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Damage Assessment Begins After Haiti Earthquake; Red Cross Says 3 Million People Affected by Earthquake in Haiti; Obama to Make Remarks on Devastation in Haiti

Aired January 13, 2010 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. The Haiti country has been hit by a devastating earthquake; up to 3 million people are affected. In just seconds from now we're going to take you straight to the capital city and let you know what's going on as daylight now hits the country.

Also, nations are pledging aid. You can see all of it right there. But will the people in the disaster zone be able to get that aid fast enough? That is one of the questions this morning.

And also, an incredible story, the last flight out of Haiti. What frightened passengers saw on the ground as they took off well after the quake hit??

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WIDNY JUSSOME, PASSENGER ON FLIGHT 1908: Everybody was shock -- shocking like thinking that we were going to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND JOSEPH, HAITIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: It is a major catastrophe for Haiti. We have gone through all this before. I'm quite sure that the Haitian people, courageous as they are, will come out of it in unity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The sun is up in Haiti now and we will be getting the very first daylight images of the devastation. Rescue efforts happening right now after a major earthquake hit Haiti late yesterday afternoon.

It was centered near Port-au-Prince and caused massive damage, not only in the capital city but elsewhere as you would imagine. As many as two million of Haiti's nine million people live in Port-au- Prince.

The head of the United Nations mission in Haiti is missing at this hour. The U.N. headquarters there is one of the many buildings that have collapsed. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says rescue crews are trying to get to survivors that are stuck in the rubble.

The U.S. Coast Guard assessing the damage from the air right now to see if it's even safe for the arrival of American disaster teams. And just minutes ago the White House announced President Obama will talk about the devastation in Haiti. That will be coming your way at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. We, of course, will carry that for you.

Meanwhile, we have several crews in the air on the way to Haiti right now to bring you the very latest from the ground. Our Ivan Watson is in the Dominican Republic though right now waiting to get in to Haiti. Ivan is joining us live by telephone.

Ivan, that is the case for many people, in fact, being stuck where you are.

IVAN WATSON CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hi, Heidi. I'm at an air strip in the Dominican Republic which was not affected by this earthquake. And here, there's been some confusion about permission to get into Haiti, permission whether or not it's possible to land helicopters or planes there yet.

We're watching the United Nations helicopter here that's a transport helicopter that I believe they're United Nations peacekeepers that have been filling with emergency supplies.

And a lot of questions here. You have emergency workers desperate to try to get in and some Haitians as well. I spoke with a police officer who is trying to get permission to fly in. He says it's his duty to be serving on the ground there at this time of crisis. Heidi?

COLLINS: Ivan, is there difficulty with the planes being able to get in because of what has happened to the ground? Or what more can you tell us about why it's so tough other than the obvious here?

WATSON: Well, I think there is some confusion about whether or not planes would have permission to land at Port-au-Prince airport. That's what we were told. They were ready to fly in on chartered helicopters.

The capability was there but it seemed like there was some confusion as to whether there was an authority on the ground that would authorize these helicopters to land from a neighboring country.

COLLINS: Yes, it seems so ridiculous to be hearing about whether or not, you know, aid would be authorized to come in at a point like this.

Any idea who this person is or what agency this might be?

WATSON: Well, I think at this point it now looks -- we're actually getting taken over to a charter plane that we're hoping to fly into Port-au-Prince. So it does seem like there has been some movement. But certainly in the first hours of this day and after daybreak, several hours of confusion trying to (INAUDIBLE) and trying to figure out whether it's possible to land planes in or not. Again, there is a United Nations helicopter here that's been loaded with rescue supplies. We of course know that the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters in Port-au-Prince was hit hard by this earthquake.

COLLINS: Yes.

WATSON: And presumably peacekeepers trying to send in some emergency supplies perhaps for their own personnel.

COLLINS: Understood. All right, Ivan Watson, waiting to get into the country, along with many other people and certainly by way of aid. That is one of the challenges this morning.

Ivan Watson, we appreciate that. We'll stay in touch with you, of course.

Also we are just getting word now from the White House that President Obama may be giving his statement a little bit earlier than we had first expected. First we thought 10:00. Now we're looking more at 9:30. Of course, whenever that event happens we will bring it to you live.

Meanwhile, now, this earthquake measured 7.0. That is equal to the strength of 32 billion tons of TNT. Very hard to imagine.

