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Continuing Rescue in Haiti; Former President Clinton Scheduled to Visit Haiti Tomorrow; State Department says 16 Americans Dead

Aired January 17, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in the CNN NEWSROOM in Atlanta. We continue to monitor earthquake rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti. So far here is what we know.

Former President Bill Clinton, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti is scheduled to visit tomorrow to assess relief efforts. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon arrived today seeing for himself the collapsed five-story U.N. building and also trying to assess the relief efforts and five days after the quake, four more bodies have been found. Three of them pulled from the rubble of a grocery store. The U.S. State Department says at least 16 Americans are among the dead but it hasn't released any names as yet. Let's start with today's rescues.

CNN's Ivan Watson is at the grocery store where three people were saved. It's an incredible story of how they made the discovery of these people trapped and how they've managed to get them out.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Fredricka. Right now, rescue workers say they are so close to a Creole speaking man and woman. So they're presumably Haitians packed deep within these mountain of rubble, what used to be the Caribbean Supermarket. They are so close that the man and woman can actually see the special rescue camera that they have been able to push through to the two of them.

But this is difficult, dangerous work that this team from Florida and another team from Turkey are doing together right now. About 45 minutes ago, there was a shift in the rubble, inside that they were tunneling through to try to rescue this couple. There was a ship and it started raining down rubble on top of the rescuers. Some of whom were working on such narrow spaces that they can't even take full breaths there.

And we saw the rescue workers running out breathless, desperate to try to get out and do a roll call to make sure they were all OK. They are all accounted for right now. Let's take a listen to the spokesman for the south Florida rescue team that's operating here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. CHARLES MCDERMOTT, FLORIDA TASK FORCE 2: We're working slow based on the position of the victims, looking at the floor, looking at the potential for collapse. It happened to the point where the floor actually moved and debris started falling on top of our rescuers. Why you saw them run out that way, because we weren't here, the floor was collapsing.

Not only that floor, but all the floors. So we pulled everybody out and made sure we have everybody accounted for and now we are going to discuss the situation about what we are doing to go back inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And they are reassessing right now. It is definitely going to slow down the procedure, of trying to get to this Creole- speaking man and woman who both have been trapped for five days inside of that mountain of rubble. And are both still alive. They say they are going to get to try to get some water, perhaps some food to them, to keep them going through this unimaginable ordeal, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible. This after they have already rescued three others. You described earlier, a 30-year-old man, a 50- year- old woman, and possibly a female child. Right?

WATSON: That's right. Overnight and this morning, they pulled out a 33-year-old Haitian man who worked at the supermarket. He said that his prayers kept him alive. We also pulled out a 17-year-old girl, 13-year-old girl rather, who was right next to him. And finally, earlier this morning, they brought out an American woman and named Mimi and they've contacted her son in Florida to congratulate him on the fact that his mother survived the most devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in two centuries.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. Ivan Watson, thanks so much. And that huge earthquake hitting five days ago, this rescue unfolding. Meantime, you see at the bottom of your screen there, live pictures of President Obama. Earlier today he was encouraging people to continue with their prayers for Haitians. Well, now he is in Massachusetts and he is hoping for a win for the Democratic contender for the seat of the late Ted Kennedy, Martha Coakley. Let's listen in to this rally for that democratic challenger of the seat.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank Vicki Kennedy and the entire Kennedy family. They have been great friends for so long. To all the outstanding members who were in the House today, thank you. We are so thankful to the Pastor Lagere (ph) for reminding us once again of the incredible obligations that we have to help the people of Haiti in this time of extraordinary need.

So it is good to be back in Boston. I love this town. I spent three years here stuck in the library trying to graduate. I still had a little fun. I had a good time in Worcester, too. I came back here a few years ago and gave a little speech that turned out pretty well. Something about Boston, folks have always been good to me. Even though I have to say that, you no, I was going to wear my White Sox jacket today. Come on now. You want a guy that's loyal to his hometown team. But I love Boston.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, too. OBAMA: And today I have come to talk about one thing. I have come to talk about Tuesday. On Tuesday, you have the unique and special responsibility to fill the Senate seat that you said Ted Kennedy to fill for nearly 47 years. And I am here to tell you the person for that job is your attorney general Martha Coakley.

