Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Larry King Live

Haiti in Agony; Signs of Life Heard Inside the Rubble; Hillary Clinton Arrives, Assesses the Damage; Earthquake Survivors Tell Their Stories

Aired January 16, 2010 - 21:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN GUEST HOST: Tonight, buried alive in Haiti. Are there signs of life trapped under tons of concrete? Is someone tapping for help? It is one of the few encouraging moments in a country of rotting corpses and all-around misery.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives to see the horror firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: You have been severely tested but I believe that Haiti can come back even stronger and better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As the situation grows more desperate by the day, what kind of future awaits?

"Haiti in Agony," next on this special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE."

Welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, sitting in for Larry tonight.

I also want to alert you that Larry will be here on the air Sunday with the latest news from Haiti. Larry has a big event also planned for Monday. Mick Jagger, Seal, Colin Powell, Ringo Starr, Will I Am, John Meyer, Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Leoni are a few who will join to him to help Haiti. We'll tell you a lot more about this later.

But first, the news from Haiti today. Estimates of those dead are pegged at about 100,000 as of now, that according to Haitian officials. Secretary of State Clinton arrived in Haiti this afternoon. And the top-two diplomats for the United Nations stationed in Haiti were officially declared dead today.

Karl Penhaul is on the scene for us in Port-au-Prince.

It has been quite a day, day four after this earthquake, Karl. Set the scene for us. Tell our viewers what happened.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN NEWS CORRSPONDENT: Well, certainly, what I've been looking at today is the relief operation because, yes, you are right, the recovery operation is still going on. People are still looking for signs of life among the rubble. But, of course, there are thousands upon thousands of people who have lost their homes, have lost everything result of this earthquake. The effort now is to get aid to them quickly and safely.

Safely, why? Because the United Nations, who are handing out a lot of this aid, and the United Nations peacekeepers, who are accompanying them, are fearful there could be an explosion of violence as people become hungry and desperate. And beyond that explosion of violence, even keeping order in food lines is complicated because people will not stand in line.

That said, after I went out today, I was a lot more hopeful. I could see the troops were managing to keep order. The Haitians themselves were keeping some semblance of order in the food lines as well.

Also, as well interesting, for the first time today, I saw U.S. helicopters swooping in and over a city park where people, earthquake survivors, underneath. The helicopter swoops down to ten feet above the ground and as was tossing aid. That risks running a stampede among the survivors beneath but, in fact, when the helicopter left, the people organized themselves again, controlled themselves. Maybe this time Haiti is at least going to be able to receive the aid in a peaceful fashion -- Wolf?

BLITZER: It looks like there is a lot of food, a lot of supplies, medical equipment arriving at the airport, but it is hard to get out there by car or whatever, the vehicles. It doesn't look very orderly, at least not now.

PENHAUL: There are a number of the log jams. And it has to be said, one of the log jams, yes, is at the airport, the number of planes coming in, being unloaded. Port-au-Prince Airport is not big enough to handle air traffic.

Another log jam is what even some of the United Nations workers have told me off camera, the lack of coordination between the U.N., between the institutions of the U.N. and with some independent NGOs as well. That's not to criticize them. They're all good-minded people. They want to do the best they can. They are striving to do that. But there is a lack of coordination. That's nothing new. I have seen the same when disaster struck in flooding and hurricanes in 2008 and 2005. I don't know why there is that lack of coordination. But there is. United Nations workers themselves are saying that.

But also in one of the warehouses I visited of the World Food Program, there is a problem there, too. They haven't been left aside from the effects of this earthquake as we know. This warehouse was severely damaged. In fact, one of the walls threatened to cave in. The Haitians, when there was a small earth tremor in the course of the day, all ran out. That only left some of the U.N. workers and Peruvian troops to load some of this food aid into trucks.

But they have to do it by hand. Why? Because of the earthquake damage, the doors were shut so close together they couldn't be opened. You couldn't get in there with a forklift to load this aid fast. It had to be loaded by hand. Things like that as well are causing additional problems. Clearing the streets. That is an additional problem.