Our Rob Marciano joining us now with more on the quake itself.

Hi there, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi. You know, we have the quake at 7.0. You mentioned the amount of force with that. But we also have the number of aftershocks that we've seen since.

Right now at last check about 34 of them. And this map highlights each one of those. The last couple coming in the last couple of hours measuring 4.5, 4.7. So that's certainly enough to shake things up. Certainly enough to scare people. Certainly enough to bring down maybe a structure that's been compromised with this last -- with the original quake.

All right. Let's talk more about what's going on here as far as the country itself, the population and I mean this really couldn't have struck in a much more worse place. I mean the fault line itself pretty much goes right through Port-au-Prince. So it's not that surprising.

Matter of fact there have been a number of scientists over the past few years who said, you know what? They're way well overdue. And one professor out of Havana even said that, you know, they're due for a big one, and soon. And certainly that has come to fruition.

All right, 7.0. Here's the island itself. Let's zoom in a little bit to the epicenter, which is about 10-12 miles southwest of the capital itself. In a very mountainous terrain. The other issue with this has been the depth of the shaking or the depth of the center of this.

And that makes a huge, huge difference. Here's a graphical presentation of the shaking that you would incur if it was an earthquake that was, say, 100 miles deep and the shaking that you would incur with this one which was six miles deep.

And there's a big buffer zone here basically, a lot of padding between, you know, 100 miles on the surface whereas up around six miles you're right there. I mean you're shaking it pretty good. And that's why whenever we see a report come out of the USGS that has a depth of, say, 20, 30 kilometers or less, we start to get nervous.

It doesn't matter really if it's, you know, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5.

COLLINS: Right.

MARCIANO: If it's over 6 and it's pretty shallow, it's going to do some shaking. So that was one of the more alarming things with this. And of course when you have very little in the way of building code and good building structure there, pretty much a third world country.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes.

MARCIANO: You get these sort of results. I guess if there is any sort of good news spin I could give you from the weather center, weather looks fairly tranquil. For the most part, it's the dry season down there. Temperatures in the upper 80s over the next couple of days for the rescue efforts.

COLLINS: Yes, exactly. Hopefully that will help out in some way. All right, Rob, thanks so much for that. We'll check back with a little bit later on.

Meanwhile, it is very difficult, as you would imagine, getting very many pictures out of Haiti at the moment. Certainly live ones, near impossible. So people there have been sending us what they can via the Internet.

Our Josh Levs is looking through all of that for us this morning from the Haiti desk.

Josh, what do you see?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Heidi, so far that's how the world is getting the images and learning what's been going on.

COLLINS: Yes.

LEVS: As you know we have all these crews heading into there but the truth is, the Internet has been a huge source of information and images so far.

I'm at the CNN international desk right here where we're following throughout the day and throughout night absolutely every angle on this entire story and we're following every type of social media out there as well.

Let's go straight to these pictures. I want to start -- what I want to do is sit on these pictures for a second. Let's take a look at this first one. And these are really striking images that you're going to be seeing here.

And when you take a look at this, what you're seeing is the power of the devastation. This -- OK, we're going to this video first. This video here has some images that are a little bit disturbing to some people. But this is from a woman who does some missionary work down there and has -- OK, and this one.

And she has been dealing with trying to go around amidst what's been happening in this devastation and seeing what's been around her. You know -- as we know, there are a lot of missionary efforts that take place inside Haiti and there are a lot of missionaries who are down there.

Those are some of the people that Americans are worried about right now. So this is one example from Phyllis Bass who's been doing some work down there. She went around. She saw buildings that have collapsed. She saw people screaming. She saw some things that have been very, very difficult for people to see. But obviously that's just the beginning of the devastation that we're seeing right now.

Are we going to the rest of the pictures or no? OK? I'm going to assume that we don't have those for now. So here's what we're going to do. Let me just tell everyone what we're doing throughout the day.

We -- right here at this desk we're following all the social media. And we're inviting you also to send any pictures that you have. I'll just tell you, CNN.com/Josh. Can't forget it. You also -- that picture is working. OK. Facebook and Twitter. Joshlevs@CNN.

We're following the latest images that we have for you, videos, photos, stories. Also while you're there, we're linking the "CNN Impact Your World." We know so many of you are waking up to this news and trying to figure out how can I help. CNN.com/impact is a good way to go.

