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Much-Needed Aid Trickling into Haiti; Massachusetts Senate Race Tied in Polls; Adoption Services for Haitian Children Frozen

Aired January 16, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. Welcome back to the CNN Saturday morning for January the 16th. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.

All right we are getting new news this morning about a field operation there in Haiti. It was a field hospital, in fact, where we were told that the U.N. had ordered all the doctors to evacuate overnight. And our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta really was the only doctor that remained throughout the night tending to those patients.

But we're now getting word from the U.N., in fact, from the spokesperson for U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon that the U.N., in fact, did not order that evacuation.

HOLMES: Yes. Again, we're going to show you more from our Sanjay Gupta in a second, but essentially about 20 patients were left, trauma patients in serious condition, were left at a makeshift hospital there in Haiti, in Port-au-Prince specifically.

The doctors say they were ordered to leave because of security concerns. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, she said, stayed behind.

Let's go ahead and take a listen to the update we got from Dr. Sanjay Gupta that kind of explains this story a little more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: As you know by now, we had an unusual night. The doctors that were caring for these patients were asked by the United Nations to leave, and we decided to stay and try and take care of these patients who would have otherwise been abandoned.

We didn't quite know how this was all going to end, but more patients even came in throughout the night, patients with head injuries, patients with legs that had been either fractured or even amputated. These are the types of injuries that are happening here.

But just a short time ago, the doctors did return, these Belgian doctor, and they're back to taking care of the patients. And I gave a sign out what was going on with all these patients so they can go forward with their care for the future.

Certainly a lot of discussion is going to come out of this, but this is the most important point for me -- the patients are all doing great, and they're all going to get great care.

Back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: They are getting care. Again, the U.N., a spokesperson there, said they did not order that medical team to leave, and if they left, they left because of their own team members telling them to do so, but the U.N. saying they did not order any of their doctors to leave.

Our Susan Candiotti is on the ground there in Port-au-Prince, as well. She has been bringing us reports on many of these survival stories. Susan, hello to you again. And explain -- you got one of many remarkable stories we've been hearing from Port-au-Prince.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.

That's right. We're in the middle of a neighborhood in Port-au- Prince on a busy side street. You see people passing by. There are also, T.J., it's a sight you see repeated time and again as you drive around Port-au-Prince, there are two bodies lying at the end of the street just beyond your view.

But believe me, there is no mission taking the smell of death. People are walking by, some of them wearing scarves or using homemade methods to try to disguise the smell, that include putting pieces of fruit skin up your nose or herbs, as well.

But we're here to tell you a story about this apartment building, five stories, that came crashing down when the earthquake hit on Tuesday. We're told about 30 people lived inside here, and we know that at least three people remain missing.

We met a man who's related to those who remain among the missing, and he has a remarkable story to tell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Yolan Rathone (ph) has every right in the world to be angry and frustrated, but he's not. "Frustration isn't going to help me," he says. "Anger isn't going to take me anywhere."

We met Rathone at the Port-au-Prince morgue. His wife's body is among hundreds lying outside, waiting for burial. Rathone can't get to his money to buy a coffin. It's buried under his house.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Where were you? When you came in, where did you start looking for your wife? Where did you go in the house?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going in there. CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Outside what's left of his home, Rathone says he tried desperately to free his wife, passing her water and food through a hole, and finally pulled her free after 25 hours. But then ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then 15 minutes after, she died.

CANDIOTTI: It gets worse. Rathone's three-year-old son and three in-laws remain trapped inside the basement. They're not crushed. "Maybe they may not have the strength to cry," he says, "but they're alive. If I can get to them, they will survive."

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Are you afraid they will die?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

CANDIOTTI: Friday morning when Mr. Rathone he came here, he said he could hear voices. He doesn't hear them now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need some help to take them. I can't -- I don't have enough tools to get them myself.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): And if he cannot find his in-laws and his son? "If they die there," he says, "I know I did everything I could to get them out."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Back at the scene this morning, this, again, is the hole in the bottom of this building, the basement, in essence, where he was able to rip out the gates using a pickup truck and a chain somehow roped to pull them away.

And then he crawled down this dark space here. I can't imagine, putting himself at risk, as well, and that's where he created the hole that he was able to get some food and water to his wife those 24 hours, only to pull her free and have her die 15 minutes later because he couldn't get her quickly enough to help.

