now about 5,000. Julie Gauche (ph) has more from the Thai resort island of Phuket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE GAUCHE, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The grim task of identifying decomposing remains continues. Box upon box, crate upon crate all contain bodies that have not yet been claimed. Some of them may well contain British victims, some may never be identified. There are 50,000 local and foreign volunteers systematically working their way through the corpses which are now beyond recognition. All they can do is take DNA samples and hope at some point a relative will provide a match. Some of these recovery workers are prisoners who will receive shorter sentences in return for this most appalling of jobs. Others are young Thai students like these, given the task of cleaning hundreds of bodies in hopes of finding identifying marks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tell us to carry the body into the back or open up the back to clean the body. The doctor has to take those DNA and evidence that they have left to find where are they from, who are they.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big shock but I believe to be volunteer, and a duty here.

GAUCHE: Elephants slowly clear wreckage in the effort to find the 4,000 people still missing in Thailand. Half are foreigners. The Thai government says it wants to repatriate all the foreign bodies that are identified and have offered them to fly them home for free. What they don't want is relatives swamping the makeshift mortuaries looking for loved ones something aid workers agree with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are lots of Thai people working to build makeshift coffins at the moment and they need to be left alone to do this important work. And they find it very distressing when relatives go to try to identify people that they can't recognize.

GAUCHE: Among the Thai people entire communities have been devastated. In one village in the worst hit region of Khao Lak, half the population has been wiped out. Many communities in the southern provinces now depend on reconstruction for their future. But how soon areas can rebuild and at what cost is too early to tell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Julie Gauche reporting from ITN.

Next to Indonesia, the hardest hit country is Sri Lanka where 46,000 people were killed. Officials say 14,000 people are still missing. And hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, washed out roads and flooding are hindering relief operations. Alex Thompson reports from the country's east coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX THOMPSON, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's taken some time, but the Sri Lankan army is now making a difference. Manhandling land drains into place and banking swept away roads. But all this is still on the relatively unaffected side, not the marine disaster areas. Anybody coming back to those parts has to take a small boat and then hoof it. Equally, almost every item of aid needs to be carried along in small boats. Laborious it is, and in so sense equal to the scale of disaster.

Bridges up and down this worst affected province destroyed by the tsunamis, the whole situation then made worse by the widespread monsoon floods. It all leaves the air force trying to fill the gaps somehow. During daylight hours their small Bell helicopters barely stop. Loaded, at speed and then off across the jungles and flooded areas to the destroyed coastal strip. The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is to touch down just a few sacks of food dropped each time and leaving the crowds to watch and pounce as soon as the rotor blades are clear.

Impressive yes, adequate no. At ground level, yesterday one place at least became passable and reachable for bulk aid, just about. Which means NGOs can now reach there (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and deliver aid in bulk by the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Society. But the scars are psychological, as well as the needs of hunger. You see people here sitting days in the rubble that was home until Boxing Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not in the mentality they're affected. They are not ready to go to do any jobs or do any kind of work.

THOMPSON: Though not everyone. We came about a fisherman and his wife. He was busy destroying what's left of his house to move elsewhere, salvaging the precious roof frame and tiles. We looked on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by the efficiency of his demolition. As you can see there is some not reconstruction, but deconstruction, destroying going on. This is Mohammed's (ph) house behind me. He's a fisherman, along with his friends, he's decided to destroy what remains of his house to take it away and rebuild elsewhere. He may not be alone. The word is here that the government is going to prevent anybody living within 300 yards of the sea as a safety measure. And that plan will certainly suit those along this coast that remain simply terrified of returning here to live. Alex Thompson, Channel 4 News, El Noonai (ph), eastern Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Help dropped from above. New developments from tsunami-stricken areas. U.S. helicopters delivering much needed aid this hour to remote areas.

Joining forces, a new, unique partnership formed to raise money for the relief efforts. We'll have details.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Survivor's guilt, I get it, like I understand it. I don't know how much -- look, I feel like, let's do something about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Survivor's guilt. The horror lives on for some of the lucky ones.

Bin Laden's presence, tsunami victims promoting the most wanted al Qaeda leader.

And this note, CNN has dispatched many of its top journalists to the front lines of this still developing story. In addition to the CNN journalists already in place in the region, Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Soledad O'Brien, Christiane Amanpour and Aaron Brown will all be reporting from the region this week. Their reports will be featured every night in CNN's primetime live special on the tsunami disaster, every night week beginning 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. President Bush today called on all Americans to give what they can to disaster relief efforts, and he called on two predecessors of his to lead that campaign. Let's go to the White House, our correspondent Dana Bash standing by -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is a White House determined to beat back criticism that President Bush was too slow to respond, and when the U.S. did respond last week, the initial sums were too paltry. So today there you see President Bush standing shoulder to shoulder with his father and the president who beat his father in 1992 for an effort to try to raise and direct private donations for the tsunami disaster.

Part of that effort was to speak here at the White House, to accompany President Bush at some embassies who were affected by this tragedy, and also to do media interviews. In an interview with CNN today, the two men said that they are going to try to make sure Americans give cash, not goods, to help direct that money.

Also, I asked President Clinton about the criticism of President Bush that he was too slow to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that not only in asking us to help, but in pledging $350 million in government aid, in sending those military helicopters to Aceh to deliver those life-saving supplies to the Indonesians, and in promising that we would do more through the government if need be, I don't see how he could have done more.

I think that right now, we're just where we need to be. And we shouldn't be looking back, we should be looking forward.

BASH: President Bush, this is obviously a disaster, but how do you see this as a chance, perhaps, for President Bush to use this to earn some goodwill, to put it bluntly, he's not that popular around the world. But perhaps that's not the goal here.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is not the goal.

BASH: But in the end, in the end, could that perhaps help?

G.W.H. BUSH: You've got to know the president, you've got to know what's in his heart. I guess I know it better than anybody, maybe Laura, no, I think I do -- or Barbara -- you know, what's in his heart, and also what he ought to do as president.

It doesn't matter, polls in Indonesia, do they go up a bit or does something over and CNN, does it go down? That's not what this is about. It's about saving lives, it's about caring. And the president cares.

BASH: Having said all that, though, is this an opportunity though to show some goodwill?

G.H.W. BUSH: Sure. Anytime the United States helps somebody through aid or through missions of this nature, where you can say to a person who's suffering from the loss of children in Indonesia or Sri Lanka, of course, it helps. We are a compassionate nation. And they see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, the two former presidents, of course, talking about their efforts to raise private donations, Wolf. Colin Powell, the secretary of state, is traveling with the president's brother, Jeb Bush, in the tsunami-torn region. They are now in Thailand. And Secretary of State Powell said to reporters there that at this point, the public pledge, which is $350 million, is not going to immediately go up -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Dana Bash reporting for us. Dana, thank you very much. And this programming note, the former president, Bill Clinton and George Bush will have more to say. They'll appear tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE" 9:00 p.m. Eastern for the hour. Former President Bush, former President Clinton with Larry tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And to our viewers here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this, will former Presidents Bush and Clinton boost donations for tsunami relief? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's brother, the Florida governor, Jeb Bush, are getting a firsthand look at the disaster area and the relief effort. Their mission is meant to show U.S. concern and to assess whether more U.S. help is required. Arriving in Thailand earlier today, Powell said he does not see a need for further financial aid beyond the $350 million already pledged.

