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Haiti Earthquake: Day 5; Why Massachusetts Senate Race Matters?; Banks Up, Housing Down; Expected Adoption for Some Orphans in Haiti; Sunday Services in Haiti Held Outdoors; Give Wisely: How to Avoid Online Scams; Quake Aftermath Documented

Aired January 17, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Thanks, David. David Theall along the scene in Port-Au-Prince.

We're going to see you tomorrow for a two-hour special, 8:00 eastern, 5:00 Pacific. "HAITI: HOW YOU CAN HELP."

Time now for more news on CNN.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Larry.

This hour, new video of the earthquake in Haiti as it happened.

What happened on ordinary Tuesday afternoon came tumbling apart moments later. Nothing has been the same since.

And five days later, chaos on the streets of the capital city. Security forces struggle to maintain order as Haitians take their survival into their own hands.

And across the shattered city, international rescue crews are still pulling more people alive from the rubble. But so many more are dead and might never be accounted for.

In makeshift hospitals, doctors work valiantly with meager supplies to save thousands of wounded survivors. The Red Cross says truckloads of desperately needed drugs and equipment are expected to arrive tonight.

Relief aid is beginning to get in and much more, much, much more is on the way. The U.S. Army pledges 7,000 troops to help with recovery efforts, starting with emergency rations and water to people who may not have anything to eat or to drink in days.

And if there is a silver lining here, many Haitian orphans have suddenly been catapulted into new homes and new lives in the United States.

And CNN has a team of reporters throughout Haiti live this hour. Soledad O'Brien, Gary Tuchman, Ivan Watson, and Anderson Cooper.

I'd like to welcome our viewers from 210 countries from around the world. Thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Much of the earthquake coverage has been focused on the damage in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Tonight, we take you to another Haitian city practically wiped off the map. Ninety percent of it is flattened.

So let's get right to it with CNN's Anderson Cooper, who has been on the go non-stop since this disaster struck five days ago. Tonight, he is in Port-au-Prince, but earlier today he visited the town of Leogane near the epicenter of the quake.

What did you find, Anderson?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the town is severely damaged. Whether or not 90 percent, I can't say for sure. But I did see so many structures that did have some form of damage and, like you said, some of them just completely flattened. It's a much different atmosphere there than in Port-au-Prince. You don't get the buildings as high as they are here, or as pushed together, so the damage seems for spread out.

But in the main part of the town, the damage is extensive. I, in fact, went to a school which was the Saint Rose of Lima School. It's run by foreign nuns, we are told, all of whom perished in the earthquake.

The school is basically completely destroyed. There was just one small classroom that the roof had caved in but the seats -- the blackboard was still up. But everything else has just been destroyed.

And there were about four or five Haitian men. They had a bulldozer and they were searching through the rubble, trying to find the remains of what they believed to be about 100 to 110 students ranging of all ages from very little to teenagers.

It was a -- it is grim work. It is grisly work as you can imagine in this heat. They're not being paid for this. They are just -- they are just doing this out of the goodness of their hearts because they want to bring dignity to these little children and to these nuns who dedicated their lives to these kids.

It was a very strange scene there, though, Don, because while they were working, waiting off in the side, watching very carefully were a group of about a dozen or 20 young Haitian men who were scavenging for anything they could find to either use for themselves or to sell.

So, as soon as the bulldozer would stop, they would run into the rubble, pull out textbooks, try to look to see if they were unused, if they could maybe resell. They were particularly looking for any money or any cooking oil or any food that they could have.

I asked one of the searchers when the last time he ate was. He said the day of the earthquake was the last time he had an actual meal. And yet he was still out there every day, kind of trying to battle off these scavengers who were trying to take whatever they could from the rubble of this orphanage. LEMON: Anderson, I noticed there some of the video, not to be harsh, but I can imagine that there are people who are buried there and there are bodies. After a while, you start to feel it, you start to smell it. It seems like it was very harsh -- the smell there. And we're looking at the video now and it is warm. Talk us through this video where you're walking up, it looks like, to a dump truck with two other gentlemen.