Heidi, I'll be with you each other throughout the day with the absolute latest images we get from Haiti to tell you what's going on there, try to paint the clearest picture we can for you all.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes, very good. Josh, thank you.

LEVS: Thank you.

COLLINS: Tens of thousands of Americans have ties to Haiti. The State Department has now set up a number for Americans trying to get information about family members. Want to give you that number, 1- 888-407-4747. You see it there on your screen.

However, the department says you might get a recording at this point because so many people are calling. Make sure you keep on trying to get through.

Responding to a major earthquake can, of course, be a huge struggle for medical crews. And if it is an impoverished nation like Haiti, the task is even tougher. We're going to take a look at that in just a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Haiti's first lady is asking for first responder teams and search dogs. The Fairfax County, Virginia Urban Search and Rescue crew will be helping. The team responds to global disasters, even going to Haiti in 2008 after a school collapsed there.

Reporter Pamela Brown of affiliate WJLA is joining us now from the Fairfax mobilization center where the crews are getting ready to deploy.

Good morning to you. Tell us what's going on there right now.

PAMELA BROWN, WJLA REPORTER: Well, Heidi, the rescuers from right here in Fairfax County, Virginia have left the mobilization center. They are now awaiting clearance at Dulles Airport to board the plane to Haiti. They say when they arrive their mission will be to find survivors trapped underneath the rubble.

This is 1 of 2 rescue teams in the U.S. being deported to Haiti. The 72 members of this Fairfax County team have been training daily to perform rescue missions in natural disasters. They have the capability to look at structures and determine whether they're safe and secure to enter. Of course, a very important skill especially in Haiti because the infrastructure there is not as stable.

They also have canines that will go in and smell for live human scent. The team also includes physicians, engineers and communications specialists. But even with all the training, skill and preparation, members say you can never truly be prepared for this kind of devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ROHR, FAIRFAX CO. URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM: We train in a lot of different aspects of this, the physical, the emotional and the whole technical piece of it. Every time you go probably prepares yourself a little bit more but you have to prepare yourself mostly for when you arrive what you're going to see.

So I don't know that you're ever really prepared. But the fact that we're well trained and experienced I think helps us probably get over that hump just a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, this is not the first time for many of these rescuers to be deported to Haiti. Back in 2008, many of them were called over to help out after a school collapsed. But of course the scale of damage back then doesn't even compare, Heidi, to what these rescuers are going to see there today. Back to you.

COLLINS: Yes, there's no question. Hopefully they'll be able to get in right where they need to be as soon as possible.

Pamela Brown, thank you.

We want to go back to our Haiti desk now where we're getting even more pictures every minute trying to get them out to you just as soon as we get them.

CNN's Rosemary Church is joining us with that now.

Rosemary, good morning.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. You know, it is a desperate situation there in Haiti. Particularly there in the capital of Port-au-Prince whereas we saw, of course, the devastation of this magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

Now I want to just bring up a map and just show you, give you an idea on the center of this. That earthquake was centered just 15 kilometers southwest of the capital and the city of Carrefour.

Now as this stage, casualty figures are unknown but the loss of life is expected to be very high in some instances.

Now we know -- we've learned that the Red Cross estimates the disaster affected 1 in 3 Haitians. That is about three million people. And of course the ambassador to the U.S. says Haiti's first lady told him that most of the capital is in fact destroyed. And we can see that in the pictures that are coming in to us.

Also the headquarters for the U.N. mission in Haiti collapsed in that quake. We've been reporting that. And the head of the U.N. mission and his deputy are unaccounted for at this stage.

Even the National Palace -- now presumably one of the sturdier buildings in Port-au-Prince -- sustained serious damage there. Of course you've got to consider that even under good circumstances, the building standards there in Haiti are appalling in fact. So it's just devastation all around.

Now the U.N. secretary-general says he will visit Haiti as soon as it is practically possible. Ban Ki-Moon held a news conference just moments ago. Let's just listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, U.S. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Medical facilities have been inundated with injured. There is no doubt that we are facing a major humanitarian emergency and that a major relief effort will be required.

I am grateful to those countries that are sending emergency relief. I urge all members of the international community to come to Haiti's aid in this hour of need. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And certainly a desperate need, too. And you know, we -- this is our center here. This is the hub of CNN and if you look over here, we've got Christine, if we just pan over to your right there.