The United States is using its military might to get help to desperate tsunami survivors. Let's go to the Pentagon. Our senior correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, standing by with details -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's the largest military mission since the Vietnam War. But this is a mission of mercy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): A Navy helicopter from the U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln delivers food and milk to a remote part of the hardest hit area of Indonesia. The isolated refugees are both desperate and grateful, rushing for the supplies that could save their lives. The pilot of the mercy flight, Navy Lieutenant Greg Knutson, told CNN the helicopters often can't land either because of flooding or large crowds.

LT. GREG KNUTSON, U.S. NAVY: We've been coming just to a 10-foot hover when there's just crowds people wanting to get food into our helicopters. So we don't want to set down on the ground. But sometimes we'll have all the people over to the one side. And then we'll fly about a quarter of a mile away, set down and then we'll start putting food out.

MCINTYRE: Round-the-clock flights by Air Force C-130 cargo planes have so far delivered nearly a quarter of a million tons of relief supplies to regional hubs. Now the biggest challenge now is logistics.

BRIG. GEN. JOHN ALLEN, DIR., ASIA AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS: If you're not careful, pretty quickly you have a buildup of supplies that you must now move forward. And the commanders who are on the scene are using those helicopters now to move as much of those supplies forward as they possibly can.

MCINTYRE: Nineteen helicopters are flying from the carrier Lincoln off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In another day or so, the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Group will arrive with two dozen more helicopters and 2200 Marines with some ships and Marines moving on to Sri Lanka.

JAMES KUNDEP, U.S.A.I.D.: This is a classic situation where the needs are going to be of such magnitude that we've got to make sure we ready, aim, fire. Not ready, fire, aim. So we're trying to get a clear picture of what the needs are on the ground.

MCINTYRE: Hundreds of U.S. troops including marines from Hawaii and Okinawa have been flown in to help unload and distribute aid on the ground. All told more than 12,000 U.S. military personnel are involved in relief efforts, counting everyone from air crews to the cook on the carrier Lincoln who was busy baking bread for the disaster victims.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): And a sign the relief operation won't end any time soon. The U.S. is considering sending the hospital ship Mercy, even though it wouldn't get there for a month -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much. As the United States puts its military muscle into the disaster relief effort, I'm joined now by our world affairs analyst, the former defense secretary, William, Cohen. In recent years, maybe in the past 10, 20 years, we've seen a lot of these humanitarian missions by the U.S. military but this is unprecedented, I would suspect.

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: The scope of this disaster is unprecedented in recent experience and that's why you're seeing now this organization of trying to distribute the goods that we're so prepared to deliver there. One of the key elements involved is the lack of distribution even when the goods arrive as your piece just demonstrated but there has been no effort undertaken for this magnitude in decades.

BLITZER: $350 million pledged by the U.S. government so far. Sounds like a big chunk of change. But in your opinion, is it enough?

COHEN: First of all, you're not even going to count the cost of delivering this military, the cost of fuel, the cost of the ships, the cost of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's not included. So the actual figure will be much higher than the 350 million. I think the first mistake made was trying to put a dollar figure on what our assistance is going to be. In a time of crisis like this, you say, we'll do whatever we humanly can, whatever is possible. We're going to be there. That is the humane and responsible thing to do. So I think by putting a smaller price tag initially without understanding the dimensions of the problem, I think we created some perception that we weren't being forthcoming enough. That perception hopefully is turning around now with president Clinton and president Bush senior on their way to raise millions of dollars hopefully.

BLITZER: I want to show you a picture, an image that we captured earlier in Indonesia. Take a look at this. We'll put it up on the screen. An Indonesian, there he is, with an Osama bin Laden t-shirt. Clearly someone supporting Osama bin Laden is about to get a lot of U.S. assistance. Is this an issue at all that we should care about, that some of these people who will be getting U.S. assistance may be sympathetic to Osama bin Laden?

COHEN: It should be of no concern to us. We're doing this out of an act of generosity, charity, and humaneness. This is a humanitarian mission. Whatever the politics are involved should be secondary or not considered at all. We're there to help people without regard to their politics or philosophy. And to the extent that they're supporters of bin Laden, so be it. But the overwhelming majority of the people are in need of help. And so true to our own faith, our own values and virtues, we give aid to whomever needs it in a time of crisis and that should be the principal concern.

BLITZER: Is the U.S. military up to the job because going into this in Iraq and elsewhere there the word was the military was already stretched pretty thin.

COHEN: Well, the military is stretched thin. But we are calling upon our allies, the British, the Australians, the Pakistanis and others, the Japanese are all contributing now. The combination of all of these countries, should be enough, at least in the short-term. But there is no other country that has the kind of logistical support that the United States can provide. Airlifts, sealifts, there's no other country that can do this even as stretched thin as we are, we still can provide the kind of relief that we're seeing today.

BLITZER: What does it say to you that the biggest contributor so far, governments, Japan, United States, the World Bank, the western European nations. The Muslim nations are relatively modest, a million here and there. But Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim community. Some of these oil-rich Muslim nations in the Persian Gulf are giving only a little bit.

COHEN: I think they should be embarrassed by it. I think to the extent that they have the wealth, that they can afford to contribute state money, so to speak, to this effort. I think the attention you and others are devoting to it will hopefully call forth the better angels of human nature as well as their coffers to help their fellow Muslims in time of need.

BLITZER: We'll see if that happens. William Cohen. Thanks very much.

Thankful he escaped and mourning those who didn't. Survivor's guilt motivates one man to take action for tsunami victims. We'll show you what he plans to do.

Also, gentle giants becoming beasts of burden. Elephants playing a key role in recovery efforts. We'll show you what they're doing.

Plus, the director of a hit watery thriller survives his own terrifying encounter with killer waves. I'll speak with him from Singapore, he has an amazing story to share with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Of all the people who escaped the earthquake and tsunamis in southeast Asia, one is a teacher from New York. Our Mary Snow is in New York with this story and why he's planning to return to the disaster area. Mary, tell us what's going on.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ken Rosen says there's no doubt about it, he feels lucky he's safe, but he says he's also experienced survivor's guilt, and now he's planning a medical mission to do something about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Ken Rosen is trying to move forward with his everyday life teaching Chinese medicine. But he can't help being pulled back to the world he left behind in Thailand last week.

KEN ROSEN: I was in Phi Island. I think of people's faces, a lot of people's faces, and it hurts, hurts a lot. But I'm lucky. I have to be thankful for that luckiness.

SNOW: Rosen left Phi Phi Island 10 hours before the tsunami hit. In his home in Huntington, New York, are reminders. The mug he bought before his trip with a picture of a tsunami and a picture of one of the last people he saw leaving Phi Phi Island the day before disaster.

ROSEN: Somebody mentioned that word to me survivor's guilt. I get it, like I understand it. I feel like let's do something about this.

SNOW: What Rosen plans to do is return to Thailand when his semester finishes.

ROSEN: I'm hoping to organize a coalition of acupuncturists to go over and to visit towns in a mobile unit and treat people.

SNOW: Doctors familiar with survivor guilt say it's important to act.

DR. ALAN MANEVITZ, WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER: A survivor needs to understand that they're living for a reason, for a purpose. And that's why helping in the recovery efforts and taking action and feeling real and alive again, living in the present circumstances, getting back to some routine are all helpful in dealing with this issue.

SNOW: Rosen says more than anything, he's thankful for his family and his health. He's survived two bouts with cancer and he knows firsthand about disaster. In the weeks following 9/11 he helped treat rescue workers at Ground Zero and he's trying to teach those lessons learned.

ROSEN: One of the things that we're doing in this class certainly is thinking about how life is resilient also. You know, when you're on the blip of a disaster, the edge of a disaster and you survive it, you're so thankful for so many things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Rosen says he has to finish out the semester through May before he returns to Thailand and he hopes to stay there for several months -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us -- Mary, thank you very much.

