The U.S. says it will not abandon Myanmar victims

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The United States will keep pushing efforts to get emergency supplies to victims of the Myanmar cyclone, despite being rebuffed by the nation's military junta, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday.

"The U.N. came out with a recent estimate that there are still … about a million people in need of assistance ... we are not going to abandon those ... people," according to McCormack.

Myanmar leaders did grant permission for U.S. planes to deliver aid, a total of 106 plane-loads of supplies, worth some $33 million.

But the United States never received permission to distribute aid directly to the storm victims, raising questions about whether some of the assistance went astray.