Where was he going to take her? There was nothing open at the time, and it's still, of course as you heard, hard to get assistance. We did talk with him this morning, he was here briefly, and he said he managed to get his hands on a coffin and, in fact, he did bury his wife yesterday.

He is still not hearing any voices, and clearly he looked dejected, but refuses to give up hope until he knows for sure what happened to his young son and three in-laws. It's very sad, T.J.

HOLMES: It's very sad, but you and that story, we thank you for it. You hit on the point there. Once you get them out, even once you're successful in getting somebody out, you've got nowhere to take them in most cases to get them treated.

Susan, thank you so much for bringing us that story. We'll be talking to you later. NGUYEN: And thousands did make it out, they did survive, but now what do you do with those injuries? What do you do about food? What do you do about water? Our Chris Lawrence is at a location where many Haitians have spent the night in the open.

Chris, I know that you've seen them as they've searched for food and water, as they've searched for lost loved ones. What is the situation today, and is it any better than it was this time yesterday?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I think a little bit, and we're starting to see some small signs that the Haitian government or remnants of the Haitian government are starting to kick in and try to do what they can.

I don't know if you can see, kind of take a look behind me here, but they set up a triage center right here on the corner just outside the park where I was standing earlier where all those people are sleeping. We've already seen them start to bring in a lot of patients, some little kids. They set up some chairs even. It's almost like a makeshift clinic out here on the street. You can see some of the beds.

I'm told they've only got about one doctor here right now, but they're going to do what they can to treat some of the smaller injuries, try to make people feel just a little bit better if they can. So obviously medical attention is very important. Also getting, you know, food, water, supplies, things like that are very important, as well.

And I think when you look at that situation, one of the keys is going to be figuring out ways to get that food and get those supplies to people in an orderly manner so that the strongest people don't take from the weakest people so that, you know, everyone is able to get a hold of some of those supplies.

We kind of saw it for ourselves, you know, yesterday starting at the airport in trying to follow this supply chain to make sure the aid was actually getting out to the people. And we definitely saw some problems in that regard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: We're in the back of the United Nations truck heading to the center of the city. You can see we're jammed in pretty tight with a lot of the same supplies that the World Food Program is going to be delivering to the people of Haiti.

You can take a look next to me. You can see some of the U.N. guards. It's going to be their job to try to keep some form of order so things don't get out of hand.

The truck's now made it here to the park near the presidential palace. A lot of people starting to push and shove their way, trying to get up to where the food is. You can see a lot of the men pushing their way up, none of the women able to get up here. It's swiftly getting a little chaotic here. They had to stop it. They start blowing their whistles and had to stop it about 10, 15 minutes ago. It just started back, but it seems to be able to last for about five minutes before it starts getting out of hand again.

The thing that I'm noticing, too, there's a lot of small kids in there that are getting jammed up against other people or they're just getting pushed out of the way entirely.

The World Food Program is trying to distribute water purification tablets and high-energy biscuits. The biscuits are vitamin fortified and OK to eat, but a massive misunderstanding about the expiration date is causing people to refuse to eat them.

LAWRENCE (on camera): What is wrong with the biscuits? Why don't people want to eat them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bad.

LAWRENCE: What's happening is they're confusing the date that it was packaged on, which was 2008, with the expiration date, which is November 2010. I know it's hard to see, but he's basically yelling and telling people do not accept these biscuits because they're no good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are very concerned but the biscuits are very good. They're OK.

LAWRENCE: As you can see, everybody's following the truck. There it goes. They're trying to even just hold onto the back of it. But it's pulling away. A lot of people ended up with nothing. But I don't know if you can still see, they're running after the truck trying to get it. But that truck's gone now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: And the saddest thing about that was I watched that truck get pack so I knew there was half a truck full of supplies still in there when it pulled away, you know, supplies that just didn't get to the people because it just got so chaotic.

But I think this gives you an idea. That's what happened that time. It doesn't mean it's happening all over every time. You can see this is very orderly. A lot of people have brought their buckets, jugs, anything.

This is a local business right here who is -- has a hose so people can come and bring anything they can to try to fill it up with some water. And that's one of the reasons why the World Food Program was handing out a lot of those water purification tablets, in case people were able to get access to water in other respects, they could pop one of those tablets and stir it up and it would be sterilized and OK to drink.