COOPER: Yes, I misspoke. I said orphanage. It wasn't an orphanage. It was a convent school.

Yes, I mean, the dump truck is filled with the remains of children. And I say remains because it's very difficult at this point to find any of the little kids in there intact, given the severity of the damage and the length of time.

I actually saw something that I thought was a stone, and I bent down, and then I realized it wasn't a stone at all. It was actually a child's skull. It had one tooth left in it. The fact that it was already visible as a skull, I found shocking and surprising and obviously incredibly disturbing.

But I also talked to one father, who was there trying to find his child, the remains of his child. And he had said that he looked inside the dump truck and that it was impossible to identify anybody at this stage. That only adds, of course, to the misery of the parents, who know that their children in all likelihood have died in this.

But, of course, some are still holding on to hope. We were able to track down a few children who had survived it. They told us what they saw. Many of them still seemed to be in shock over it all, don't know what to make of it. And there's no place to bury these children.

So, the men we talked to had planned to take this dump truck and just drive somewhere out into the country and dig a hole and put the children in that -- Don.

LEMON: Anderson, thank you very much. Appreciate your reporting tonight. Anderson Cooper in Port-au-Prince.

LEMON: And more hope, more signs of life from beneath the rubble as emergency teams from around the globe work furiously to find survivors.

An Israeli team pulled a man from a crushed government finance building today. A crowd cheered as the survivor emerged on a stretcher. The crew reportedly worked for more than seven hours to free the man, busting through a wall just to get to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: And at the flattened U.N. mission headquarters, another survivor was found alive. A Danish employee grasped onto the top of a stretcher as he was carried out of the rubble. He was given a quick checkup on the stretcher and seemed responsive after days under the wreckage.

That rescue came about 15 minutes after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon toured the crumbled five-story headquarters. Dozens of employees were buried in the quake. Thirty-seven U.N. personnel are confirmed dead, including the mission chief and his deputy. Hundreds more are missing. Ban Ki-Moon says Haiti is the worst humanitarian crisis he's seen in decades. But, he says, more help is on the way.

And happening right now, our Ivan Watson is at one site where three people have been pulled out alive today and another rescue may be imminent. He joins us now by telephone.

Ivan, what are you seeing there?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Don.

There's a flurry of commotion now with the rescue workers here at the scene of what was the Caribbean supermarket. And we do know that the rescue workers have been in contact, have been able to hold the hand of a woman who speaks Creole. Presumably, she's Haitian, who's alive after five days in the bottom of this mountain of rubble here.

And they're trying to carve out a space for her to bring her out. Of course, it's a very delicate and dangerous procedure. And she is trapped with another man, also that they have been in contact with. We're just going to be monitoring this as it goes along.

The rescue workers we've talked to, they describe the work as horrendous, that they're actually digging past bodies in some cases of people who did not survive the earthquake. And there are huge pieces of concrete hanging from rebar that they call widow-makers because they can drop on top of them.

They say there's very, very delicate work and, of course, if and when they succeed in pulling out these two survivors that they have been speaking with, it will be very important to treat them very carefully after they have endured five days trapped inside this concrete coffin, basically-- Don.

LEMON: Ivan Watson on the scene, where we are told that a rescue is imminent.

Ivan, stand by. We'll check back with you. Appreciate your reporting as well.

They survived the quake, now what? We'll join CNN's Soledad O'Brien at a tent city that has sprung up in the capital city of Port- au-Prince.

One man's story of survival captured on video. In his car at the time of the quake, his documents say what he saw on the long road home. We'll tell you what happened with him.

And in political news tonight, a Senate race in Massachusetts that could go either way. Why it matters to you wherever you live here in the United States.

Also, we want your questions. We want to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you log on to our social networking sites on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, or send us an iReport. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know what? They've lived through that quake. Now they have to survive what comes next. And no one really knows what that is. A makeshift city has popped up in Port-au-Prince. No homes, just tents and tarps. Food is scarce and, of course, water is scarce as well.