Christine is pulling in all of the video available from various news sources and from iReport. Those people on the ground in Haiti are sending in their own iReports, either in the form of video or in the form of pictures.

In fact, you know, we had the first idea of just how devastating this earthquake was through our reports coming in on iReport.

COLLINS: Yes.

CHURCH: So it gives you that idea, Heidi, on how we're pulling this in. Everyone here working on Haiti and of course other issues, but that is one of the main ones. We want to find out what is going on there. We want to hear from people if they're there.

They can send any information they have at Twitter. You can just send it on #haitiCNN.

COLLINS: Yes. Very good.

CHURCH: And of course iReports. We always want those. So we can get an idea. They come in here, they get screened.

COLLINS: Yes.

CHURCH: And if they can go to air, then so they will.

COLLINS: Yes. Important to point out, boy, these next 72 hours, these next few days are going to be absolutely critical in trying to get to some of these people who may still be alive and trapped and who knows what in all of this debris.

Rosemary, sure do appreciate that. We will check back with you throughout the morning. Meanwhile, want to remind you that we are aware President Obama will be coming out to make a statement today. We believe that could happen as early as 9:30 this morning. Just as soon as it happens, you will see it here live on CNN.

Meanwhile, an incredible story. The last flight out. Passengers aboard a U.S. jetliner from Haiti share the stories of horror and destruction as they take off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now to check some of the top stories that we're watching this morning.

Rescue crews are desperately trying to find survivors in the aftermath of a major earthquake in Haiti. The Red Cross says as many as three million people are affected by this quake, a 7.0. We have seen numerous collapsed buildings, including the presidential palace and the United Nations headquarters.

The leader of an al Qaeda cell is dead in Yemen. The Yemeni government says the man was killed in a clash with security forces east of the capital of Sana'a. Four other al Qaeda suspects were arrested in a separate operation in the same area.

The House Intelligence Committee meeting behind closed doors this hour looking into the attempted attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Detroit. Administration officials are testifying at that briefing. They're talking about the circumstances leading up to the incident and how the suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was able to get on to a plane bound for the United States.

Bank CEOs in the hot seat this hour on Capitol Hill. They're going before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. It's a bipartisan panel investigating the causes of the financial meltdown.

Appearing today, the heads of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. All of those companies, as you remember, took bailout money from taxpayers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The last flight out of Haiti shortly after the quake hit was American Airlines Flight 1908. Passengers arrived at Miami International Airport still in shock. They described a scene of fear and chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSSOME: Everybody was shocking, like thinking that we were going to die because the building -- the airport was like collapsing with us.

RONALD CHARLES, PASSENGER ON FLIGHT 1908: Everybody got scared. I never saw such a thing in my entire life. You know, that was like the end of the world. And, you know, it just -- you know, there is no word actually to explain that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Many of the passengers scheduled to take that American Airlines flight opted to stay behind.

Medical teams responding now to the victims of the Haitian earthquake are facing special and unique challenges.

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us from the earthquake medical update desk now.

So, Elizabeth, what do we know about the health situation there now so early on as, you know, they're just sort of trying to assess with the daylight that they have at this time. We should mention it's the same time zone so we're looking at 9:24 Eastern Time and in Haiti this morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Heidi, we just got off the phone with the International Red Cross. And they said that they're on their way. But having dealt with many situations like this, they said this is what they anticipate.

Obviously, a high number of injuries due to crushing, people caught under the rubble, caught in the concrete, and they said it is not too late to try to rescue those people but after a couple of days, it does become too late.

The other category or problems that they are looking at are infectious diseases. During a hurricane, the sanitation system is wiped out. The sewage system is wiped out. So what they're worried about is that in the days and weeks to come they're going to see a huge number of cases of infectious disease.

We're talking diseases like, for example, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, dengue fever, measles. That is a huge concern.

Now, Heidi, since it is so difficult to get information out of Haiti, one of the things that we're asking is that, folks, if you know anything about the health situation there, send me a twit, I'm at elizcohenCNN on Twitter.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. And Elizabeth, unfortunately, it's certainly something that rescue crews are going to have to be thinking about right off the bat, these issues of sanitation.

It is certain that we are going to be seeing dead bodies here. So clearly they have to think about this simultaneously with a rescue mission.

COHEN: That's right. And that's obviously a very delicate situation to talk about. There's a common myth, I'm told, by the Red Cross that dead bodies are a public health threat. And they said, you know what? It's a myth. Dead bodies are not a public health threat.

