Thousands Dead in Cyclone in Burma
KEILAR: A monster cyclone hits halfway around the world, and the death and devastation are staggering. Our T.J. Holmes is tracking the story from our international desk. T.J., what can you tell us?</s>T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there. This is always a busy place, as we know, Brianna, around the international desk. But specifically today a lot of talk over here about Myanmar and the cyclone that hit, specifically this section here. This is where a lot of the work has been coming in. And a lot of the information has been coming in about this, up to 10,000. This really threw us off, all of us, really. We were watching this storm over the weekend, and we heard about hundreds being killed. And then just this morning it jumped to 4,000. And now we're being told up to 10,000 people could be dead in this thing in Myanmar. Certainly, the deadliest natural disaster to hit there in recent history. The capital there, Yangon, got hit for more than ten hours, really, on Friday night and also into Saturday. Twenty inches of rain dumped there. Look at some of these pictures you're seeing here. It sank boats in the Yangon Harbor, shut down the airport. Roofs coming off houses, bridges washed out, uprooted trees, you name it. Just a disaster there. Here's some of the daytime pictures you're seeing, as well. Myanmar, you don't maybe hear about it that much in the news, day in and day out. However, it may sound familiar to you, because it was in the news in a major way just last year. It's known as Burma there, and it's under military rule. Been that way since a coup in 1962. But thousands of students and Buddhist monks took to the streets last August to protest that military government there, known as the military junta. It responded with a violent crackdown there. You might remember some of the pictures of monks being arrested. Ten protesters are killed as well. Back to this disaster we're dealing with here now. We're getting information -- tough to get a lot of information out, but a lot of it is coming online. We've got a Web site we've been keeping an eye on, called the Democratic Voice of Burma. Burma also what Myanmar is known by. The government opposition Web site here, it's talking about phones being down, difficult to get independent accounts of the casualty numbers and damage that's going on. Whole towns, according to this Web site, have been washed away. And little details like this, saying that the zoo was badly damaged and that animals are pretty much running amok, is how they describe it. And also something we've been hearing today, is how the price of fuel, the price of food has just shot up. According to this Web site, water there will cost you about $90, $90 U.S. a bottle. Also gas costing about $1,200, U.S. dollars for a gallon of gas. Some of the quotes we're getting from this Web site we can tell you about here. People that are dialing into this particular Web site, talking about "We're facing drinking water problems. Now people are buying water from fire engines. The prices for food and drinks have gone up. The price of rice has gone beyond 30 kyat for a bag." Also, another one here we have for you, saying that "The tin roof of every house is overturned. We are in trouble. We have nowhere to stay. We have no water. We have no electricity. Every household is in trouble." And finally here, one more here we can show you, from this Web site, again, this opposition party Web site, saying that "Electricity won't come within 10 to 15 days. People are starving. Fuel is becoming scarce. If international help doesn't come this week or within a week it will be impossible to survive." So we have this major disaster, talking about 10,000 possibly dead. But it could get worse, and more could be killed if relief does not come. I do have an update I can give you. Here are folks on the international desk, have been giving to me. Now there are some relief agencies there in Myanmar, but they have very limited supplies and they have very small operations. Doctors Without Borders is there. The Red Cross is there. They are working on the ground right now. But those supplies are going to run out and run out fast, given the need that is happening there. So the word here from our international desk is that the -- Thailand is going to be sending supplies. It's the first country that's going to send a wave of supplies, first foreign country. And those supplies hopefully will get there very soon. But they are going to be sending the first wave of supplies to arrive. The major issues they have, Brianna, right now, three, it's three-fold: shelter, water, and medical supplies. Well, the shelter is going to be sent through plastic sheets and blankets for people to cover up. The water, purification tablets