Now, there has been a lot said in this race about how it is not the Kennedy seat. It is the people's seat. And let me tell you the first person who would agree with that was Ted Kennedy. See, the only thing he loved more than the people of this Commonwealth was serving the people of this Commonwealth. He waged a personal battle on behalf of every single one of you, even if you don't know him, for seniors who are living on fixed incomes, for families struggling to get health coverage for their children, for students who dream of a college education.

He fought for the working men and women whether they were teachers in Pittsfield or Longshoremen and New Bedford, Ted Kennedy was always on your side in so many of the battle that led this Commonwealth and nation forward, and Martha knows the struggles Massachusetts working families face because she's lived those struggles. Their stories are her story.

You heard her, she was raised in (INAUDIBLE), one of five kids. Her dad own a small business. Her mother was a homemaker. She worked her way up. Nothing was handed to her. She became a lawyer not to cash in but to give hard working people a fair shake. She became a lawyer to fight for families like the one she grew up in. Families who are the backbone of this Commonwealth and the backbone of this nation. And that's what she has done.

Look at her record. As a prosecutor she took on cases most of us don't even want to think about. Putting murderers and child abusers away. As attorney general she took on Wall Street and recovered millions for Massachusetts taxpayers. Took on predatory lenders that were taking advantage of Massachusetts families. She went after big insurance companies that misled people into buying coverage only to deny it when they got sick.

She went after big polluters who put the health of your family at risk. Time and again, Martha has taken on those who gained the system and expense of hard-working families. That's the kind of leader the people of Massachusetts need now more than ever. That - you need somebody - you need somebody - that's all right. That's all right. We are doing OK. We are all right. We are all right. No, no, no. I couldn't -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Martha! Martha! Martha! Martha! Martha!

OBAMA: I - I - we're doing fine. Now listen. Now, where were we? All right. Let's go, everybody. Now listen. Now more than ever - that's all right. Hold up, everybody. Hold up. Now more than ever you don't need just another politician who talks the talk. And you don't need just people yelling at each other.

Right now, what we need is somebody who has got a proven track record, a leader who has walked the walk. Somebody who has fought for the people of Massachusetts every single day. Because I don't need to tell you we are in tough times right now. We are still dealing with an economic crisis unlike any that we have seen since the Great Depression. It has done a lot of damage to so many people.

And even before that storm hit with its full furry, middle class families were weathering tough economic times. Throughout this past decade. Working harder and harder just to keep up. So people are frustrated and they are angry. And they have every right to be. I understand. Because progress is slow. And no matter how much progress we make, it can't come fast enough for the people who need help right now. Today.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: But here's the thing. You know how politics is. At times like this, there are always some who are eager to exploit that pain and anger to score a few political points. There are always folks who, you know, think that the best way to solve these problems are to demonize others. And unfortunately, we are seeing some of that politics in Massachusetts today.

Now, I have heard about some of the ads that Martha's opponent is running. He is driving his truck around the Commonwealth and he says that he will, you know, he gets you. That he fights for you. That he will be an independent voice. I don't know him. He may be a perfectly nice guy. I don't know his record. But I don't know whether he's been fighting for you up until now. But -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!

OBAMA: But here's what I know - here what's I do know. I do want somebody who's independent. I want a senator who is always going to put the interests of working folks all across Massachusetts first. I had a party. I had a special interest. And here's what I know is that Martha has done so. She's got a track record of doing so. I know - I know - I know there are things on which she and I disagree. I respect her for that. She doesn't just call herself independent.

She has the character to be independent. So I hear - I hear her opponent is calling himself an independent. Well, you got to look under the hood because - what you learn makes you wonder. Now, if - as a legislator he voted with the Republicans 96 percent of the time. 96 percent of the time. That's hard to suggest he's going to be significantly independent from the Republican agenda.

When you listen closely to what he has been saying it's very clear he will do exactly the same thing in Washington. So look, forget the ads. Everybody can run slick ads. Forget the truck. Everybody can buy a truck. Here's the question you need to ask yourselves before you go to vote on Tuesday, Massachusetts. When the chips are down, when the tough votes come, on all of the fights that matter to middle class families across this commonwealth, who is going to be on your side?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martha! OBAMA: That's what this race on Tuesday is all about. When - because it is easy to say you are independent and you are going to bring people together and all that stuff until you actually have to do it. When the - when the vote comes on energy and there's a choice between standing with big oil or fighting for the clean energy jobs of the future, whose side are you going to be on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martha's!

