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Haiti in Agony; Getting Help to Survivors; Haiti: Bill Clinton's Hope and Heartbreak

Aired January 15, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Sixty-nine hours and counting. A critical window closing in devastated Haiti. Soon, the focus shifts from search and recovery to making sure the people who survived Tuesday's earthquake survive the aftermath.

A critical breakthrough at Port-au-Prince airport. U.S. troops have begun moving aid from the tarmac to people who need it. U.S. helicopters from the aircraft carrier Vinson will make that process easier.

And while desperation is clearly on the rise, check out this peaceful and spontaneous demonstration.

(SINGING)

Absolutely beautiful. Quake victims marching, chanting, praying, holding out hope in the face of despair.

Much of Haiti is writhing in pain. So many injured victims, so few doctors to take care of them.

Medical staff and supplies are scarce, and so doctors are on the ground are scrambling to do what they can with the little that they have. Many hospitals are destroyed, sidewalks have become impromptu treatment areas.

And Margaret Aguirre is the director of global communications for the International Medical Corp. She's joining us live by phone from Port-au-Prince.

Margaret, you have got four doctors for a 700-bed hospital. How is the team there able to treat all of the injured?

MARGARET AGUIRRE, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS, INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORP.: Well, we're doing the best we can. You know, a lot of the doctors who work at the facility, work at this hospital, it's the main hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. Many of the staff here were actually injured or, in some cases, died, and so they don't have the kind of staff they need.

Some of them have lost family members and need to attend to that. So, you know, we have been trying to basically stabilize people.

Most of the patients outside the hospital, they're on the lawn, they're in gurneys lined up outside, because the buildings are too unstable for them to go inside. So, we've been trying to save lives, and just basic care, but they really need further treatment.

So we've moved some of them into the one building that is stable enough, and we're going to be beginning surgeries there once we get all the medical supplies in and ready for our doctors to be able to do those surgeries. Right now, the hospital is not ready to be able to do that kind of work, and so we're getting it up to speed, and we'll probably begin doing that in the morning.

PHILLIPS: Have you had to turn patients away, Margaret?

AGUIRRE: We haven't turned patients away, but we have had to just stabilize them in some cases. Their needs are far greater than what we thought (ph), and so we're trying to just stabilize them until we can get them further treatment. That means simple painkillers, antibiotics, that kind of thing, but, you know, if someone has a compound fracture, that can be very, very serious.

You know, overnight, at the hotel where we're staying, kind of a makeshift hospital sprouted up and started treating -- probably about 300 people went through there. And some people had very serious injuries and some just needed amputations. And we did have some patients die yesterday because (INAUDIBLE).

PHILLIPS: I mean, a simple fracture when you're in conditions like this can actually turn into life-threatening infections, right?

AGUIRRE: Yes, that's true. I mean, if someone is bleeding a lot or they're in shock -- a woman I saw yesterday, her leg -- you know, at the risk of being gruesome, half of her leg was next to her waist. It was sheared off, and so it was just to the side.

And I looked at her face, and she had an absolute blank stare. This was a woman who appeared to be in shock, and, you know, someone like that may not survive 24 hours. So, you know, they need immediate advanced assistance, and so that's what we're working to get to them.

PHILLIPS: What are your biggest needs right now? Because we're here stateside, trying to promote the texting and the Web sites to be able to donate money. And then people like former President Bill Clinton, who's got a tremendous force going right now, he's actually buying supplies and bringing it over through his charity. And, of course, he's the U.N. envoy there to Haiti.

AGUIRRE: Right.

PHILLIPS: What is it you desperately need right now as purchases are being made?

AGUIRRE: Well, you know, the actual -- yes, the actual -- someone going by with someone on a gurney. But we need basic first aid. You know, antibiotics, the basics, sutures, wound cleanser. But beyond that, water, generators, because we're going to be doing surgery possibly outside.

You know, all of these things we desperately need, but people can't necessarily send those to us. We're working through our partners. We have fantastic partners, different foundations, AmeriCares, (INAUDIBLE). They're all great groups who provide these kinds of gift in kind, these large-scale shipments of supplies that we need.

