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Haiti Devastated; The People of Haiti Living and Dying; Epic Human Tragedy Worsening By the Hour

Aired January 14, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there again, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

Today, the pictures, are They just as bad as we thought they would be. It is a staggering epic human tragedy that is worsening by the hour in Haiti. The ground is not shaking, but it is covered with rubble, wreckage and what remains of the millions of people who survived.

There are now stacks and stacks of bodies almost a full 48 hours after the earthquake. And we still cannot describe the enormity of this god-awful aftermath of the devastating natural disaster.

We Are going to talk to our correspondents in and around Port-au- Prince this hour. And we have got people still trapped in collapsed buildings being pulled out right now. We have got the massive international rescue, medical and relief effort to talk about and to show you as well.

But you have got to see this first. You've got to see this first. It is not me talking or a reporter with a microphone. It is the people of Haiti living and dying. I want you the watch this. And let me warn you, none of these images is pleasant and some of them downright horrific.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is terrible here. This is catastrophe here, people dead everywhere. I have lived in the States for 20 years, and I have never seen anything like this. We need help. We need heavy equipment. We need food. We need water. We need bandages. We need all the help we can get.

The government here is not doing anything. The government, themselves, are in trouble, nothing going on right now, no ambulances, no fire trucks, no heavy equipment, nothing going on right now.

ART RASCON, HAITI: Look at the people on the move. Look at the thousands just on the street. And this is one of a million streets throughout Port-au-Prince. And you just have thousands of people everywhere. They just want to stay away from any building. They have no desire whatsoever to come even close or get under a building.

Look what they are doing way back. It is tough to see, but underneath this massive structure -- it is at least a four-story building -- has collapsed. There are still people they believe are alive under this structure, and so they continue to dig.

Under this rubble, this five-story building, there are voices. I have been able to talk to them.

Hello. Can you hear me?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On Tuesday, this was a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince with apartment buildings. Now it's the worst devastation I have ever seen. This is worse than any horror movie you have ever seen.

You can see here, people looking for bodies of loved ones, loved ones who are missing. And as we're just walking past, we see bodies that are under the rocks that are obviously lifeless.

But what is horrifying is on the other side of the street. they have tried their best to give people killed some respect by putting sheets on top of their bodies.

And the thing that concerns me the most and the thing that's upsetting the most is what's happening back here. And it's the search for possible survivors. There's not one rescue worker here, not one emergency worker, and, most importantly, no equipment. People are digging by hand.

One man says he heard noises, but there's no way to lift up these heavy rocks. There's no way to lift up this heavy concrete if there's someone who is trapped, who is alive.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, we are walking through the streets of Port-au-Prince right now, get a real idea of what things are like here.

There is just very little in the way of resources or very little in the promise of help, a 15-day-old baby, some sort of head injury. They are begging for a doctor.

Can you tell me what happened, specifically?

That's good. She is moving all four extremities. She is going to need some antibiotics. And we are going to need to redress this wound (INAUDIBLE) the ears, yes. And that's over the forehead. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no help, no hospital, no electricity, nothing, no food, no -- no food, no water, nothing. There's too many people dying.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the reality of the situation here in Port-au-Prince. This is a small medical clinic. There are so many patients, so many victims of this earthquake that they are treating them in the halls and the entryway of the clinic.

And look here. We have wounded people waiting for treatment right now. Let's take a look at this woman right here.

This is Amelika (ph). She says that her leg is broken 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And, live, you see our Susan Candiotti. She's on the scene there where they have just rescued a man.

Susan, you are on live. I want you in a little bit. That was our Dr. Sanjay Gupta and other people reporting as well.

Susan, I want to get to you, because we saw the images of that man who was just rescued. Tell us more about what you are witnessing.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

I don't know, Don, whether you saw him coming out, but this was an extremely dramatic scene, and I know we have seen many of them play out throughout Port-au-Prince in these last two days. But this one wound up after they had been trying to dig this man out since yesterday.

What we have before you is this. That little crawlspace that you see there is at the bottom of a five-story building. It's a school building. This is the back of it. It fell down during the earthquake, crushing this police car. But below that building were a number of students. They were inside, including one man who happened to be in that building.

