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CNN Larry King Live

Haiti in Crisis

Aired January 13, 2010 - 21:00   ET

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

LARRY KING, HOST: We are, of course, around the clock with coverage of this tragedy in Haiti.

With us in the studio here in Los Angeles is the lovely Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon. She's a Haitian-born actress who was born in Haiti and has family in Haiti. She'll be with us throughout the program and joining us. When signals go down, we'll cut into her and we'll talk with her at length later.

Joining us right now off the top is Bob Poff. Bob is with the Salvation Army. He's divisional director of disaster services in Haiti. He was driving when the earthquake struck. He comes to us via Skype.

Where were you, Bob, and what happened?

What did you observe?

BOB POFF, SALVATION ARMY, EARTHQUAKE WITNESS: Well, I was -- I was driving down the mountain from Petionville to Port-au-Prince when the -- when the truck I was driving began to just wrench sideways violently. And I -- I couldn't figure out what was happening. I -- I thought I had been hit by another vehicle. I thought I was being rocked by rioters. I really didn't know what was happening. And -- and then when it stopped, I realized that this was an earthquake. I was not expecting an earthquake in Haiti.

And -- but as I looked at my window, I saw then these buildings -- all the buildings, all the homes just pancaking down one on top of the other on top of the other. And as I looked in the rearview mirror, I could see buildings -- the ripple effect. They were just going down, down, down and great clouds of dust and -- and smoke.

And then, of course, great crowds of -- of people coming from everywhere, choking and bleeding and crying and -- and panicked and confused. And it was a horrible scene. It was an absolutely horrible scene. We -- we loaded as many as we could into the back of our truck and took them down the hill -- down the mountain to -- to get some medical assistance. But it was a very, very difficult situation to be in.

KING: You're watching a special edition of LARRY KING LIVE, as we are around the clock on this, of course.

Bob Poff is with the Salvation Army. All right. You're in the truck. You're going down the hill. You're experiencing it and observing it. You're also divisional director of disaster services.

Do you immediately spring into action?

POFF: Yes. Absolutely. The first thing I did when I -- when I collected my wits was to jump out of the truck and try to assess the situation, to see what was going on around us, to see how bad this was. I couldn't determine if this was a sort of a localized explosion. And, again, I really wasn't exactly clear.

But, immediately, it became clear to me the traffic was blocked. The cars were every which way. And -- and the destruction and devastation was everywhere. It was all around. And then immediately, I knew that this was going to be my first sort of baptism by fire with the disaster services in -- in Haiti.

KING: How many members of the Salvation Army are there and how are they doing?

POFF: The Salvation Army has a very large footprint in Haiti. In Haiti overall, we have 63 core community centers. We have that many commissioned officers. We have 49 schools with 10,000 students enrolled in those schools, 400 teachers.

So we have a large footprint in -- in Haiti. And we're in the process right now of trying to assess where everyone is and what their condition is. Because communication is so poor, we -- we -- it's a slow process. But we have teams of people who are working on trying to identify the whereabouts of every staff person and -- and every teacher and -- and every family that is affiliated with the organization.

KING: And where are you and what is your condition?

POFF: Well, we are in the center of Port-au-Prince. It's called Delmadeaux (ph) which is sort of a -- frankly, a very poor area of Port-au-Prince not too far from the palace. We are living outside because no one can live inside a building. No buildings here are safe. And Major Lamartiniere, who is standing beside me, is the national commander for the Salvation Army in Haiti. And his home was destroyed. And, in a moment, I think he's going to share that story with you. He was in the home when it was destroyed.

My home was also destroyed. I just didn't happen to be in it at the time.

But -- so we are all -- we're all without many things here. But -- but we're not without hope and we're not without God's love. And for right now, that's going to get us through.

KING: Can the major hear me, Bob?

POFF: Yes, he can.

MAJ. LUCIEN LAMARTINIERE, NATIONAL COMMANDER, SALVATION ARMY: Yes, I do.

KING: All right.

Major, thank you for being with us.

LAMARTINIERE: Yes, I can hear you.

KING: How -- how close did you come to dying?