That's a lot easier than, say, trying to transport a huge amount of water. When you're talking about, you know, a couple of million people and their daily needs of water, trying to transport that much water, which is so heavy, can be difficult. It's easier to transport and hand out the tab lets.

This water right here is safe to drink. That's why so many are lined up here. And again, just across the street, we saw the triage center being set up, patients starting to come in. So again you're starting to see a trickle, a trickle of help arrive to at least get people through the next couple days -- Betty?

NGUYEN: You're seeing a little bit of order being established, too, with the triage center being set up, the chairs being set up. People definitely do need some medical assistance and some shelter and food and water especially.

All right Chris Lawrence, thank you so much for that report.

LAWRENCE: Betty?

NGUYEN: Yes. Go ahead.

LAWRENCE: Do we have a quick second?

NGUYEN: Sure.

LAWRENCE: I just wanted to bring him in. He's been standing here so patiently. He just wanted to tell his family that he's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I would like to tell my mother...

LAWRENCE: Hold on one second. I'm going to pull this off. We'll have to jury rig it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to tell Elsie and my stepfather that I'm OK. I'm here helping my people. And I'm alive. Me and my wife, we're alive. We're safe. But there's a lot of death, a whole lot of death.

LAWRENCE: What's your name, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Carlo Henry.

LAWRENCE: And where is your family at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family is in Jamaica, Queens.

LAWRENCE: If you're listening there in Jamaica, Queens, if perhaps maybe not necessarily his family, but if you know his family, there you go right there. He's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to say to my family in Boston, I mean, most of the family all right, but...

LAWRENCE: You have to say your name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Clyde Adolph. But I want to tell to my uncle in New York, especially Spring Valley, I mean, my uncles, Tony Adolph, Fred Adloph, and whoever, I mean, my family, I want to tell them until now, I mean, the people living like third avenue and fourth avenue they're OK.

So Tony, tell them strictly from my heart he doesn't have to worry anything right now for his family. They're OK. All his four kids, they're OK.

LAWRENCE: All right. Thank you.

We've been getting a lot of messages like that, people just coming out, wanting to say something. And it's tough because there's just no communication here. A lot of families out there very worried.

NGUYEN: Yes, it's absolutely imperative that they get some kind of word to their family, because we've been watching our Web site, and we have had more than 5,000 people on there searching for lost loved ones. So thank you so much for bringing that to us. The families of Carlo and Claude, they are alive and well.

And T.J., what I loved about that too is the fact he said don't worry about us, we're OK, we're alive, but there is so much still to worry about on the ground on Haiti.

HOLMES: But that one nugget means so much to people who have been waiting since Tuesday for anything. Hopefully somebody somewhere who knows that guy or his family, that's all it takes, and they can at least breathe a sigh of relief -- OK, we know they made it through the initial quake.

Yes, there are more challenges but people just want that initial word.

NGUYEN: To know they are alive and survived.

HOLMES: We know survival, food and water, that stuff is in short supply. Also medical aid is in short supply there, as well. Field hospitals are filling the void best they can, but there's a limited number of doctors and a limited number of resources.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, joins us live from Port-au-Prince. I guess that looks like a lot of other places we have been seeing, kind of makeshift hospitals and tents being set up. What's happening where you are?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. What's happening where I am is that there are about 250 patients here. You can see behind me in this tent and another one. They're actually told they have to close this facility and move, which is going to be an enormous undertaking to move all these people.

They're on the United Nations compound. And we're told the United Nations has told them they need to get off the United Nations compound and move somewhere else.

But in the meantime, as they plan to close down this hospital, I want to tell you about a special set of kids here. These are kids -- (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE).

COHEN: After two days in this makeshift hospital, I thought I'd seen it all -- amputations on the side of the road, huge, gaping, open wounds. But you know what? I haven't seen it all.

I want to introduce you to someone else. His name is Sean. Now, Sean is an orphan. And he can't take care of himself completely. And sometimes doctors and nurses have time for him, like now, but not all the time. So there have been times where Sean has come and talked to us.

Now you'll see that Sean has a yellow dot on his head, which means that he's not as critically injured as some of the other children or some of the other people here. But he's still in pretty tough shape. Sometimes I've heard him scream out at night, and if someone is nearby, if a doctor or nurse is nearby, they bring him morphine, but it doesn't happen all the time.

