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Doctors Providing Aid for Haiti's Injured; U.N. Worker Freed from Debris
Aired January 14, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Just unbelievable pictures. You know, getting survivors out, getting relief supplies in, the window to save lives in Haiti is really shrinking. So much to show you, to cover over the next couple of hours, including -- including those survivors' stories.
Plus, with all that chaos, all the desperation, you have to wonder, how do you protect the supplies and, really, how do you protect the suppliers? We're going to talk to an expert about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARMO JOVEER, ESTONIAN U.N. SECURITY OFFICER: I lost the footing. And I was staying (ph). I was laying on the floor. I was there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you never lost hope? How was it being there trapped all that time?
JOVEER: It wasn't good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were there any people alive?
JOVEER: No. No. There was no one around me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Imagine being stuck under all that rubble. That is just one -- one survivor's story. A U.N. security adviser from Estonia, minutes after he was pulled out of that rubble. He was one of the very fortunate ones. At least 22 U.N. peacekeepers and officers were killed in that quake.
And, of course, now we're seeing the aftermath of that quake. But here's the quake when it first hit Tuesday afternoon. The video's from a security camera in Port-au-Prince. Take a look at it. This is what a 7.0 earthquake looks like. I want you to check out how the camera's shaking up and down right there. Kind of shows you how suddenly people's fate can change, within just a matter of seconds.
And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- he's our chief medical correspondent -- of course, he is Haiti. He is only on CNN, the correspondent here. And he is also a doctor.
And right now, Haiti needs doctors. They really need doctors. And I want to show you some video that shows Dr. Gupta responding to an emergency request to care for a 15-month-old baby girl. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She is moving all four extremities. Hi, sweetie. Hi, sweetie. Hi. How old is she?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen days.
GUPTA: Good. Do we have any antibiotics or any medications at all? Did she get any antibiotics? Where is the father? Antibiotics? Nothing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't look like I do, Sanjay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, nothing. Nothing.
GUPTA: OK. She's going to need some antibiotics. We're going to need to redress this wound. Let's go ahead and do that. Get that and that. So, this is a -- this is what's happening out here in the streets of Port-au-Prince. We are seeing a 15-day-old baby, who was in the earthquake. Yes, let me have you hold that for a second. Can you wrap it? Can you...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How tight do you want me to wrap it?
GUPTA: not very tight. Enough to hold it on there. And down to her ears, and underneath the ears. Yep. And across the forehead. Good. Good. OK. Go ahead and cut that. And the two little metal things, go ahead -- I'll hold this here. And then pull those, give it some -- some tightness, yes, some stretch. Pull it on to there. Yes. Perfect. One more or just one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.
GUPTA: OK. So, she has no -- no skull fracture. She does have a big laceration that we're giving her the antibiotics, but she does not appear to have a head injury.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That's our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, of course, a doctor himself. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been in Haiti shortly after this tragic incident happened. We want to go now to him live on the ground.
Dr. Gupta, we just saw you caring for a 15-month-old baby. They need doctors' help. They need all the help they can get down there.
GUPTA: I've never seen anything like what I'm seeing now, what I'm going to try and show you as well, Don. I've been asking this question for a while now. How are any of these patients, how are the people going to get any sort of medical care? What's happening to all the bodies, as well? We are at a hospital, one of the few hospitals that are still working, if you can call it that. I don't know, Don, if you can get a sense of just how many patients there are out here. These are a lot of family members waiting, patients inside. And then, Don, about every few minutes or so, they come out with a big white tarp, where they bring another body out.
And they literally, this truck over here, Don, it's tough to even show you this, but this truck over here, the back of that truck, is filled with bodies. They are putting the bodies into that truck, and then they're going to take the bodies off to a -- I don't know, some sort of ground, I guess, and try and bury these bodies. And they're not being identified.
It's a very tragic -- look right over here, Don. I'm not going to stay on this image too long, but you have four guys who have doing nothing but what I'm showing you right now, which is to take these bodies -- can we walk over here, maybe, and show exactly what happens here? Because this is the reality of what's going on.
There is this dump truck over here. They're literally putting the body in the dump truck, and that dump truck is going to lift up here. The body's going in there, just like that. It's very...
LEMON: That's our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, today. And I said, a 15-month-old baby girl. Actually, it's a 15- day-old baby girl that he has been caring for. We're going to try to get Dr. Sanjay Gupta's audio corrected.