And as U.N. security forces told me today, they tried to deliver two trucks of aid to one part of the city. They had to pull back. They did feel the risk of violence was great and opted to go somewhere else in the city -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Karl, stand by.

Anderson Cooper is on the phone.

Anderson, where are you right now and what are you seeing?

Unfortunately, I think we lost our connection with Anderson Cooper. We will reconnect with him. Technology is a very, very serious problem dealing with Haiti right now. It is amazing we are getting through as clearly as we are.

Karl Penhaul is still with us.

Karl, it is clear that the Haitian government is in charge? We know the U.S. military has officially taken charge of the airport. But is there a semblance of the Haitian government on top of this?

PENHAUL: It certainly is not. Yes. We have heard comments from the Haitian President Rene Preval. We do see in some of the lines, principally for gasoline, Haitian police standing by there. In the streets, I have seen one or two Haitian police as well.

But really, you can't say there is Haitian leadership here. You cannot say that Haitians are in control.

That said, again, going back to past experience, past disasters in Haiti, you wouldn't have expected to see Haitian leadership there either. They seem to be absent from the scene.

Again, why is that? One of the reasons also seems to be -- and I know this from timing in Gonieve (ph) -- that the Haitian leaders, regional leaders, city leaders, at that point, said that in some cases, they felt that white outsiders from the United Nations and aid groups were virtually running a parallel government and weren't letting them take responsibility for any aid effort. I'm not sure whether they feel this is going on again. But it is one of these structural problem, one of these traditional problems in Haiti, how far the government is in charge, and how the United Nations and other aid organizations are in charge, and then how these two interact with one another -- Wolf?

BLITZER: At a time when so many people have died and many more, we fear, could die as well.

Karl, thanks very much.

We have established communications with Anderson Cooper.

We will take a quick break. We'll go to Anderson right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: As President Obama has said, we will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead.

And speaking personally, I know of the great resilience and strength of the Haitian people. You have been severely tested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The secretary of state spent part of the day today in Port- au-Prince over at the airport.

Joining us on the phone is Kenneth Merten, the United States ambassador to Haiti.

What was accomplished, Mr. Ambassador, by the secretary's visit?

KENNETH MERTEN, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO HAITI: Well, I think the secretary sent a strong signal of support to the Haitian government, particularly to President Preval and to the prime minister. I think that is important. As you know, both Secretary Clinton and her husband have a special relationship with this country. I think it meant a lot to the president and prime minister she was here.

BLITZER: What do you need the most, Mr. Ambassador, right now?

MERTEN: Well, to be honest, we need -- we need just about everything. One of the biggest problems is communication. Telephone communication is being restored. We are getting satellite phones out to other people we need to talk to quickly, as quickly as we can. But communication has been a huge, huge problem here.

BLITZER: How many Americans do you believe are dead?

MERTEN: I honestly have no idea, no answer to that. And I wouldn't want to speculate quite frankly.

BLITZER: Are you keeping a rubbing tally, I assume?

MERTEN: We are keeping track. We are doing the best we can to get the American citizens here, who need to leave for medical or other reasons, back to the States and back to their loved ones.

BLITZER: Are you familiar, Mr. Ambassador, with the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince?

MERTEN: Very.

BLITZER: Because there are still, we are told, missing Americans under the rubble there. Is it your belief some of them may still be alive?

MERTEN: It is my hope some of them are still alive. We have had teams nonstop since our teams have been here. We have several teams from the U.S. who are performing search and rescue missions here, six, I believe, in total. They have been there as well as other places throughout town helping to rescue Haitians as well.

BLITZER: Mr. Ambassador, good luck to you and all the men and women who are working so hard to help save the people of Haiti right now. Appreciate your good work.

MERTEN: Thank you so much. I appreciate your wishes.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Let's go to Anderson Cooper right now.

