[Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Governments can stonewall. Aid groups and diplomats can beg, complain, and negotiate. But cholera, diarrhea, and malaria, they won't wait.
[Brianna Keilar, Cnn Anchor:] One week after the cyclone, vital relief is making its way to Myanmar, but not to the majority of the worst-off survivors. We have got the latest on the crushing need and the agonizing wait. Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN Center in Atlanta.
[Lemon:] And I'm Don Lemon here at the international desk. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We start now with our developing news and it is coming out of Myanmar. The United Nations will send two more emergency airlifts into Myanmar tomorrow. The U.S. will send a cargo plane loaded with supplies on Monday. But will the people who need that help ever get it? Will they ever get it? Today, Myanmar's military government seized 38 tons of food and other relief at the airport and they won't let U.N. staffers deliver it to survivors of last week's cyclone. Some places, well, they have no food, they have no water, they have no electricity or medicine. We want to tell you experts fear the more time that ticks by, the greater the risk of disease and also the greater the risk of cholera and malaria and the like. Well, CNN's Dan Rivers, we have been telling you, he is out of Myanmar now, but he took one last trip, one last trip down a devastated and desperate delta. What he saw is really not for the faint of heart. Some of the pictures you're about to see, we have to warn you they are extremely, extremely disturbing.
[Dan Rivers, Cnn Correspondent:] We're deep in the Irrawaddy delta, making our way down the Laputa River. The banks are punctuated with destroyed homes, apparently abandoned after Cyclone Nargis hit. [on-camera]: It's been very, very difficult to get into this river delta. The roads are not passable for us. So, now this is the only way we can progress any further, by boat. And the river that we're traveling on is incredibly swollen. You can see all the trees along the side here are completely submerged by river waters. Normally, these would all be on dry land. [voice-over]: The Myanmar government has refused to let any international press into this area officially. But we have managed to get through numerous checkpoints to see for ourselves how bad things are. This 79-year-old man tells me he's lost his sister, his granddaughter, two grandsons and his daughter-in-law. His voice is cracking with emotion as he explains how he found their bodies amid the debris of their village. A broken man, he's gathered with other survivors who have received no help whatsoever. We're trying to get further into the delta to reach other survivors. But, shortly after this video is shot, we were stopped and questioned by the police, who said we couldn't go any further. It feels as if this government is trying to stop the world from seeing what's happening here. Perhaps wire service photos like these are the sorts of images they want to suppress, the macabre contorted bodies that litter this landscape. We also managed to take some disturbing images of our own in a local hospital. Conditions are appalling, injuries horrendous. Many have suffered lacerations to the back, as they clung to palm trees and were pummeled by the debris-laden storm surge. There are obviously the most basic facilities, and, again, no evidence of any aid. We have to leave this area before we're arrested. The people we say goodbye to are without help, have little food, and are profoundly traumatized, stranded in the Irrawaddy delta, living in fear of this military regime that seems determined to hush up the scale of this tragedy. Dan Rivers, CNN, in the Irrawaddy delta, Myanmar.
[Lemon:] And we warned you, the pictures there, some of them, are just devastating. Sein Win is a Burmese prime minister in exile. And as we have been telling you, Myanmar, or Burma, Myanmar is also known as Burma. He spoke today in Washington and he had a few choice words about officials in Myanmar. Take a listen.
[Sein Win, Burmese Prime Minister In Exile:] The refusal of the government in Burma to allow critically-needed disaster relief exports and aid into the country immediately is criminal. Their decision to refuse the massive amounts of relief aid and expertise that is waiting offshore from the United Nations, the U.S., France, U.K. and dozens of experienced NGOs is a death sentence for many thousands of men, women and children.
[Lemon:] And that is Sein Win. You can see the pictures that we had earlier and also from this, I mean, really, the people there need help and they need it fast. Look at this, what people are having to do just to survive there in Myanmar. Earlier in the NEWSROOM, I spoke with Dr. John Howe. He talked about how they're planning to give aid. He is the CEO of Project HOPE. He has a team on their way now to Myanmar.
[John Howe, Ceo, Project Hope:] Project HOPE is partnering with World Vision, a wonderful organization that's been present on the ground in Myanmar for over 30 years. And we look to support them in providing medicines and medical supplies and as needed health professionals.