Of course, the pictures here coming in. You can imagine, there is no electricity there, and cell-phone service, of course, is out. Our correspondents are having to use satellite phones, and you can just see, trying to get the satellites in and out there is very tough. As soon as we can get Dr. Gupta back.
But as Dr. Gupta said, Dr. Gupta has covered many, many stories. He's been to war zones. He covered Katrina, hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He said this is really one of the worst things that he has ever seen even as a doctor. So we'll get right back to the ground right there.
Want to also tell you that the White House briefing is going on right now. We are monitoring that situation. Of course, the president has promised help, and also the secretary of state said the full force of the United States with aid, going to help out. We're monitoring that, as it's going on right now. Any news out of that we'll bring that to you, as well.
And one plea for help has been answered. A U.N. worker pulled -- pulled out alive from beneath a mound of rubble, but thousands more still missing there. And you can see it is just chaos on the streets.
And for rescue crews, really, the work is just beginning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Of course, there's so much destruction, so many lives feared lost under all that rubble, but as rescue teams trickle in from around the world, there are so many stories of survival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Imagine, they're applauding. Imagine how he feels. That is 35-year-old Tarmo Joveer. He's a security officer. He is throwing his fists into the air, as you saw there. He's able to walk, and that's with a few helpful hands, of course. He is walking off the mountain of crumbled concrete that was once the United Nations -- United Nations headquarters there.
Around him members of Virginia's Fairfax County Urban Search-and- Rescue Team. They spent five -- five hours digging Joveer out after locating him with listening devices and a search camera.
The U.N. secretary-general called that rescue a small miracle. But 18 U.N. peacekeepers and four international police officers are confirmed dead in that collapse. More than 100 employees are still missing, and one member of one elite search team, search-and-rescue team at the leveled building says he has never seen destruction like this, ever.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM GRAY, FAIRFAX COUNTY URBAN SEARCH & RESCUE: It's the worst I've seen. And obviously, it's -- it was pretty nice to be able to find somebody that was -- we were able to help. Unfortunate that couldn't get to everybody we can. But we're going to keep trying and keep -- keep working while we're here. This is the first of many people that we can help over the next couple weeks.
QUESTION: From your short exposure here over the last two days and the debris and the numbers that apparently have lost their lives here, how -- how tough a situation are groups like you and search and rescue facing?
GRAY: I think the most -- just seeing the devastation. I think the toughest part is just how bad we feel for the people in the country that we're here to help. That's some of the toughest part. And that's what makes us work as hard as we can to try to do what we can to help.
QUESTION: You may only get to a few dozen, save people, and there could be tens of thousands dead. Does it really matter in the end what the numbers are of successes for you folks?
GRAY: I think it always matters to the people's families, no matter who it is, whether it's 1 or 100. We're going to try to save one person at a time. And each person that we save, goes back to their families, is a success. QUESTION: What's your reaction to the devastation you've seen here? And how much work do you have cut out for you?
GRAY: A lot of work to do here. A lot of work to do. And hopefully, when we get to move on to the next place, we'll be able to work some more, and keep on working, until -- until there's no more work to do.
QUESTION: On the way here, I mean, what did you -- what was your reaction to seeing this total devastation?
GRAY: That hopefully, we'd be able to fix as many people as we can. Help them out. Honestly, it's an incredible amount of devastation and incredible amount of people that will probably lose their lives here, and honestly, the hardest part is to know how many people that aren't going to be able to be saved.
QUESTION: And seeing that devastation, are you optimistic?
GRAY: Always try to be optimistic, always. Absolutely, until -- until we have to go home. We'll keep on trying the whole time.
QUESTION: You said this is the worst you've seen, the worst this building, or just what you've seen since you got -- since you got here?
GRAY: Since we've gotten here, yes, correct. Our team's been all over the world.
QUESTION: Right, right.
GRAY: But as far as since we got here, we've been working through the night, and once day broke, it definitely was a little bit more obvious on how -- on how bad it was.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Rescuers, doing some incredible work there on the scene in Haiti.
At least 19 countries, including the United States, Ireland, China, the U.K. and Brazil, have pledged manpower; also pledged supplies and financial aid, as well.
We're getting a lot of iReports from people in Haiti, and we're going to tell you what they have to say.
Plus, don't make a bad situation worse. If you want to help, the FBI doesn't want you to get scammed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, when the electricity goes out and when the phones go out, people can always get online. At CNN here we're getting a lot of iReports from people inside Haiti who have witnessed the devastation there firsthand. Let's go now to our Josh Levs. He's been monitoring all this.