Anderson, tell our viewers where you are and what you are seeing.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, all day long, we have been at a site where a daycare center where a crew of the L.A. County Fire Search and Rescue Team have been trying to locate a person who they heard when they first got there. A mother had flagged them down saying her child, her 10-year-old child, named Laka (ph), was alive and was inside the wreckage and had been heard that morning. And she has been trying for four days to get someone to pay attention. The crew went there and heard some signs of life, some tapping sounds. They sent in dogs over the course of several hours. Three dogs went in multiple times. Each time, those dogs did not get a positive hit. But they would occasionally still heard tapping. So they kept working. Hope turned to heartbreak after an hour of no longer hearing any ambient sound, no tapping. they sent two more dogs in. Those dogs did not get a hit and the search personnel determined there was no one still alive inside that structure. Whether that means that the early sounds they heard were ambient voices. That's possible. But the more scenario and, of course, the sadder scenario, is that whoever was in there, alive, when they first arrived, could not hold out any longer. And after four days of being inside the rubble, that they died.

I talked to one of the rescue personnel, who obviously -- you know, they all take this very hard. They are risking their lives every day. They came all the way from L.A. County. They wanted as much as that child's mother, who was standing next to them, to find that little girl alive. They have now determined there are no signs of life in that building. The mother, sadly, as we drove away, because they have gone on to another site where they have gotten a positive indication -- that's where I'm phoning you from right now, the Una Bank site. A dog which is trained to detect living beings inside rubble got a positive indication 30 minutes ago that there is life inside, somewhere inside the Una Bank building. And the crews are -- another crew from L.A. County has been working here for several hours. The crew I was with down at the daycare center has to stop here now to lend a hand if need.

As we pulled out from that daycare center, that mother, Manushka (ph), who was first flagged us down at 12:30 this afternoon, is still there, still waiting to see what happens to her daughter. She believes maybe her daughter is alive. Maybe she's in a coma and simply can't tap any longer. It was a heartbreaking scene as the lights were pulled down, the crews drove off, to see that mother sitting silently, praying for some sort of miracle, for something that will bring her daughter back to life.

BLITZER: I see on the video, Anderson, there are lights there that the search and rescue teams bring with them. I assume they are going to work through the night?

COOPER: I'm not sure what you are seeing now. If you are seeing video from the Una Bank, there is an active search and rescue operation underway. If you are seeing video from earlier of the daycare center, those lights have been pulled off and that search is over.

It is a triage situation here. The search and rescue personnel, they are looking for life. At a later stage, when this becomes a recovery effort, they will go back in to bring out bodies. At this point, they are trying to focus on the living. If there is a chance that someone is alive somewhere -- (AUDIO PROBLEM) -- if there is no chance at one place, they move on to the next.

Right now, they are at the Una Bank building. And crews are working very hard. What they really rely most, more than anything, are these dogs. If a dog gets a positive hit, that is considered the gold standard. For the high-tech audio equipment they have, as we saw over the last few days -- (AUDIO PROBLEM) -- ambient noise, you know, the ears can be deceived. But the hearing -- it's the smell of the dogs is so sensitive, they put a lot of faith in that. They got a positive hit here just 30 minutes. This has given the rescue workers hope.

BLITZER: We will stay in close touch with you, Anderson. And we'll watch what's going on.

That video that we've been showing was from earlier at the first sight where the lights are now down and the search has been suspended. Let's hope they find something where you are right now.

All right, Anderson Cooper, we'll be checking back with him in 60 seconds.

We have another incredible survivor story for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go back to Port-au-Prince in Haiti right now, another survivor story we want to share with you.

Joining us now is Magalie Rigaud.

Magalie, you have an amazing story. We see you surrounded by two kids. Tell our viewers what happened.

MAGALIE RIGAUD, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: Well, I had just picked my boys from their school and I had to stop by the supermarket, the Caribbean supermarket, to pick up the cat food that my daughter had called me -- sent me an instant message to bring home for the cat. I was -- I had been in that supermarket for two minutes when that earthquake just came. And in a matter of seconds, my two boys and myself, we were buried under the Caribbean supermarket. We spent eight hours buried there until three young guys were able to dig up to us and rescue us.

BLITZER: We are seeing pictures.

RIGAUD: Yes. But we were buried from 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

BLITZER: I'm seeing -- just to be clear, those are your 12-year-old twins who were buried in this Caribbean market with you. You spent eight hours under the rubble. Is that right?