It came down on top of him. And the one side of his body was trapped with his right shoulder pinned underneath one of the concrete floors, the bottom floor. Also, one of his hands was trapped between a piece of the police car. And they couldn't get him out.

So they came up with an ingenious way to work on this. A group of people, a small group of people -- and, in Haiti, the term is called (INAUDIBLE) -- it was people who work together, may -- they may not know each other, but they work together to accomplish a single goal.

And in this case, they had a whole assembly line going, you might call it. They were using some people who were working with a chisel to break away and chip away at the cement. Then they had someone else using a blowtorch very, very gingerly trying to melt and burn away the rebar to try to cut the man's hand free.

And, throughout this, you could hear people -- you could hear this victim screaming, because the heat was burning his hand. But it was all they could do to try to free him. And all of this is playing out while you look at this very, very precarious position here. Let's look at this building here. It could fall at any time. At times the rocks, were falling down. And, also, Don, they are also hearing other voices inside there. This was a schoolhouse. There were children inside there and adults, teachers as well.

Everyone is being quiet right now, because they are hearing some more voices inside. Even though they just got one man out and rescued him in an amazingly incredible operation, homespun, now we are going if see if they hear others. And that is why we are trying to be quiet.

We interviewed the man, believe it or not, while he was trapped inside, after we -- someone handed him the microphone. And he spoke in English. We're going to roll back that tape later on today once we can get it into our system and play it back for you -- Do, back to you.

LEMON: Susan Candiotti, thank you. We are working on doing that as you speak.

Susan Candiotti at a scene of a rescue, dozens and dozens playing out in Haiti today.

Susan, thanks again.

Thousands of Haitians in desperate need of aid, their port destroyed, shipments of supplies unable to get through. That story is coming up.

And we are hearing from victims on the ground on Rick's List. Here is this comment from -- from RamHaiti.

Here's what he says: "I hear the planes. Supplies are supposed to start coming in today. I hope the international presence will help with people buried in rubble and medical supplies."

You have been asking, and I have got the answers for you. Every time we go the break, we are going to tell you how you can help Haiti. There are a lot scams out there that we're going to tell you about, but here is one of many honest groups that we have checked out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Welcome back, everyone, to our national conversation.

Rick Sanchez will be hosting a new show on Monday. It's called "RICK'S LIST," but he is already keeping a list every single day, a list of newsmakers, news followers, people's whose tweets you need to see. Our access becomes your access.

First up, we want to tell you about the NBA. They are telling its followers where to send donations. Check this one out right here. It says: "@RickSanchezCNN, please help up and at UNICEF. Support Haiti. Go to unicefusa.org/NBA_haiti. Please, re-tweet."

Also, there is an important distinction to make if you are trying to find out about missing family members in Haiti. Look at the bottom of your screen right now for these numbers. We're going to put them up there for you.

If you are in the United States and you want to get information about your American loved ones in the quake zone, here is the number that you call. It's 1-888-407-4747, again, 1-888-407-4747. That is the one set up by the State Department.

Now, if you want information about the non-U.S. citizens, non- U.S. citizens in Haiti, you should call the Red Cross. Again, if you want details about people in Haiti who are not American nationals, call the Red Cross. That number is 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Relief effort under way live hanging in the balance there. We will be live in Port-au-Prince coming up in just a moment. And here is another place that you can donate without worrying about scams. Take a look at your screen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, in today for Rick Sanchez.

Ivan Watson has been on the scene in Port-au-Prince in Haiti really since it first started. Just moments ago, we saw him at the rescue scene of an 11-year-old girl. He is there now with an update.

What do you have for us, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are still working here, Don. She cries out periodically right here. And they are just trying to clear out, cut through a piece of iron, some metal that has pinned her leg there.

Unfortunately, sometimes, when they cut at that iron, little Naika (ph), she starts screaming out, and it clearly causes some pain to her. And they are calling for some kind of help, help of some sort, but the phones are not working in this town right now.

And we do know that there are foreign professional rescue workers on the neighboring hillside, but getting up through traffic there will take a minimum a half-hour. And I have been talking to these rescue workers here. This man is from the civil defense. He's a volunteer. He's never had training on how to pull somebody out from something like this. They are trying to do a very delicate operation to try to save this little girl's life, Naika (ph).