Josh, you have more for us. What do you have?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do, yes. In fact, what I'm going to be showing you now is the latest that we're getting from iReporting, including a video that's been put together with some photos here. Let's get straight to that, actually. I want you to see this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a hospital. We have a lot of people in the E.R. home. That's why they just told me, and yesterday inside Haiti.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: I'll tell you what we're seeing. This is Louis St. German, who's an iReporter. He's in Lakai (ph), Haiti, which is toward the southwest part of that country there. And he, as one who lives there, he took his own camera. He went and he saw wounded people. Some of this is very difficult to look at, but it's also, you know, very striking, coming from someone who is there, who knows some of these people, who works with some of these people and is now seeing people that are in his community, people in his world, suddenly left with nothing. Struggling.
He has been one of our iReporters, Don, who has been sending us a great deal.
Now, something else we're getting is a vigil. I have some pictures for you here from New York, and this is something that took place last night, of this vigil of Haitians who gathered in New York. And we're told this was, I believe, in Flatbush. And they got together.
This is from another one of our iReporters, Julio Ortiz Tusioner (ph), who went there and took some really moving, really stunning photos of people in pain, worried about loved ones in Haiti. Worried about their country, where they came from.
LEMON: There are lots of Haitian-Americans in many U.S. cities, but especially so in New York City.
LEVS: That's right.
LEMON: And, you know, these are the images that we're seeing. Of course, heart-wrenching and people there, of course, worried about the people in their home, or maybe their former home of Haiti, some of their relatives.
But also a lot of people, Josh, they want to help.
LEVS: Right.
LEMON: And there are a lot of scams out there, unfortunately...
LEVS: Yes.
LEMON: ... when people are giving money.
LEVS: That's right. That's something you need to watch out for.
Come with me down here. I'm at the CNN international desk. What we're going to do now is we're going to go to this screen behind me, the computer screen. This is where we're following our iReports. And we're also following this story. Check out this headline, Don: "FBI Warning of Haiti Earthquake Scams." This is from CNN.com last night.
And what they're talking about is the fact that the FBI is now saying that there are scammers out there -- of course, there are -- trying to take advantage of you. So I'm going to show you now, have some screens, what to do and what not to do if you decide you want to give money.
First of all, take a look at this. We've got some dos and some don'ts. Ask for any charity that you hear about, make sure you get a phone number and official address. Also find out if they are registered with one of the official sites that registers charities. And I'll show you how to find what those registries are.
Here's what you should not do. Definitely do not donate cash. Do not open e-mail attachments that seem like they might come from a charity you've never heard of. And also do not give any personal financial information.
The best way to find -- to give is actually to go right here, CNN.com/impact. We hook you up with all sorts of organizations that will help charities. And Don, all of these are vetted. All of these you can find out what happens to your money. CNN.com/impact. So again, you see these moving images, you want to help. We're making it easy, Don.
LEMON: And when you go there, Josh, you know you're not being scammed. Very important in this time. Josh Levs, thank you very much.
LEVS: You got it.
LEMON: We're going to continue with our coverage of Haiti, but first we want to give you some of our top stories.
A credible threat, that's how two senior U.S. officials describe a new threat by al Qaeda in Yemen against the United States. And we have a note of caution from one of the sources. The threat is not too specific, they say.
A specific planning investigation. The financial meltdown is hearing from attorney general Eric Holder today. They've asked Holder to look in to an FBI warning issued in 2004, long before the housing crisis. That warning noted the U.S. was at risk of an outbreak of financial -- I should say mortgage fraud. And there's no backing down in the censorship standoff between China and Google. China is standing by its Internet policies just a day after Google signaled it may shut down its operations there. Google says there have been attempts to hack into the accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
At the top of this broadcast, we joined Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent, down there in Haiti. He's going to join us again. He's on the ground. Having a little bit of trouble with the satellites, but we can get through this report, I'm sure, Doctor. You were saying when I last spoke to you that you had never seen anything like this, even after covering war zones.
GUPTA: There's a very thin line here, Don, between life and death. For so long now, we've seen patients and bodies out on the streets. And I'm curious, how are the patients going to be cared for? What is happening to those bodies?