Thousands are dead. Many are still missing from last week's tsunamis. And that includes 4,000 to 5,000 Americans. Why are so many still unaccounted for? We'll go over to the State Department. Our Andrea Koppel standing by. She has new information.

Plus, tsunami whistle-blower. He warned that an early detection system was needed years ago. Was it a missed warning? Why weren't people listening?

And West Coast wallop, a winter storm dealing yet another round of stormy weather to an already hard-hit area.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Missing Americans, thousands still unaccounted for in the tsunami's aftermath. Is there a reason why they haven't contacted loved ones at home? We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some other stories now in the news.

Three more car bombings at security checkpoints in Iraq today, one of them killed four Iraqi soldiers. Another killed at least two Iraqi police officers. The blasts are blamed at insurgents who want to disrupt plans for national elections scheduled to take place January 30.

Canadian agriculture officials deny there's any danger to consumers, despite the confirmation of second case of mad cow disease. An 8-year-old dairy cow from Canada's Alberta Province tested positive for the illness. Officials say the cow did not enter the food supply. And the farm where the farm originated has been quarantined.

Heavy snow is slowing travel in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The West Coast is dealing with a second week of stormy weather. Two feet of snow closed Interstate 5, north of Los Angeles.

Now back to our top story, the continuing fallout from tsunamis.

Steve Scott went to one town that has been virtually wiped off the map. Here's his report from Thailand on the destruction he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE SCOTT, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): If you were asked to imagine the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, you'd probably think of this. Banyan Kem (ph) was a thriving fishing port when the tsunamis pounded into it. Just look at it now. Already, they've taken away 3,500 bodies from this area. They're expecting to find many more when these newly formed lakes are drained.

(on camera): It's hard to imagine just what happened here. Sometimes, pictures aren't enough. I'm standing about a kilometer from the beachfront.

(voice-over): And even this far away from the initial impact, houses have been flattened, leaving only a lifeless wasteland.

Over 20 years, British aid worker John Freedman has seen tragedy and suffering the world over. This, he says, is worse than anything before it.

JOHN FREEDMAN, BRITISH AID WORKER: Well, just look at it. It's -- what can you say? It just takes your breath way. And I'm sure that the camera doesn't do justice. You have to be here to feel the atmosphere and to smell it and to take it all in. It's just unbelievable.

SCOTT (on camera): You've been to many disaster areas around the world. Have you ever seen anything like this?

FREEDMAN: Absolutely not. Even in war districts like Afghanistan and Sudan, you're prepared for death and you're prepared for injury and misery and despair from people. But I never saw despair that there is at the moment with these people here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That report from Steve Scott, who's on the scene in Thailand, a devastating report, indeed.

When the tsunamis struck, thousands of Americans may have been in the path of destruction. Their fate is still not clear.

Let's go live to our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.

Andrea, explain what's going on.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, nine days later, the State Department, let alone countless American families, still don't know even approximately how many Americans may have perished.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): Americans Angie Faust (ph) and her boyfriend Luke Scully (ph) of Portland, Oregon, had planned to spend their three-week Christmas vacation on the beaches of Thailand's resort island Phuket. Friends say the couple's last credit card transaction was made in Phuket on Christmas Eve, but that there's been no word from them since.

TINA MAHAFFEY, FRIEND OF MISSING COUPLE: You just have it in your head that you're going to get that call the next day. As the second day went on, we became more and more anxious.

KOPPEL: More than a week after a devastating tsunami hit Thailand and 11 other countries, the State Department says 15 Americans are confirmed dead. Secretary of State Powell, who arrived in Thailand Monday, said between 4,000 to 5,000 U.S. citizens are still unaccounted for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very frightening. If you do find out anything, please let us know.

KOPPEL: Here at the State Department, officials are working the phones around the clock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's just great to hear that everything is OK with his wife, Ronnie (ph) and Clint (ph).

KOPPEL: Talking to family and friends of those believed missing, trying to whittle down the list of inquiries into unaccounted-for Americans that only days ago stood at 20,000.

ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We have been able to satisfactorily respond to three-quarters of those inquiries, or about 15,000. That leaves us with in the neighborhood of 5,000 inquiries that we have not been able to nail down.

KOPPEL: Officials expect that number to drop drastically and in order to speed up the process are appealing to the public for help.

MAURA HARTY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: If anybody who is watching this broadcast has in fact called us already and has now heard from their loved one, that they please call us again to let us know.

KOPPEL: That number is 1-888-407-4747.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Now, at the same time, the State Department is also working with the Thai government, for example, to kind of sort through various immigration papers to see if any of the still unaccounted for Americans might have left Thailand since the tsunami hit -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea Koppel at the State Department, thank you very much.

We're also learning of a possible missed warning about the tsunamis from a former official with Thailand's Meteorological Department.

Our Brian Todd standing by with details of that -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this looks like one of those horrible ironies that keep cropping up in this story.

Authorities in Thailand now say nearly 5,000 people in their country died in the tsunami. That toll surely to go up, since nearly 4,000 are listed as missing and many of them presumed dead. One of the hardest hit areas there was the popular island resort of Phuket.

And one man looks at these devastating scenes and wonders what if. He's one of Thailand's top meteorological officials, but he was once disgraced. His name is Samith Dhammasaroj. He told Britain's ITN network that nearly seven years ago, he noticed some seismic activity and pressured the government into issuing an official tsunami warning. That wave never came. Dhammasaroj also reportedly recommended at that time that the country set up an early warning system.

But many people accused him of spreading panic and damaging the tourism industry. And, according to ITN, he was told he was not welcome in Phuket. Now, according to ITN and Reuters, the man accused of scaring tourists away has been asked to help win them back. Thailand prime minister has recruited Samith Dhammasaroj to set up a tsunami warning system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they had only listened to me, maybe 50 percent or 20 percent lives of -- many lives of people would be saved today. I told people concerned that we should have -- warning people. We should education the people. We should educate the fishermen, what to do with this kind of disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, Dhammasaroj also says he tried calling Thai authorities this time around to warn them of a tsunami after he heard about the massive earthquake. He says the phone system was always tied up.

We called the Thai Embassy here and couldn't reach anyone for comment. Dhammasaroj may not have been able to save too many people this time, since most reports say the tsunami reached Thailand a little over an hour after the earthquake.

Now, as for the cost of a warning system, U.S. Weather Service officials tell us each of the six high-tech buoys they deploy in the Pacific cost about $250,000 just to manufacture. That doesn't include deployment and operation, Wolf. BLITZER: Which is a very, very tiny amount of money. They should have that literally all over the world. And I assume they will, as of what has happened. Thanks very much, Brian Todd.

TODD: Sure.

BLITZER: Their hit movie was about scuba divers stranded in shark-infested water. Coming up, their real-life struggle to survive the giant tsunami wave that devastated parts of Thailand. I'll speak live with the director of "Open Water."

Also ahead, they may not be man's best friend, but these huge animals are playing a big role in the tsunami recovery efforts.

And we'll also have the story of two dolphins and what happened to them when tsunami waves hit Thailand.

This note, CNN has dispatched many of its top journalists to the front lines of this still developing story. Their reports will be featured every night in CNN's prime-time live special on the tsunami disaster, every night this week, beginning 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You may recall our report on the hit movie last year "Open Water." That was the incredible they of two scuba divers stranded in shark-infested waters. The husband and wife who made the film, Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, narrowly escaped being pulled into a real-life version of their thriller when tsunamis crashed into the Thai resort island of Phuket.