But, you know, quite frankly, I know people want to be able to send something over. The best thing they can do is to support groups on the ground with their donations.

I'll tell you, $5, $10, it makes a huge difference. When people text to give and go online to our site or other groups, it's so important. It does make a difference.

PHILLIPS: Good, because we're trying to help with that.

Margaret Aguirre, I heard you say that people were coming in on stretchers. I don't want to hold you up anymore. You're the director of global communications for the International Medical Corp, right there in Port-au-Prince.

Doing everything she can. Four doctors, 700-bed hospital, totally overloaded. And she desperately needs your help.

Margaret, thank you so much.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're continuing to get these aerial pictures in as we have been able to bring in more resources to the quake zone there in Haiti.

Nobody knows how many people are still alive under all the tons of debris that you are seeing, nor how many people are dead. It's estimated that one-third of Haiti's population -- that's three million people, by the way -- are suffering because of that quake.

And CNN's Ivan Watson is with many of them there in Port-au- Prince. He has been bringing us some pretty incredible stories of survival.

Ivan, where exactly are you right now?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're at this position. It's overlooking a square, the Le Plaza Hotel (ph), which has turned into just basically a makeshift refugee camp for thousands and thousands of people. And just the scenes that you see from minute to minute, it's almost hard to digest mentally, just these overpowering images.

In one moment on the street, I saw people carrying on a makeshift stretcher an injured man. And then right next to him, a truck going by with a coffin in the back of it. And then five seconds later, another van coming by with an injured person perched, laying on top of the van. And just out of view of the camera here is a severely injured woman laying on the sidewalk in front of a first aid station where there is some treatment, basic treatment, but they don't even have enough needles to do sutures, to stitch up basic wounds, the nurses there tell me.

Despite this misery, despite all the people who are homeless behind me that you can see in this square -- and it goes thousands and thousands of people -- we saw a remarkable scene a little bit more than an hour ago, Kyra. Let's take a look at this procession that seemed to just materialize out of nowhere coming down the street. Let's take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a situation where the police is both involved in -- or much more involved in the...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: I don't know whether or not you can see that video, Kyra. There were hundreds, mostly women, walking down the street in a procession singing, clapping. I believe it was a religious song. This is a deeply spiritual country, and many people are turning to their faith to try to help them through these terrible times.

We spoke with a police official here, a government official who said his forces were simply overwhelmed. Not only are they trying to provide some semblance of assistance, but on top of that, the state penitentiary broke open in the earthquake three days ago, and very dangerous gangs were able to get out on the streets.

This man telling us that one of his police patrols yesterday had been attacked. He believed he had lost three police officers, and he is very worried that while trying to help the population, he now also has to try to enforce some kind of law and order.

Let's take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a situation where the police is both involved in -- or much more involved in rescue operations than in maintaining order here, because that's where the priority is. So, therefore, there will be a shift in the department of the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So this is a central government that was weak in the first place, in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and it is now crippled -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ivan Watson reporting for us there from Haiti.

Ivan, thanks so much.

Well, it's unbelievable devastation in Haiti's capital after Tuesday's big earthquake, but you've got to see the before and after pictures before it really sinks in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Haiti is a nation of heartbreak and hope for Bill Clinton. The former president is the U.N. special envoy to Haiti. And if that country ever it needed his help and his influence, well, it's definitely right now.

John Roberts actually had a chance to talk to Mr. Clinton on "AMERICAN MORNING," this morning, and he's pretty worried about the bigger picture as people are getting more desperate. Security has definitely becoming an issue, right?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. He's the United Nations special envoy to Haiti. He has been for a while, will be for another couple of years.

And because of the fact that the U.N. was hit so hard, their capability to get aid out there among the people who need it most has really been hindered. So we see all of this aid coming into the international airport, we see these ships arriving in Guanaja Bay, but they're not getting the supplies out to the people who need it.