RIGAUD: Yes. That's right. That's correct.

BLITZER: What were you thinking during those eight hours? Were you trapped? You couldn't move? What was going through your mind?

RIGAUD: Well, at first, when I heard the big noise and the shaking of the supermarket and felt it falling down on us, I thought we were dead. After sometime, when I realized we were still breathing, and because we were saved by a couple of dog food that prevent the roof to just crash us to the ground and created a kind of cave, a tunnel for us where we were just sitting there. I said, well, if that cave was created, that means that God doesn't want us to die today, so somebody may be coming to save us. So I told my boys let us be calm. Let us pray and wait for the rescue team that most probably will be coming to save us, because we were not crushed at the first time.

BLITZER: You are the director of logistics for the Catholic Relief Services in Haiti, is that right?

RIGAUD: That's right. And actually, we have a big team working for the Catholic Relief Services and we need all the help. We want to be able to respond to the needs of the Haitian people that really, really affected by that big earthquake. And if anyone wants to help us, they are -- go to our web site which is www.cfs.org. We need everybody's help to be able to respond to that big disaster.

BLITZER: How are the 12-year-old twins doing emotionally, and physically for that matter?

RIGAUD: Physically, they are doing great because, for some reason, they were really protected by God. They didn't have even a scratch from that event. They are physically OK.

Emotionally, family surrounded us, so we are coping with that situation. They have their cousins. We have been staying together since that event. So I think, because we did not panic when we in that cave, that trauma might be bearable for them.

But anyone could understand that going through that is not easy for anyone.

BLITZER: We are happy you and your twins made it out alive, and thank God for that. We really appreciate your joining us with your story. Good luck.

RIGAUD: Thank you. BLITZER: We have many more stories that we want to share with you. We have additional information. Our reporters on the scene in Port- au-Prince.

This special "LARRY KING LIVE" will continue after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're continuing our coverage of the Haiti earthquake and its aftermath. This is a special "LARRY KING LIVE." I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

Let's go to Miami right now. Joining us now, two guests. Tarmo Joeveer, he was the United Nations security officer. He was rescued early Thursday from beneath the rubble of what had been the United Nations headquarters in Port-au-Prince. He returned to Florida and was reunited with his family last night, including his wife, Mamie Joeveer.

Thanks to both of you for joining us.

Tarmo, what was it like when they earthquake hit Port-au-Prince?

TARMO JOEVEER, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: First of all, I would like to give my respects to my colleagues who didn't make it out from our building. I've learned some news today and it was -- it happened very fast. The building started shaking and then, all of a sudden, it all collapsed down while I was trying to get out of the building.

BLITZER: We know that the top United Nations officials were both officially announced dead by Ban Ki-Moon the U.N. secretary general. Where are you from originally?

JOEVEER: I'm from Estonia.

BLITZER: Estonia.

Mamie, you were in Miami, or were you in Port-au-Prince with your kids?

MAMIE JOEVEER, HAITIAN: I had actually just arrived to Miami. I had spent the holidays with my husband. So I was home when I heard the news with my kids.

BLITZER: You were in Miami?

MAMIE JOEVEER: Yes, I was.

BLITZER: Tell me what it was like when you heard your husband was in the middle of the United Nations compound in Port-au-Prince at the time of this earthquake?

MAMIE JOEVEER: It actually took my breath away. I had just spoken to my husband about 20 minutes before the earthquake. So I started seeing images on the news of the devastation, and my heart sank. So I immediately began to, you know, contact my family in Crystal City, Missouri, our family in Estonia. And I reached out to support from our friends in Miami. And we began to pray. And it was actually interesting, because a friend of mine had just given me this bracelet from Bethlehem. I was wearing it and praying every day. I had a lot of support and prayer.

BLITZER: How long did it take before you knew for sure your husband was alive?

MAMIE JOEVEER: It took about 38 hours. So -- with very little word on his status. It was that uncertainty, which I'm sure many families are going through right now. That, I guess, was the most difficult part to endure.

BLITZER: Were you trapped, Tarmo, in the rubble of that building?