Chris Kentis is now in Singapore. He's joining us on the phone with more on what he and his family went through.

Chris, thank you very much for joining us. Tell us where you were and what happened.

CHRIS KENTIS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: Well, Wolf, we were on Patong Beach the morning. We actually awoke that morning to a very mild earthquake and didn't really think much of it, other than we were a little bit concerned.

But it was three hours later that we were running errands. I was separate doing some errands for my wife and daughter, my 7-year-old daughter. We were also there with other members of our family, my sister-in-law. And I was alone and suddenly heard all of this yelling and shouting. I was about 50 yards from the beach.

And I turned around, saw all these people running. And then I saw this huge wave coming toward me. So I immediately -- my wife was supposed to be in a restaurant close by. And I tried to make it there and look. But everyone in that restaurant had already started running. And I ran to the hotel, luckily, to find other members of my family.

But when I ran, my wife and daughter weren't there. And it was about two hours later, two very, very long, upsetting hours later. I was very, very lucky to find out that they had survived as well. They were very close to the beach, right across the street in Phuket, on a second floor. And power lines were popping around them.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: How did they survive and how did you survive?

KENTIS: Well, I survived because -- at first, the thing that really struck me was just how this wave moved. It almost seemed like in slow motion.

It was very hard to comprehend what was going on. And I ran, and my hotel room was on a third floor. And when it's happening, you don't really realize what's taking place. As far as their survival, they happened to be on an Internet cafe on the second floor. And they were trapped there for quite some time.

And Laura was also helping a lot of tourists after that first wave passed. She talks about seeing that street just bustling with activity and then suddenly seeing this wave come over and wipe everything away. And when it's happening, it's certainly frightening. And we're incredibly grateful. We know how lucky we are. But we had no idea of the immensity. It's so hard to comprehend the absolute immensity of this disaster. And, so, suddenly, your story feels very -- certainly, our story is very small and, thankfully, one with a happy ending.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Well, all three of you got out. And I assume the rest of your family got out safe and sound. How has it impacted you? What, if anything, Chris, are you are going to do about having lived through this experience?

KENTIS: The main thing we want to do is, we want to help. And we feel so lucky. And we want to make a difference in some way and do what we can and urge others. And certainly, that's taking place everywhere, and to continue to urge others to donate what they can. I mean, the people who have survived this, outside of the loss of life that's taken place, the homelessness, they face disease. They face hunger. They face -- the odds are so terrible that anybody that anybody can do, any kind of donations, and that's certainly the No. 1 thing that is on our mind and that we're doing.

BLITZER: Chris Kentis, we're glad you and your family survived. Thanks for spending a few moments with us. Good luck to you.

KENTIS: Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Animals are also being impacted by the tsunamis. We'll take a closer look at the important role elephants -- yes, elephants -- are playing in recovery efforts. And we'll have also have the latest on the plight of those two dolphins swept into an inland lake and now trapped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When you think of animals in disaster relief, dogs may come to mind for their search-and-rescue abilities. But, in South Asia, elephants are playing a key role in tsunami recovery efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): They may not carry the title man's best friend, but elephants are providing priceless help, as Indonesia struggles to recovery from the tsunamis that killed well over 94,000 in that country alone and leveled entire towns. In Aceh Province, Indonesia's ground zero, the gentle giants are doing the work of both man and machine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The elephants help us evacuate survivors or bodies that could possibly be trapped under the rubble as heavy equipment still has not been able to get here.

BLITZER: It's a similar story in Thailand, where elephants are regularly used in logging and as tourist attractions. Now they're clearing debris, their four powerful legs able to reach areas where even four-wheel drive isn't enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many thing the elephant can do, like, he can pick up many things for people. He can clear a house for poor people that can't pay money for backhoe.

BLITZER: Even before the killer waves hit, some say the pachyderms gave warning. One elephant handler, Ora Mahut (ph), said his animals started acting strangely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elephant running the big wave came here. Elephant know that the big wave came here. I leave there while elephant break the chain. And after about five minutes, we know. We look and the big wave came here. And we were running up the mountain.

BLITZER: Others credit some elephants with actually saving lives by carrying people to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people run from the hotel, about 15 people. And we have -- Mahut and some family have some sick children, to carry them on the back of the elephants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Other animals are victims of the tsunamis. The waves are believed to have swept two dolphins from the ocean into this lake -- take a look at this -- just beyond the coast in southern Thailand. Rescuers are trying to trap them and return them to the sea. So far, they've been unsuccessful. They've been dropping fish into the lake as food for the dolphins in a desperate effort to try to keep them alive.

We're getting some new information on Prozac. Our Elizabeth Cohen standing by with that information, information about to be revealed.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is standing by with new and disturbing information about Prozac.

What have you learned, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, CNN has obtained a document from a congressional source that appears to show that Eli Lilly, the maker of Prozac, knew 15 years ago that its drug was more likely to cause suicide than other antidepressants.

Let's take a look at the specific numbers. This document, which has yet to be authenticated, says that Eli Lilly's own study showed that patients on Prozac were at least 12 times more likely to attempt suicide compared to patients on four other antidepressants and at least twice as likely to suffer psychotic depression. The study cited by the document looked at 14,198 patients and reported that 3.7 percent attempted suicide and 2.3 percent suffered psychotic depression.

The existence of this and other documents first came to light last week when "The British Medical Journal" reported that it had obtained them from an anonymous source and was sending them to the Food and Drug Administration for evaluation. In response, Eli Lilly told CNN that the company was aware the documents were to be made public, but that it had no comment until it has a chance to see them.

On the company's Web site, Lilly says it has made several requests to "The BMJ" -- that's "The British Medical Journal" -- to obtain copies of the supposed missing documents. "We still await these documents." If the documents are genuine, they're sure to be of great interest to people who say their loved ones killed themselves or harmed others while on Prozac -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So, Elizabeth, if any of our viewers are taking Prozac or know people who are taking Prozac, how concerned should they be?

E. COHEN: Well, Wolf, it's important to remember that some people say that Prozac has really helped their depression and that they've had great success on the drug. And, of course, you should always consult your doctor before changing or stopping the use of any medication.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much for that report.

Let's take a quick look at our Web question of the day results. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it's not a scientific poll.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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 3, 2005 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now. You're watching American air power at work. It's a race against time to save those in the area hit hardest by the tsunami. As the disaster enters its second week, we're seeing new pictures and new stories from the region. And they're both inspiring and alarming. Stand by for hard news on a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: THE TSUNAMI DISASTER.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Plight of the living. As the death toll rises, the survivors struggle to carry on.

Aid for Asia.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I ask every American to contribute as they are able to do so.

BLITZER: The president puts his predecessors in charge of passing the hat. We'll hear from the former presidents.

Heavy lifting. High tech help arrives in the region, locals have a low tech solution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The elephants help us evacuate survivors or bodies that could possibly be trapped under the rubble.

BLITZER: "Open Water." This hit movie told about divers stranded in the shark-infested sea. Now he will tell us about his own brush with a killer whale.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, January 3, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: More than a week after disaster struck, bodies are still being recovered, and the death count continues to climb. CNN's sources report almost 155,000 people are dead. Officials fear starvation and disease will now start taking their own toll. Indonesia is reporting more than 94,000 dead, with thousands still missing. In Sri Lanka, the death toll stands at more than 46,000, with another 14,000 missing.