LAMARTINIERE: Yes. I was in my office at the time when I left to go home with my wife. But God was there, because she asked me to take her somewhere. And then I will get back to take her home.

I did.

When I get home, after about five minutes, I heard something, the -- the clock in the (INAUDIBLE). I tried to go out and the door was closed. It was locked. But when the earthquake put the hole down, the hole (INAUDIBLE) to go outside.

I find (INAUDIBLE) people who kept me so the house was completely cut out. So God was there (INAUDIBLE) that I could be inside it now. And my wife was still out.

When I see that, I go back to see where she is, because I see many houses collapsed in the neighborhood. When I get to where she was, they told me she's safe. But she has only (INAUDIBLE). When they get home -- when she get home, she see our house is collapsed and she didn't see me. She thought that I was inside. She (INAUDIBLE) starts crying and...

KING: Wow!

LAMARTINIERE: ...after some minutes, I get back with the (INAUDIBLE) a miracle.

KING: You're not kidding.

Bob Poff and Major Lucien Lamartiniere of the Salvation Army.

Let's go to CNN correspondent Ivan Watson in Port-au-Prince.

When did you arrive there -- Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just this morning, Larry. And it's a -- it's a dark and tense night here. The power grid's down. The city is mostly dark. And as you heard from those gentlemen, people are out on the streets. They're afraid to go into their homes tonight. Behind me, there are hundreds -- perhaps thousands of people sleeping in a square; some of them singing, clapping, chanting, praying tonight. And they're very worried about the aftershocks that periodically hit this area.

And if you need they sign of how scary this is and -- and what a catastrophe this has been for the city, just take a look at this exclusive video that we acquired today. Let's take a moment. This was shot just moments after the earthquake hit Port-au-Prince. It was filmed by a missionary that we met at the airport who was trying to get out of the country. Let's take a few moments to see these really disturbing images of the shock and horror in the immediate moments after that earthquake struck.

KING: The earthquake lasted a very short time, right?

WATSON: Yes, about 30 seconds. And now -- now the city is still just beginning to dig out from under the rubble. And I have to say, Larry, it's pretty overwhelming to see the amount of people wounded, to see people carrying their mothers, their loved ones on doors, trying to find some medical clinic to treat them after the wounds they received in the collapse yesterday; to see people laying on sidewalks outside of medical clinics waiting for hours for some kind of treatment for these wounds. And when people die, there is nobody to collect the bodies. So they are literally stacking up on the sidewalks. The rescue services here -- the medical services here are completely overwhelmed -- Larry.

KING: Ivan, stay with us.

We'll probably come right back to you.

I'd like to remind you how to help people who are desperately in need. Our Web site is CNN.com/larryking and you can link to various charities there. You choose where you'd like your money to go. And as Bill Clinton said earlier, money is the most important thing you can send right now.

As we go to break, here's more of what Ivan Watson saw in Haiti today. And we warn you now, these are powerful images.

We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And her leg is broken and she's been -- you've been -- and she's been here since last night waiting for treatment. And she's not the only one. If we come and take a look over here, there are more wounded people and even the corpse of a small child who could not get treatment. And it is just overwhelming to see, over here, the bodies of at least 13 people stacked up on the sidewalk right outside.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Let's go back to Port-au-Prince.

We're joined by Anderson Cooper. Last time he was with us, he was in the confines of comfortable studios in New York. Now he's in a completely different situation.

The prime minister told CNN earlier today that hundreds of thousands -- Anderson, may be dead.

Do you read into that? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know, I -- I -- I don't know about that. It's -- it's hard to predict. I'm not sure how he can come up with a figure like that. You know, all of us who have been here today, you know, at a certain point, just stopped counting the bodies. You know, I stopped at around 30 or 35. I know others have seen more than that. And that's in just the space of a few hours.

But -- but how that corresponds -- I mean, Port-au-Prince is a city of two million people. I know in a city some 40 kilometers from here, they didn't feel much from this quake and didn't suffer much damage. So how much -- how many people within the area of Port-au- Prince have been killed, at this point, is just not known.