JOEVEER: Yes, I was. But I was very lucky. I got caught in the area, an opening between the ceiling and the floor, that this -- concrete slabs protected me from three sides, so the rubble didn't get to me.

BLITZER: How many people were at that U.N. compound at that time? Do you have any idea?

JOEVEER: I have no idea but it was still a working day. So it was a big building.

BLITZER: It was about 5:00 p.m. late afternoon when that happened?

JOEVEER: Yes. Yes.

BLITZER: So people were still in their offices. They were still working?

JOEVEER: Yes.

BLITZER: How long had you been part of that United Nations team in Haiti?

JOEVEER: About five and a half years.

BLITZER: Five and a half years. So you know this country quite well. Are you surprised at the way the people of Haiti have responded to this? Because it is a heartbreaking situation, as you can imagine.

JOEVEER: Surprised, no. I know very little though, because most of the time I was trapped there. And then, when I got out, I left. But what I saw when I drove through the city, I saw people calm and trying to work on -- to rescue, to get their loved ones out of the -- out of the destroyed buildings. I did not see while I was there - I didn't see any disorder, any problems in the street, anything like that...

BLITZER: Are you going to go - are you going to go back, Tarmo?

JOEVEER: It's early to - right now I'm just - want to be with my family, just get rest and get myself checked out properly and everything, and then just spend time with my family. BLITZER: We want to wish you only the best, and thank God you made it out. I know you must be very happy, and, Mamie, I'm not going to ask you, but I suspect I know the answer to that last question about whether or not you want him to go back. You don't have to tell me, though. It's all right.

MAMIE JOEVEER: Well, if I could just say one thing...

BLITZER: Go ahead.

MAMIE JOEVEER: ... I could just say that it is definitely a small miracle - a huge miracle for our family -- but in total with everything that is happening, I still have hope for the other families out there -- very confident with the rescue team that rescued my husband and the assistance that is arriving, the U.S. Marines coming.

So I am hoping that there will be more miracles to counterbalance the total destruction that is happening right now. That country definitely has a soft spot, but - he's our hero.

TARMO JOEVEER: Well, I'm the ode to my family, but...

BLITZER: We agree.

TARMO JOEVEER: ... the real heroes were the people -- my teammates and colleagues who were there for me and the rescue team who got me out. I am very thankful to them.

BLITZER: Tarmo, go enjoy your family and appreciate all the good things...

TARMO JOEVEER: Thank you.

BLITZER: ... that you are blessed with. We appreciate your coming on. Good luck.

TARMO JOEVEER: Thank you.

BLITZER: When we come back, we are going back to Port-au-Prince. We have another report from the scene on what is going on right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go back to Port-au-Prince right now, joining us two of our correspondents. Jason Carroll is on the scene. Ivan Watson is there as well.

Jason, what did you see today that jumped out at you as part of your coverage?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Oh, so much jumps out at us, specifically dealing with relief and trying to get the relief to the people who need it most.

We were at a place earlier today called Delma 40B. This is a section of the city. We went to one place that used to be a golf course where Haitians' elite used to play. Now it is a massive tent city that we came across.

Several thousand people were there, many of them still in need of water, in need of food, and at one point, Wolf, we saw military helicopters come in, drop in some relief supplies -- and most relief organizers will tell you that is probably not the best way to distribute goods simply because when you do that, the strong can get to it because they run up the hillsides or wherever the supplies are being dropped. But the weak, the elderly, the sick -- those are the people who then cannot get to the supplies.

So that was one of the moments that was tough to watch, but on the flip side of that, we also made it out to an area called Canape-Vert, and that is in the western part of Port-au-Prince. There was an organization that was dealing with relief there called Worldvision. It was a lot more orderly.

They handed out water, they handed out clothing and hygiene to the people there who needed it - much more orderly - but it just goes to show you how there is this sort of division in terms of how the goods are being distributed, at least at this point in many parts of Port- au-Prince.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: There seems, Ivan, to be a lot of disorder or even chaos in the distribution of these supplies. Is that what you are seeing as well?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we were looking at today -- and I wasn't (unintelligible) the aid program. What I was actually saying was how Haitians are personally dealing with this by just leaving the city.

