NBC Nightly News - 2009-04-06 - 1 of 2

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Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] On the broadcast here tonight, deadly

[0:03] quake. A strong earthquake strikes in

[0:05] the middle of the night in Italy.

[0:07] Tonight, the rising toll of dead and

[0:09] injured and the growing number of those

[0:11] left homeless. The honored. For the

[0:13] first time in 18 years, the images we're

[0:16] allowed to see of the homecoming of an

[0:19] American killed in war. Meltdown. A 25m

[0:23] long ribbon of ice has broken at the

[0:26] bottom of the world. And there's a

[0:27] disturbing new warning about what's to

[0:30] come. And making a difference,

[0:31] communities acting locally, not waiting

[0:33] for Washington for an economic boost.

[0:36] Nightly News begins now.

[0:42] From NBC News World Headquarters in New

[0:45] York, this is NBC Nightly News with

[0:48] Brian Williams.

[0:50] >> Good evening. It happened in the middle

[0:51] of the night before some of the victims

[0:54] knew what it was. It was, it turns out,

[0:56] the worst and deadliest earthquake in

[0:59] three decades to strike in Italy. And it

[1:01] shook the mountainous central region of

[1:03] the country. It claimed a lot of lives

[1:05] and it crumbled a lot of medieval

[1:07] history in just seconds. As of tonight,

[1:10] it's believed over 150 are dead. Over

[1:12] 1,500 injured. More than 50,000 people

[1:16] are feared displaced. It measured a 6.3

[1:20] and was believed centered near the town

[1:22] of Lquila. That's where our own

[1:24] Stephanie Goss begins our reporting

[1:26] tonight. Stephanie, good evening.

[1:30] >> Good evening, Brian. Well, this quake

[1:31] was the deadliest quake in 30 years, and

[1:34] its epicenter struck a town that knows

[1:36] only too well how much force they can

[1:39] have. This city has been destroyed twice

[1:41] before by earthquakes.

[1:45] It was 3:32 when the quake struck this

[1:47] morning. The tremor lasting just 30

[1:50] seconds. But in that flash, entire

[1:52] blocks of buildings in Lquila, a 13th

[1:54] century fortress town, were leveled. One

[1:57] eyewitness said the quake sounded like a

[1:59] bomb going off.

[2:01] >> Last night was like the end of the

[2:03] world. The building was rocking. You

[2:04] couldn't walk.

[2:06] >> This man, dazed, pulled from the rubble

[2:08] after a three-hour rescue effort. Broke

[2:11] down in tears.

[2:14] using bare hands to dig and ladders to

[2:16] carry the injured. 4,000 rescue workers

[2:18] are trying to reach the trapped. At

[2:21] least 150 people are dead and 1,500

[2:24] injured, but those numbers are expected

[2:26] to climb as reports come in of towns and

[2:29] villages entirely flattened and cut off

[2:32] by destroyed roads. Phone and power

[2:34] lines are down and gas mains ruptured.

[2:39] Everything is destroyed. Our house has

[2:41] gone. At least tens of thousands of

[2:43] people are homeless and the government

[2:46] is racing to set up a tent city as well

[2:48] as medical field clinics. With Lua's

[2:50] main hospital damaged, medical teams are

[2:53] treating the injured outside. The

[2:55] government appealed for help from

[2:56] doctors and nurses across Italy. Lula,

[2:59] 60 mi northeast of Rome, flanked by the

[3:02] Aanine Mountains, lies on an active

[3:05] earthquake fault between the Eurasian

[3:07] and African plates in central Italy's

[3:09] abut region. The upper nines is

[3:12] notorious for having destructive

[3:14] earthquakes and this is not just because

[3:17] it's active but also because these u

[3:21] these towns are built primarily with

[3:23] stones.

[3:24] >> The area has many medieval and

[3:26] renaissance castles and churches and

[3:28] some have been seriously damaged. This

[3:31] used to be a fourstory building with as

[3:33] many as 50 people inside. This morning

[3:36] only three escaped with their lives. For

[3:38] the rest of today, these workers have

[3:40] been pulling out bodies. Despite the

[3:42] numbing cold and the heavy rain, it is a

[3:44] moment like this keeping the rescue

[3:46] workers determined. A young man, Matteo,

[3:49] finally freed after hours of hard work.

[3:54] So far, at least 60 people have been

[3:56] rescued, but around Lacqua tonight,

[3:58] family and friends are holding vigil.

[4:00] Brian, they're hoping that their loved

[4:02] ones will be next.

[4:03] >> Stephanie Gosk in Italy for us tonight,

[4:05] starting off our reporting this Monday.

[4:07] Stephanie, thanks. President Obama

[4:09] expressed his condolences to the victims

[4:11] of this Italian earthquake from Turkey,

[4:14] the final stop on his overseas trip. He

[4:17] went to Turkey in an effort to reach out

[4:19] in part to the Muslim world. And

[4:21] speaking to that country's parliament,

[4:22] he declared, "The US quote is not and

[4:25] will never be at war with Islam." After

[4:29] first visiting the capital city of

[4:31] Anchora, the president is now in

[4:32] Istanbul and our chief White House

[4:34] correspondent Chuck Todd is traveling

[4:36] with him. Chuck, good evening.

[4:38] >> Good evening, Brian. From a rainy

[4:40] Istanbul, and what could prove to be one

[4:42] of the shrewder early moves in this

[4:44] young presidency, Mr. Obama's choosing

[4:47] to close his first overseas trip here in

[4:50] Turkey to do two things. Elevate the

[4:52] country's role in the world, and two,

[4:54] prove to the Muslim world that he means

[4:56] what he says in his pledge to reach out.

[4:58] And he did it in a very personal way.

[5:03] President Obama today paid tribute to

[5:04] Turkeykey's modern founding father.

[5:06] Pausing to share reflections.