Obviously you don't want dead bodies sort of, you know, lying there. You want to bury the dead as quickly as you can. But they said as long as people aren't touching a body that's contaminated with an infectious disease that people would be OK. They don't cause a threat unless you touch them and unless the body is infected.

So I think that's important to get out there because I think people think of dead bodies as a huge threat.

COLLINS: Yes. Just so hopeful it's not going to be what many of us are fearing in all of this. Really amazing that we don't have any type of estimation at this point, even this far after the original event. It kind of highlights how bad it could be.

And we will continue to follow this story very, very closely trying to get some of those numbers which I'm sure will change throughout the morning. Very quickly, Elizabeth, what about the situation of hospitals? Are we getting any word on whether or not some of those structures are still standing?

COHEN: You know, we're told this is a very bad situation, Heidi. At least one of the major hospitals we're told was badly, badly damaged. It may not be accepting new patients or any patients at all.

So this is a very difficult situation. The Red Cross folks say that they hope to get there tonight and that the first thing they're going to do is try to build up what they call a rapid deployment hospital.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: But that hospital will only have 20 beds. As you can imagine, that's a tiny fraction probably of the number of beds that they're going to need.

COLLINS: No question about it. Elizabeth, we know you'll be there all morning. Thanks so much.

So getting the aid is not the problem. Getting the aid to the people who need it certainly could be. We are checking on efforts to be sure supply planes can actually land in Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Rescue efforts underway right now in Haiti. People there had to wait for first light of course to see just how much damage was done by this major earthquake, 7.0. Many buildings collapsed including the presidential palace. The Red Cross says as many as three million people are affected. The quake did the most damage to the capital, Port-au-Prince, home to about two million people.

We are awaiting remarks this morning from President Obama on the devastation in Haiti. It's expected next hour. We are hearing a lot of different times about this. We want to assure you that just as soon as we get the president, we will be putting him live on television.

Going to Suzanne Malveaux in fact for the very latest on what we can expect to hear from President Obama.

Suzanne, good morning to you.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Heidi. Well, White House aides are telling me that that address by the president in the diplomatic reception room is going to happen between 10:00 and 10:15 or so. It is going to be a brief statement.

But essentially what aides have been telling me this morning since the early morning is that the president of course has been getting many, many briefings on this, as early as 7:15 this morning. He was with his national security team, the homeland security national operations center to be specific about what kind of coordinated and aggressive effort can the U.S. government be involved with Haiti to make sure that people are in fact reached in a timely manner, that time is of the essence.

He also talked with his national security advisor getting two memos this morning essentially an update in terms of what all these different departments are doing, how they are coordinating their effort. It was late last night, Heidi, about 10:00 in the Situation Room, they had a very high-level meeting. This involves departments of State, Defense, the Coast Guard, Homeland Security, US Aid, you name it, all of them sitting down trying to figure out how to mobilize and move things as quickly as possible.

Senior administration officials say the priorities of course are helping the Haitian people, also to help with the recovery effort to find missing Americans. They know that there are Americans who have also been impacted by this as well and then to try to coordinate the State Department, as well as the Red Cross and getting donations that Americans might want to make to people who are in Haiti or Haitian Americans themselves so that all these pieces come together. The President, senior officials know, that really time is very, very important, getting there as quickly as possible, mobilizing. This President says he is going to do a very concerted effort to do just that, Heidi.

COLLINS: Suzanne, any idea at this point of whether or not the president will be giving the order for the hospital ship, the "USS Comfort" to get in place? I know that they are standing by.

MALVEAUX: Right. That's absolutely right. They are standing by we understand. It's going to take perhaps as many as five days for that ship to move and actually get into place. He is working with the Pentagon, working with the Defense Department to make sure that all of these things are happening.

We don't know whether or not he has given that order for that specific ship that acts as a hospital to get there. But we do know that there is a Coast Guard cutter forward that has already arrived in Haiti, that they're already -- the State Department has been making various moves. They've reached out to the ambassador there in Haiti, that the president has talked to the ambassador about the things that are needed and things that are needed right away.

So we should be getting more information, more details about whether or not that's part of this whole big picture operation -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Very good. We'll be watching.

Suzanne, thank you.