And, Larry, there's an awful lot of people trapped underneath rubble right now and we are still seeing people being pulled out alive. I saw a little girl 13 years old today pulled out alive after being trapped for 18 hours. It was an incredibly dramatic moment -- a moment of sheer joy. And then she was put on a seat right next to four bodies, one of whom was her aunt. So there's joy mixed with sadness and there was sadness on every street corner, Larry, on every block.

KING: How, in your opinion, is the government doing?

COOPER: To be honest, I mean, you don't see much Haitian government presence. That's really nothing new in this country. This country -- the people here don't really expect much from their government. It's a sad statement of -- of the history of this land. But you don't see government bulldozers out clearing roads or -- or you don't see government search and rescue teams, because I don't think they really have them.

I've seen a few Haitian police vehicles driving swiftly through the streets. I'm not sure where they're going, but they're not stopping in the places that I was, where people were being -- were digging, you know, their -- their friends and their family members out with their bare hands. People are using shovels. They're using chisels. They're using whatever they -- they have.

But as for heavy earth-moving equipment, which is what's needed, and rescue teams, which is what's needed, and body recovery teams, which is what's needed, we're not seeing that. And that's going to be up to the international community, because, clearly, the Haitian government is not capable of providing those kind of -- kind of services.

KING: Anderson, you're our man in tragic, desperate situations.

I guess it's tough to rank these, but where do you put this one?

COOPER: This is unlike -- I've never been so close to the epicenter of a major earthquake like this in such a short amount of time. I mean, as you said, we got on a flight last night at 1:00 a.m. and, you know, we were here by, I don't know, you know, 10:00 in the morning or 11:00 in the morning and we've been out in Port-au-Prince all day.

And just to see downtown Port-au-Prince -- which is a city I know well, a city I love -- you know, to see the National Cathedral destroyed, to see the presidential palace -- the front of it just collapsed, to see so many blocks just decimated and -- and so many people just standing around and not sure where to go or what to do. They can't go back in their homes because they're afraid of these aftershocks.

And they're often standing by the bodies of their loved ones, because they don't want to abandon their loved ones and yet there's no place to take their loved ones. The hospitals are -- are far away and few and far between. And they're overwhelmed as it is.

So it is a -- it's a desperate situation. And, you know, until we start to see some major, you know, international involvement here, there's not going be much of a solution because, as I said, the Haitian government clearly is just not up to -- up to the task. And right now, it's the -- the Haitian people -- the people of Port-au- Prince who are saving one another.

KING: And physically, what -- how are you set up?

How do -- how do the reporters operate in this atmosphere?

COOPER: You know, you try to get here as quickly as you can. And CNN has a -- has a great team and a lot of experience. This is what we do best. So we have support people, we have satellite engineers who have just come in. We've just gotten this satellite dish up. You know, our main priority is getting electricity, getting a generator so we can broadcast, so we can edit our -- our stories. We've been doing that for the last several hours.

We've had our teams out all day long just talking to people, documenting what is happening here, bearing witness to what is happening here, because the Haitian people want the world to know. You know, people will sometimes take you over to the corpse of a loved one and they'll lift off the shroud because they want you to see who that -- who that person was and they want you to know what is happening here. And -- and you hear that, you know, on every street you go to.

People -- people are desperate to get the word out about what is going on here, because what is going on here is a tragedy on a scale which we rarely see in the modern world.

KING: You'll be hosting "A.C. 360," of course, at the top of the hour.

We may check back with you before that.

Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: Larry, thanks.

KING: We have more incredible, exclusive images from Haiti. This is tough to watch. And while the pictures of people in distress may be disturbing, we want to show you the full impact of the tragedy. I know it's tough for you, Garcelle.

We'll be back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us now by beeper from Port-au-Prince is Giles Corbert Charleston. He moved to Port-au-Prince from the United States last July.

What took you from this country to that country, Giles?

GILES CORBERT CHARLESTON, EARTHQUAKE WITNESS: I decided to move to Haiti because I think it was the right time to get involved into helping and providing my contribution to a renewal -- a transformation of the country. I've lived in the States for over 20 years now. And I think it was the right opportunity, the right time. There were a lot of things going on that seemed right for me and for the involvement to make a difference.