This little girl had no one with her for days and her hands were injured so she couldn't feed herself. So nobody was nearby, so I helped her eat and drink.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this country, there are very few orphanages and hundreds of thousands of orphans. That number has tripled in the last 48 hours. And basically, they'll become street kids. Some of them are used as slaves by families who will take them in, and it's just very tragic.

COHEN: I was sitting right here earlier today when a woman approached me, frantic. She's saying mommy and daddy are at home. But there is no home.

Just when I thought none of these orphans would ever find a home, a man walked in with this photo asking if anyone had seen her. It turns out she's the girl I was feeding earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very happy. She's been here for three days, no family around. We thought she was an orphan. And now they have come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, this hospital has done an incredible job of doing their best to take care of the orphans and everyone else. They have a one percent mortality rate. They've had about 300 patients and about three of them have died. That's pretty incredible.

T.J., this isn't just a low-tech hospital. This is a no-tech hospital. All of the blood tests and machinery and everything we take for granted, they don't have any of that. They can't even do surgery, which is necessary. About a third of these patients need surgery or else they're going to die of blood-borne infections. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right, our Elizabeth Cohen, we appreciate your reporting as well as our other correspondents. We'll be checking in with you and the others plenty this morning. Thank you so much.

NGUYEN: You know, trying to track down missing loved ones from Tuesday's earthquake has been so difficult, and thousands of people, in fact, are simply pleading for help.

HOLMES: We are trying our best to help out and help these families get their messages out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Just imagine this, five years old, and missing in Haiti.

HOLMES: Jean Ricrardo Rodney doesn't know what happened to his baby brother. All he knows at this point -- actually, we were talking during the commercial break. Thank you for being here. but we got some kind of news, or you got some kind of news. Tell us what the news is you got about your brother and how you got it.

JEAN RICCARDO RODNEY, AWAITED WORD FROM FAMILY IN HAITI: This morning my phone rang. It went straight to voice mail, and my dad left me a message telling me that my little brother, he heard about him, but he has not been able to see him yet. So he's going to try to find out if he can see him, verify the news, make sure it's true that he is alive. But he called this morning from Haiti.

NGUYEN: So you found out that your father was alive. Was your little brother with your father?

RODNEY: No, he was not with my father, so he probably was at school or was at the house but I'm not sure.

HOLMES: Tell us here how this works, because you're not the first person that's told us that they've heard by some kind of word of mouth, nobody's actually seen some of the people who are missing, but it seems like some kind of word of mouth is getting around, almost rumor in some cases.

So tell us if you can, how have you been getting information, how this works? You kind of hear about it even though nobody has actually seen your brother.

RODNEY: Basically when you ask people in Haiti, because of what's going on, everybody is very in shock. And they probably see -- they probably think they saw that person or they probably hear somebody else who said it. So it's more like third parties saying things.

So until you verify that information so you can't really rely on that information, but you're just hoping for the best.

And right now with the communication being reestablished in Haiti, so people are getting a little bit more information, and part of that information are not really fact as well. So therefore you got to be careful until you really see that person to really make sure that the information was true. NGUYEN: Let's try to go back to where you think your brother may have been at the time of the earthquake. You say he may have been in the school. Have you heard any word as to what happened to that school, if it survived the quake?

RODNEY: I have no idea. But my assumption, because all the schools in that area, the bank in that area, they all fell down, so I'm assuming that the school might have fell down, as well. But I cannot -- I don't know if he was in school at that time or if he was at home, so I'm not sure.

HOLMES: All right. I guess what's next for you now? Do you simply wait for that phone to ring again? Do you wait for another voice mail to pop up? Or are you actively trying to call around? Or again, like I said, can all you do is sit and wait?

RODNEY: Basically, it's -- yes. I'm waiting for him to call me, and I'm calling around, because the anxiety is very hard here in Arizona, because we're so far away from Haiti. And so we try the best that we can here to get in touch with our family.

And we've been calling, but unfortunately we have not been able to get in touch with anybody in Haiti. They're probably in better place to call us since they have, like, phone and they can easily get in touch with us in the states.

NGUYEN: And your five-year-old brother's name is Rubins Rodney, correct?

RODNEY: Correct, it's Rubins Rodney.

NGUYEN: The good news is you've heard from your father.

Did your father give you any indication as to the condition he's in, what he's doing right now and the family members that did survive to get food and water, because we know the desperation is growing in Haiti?