OBAMA: Martha is going to be on your side. When the vote comes on taxes and there is a choice between giving more tax breaks to the wealthiest few and corporations that ship American jobs overseas, or giving them to the middle class, and businesses that create jobs here, who is going to be on your side?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martha!

OBAMA: Let me just say, by the way, because you will hear a lot of stuff about taxes. You always do. Every election. Last year I kept a campaign promise to cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans. Cut taxes. And these members - these members of Congress right here voted to cut taxes here in the Commonwealth, not just for individuals but also for small businesses. We cut taxes for middle class families. That was part of the recovery act.

Now, you better check under the hood because from everything I see, Martha's opponent would have vote against those taxes. She was - he would have voted against those tax cuts. Would have voted against those tax cuts. When it comes to taking on the worst practices of an insurance industry that routinely denies the American people the care they need, and leaves too many families one serious illness away from bankruptcy, who is going to be on your side?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martha!

OBAMA: You know she will because she always has. When the vote comes on financial regulatory reform, choices of standing with Wall Street or standing up for common sense reforms that will protect consumers and protect our economy from future crises, who is going to be on your side?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martha!

OBAMA: Now, we learned the answer to that one this week. Keep in mind Democrats and Congress voted for tax cuts for middle class families and businesses. Now what we are proposing is to make sure the taxpayers get their money back from the rescue that we had engaged in at the beginning of this year. Thanks to the bad regulatory policies of the previous administration.

And so we asked Martha's opponent, what is he going to do and he decided to park his truck on Wall Street. Now, it was your tax dollars that saved Wall Street banks from their own recklessness. Keeping them from collapsing and dragging our entire economy down with them. But today those same banks are once again making billions in profits and on track to hand out more money and bonuses than ever before. While the American people are still in a world of hurt.

Now we have actually recovered most of your money already but I don't think most of your money is good enough. We want all of our money back. We are going to collect every dime. That's why I proposed a new fee on the largest financial firms, to pay the American people back for saving their skin. But instead of taking the side of working families in Massachusetts, Martha's opponent is already walking in lock step with Washington Republicans, opposing that fee, defending the same fat cats that who are getting rewarded for their failure.

There's a big difference here. It gives you a sense of who the respective candidates are going to be fighting for, despite the rhetoric, despite the television ads, despite the truck, Martha is going to make sure you get your money back. She's got your back. Her opponents got Wall Street's back. Let me be clear. Bankers don't need another vote in the United States Senate. They got plenty. Where's yours? That's the question.

And it wouldn't just be any vote. We know that on many of the major questions of our day, a lot of the votes are going to - a lot of these measures are going to rest on one vote in the United States Senate. That's why the opponents have changed in progress have been pouring money and resources into the Commonwealth in hopes of promoting gridlock and failure. They want to keep things just as they are. So I think that long and hard about getting in that truck with Martha's opponent.

It might not take you where want to go. And where we don't want go right now is backwards to the same policies that got us into this same mess in the first place when we just started to make progress in cleaning it up. Massachusetts, we have had one year to make up for eight. It hasn't been quick or easy.

We began to deliver on the change you voted for. I mean, think about it. What - what some of the members that I just talked about have done, what we have done just over the last several months. We started to see the economy grow again. We have given tax cuts to small businesses. We are forcing the banks finally to start lending again on main street. And not just worry about profits.

We made sure that police officers and teachers and critical workers across this Commonwealth haven't been laid off. But we have so much more work to do. So many families are out there are hurting. I get - I get 10 letters out of the 40,000 that I received every single day. I select 10 out to read every night. They are heartbreaking. People talking about losing their jobs, losing their homes. Sometimes it is - it is young children who are writing.

Mr. President, can you help my dad? He lost his job. Mr. President, can you help? My brother is sick and we don't have health insurance. We have so much work left to do. And as much progress as we have made, I can't do it alone. I need leaders like Martha by my side. So we can kick it into high gear. So we can finish what we started. You know, we always - we always knew the change was going to be hard. But - what we also understood, I understood this is the minimum I was sworn into office was that there were going to be some who stood on the sidelines who were protectors of the big banks and protectors of the big insurance companies, protectors of the big drug companies who would say, you know what, we can take advantage of this crisis.

Because it is going to be so bad that even though we helped initiate these policies, there's going to be a slight of hand here because we are going to let democrats take responsibility. We are going to let them make the tough choices. We are going to let them rescue the economy. And then we can tap into that anger and that frustration. It is the oldest play in the book.