We are at one of the few hospitals that is actually up and running, if you can call it that. Let me just give you a little bit of a look here, Don. Over here these are sort of these makeshift tents on the grounds of the hospital. There's really no medical care there. There's hardly any resources. When I say "no resources," I mean not even gauze; no bandages; certainly no antibiotics or pain medications.
You see a lot of desperation over here. There's a lot of people just simply screaming because they can't get any kind of care.
That is the hospital over there behind me. But so far, as we've been in to the hospital, we've only seen one doctor to actually care for all of these patients. And we've seen them bring body after body out and put them in these trucks, to be taken to dump grounds. These bodies are not being identified. It is -- it is a completely -- it's a very awful situation here, Don.
But we are trying to figure out what is happening here? What resources do these people have in terms of medical care? You're looking at it. This is it. At least in this particular area.
LEMON: And, you know, we have organizations that are down there. Doctors Without Borders, they play a big part in Haiti, always, not just when there's a disasters. Partners in Health, Dr. Paul Farmer, you know him, as well.
But the problem is, is that there's a shortage of doctors, but most of the medical facilities, the hospitals, they are in ruins. So that's providing a problem as well, Doctor?
GUPTA: Sort of three problems, as I see them unfolding, Don. One is that one that you just mentioned. There's just simply not enough doctors here. There's not enough doctors as a general rule, but now you've added more patients, and you have even fewer doctors. They can see both sort of becoming -- amplifying the situation.
Also, there's this -- there's the (AUDIO GAP) simply getting from point "A" to point "B" is very, very difficult. You see ambulances trying to get patients to the place of care. It's proving impossible. You can't land helicopters in downtown Port-au-Prince.
And, Don, again, it's just hard, as we're even -- there's a young girl, 5 years old, who is deceased and whose body is being taken out to the -- to the Dumpster out here. That is what's happening. That's what I mean when I say the thin line between life and death, this thin line.
Also finally, you know, this idea there's simply not enough resources. You have resources at the airport, but getting them to the people who need them the most is just very, very challenging and also...
LEMON: Doctor...
GUPTA: You mentioned Doctors Without Borders.
LEMON: Yes.
GUPTA: They're still in the process of looking for their own staff as well, don, so, that's a priority for them.
LEMON: So, the pictures are incredible. The live pictures, we see the people who are coming out. You said a 5-year-old girl. There was a woman who came out on a stretcher, doctor, just after you.
If you can explain to our viewers, after having covered this, and, of course, being a doctor. It's warm there, and after a while without the critical resources, without the infrastructure, you start -- disease starts to set in. Bacteria and infections and those sorts of things starts to complicate the matters even further.
GUPTA: There's -- there's a concern about epidemics and pandemics anytime you have some sort of natural disaster, more so than the bodies themselves, which is emotionally very, very taxing on people.
If it rains, and the water supply gets contaminated, you have -- you have a significant increase in waterborne diseases. A lot of waterborne diseases in this country as it is, but it certainly would be amplified by that, but you're absolutely right, don, they need to target moving the bodies as fast as they can, which is what they're trying to do and part of what...
LEMON: You showed us a little bit before, Dr. Gupta, where you're standing. So you're at the facility. And again, explain to us what this you're standing in front of, what it is, and what is -- and if you can show us what's around, surrounding this facility.
GUPTA: This -- I'll try and show you as much as we can. We have a little bit of a tenuous signal here. But this is a hospital area. The hospital is obviously behind me.
You have these -- I mean, they've put up tents to try and get people some sort of place to stay when they -- when they have been basically told there's no further treatment for them. There's nothing that can be done for them.
I don't know, Jonathan, if you can show outside the gates over here, if that's even worth trying, but outside the gates, you basically see lots of people basically lining up, trying to get in here. It is full to capacity as it is. But there's a lot more people who still need to get in.
There's shortages of everything: personnel, resources in terms of medications, gauze and bandages. And certainly, (AUDIO GAP) don't have enough hospital space to be able to (AUDIO GAP) supplies have been able to survive who would otherwise had a death that was preventable, are simply not surviving, because there's a critical lack of some of those things, Don.
LEMON: Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, doing some amazing reporting. Doctor, thank you very much. We're going to get back to dr. Gupta in just a little bit.
We're also going to tell you, if you can see there, people who are waiting to get into those gates as Dr. Gupta showed us there, in dire need. We're going to tell you just how you can help out. You're probably sitting at home going "what can I do?" We're going to tell you in just a little bit here on CNN.