We drove north on the road out of the capital on the coast road, and there - I wouldn't call it a flood, but there was a steady stream of people, Wolf. They were packing into buses, onto the roofs of trucks, pickup trucks, any vehicle they could really find to just leave the capital because the situation really is untenable here - people leaving with their suitcases, with their belongings.

In some cases we saw trucks with injured people in the back of them, and we rode along with one of these trucks full of people leaving the capital, and some of them said that their - all of them said that their homes had been destroyed and that there was no reason really to stay behind.

They were going to try to stay with relatives in the countryside, one man even saying, "I'm going to the countryside to try to find some food for my wife and child who survived the earthquake, but now I've got to find a way to feed them," and in the countryside, that is where you can find it.

It is interesting -- the damage really does decrease in the northern direction just within 20 minutes drive of the outskirts of the city. There is sporadic damage, but otherwise I saw Haitians conducting life as usual - I mean, even farmers hoeing their fields. So there is some hope there, and there are some pockets - big pockets - of normal territory here that people can take refuge in.

BLITZER: Are you still seeing bodies on the streets, corpses all over the place, Ivan?

WATSON: We do see that the Haitians are wearing these masks all the time, either makeshift masks or real medical masks, and I think there is a real fear among the people that I have spoken with that they will get sick somehow just from the smell of putrifying bodies in the air.

But there has been an effort that we have seen evolving over the last couple days to try to move some of the bodies out of this area, and we also went to some of the cemeteries out in the countryside an hour's drive north of here, and everybody told us there had been a number of burials out there - not the kind of mass graves that we have heard about where dump trucks were dumping hundreds of bodies at a time, but in this case people who managed to take their loved ones, take them away to a more peaceful place and lay them to rest with a proper burial.

BLITZER: Two of our excellent reporters on the scene, Ivan Watson and Jason Carroll. Guys, thanks very much. Be careful over there. When we come back, we have an amazing story to share with you -- a baby born in the midst of this chaos. That story right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Some of the images you are seeing here are from LARRY KING LIVE'S own Brad Parks. He has been in Haiti since Thursday. We know him well, and the magnitude of this tragedy has had a huge impact on him, indeed, on all of the journalists covering this story.

Brad has written a terrific firsthand account of how he got into the country, what he is seeing from within the middle of the devastation. You can read Brad's blog at CNN.com/Larry King. He will be updating it during the coming days. I recommend it highly.

Let's go to Miami right now. Joining us now is Hans Mardy. He lost five relatives in the earthquake. He is chairman of the Haitian American Emergency Relief Committee. Mr. Mardy, our deepest, deepest condolences to you.

Tell us about your relatives.

HANS MARDY, CHAIRMAN, HAITIAN AMERICAN EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMITTEE: Thank you, Wolf, and thank you to CNN. Thank you for having me.

This is a very emotional moment for me. My relatives -- No. 1, I lost a stepmother. Look at her. And she was (unintelligible) in the States, like three weeks ago, and she left.

And next I have --- right there you can see this is a half-sister, and this is my brother on an orphanage in Haiti, and, in addition, I also have my little nephew, Ghad (ph) Mardy, who have missing. It is a very sad situation for me and for everybody.

BLITZER: And do you have other relatives in Haiti, Mr. Mardy? MARDY: Of course. My brother on the orphanage is still in Haiti. My father is still in Haiti. All my family, all my family are in Haiti.

BLITZER: How are they doing?

MARDY: Very bad for now. It is very devastated. But let me tell you, in the middle of all of that they will hope - it is bad, but it could be worse because the house where my brother lived - he lived with about 50 to 60 children because he owned an orphanage. That is - that - I could be in a worse situation.

BLITZER: Do you have a desire to go to Haiti at this time, or are you happy to be in Miami?

MARDY: I am happy to be in Miami, but, however, my place now today is in Haiti. The only reason I am here with you tonight is because there is no flight for me to go because I am dying to see them. I am dying to bring the stewpot (ph) to them because they need it.