As a massive mercy mission gathers steam relief is reaching the tsunami survivors. But in the shattered towns and villages of Indonesia, thousands remain at risk. Dan Rivers reports from Aceh province which got the worst of the killer quake and the waves which followed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They've waited a week for this, and now their patience is exhausted. Hunger and desperation turning this rice distribution point into an ugly scrum (ph). The aid is now arriving but more is needed as Banda Aceh City starts to turn from the horror of the dead to the plight of the living. But there is still chaos here, just look at this extraordinary scene. Looters have tried to steal gas from this wrecked trawler, the subsequent fire finished off what remained of the mosque. The airport is now the nexus of the multinational aid operation, food and medicine arriving from all over the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to fly wherever we're needed to get supplies back and people back and forth to people most affected by this.

RIVERS: The Royal Air Force has also flown over with equipment, vehicles and supplies. But in rural Aceh, it's a different story. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was a town of just 20,000, but now it has 6,000 refugees living in its midst. Villagers have donated clothes for the survivors of the tsunami, this poor inland community, happy to help their devastated coastal neighbors. Hamed Ali (ph) spent four days working here after losing his wife and children. He's staying here with his brother. He's opened the doors to his tiny house. These people have gone through so much, but in order to survive they can't rest. They ask why they were spared, while so many other died, if it will happen again. Mothers sing their babies to sleep, but this nightmare will not be ended by a simple lullaby. Dan Rivers, ITV News, Aceh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: In Thailand, the search for survivors on the country's devastated southwestern coast is quickly turned into the grim task of recovering and identifying bodies. The official death toll of Thais and foreign tourists killed is now about 5,000. Julie Gauche (ph) has more from the Thai resort island of Phuket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE GAUCHE, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The grim task of identifying decomposing remains continues. Box upon box, crate upon crate all contain bodies that have not yet been claimed. Some of them may well contain British victims, some may never be identified. There are 50,000 local and foreign volunteers systematically working their way through the corpses which are now beyond recognition. All they can do is take DNA samples and hope at some point a relative will provide a match. Some of these recovery workers are prisoners who will receive shorter sentences in return for this most appalling of jobs. Others are young Thai students like these, given the task of cleaning hundreds of bodies in hopes of finding identifying marks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tell us to carry the body into the back or open up the back to clean the body. The doctor has to take those DNA and evidence that they have left to find where are they from, who are they.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big shock but I believe to be volunteer, and a duty here.

GAUCHE: Elephants slowly clear wreckage in the effort to find the 4,000 people still missing in Thailand. Half are foreigners. The Thai government says it wants to repatriate all the foreign bodies that are identified and have offered them to fly them home for free. What they don't want is relatives swamping the makeshift mortuaries looking for loved ones something aid workers agree with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are lots of Thai people working to build makeshift coffins at the moment and they need to be left alone to do this important work. And they find it very distressing when relatives go to try to identify people that they can't recognize.

GAUCHE: Among the Thai people entire communities have been devastated. In one village in the worst hit region of Khao Lak, half the population has been wiped out. Many communities in the southern provinces now depend on reconstruction for their future. But how soon areas can rebuild and at what cost is too early to tell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Julie Gauche reporting from ITN.

Next to Indonesia, the hardest hit country is Sri Lanka where 46,000 people were killed. Officials say 14,000 people are still missing. And hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, washed out roads and flooding are hindering relief operations. Alex Thompson reports from the country's east coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX THOMPSON, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's taken some time, but the Sri Lankan army is now making a difference. Manhandling land drains into place and banking swept away roads. But all this is still on the relatively unaffected side, not the marine disaster areas. Anybody coming back to those parts has to take a small boat and then hoof it. Equally, almost every item of aid needs to be carried along in small boats. Laborious it is, and in so sense equal to the scale of disaster.

Bridges up and down this worst affected province destroyed by the tsunamis, the whole situation then made worse by the widespread monsoon floods. It all leaves the air force trying to fill the gaps somehow. During daylight hours their small Bell helicopters barely stop. Loaded, at speed and then off across the jungles and flooded areas to the destroyed coastal strip. The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is to touch down just a few sacks of food dropped each time and leaving the crowds to watch and pounce as soon as the rotor blades are clear.

Impressive yes, adequate no. At ground level, yesterday one place at least became passable and reachable for bulk aid, just about. Which means NGOs can now reach there (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and deliver aid in bulk by the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Society. But the scars are psychological, as well as the needs of hunger. You see people here sitting days in the rubble that was home until Boxing Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not in the mentality they're affected. They are not ready to go to do any jobs or do any kind of work.

THOMPSON: Though not everyone. We came about a fisherman and his wife. He was busy destroying what's left of his house to move elsewhere, salvaging the precious roof frame and tiles. We looked on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by the efficiency of his demolition. As you can see there is some not reconstruction, but deconstruction, destroying going on. This is Mohammed's (ph) house behind me. He's a fisherman, along with his friends, he's decided to destroy what remains of his house to take it away and rebuild elsewhere. He may not be alone. The word is here that the government is going to prevent anybody living within 300 yards of the sea as a safety measure. And that plan will certainly suit those along this coast that remain simply terrified of returning here to live. Alex Thompson, Channel 4 News, El Noonai (ph), eastern Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Help dropped from above. New developments from tsunami-stricken areas. U.S. helicopters delivering much needed aid this hour to remote areas.

Joining forces, a new, unique partnership formed to raise money for the relief efforts. We'll have details.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Survivor's guilt, I get it, like I understand it. I don't know how much -- look, I feel like, let's do something about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Survivor's guilt. The horror lives on for some of the lucky ones.

Bin Laden's presence, tsunami victims promoting the most wanted al Qaeda leader.

And this note, CNN has dispatched many of its top journalists to the front lines of this still developing story. In addition to the CNN journalists already in place in the region, Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Soledad O'Brien, Christiane Amanpour and Aaron Brown will all be reporting from the region this week. Their reports will be featured every night in CNN's primetime live special on the tsunami disaster, every night week beginning 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. President Bush today called on all Americans to give what they can to disaster relief efforts, and he called on two predecessors of his to lead that campaign. Let's go to the White House, our correspondent Dana Bash standing by -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is a White House determined to beat back criticism that President Bush was too slow to respond, and when the U.S. did respond last week, the initial sums were too paltry. So today there you see President Bush standing shoulder to shoulder with his father and the president who beat his father in 1992 for an effort to try to raise and direct private donations for the tsunami disaster.

Part of that effort was to speak here at the White House, to accompany President Bush at some embassies who were affected by this tragedy, and also to do media interviews. In an interview with CNN today, the two men said that they are going to try to make sure Americans give cash, not goods, to help direct that money.

Also, I asked President Clinton about the criticism of President Bush that he was too slow to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that not only in asking us to help, but in pledging $350 million in government aid, in sending those military helicopters to Aceh to deliver those life-saving supplies to the Indonesians, and in promising that we would do more through the government if need be, I don't see how he could have done more.

I think that right now, we're just where we need to be. And we shouldn't be looking back, we should be looking forward.

BASH: President Bush, this is obviously a disaster, but how do you see this as a chance, perhaps, for President Bush to use this to earn some goodwill, to put it bluntly, he's not that popular around the world. But perhaps that's not the goal here.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is not the goal.

BASH: But in the end, in the end, could that perhaps help?

G.W.H. BUSH: You've got to know the president, you've got to know what's in his heart. I guess I know it better than anybody, maybe Laura, no, I think I do -- or Barbara -- you know, what's in his heart, and also what he ought to do as president.

It doesn't matter, polls in Indonesia, do they go up a bit or does something over and CNN, does it go down? That's not what this is about. It's about saving lives, it's about caring. And the president cares.

BASH: Having said all that, though, is this an opportunity though to show some goodwill?