And so, you know, here we are, almost 72 hours from the earthquake hitting, people are becoming more desperate, they don't have food, they don't have medicine, they don't have water, they don't have clothing. We've seen the scenes in the streets as Jonathan Mann brought us a little while ago.

And so, Mr. Clinton is concerned that we're on the edge of a tipping point that will explode into unrest. So he said, absolutely, the very first priority and the first challenge is to get that aid out.

Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things I've said two days ago, when Hillary and I first talked about this, is that the port had been destroyed and the U.N., which normally would have done this, our people there, my colleagues, they're still -- most of them are still buried under rubble. We don't know if they're alive or dead.

So the most important thing I think that the military and other people, private companies that do this work, we need help with logistics, with distribution. But we have to work with the military force there who brought security to Port-au-Prince. If we can get the logistics worked out, then it's just a question of off loading the planes and finding a way to get the stuff off the ships.

The Chinese were great, they sent a whole plane full of stuff yesterday, so much it took six hours to offload.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So did you ask him about the U.S. military? And could the U.S. military come in and take over? Because this is a country without a military. They've had U.N. peacekeepers.

The police department is very sketchy. They just don't have the means to control something if it got really bad.

ROBERTS: Is there the possibility that U.S. military forces may have to take over a security role in Haiti? Absolutely.

The president is hoping that the U.N. will be stood up to the point where it will be able to provide security. You know, we saw in 1994, 20,000 U.S. forces in Operation Uphold Democracy came in.

The situation very different than it is today, but they did provide security. So they might have to do it again.

But the president said if they can begin to get some of this aid out -- and they're going to have to clear the streets, first of all, to do that, because we've seen the rubble just strewn in those areas where the aid is needed most. If they get the aid out, they may be able to keep a lid on this.

But he said, you know, at the very most basic level, people have to have some sense of their own security. And he had a few suggestions for how that could happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: We need to find a place for people to go at night. We need a few places that are lighted at night so that people will be safe.

I know these things seem rudimentary to most Americans, but that's why, you know, for $10, you can buy a flashlight, a solar- powered flashlight that will keep a whole area lit up and safe at night. These are the kinds of things that we're trying to do now, and the military, I think, is more likely to be asked to help in the distribution, the logistics of this, than in a military capacity.

MINUSTAH, the U.N. operation, they're great. And assuming that we haven't lost too many people and we can still keep bringing our U.N. people out from under the rubble today, alive, I think that's going to get better and better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, Clinton also told you this morning that President Obama reached out to him wanting him to meet with George W. Bush. Now we're getting word that is going to happen, the three presidents are going to meet.

ROBERTS: Well, remember after the tsunami in 2004, President Clinton and Bush 41, George H. W. Bush, got together in a fund-raising effort for tsunami relief.

PHILLIPS: And they raised a lot of money.

ROBERTS: They raised a whole lot of money. PHILLIPS: A lot of power.

ROBERTS: Well, now it's the son that's going to get involved with President Clinton. The two of them will be meeting tomorrow. They'll be talking about how they will go forward in fund-raising efforts.

President Clinton is offering up his Clinton Foundation Web site to accept donations. It's www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake. They have also got a text message much like the State Department does that you can get $10 added on to your cell phone bill. You simply text "Haiti" to 20222, and you can donate some money that way.

The State Department has raised millions and millions of dollars through a similar text message function.

PHILLIPS: My guess is that this will also raise millions and millions of dollars.

Why is Haiti so close to Bill Clinton's heart?

ROBERTS: He first went there in 1975. He and Hillary had been married for a little while, and they hadn't actually had a chance to take a honeymoon. So a business fellow that they knew had set up some businesses in Haiti, bought them a couple of tickets down there, said come on down for a belated honeymoon.

They fell in love with the place. They've been involved ever since.

You'll remember in 1994, as we mentioned, President Clinton was very much involved in restoring Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the dually- elected president, into power after a military coup. Hillary Clinton was there in April talking about new ways forward.