Meanwhile, great time now for us to talk more about the State Department. The U.S. is sending humanitarian aid to Haiti but we are hearing reports that the Port-au-Prince airport control tower has collapsed. So will the people who desperately need this help be able to get it as quickly as possible? Our CNN foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is at the State Department this morning with the very latest on how the U.S. is trying to help in all of this -- Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, a very important thing on the airport. We're told just a few minutes ago by PJ Crowley, the spokesman for the State Department, that the Coast Guard has been carrying out reconnaissance flights looking specifically at that airport and it does appear to be functioning. In fact, that report that the tower collapsed he said is not correct. The tower is still there. The tarmac is in good shape and there is electric.

So those are all very good pieces of news. And then based on that, that means that these teams, these DART teams, as they're called, Disaster Assistance Response Teams, can now begin to go in. Those are the teams that have dogs, they have equipment, they have expert personnel who can really get in there and begin to help the people who need immediate help.

Other information from PJ Crowley -- there are an amazing number of American citizens -- 40,000 to 45,000 Americans there. So far, no reports of any confirmed deaths. There are some injured and we're told that there are about a dozen, which includes U.S. citizens and members of the embassy staff who are now at the embassy and they are being treated.

They do think those numbers are going to go up through the day. And then finally on the ships, Coast Guard ships are on their way. We are also told by the State Department on the "Comfort" hospital ship, that the staff are now being recalled. They're being brought back to the ship and prepared to be taking off.

Finally you know, this whole effort as we've been saying has to be carefully coordinated among all of these government agencies and the chairman of the joint chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, says that this is really an all-out effort. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. MICHAEL MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The United States is going to do all we can to help. We've worked throughout the night to figure out how we can do that and do it as rapidly as possible. An awful lot of people working in that direction right now. I know there are also significant international efforts and all those will be greatly appreciated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: Yeah. So again at the State Department, there is a task force that's meeting right here really around the clock basis up on the seventh floor. We'll be getting a briefing from them in another 1 1/2 hours or so. We'll be back to you obviously with a lot more information throughout the day.

COLLINS: Jill, just a couple of things. It is so difficult in coordinating all of this, as we just heard from Admiral Mullen. But the fact of the matter is, the clock is ticking and people are likely dying so you have to wonder how quickly the rescuers can get in. Back to your point about the control tower. Is anyone telling you whether or not that control tower is actually necessary for these planes to be able to land?

DOUGHERTY: I think you'd have to coordinate the planes coming in. So some type of functioning tower will have to be there. Interestingly, the U.S. ambassador himself went out to the airport and assessed what was going on and PJ Crowley told us that the ambassador actually saw a plane landing. So again, some good news on the airport.

On the teams, there's a team that's coming in, the DART teams, they are search and rescue. There is one team that's already coming in that afternoon, early this afternoon from Costa Rica. Later the team from Fairfax, Virginia will be coming in and then also that LA, Los Angeles, team is expected to be coming in tomorrow morning. So they should be on their way and they're going to speed that up if they can.

COLLINS: Very good. Jill Dougherty, thanks so much from the State Department this morning.

The U.N. World Food Programme regularly feeds more than a million people in Haiti and is planning on sending more food aid in the wake of this earthquake.

Agency spokeswoman Bettina Luescher is joining us now live from New York with the very latest. Bettina, good morning to you.

Can you give us an update as to what's happening here?

BETTINA LUESCHER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Yes. We are launching -- the world food program is launching a massive aid operation. We're mobilizing all of our teams. One team already has gone into the Dominican Republic.

We're gearing up for a massive aid operation. What we are doing is a plane full of these high-energy biscuits is leaving from El Salvador either to Haiti directly or if we cannot land there, then into the Dominican Republic. These high-energy biscuits feed a person for a day, has all the nutrients. So we're shipping in as a very first step here enough food for 30,000 people for a week. But that's just the very initial step.

With some three million people, according to the first estimates affected by this disaster, huge amounts of food will have to be brought in. We do have of course food stocks on the ground. We have some concern that people are so desperate that there might be looting, but we really need a lot. And if people want to help, I urge you to go to our website wfp.org and make a donation. You can make really a difference today.

COLLINS: So I want to back up real quickly Bettina. The bars that you show which will inevitably be very helpful in all of this so far have only made their way in to Santo Domingo. So what are you hearing about actually getting them all the way in to where they are needed?

How will they get there?