BLITZER: There is a large Haitian-American community in what is called Little Haiti in Miami. Give us a little sense of how the Haitians in America are dealing with this.

MARDY: Well, we as a community, we are dealing with this with in a very difficult way. First of all, there was no communication. That was the main concern, and you imagine my feel as the chairman of an emergency relief committee. People come before me to ask what does you do? And (unintelligible) I cannot even connect with my own family. And we also try to collect things to bring to Haiti, but now we cannot do that yet because it is not the proper time. We have our - one of our (unintelligible). He just come back tonight, and we will try all our best to go to Haiti to help the nation.

BLITZER: Hans Mardy. Good luck to you. We appreciate it, and once again, our deepest condolences on the loss of your loved ones. Go ahead. Make a final thought.

MARDY: Let me tell you, condolences also to everyone who lost someone, especially the non-Haitians who have lost their lives in the land of Haiti.

BLITZER: What a tragedy, when you think about it. If the government is right, the prime minister of Haiti is right, 100,000 people may have been killed in this earthquake out of a population of 9 million in Haiti.

Appreciate it very much, Mr. Mardy. Good luck.

MARDY: Thank you. Thank you.

BLITZER: An amazing story of a baby born in Haiti today. We will share that with you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We are back to Port-au-Prince right now. Joining us now is Vicky Poff. She is the administrator of what is called La Maison du Bonheur. That is the Salvation Army's children's home in Port-au- Prince. Earlier today she oversaw the delivery of a baby girl. Vicky, tell us what happened.

VICKY POFF, SALVATION ARMY: We had three pregnant women arrive at our triage clinic on our compound in Port-au-Prince, and she was the first one to deliver a baby and she is the first one to have a baby at our triage center since the earthquake. And this is also her first child, so it was very exciting to have something so positive and so hopeful happen in a place where we have had a lot of difficulty the last few days.

BLITZER: What a beautiful baby girl. How is the baby doing?

POFF: The baby is fine. The mother is fine, which is an incredible feat considering that she spent the night on the concrete floor last night and delivered her baby on an 8-foot table without any pain medication.

BLITZER: And she was obviously nine months pregnant at the time of the earthquake. Where was she when the earthquake hit?

POFF: She was at her home, but she and her husband were able to get out and into the streets before they got hurt, so she was not hurt at all other than the psychological and emotional trauma of the event. But she was at home - but the house is destroyed.

BLITZER: Tell us about this triage station that you have established there through the work of the Salvation Army.

POFF: Yes, we have a clinic for infants and children and birth control, education and breastfeeding education and everything on our property right near the children's home. And so it is natural for women who are pregnant and for women with small children to come there.

So we have been seeing between 40 and 60 people a day, dealing with wounds, mostly of head, arms, hands and feet, some pretty serious wounds. We have actually had couple that have come in with limbs amputated by the earthquake, the event itself, and we needed to care for their wounds there.

BLITZER: Vicky, good luck to you and good luck to everyone working with you at the Salvation Army in Haiti. Appreciate it.

POFF: Thank you. We are just excited to have something so hopeful happen with the birth of the baby, and tomorrow we are actually having a church service on our property in Delma to - showing that the Haitian people still have hope for their future, and we are excited about that.

BLITZER: All right, good. I wish everybody our best. Good luck.

Let's bring in Steve McAndrew. He is a disaster relief specialist with the American Red Cross.

American Red Cross, we count on you guys to help at a crisis like this. How is it going, Steve?

STEVE MCANDREW, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Hi, Wolf. It is going really well here.

We are now mounting the largest International Red Cross disaster movement operation we have had, possibly ever. We are getting into full gear right here.

We have 15 specialist response units, including field hospitals, water treatment units, distribution units, logistics units, mobile health clinics, and we have psycho-social people out there working, too.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Are you already set up, or are you in the process of setting up?

MCANDREW: Some of it was already set up even before the earthquake. We had people on the ground here in Haiti working with the Haitian Red Cross even before the earthquake.

So some of it was set up within hours right after it, and we are really getting in the full swing, so our field - one of our field hospitals just arrived about eight hours ago. We are setting that up tomorrow.