And President Clinton, at least, had a meeting earlier this week that was scheduled as part of his status as the U.N. envoy, trying to redevelop the country. It turned into a fund-raising effort, instead of talking about how they could develop the country going forward.

He had no idea how long it's going to take for Haiti to recover, and it will require, if his plans are to be put in place, and it's sustainable development, better structures, better government, that will require really top-down rebuilding and it will take years, if not decades.

PHILLIPS: And it just takes me back. I had no idea that's where they had their honeymoon. He wants more people to be able to come and enjoy the people and the spirituality and the beauty and the culture.

ROBERTS: It used to be a place where a lot of people went. But unfortunately, the last two decades, it hasn't been.

PHILLIPS: Let's show the full screen once again as we head out to break -- ClintonFoundation.org/haitiearthquake. You can donate. Also, you can text "Haiti" to 20222. John, thanks so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: CNN has learned that President Obama will head to Massachusetts on Sunday to campaign for Democratic Senator Candidate Martha Coakley. That word from the Democratic Party sources now.

Coakley is running for the seat once held by the late Ted Kennedy. A new poll shows her slightly trailing her Republican opponent, Scott Brown. Democrats are worried about that race. Congressman Barney Frank says if Brown wins Tuesday's special election, it will kill President Obama's health care bill.

Other stories that we're following today.

The Pentagon out with its review of the Fort Hood shootings, and it could hold some of the suspect's supervisors accountable. That word today from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

A source with knowledge of the report says the review found Major Nidal Hasan was promoted despite his supervisor's concerns about extremist views and odd behavior.

Iran is warning the opposition to not use cell phones or the Internet to organize rallies. The country's police chief says if they do, they'll be prosecuted and punished. Iran has been wracked by unrest since its disputed presidential election last summer.

A puzzling discovery for NASA. Listen to this. The space agency trying to figure out who left some cocaine in a space shuttle hangar at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. NASA has drug-tested employees who work in that area.

Mountains of bodies piling up, nowhere to put them. Workers are digging mass graves now. Survivors are lining up with bodies, hoping to give them a proper burial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You can't dig 50,000 graves. That's what the leader of an elite rescue squad is saying as bodies decay in 90-degree heat across quake-ravaged Port-au-Prince Haiti. Corpses are cramming hospitals, overwhelming the morgues.

Seven thousand victims have already been buried in mass graves, according to Haiti's president. And as WABC's N.J. Burkett reports, the trail of dead seems to span the city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

N.J. BURKETT, REPORTER, WABC: One of the most heartbreaking things we've seen so far is at a cemetery on the outskirts of Port-au- Prince where people are literally running out of places to bury victims. And there are so many victims, people don't know what to do with them. (voice-over): We watched as one family after another arrived with relatives or neighbors who had been killed in the earthquake. A local official told me today they cannot possibly keep up with this. They are now considering mass graves.

(on camera): And as rescue teams with cadaver dogs arrive here at the airport in huge numbers, the numbers of dead are likely to climb.

In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, N.J. Burkett, Channel 7, Eyewitness News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And there are so many rotting bodies, the people have started wearing face masks to actually block out the stench. The corpses could contaminate water and breed infectious diseases, so the U.S. is deploying mortuary teams to identify and bury the dead. I had a chance to speak with Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the grim, but very important mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We have trained personnel, again medical personnel and technicians and others, and they will not only set up a sanitary, safe space. So as bodies are uncovered and as they dig people out of the rubble, they will be taken to a facility, and then help to begin family members to make identifications.

But again, that can be a huge health risk with people who are -- who have died who are under piles of rubble or left in the street. So the mortuary teams are part of what the public safety rescue mission is.

I mean, this is an unbelievable tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers go out to not only the people who live Haiti, but they are about 300,000 Haitians here in the tri-state area. We have friends and neighbors all over. We have workers in the department who live in Haiti and work in Haiti and we are still trying to...

PHILLIPS: It's close to their heart as well.