And I think as a Haitian American, I've been living abroad, it's important that we take seriously the opportunity that we need to come back home and give our share to take the country and provide our assistance to help it move forward.

KING: What do you do there?

CHARLESTON: I am presently working for a microfinance institution and I'm the chief information officer.

KING: Now, can you say, after the events of the last two days, you're glad you went back?

CHARLESTON: That's a very interesting question. I think -- someone else actually -- one of our sponsors from the States actually asked me the same question when -- while we were in the office yesterday and we were feeling the tremors, if I felt it was probably better to be in Maryland.

And what I answered to her was actually home is where your heart is and where your family is. So I think I -- I enjoy being here and I'm not regretting the decision. I knew when the decision was being taken there are a lot of consequences. There are a lot of unknowns and uncertainties and a lot of -- a lot of unpredictables.

However, you know, we have to understand that we have to shape our future. We have to shape our involvement. By helping and participating, that's one way to make that difference. I don't think, you know, we need to always feel comfortable and that's the only way to -- to be able to be satisfied and feeling that we can be helpful.

KING: (INAUDIBLE).

CHARLESTON: We have to sometimes get out of our comfort zone.

KING: Yes.

CHARLESTON: So, to me, that's one of the things that was significant. I'm a -- I like to take challenges. And I felt Haiti is a very challenging place...

KING: Oh...

CHARLESTON: ...as I'm sure you know. And I think I -- I can be helpful. And that's why I'm here.

KING: Giles, how is your family and how is your residence?

CHARLESTON: My family is fine. Actually, the kids are here. They're lying here on the floor. There's a lot of periodic aftershocks, as was mentioned earlier by Watson and I think Mr. Anderson Cooper.

So far, the house hasn't been as damaged as others. So I've been fortunate and blessed.

But I cannot say the same for others. A lot of people have been -- have been hurt. I took the liberty of going down through the middle of town today and through Delmas. And there are a lot of corpses all over the floor, the street and sidewalks. And I think it's unfortunate there's -- this disaster is of cataclysmic proportions. You know, it's been 200 years since we've had a -- a major earthquake like this one.

So I think the response has not as swift and prompt, as it should have been, even at the local level. We should have had some basic coordination, cohesion and coherence of what needed to be done to assist the people -- you know, shelters and at least basic information on what to do, getting basic clean water to people and something to eat. And it's unfortunate...

KING: Well, Giles...

CHARLESTON: ...you know, we've had many in -- many instances to (INAUDIBLE)...

KING: ...you hang tough...

CHARLESTON: ...for.

KING: And we'll be checking back with you again.

Giles Corbert Charleston.

Quite a story.

Back to Port-au-Prince and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent; also a practicing neurosurgeon.

Did you hear gunshots in the last hour?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we did, Larry. We're in front of this plaza area over here. And just -- just as we were getting ready to do some live shots earlier, we heard about 12 gunshots over a period of a few minutes. And that -- and we turned off our lights. You know, there's not a lot of light in this area, so we wanted to make sure that we weren't a target.

But, yes, you know, there -- there is -- there is sort of this sense that, you know, people are going from having been stunned over the last day, which was sort of the mood that I felt when I first got here, to people are sort of becoming a little bit more anxious. There's a little bit more energy, a little bit more violence in the air, Larry. And I think that's what was sort of precipitating this.

KING: OK. You're an expert on health system.

What's the -- what's the state right now, from your perspective, of Haiti's health system infrastructure?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I have to tell you, there's two -- there's two things sort of that go into answering that question.

First of all, sort of where Haiti started. As you know -- and I know other people have pointed out -- this was a country that is very impoverished -- the most impoverished in the Western Hemisphere. And everything is affected by that, including the health infrastructure. They do have hospitals in this area, but they don't always have the resources. They don't always have the supplies. And that's in the best of times for Haiti, Larry.

Now you add to this, this -- this issue with the earthquake and what it's done specifically, it's closed down roads. It's made it -- made it harder to get supplies from the airport to the hospitals. And that's if you can even get the patients to the hospitals.

So it's -- it's a really, really difficult situation. You know, in medicine, Larry, we -- we talk about this thing where we have preventable deaths -- people are in the situation where they have been injured dramatically by the earthquake, but they could still be saved. And those are the critical patients. Those are the patients, you know, the health care system is designed to try and treat.