[Lemon:] So, you're in negotiations now, and you're about to go in. Are you hearing anything from people who are already there, already somewhere in the region, if not already on the ground in Myanmar exactly?
[Rivers:] To date, it's been radio silence, very quiet. But this is not unusual. It wasn't long ago that we were in a similar situation after a 20-foot, not 12-foot, but a 20-foot wave raced through Banda Aceh, killing also tens of thousands of people. And Project HOPE was there. And as such, this is very familiar to us.
[Lemon:] Yes. And, Dr. Howe, we remember that devastating tsunami that happened. But for some reason and we were talking about this yesterday and we have been talking about it in our coverage a lot, not just us, but as well as other news organizations, because the other area in Banda Aceh and what have you, because those other areas may have been visited more by Westerners, or what have you, it appeared that people were able to get in easier and there was more of a connection there. This place is so remote and they have such restrictions on who can go in and who can leave, that we're not getting that feeling necessarily and we're having a tougher time getting in.
[Rivers:] Yes, without question. This is a much, much more difficult conversation. On the other hand, Aceh Province was off limits to foreigners before the tsunami. There was a restriction on being able to go into that area. So, again, this is a familiar territory, much more intense, but it's a perfect setting for America's generosity, just as we saw with Indonesia.
[Lemon:] Yes, and, real quickly, because we have got lots of breaking news here, but what do you say to the American people who are watching and who now they may feel some relief at least that some aid may be getting in, or if they want to donate? Do you have a message to people about this?
[Rivers:] Yes. Now is the time for Americans to put a face on their humanity and do this and do this well. We did it with the tsunami, and we will do it with the cyclone. And there are many wonderful organizations, including Project HOPE, in which cash support to the volunteers is very, very important, as well to the companies that are providing medicines and medical supplies. Indeed, this is the one opportunity to put the best face on wonderful generosity.
[Lemon:] And of course we know that you may want to help out. And at CNN.com, we have a special page on devastation in Myanmar, complete with links to aid agencies that are organizing help for that region. It's a chance for you to impact your world and let us be your guide. Just go to CNN.com. And I want to show you this. It's really, it's very disturbing. I'm going to warn you here. These are pictures we have been telling you about just how bad it is. Well, this tells the story. This picture on uscampaignforburma.org, and it's in their photograph section. That's a body, sad to say. And as we go down here excuse me for that these are more bodies that you can see here just floating, and then on this Web site as well. And I warned you more bodies as well. That's the devastation that we're dealing with in Myanmar. Now we want to make a turn now. We have been talking a lot about the battle in Beirut. And there's our Cal Perry. He's getting ready. He's in a monitor there. He's getting ready to do a live shot with us in just a little bit. Before we get to Cal, I want to give you a little bit of background. The furious fighting that gripped Beirut that we have been talking about has tapered off, finally tapered off a little bit, but only after Hezbollah dramatically strengthened its hand against the pro-Western Lebanese government. We saw it happen live, the Iran-backed militia outgunning its rivals as the Lebanese army stood by. And we want to go now to our Cal Perry. He's standing by on the ground, but he was in the middle of this firefighting yesterday, right in the middle of the thick of it. And, Cal, I mentioned, it has tapered off, but people there still fear a possible civil war that may be worse than 1975.
[Cal Perry, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely right, Don. And, as you mentioned, there was fierce fighting. Today, it has tapered off. But part of the reason it's tapered off is because Hezbollah this morning moved in and took half the city, just control of the entire west of this capital. Now, the city as of right now, there are gunmen on pretty much every corner in the west of this city. Interestingly enough, you can have Hezbollah gunmen on one corner and you can have the military on the other. The military's job here is of course to de-escalate the situation. But it got out of control so quickly that they really were unable to do anything today, except almost negotiate a peaceful surrender of the western section of the city. Now, what we're expecting in the next few days, of course, is hopefully, as Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah said yesterday, hopefully, the government will come and will speak to him and will negotiate this issue about the telecommunications. The government came out and said that Hezbollah's telecommunications system, it's off the grid, if you like. It's their own telecommunication system, is illegal and a threat to state security. The head of Hezbollah said in fact that he needs this to protect Lebanon, that they used this during the war with Israel for commanders to speak to each other. So, we will have to see how this plays out in the next few days. But certainly the government here, which is, of course, backed by the U.S., is really up against the wall and in a corner right now in Beirut Don.