G.H.W. BUSH: Sure. Anytime the United States helps somebody through aid or through missions of this nature, where you can say to a person who's suffering from the loss of children in Indonesia or Sri Lanka, of course, it helps. We are a compassionate nation. And they see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, the two former presidents, of course, talking about their efforts to raise private donations, Wolf. Colin Powell, the secretary of state, is traveling with the president's brother, Jeb Bush, in the tsunami-torn region. They are now in Thailand. And Secretary of State Powell said to reporters there that at this point, the public pledge, which is $350 million, is not going to immediately go up -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Dana Bash reporting for us. Dana, thank you very much. And this programming note, the former president, Bill Clinton and George Bush will have more to say. They'll appear tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE" 9:00 p.m. Eastern for the hour. Former President Bush, former President Clinton with Larry tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And to our viewers here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this, will former Presidents Bush and Clinton boost donations for tsunami relief? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's brother, the Florida governor, Jeb Bush, are getting a firsthand look at the disaster area and the relief effort. Their mission is meant to show U.S. concern and to assess whether more U.S. help is required. Arriving in Thailand earlier today, Powell said he does not see a need for further financial aid beyond the $350 million already pledged.

The United States is using its military might to get help to desperate tsunami survivors. Let's go to the Pentagon. Our senior correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, standing by with details -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's the largest military mission since the Vietnam War. But this is a mission of mercy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): A Navy helicopter from the U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln delivers food and milk to a remote part of the hardest hit area of Indonesia. The isolated refugees are both desperate and grateful, rushing for the supplies that could save their lives. The pilot of the mercy flight, Navy Lieutenant Greg Knutson, told CNN the helicopters often can't land either because of flooding or large crowds.

LT. GREG KNUTSON, U.S. NAVY: We've been coming just to a 10-foot hover when there's just crowds people wanting to get food into our helicopters. So we don't want to set down on the ground. But sometimes we'll have all the people over to the one side. And then we'll fly about a quarter of a mile away, set down and then we'll start putting food out.

MCINTYRE: Round-the-clock flights by Air Force C-130 cargo planes have so far delivered nearly a quarter of a million tons of relief supplies to regional hubs. Now the biggest challenge now is logistics.

BRIG. GEN. JOHN ALLEN, DIR., ASIA AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS: If you're not careful, pretty quickly you have a buildup of supplies that you must now move forward. And the commanders who are on the scene are using those helicopters now to move as much of those supplies forward as they possibly can.

MCINTYRE: Nineteen helicopters are flying from the carrier Lincoln off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In another day or so, the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Group will arrive with two dozen more helicopters and 2200 Marines with some ships and Marines moving on to Sri Lanka.

JAMES KUNDEP, U.S.A.I.D.: This is a classic situation where the needs are going to be of such magnitude that we've got to make sure we ready, aim, fire. Not ready, fire, aim. So we're trying to get a clear picture of what the needs are on the ground.

MCINTYRE: Hundreds of U.S. troops including marines from Hawaii and Okinawa have been flown in to help unload and distribute aid on the ground. All told more than 12,000 U.S. military personnel are involved in relief efforts, counting everyone from air crews to the cook on the carrier Lincoln who was busy baking bread for the disaster victims.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): And a sign the relief operation won't end any time soon. The U.S. is considering sending the hospital ship Mercy, even though it wouldn't get there for a month -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much. As the United States puts its military muscle into the disaster relief effort, I'm joined now by our world affairs analyst, the former defense secretary, William, Cohen. In recent years, maybe in the past 10, 20 years, we've seen a lot of these humanitarian missions by the U.S. military but this is unprecedented, I would suspect.

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: The scope of this disaster is unprecedented in recent experience and that's why you're seeing now this organization of trying to distribute the goods that we're so prepared to deliver there. One of the key elements involved is the lack of distribution even when the goods arrive as your piece just demonstrated but there has been no effort undertaken for this magnitude in decades.

BLITZER: $350 million pledged by the U.S. government so far. Sounds like a big chunk of change. But in your opinion, is it enough?

COHEN: First of all, you're not even going to count the cost of delivering this military, the cost of fuel, the cost of the ships, the cost of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's not included. So the actual figure will be much higher than the 350 million. I think the first mistake made was trying to put a dollar figure on what our assistance is going to be. In a time of crisis like this, you say, we'll do whatever we humanly can, whatever is possible. We're going to be there. That is the humane and responsible thing to do. So I think by putting a smaller price tag initially without understanding the dimensions of the problem, I think we created some perception that we weren't being forthcoming enough. That perception hopefully is turning around now with president Clinton and president Bush senior on their way to raise millions of dollars hopefully.

BLITZER: I want to show you a picture, an image that we captured earlier in Indonesia. Take a look at this. We'll put it up on the screen. An Indonesian, there he is, with an Osama bin Laden t-shirt. Clearly someone supporting Osama bin Laden is about to get a lot of U.S. assistance. Is this an issue at all that we should care about, that some of these people who will be getting U.S. assistance may be sympathetic to Osama bin Laden?

COHEN: It should be of no concern to us. We're doing this out of an act of generosity, charity, and humaneness. This is a humanitarian mission. Whatever the politics are involved should be secondary or not considered at all. We're there to help people without regard to their politics or philosophy. And to the extent that they're supporters of bin Laden, so be it. But the overwhelming majority of the people are in need of help. And so true to our own faith, our own values and virtues, we give aid to whomever needs it in a time of crisis and that should be the principal concern.

BLITZER: Is the U.S. military up to the job because going into this in Iraq and elsewhere there the word was the military was already stretched pretty thin.

COHEN: Well, the military is stretched thin. But we are calling upon our allies, the British, the Australians, the Pakistanis and others, the Japanese are all contributing now. The combination of all of these countries, should be enough, at least in the short-term. But there is no other country that has the kind of logistical support that the United States can provide. Airlifts, sealifts, there's no other country that can do this even as stretched thin as we are, we still can provide the kind of relief that we're seeing today.

BLITZER: What does it say to you that the biggest contributor so far, governments, Japan, United States, the World Bank, the western European nations. The Muslim nations are relatively modest, a million here and there. But Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim community. Some of these oil-rich Muslim nations in the Persian Gulf are giving only a little bit.

COHEN: I think they should be embarrassed by it. I think to the extent that they have the wealth, that they can afford to contribute state money, so to speak, to this effort. I think the attention you and others are devoting to it will hopefully call forth the better angels of human nature as well as their coffers to help their fellow Muslims in time of need.

BLITZER: We'll see if that happens. William Cohen. Thanks very much.

Thankful he escaped and mourning those who didn't. Survivor's guilt motivates one man to take action for tsunami victims. We'll show you what he plans to do.

Also, gentle giants becoming beasts of burden. Elephants playing a key role in recovery efforts. We'll show you what they're doing.

Plus, the director of a hit watery thriller survives his own terrifying encounter with killer waves. I'll speak with him from Singapore, he has an amazing story to share with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Of all the people who escaped the earthquake and tsunamis in southeast Asia, one is a teacher from New York. Our Mary Snow is in New York with this story and why he's planning to return to the disaster area. Mary, tell us what's going on.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ken Rosen says there's no doubt about it, he feels lucky he's safe, but he says he's also experienced survivor's guilt, and now he's planning a medical mission to do something about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Ken Rosen is trying to move forward with his everyday life teaching Chinese medicine. But he can't help being pulled back to the world he left behind in Thailand last week.

KEN ROSEN: I was in Phi Island. I think of people's faces, a lot of people's faces, and it hurts, hurts a lot. But I'm lucky. I have to be thankful for that luckiness.