SEBELIUS: ... match them and find them -- you bet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, health officials are on the lookout of outbreaks of (INAUDIBLE) diseases as well as malaria and dengue, both transmitted by mosquitoes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEN GENGLE, DAUGHTER MISSING IN HAITI: She is alive! They rescued her. She is alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: This story is heartbreaking.

It was jubilation yesterday as a dad got word that his daughter had been rescued in Haiti. Len Gengle rushed down for a reunion, but he got a slap in the face. Britney Gengle (ph) and her two students with her have actually not been found. Her college being blamed for the bad intel for the mistake.

Mr. Gengle has just spoken publicly about the ordeal. No blame here, but just a plea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENGLE: As a father, President Obama, you must feel our pain and what we are going through. We were told our children were safe and rescued, and now we are told they are not. And we need your help and we know you can do it.

Father-to-father, I'm pleading with you to please, please get help and rescue those folks at Hotel Montana in Haiti.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The quake caused Britney's hotel to collapse, and there is a prayer vigil for her tonight in the hometown of Rutland, Massachusetts.

Here is a quick look at how the U.S. military is getting involved in Haiti. The Coast Guard cutter Forward already there, the first ship into Haiti by the way. And the one of several Coast Guard vessels helping with security and support in addition to that is destroyer USS Higgins there, three more ships about 2,200 Marines and heavy equipment should arrive early next week and the hospital ship Comfort should arrive a week today as well. Comfort has 12 operating rooms and space for 1,000 beds.

A little more about efforts to help Haiti, British Airways letting relief groups use a plane to fly in more supplies, it should arrive tomorrow. The World Bank has pledged $100 million in emergency funds, and the World Food Program says it has a six-month plan to get food to 2 million people to Haiti. Just some of the help that Haiti is getting from the rest of the world.

Al Qaeda n the Arabian peninsula, the target of Yemeni airstrikes and the government says it took out the top guy. Drew Griffin joining us live with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here is what Haiti looks like from a bird's-eye view today, nearly three days after the disaster struck. From the latest in the search and rescue efforts to the medical emergencies to what you can do to help, we are on top of it. CNN is monitoring the situation moment by moment, and we will bring you the very latest in a few minutes. Now, we want to take you -- now, al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula jumped onto the country's radar after the Christmas Day plane plot. Well, the Yemeni government also has them in their sights. We are hearing about airstrikes targeting some top guys in that group. Drew Griffin live with the latest -- Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we are developing the information on this, but it could be a pretty big blow to the al Qaeda group that is operating in Yemen, a group targeted by the Yemeni government now over the past month, ever since that Northwest Airlines attempted bombing.

Six unidentified al Qaeda operatives were hit in an airstrike, according to Yemeni officials, and one of them may be the al Qaeda military commander. He is a guy named Qasim al-Rimi, he is the only guy I will say. They have tried to kill him twice before, and from a Yemeni official we are hearing that it is almost certain that he is dead.

If that is true, and if these two other potential leaders of the group have been killed, this could be a major blow, Kyra. And this is why, these are basically the guys, the propagandists that you will see on TV, on web sites. The recruiters, the people who get foreign people to come in and recruit for them, much like the Nigerian who was recruited for the potential attack on the Northwest Airlines. So it could be a good blow.

Again, this was Yemen saying they took these two vehicle us out by an airstrike, they are still searching for two others who got away. But it is coming on the push by Yemen to try to attack al Qaeda within Yemen and also at the same time of the Yemeni president is offering amnesty to any of the al Qaeda terrorists who basically come in from the fold and stop this fight. So a potential big blow in Yemen on al Qaeda in the Arab peninsula -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, which could be good news when it comes to the threat of al Qaeda. Here in the U.S., Drew, really quick, we knew there were airstrikes that took place prior to the failed bombing attack on Christmas Day, that same radical website claiming that that is why they wanted to attack the U.S. was in retaliation for those missile strikes. So, is this a beefed up military fight here to try and take these guys out after that failed bombing attempt? Or is this just continued military strikes that have been planned out for a while?