LUESCHER: They would get -- what we are trying to find out is just as we were just discussing earlier, the question is whether we can land on the air strip in Port-au-Prince. If we can get in there, we do it that way. If not we go into the neighboring country, the Dominican Republic. We are mobilizing a huge logistical operation.

The World Food Programme not only does food aid, but we also support all of our U.N. partners and the other NGOs in logistical work and in IT equipment. So from the Dominican Republic we either use trucks or ships or helicopters to get food in to Port-au-Prince. We have more than 200 aide workers on a regular basis already on the ground in Haiti and of course they have lost their homes. Our office building at the U.N. compound was apparently the only one that is still standing.

COLLINS: So you've been able to speak with most of your employees and you've been able to contact them as to their well being?

LUESCHER: It's very, very hard to contact them. But as far as we have heard, all of our staff are accounted for. There might have been some injuries but we count our blessings there. Those people are ready to help their countrymen and to help the people of Haiti and just remember, you know, Haiti has barely recovered from these devastating three hurricanes and a tropical storm in September of 2008. Malnutrition rates, every fourth child on Haiti is malnourished. Those people need help and you can help.

COLLINS: And it is urgent, that is for certain. Bettina Luescher, we sure do appreciate it from the world food program this morning. Thank you and thanks for the work that you do.

Want to give you fast facts on Haiti now. About nine million people live there according to numbers from July of last year. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Eighty percent of the population lives under the poverty line. And more than half the population lives on less than $1 a day. Haiti's already limited infrastructure was further damaged as we were just talking about in 2008 when four tropical storms hit the island nation. Haiti also suffers from high crime and widespread disease. Our information comes from the CIA and State Department websites.

The United Nations mission rocked by the earthquake. Their headquarters collapsed. Workers trapped inside.

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COLLINS: Devastation and despair in Haiti this morning after that massive earthquake. It collapsed several government buildings, including the presidential palace. But the Haitian ambassador to the United States says the first family is safe. He talked about what's going on there earlier on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND JOSEPH, HAITIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.ITED STATES: We talked with the first lady of Haiti last night, at least our consulate general in Miami did and she said that she was all right and the president was all right and most government officials were all right because this thing happened after hours and most of the government buildings that have collapsed, collapsed after the employees were out.

The bad news is that she said most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed and she's calling for some help in the form of a hospital ship off the coast of Port-au-Prince just in the same way that the United States had helped us in 2008 after four hurricanes hit Haiti in three weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Well, the headquarters of the United Nations Mission in Haiti is among the buildings that have collapsed in this earthquake. Rescuers sifting through the rubble now to find survivors and the U.N. Secretary-General held a briefing last hour to update the situation there.

CNN's senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth joining us now live from New York with more on this -- hi Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. This could be one of the worst days ever for the United Nations, let alone the people of Haiti and what they are going through. The United Nations saying that as many as five people killed at the U.N. Peacekeeping compound that had been pulled out. Some others injured.

But there are at least 100 people missing, including, according to the U.N. Secretary-General, Hedi Annabi (ph), the leader of the United Nations Mission on Haiti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Mr. Annabi was having a visit with the visiting Chinese delegation. Unfortunately as of now we are not able to have any confirmation about the safety of Mr. Annabi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: The U.N. building was a former hotel constructed in the 1960s, reportedly enforced with concrete. The building has collapsed. The U.N. peacekeepers overnight formed a cordon around the building, began a massive rescue operation. U.N. Secretary-General Ban says he fears there are hundreds, maybe thousands dead in Haiti.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: All right, Richard, thanks so much for that. We'll continue to check in with you as well. For now though, we want to get to one of the most incredible stories that we have already heard coming out of Haiti and that is this passenger jet; American Airlines Flight 1908 that apparently took-off from Haiti about an hour and a half or so after the quake hit. We have a passenger from that flight available to us now.

Mr. Omar Dakwala is on the line. Mr. Dakwala, thanks so much for being with us. How are you doing this morning?

OMAR DAKWALA, AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGER (via telephone): Yes, I'm doing ok but it's just like after seeing all of these things live over there I was at the Haiti Airport and like, you know, just getting back, you know.

COLLINS: Well, I can only imagine what you must have left behind. Were you already on the tarmac when this happened or maybe run us through a little bit about how the events took place.

DAKWALA: Yes, I was at the airport and like first of all, like I was staying at the Hotel Montana which already collapsed.