Our distributions are starting tomorrow of relief supplies. Our search and rescue teams came in from Mexican Red Cross, Columbian Red Cross, a bunch of Red Crosses, and those guys have been out digging people out since within hours of the disaster.

We are set up and we are getting set up more, and we are gearing up. We are in this for the long run. We will be relentless in finding every corner of this operation by the time we are finished here.

BLITZER: The American Red Cross always is. We appreciate what you are doing, Steve. Good luck to you. Good luck to all the men and women of the American Red Cross. Thanks so much.

We will continue our coverage, go back to Port-au-Prince. More news coming right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has an amazing story about a baby. She is in Port-au-Prince.

Elizabeth, share the story with our viewers.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I have never seen doctors jump for joy that I saw today.

What happened was that they rescued a baby from the rubble today, a 2- month-old baby who was still alive, but when they brought her into the hospital they realized she had broken ribs and that she would soon get pneumonia if they did not get her out of here to a real pediatric intensive care unit.

So what they did was they managed to get her in an ambulance, and the ambulance took her to the airport, and the airport - that plane brought her to Ft. Lauderdale (unintelligible).

Now I will tell you once they got in the ambulance, they said to the driver, "We have got to get to the airport quickly. You get us there in time to catch the plane, we'll name the baby after you."

Well, they did. They named that baby Patricia. She landed in Ft. Lauderdale tonight. They brought her to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, and she arrived there safely. It really is an incredible story. They were convinced that this baby was going to die, but they saved her by bringing her to Florida.

Wolf?

BLITZER: What an amazing story. All right, Elizabeth, thank you very much. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unhappy stories as well. Elizabeth is going to have a lot more on this.

Talma Joseph is joining us right now. Talma had been told that her cousin had died in the earthquake, but last night while watching LARRY KING LIVE she saw a photo of her cousin alive.

Talma, what was like when you saw that?

TALMA JOSEPH: Well, it was such a great relief. First of all, I just want to thank everybody all over the world for their love, their support, their donation to the whole Haitian community. We truly appreciate your help.

It was such a relief. I mean, we were told that she was dead, she was buried under the debris for three days.

A friend of hers contacted her mother and told that she was gone, until a little bit after midnight I was in my room, and I heard a scream downstairs and it was my mom. She was, like, "Talma, Talma, come down. I think I saw JuJu (ph), which is her nickname, Mertha's (ph) nickname. I saw her on CNN."

I was, like, "Are you sure?" And I went and I rewind the DVR, and I pause it, and I look at the picture of her, and it was exactly her. She was laying down with a pink compress over her head and she was being fed. We are just grateful and blessed that she was alive.

BLITZER: How is she doing now, Talma?

JOSEPH: Well, she spoke to her mom early this morning. She told her mom that she was in a lot of pain. She broke - both of her legs are broken and she didn't think she was going to make it.

She needs us to just keep praying for her, just keep her in our thoughts. We are just very happy and blessed that she is OK. Last we heard from her was a couple of hours ago. She was waiting to be transferred to a hospital in Santo Domingo, but she is still in a lot of pain.

We are just very happy that she made it out alive because when the earthquake happened, she fell into a hole with two other people. She was the only one that was rescued. The others did not make it at all.

BLITZER: Do you have other relatives still in Haiti?

JOSEPH: Actually, I have another cousin of mine, but he is OK. He called my aunt a couple of hours after the earthquake. He is doing well.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to you, Talma. Good luck to all your relatives and friends in Haiti. Good luck to all the people of Haiti. Thanks very much for coming in.

JOSEPH: Thank you so much to CNN and everybody. Thank you. Just keep us in your prayers.

BLITZER: We will. Thank you very much.

Larry King will be back Sunday to keep you up to date on what is happening in Haiti, a live LARRY KING LIVE Sunday night.

We also have a big event for you on Monday - Seal, Will.i.am, Colin Powell, Ryan Seacrest, Mick Jagger, among others -- they will be part of a special two-hour LARRY KING LIVE to help the people of Haiti.

It is at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific. We hope to see you then. Until then, the news continues right now, right here on CNN.