The problem is, they're just not able to get to these patients right now because of lack of roads, lack of electricity and the hospitals themselves have been so damaged by what's happened here over the last 24 hours.

KING: What is the most common medical problem?

GUPTA: Well, you know, with this earthquake, we see there's lots of trauma, obviously, from things like crush injuries, you know, from the earthquake itself. There's also lots of penetrating trauma. You know, you have lots of sharp objects that were moved about quickly as a result of the violent movement of the earthquake. You also have a lot of burns, which is something maybe you don't expect. But a lot of homes, for example, have gas cans in the homes and those gas cans sort of exploded, causing burns, as well. You know, Larry, it's -- I've never been in a situation this quickly after a disaster has unfolded. I -- I saw the earthquake in Pakistan, but I was there a couple weeks after the earthquake occurred.

What's so striking right now is that you have patients who have these terrible crush injuries, who, you know, probably were in the streets, you know, two or three hours after the earthquake. And as a result of that severe crush, they -- they -- they had a lot of protein in their blood and it led to kidney failure. And that -- that's what's leading to their demise.

So they have the initial -- the initial acts, the initial problem and now you have all these preventable deaths that are occurring even today and -- and, I'm sure, in the days to come.

KING: You always wear two hats. You're there as a journalist.

Are you also aiding medically?

GUPTA: You know, I've been asked already a couple of times, you know, with the -- right when I, you know, got to the airport, there was a woman who had a terrible head injury and the family came over. They -- they knew that I was a neurosurgeon and asked if I would take a look at her head. She had a terrible skull fracture. They wanted to fly her out, but they were unsure if she could fly.

Yes is the answer. You know, Larry, this is a -- it's a -- it's a -- it's a thin line sometimes between medicine and media and what I do. But, as you know, Larry -- you and I have talked about this -- I'm a doctor first. And so...

KING: Yes.

GUPTA: ...you know, there -- there is a need down here, a need for lots of different medical care. And I think I would help, as would anybody.

KING: He's a one-of-a-kind and we are fortunate to have him.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks.

For the up to the minute information about the disaster in Haiti, go to CNN.com/larryking. You can follow CNN reporters on the ground around the clock and link to their Twitter accounts. Yes, you can do that and lots more, too -- like send money.

We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: In a couple of minutes we'll be joined by Ben Stiller, the famed actor, who will join Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon in our studios to discuss Haiti. But joining us now in New York, Ted Turner, the founder and chairman of the United Nations Foundation, and Timothy Worth, the former United States senator, president of the foundation. The foundation has made a one million dollar donation to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund. Much money is still needed. What are you going to say to people, Ted? What should they do about this?

TED TURNER, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, UNITED NATIONS FUND: Do what they can. That's what we decided to do this morning. It's a terrible tragedy in a part of the world where they don't have a lot in the way of resources. So it really is helpful for Americans to help out.

(CROSS TALK)

KING: What is the foundation doing?

TIMOTHY WORTH, PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS FUND: The foundation -- our job is to help the UN And the UN and the United States government together are the major coordinators for this kind of humanitarian disaster around the world. Both of them, they have the capability. And the UN operates on voluntary contributions. And so we're very involved in that.

The website is UNFoundation.org for people who want to contribute. This is the best kind of coordination. The UN and the US work very closely together, as I think your earlier discussions with President Clinton suggests. It's pulling people together. It's the communications. It's the health. It's all the things you've heard about. It has to be operated centrally and it has to be funded.

KING: Ted, have you been to Haiti?

TURNER: I have not. I've been to Jamaica, the Bahamas.

KING: Senator, have you been there?

WORTH: I've been there a number of times. I've been there many times, yes, over the last 30 years. The size of this tragedy is just enormous. These people are so resilient. They put up with just about everything. You would think the plague and locusts are going to happen next.

This is a culture that's very deep, very strong, just incredibly appealing, these very, very strong people. They just get hammered again and again and again, right off of our shore, 90 miles away. I think we have a special obligation in the United States in this situation to help out.