She's 11 years old. Her right leg is pinned under a beam. Her arms are free. She is reaching out. She's eating. They put a little Bible next to her. She had her glasses on, and her left leg is free -- Don.

WATSON: Ivan Watson on the scene.

Ivan, keep us updated. Getting a lot of responses on our social networking sites and e- mails about this little girl. We're going to keep our Ivan Watson there. If there is an update, we will get it to you in just a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want our money back, and we are going to get it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: President Barack Obama goes after banks.

Here is a tweet that I want to show you from Grammy Award-winning humanitarian and musician, of course, and goodwill ambassador to Haiti Wyclef Jean. Take a look at it.

It says, "International donations can be made to Yele Haiti at www.Yele.org." That's Yele. "Every single penny counts for people that have lost almost everything."

Wyclef founded Yele Haiti about five years ago. It's another organization helping out in Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: When last we saw our Susan Candiotti, she was doing a live report outside of a collapsed school where they were rescuing people. Here is one of those rescues caught on tape from a man in a van. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: CNN, please come to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As we could see there in the video, the van to the right, it's a white van. The man was driving. Apparently, a building or something collapsed on top of his van. They just rescued him moments ago. And you are witnessing it on CNN just after it happens.

Want to go now to the scene, another scene where they are rescuing people and looking for survivors, hopefully, beneath the rubble.

Our Gary Tuchman is in Port-au-Prince. He is in front of a market.

Gary, when last we saw you, they were trying to rescue a woman in her 40s. What do have you for us now?

TUCHMAN: Well, that's right, don. This is the Caribbean Marketplace. It's four stories and a basement. The sad news is, there are many bodies inside the wreckage of this marketplace. We have seen them ourselves as we walked up to it. The good news and the reason that hundreds of people are -- rescue workers are here right now is because there is one woman who is behind me right now about 100 yards, but behind concrete walls, alive.

They are talking to her. Her name is Nadia (ph). They were able to communicate with her. She just told them a short time ago she is getting tired, though. She apparently does not have water. We are told by the rescue workers here that, usually, it is three days that you can survive without water, so this is a race against time.

They are reasonably optimistic that they will be able to get to her. We can't go inside, because it's in a very small crevasse area. It's under the letter that you see, those green letters that say Caribbean Market.

We, with our cameras, can't get inside. And not all the rescue workers can get inside. It's just big enough for four people. And they are there right now trying to figure out the battle plan to get her out. They just determined a short time ago they can't do it horizontally.

They either have to come from the top or from the bottom. Earlier today, they rescued two other people. They were also entombed, not entrapped. The difference is, when you are entrapped or when you're trapped, there is a metal bar on you or there's concrete. That's obviously a much worse situation.

This woman is not hurt whatsoever. She just can't get out. We want to give you a look. This is a machine, obviously, that they are planning to use, this bulldozer when the time comes. There is a man sitting right now in the cab. When the times comes -- they don't want to hurt anybody who may still be alive, but they can't hear. But they are just waiting for the word when to start bulldozing to get to this woman.

But this gives you an idea of just some of the people who are here. They're here from many countries. We talked yesterday a lot about how there was not any help on the scene. The help has arrived. The people here are from Iceland. They're from Spain. They're from Venezuela. They're from the Fairfax County, Virginia, rescue department.

They're from several different countries. So, there are a lot of people here doing their best to rescue this woman who is inside the marketplace. We sure hope we have good news to tell you later today.

What I will tell you, Don, one of the things that I have noticed today the most, which is something I have never seen before, is that the traffic is terrible right now in Port-au-Prince, as people try to get around and try to find food and water, try to find gasoline for their cars.

But one of the things that is making it so bad is, there are so many bodies in streets that have been moved to the streets, and it is literally causing traffic jams, as vehicles make an effort not to run over the bodies that are in the streets. It is really sad -- Don, back to you.

LEMON: Gary, I know you have to be careful when you're reporting there, because you don't want to interrupt the signal, but you talked to us about the number of rescue teams that are on the scene and what have you. If you can show us a little bit, and, as you're doing this, tell us how many people they believe could be inside of this market, I would imagine a very heavily traveled market, when this earthquake took place.