[Lemon:] And, Cal, you know, we were talking to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon just a little bit ago. And surprising to me, and probably to many people, they were saying even in country, they were having a hard time convincing some of the officials that things were as bad as they are, because they couldn't get information to them. Obviously, they're not seeing some of the pictures that we're seeing.
[Perry:] Absolutely. And when we were out in west Beirut today, I talked to a 12-year- old. We interviewed him live on CNN. And he looked at me and said, this started as a war of words. It's going to end with a war with guns and it's headed towards civil war. So, when you talk to people here on the streets, even a 12-year- old is looking at pieces of grenades and buildings burning down and he's saying to me, this is going to end in civil war. For the people that live in west Beirut, it's an everyday now struggle for food, and for water and for the basic necessities. As we always say here, it's usually the civilians that pay the heaviest price. One thing I want to point out, I think it would be interesting for an American audience to know, the airport here is totally shut down. And, in Lebanon, that can bring the country to a complete halt because the land crossings are inaccessible. You cannot go south to Israel. It's basically a demilitarized zone. And for many Lebanese, the majority, depending on their political views, they can't go to Syria. Those are your only two options. One of the main routes to Syria in fact has been shut down by these protesters. So, the country really is grinding to a halt Don.
[Lemon:] All right, Cal Perry in Beirut Cal, and we're glad you're safe and continue to stay safe. Thank you very much for your reporting today. We want to take you deeper inside the story just to give you a little bit more of an understanding about what's going on. Lebanon's longstanding drama is due in part, due in part to its makeup. Christians, Sunnis and Shia all have maneuvered for power there. Religious struggles led to a ruinous civil war and now political a stalemate going on there. Another complication of course is the geography. You heard Cal talk about that, one way in, one way out, as far as the airport goes. The tiny nation shares a small southern border, a small southern border with Israel, but mostly it is surrounded by Israel's enemy, which is Syria. Now, going back years, Lebanon has been the unfortunate staging area for other nations' agendas, including those of the United States and also Iran.
[Keilar:] This is the body of Esteban Robles Espinoza, Mexico City's top anti-kidnapping police official. Somebody shot him dead this morning outside of his home. That is two high-ranking cop killings in just two days and the latest in a string of grisly violence. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Mexico City. Harris, what can you tell us?
[Harris Whitbeck, Cnn Correspondent:] Brianna, Mexico's secretary of public security says that the recent killings of high-level police officers indicate that the drug cartels have been hurt and are retaliating. And he's referred specifically to military and police actions taken against the Sinaloa drug cartel, which operates in northern Mexico and transports drugs through Mexico and from Mexico into the United States. The latest killing, the one you mentioned, occurred this morning, was against the former head of the Mexico City anti-kidnapping unit. He also headed an honor and justice commission within the Mexico City Judicial Police, which is basically the equivalent to an internal affairs department. Yesterday's assassination of Edgar Millan, who was the highest- ranking federal police officer in Mexico, has sparked a lot of reaction. Mexican President Felipe Calderon called his killers cowards. The U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said publicly said in a statement that he considered Millan a hero. And he also urged U.S. lawmakers to push fourth a $500 million aid package for Mexico that would give Mexico the resources it needs to continue its fight against the drug cartels. Now, most chilling about these recent killings, Brianna, is the fact they occurred in Mexico City. To many, that indicates that the fight against the drug cartels, which is becoming more violent, is being brought into the Mexican capital and away from the northern provinces, where these drug cartels normally operate.
[Keilar:] Harris Whitbeck for in Mexico City thanks, Harris. A new cyber-scam, a lot of folks are going to get taken. And if you stick around, it will not be you. Also, how would you like to buy zero more gallons of gasoline, maybe slash your electric bill? This guy, you probably recognize him. He's got answers. Ed Begley Jr. joining us for an eco-friendly chat.