KING: Ted, the foundation also supports the immediate deployment of two emergency response teams, providing communications, enabling relief. You have teams in the field already?

WORTH: One of the things that we really focused on in helping, Larry, is to be able to stand up communications very quickly. There's a communications group. You've heard of Medecins Sans Frontieres. It's like that for communications, and very, very important, so people can understand what's going on elsewhere. It makes a tremendous amount of difference. Obviously, given our history of where Ted came from, and the background of the foundation, the communications area has been very important to us. We've helped the u.N. Invest in that along with people from around the world.

KING: Ted, it is grand seeing you again. We can do nothing but salute you and Tim for the work you do at the UN Foundation. Thanks for being with us.

TURNER: Thanks, Larry, it's a pleasure.

WORTH: Thanks for doing all this programming, Larry. It's great. Thanks. Have a good evening.

KING: We're on top of it, as you all know. We'll talk with Ben Stiller and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us now here in the studio is Garcelle Beauvais- Nilon, the Haitian-born actress, and Ben Stiller, the actor, director and philanthropist, who has recently launched the Stiller Strong Campaign to raise money for a school in Haiti.

Garcelle, you've been watching this for the past 40 minutes. This must be hard for you to take.

GARCELLE BEAUVAIS-NILON, HAITIAN ACTRESS: It's really to take. It's really hard to watch. I mean, seeing the one picture of the baby covered, because they couldn't get to it, I just -- those are my people. Those faces are my family. And it's the one place --

KING: You came here when you were how old?

BEAUVAIS-NILON: I was seven. I was seven when I came to the states. My mother was brilliant, as she was, brought to us the states to give us a better life. Boy did she. I've been back a few times. It's amazing. This is the country that deserves this the less -- not that anybody deserves it. But we are resilient and we are proud. Even if we have nothing, we are very, very proud. It's unfortunate. It's devastating.

KING: Ben, what got you involved in Haiti?

BEN STILLER, ACTOR: I went down with a trip with Save the Children in July. You know, I was just affected by the level of poverty that was going on there. First of all, it's such a juxtaposition, because you go down to Port-Au-Prince. It's an incredible city, and the culture, the music, the art. You go to the Hotel Oliffson (ph) and hear Richard Morris, who now has been Tweeting from the Hotel Oliffson, constantly giving on the ground reports of what's going on there. You're just taken with that culture.

And then in juxtaposition with this incredible poverty that people are living in, before this happened. and what they dealt with in 2008 with four hurricanes. It's --

KING: You started to say --

STILLER: We went to a school in Severine (ph), in the central plateau and decided to raise money to build an addition and make it sustainable.

KING: This must be terribly painful for you to watch.

STILLER: The hotel that we stayed in, the Hotel Montana, is gone. It's leveled. I met a man named John Marie Roger (ph), who worked for Save the Children, who I haven't heard from. We've been trying to reach. I don't know if he's alive or not. We visited schools in Cite Sole (ph), a densely packed slum, where already the living conditions are horrible. I don't know what's happened to those people.

I met a man named Pierre Simon (ph) at Timco Tech School up in Petronville (ph) -- again, who knows what's happened to these people. They're amazing people, because they are working so hard against such adversity.

KING: You guys are with us the rest of the way. Let's check in to Port-Au-Prince with Chris Lawrence, our CNN -- he's our Pentagon correspondent. What's the security situation there?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Larry, earlier we got a chance to talk to the chief of police for the entire nation of Haiti. He was very, very concerned about security. In fact, he told us one of the biggest problems was the damage that was sustained to the main penitentiary here in Haiti. He said, basically, that the inmates were just allowed to go free. They ran away as the roof literally started sliding down.

When he talked to us just a few hours ago, he told us that those inmates were still out there. They were not able to apprehend them. They're basically up to their necks in other work. He made an urgent plea to other law enforcement agencies, other militaries nearby and around the world. He told us flat out -- Larry, he said we need help down here. We don't have the manpower to secure this entire nation with everything that's gone on here.

KING: Hang on, Chris. Speaking of kicking in, the New York Yankees are among the men pitching in, donating a half a million dollars to relief efforts in Haiti. The Yankee baseball club; we salute the Steinbrenners for doing that.