RODNEY: Yes, that was my first question, too, because it was like what happened with food and water, because I know what's going on out there.

And the news was very devastating, because it's like you got into a car accident. You survived but you in ICU right now, in the trauma room. That's basically what the Haitian population is in right now in Haiti.

So my father says there's no food, there's no water, so he's sleeping outside, and sometimes he just goes to a friend's house, and sometimes they give him some water and give him some food. That's basically the condition he's living in, so no medication and so on. So it's very bad.

NGUYEN: Just getting to an ICU, as you talk about, is quite a chore, quite a task there in Haiti right now. But we do appreciate your time. Again, your brother's name is Rubins Rodney. He's five years old, and you're waiting for any kind of word on his whereabouts and whether he, indeed, did survive.

RODNEY: Definitely, yes. That's what I'm waiting for. And I have all the family members in Haiti, my mom's side, so we have not heard anything from them yet. So we're still waiting to hear from these people.

HOLMES: All right, Jean Riccardo, sir, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story and what you're going through. We are getting your brother's name out as we speak, we're putting it out there and see if anybody maybe has heard word and maybe we can get it back to you.

Sir, thank you so much for your time and certainly our best to you and your family right now.

RODNEY: Thank you so much. And I appreciate CNN for all their works in Haiti, and that's very incredible.

HOLMES: Thank you so much this morning.

And all this morning of course we've been telling you, if you have a relative in Haiti, you can call the State Department at 1-888- 407-4747. You see an e-mail up there right now -- again the number 888-407-4747.

There's a recording that tells you there is an extremely high volume of calls and encourages some of those callers to go to that State Department e-mail as well. You see that on the screen as well. That's Haiti-earthquake@state.gov, two resources there to try to help out people to get word anyway they can.

NGUYEN: And I also want to follow this. Over-the-counter medications, they are being pulled off the shelf. This is something you need to know about, because Tylenol is what we're talking about specifically. The FDA says it's making people sick. We're going to show you what's being done to remedy the situation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: I want to bring you some of the top stories we are following this morning. These Pictures are from last night, where we say -- we're told actually a group of medical doctors, a group of doctors from the U.N. were actually pulling out because of security concerns, pulling out of a specific area where a makeshift hospital had been set up.

This was the same hospital where our Dr. Sanjay Gupta was reporting from. Those doctors pulled out last night saying that the U.N. ordered them because of security concerns. Sanjay Gupta stayed overnight with those patients, who still need help.

The U.N. is responding now to the CNN reporting, saying that they did not order those doctors to leave that makeshift hospital, instead, saying if they left, they got orders from somewhere else or they made that decision on their own as an independent medical team. But that is the update. However, the update, as well, from our Sanjay Gupta, who stayed overnight, also stayed with his camera crew, turned them into doctors and nurses, as well. All those patients made it through the night.

NGUYEN: Well, President Obama is talking about the crisis in Haiti this morning. And joining him at the White House are former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The three are making an appeal for aid to Haiti. We're going to have a live report at the top of the next hour.

And then also tomorrow our John King interviews the two former presidents about the relief effort. That is at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

HOLMES: A drug recall involving Tylenol has just been expanded. Johnson & Johnson now recalling other drugs, including Motrin, Benadryl, extra strength Rollaids, as well as St. Joseph's chewable aspirin because of an "unusual moldy smell." You can find out more about the recall and how you get a refund by calling the number you see up there, 888-222-6036, the number there at the bottom of your screen. You can also logon to mcneilproductrecall.com.

The FDA has slammed Johnson & Johnson for what it calls a failure to respond quickly enough to complaints that first were filed back in 2008.

We're going to turn now and get more on what Betty was just telling you about a moment ago, President Obama meeting with former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, expecting to hear from them about the Haiti relief effort.

NGUYEN: The immediate need is for medical supplies, food, heavy moving equipment, and of course shelter. CNN's White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from the White House.

And Suzanne, is there a specific goal that they're trying to reach with this fund-raising campaign?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Really, the focus of this is kind of long-term progress inside of Haiti, this not the immediate emergency fund we've been talking about that the president has been emphasizing, but really taking a look at ways to support the education, the health care, the development of the Haitian people in the long term, beyond this immediate need.

Now, we did get a chance to see both those former presidents here at the White House. They ducked in very quickly. They are now in the oval office with President Obama. But this is former President Bill Clinton, also former President George W. Bush. It's the first time, by the way, that he has been back here at the White House since he left.