GRIFFIN: Well, I think that it is, the strikes are developed as the information develops, but I think it is an uptick, you might say, in the Yemenis getting involved in fighting al Qaeda head on. In fact, they released a statement today saying that this marks the fifth major strike on al Qaeda positions in less than a month. Clearly, the government is trying to send a signal to the world and to al Qaeda that they are taking this fight seriously.

But Kyra, you know, we don't know what is going to happen. Sometimes you strike the head and a bunch of other heads come up. The question is if this strike did happen, if it struck the leadership, will that implode the group or will that bring in other people in to fill the void. And we just don't know in this ongoing war on terror.

PHILLIPS: Drew Griffin, thanks.

NBA star Gilbert Arenas heads to court this afternoon on a single count of carrying a pistol without a license. It is a felony charge that can carry up to five years in prison, but there are rumblings that the Washington Wizards guard has struck a plea deal. He says he meant no harm when he drew a gun in the team locker room last month.

Two goose hunters caused a security lockdown at a nuclear weapons assembly plant in Texas. Employees at the Pantex (p) plant in the Amarillo area were told to stay put for three hours this morning after the two hunters were spotted about two miles away from the site. Turns out they were Department of Energy employees assigned to that plant hunting legally in an area not on plant property.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates say he thinks U.S. forces will be welcomed by Haitians as lead players in disaster relief efforts, but he says substantial help will come from the rest of the international community, too. Gates believes the coordination of American aid has proceeded very well so far, but he says it is vital to get food, medicine and water into the country immediately.

A way to help Haiti at our fingertips and millions of Americans are answering the call. We're going to take a look at all of the charities coming forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Devastation everywhere you look in Haiti's capital, but the power of Tuesday's earthquake is more striking when you compare the before and after pictures. Here is CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the best measurements of how extensive this damage is, is coming from before and after pictures taken from space. Look at this, this is a digital globe Google earth image of the Port before the earthquake hit, and now I want to show you a GEOEYE image of it afterward. Look at this, whole parts of the pier have disappeared. This big crane which was sitting up here on the ground is now out in the water, and the concrete over here is fractured with five-foot craters in it.

Let's move into town a little bit more, and I'll show you another area. We've heard a lot of talk about the idea of needing to clear the roads to make it possible for rescuers to get to people who are stranded. Look at this intersection, big buildings here in the picture from before. Now, look what happens after, they completely have collapsed into the road. This is repeated many, many times up and down these roads. That's why aid cannot get in or out easily.

Let's go and look at another before and after picture. If I move it up this for a little bit, I can show you, nearby, this is a cathedral, obviously a landmark in any big city. Look at the cathedral right there. Now that we go to the GEOEYE image and look at the cathedral after, nothing but a shell of what it was, and there is one more before and after I want to show you, because it's a very, very important one. Take a look at this. All over the city, wherever you can find big, empty fields and big empty spaces like this, this is what they looked like before, and this is what they look like after.

These places are absolutely filling up with refugees, people setting up temporary housing of some sort, and these are the people who are waiting for help to arrive. When the Port can be fixed? When the airport can be operational? When the roads can be cleared? This is a battle right now for time and space. They're trying to figure out how to close the space between the aid and these people in enough time to prevent a second disaster, which is all these people being stranded within their own city waiting for help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, you can write a check or use your credit card to donate to relieve efforts in Haiti, but millions of dollars have been pouring into the Red Cross through another outlet, the text message. CNN Money's Poppy Harlow joins us to now to talk about this new world of philanthropy.

And you were saying that it is so great, because young kids, if I that are obsessed with something, may as well be obsessed and turn it into something good.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: it's unbelievable, more young people than ever, Kyra, donating on their Blackberrys, their iPhones via text message.

And folks, just take this number into account here, $7 million as of last night to the Red Cross through texting alone, an average of $100,000 an hour. This blows away worldwide efforts, that's a great thing for the people of Haiti.