TUCHMAN: Yes. Don, there were probably hundreds of people inside this market. This is not just one store. It's a marketplace. It's kind of like a mall. There is a grocery store in it. There are restaurants in it. There were knickknack shops in it. And it was four levels.

So, it is believed there were many people inside. Many of the bodies have been taken away already. Where we are standing, there is a body about 50 feet away from us that has been respectfully put in a tarp, but it has not been removed yet. So, that is the horrifying and horrible part of the story.

But I want to tell my photographer what you just told me, because he can't hear you.

We want to take a look at some of the people who are here who helping to participating in this rescue. And, like I said, it's really a -- it is almost like a United Nations gathering of international experts. The leaders of this team, you can see the red jackets. They say on the back of them Iceland search-and-rescue. They are the lead agency right now in the search.

They came here from Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, yesterday. They are volunteers workers. They are not paid to be here. They take off their jobs, and they come here. Their trips are funded by the Icelandic government. But they specialize in this, as do the people who have come here from Spain, Spain search-and-rescue.

We also have Venezuela search-and-rescue that was here, Belgium search-and-rescue, and the Fairfax County, Virginia, search-and-rescue team, which has gotten lot of fame over the years for the good works they have done.

There's probably about 150 people here. What is interesting is, there are many more people outside this perimeter. There is a huge gate outside this mall of Haitians who want to get in who think they have relatives inside.

And they are being kept out, because they are afraid the scene here could become pandemonium if they just let everyone in who is looking for loved ones, as it is much in the city right now.

I will tell you, Don, that, last night, the rescue workers tell us that they had a very, very significant... LEMON: Our Gary Tuchman reporting in Port-au-Prince there, obviously having a problem with the signal there, as has been the case since we have been reporting, everyone on this story having the same issues.

I want to tell you real quickly that they are -- we are checking your feedback. This one is from Rick's List I'm going to read real quick.

It says: "As you may know, the USS Carl Vinson is in en route to support first-responder humanitarian relief and disaster response."

And there is a Twit link on there. So, that is how you can help out. And that's some of the responses coming in from Rick's List right now.

Cries for help come from under the rubble, survivors buried underneath waiting to be saved, daring rescue efforts caught on camera, a desperate situation right now in Haiti. Take a look at this amazing video. It was taken just as the earthquake started.

And we are telling how you can donate without worry about scams.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone, Don Lemon in today for Rick Sanchez.

We are going to break away briefly, just briefly, from our Haiti coverage, because you have got to see this. Let me say it again. You have got to see this. President Barack Obama went off today. I will say it again. President Barack Obama went off. At least he did, you know, for him, what is considered going off.

The president went off on the banks for paying out big fat bonuses again, we, the taxpayers, saved their bacon with a $700 billion bailout. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed. And my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people.

We want our money back. And we're going to get it. If these companies are in good enough shape to afford massive bonuses, they are in good enough shape to paying back every penny to taxpayers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: This time, it is not just talk. Mr. Obama is proposing that we hit the big banks with a big fat tax. I will tell you about that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So we are going to get back to Haiti momentarily, we will get right back there.

But first, more of the president today going off on the banks. This is a side of president Barack Obama that we are not accustomed to seeing, and he is talk about a tax on Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, the big guys.

Well, here he is again, the president saying that the banks bailed out by the taxpayers now are trying to duck their responsibilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We are already hearing a hue and cry from Wall Street saying that the proposed fee is not only unwelcome, but unfair, that by some twisted logic it is more appropriate for the American people to bear the cost of the bailout rather than the industry that benefited from it even though the executives are out there giving themselves huge bonuses.

What I'd say to these executives is this, instead of sending a phalanx of lobbyists to fight this proposal or employing a army of accountants and attorneys to help evade the fee, I suggest you might want to consider simply meeting your responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, so strong words today from the president.

Now, let's turn a corner here. At the same time the president is coming down on the banks, their CEOs have just been hauled before a special commission that's trying to get to the bottom of exactly what went wrong, why they made the bad loans that nearly wrecked the whole economy, why we had to bail them out, and why they're suddenly reaping huge profits again and rewarding themselves with big bonuses.

