CBS Evening News open - 2005-01-06

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] Don't miss a moment [music] of this

[0:02] revealing hour on the next Montel.

[0:08] Tonight, from the tsunami zone, new

[0:11] challenges for relief teams racing help

[0:14] to victims before it's too late.

[0:16] Everything from war to politics is in

[0:19] the way.

[0:20] Plus, they called this place Shangri-La.

[0:24] We'll show you the beauty that was and

[0:26] now the horror that is.

[0:30] Also tonight, why Andrea Yates'

[0:31] conviction for drowning her children was

[0:34] overturned and how a television show

[0:36] figured in the decision. We'll give you

[0:38] the inside story. Plus, a massive winter

[0:42] weather causing all kinds of trouble

[0:43] [music]

[0:44] all across the country.

[0:50] >> [music]

[0:54] >> This is the CBS Evening News

[0:57] with Dan [music] Rather reporting

[0:58] tonight from Sri Lanka

[1:01] and John Roberts in New York.

[1:03] Good evening. We're on the southern tip

[1:05] of Sri Lanka tonight in the port city of

[1:08] Galle. Until recently, this was a garden

[1:11] spot and playground for vacationers from

[1:13] all over the world.

[1:15] Then the tsunami came and killed more

[1:17] than 30,000 people in this island

[1:19] nation.

[1:21] Today, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

[1:23] said we will never know for sure how

[1:25] many people died in the tsunami zone

[1:27] December 26th.

[1:30] Annan, Secretary of State Colin Powell,

[1:32] and other world leaders held an

[1:34] emergency summit in Jakarta, Indonesia

[1:36] today about getting help to survivors

[1:38] whose lives are still at risk.

[1:41] Much of the aid now reaching them is

[1:43] being delivered by US military

[1:45] helicopters at a cost of $6 million a

[1:48] day. But CBS's Lee Cowan in Indonesia

[1:51] reports the American relief effort still

[1:53] has its critics.

[1:55] It was supposed to be welcome news. The

[1:57] Pentagon more than doubling the number

[1:59] of much needed helicopters in the region

[2:01] from 40 to about 90, the largest such

[2:04] mission in history. But, one UN official

[2:07] complained that the US military's effort

[2:09] isn't enough. That the quick trips, like

[2:12] the one we flew off the deck of the USS

[2:14] Abraham Lincoln, spend too little time

[2:16] on the ground to accurately assess the

[2:18] situation.

[2:20] Pilots say it's a matter of safety.

[2:22] Hungry crowds often rush the choppers

[2:24] with blades still spinning. And they

[2:26] point out injured survivors have already

[2:28] waited long enough to be transported to

[2:30] a medical facility.

[2:31] Even the head of the World Health

[2:33] Organization told us he seemed more than

[2:35] pleased with the effort so far. I think

[2:37] uh this can be sustained for another uh

[2:40] 6 months. And uh

[2:43] 1 year later is

[2:44] just a totally different uh situation.

[2:47] Still, the squabble illustrates the

[2:49] coordination difficulties of an effort

[2:51] so huge. And the frustration of not

[2:53] being able to help more people faster.

[2:56] But, it's more than just logistics

[2:57] that's hampering the relief effort now.

[2:59] It seems that even a tsunami hasn't been

[3:01] able to dampen the tensions from years

[3:03] of civil war here. And now

[3:04] anti-government separatists are starting

[3:06] to make it known that they have a case,

[3:07] too.

[3:09] Muslim separatists have been fighting

[3:10] for their independence from the

[3:11] Indonesian government here for three

[3:13] decades now. And despite the disaster,

[3:16] the fighting continues.

[3:17] Relief agencies say one aid convoy was

[3:20] held up for 8 hours because of the

[3:21] shooting.

[3:23] Separatists also fired on these

[3:24] Indonesian troops while they were trying

[3:26] to take supplies across the river. Turns

[3:28] out the weapons used against them were

[3:30] their own.

[3:31] The rebels had stolen them from the

[3:33] rubble of a nearby army base flattened

[3:35] by the waves. Today, government troops

[3:37] wasted little time making sure there was

[3:39] nothing left for the rebels to pick

[3:40] through. But, it was another sign of the

[3:43] troubles that haunt this region. It

[3:45] could be barriers to all the good

[3:47] intentions in the world.