But everybody here knows that the choices that have to be made in order to get this economy moving,, to make sure that people are actually working in jobs that pay a living wage, that we have a green energy economy that's freeing ourselves from foreign oil and young people can afford to go to college and can look forward to graduating to careers that are building this country and that those things aren't going to happen overnight and they are not going to be easy.

But we sure aren't going to get there if we look backwards and try to reinstitute the same failed policies that we have had over the past decade. That's not going to work. We have been there. We have done that. What Martha's opponent is preaching, we already tried. And it didn't work. So understand what's at stake here, Massachusetts. It is whether we are going forward or going backwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forward.

OBAMA: It is whether - it is whether we are going to have a future where everybody gets a shot in this society or just the privilege few. If you were fired up in the last election, I need you more fired up in this election. I need you out there working just as hard right now in those final days. I need you knocking on doors and I need you making phone calls.

I need you talking to your friends and your neighbors and telling them what's at stake on Tuesday. That every vote matters, that every voice matters and if you do that, if you do that, if you are willing not only to cast your vote for Martha Coakley, but if you are willing to get out the vote for Martha Coakley, then you won't just win this election. You will carry on the best progressive forward-looking values of this proud Commonwealth and send a leader to Washington who is going to work tirelessly every single day to turn this economy around, to move this country forward and to keep the American dream alive in our time and for all time.

That's what Martha Coakley is about. We need you. We need you. On Tuesday. Thank you very much, Boston. Thank you, Northeastern. Thank you, Commonwealth.

WHITFIELD: In Boston there, President Barack Obama there with the Democratic contender, Martha Coakley, who is trying to win in a special election on Tuesday the seat once filled by the late Ted Kennedy. President Obama there saying -- asking supporters to look forward, not backward by throwing your support for Coakley and not the Republican contender, Scott Brown.

Apparently, the two are in a very tight race and that's why the president there is in Boston pushing for that seat. It is very critical because health care reform hinges on this vote. Possibly if it were to go towards the Republicans, can certainly sway things in terms of the Senate for health care reform and the president is trying to secure that as best he can.

He was competing, however, a little bit for the attention of the supporters in the room. You heard a voice about 15 minutes ago since he started his speech, it was a loud voice in the crowd. Later, we were able to see that a man and child were escorted from the crowd but it is unclear exactly what was being said. But for a moment trying to upstage the president's points that he was trying to make for Martha Coakley. We'll have much more of our live coverage of all that's taking place domestically and, of course, in Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Nowhere is the damage in Haiti more evident than a small town of Leogane. You can still find it on the map but there is not much of it left. Our Karl Penhaul is there, in an area that has become kind of a makeshift hospital, makeshift because there aren't a whole lot of supplies in which to work with. Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. The building that we're in now was in fact was a nursing school. It was never equipped to be a hospital and it didn't have the supplies. So what's happened is both the director and some of the trainee nurses here for the last five days have attended, they say, 5,000 injured people from the quake here in Leogane alone. Now today was a different day. Today was the first day they saw any sign of international aid. Here in advanced group of the doctors without borders charity arrived. They also joined the fray.

They are helping out. They have been throughout the day; this has been the scene now. Let me show you something. There is a man here; he was brought in by his friends just a few moments ago. He brought them in on a wooden door, board, a stretcher. If you look over the back there, I don't think we will be able to show you because there are a lot of people here. But over the back there, about half an hour ago, they brought in a woman who was dragged out of the rubble after four days in the rubble. Today they brought her here for treatment. She's getting that treatment now. It really is a dire situation.

There are not enough medical supplies here. The doctors who are here are making makeshift splints with cardboard boxes to stabilize broken limbs. We have also seen other people brought in whose relatives have strapped their limbs together with bits of wood. They are bringing them in here on wooden doors and they are bringing them here on mattresses and remember, we are now five days after the quake. It seems Leogane has been hit every bit of hard as certain parts of Port-au-Prince. Talking to the mayor a short while ago, he said that he has estimated 90 percent of the town had been destroyed and so far, he says, he's counted more than 4,200 dead who have been buried in common graves. He says the real figure of deaths here will never be known. He said because many relatives are simply burying their relatives on any patch of waste ground that they can find because the hospitals have collapsed and the morgues have collapsed. There is no institution here. Just going around recovering the bodies -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, Karl is there any hope, anyone there on the ground that you have been able to talk to?