COLLINS: Yes.

DAKWALA: And like I left from the hotel around like 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon and I think this happened at 5:00 p.m. the hotel collapsed. And then like I was at the airport and they started the boarding for the flight around 4:45 and, just before 5:00 this thing happened and like we were having like almost 50-plus passengers already on the plane and I was waiting on my group to be boarding the plane and this thing happened. There was a lot of running around, here and there, up and down and like screaming and like the ceiling fall down.

COLLINS: So did they tell you -- Mr. Dakwala, to get on the plane?

DAKWALA: Yes. It was just general normal boarding the way it is and like, you know, while it was boarding and then this thing happened. But like after this thing happened, like they just make some of the people that are already there and then they just started running around. Then when -- actually this thing happened, before I even board the plane.

COLLINS: Understood. So once you got on the plane and when all of this was going on, what did you, what did you feel?

DAKWALA: Yes, I feel bad for the people who just run away and went outside the building of the airport. This was a full flight though. I think it was 250 passengers or so, on the plane and like we end up taking like 50 or 70 passengers only. You know? And other people who left the building outside the airport, they were not able to come back because everybody was worried that like the building will collapse and the airport will fall down.

And I posted some of the pictures on the web site also on the CNN and like that's the picture I took of all the tower and the building and all these things at the airport.

But we were just like close to the plane, because they even let the people out again from the plane and then like we were standing outside on the ground near the plane and I felt aftershocks and all those things while I was standing near the plane, farther away from the plane, you know.

COLLINS: What was the mood on that plane?

DAKWALA: Well, everybody was scared because like it just happened and for 30, 40 seconds nobody even know and nobody even realize what is happening. So everybody was thinking like something got stuck to the plane and when we were on the bridge we thought like the plane came into the bridge. And I was just under the impression that the big plane was going to land and it just went very low from the bridge (INAUDIBLE) , that's why it happened. But like after all we just came to learn it was an earthquake, you know.

COLLINS: Yes. So were you able to tell us anything about what you saw as you were taking off?

DAKWALA: Yes, I saw the ceiling came down, the railings got broken. On the walls there were so many cracks and then like on the tower, all the screen of the actual tower were broken. And then, like...

COLLINS: So you did not see Mr. Dakwala the tower, the control tower collapse at any time?

DAKWALA: Well, it didn't collapse, it was still there. But like while this thing happened, I was on the bridge before I boarded the plane.

COLLINS: Understood.

DAKWALA: But then afterwards, I went on the other side where they were boarding, you know and then like they make us go down on the runway side, you know.

COLLINS: Understood. All right, Mr. Dakwala, we appreciate your story this morning and certainly thinking about you. You have family still back in Haiti?

DAKWALA: Yes, I do have family but like I was out of communication and everything. And while I came back on this flight to Miami, I call home and then like, then, I learned how bad this earthquake was and that Hotel Montana where I lived also collapsed then there were several other people...

COLLINS: Is your family ok, sir?

DAKWALA: Yes, yes, they are ok.

COLLINS: All right, Omar Dakwala, again, I certainly do appreciate your story this morning. A passenger on that American Airlines Flight 1908, incredible, incredible story. All around them are crumbling buildings and desperate rescue efforts; now, survivor accounts and images of the devastation in Haiti.

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COLLINS: Our focus this morning, the devastation in Haiti. CNN covering all of the angles, we have correspondents pretty much everywhere for this.

First we want to get to Jill Dougherty now at the State Department. Hi, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, the U.S. is sending search and rescue teams into Haiti to get help to the people who need it as soon as possible.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Today a lot of earthquake talk, of course. We'll break down, give you some perspective when the last time this has happened, why this place is so active and talk about the people that were raising the red flag just a few years ago saying this was going to be the spot where the next big one happened. That's next hour.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Injuries, infectious disease, devastated hospitals; what rescue workers expect to see when they reach Haiti. I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta and I'll have that at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks, everybody.

Also rushing to Haiti's side, supporters of an organization that's been working to improve the lives of Haitians for nearly 15 years. Its director is going to joining us coming up in the newsroom.

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COLLINS: Quickly want to remind you that we are awaiting President Barack Obama to give comments in a statement regarding the earthquake in Haiti. We are expecting that pretty much any moment between now and about 10:15. That's the estimation. So when it happens, we of course will bring it to you live directly.