Joining me now from Washington is a chairman of that commission, and his name is Phil Angelides. He is a former California state treasurer. So welcome. Did you get the straight answers from the bankers that you summoned yesterday, Mr. Angelides?

PHIL ANGELIDES, CHAIRMAN, FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION: We are just starting to ask the questions, because what happened here almost brought our financial system to its knees. And as the president pointed out, we've got millions of people unemployed, millions of people who lost their homes, and they look to Wall Street and they see trillions of dollars in assistance and they see record profits and record bonuses.

And so what our commission will do is to drive at the facts and look at the evidence and do our best job of getting to the bottom of what caused this financial system to collapse. Yesterday, we asked some hard questions of the CEOs, and I will tell you that the questioning is just beginning. LEMON: Well, some hard questions now for the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Listen, and we will talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELIDES: I'm just going to be blunt with you. It sounds to me a little bit like selling a car with faulty brakes and then buying an insurance policy on the buyer of those cars. It doesn't seem to me a practice that inspires confidence in the market.

LLOYD BLANKFEIN, CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS: Every purchaser of an asset here is an institution, probably profession-only investors, dedicated in most cases to this business.

ANGELIDES: Representing pension funds who have the life savings of police officers and teachers...

BLANKFEIN: These are the professional investors who want the exposure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, so listen, are you suggesting that the banks were pedaling damaged goods from the investors and knew it and they managed to profit from it?

ANGELIDES: Well, this is what happened, and it's what I asked Mr. Blankfein about. In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs sold $40 billion worth of mortgages related securities to investors across this country, including a lot of pension funds that represent teachers and firefighters and police officers.

Ad at the same time they were pedaling that product, they were betting against the very securities they were selling. So he has lots of explanations, but that's the kind of practice that damaged our economy and damaged faith in the markets, and I was not going to let him skirt away from talking about it.

And I might add that Goldman Sachs made a decision in December of 2006 that the mortgage market was going bad, but they continued to sell billions of toxic loans into the marketplace to investors. And he said, well, they were professional investors, and I just disagree that that is the kind of right practice for America.

LEMON: I have a couple of questions here before I let you go.

ANGELIDES: Sure.

LEMON: Did they express any contrition for the role they played in this economic collapse?

ANGELIDES: Well, there are different individuals, and to a certain extent -- look, John Mack, who is the head of Morgan Stanley, said he is sorry. Now, Mr. Blankfein said that we did things that we are sorry for and should apologize for, but he then won't say what they are. So I don't know if it is PR, but my view is the best thing that can happen is if Wall Street comes clean and says here are the mistakes and here are the things we are sorry for. We are grateful that we got trillions of dollars of assistance from the taxpayers and let's face the past so we can face the future.

LEMON: There is a long way to go in the inquiry.

ANGELIDES: We are just starting.

LEMON: What can we expect to learn from it?

ANGELIDES: Well, we hope, more of the truth. I am not sure at the end of day it will be the be all, end all, but we will have hearing all the way through September, we're be interviewing hundreds of witnesses. We interviewed attorney generals throughout the country today and we learned that the federal government was warned about mortgage fraud.

LEMON: Listen, short answer, if you can -- what do you want to happen to the guys?

ANGELIDES: Well, I want the truth out.

LEMON: OK.

ANGELIDES: And then if laws were broken, we will refer them to the authorities. But let's get the truth out, that is what we need to start the healing.

LEMON: Phil Angelides, thank you so much. Please come back and we will invite any of the CEOs, any of them to come on right here and talk to me or talk to Rick on "Rick's List" a show that starts on Monday. So we appreciate it. Thank you again, sir.

ANGELIDES: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: One of the financial crisis commissioners, his name was Keith Hennessy, right? He was an economic adviser to George W. Bush, and he even asked taxpayers to give him suggested questions to ask the bank CEOS as at the hearings this week. This is one or two we will get in from Rick's List.

And follow 2008 -- did investors think your bank was too big to fail? Blankfein didn't, Mack, Moynihan, no.

And the financial crisis inquiry commission hearing -- witness Kyle Bass, capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. That's what you get. Get the frank facts from Rick's List.

I am going to be speaking with that woman that you see right there. She lives in Miami, and she lives in the little Haiti neighborhood there, but she is originally from Port-au-Prince.