Are they getting any indication whether they need to wait a few more days, hours, weeks before they can get some supplies or get some sort of support?

PENHAUL: The good news is -- let me just show you another patient being brought in here. Another lady who has been carried. This man who has now been attended by doctors. He has been, once again, carried out. As soon as he's carried out by his friends on a board, another lady is coming in. I can tell you, Fredricka, just where they have come from, there are many more relatives carrying in patients in their arms and is there hope? Well, the good sign is that doctors without borders arrived here this morning. Since then, we have word a group of Argentinean doctors have also arrived with an emergency field hospital.

But is there any hope for the Haitian people? I mean that's the key question here. A few moments ago, a guy was brought in face down on a board by his family that covered part of his body in a sheet, they bring him in here and they check him over and the doctors say that take your friend home. Then they turn around and say he's paralyzed from the waist down. His back was broken in the earthquake. They said there's nothing they can do for him. He had a broken back in the earthquake. If he hasn't had any massive internal damage to his organs he may survive. If he picks up an infection he won't survive.

That really is going to be what's going to be happening to a lot of these survivors. There could be a wave of death if they pick up other infections. Certainly doctors without borders here, a group of Argentinean doctors, are racing now against time to help the survivors. Also as well talking to the mayor, he said until yesterday, he was hearing the screams of people still buried under the rubble. He said so far today he has heard nothing and that's the other problem. There is no heavy lifting gear here. They can't get under those buildings to see if any survivors are still left there -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Karl Penhaul very sad situation there in Leogane.

Thanks so much.

You mentioned Doctors Without Borders. They are trying their best to work in difficult circumstances in Port-au-Prince as well.

Doctor Jeanne Cabeza is actually with doctors without borders and she is actually coming to us from the Trinity Hospital in Port-au- Prince.

I understand, doctor, that a number of the doctors without borders clinics were damaged. Simply maybe inoperable as a result of this earthquake.

How are you and your colleagues able to extend help now?

JEANNE CABEZA, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: What happened actually with the hospital itself, the first floor collapsed? Since we were able to set up two operating blocks that are functional. Would have recently been able to -- we haven't been able to do surgeries. With our other -- we have another building, actually, that we mostly were using as a clinic, clinic facility.

That was - the building itself was damaged but we -- had patients coming to the ground and for the first few days we didn't have much equipment but we were giving it -- as much first aid as we could in terms of things like bandaging people, giving IVs, whatever we had. That was the first two days.

WHITFIELD: And Doctor so many of you have had to resort to rudimentary medicine. Having to make ends meet with very bare essentials just as you were describing, give me an idea of the kind of aid that you have had to get creative with as you have been waiting for supplies and support.

CABEZA: Yes. It has been really difficult because the injuries are very complex. Mostly traumatic injury, a lot of orthopedic injuries, crushed limbs, cranial fractures, and things like that. And to deal with that normally would be emergency surgery and you have to bandage up the patient and wait and try to give them pain medicine. If they can't eat, try to give them an IV. First aid for things that are high level emergency medicine. That's what's been the situation.

WHITFIELD: Doctor give me an idea how frustrating this must be as a physician. You know exactly what to do. You look at someone's injury and you know what needs to be done but your hands are tied essentially because you don't have everything you need in order to help fix them.

CABEZA: It is very frustrating because, of course, for injuries like that, that are emergency situations, time is of the essence. So someone that may be the -- could be saved the first day, three, four days and you don't have what you need, which is most of these kids, this would be surgery, the patient can die. That's -- it is very difficult to see someone that you could save die because of delays and access to treatment.

WHITFIELD: We wish you all the best as aid trickles in and the biggest obstacle is getting the aid from the ports or from the airports to the places where you are.

Jeanne Cabeza thanks so much. Joining us with Doctors Without Borders.

Five days after the disaster now in Haiti. And long lines still gathering while people are looking for help that hasn't quite come the way they want it. We will talk to C.A.R.E. about what needs to be done to get aid to those that need it faster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So we are now five days into this disaster. So many of the reports remain the same, aid isn't getting where it is needed the most, fast enough. Why? What's going on? For some of these answers we are turning to Cathy Woolard, who is the executive vice president of C.A.R.E.