Michelle Obama, the first lady, really getting behind it. She filed a public service announcement encouraging people to donate, telling them how. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We can help the American Red Cross as it delivers the food, water and medicine that can save lives. Donate $10 by texting "Haiti" to 9-0-9-9-9.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That is how you do it. So far, 700,000 people have texted a donation.

The first time actually, believe it or not, the Red Cross has used texting for an international disaster like this. I think it is working. A spokesman telling us, we are completely pleased and grateful. She says, this really has, Kyra, this has changed the face of philanthropy. Young people -- are you texting right now and donating? PHILLIPS: Well, I'm in the text now. So, let's go for it. Say I want to say I want to do a new text.

HARLOW: Yes. And then you dial in there -- 90999.

PHILLIPS: So, 90999.

HARLOW: Hit send.

PHILLIPS: How easy that is.

HARLOW: Look at that.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's amazing.

HARLOW: Our own Kyra Phillips...

PHILLIPS: Who never ever has learned -- yes -- how to do these things until the last year. OK, there you go. So I'll see...

HARLOW: There, you can do it.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you -- since this is a company phone, I should probably do it on my own as well. Are there fees associated with this?

HARLOW: No, that's the good thing. No. What we've heard from all of the U.S. carriers, no fees for any donations to the Red Cross for Haiti. So they're obviously getting rid of any of those fees that would usually apply.

And we want to show you a list of some other places you can donate cause this is just so important. As the days are going by, we want people to continue to donate. So here's what you can do.

$10 you can donate by texting the Bill Clinton Foundation or the International Medical Corps, both of those numbers on the screen so write them down.

And $5 by donating to Wyclef Jean's foundation, which is Yele Haiti, or also the International Rescue Committee.

I should say, Kyra, there have been these reports out saying, listen, it takes three months to actually get the money from when you text it to the people, the Red Cross saying that's just not the case. If we know the money is in the pipeline, we're going to give people what they need right now. So people shouldn't be deterred by that at all.

But amazing what young people are doing banding together.

PHILLIPS: And this just came across the wires, it looks like donations to Aid Haiti right now exceeding $73 million. It says that the amount, if you look at that, it is exceeding the amount raised for previous catastrophes including Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunamis. HARLOW: That is great. Keep it coming.

PHILLIPS: It's amazing. Thank you so much, Poppy.

HARLOW: You got it.

PHILLIPS: Well guests are going to join Larry King on set and via satellite to help showcase the many ways that people can respond to the Haiti crisis and to generate support for the major relief organizations, UNICEF and the Red Cross. The special is going to air this coming Monday 8:00 p.m. Eastern to 10:00 p.m. Eastern on "LARRY KING LIVE."

I understand we have Dr. Sanjay Gupta live at a field hospital that has just been set up in Port-au-Prince.

Sanjay, we have been talking so much about these medical units and doctors finally making way into Haiti, and you have made your way to one of these spots. Describe it to us.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we did.

First of all, let me just point out if I can over here, Kyra. I don't know if you can see that there is a gate, so many people waiting for care. You have nurses and doctors out there starting to do triage, starting to figure out who is the sickest and who needs care most immediately.

But the important thing here and what is sort of the measure of success are exactly what you said, these field hospitals over here. These big, white field hospitals equipped to do just about anything. They can do major surgery in here, certainly set broken bones, take care of the injuries that we have been talking about.

Let me show you one patient here very quickly if I can, Kyra. We have talked to them already. This is a rescue team who has just brought the patient in if you can...

(AUDIO GAP)

... trying to get that tourniquet around the leg basically to show exactly what has happened to the patient. In order to rescue her, they did do an amputation. That's the reality of what's happening out here. But now she's going to...

(AUDIO GAP)

... get care to control her infection...

(AUDIO GAP)

... to control any secondary problems she might have. That is -- that's exactly what these field hospitals are designed to do, Kyra.

Right now, there are five field hospitals set up, it's truly a multinational organization. These are the Belgians, the Canadians, the United States will be here a little but later on here today, we understand. But that's what people have been waiting for for some time here, Kyra.

PHILLIP: Wow, it's pretty amazing.