She has already lost a three-year-old relative in the quake. She has not heard from her mother since Sunday, and now, finally, she had some news.

Also, I'm monitoring thousands of tweets from and about Haiti and also now composed a specific list on my twitter page as well as Rick's twitter page so you can follow this story.

Take a look at one example. This is from Rick's List. "Help is needed. People, still alive under college canopy are screaming for help to get them out of the rubble." Again, go to logon to twitter, Rick's List, MySpace, Facebook, iReport, what have you. We appreciate your feedback here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, efforts are underway to try to help the poor people of Haiti at this hour. We want to go now to our correspondent Chris Lawrence who is at the airport in Port-au-Prince where you can see military planes behind him ready to bring in aid and help out. Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is right, Don. I want to take you live right out here to the runway. Right now you can see behind me American, Canadian, and I'm looking at Italian down the road. The runway is pretty much packed.

In fact, I'm told that yesterday they had about 74 flights. Already as of just about five minutes ago they are already at about 55 flights. You can swing that camera around and give them a better view of what is exactly going on here.

I think that when you take a look at this, you can understand why they have been having so much trouble getting as much aid in here as you would like. One of the officials told me just a while ago that normally, on a normal day, this airport can handle about 25 flights a day. Again, there are at 55 already today, and it is only 3:30 in the afternoon.

Again, we just saw a plane full of Americans taking off. There also are some search and rescue folks from south Florida who just came in, and that will be welcome news for a lot of the folks who are still trapped perhaps in some of the demolished structures and have not been able to get out. Don?

LEMON: All right, Chris Lawrence, we really appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

This video that you're about to see taken just, just as the earthquake started, and our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is there in a just a bit to tell us what is going on.

I want to tell you -- take a look at this video -- a street surveillance camera recording the moment that the earthquake struck in Port-au-Prince. I want you to take a look at it, it happens in seconds. Right. Starting to shake. Shows you how quickly life can change and how quickly this thing came through and hit the people of Haiti.

Back in a moment here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We have been showing you the pictures coming out of Miami. We have been showing you the people there who are helping out in Miami as well as some of the people who are coming over, a lot of them being taken to Jackson Memorial hospital.

Let's talk about the reaction from little Haiti and people living there. I want to talk now to Gepsie Metellus, the executive director of the San la Haitian Neighborhood Center. I hope I said that correctly in my poor French there. Welcome. Let's talk about the reaction of people who are living in little Haiti. What is going on there?

GEPSIE METELLUS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAINT LA HAITIAN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: Well, thank you so much. I think that the reaction can be characterized as anxiety, fear, uncertainty, confusion, terrible pain, terrible grief. I know that many of our clients, many of our staff members are still very anxious and very eager to hear from their family members just to know exactly what their status is.

LEMON: So Gepsie, what are you doing to help, if anything at all?

METELLUS: Well, first, providing that place that can be the refuge where people come to seek information and accurate information, a little counseling and support and the hug that is necessary in these very, very trying times.

Again, explaining to many of the clients that one of the reasons that they are unable to communicate with their families in Haiti is that the phone networks are down. And so, given what it is, we encourage them to keep trying. And just as I was very lucky last night when my cousin was successfully able to connect to my mother and home in Haiti, we were much relieved.

And so when I explained that and shared that story, I think that helps people to understand that they, too, must keep trying in order to at least be able to derive the same benefit if that's possible.

LEMON: So, you know, listen, for the rest of the country and the rest of the world, to help them to understand, and we are not just talking about little Haiti there, we're talking about south Florida, lots of Haitian Americans living there. So what the mood really in the entire area and not just in little Haiti?

METELLUS: It is somber, because we have a community that is essentially grief-stricken. We have a community where clearly everybody is anxious, and I made that point. But we're I think coming to the grips of what this catastrophe means for us. And I began to describe it as an apocalyptic event.

And of course, there are personal stories, and I think that there is a national story there, too. The personal stories are the ones where people are waiting to hear from loved ones, from families, people are viewing the images that you, CNN, are providing us with such accuracy and such -- I don't know how to even describe the impact of the images, because they do say pictures speak 1,000 words.

LEMON: Volumes, volumes.

METELLUS: Yes, and they have done that.