This has been kind of a resounding message. Not just for people outside looking in but even some patients, who are saying where is my aid, et cetera. Give me an idea what some of the obstacles are that are in place. Whether it be for C.A.R.E., whether it be for Red Cross, U.N., we are hearing about the supplies that have gotten in the country but the problem is distributing it. What's going on?

CATHY WOOLARD, EXECUTIVE V.P., CARE: Thanks for asking that. You know this has been a devastating emergency. We have the airport has been out. All of the electricity, water systems, communications, Internet, cell phones. You know, really it has been people day in and day out just trying to get things done, get through the road.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that always the expectation? You have, you know, nongovernment organizations, government organizations, and they are equipped to respond to disaster and disaster usually means roads are going to be impassable. People are going to be in difficult places, traversing roads, mountains, hills, all that. That's a given.

WOOLARD: Well this is a little different. This is a little different. We definitely work with that. We work with our satellite radios. The government buildings are gone. The -- island -- island nation, so there is no place else to go to retreat to where you have infrastructure that is working. All of the infrastructure is gone. The U.N. Building lost many of their senior staff who led in these kinds of situations. The magnitude of this is really quite astounding in terms of the total devastation of what's available.

WHITFIELD: So once communication breaks down, then what? Knowing there is a need, whatever happened to air reinforcements to just kick into action within a 24/48-hour period?

WOOLARD: Well the airports are down.

WHITFIELD: Choppers, drops.

WOOLARD: There's -- you are not near anything. Can't do a chopper across ocean. But that said, things are happening. We have been staging from Dominican Republic since the first day. Really literally find people in there and then, you know, having them make their way by car, hitchhiking, getting in, you know, and renting things to mobilize. We have warehouses already staged in Port-au- Prince. We have already been distributing in the neighborhood of 600,000 water purification tablets.

WHITFIELD: Are they getting to people?

WOOLARD: Yes. We start at the places where we can find the most vulnerable people, so hospitals, clinics, makeshift areas, we are really focused on, you know, women and children, the elderly, people who are injured, really trying to go into those places where we can triage those people who need it the most while we are working on the longer-term program of really setting up the massive distribution as the food gets in.

WHITFIELD: Is it your mission as C.A.R.E. right now to think about the (INAUDIBLE) or are you and other nongovernment organizations now thinking long term? What happens after, you know, the emergency aid that's in there and getting it distributed now what about rebuilding? How far off are you thinking?

WOOLARD: We are thinking for the long haul you know we have been in CARE for 56 years; we have 133 staff there on the ground now in addition to the people that we are bringing in. So we have been there for a long time. We will be there for as long as we need to be to help rebuild after this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Cathy Woolard, CARE. We are also going to talk to you and we are going to join some other folks here who are part of a sizable effort now to try to raise money for Haiti for C.A.R.E. and for other nongovernment organizations in order to try to get some of that support on the ground. Among those, the Atlanta mayor is with us as well as Antwan "Big Boy" Patton, you know him from the group Outkast, you are seeing right there. We will talk with them along with Cathy Woolard right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Five days after the earthquake in Haiti and millions of dollars has been raised to try to pour in some sort of supplies, help, anything to get the people back on their feet in Haiti. They are still getting many more fund-raisers to come. Among them, there 'one taking place in Atlanta beginning tomorrow. It brings the entertainment community, the political community, and the nongovernment agency community all together.

You heard me talk with Cathy Woolard of C.A.R.E., the executive vice president just moments ago. Along with the Atlanta's New York Mayor Kasim Reed and Antwan Big Boy of the group Outkast. This was your idea Antoine to try to pull all of the resources together to get this effort under way.

What's it all about?

ANTWAN "BIG BOY" PATTON, MUSICAN: Yes. You know, I have the Big Kids Foundation that focuses on youth development projects that are focused on humanities and with C.A.R.E. being one of the largest humanitarian groups, I want to enforce my celebrity and bring my friends and challenge them to come out.

WHITFIELD: So what is going to happen actually tomorrow at a restaurant, people are invited to attend and what will happen? People will need to bring their cash?

PATTON: It is a mere $20 donation or you can, you know, whatever you can bring. They are hosting me along with the Mayor Reid and we just going to try and extend that helping hand to those in need.

WHITFIELD: Mr. Mayor, why is it so important for this city to be involved? It has a pretty significant Haitian American community as well.