So, Sanjay, with your background and your knowledge of how -- you know, what is needed and what works well, what is your assessment as you go into the tents? Are they pretty, you know, basic or is there some pretty high-tech technology or I guess high-tech tools that these doctors have that will be able to help with these extreme injuries?

GUPTA: Well, no, this is trauma medicine. There's no question about it. You're not going to find things that you would find in a bright, shiny, gleaming hospital. On the other hand, it is designed to be able to take care of the very injuries that they expect -- crush injuries, for example, penetrating injuries and also lots of burns. Those are the types of injuries they're seeing the most.

What I can tell you from having spoken to the physicians and nurses over here is that orthopedic injuries seem to be even higher numbers than they expected. They simply don't have enough plaster, for example, to do casts for broken arms and broken legs. They need much more of that.

Yesterday, Kyra, when we were reporting from the hospital that's close to this particular area, as soon as we started saying that, people did bring supplies that were needed there. So if they are listening now, plaster casts, that is what is needed here at this particular field hospital.

They are going to be taking care of hundreds of patients and they that anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of them, as you mentioned, are going to need some sort of major operation. So really gearing up for that.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Sanjay Gupta, you been doing some remarkable work for us, thank you so much. We'll be talking a lot throughout the next days and weeks ahead.

GUPTA: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Team Sanchez working hard on the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Hey, Rick.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Got some new video coming in, Kyra, that we're going to be sharing with our viewers at 3:00. It is of U.S. military vessels, naval ships, plus troops that are arriving in Haiti to do what they possibly can to try and -- well, help in any way they can. Obviously, we have been looking at some of the pictures coming out of there.

We also have some pictures that are coming in from Haiti which show really what are piles of human bodies, and what dilemma there is now as to what to do with those. Tough to watch, brand new, we're going to share it with you. We'll warn you before you see it. It is coming up at 3:00.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rick.

How many people can say they tweeted a miracle? Well, we will meet the guy who first put the Miracle on the Hudson on the web a year ago today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The Hudson River -- Manhattan on one side, New Jersey on the other. Can you believe a year ago today a disabled U.S. airliner glided to a landing here? The Miracle on the Hudson. Everyone on board survived. The plane hit the water at 3:31 p.m. Eastern time, and at that moment today passengers and crew will raise a toast to life on one of the ferries that saved them.

So many indelible images from that incredible day beginning with the photo that one man put on the web. CNN photo journalist Bob Bickel (ph) met him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANIS KRUMS: I'm Janis Krums and took the picture of the Hudson River crash.

I parked the car that day in the Jersey side and I had some meetings in New York City. And I actually ran up on the ferry, on that platform, the last one on.

As we were pulling out, because they had to back out, once he turned around, he saw the plane. He just said, we are going for the rescue.

You know, you can't really describe that feeling, because there is a plane floating in front of you, and it is like, it is just weird.

I just thought that this is something that, you know, probably should be seen, just because I saw that there were survivors on there, so I just took a picture.

And I happened to be on Twitter, so I just did a quick twit pic and poster it. At that point I had a hundred and some odd follows, and I think within a half an hour or something the tweet pic dot com crashed actually because of the traffic I was getting. So it was pretty wild. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And here is another angle, there's another picture there, Lolita, and look at that. That is looking like an emergency chute as well is being utilized in the front of the plane near where the cockpit is.

KRUMS: And honestly, in that situation, I was not thinking of contacting and being a journalist, it was more about trying to save the people and seeing what we could help them with.

SANCHEZ: We are now able to report -- and we've been following this for quite awhile, we want to make sure we can confirm it -- that a plane has apparently gone down in the Hudson.

KRUMS: Our ferry was the first one. So we were there -- right when they were walking off of the plane, we were pulling up basically. We didn't know if there were people injured or dead, we had no idea what was going on and oh, it is fine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That is going to do it for us. Have a fabulous weekend. I'm Kyra Phillips, I'll see you Monday morning.

Rick Sanchez picks it up from here.