And just hours after this massive earthquake, after it struck Haiti, a Florida doctor stepped in to help. His quick assistance could prove to be a lifesaver. You're going to meet him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, a doctor in South Florida reacted very quickly to the overwhelming need for medical care in Haiti. And he flew there just hours after the earthquake and brought back some of the wounded right to Miami.
Also on board, three University of Miami nursing students who were in Haiti when that quake struck. The story now from Kerry Cod of our affiliate WFOR.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KERRY COD, WFOR REPORTER (voice-over): A helping hand from one country to another. Several of the wounded from Haiti's earthquake arrived at Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport Wednesday night in need of medical care.
Dr. Leo Harris from the university of Miami flew to Haiti on Wednesday afternoon and returned in the evening with an injured child cradled in his arms.
DR. LEO HARRIS, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: There's a compromise of the infrastructure. It's just devastating. A lot of patients are sick. They need lots of help.
COD: At least seven patients along with three nursing students from the University of Miami touched down around 8:00 p.m. Some were carried off the plane, some walked; most were loaded into ambulances and taken into Ryder Trauma Center.
This man picked up a family member.
(on camera): Can you tell us how your loved ones are?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know.
COD (voice-over): Bones may be broken, there are wounds to heal, but the reunion with a family member or friend can begin to heal that pain. As the ambulances prepared to ferry their precious cargo, this man was happy to be with those he loves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Kerry Cod from your affiliate WFOR.
And just a note here. Right now, no word -- we have no word on the conditions of the evacuees being treated in Miami at this hour.
A quake survivor's shock wears off. Security worries grow. We'll talk issues and answers with the man who marched right into New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Lieutenant General Russel Honore, coming right at you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want to show you now a strange and kind of scary situation last night in the Haitian capital. During a live CNN broadcast, crowds of quake survivors started shouting and they started running. Well, the stampede nearly turned into a mob scene there.
The "AC360" crew could hear folks in the streets yelling, they were yelling "water." they were dropping whatever possessions they had and they were taking off. At first it seemed like tsunami or flood fears there. Then talk of an aid station handing out supplies. Turns out it was just a very terrible hoax.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: For me the education here over the last half an hour, or however long it was long ago this started, is just how quickly one rumor -- in this case a manipulative rumor to try to steal goods -- but one rumor can just spread to the point where you have hundreds, if not more, people running down the street dropping their most precious possessions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's how frightened they were. They may have a bowl left in which to eat and that's their only possession. It got thrown on the streets. A kid's blanket, toys, got thrown on the streets. They will leave everything behind for fear of this one rumor, in this case, the fear of water, I guess. But an unfounded one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You know, just a little bit earlier, Dr. Gupta was describing gunfire behind him, about 12 shots behind him, about 12 shots he said. And with survivors' clearly mounting, the security concerns are mounting, as well.
LEMON: So we turn now to Lieutenant General Russel Honore. And he knows all about this. These days he is a CNN contributor, but back in 2005, I'm sure you remember, General Honore led the joint task force Katrina. That was a Military response to the New Orleans hurricane disaster.
Good to see you. I wish it was for a much better reason than this. So, security is a concern there. It is no doubt a concern. Is that where the priority, should be though, General?
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think the priority ought to be getting food and medicine in there in abundance, and flying as many helicopters, aircraft, we can in to evacuate those people.
Because even if you were to just move the sick and injured out, the people will not be able to survive in that city, until some of the infrastructure is rebuilt. And the tent cities and temporary buildings are put so they can rebuild their country and rebuild their major city there.
LEMON: You can understand the desperation. You remember we were reporting on looting, the reports of looting during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. People are desperate for food and supplies, and just for basic nourishment, basic need.
So, obviously, I would imagine, you would think that security, I mean, it is a concern. You said the priority should be getting that in. But when you see things like what happened last night on "AC360," how do you control that? What do you do now?
What are the people -- the forces who are over there do now in this instance?
HONORE: What's missing is the ability to get information to people it's the basic ability to get information to people on some of the aircraft that are coming in. We had the same issue at the Superdome and the Convention Center -- 10,000, 15,000 people at one place with no way to communicate with them.
When those aircraft start coming in, pieces of equipment need to come in so we can broadcast the information to the people. They're just in a void without being able to hear anything from their government. And they're seeing things that they don't understand. Equipment coming in that's not bringing enough food and water, and let them know that that port's going to be open. And basically that's got to be the priority, is to keep people alive.