MAYOR KASIM REED, ATLANTA: Yes, it does. It is also the cradle of the civil and human rights movement and home of Dr. Martin Luther king. We were engaged in celebrating the King holiday and we thought that there was nothing more appropriate than to do when we are doing by helping people in need as we commemorate Dr. King's birthday.

We have been working hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder with C.A.R.E. and with Big Boy and Cathy Woolard. The entity that we have been raising money through is www.atlantacare.org. The city of Atlanta as of today has contributed more than a half a million dollars through C.A.R.E. in five days. Atlanta is certainly showing its heart.

WHITFIELD: And Cathy why is it so important that money is at the core of donations right now? We heard from President George W. Bush yesterday that said if you want to give anything, it is cash.

WOOLARD: Well it is because cash helps us move large quantities of very, very specific kinds of things. We need things today and tomorrow we might need something different. Five days from now we are going to need something different. All too very specific ends, depending on where we are in this situation. So cash lets us move quickly.

WHITFIELD: So say for example, from this fund-raiser tomorrow, where do you see that money going? What's the goal?

PATTON: The goal that I think the goal is $10 million. So far we have -- with the Big Kids Foundation and C.A.R.E. we have raised like $110,000 so far with the Compound Foundation giving us a $50,000 donation today. Trying to blow the horn and bring people out.

WHITFIELD: How do you encourage people that say Ok I'm making this donation but really, how is my money going to translate into something real tangible? How will I know people are being helped?

REED: That's why C.A.R.E. is so important and that is why Atlanta came behind C.A.R.E. They do excellent work. They had 130 people that are already on the ground. So what we did was to get behind one organization which happens to be based in our city to ensure that all of the dollars raised, all of the contributions made went towards saving people's lives. C.A.R.E. was the vehicle to do it and that's who Atlanta is standing with.

WHITFIELD: All right. Cathy, are you surprised to see millions of dollars pouring in on a day-to-day basis now as a result of what's taken place five days ago? WOOLARD: We are not. We are just hoping people remain open. When the TV cameras stop, this emergency still is going to be continuing. People in Haiti are going to need our help for a very long time. As the mayor said we have been there for 50 something years. We have 130 staff on the ground. We are there for the long haul. And we are going to provide what the people of Haiti request of us and what they need.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mayor Kasim Reed thanks so much. Cathy Woolard appreciate it. Thanks so much Antwan appreciate it.

All right. Well that is tomorrow night. That is the big fund- raiser here in Atlanta for this effort. We know there are so many others across the board actually taking place across the country.

In the mean time we are going to talk about some other domestic issues coming up. The Massachusetts Senate race and what it could mean for health care reform.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama was in Massachusetts just moments ago in a bid to bolster Martha Coakley's campaign for Massachusetts Senator. CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian is in Boston. A lot at stake for the president and for that seat.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It really is. That's why you heard the president talk about what that one vote will mean to his various -- the various things that he wants to get done across the country, whether it be health care, whether it be trying to right the economy the president talked about that 60 votes can stave off a Republican filibuster. So that's why it was so important for the White House to send the president here to campaign on behalf of Martha Coakley.

This is a race that I think a lot of people here in the state and I have been watching it now over the past month really felt that there would be no competition at all for Martha Coakley. Just about a week ago she was ahead double digits and now this race has tightened with the Republican Scott Brown. Why has this happened? Well, some have been critical of Martha Coakley saying that she has been complacent and not really run a very strong campaign.

But a lot has -- lot of credit has also gone to Scott Brown who has been out there very aggressive running a very strong campaign. Getting a lot of outside money from Republicans pouring into the state. He's also running against a lot of the frustration and the anger that's boiling out there about big government. A lot of people feeling that government has been moving too far into their lives. He's promising that if he goes to Washington, that he will vote against health care reform. He says that the current plan needs go back to the drawing board. Take a listen to him campaigning out here in Massachusetts today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BROWN, (R) MASSACHUSETTS SENATE CANDIDATE: This negative politicking and then there's malicious politicking. To be honest with you, when I started doing this race and I sat across the table from my wife and kids, my wife said one thing. Honey, you have to come home here. And after it is over, so you better run a good and clean campaign and fight about the issues and talk about the things that are very important to the people in Massachusetts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: So Scott Brown feeling the momentum here, believing that he does have a very good chance to win in this race. He was asked today what he thought about the president coming here to campaign for his opponent. He said that it didn't bother him at all, that she could bring anyone here to campaign. He's running for the people, he says, and he thinks he can pull this off on Tuesday. So a very interesting race going on here with a lot of local, state and national implications here depending on who wins.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian in Boston. Thank you.