also in those medical packs. So the relief is coming, Thailand the first to get on. And also, we hear, Brianna, that Laura Bush is going to be making a statement about this crisis, humanitarian crisis, coming up from the White House around 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Laura Bush has been outspoken about some of the protests and the rule there of the military junta there. So she has been quite involved in what's happening in Myanmar, or Burma, again, as it's traditionally known as. So we expect to hear from her at 3 p.m. -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: That's right. Unusually outspoken, she has been, about what happened in Myanmar recently. Thank you, T.J. Holmes at the international desk.</s>HOLMES: All right.</s>LEMON: All right. And you heard now -- you heard T.J. talk about aid and aid organizations going over to help in Myanmar. The U.N. and private aid agencies rush to prepare assistance for victims of the devastating cyclone in Myanmar. And one of those agencies is UNICEF. Joining us now is Patrick McCormick. He is a spokesman for UNICEF. You have to wait for government approval. I understand you have gotten it. It is not official yet, but you have the paperwork, and you are moving to get teams into place to go help.</s>PATRICK MCCORMICK, SPOKESMAN, UNICEF: Yes, we understand there's been a formal request for assistance from U.N. agencies. So we're taking that as a green light and we're going ahead.</s>LEMON: We're hearing that you're working with other agencies, including the Red Cross. And as I understand, you have about five teams -- am I correct -- that are going to go into Myanmar to distribute this aid?</s>MCCORMICK: We have five teams already going around the country taking a look at the damage and what needs to be done. We pretty much know what we need to get out there, as soon as possible. I think you mentioned it before, it's shelter, water. There's a desperate shortage of drinking water. And medicines. And it needs to get there very, very soon, especially for the children which -- who are always the most vulnerable in these situations.</s>LEMON: Yes. You are used -- obviously, your organization is used to dealing with these sort of things. And I mean, we heard them talk about how much drinking water costs now. It is at a premium. There is no food. There's no shelter. And people can't even talk by phone. The cell phones are down. You're saying that, of course, the children need to get food and water. But explain to us, going into a situation like this, what you're prepared for and what you're prepared to see on the ground. Ten thousand people, that's a lot of deaths.</s>MCCORMICK: Yes, 10,000 people dead. And many, many more affected. And you know, I think this is going to be at least as big as the cyclone that hit Bangladesh. And in Bangladesh we got a lot of help from the governments. We used their helicopters, which we're going to need this time -- that's for sure -- because the roads and access routes in Myanmar are very difficult at the best of times.</s>LEMON: What can people, if people are watching here on CNN and they're thinking, "Well, maybe I'd like to do something or there's nothing that I can do in this situation. I'm so far removed from it." What would you recommend that they do, Mr. McCormick?</s>MCCORMICK: They should get in touch with us U.S. Funds for UNICEF, and I don't have the number on me. I rushed to the studio. But they can Google it. Or I think it's on this CNN Impact Web site.</s>LEMON: OK.</s>MCCORMICK: And that's where they should go.</s>LEMON: All right. Just explain to us what your folks, your representatives on the ground, are they reporting back to you what they're seeing?</s>MCCORMICK: Absolutely. Yes, we've been in -- I don't know how many telephone calls I've already had. We can get through on some lines. They keep dropping. But we're in constant touch with them.</s>LEMON: What are they saying?</s>MCCORMICK: They've saying, well, they've never seen anything like it. The devastation -- you can see the pictures -- is widespread. And you can imagine what it's like for the hundreds and thousands of families who are living amongst uprooted trees, maybe cold, getting hungry. The children are scared. And we need to help these people as soon as possible.</s>LEMON: Yes, OK. Yes, that sort of describes it for us. Patrick McCormick from UNICEF, thank you very much. And we wish you very best of luck there and, of course, always appreciate UNICEF helping out around the world.</s>MCCORMICK: Thank you.</s>LEMON: Well, less than 24 hours until the polls open in North Carolina and in Indiana. Who has the momentum heading into tomorrow's crucial Democratic primaries? Our roundtable will crunch the latest numbers for you. A look ahead this tight Democratic race.