Do you want to help people desperately in need? Go to CNN.com/LarryKing and you can link to various charities. You choose where you'd like your money to go.

Back with Ben and Garcelle and others after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Garcelle and Ben will be back with us. Let's go to New York now to Tatiana Lubin. Her father Alex, her younger Henry, her younger sister Alexandra, are all missing in Haiti. Joseph Felix, he is her uncle. Her father is his brother. He's trying to help her locate missing family members. Louis Champaign is the brother and his father, Louis, is missing. Also joining us with them is Tea Leoni, the famed actress and Unicef ambassador. Tatiana, What have you heard from your family, if anything?

TATIANA LUBIN, FAMILY MISSING IN HAITI: I haven't heard anything at all. I've been calling since last night. No answer. My father's cell phone just goes to voice mail. I've been calling some friends, and they heard from one or two family members. I'm asking if they can -- their family members can go somewhere and try to see if they could find my dad and my little sister and my little brother.

But, due to no communication, it's very difficult. There is no answer. I've been -- I mean, any efforts I've been trying has just failed.

KING: Joseph, the same with you?

JOSEPH FELIX, FAMILY MISSING IN HAITI: Yes. Actually, I started just before I came over. I started sending text messages over to Haiti, because I found out that people from Haiti are sending text over. I started doing that. And I'm hoping to get a message. I sent two text messages to my brother. And I have other friends.

And, actually, I just came back from Haiti last week. I was going to stay but my mother didn't want me to stay. She's 87 years old. She wanted me to come back. So I came back and now this happens.

KING: Louis, what efforts are you taking?

LOUIS CHAMPAIGN, FAMILY MISSING IN HAITI: We've been the same. We've been calling my father. He was due to fly in today from Port- Au-prince to Miami, Florida. We've been trying to contact him by cell, by homeland phone. There's no communication. Nobody has heard anything. Nobody can hear anything. Just zero efforts. We haven't heard anything.

KING: These are the multi-tragedies of this tragedy. Tea, what does Unicef do?

TEA LEONI, UNICEF AMBASSADOR: We're fortunate to hear that all 100 Unicef staffers who are in country down in Haiti have all been accounted for. It's difficult to hear a lot of our partners down there, Doctors Without Borders and members of the UN, are still missing. We have relocated an emergency center in the Dominican Republic. And I would say maybe the only good news I've heard yet -- it's a bit of luck that there was a boat of supplies from Unicef from Copenhagen on its way to Haiti and it will get there tomorrow. This was obviously sent prior to the earthquake. And it is maybe our first small bit of good news.

KING: Can you do anything to help this family that's with you?

LEONI: I think I would say I'm about as poised as anybody else out there. Right now, I think more than in any other crisis that we've seen, this situation is extraordinarily desperate. I think back on the tsunami, and the relief efforts there, and at that time, given the infrastructure of those countries and that area of the world, we were able to stave off what is potentially a very devastating second wave of effects.

Port-Au-Prince is a very densely populated area. And I think we have to understand, all of us, that there is absolutely no moment to wait. Funds need to come in now.

KING: Tatiana, our prayers are with you. We will stay on top of this. We will keep in constant search. Any help that our CNN correspondents can be while they're there, we will offer to you.

LUBIN: Thank you.

KING: Good luck to you. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

KING: Garcelle, you have relatives there?

BEAUVAIS-NILON: We have family we haven't been able to contact, too, cousins. We have Evi (ph), Francois, Stanley Francois. Anybody knows anything, we don't -- we have no contact. We spoke to my brother-in-law through e-mail yesterday. We got an e-mail and he was in the car. He said it sounded like a bomb went off. It was just that loud.

KING: The worst is not knowing, isn't it?

BEAUVAIS-NILON: The worst is not knowing, absolutely.

KING: Ben, you were going to tell us about another area?

STILLER: Yes, well, Jacquesmel (ph), which is about 20 miles south of Port-Au-Prince.

KING: Is that a resort?

STILLER: Yes, it's a resort town.

BEAUVAIS-NILON: It is beautiful there.