Watching and waiting thousands of Haitian Americans are staying close to the television set, phone, internet, anything. Hoping to hear if their loved one survived the quake. That's the case for a Georgia restaurant owner. His sister is among the missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRITZ ARISTILOE, SISTER MISSING IN HAITI: Every time my phone rings, hoping it is her on the other end.

WHITFIELD (voice over): Fritz is talking about his 24-year-old sister Berna (ph).

ARISTILOE: I'm just praying and hoping that she's safe and she's OK.

WHITFIELD: He is hoping social networks on websites like Facebook and CNN.com will help.

ARISTILOE: Twenty seven thousand members pray for Haiti, 32,000 members. I'm a member of all these groups. What I do is I go ahead and place her picture, tag her picture on these groups, so that hopefully somebody knows something.

WHITFIELD: It has been nearly six years since Aristiloe visited Berna (ph) in Haiti but they kept in touch by phone.

ARISTILOE: I call her, we talk. I send her money. She was going to school to learn English.

WHITFIELD: Aristiloe keeps the TV inside his Atlanta area restaurant that caters to Haitian Americans tuned to the news.

ARISTILOE: Right now we are desperate. Right now not being able to locate anybody or hear from anybody, hopefully we are -- you know, as they air, maybe we might see somebody that we know.

WHITFIELD: He's also tugged by the devastation. Knowing it hits so close to where he spent the first nine years of his life before moving to the U.S.

ARISTILOE: I actually lived across the street from General Hospital, the major hospital in Haiti.

WHITFIELD: The hospital where the front yard has become an outdoor makeshift morgue and the courtyard, a trauma unit. Despite the disturbing images, Aristiloe is still trying to remain optimistic. He's inspired by so many who want to help in other ways through his restaurant Cafe Fasika.

ARISTILOE: People have been coming by dropping off goods to help us out.

STAFF SGT. JOHNNY CHARLESTIN, RELATIVES MISSING IN HAITI: One of my cousins got injured. And the rest of them we have not yet known the whereabouts.

WHITFIELD: Staff Sgt. Johnny Charlestin helps run the cafe.

CHARLESTIN: It is hard. When you see all of the especially the little kids, people under the rubble, it is hard. You think about it as your family. Think about your family. You know, for me, I'm close to my family. And it is like a knife going through my heart.

WHITFIELD: As the Haitian flag flies outside their restaurant, inside both men hope that they will soon receive good news about their loved ones.

ARISTILOE: Basically we are all suffering. We are going through the same struggles. We all have family out there that we are trying to get a hold of and can't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Aristiloe says that he has been in touch with the police officer back home but still no word on his sister's whereabouts.

Let's talk about some weather. Let's check in with our Jacqui Jeras because a lot is on tap for the national weather picture particularly in the northeast.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We have a lot of troubles at the airways, it is not a particularly strong storm system but it is enough to cause problems on the roadways and in the airways. We are concerned about some areas up here in upstate New York, including Binghamton, which is reporting some freezing rain. We also can see a lot of wintry mix and some sleet. So let's show you some of those travel concerns.

Ground stop in Boston right now, as well as JFK, delays over an hour and a half at Newark, Philadelphia, more than two hours. San Francisco, over an hour. Only 15 minutes at La Guardia but we expect that will be on the increase.

Our low pressure storm system kind of being blocked a little bit by a high to the north so we are going to continue to see problems throughout the day on Monday and we do have some winter storm watches and warnings posted through tomorrow afternoon. The west getting wet and windy here. We are going to see a series of storms impacting the west and the week ahead, Fredricka, we are very concerned about flooding and some wind damage and the potential for mudslides.

We'll keep you posted.

WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

And don't forget, you can help as it pertains to the devastation in Haiti. Monday night, Larry King has a two-hour special. It includes celebrities, leaders and activists who will suggest ways that you can take action to help Haiti. That is at 8:00 Eastern time, Monday night.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Don Lemon will be here in an hour from now with a look at an American family desperately trying to get an adopted child out of Haiti. He will also tell you how Hollywood is responding to the Haiti earthquake. That's all in the 6:00 p.m. Eastern hour of the NEWSROOM.

"FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" takes a look at those Wall Street bonuses, starting right now.