SNOW: Rosen left Phi Phi Island 10 hours before the tsunami hit. In his home in Huntington, New York, are reminders. The mug he bought before his trip with a picture of a tsunami and a picture of one of the last people he saw leaving Phi Phi Island the day before disaster.

ROSEN: Somebody mentioned that word to me survivor's guilt. I get it, like I understand it. I feel like let's do something about this.

SNOW: What Rosen plans to do is return to Thailand when his semester finishes.

ROSEN: I'm hoping to organize a coalition of acupuncturists to go over and to visit towns in a mobile unit and treat people.

SNOW: Doctors familiar with survivor guilt say it's important to act.

DR. ALAN MANEVITZ, WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER: A survivor needs to understand that they're living for a reason, for a purpose. And that's why helping in the recovery efforts and taking action and feeling real and alive again, living in the present circumstances, getting back to some routine are all helpful in dealing with this issue.

SNOW: Rosen says more than anything, he's thankful for his family and his health. He's survived two bouts with cancer and he knows firsthand about disaster. In the weeks following 9/11 he helped treat rescue workers at Ground Zero and he's trying to teach those lessons learned.

ROSEN: One of the things that we're doing in this class certainly is thinking about how life is resilient also. You know, when you're on the blip of a disaster, the edge of a disaster and you survive it, you're so thankful for so many things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Rosen says he has to finish out the semester through May before he returns to Thailand and he hopes to stay there for several months -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us -- Mary, thank you very much.

Thousands are dead. Many are still missing from last week's tsunamis. And that includes 4,000 to 5,000 Americans. Why are so many still unaccounted for? We'll go over to the State Department. Our Andrea Koppel standing by. She has new information.

Plus, tsunami whistle-blower. He warned that an early detection system was needed years ago. Was it a missed warning? Why weren't people listening?

And West Coast wallop, a winter storm dealing yet another round of stormy weather to an already hard-hit area.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Missing Americans, thousands still unaccounted for in the tsunami's aftermath. Is there a reason why they haven't contacted loved ones at home? We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some other stories now in the news.

Three more car bombings at security checkpoints in Iraq today, one of them killed four Iraqi soldiers. Another killed at least two Iraqi police officers. The blasts are blamed at insurgents who want to disrupt plans for national elections scheduled to take place January 30.

Canadian agriculture officials deny there's any danger to consumers, despite the confirmation of second case of mad cow disease. An 8-year-old dairy cow from Canada's Alberta Province tested positive for the illness. Officials say the cow did not enter the food supply. And the farm where the farm originated has been quarantined.

Heavy snow is slowing travel in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The West Coast is dealing with a second week of stormy weather. Two feet of snow closed Interstate 5, north of Los Angeles.

Now back to our top story, the continuing fallout from tsunamis.

Steve Scott went to one town that has been virtually wiped off the map. Here's his report from Thailand on the destruction he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE SCOTT, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): If you were asked to imagine the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, you'd probably think of this. Banyan Kem (ph) was a thriving fishing port when the tsunamis pounded into it. Just look at it now. Already, they've taken away 3,500 bodies from this area. They're expecting to find many more when these newly formed lakes are drained.

(on camera): It's hard to imagine just what happened here. Sometimes, pictures aren't enough. I'm standing about a kilometer from the beachfront.

(voice-over): And even this far away from the initial impact, houses have been flattened, leaving only a lifeless wasteland.

Over 20 years, British aid worker John Freedman has seen tragedy and suffering the world over. This, he says, is worse than anything before it.

JOHN FREEDMAN, BRITISH AID WORKER: Well, just look at it. It's -- what can you say? It just takes your breath way. And I'm sure that the camera doesn't do justice. You have to be here to feel the atmosphere and to smell it and to take it all in. It's just unbelievable.

SCOTT (on camera): You've been to many disaster areas around the world. Have you ever seen anything like this?

FREEDMAN: Absolutely not. Even in war districts like Afghanistan and Sudan, you're prepared for death and you're prepared for injury and misery and despair from people. But I never saw despair that there is at the moment with these people here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That report from Steve Scott, who's on the scene in Thailand, a devastating report, indeed.

When the tsunamis struck, thousands of Americans may have been in the path of destruction. Their fate is still not clear.

Let's go live to our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.

Andrea, explain what's going on.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, nine days later, the State Department, let alone countless American families, still don't know even approximately how many Americans may have perished.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): Americans Angie Faust (ph) and her boyfriend Luke Scully (ph) of Portland, Oregon, had planned to spend their three-week Christmas vacation on the beaches of Thailand's resort island Phuket. Friends say the couple's last credit card transaction was made in Phuket on Christmas Eve, but that there's been no word from them since.

TINA MAHAFFEY, FRIEND OF MISSING COUPLE: You just have it in your head that you're going to get that call the next day. As the second day went on, we became more and more anxious.

KOPPEL: More than a week after a devastating tsunami hit Thailand and 11 other countries, the State Department says 15 Americans are confirmed dead. Secretary of State Powell, who arrived in Thailand Monday, said between 4,000 to 5,000 U.S. citizens are still unaccounted for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very frightening. If you do find out anything, please let us know.

KOPPEL: Here at the State Department, officials are working the phones around the clock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's just great to hear that everything is OK with his wife, Ronnie (ph) and Clint (ph).

KOPPEL: Talking to family and friends of those believed missing, trying to whittle down the list of inquiries into unaccounted-for Americans that only days ago stood at 20,000.

ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We have been able to satisfactorily respond to three-quarters of those inquiries, or about 15,000. That leaves us with in the neighborhood of 5,000 inquiries that we have not been able to nail down.

KOPPEL: Officials expect that number to drop drastically and in order to speed up the process are appealing to the public for help.

MAURA HARTY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: If anybody who is watching this broadcast has in fact called us already and has now heard from their loved one, that they please call us again to let us know.

KOPPEL: That number is 1-888-407-4747.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Now, at the same time, the State Department is also working with the Thai government, for example, to kind of sort through various immigration papers to see if any of the still unaccounted for Americans might have left Thailand since the tsunami hit -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea Koppel at the State Department, thank you very much.

We're also learning of a possible missed warning about the tsunamis from a former official with Thailand's Meteorological Department.

Our Brian Todd standing by with details of that -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this looks like one of those horrible ironies that keep cropping up in this story.

Authorities in Thailand now say nearly 5,000 people in their country died in the tsunami. That toll surely to go up, since nearly 4,000 are listed as missing and many of them presumed dead. One of the hardest hit areas there was the popular island resort of Phuket.

And one man looks at these devastating scenes and wonders what if. He's one of Thailand's top meteorological officials, but he was once disgraced. His name is Samith Dhammasaroj. He told Britain's ITN network that nearly seven years ago, he noticed some seismic activity and pressured the government into issuing an official tsunami warning. That wave never came. Dhammasaroj also reportedly recommended at that time that the country set up an early warning system.

But many people accused him of spreading panic and damaging the tourism industry. And, according to ITN, he was told he was not welcome in Phuket. Now, according to ITN and Reuters, the man accused of scaring tourists away has been asked to help win them back. Thailand prime minister has recruited Samith Dhammasaroj to set up a tsunami warning system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they had only listened to me, maybe 50 percent or 20 percent lives of -- many lives of people would be saved today. I told people concerned that we should have -- warning people. We should education the people. We should educate the fishermen, what to do with this kind of disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, Dhammasaroj also says he tried calling Thai authorities this time around to warn them of a tsunami after he heard about the massive earthquake. He says the phone system was always tied up.