But this is a very important time, an important occasion. We know it makes complete sense that Clinton is here. He's the U.N. special envoy to Haiti. But President Bush, before he left, he said if he was ever called to duty to serve his country, then he would actually accept that call. He did just that when President Obama called him on Wednesday evening and said, look, I want you to be a part of this humanitarian effort along with President Bill Clinton.

So that is what they're doing today in the Oval Office. They're discussing it.

They're also going to talk a little bit, Better, more in detail in about 30 minutes or so in the Rose Garden exactly what they would like the American people to do.

But President Obama has made it very clear that he is proud of the American people and he feels that they have made great contributions so far. I want you to take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank our people on the ground, our men and women in uniform who have moved so swiftly, our civilians and embassy staff, many of whom suffered their own losses in this tragedy. You demonstrate the courage and decency of the American people, and we are extraordinarily proud of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Betty, one of the things that the president is doing is he's taking a page from President Bush. You may recall when the tsunami hit Indonesia, also when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was President Bush who called up Bill Clinton and his father, George H. W. Bush, to get together and to try to help organize some sort of international relief effort. That was highly successful.

And that is why President Obama says he's putting these two former presidents together to try to initiate that kind of same project.

Now if you want more information, here's the Web site to go to. It's www.ClintonBushHaitifund.org. And we should be hearing from all three of these presidents within about 20 minutes or so, Betty.

NGUYEN: And to be clear, Suzanne, this is voluntarily a fundraising campaign, which is separate from what the president pledged as $100 million and an initial investment in aid to Haiti, correct?

MALVEAUX: Yes, that's absolutely right. This is really encouraging private citizens as well as private companies to donate, to provide relief in kind of a long-term way to help Haiti in the long run.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joining us live from the White House. Suzanne, thank you.

HOLMES: A quick break. We are right back with our continuing coverage of the still rescue mission and relief effort there in Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The USNS Comfort is on its way to Haiti. The Navy ship left the dock just moments ago starting a trip to Haiti, and that ship is fully staffed with doctors and nurses, some 500, in fact, on board. It has 250 hospital beds and 12 operating rooms.

HOLMES: The Comfort should get there sometime next week. Our Sandra Endo has been standing by. It's a welcome sight to see that thing finally on its way, but it's still going to take some time to get there.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J. and Betty. It was such a relief to see the boat actually move away from the dock about 40 minutes ago. Right now it's undergoing some last- minute and final safety checks just off the pier here in Baltimore. Then it's going to make its way to Haiti.

And the mission for this hospital ship is really to treat the injured and try to save lives. It took a couple of days to get the vessel fully operational and to get all the supplies on board. But now it's ready to go.

Take a look inside. We had a chance to go on board. And as you mentioned, there are 250 beds on board a 550-strong medical team to assist all those who need help, and also enough supplies, medical supplies, medicine for those who desperately need it in Haiti. We're hearing so many stories of the need for medical supplies.

So certainly it's stockpiled up on board that ship, the Comfort, and ready to go to treat so many people. The crew there, the challenge for them once they get to Haiti, though, is to treat the sheer number of people who need medical attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENSIGN SHANNON WALKER, U.S. COAST GUARD: Our mission is to go and do everything we can for the people in Haiti right now. We're supposed to bring relief to them and do everything we can to relieve some of the stress they're going through right now. This is a horrible, horrible experience for them.

LT. CMDR. THOMAS OLIVIERO, CHIEF NURSE FOR THE OPERATING ROOM: We're anticipating the worst. That's what we're preparing for. So we figure a lot of orthopedic injuries, head injuries, crush injuries. That's what we're planning for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: And just to give you an idea of the scope and magnitude and size of the comfort, it has enough supplies for 45 days, including food and water for the crew and patients on board.

But also, it's also the size of three football fields long, one football field wide. Certainly the size of any huge hospital here in Maryland, as well.

So very good sight to see once it gets next to Haiti and treating all those patients there. It's expected to arrive, though, in several days, probably late in the week. T.J. and Betty?

NGUYEN: That's really great news. You say 45 days worth of supplies, but we heard from General Honore a little bit earlier that, in fact, the military will be able to, you know, give them more supplies, pretty much restock that medical ship, if you will, in the coming days if needed. So it could be there for quite some time.