STILLER: It is a beautiful place. And I just got e-mailed some pictures. I don't know if we can put them up or not.

KING: Couldn't get them through to Washington? We will get them on tomorrow.

STILLER: Coincidentally, a friend of mine has been trying to adopt two children for about two years from Haiti. And she was just down there at the orphanage, which I'm happy to report is doing OK. It is the Village of Hope Orphanage. And -- but she had these pictures of Jacquesmel that she was showing me a couple days ago. And today, I just got emailed pictures basically of the same area. And it's horrible. It is just this beautiful colonial architecture and people, you know, are as affected down there. So -- I think that is important. KING: You question faith in all of this?

BEAUVAIS-NILON: You have -- in a way, you do. I mean, you don't understand, especially a place like Haiti. We've been hit so hard by lots --

KING: Why?

BEAUVAIS-NILON: Why would this happen? Why would it happen? I don't know.

STILLER: Anybody you talk to who spent any time down there really talks about the resiliency of the people.

KING: Would you go back now, Ben?

STILLER: I will definitely go back. You know, I think it is also important to note that President Obama reacted very swiftly and decisively with -- in terms of a relief effort. And it is going to be a long-term relief effort. And it's a very difficult time in terms of where we are domestically. We are fighting a war. And I think we have to get behind that.

KING: More moments after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Missing people is a big story. Let's first check with Maryse Jean-Louis. Her cousin, Merje (ph), her sister, Claudelle, her sister's son, Harrison, were stuck in that earthquake. Have you heard anything from them, Maurice?

MARYSE JEAN-LOUIS, FAMILY MISSING IN HAITI: No, I have not. My mother actually spoke with and my other relatives spoke with Milet. Milet Henry (ph), that's the older lady, spoke with her yesterday morning, actually, around 10:00. She is from Boston. She went down there to visit her house in Port-Au-Prince, which is located Domas 75 in Port-Au-Prince. And they tried to calling her later and nothing, blank.

And I haven't heard from Claudelle at all.

KING: We will get the names to our correspondents. And anything to do with help we will be.

Let's also go to Leeds, England. This guy drove three hours to be with us, and we have such short time left. He is Jozy Altidor, Haitian-American pro soccer player, Parents born and raised in Haiti, emigrated to the United States. You were born in the United States?

JOZY ALTIDOR, HAITIAN-AMERICAN SOCCER PLAYER: Yeah, I was born in new jersey, Larry.

KING: Who's missing, Jozy?

ALTIDOR: We have -- on my mother's side, we have two of my uncles and four of our -- four of my cousins on my father's side. Until this point, we still haven't heard from them.

KING: How have you tried to reach them?

ALTIDOR: We have tried phone. We have tried, you know, text messages, Skype, Internet, everything. Until this point, we have been unfortunate to do that. And we have our fingers crossed that everything is OK with them.

KING: If I can throw in a word for you, don't never give up hope in a situation like this, because they are finding people every day. Every minute, they find people. So, never give up hope. And we hope to get back to you tomorrow. In fact, we hope by tomorrow, you find them. Thank you.

ALTIDOR: We hope so, too. Thank you, Larry.

KING: We are all backed up here. And Garcelle, want to add anything?

BEAUVAIS-NILON: Yes, I want people to give anything they can. I know is a tough times for the United States. But give anything, Red Cross, Oxfam. Anything you can do would really be helpful.

STILLER: Can I throw in something, Larry? You can just text Haiti to 90999, and that will be a direct 10 dollar donation off your phone bill.

KING: Say that again.

STILLER: Text Haiti to 90999 and that is a direct donation to the Red Cross. They have already raised about 1.7 million dollars over the last 24 hours. It's making a huge difference. Anybody I talk to, Unicef, says this is what they need right now. President Clinton was talking about it earlier on CNN. They need the cash.

KING: Just text Haiti, 90999 and you donate 10 dollars?

STILLER: Yep.

KING: Thank you Ben. Thank you, Garcelle. CNN, of course, all over this story, on the air, online, on Twitter. Follow our correspondents and the latest from Haiti 24 hours a day at CNN.com. Now it's Anderson Cooper and "AC 360." Anderson?