We called the Thai Embassy here and couldn't reach anyone for comment. Dhammasaroj may not have been able to save too many people this time, since most reports say the tsunami reached Thailand a little over an hour after the earthquake.

Now, as for the cost of a warning system, U.S. Weather Service officials tell us each of the six high-tech buoys they deploy in the Pacific cost about $250,000 just to manufacture. That doesn't include deployment and operation, Wolf. BLITZER: Which is a very, very tiny amount of money. They should have that literally all over the world. And I assume they will, as of what has happened. Thanks very much, Brian Todd.

TODD: Sure.

BLITZER: Their hit movie was about scuba divers stranded in shark-infested water. Coming up, their real-life struggle to survive the giant tsunami wave that devastated parts of Thailand. I'll speak live with the director of "Open Water."

Also ahead, they may not be man's best friend, but these huge animals are playing a big role in the tsunami recovery efforts.

And we'll also have the story of two dolphins and what happened to them when tsunami waves hit Thailand.

This note, CNN has dispatched many of its top journalists to the front lines of this still developing story. Their reports will be featured every night in CNN's prime-time live special on the tsunami disaster, every night this week, beginning 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You may recall our report on the hit movie last year "Open Water." That was the incredible they of two scuba divers stranded in shark-infested waters. The husband and wife who made the film, Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, narrowly escaped being pulled into a real-life version of their thriller when tsunamis crashed into the Thai resort island of Phuket.

Chris Kentis is now in Singapore. He's joining us on the phone with more on what he and his family went through.

Chris, thank you very much for joining us. Tell us where you were and what happened.

CHRIS KENTIS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: Well, Wolf, we were on Patong Beach the morning. We actually awoke that morning to a very mild earthquake and didn't really think much of it, other than we were a little bit concerned.

But it was three hours later that we were running errands. I was separate doing some errands for my wife and daughter, my 7-year-old daughter. We were also there with other members of our family, my sister-in-law. And I was alone and suddenly heard all of this yelling and shouting. I was about 50 yards from the beach.

And I turned around, saw all these people running. And then I saw this huge wave coming toward me. So I immediately -- my wife was supposed to be in a restaurant close by. And I tried to make it there and look. But everyone in that restaurant had already started running. And I ran to the hotel, luckily, to find other members of my family.

But when I ran, my wife and daughter weren't there. And it was about two hours later, two very, very long, upsetting hours later. I was very, very lucky to find out that they had survived as well. They were very close to the beach, right across the street in Phuket, on a second floor. And power lines were popping around them.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: How did they survive and how did you survive?

KENTIS: Well, I survived because -- at first, the thing that really struck me was just how this wave moved. It almost seemed like in slow motion.

It was very hard to comprehend what was going on. And I ran, and my hotel room was on a third floor. And when it's happening, you don't really realize what's taking place. As far as their survival, they happened to be on an Internet cafe on the second floor. And they were trapped there for quite some time.

And Laura was also helping a lot of tourists after that first wave passed. She talks about seeing that street just bustling with activity and then suddenly seeing this wave come over and wipe everything away. And when it's happening, it's certainly frightening. And we're incredibly grateful. We know how lucky we are. But we had no idea of the immensity. It's so hard to comprehend the absolute immensity of this disaster. And, so, suddenly, your story feels very -- certainly, our story is very small and, thankfully, one with a happy ending.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Well, all three of you got out. And I assume the rest of your family got out safe and sound. How has it impacted you? What, if anything, Chris, are you are going to do about having lived through this experience?

KENTIS: The main thing we want to do is, we want to help. And we feel so lucky. And we want to make a difference in some way and do what we can and urge others. And certainly, that's taking place everywhere, and to continue to urge others to donate what they can. I mean, the people who have survived this, outside of the loss of life that's taken place, the homelessness, they face disease. They face hunger. They face -- the odds are so terrible that anybody that anybody can do, any kind of donations, and that's certainly the No. 1 thing that is on our mind and that we're doing.

BLITZER: Chris Kentis, we're glad you and your family survived. Thanks for spending a few moments with us. Good luck to you.

KENTIS: Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Animals are also being impacted by the tsunamis. We'll take a closer look at the important role elephants -- yes, elephants -- are playing in recovery efforts. And we'll have also have the latest on the plight of those two dolphins swept into an inland lake and now trapped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When you think of animals in disaster relief, dogs may come to mind for their search-and-rescue abilities. But, in South Asia, elephants are playing a key role in tsunami recovery efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): They may not carry the title man's best friend, but elephants are providing priceless help, as Indonesia struggles to recovery from the tsunamis that killed well over 94,000 in that country alone and leveled entire towns. In Aceh Province, Indonesia's ground zero, the gentle giants are doing the work of both man and machine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The elephants help us evacuate survivors or bodies that could possibly be trapped under the rubble as heavy equipment still has not been able to get here.

BLITZER: It's a similar story in Thailand, where elephants are regularly used in logging and as tourist attractions. Now they're clearing debris, their four powerful legs able to reach areas where even four-wheel drive isn't enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many thing the elephant can do, like, he can pick up many things for people. He can clear a house for poor people that can't pay money for backhoe.

BLITZER: Even before the killer waves hit, some say the pachyderms gave warning. One elephant handler, Ora Mahut (ph), said his animals started acting strangely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elephant running the big wave came here. Elephant know that the big wave came here. I leave there while elephant break the chain. And after about five minutes, we know. We look and the big wave came here. And we were running up the mountain.

BLITZER: Others credit some elephants with actually saving lives by carrying people to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people run from the hotel, about 15 people. And we have -- Mahut and some family have some sick children, to carry them on the back of the elephants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Other animals are victims of the tsunamis. The waves are believed to have swept two dolphins from the ocean into this lake -- take a look at this -- just beyond the coast in southern Thailand. Rescuers are trying to trap them and return them to the sea. So far, they've been unsuccessful. They've been dropping fish into the lake as food for the dolphins in a desperate effort to try to keep them alive.

We're getting some new information on Prozac. Our Elizabeth Cohen standing by with that information, information about to be revealed.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is standing by with new and disturbing information about Prozac.

What have you learned, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, CNN has obtained a document from a congressional source that appears to show that Eli Lilly, the maker of Prozac, knew 15 years ago that its drug was more likely to cause suicide than other antidepressants.

Let's take a look at the specific numbers. This document, which has yet to be authenticated, says that Eli Lilly's own study showed that patients on Prozac were at least 12 times more likely to attempt suicide compared to patients on four other antidepressants and at least twice as likely to suffer psychotic depression. The study cited by the document looked at 14,198 patients and reported that 3.7 percent attempted suicide and 2.3 percent suffered psychotic depression.

The existence of this and other documents first came to light last week when "The British Medical Journal" reported that it had obtained them from an anonymous source and was sending them to the Food and Drug Administration for evaluation. In response, Eli Lilly told CNN that the company was aware the documents were to be made public, but that it had no comment until it has a chance to see them.

On the company's Web site, Lilly says it has made several requests to "The BMJ" -- that's "The British Medical Journal" -- to obtain copies of the supposed missing documents. "We still await these documents." If the documents are genuine, they're sure to be of great interest to people who say their loved ones killed themselves or harmed others while on Prozac -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So, Elizabeth, if any of our viewers are taking Prozac or know people who are taking Prozac, how concerned should they be?

E. COHEN: Well, Wolf, it's important to remember that some people say that Prozac has really helped their depression and that they've had great success on the drug. And, of course, you should always consult your doctor before changing or stopping the use of any medication.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much for that report.

Let's take a quick look at our Web question of the day results. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it's not a scientific poll.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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