Sandra, thanks so much for that live report.

And just to remind you, President Obama, along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, will make an appeal for funds to help Haiti recover and rebuild. We're going to bring that to you live.

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HOLMES: Well, huge sums of money are pouring into charities to help people in Haiti. And Betty, one of the coolest things we've been watching is so many of them are coming in via text, so many have been raised by simply people texting. But all that out there, the FBI still warning there are some fakes out there.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. Our Josh Levs is here to show us what we need to be on the lookout for. Hey, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, guys.

When we're talking about these huge sums of money, it's important to be aware of these scams. Philanthropy.com saying about $100 million already raised just by the major relief agencies, and that's just a drop in the bucket. The U.N. alone is pushing for $560 million. We're seeing huge fundraisers.

But the FBI is warning that there are already are some scams out there. In fact, I have an article here from CNN.com that's all about this. What I want you to know are a few things that you should watch out for.

Let's go straight to these graphics. First of all, when you're considering what charity to give to, there's information you should be asking for. Get the phone number, the official address of the charity.

Also check for the registration. And I'm going to show you what that means on my screen. There are a few don'ts on the next screen. Do not give any personal financial information. People are getting e- mails and Facebook messages saying this is a great way to give to even a legitimate-sounding charity, but it asks for your bank account and other personal information. Charities don't need that.

Do not donate cash. You want to be able to track what happens to your money, whether it's a check or also a credit card. And also, when you get one of those e-mails, do not open any attachments. They might look benign or legit. No legitimate charity is going to send attachments through your e-mail right now unless you've asked for it.

So a handful of pointers. The easiest way to donate or take action is use our Web site here, "Impact your World." Zoom way in -- CNN.com/impact. We link you to tons of agencies that are legit.

And we have new stats for you on this. We now have at CNN.com/impact, we now have 67 highly vetted charities. We have ten different ways for you to donate by text, including internationally. We have 11 groups specifically for international currencies, and, guys, we have a section for how you can volunteer with one of the groups that is sending support to Haiti.

So it's growing and growing, all about CNN.com/impact.

NGUYEN: Great resource, josh. Thank you so much for that.

Also want to get to this, because after months of deals, tea parties, and weekend Senate sessions, one state could unravel the president's health care reform plan.

HOLMES: We'll tell you what the president plans to do about it. That's right after the break.

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HOLMES: We're never going to be too far away from out coverage of what's happening in Haiti. We'll get back to that in just a moment.

Still, we want to bring you a couple of other stories that are important right now, including the race to fill late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. A special election will be held in Massachusetts on Tuesday, and to the surprise of many, the Republican Scott Brown now ties the Democrat Martha Coakley in the polls, an election that goes far beyond Massachusetts.

This is not just any runoff here. The outcome could jeopardize the president's health care reform plans. So he's headed there to personally campaign.

Let's get more on all of this from our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. Paul, a lot of people scratching their heads, now, wait, how is this going to throw it all for a loop? It could.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It could. And people say this is Massachusetts where Democrats win elections all the time. What do you mean it's all tied up there? That's what polls suggest.

T.J., it's not just about Massachusetts. If Scott Brown, that state senator up there, if he wins the election on Tuesday, he would become the 41st Republican in the Senate. That would deny the Democrats their 60-seat super majority. That could prevent them from passing that health care reform bill that they're getting so close to hammering out and getting to a final vote.

One thing, though, if Brown wins, secretary of state in Massachusetts, a Democrat, has said it may take two weeks to certify Brown. That could allow the Democrats to pass the health care reform bill in time, T.J.

HOLMES: And that is the most fascinating part of this story in my opinion, just how politics works sometimes.

So why is it tied? This is a seat in a state that doesn't really go Republican at all.

STEINHAUSER: Exactly, a bad time right now for incumbents, an anti-incumbent mood. The Democrats are the incumbents up there. Brown is also, people suggesting, done a much better job campaigning. Some say Coakley took this for granted.

What she's trying to do now is get out the vote. As you mentioned, Barack Obama is coming there tomorrow to Massachusetts. He is already up on a web video and in automated calls to Democrats up there trying to get out the vote, both sides trying to get out the vote.

This is a special election, T.J. Most people, turnout is very low, so it crucial to get out the vote.