LEMON: Well, listen, it is hard to compare this -- I guess the only time we've seen anything like was hurricane Katrina, and I grew up in Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina, if there was any good out that came out of that, it sort of exposed this underworld of what really happens in the nitty-gritty New Orleans, how their were two separate worlds, the one tourists see when they come in and they one that many people live in New Orleans.

Is it the same situation, might this be the same situation had comes of Haiti?

METELLUS: I would not necessarily characterize it as the same because, remember, we are talking about the United States of America. And we were recognizing that we are a powerful, wealthy nation with resources to address the needs of our citizens. You can't begin to compare Haiti to the United States in that respect.

LEMON: Meaning that something good -- it will expose something to the American people they didn't know before where Haiti may begin to get the help that it needs.

METELLUS: I think it will do that. I think it will definitely do that. And I -- we are already seeing the generosity, the solidarity, of Americans from throughout this nation and people from throughout this world.

And, you know, in such really sad circumstances, one of the nice bright spots is that they are such good, decent people in this world, such caring people. And I want to really take this opportunity to thank all of those who reached out wanting to know what they can do. It has been amazingly, amazingly supportive.

LEMON: We have seen some of that here, a lot of it as well.

Gepsie, best of luck to you, thank you so much.

METELLUS: Thank you so very much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has no skull fracture. She does have big lacerations and she needs antibiotics. But she does not appear to have a head injury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Haiti helping a 15 day old in desperate need of attention. We are bringing you some of the most poignant scenes, and we will have more of the video you are seeing right now. Trust me, you don't want to miss any of this. That's coming up.

And we just got a tweet I want to share with you. It is from the Red Cross. Here is what it says. Again, from Rick's List, and don't forget that "Rick's List" starts on Monday. "You have donated nearly $3 million to Red Cross earthquake relief efforts in pound Haiti, that's how you get it twitter, by texting Haiti to 90999. Thank you. Keep it up."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So listen, real talk about what's going on. Over the last several hours we have seen people pulled from beneath rubble. We have seen aid supplies arrive in Port-au-Prince. We have seen tiny precious nuggets of hope in the middle of this really colossal disaster.

And we watch this next dramatic moment, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who happens to be a practicing brain surgeon, a trauma doc, and he is a dad as well. I want you to watch as a frightened Haitian man hands over his injured two week old baby to the only doctor he could find, and that was Dr. Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Gupta.

GUPTA: What happened? Can you tell me what happened specifically?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house collapsed. The mother died.

GUPTA: How has she been? Could I get a light, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a doctor that saw her.

GUPTA: What did they say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bandages -- she just got bandages.

GUPTA: She is moving both of her arms. That's a good sign. She's moving both of her legs. Can you look again and see if you have any more gauze?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have some big gauze. I can cut it down.

GUPTA: Q-tips, or anything in there like that? I need to feel this wound.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just some gauze. Do you want me to open the gauze?

GUPTA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Smaller would be easier. GUPTA: She has a pretty significant laceration here. What I need to make sure is she doesn't have a skull fracture of any -- the good news is I don't think she does. That's good.

This is OK. No skull fracture underneath here. She's got a big laceration underneath her skull. But she is moving all four extremities.

Hi, sweetie. Hi, sweetie. Hi. How old is she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's 14 days.

GUPTA: Hi, hi.

Do we have any antibiotics or any medications at all? Did she get any antibiotics?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't look like I do, Sanjay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing, nothing.

GUPTA: OK. She's going to need some antibiotics. We are going to need to redress this wound. Let's go ahead and do that with some gauze.

So this is what's happening out here on the streets of Port-au- Prince. In this case, a 15 day old baby was in an earthquake.

Can you wrap that? Yes. Hold it on there, the forehead. Good. Good. OK, go ahead and cut that, the two little metal things. I will hold this here. And then pull those and give it some tightness. Stretch and pull it there. Yes. Perfect.

OK. So she has no skull fracture. She does have a big laceration and is going to need antibiotics. But she does not appear to have a head injury. I think she's going to be OK. She is sucking her thumb. She's good. There you go. She should get some antibiotics. We'll try and find some, if we can find some.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Thanks for watching, everyone. Wolf Blitzer, take it away.