And I would not leave MREs in Miami to carry ammunition in there. I'd focus on carrying food and water to keep people alive, and to come up with an evacuation plan to get the sick and injured out of Haiti. There's no way they're going to be able to take care of them inside that country. LEMON: So once people -- you think their basic needs are at least being met somehow, that these reports of looting, or these incidents will stem off.
So, listen. I know that you're part of the joint task force to deal with the situation. Talk to us about that and talk to us about the response from not only from our government, but from nations around the world, as well.
HONORE: Well, I work as an advisor on the Clinton Foundation, and as we speak they're meeting in New York, this morning. President Clinton has already spoken to the point of the initiatives he's taken with the international community.
But there's going to be a significant effort left in search and recovery -- search and rescue, as well as to get the port open so we can keep the people in Port-au-Prince alive with clean food and water and to take care of the medical. The recovery phase of this is going to be significant.
LEMON: Yes.
HONORE: Because you're talking about rebuilding an infrastructure in a city.
LEMON: so, General, hold that thought. You said search and rescue, and also we want to talk about search and recovery. When does it turn to that? We have a lot to talk to the General about. We're going to draft General Honore again next hour on the logistics of disaster relief. How to help, efficiently and effectively, that's at the top of the hour.
And missing in Haiti -- the faces, the names that are just starting to trickle in now. But we're bracing for a virtual flood of names and faces.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, CNN is on top of the story. We want to tell you, a lot of people we know, they are trying to get a hold of their loved ones in Haiti. But lines of communication are jammed.
And CNN's Amber Lyon is manning our Haiti Missing Persons Desk. She's at our Miami bureau, CNN's bureau down in Miami.
Amber, first of all, cell phones, internet service -- hard to come by in Haiti. What can people do now?
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Don. Unfortunately people do not have a lot of access to cell phones or the internet. So, there's kind of a feeling of hopelessness going on right now from people in Haiti, wanting to get in touch with their relatives and people around the world, Also from people here in the U.S., wanting to find out if their relatives are OK.
So we've created -- I'm standing in it right now -- our Missing Persons Desk. And what you can do if you have someone who's missing in Haiti, you want to find out their whereabouts, head right now to CNN.com, we've created a special web site, cnn.com/HaitiMissing.
Interesting thing you can do on here -- we just created this since we last spoke to you -- you can search for someone missing by name, just type it in here and hopefully their profile will come up. So far we've had about more than 2,200 profiles on this site right now. People are just posting photos and stories about their loved ones, asking if anybody has seen them or knows of their whereabouts.
Also on this site, what you can do is you can find a number to the U.S. State Department operations center. If you have family in Haiti, and you want to find out if they're doing OK. You can also click right here on "Post Your Missing Loved One" on the Haiti missing people board. And if you're interested in helping out in Haiti, we've got a link there where you can go to our Impact Your World site and do that.
Some good news here in this grim situation we found out on our iReports. A couple people have been found. We've been notified that on their iReport profiles. Right here, you're looking at a picture of Jessica Frick and Yanica Fosten (ph). These two women you're looking at right now were actually two of the first people reported missing on CNN iReport and they have been found. In fact, Jessica's aunt just updated her profile with the happy news here.
A little bit about these two. Jessica and Yanica were roommates at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. They're seniors there now. Jessica is 21 years old. She was adopted from China herself and is now pursuing graduate work on internationally adopted children. And that's why she was in Haiti. And people are treating it a little bit like a Facebook page. If we scroll down here, people are leaving comments on their iReport profiles, family members, friends, and they're just kind of writing, updating each other as to what's going on. Her mom posted something on this, also a cousin of hers, to keep people updated.
So, you know, we're not hearing all good news here. There's still, as I said earlier, 2,200 profiles of people on this site who have not been found. So head to CNN.com/HaitiMissing if you need to find a loved one -- Don.
LEMON: Amber Lyon at our Missing Persons Desk down in at CNN's Miami bureau.
We appreciate it, Amber.
Some other stories that are making headlines this hour.
Two senior U.S. officials say there's a credible threat, the group al Qaeda in Yemen, might try to attack America. One of them says al Qaeda may already be adapting to new U.S. security measures put in place after the attempted airliner bombing on Christmas Day.
In Jordan, a roadside bomb exploded near Israeli diplomatic cars outside the capital today. That word from an Israeli military spokesman. No injuries are reported.