HOLMES: And it sounds like I'm hearing you right, and even if a Republican happens to win, the Democrats have a backup plan. Again, this sounds like the secretary of state there said this could take a little time, the Democratic secretary of state could take a little time to certify. I'm sure we'll be following up on that plenty.

Paul, we appreciate you as always, buddy.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

NGUYEN: All right, let's get you back to Haiti, where images of orphans in dire need after the earthquake have just riveted the world. But if you want to reach out and help some of those children, we'll have the latest guidance from leading experts.

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HOLMES: We've been seeing so many of those images, so many of those faces of children in the rubble, in the streets, their lives, of course, like so many, shattered by the quake. But in their cases a lot of times of course they can't care for themselves. Many have lost a parent or, in some cases, yes, have lost both of their parents.

There were already a large number of orphans in Haiti. Many were in the process of being adopted by American families. But now the paperwork is lost in the rubble. The government agencies are in ruins, and this quake could very well mean some of these kids will never get adopted. NGUYEN: It takes an American family about two years to adopt a Haitian child, and that timeline is not being relaxed in light of the earthquake.

Siri Scott, with Carolina Adoption Services joins me now from Raleigh. Carolina Adoption Services handles hundreds of international adoptions for American families. Siri, your agency was in the process of ten adoptions for Haitian children prior to the earthquake. Where does that stand right now?

SIRI SCOTT, CAROLINA ADOPTION SERVICES: Well, right now we are mostly concerned about the well-being of the children in Haiti and stabilizing their living conditions and...

NGUYEN: Do you know if those children even survived the quake?

SCOTT: We have heard word from our orphanage director as well as from connections with the Red Cross that they are alive and they are safe currently, but that they are very short on food and water and in desperate need.

NGUYEN: OK, so that is one issue at hand.

SCOTT: Yes.

NGUYEN: The other is, what about the paperwork now that was in play before the earthquake?

SCOTT: Well, it's probably going to take about two weeks to hear any word as to whether all the paperwork was lost, what these families will have to do to continue their adoptions, and where we go from here.

Luckily, the U.S. State Department is working very closely with adoption agencies and children welfare agencies to make sure that not only American families are taken care of during the crisis time but that the children in Haiti are also taken care of.

NGUYEN: And also if they need my medical care, getting the care that they absolutely need in the time of emergency. Any idea who is taking care of all these children at that particular orphanage?

SCOTT: Our 20 staff members are still there with the children, and they are providing the care and trying to tend to their needs currently. We're working very hard right now to try and get a physician or any sort of clinic member to the orphanage to try and make sure that the children are healthy and, if any of them are injured, to care for those needs.

NGUYEN: And for those who are wanting -- they're seeing these children who have lost their family members, who have essentially become orphans because of this earthquake. For those wanting to adopt children in Haiti right now, do you have any advice for them, any avenues in which they should go down?

SCOTT: We fully appreciate the care and concern from families across the world who are wanting to care for these children. Right now we've really asked that they hold back and let everything be stabilized in Haiti before we progress with any adoptions.

We need to make sure that systems are in place to prevent any trafficking or any harm to these children during these crisis times.

NGUYEN: Some good advice there. I know you're really trying to make your way through the possible mounds of paperwork that you may have to start all over again. But thankfully, though, you've heard that the children are OK and hopefully they will continue to be that way as many are still searching for food and water in Haiti as we speak.

Thank you for your time today. We appreciate it.

SCOTT: Thank you.

HOLMES: We want our viewers to know we are standing by waiting to hear any moment from President Obama, as well as former Presidents Clinton and Bush -- George W. Bush, I should say. Clinton and Bush have been tapped -- and there's a live picture. We're waiting for them to all come out.

But they have been tapped to lead up some efforts to help people from the private sector to raise funds to help Haiti out. When that happens, again, expecting at any moment, when it happens, we will bring that to you live.

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NGUYEN: And just to remind you, President Obama along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will make an appeal for funds to help Haiti recover and rebuild. We will bring that to you live when it happens.

And we are also going to be bringing you coverage all morning long from Haiti as people will there are still struggling to survive. And in the next hour, we're going to take you live to little Miami.

HOLMES: It's little Haiti in Miami.

NGUYEN: In Miami.

HOLMES: We're certainly going to show that, but we'll be right back -- quick break. Again, you won't miss the Presidents Obama, Clinton, and W. Bush when they come out to speak. Stay with us.

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