who for so many of them have lost everything, loved ones, their homes, they come here carrying whatever they have left. they re getting off vessels bringing them here to cebu. for those with family and friends around the country, they ll be sent there. those with no relatives will be put up in evacuation centers around the city. these people are broken. you know, they are shell shocked, they are depressed. those that we spoke to said they have no idea how they re going to rebuild their lives. that s obviously where aid agencies and the filipino government will make a step up and assist these people putting the pieces back together. what is the explanation from the government? a few days ago, it was reported that that road from the airport had been cleared and that the airport was functional. there are clinics close to the airport. why is this taking so long? reporter: yeah, the aid operation has taken a ridiculous
in. it s operating 24 hours a day. and there are signs that the philippine government operation, which had seemed to be just gridlocked, is finally itself starting to get up to speed. some real hope. the security situation, which isn t great and will of course have to take into account of that when the u.s. brings aid in, is starting to stabilize, according to the philippine government, with more police and army getting in there. for the first time there, is some hope, but this aid operation, a massive operation, is starting to step up. that will be very good news for the tens of thousands of people in such desperate need, ari. all right. ian williams, stay safe. thank you for your reporting. two life terms and five years. that is the sentence for reputed boston mob boss whitey bulger. testifi he was implicated in 11 killings and a string of other charges. the 84-year-old called his trial a sham and declined to testify here or at his sentencing. the judge today called bulger s
has the uss george washington arrived there yet? reporter: well, crucially the uss george washington has now arrived off the coast of the philippines with 80 aircraft on board, 5,000 personnel. it will give an enormous boost to an aid operation which has been all but gridlocked over recent days. crucially this massive ship has the ability to purify 100,000 gallons of water every day, and it will provide a platform for helicopters to go on search and rescue operations across the area, also to deliver much needed supplies. already the u.s. has 300 marines on the ground. that will soon be boosted to over 1,000. the runway, a crucial hub for aid, has been extended and is now also under 24 hour operation. so finally this effort is being stepped up and that will be welcome news in those devastated
will help in structuring aid this time? yeah, i think to me, the most vivid memory of the tsunami, which we see the pictures, is nowadays, you see how houses have been swept away, and often the only thing that s left are the kitchen floors, the tiles. nothing else is there. where families, you know, had spent their days together, now everything is gone. and i think that is to me the horrible memory of when i look and compare. i think we ve learned huge lessons of how we coordinate, how we operate, how we really bring everybody together, and let me explain how that works. we run for the u.n. a responding to strategic places around the world asia, africa, latin america, and we ve mobilized our folks in malaysia and in dubai, and they were flying in everything that you need to do an aid operation. for example, one thing is we have these high-energy biscuits
and you ll see more and more people dying. that s right. and with torrential downpours periodically we were caught in here, if you can imagine there s no shelter for these people when the rains come storming in. now, it s interesting that andrew stephens was saying hey, we think the lights will come on at the airport at that broken city and it can be a 24-hour aid operation. but look behind me here. this c-130 philippine air force transport plane is not flying right now because the air force at this base which is the main logistical hub for moving aid to that broken city of tacloban, they are only flyinging there from dawn till dusk saying the lights haven t been turned on and they can t make these critical aid deliveries. now, when the planes come back, we ve seen them met on the tarmac by ambulances carrying some of the wounded evacuees from the storm zone. i asked an air force spokesman