The Army has filed criminal charges against a single-mom soldier who refused to deploy to Afghanistan last year. Specialist Alexis Hutchinson argued she had no family able to care for her infant son. She could face a prison sentence and a dishonorable discharge if convicted by court-martial.
The world responds to Haiti's desperation. We'll check in with our correspondents around the globe and show you how people are reaching out to those earthquake victims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The Haiti earthquake has plunged the government into chaos. Top officials are among the missing and there's virtually no way for government agencies to communicate.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tells CNN the U.S. is trying to help, any way it can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've got a very coordinated, aggressive response going on. We have sent some of our crack search-and-rescue teams into Port-au-Prince. They're beginning their work. We're coordinating with the Haitian president, President Preval.
Unfortunately, as you know, the government buildings were terribly damaged by the earthquake. A lot of government members unaccounted for. No communication system. We're supplying a communication system so they can begin to get up and running. We're working with the United Nations, which was equally devastated by the collapse of their headquarters. So, the authorities that existed before the earthquake are not able to fully function. We're going to try to support them as they re-establish authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Governments all over the world are mobilizing to help the people of Haiti. We asked our correspondents in France, Russia, and Israel, to give us a quick update.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann, in Paris, where France's historic and cultural ties to Haiti produced a rapid response to the earthquake. Eight flights from here and French- Caribbean bases in Guadalupe and Martinique transported 200 specially trained rescue workers, search dog teams and tons of equipment.
The French Foreign Minister, former emergency aid doctor himself, said especially needed is a mobile hospital since every hospital in the Haitian capital has suffered damage. He expects the care facility to be installed and functional by Friday, in the garden of the French Embassy itself (INAUDIBLE) by the earthquake. In addition to the official assistance, non-governmental organizations and members of the large members of the Haitian community are organizing private aid efforts, as well.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance, in Moscow. And Russia had dispatched more than 120 rescue workers to the disaster zone in Haiti, to help with the international relief efforts. Russia's emergency situation's ministry sent giant (INAUDIBLE) cargo planes are carrying a fully equipped mobile hospital that can accommodate 50 patients at a time.
Rescue teams equipped with sniffer dogs to find survivors in the rubble have also been deployed. Russian specialists have extensive experience working in disaster zones. Similar teams have been dispatched to catastrophic earthquakes from Turkey to China, to Pakistan, in the past. Each time making an important Russian contribution to saving lives.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem. An Israeli delegation is arriving in Haiti. Medical and military personnel trying to assess the immediate needs and then report back.
Also in the coming hours, there will be two plane leaving Israel. One, a cargo plane filled with aid and with medicine, and the other one filled with personnel. 200 Israelis will be heading to Haiti, 40 doctors, 24 nurses, and the hope is they'll be able to set up a field hospital, where they'll be able to deal with about 500 patients a day. There will be operating tables. There will be an emergency room, and also a pharmacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And for the latest on what's happening in Haiti, go to our web site at cnn.com/Haiti. And we encourage you to logon to CNN.com/impact if you would like to help with relief there. There you'll find a list of agencies providing emergency relief. Also go to iReport.com for our "Looking for Loved Ones" photo gallery. You'll be transfixed by it. And connect with CNN on Twitter. Search for #HaitiCnn, or as we say on Twitter, #HaitiCnn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: As we have been reporting here on CNN, many of the survivors from the earthquake in Haiti, they're taken to Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, to be specific. We want to go now to a survivor. Her name is Christa Brelsford. She is from Miami, and she's telling her story right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTA BRELSFORD, HAITI EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I didn't think that my legs were that badly hurt. I knew that I didn't have that long. I knew that they were under a great deal of pressure and so I was worried about losing circulation. But I didn't realize that my rear leg had been almost completely cut off.
I'm so thankful to be alive. There are so many ways in the last two days that I could have been dead that I'm thankful that I'm not. And I'm terribly sorry for all of the people in Haiti -- the Haitians especially -- who don't have the level of medical care I'm getting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was Christa Brelsford. She is in Miami. Not exactly sure where she's from, but she is at Jackson Memorial Hospital recuperating after being there when the earthquake hit in Haiti. Much, much more on this.
Not enough medical supplies, you've heard it. Not enough manpower. A double disaster in Haiti for Doctors Without Borders trying to help quake victims and finds its own missing staffers. The aid group's operations manager's going to join us next hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The earthquake in Haiti was tragic, of course, and relief efforts -- tough, tough going. CNN's Jim Clancy has been to Haiti. He knows the country's problems and politics there, and how tough it can be to get aid supplies in.
He joins us now at our Haiti desk. Take us through the country and what's going on there now -- Jim?
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we have all of these offers of aid that are coming in, really pouring in to help us, Don, get through all of this. But you have to understand that's a one-strip runway there in Haiti. Very limited amounts of supplies can come in.
The airport opened up just hours ago. Already, U.S. authorities have said they have to stop flights going in anymore because they were stacking up. There isn't enough room on the ground, enough equipment on the ground to handle the offloading of supplies. That's only the beginning of the problems. Because then getting them out to other areas, other outlying areas inside Haiti, an additional problem. On the best of days that city is hard to navigate. Very, very bad traffic jams inside Haiti. The infrastructure is not there.
So, you can see that what's going to happen here. There's going to be one challenge after another. They've got to get there and get a lot of those collapsed buildings cleared. They've got to be able to get the aid flowing one way or another. We've got the USS Vinson (ph) and other ships that are coming in there that could go a long way to help with that because they are bringing in helicopters with them that could ferry much of these need supplies off of the roads, over the roads, the traffic jams and the debris -- Don.
LEMON: One of CNN's more seasoned anchors and correspondents Jim Clancy manning our Haiti desk.
Jim, thank you very much. We'll get back to you.
A survival story. A Massachusetts' teenager found alive among the wreckage in Haiti, and now her family rejoices. We've got her Dad on the phone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know after 40 hours of uncertainty, relief for one Massachusetts family. A 19-year-old college student -- her name is Britney Gengel, and she was found alive near her crumbling hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Her father Len joins us now from telephone. He is in Rutland, Massachusetts.
We're so glad that everything is OK. I can't imagine the waiting. When you heard from her the reaction from you and the family?
LEN GENGEL, DAUGHTER IN HAITI (via telephone): Well, elation -- the only way I can describe the day that your child is born where you feel such an exuberance and today was 100 times more because we were so devastated and heart broken and helpless. Our thoughts and prayers right now go out to the 12 students' families who still have not been found and we're praying that that person gets found today safely removed from the Hotel Montana.
LEMON: Now, she was at University of Florida, right?
GENGEL: Yes.
LEMON: Tell us exactly what she was doing there.
GENGEL: Well, she went to the Ling University in Boca Raton, Florida, and she was there for Food for the Poor, and think were there on a five-day mission trip. And she was so happy and spoke to her mother at 4:00, an hour before the earthquake, and was just thrilled and felt so touched by just the people and helping people and it was just, you know, again a mission trip, and it moved her life. And then this tragedy struck.
LEMON: And you can talk to what a lot of people are feeling right now and living with just waiting to hear from a loved one. If you can describe to our viewers after hearing about the earthquake and then the time before you heard from your loved one, what that was like and what that's like for many other families?
GENGEL: Well, it's shocking. You're numb. You're a zombie. And you're just hoping and praying on every piece of news. And I have to be honest with you, we were watching CNN and just trying to get information. And we, you know, for the first 12 to 16 hours, it was just the same photos.
So, we were just praying and praying. As a family, and we have lots of support. I'm the youngest of eight children, so, you know, we held vigil yesterday and this morning until we got the news. LEMON: Have you had a chance to see her yet?
GENGEL: No, no. We are getting ready to go to the airport. And we're heading to Boston right now. So I really got to hurry up on this interview.
LEMON: Yes, I know. I was wondering possibly if you had a chance to see her on social network, or maybe on Skype. We have a picture of her on a stretcher here that we wanted to show.
GENGEL: Right. Is that Reuters, I believe, or however you say it, had that posted today. Yes. So, we are excited.
LEMON: Speaking to her, did she relay to you what it was like during this earthquake?
GENGEL: We have not spoken to her. We have only spoken to the school. That's all we have spoken to.
LEMON: Not had a chance.
GENGEL: And to Red (ph) 24. We have not spoken to her directly.
LEMON: Well, listen, we are so glad that you joined us. We're very happy for you. And we know you want to get off of this phone and get ready to go see your daughter, so...
GENGEL: Right. We're heading to Boston. So thank you very much. God bless.
LEMON: Good luck to you. God bless you, too.
Nineteen-year-old college student Britney Gengel, and that was her dad there, Len. And you can see he is very excited about his daughter, but also concerned for other families and other people who are missing as well.