Special correspondent Soledad O'Brien is there live.

Soledad, what have you seen since you've been there?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, you can see this makeshift tent city. And I really shouldn't even call it a tent city because nobody really has a tent. They have blankets and sheets that they sort of turn into these tents.

But actually, as we were choppering in, I saw at least 30 of them. I mean, at 30 I stopped counting because what you would see is these homes that are built into the hill all crumpled and collapsed and then people gathering their stuff and creating an outdoor tent city.

And this is just one of them. This, you know, it doesn't look like it's that packed with people, but it actually goes on a fair distance. And we were estimating earlier this afternoon, 20,000 people maybe in the space here and it goes way down here. And then, of course, it goes on the other side as well.

We're not very far from the presidential palace. And, of course, Don, you've seen those pictures where that palace is sort of collapsed on itself.

Right across from there, another tent city has sprung up. They're all sort of attached. This used to be a place where people would wait for buses, and now they've sort of turned it into a place where they wait for water. They're waiting for food. People are very calm.

But they're upset and a little bit angry about the fact that there's been no infrastructure for getting any kind of regular delivery of food. People would say there's no food. They haven't eaten in some cases for days. Water we've seen. We've seen the trucks come. People have access and buckets to get water.

But food's been very, very sporadic here. And I think that if that isn't sort of fixed soon, that could lead to some serious problems down the road.

LEMON: CNN's Soledad O'Brien, our special correspondent.

Soledad, thank you. You guys, take care out there.

Donations are flowing in by the truckload in Washington, D.C. Diapers, blankets, clothes, batteries, hand sanitizers, you name it, all of it being collected at the Haiti embassy.

The drive to fill survival kits was supposed to end at 4:00 this afternoon, but six hours later people are still dropping things off. So the city has sent over dump trucks to help transport all of the donations.

This may be the best story that we have told you all day.

Haitian orphans home at last with their adoptive American families. It's good news, finally.

But first, it's much, much more than one Senate race in one state. Why Tuesday's election in Massachusetts could impact you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk now the state of our nation. President Barack Obama back in Washington tonight after a quick campaign trip to Boston. He went there to rally Massachusetts Democrats who are in serious danger of losing the Senate seat once held by liberal icon Ted Kennedy.

Now, a Democratic loss would have a huge impact on the president's agenda, of course, including health care reform.

Let's talk now about this with CNN's political editor Mark Preston and April Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks.

Good to see you guys. Haven't seen you guys since the holidays.

So listen, Mark, let's start with this. This is really about health care reform, isn't it?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, it's really about health care reform. Some would say it's a referendum on the fact that President Obama is trying to get his health care reform bill through. There's obviously a lot of riding on this right now. If Scott Brown, a Republican, wins in Massachusetts on Tuesday, you can all but say that the health care reform could be dead.

LEMON: Could be dead. So let's talk the politics of all this.

Martha Coakley is all but a shoo-in, the Democratic candidate. All of a sudden, this new Republican candidate, really, it's, I guess, believed to be a rising star, Mark, rising from nowhere.

What is it? Is it apathy, I'm hearing, maybe on the part of voters and maybe for her that she didn't really fight hard enough to win this election?

PRESTON: Well, you know, Don, really, Scott Brown did come out of nowhere. Even if you were to talk to some of his advisers, they were surprised that he has come on so strong.

Martha Coakley has been not the greatest campaigner, certainly not in these closing days. Right now, Scott Brown has caught fire. I'll tell you right now, national Democrats are very concerned that Martha Coakley is going to lose on Tuesday.

We saw President Obama there today trying to rally the supporters. But one thing Republicans will say is that Scott Brown kept his momentum up going through the weekend. They were a little concerned about that. But now we're down to the wire on Tuesday.

LEMON: And you know, April, this isn't a big election year, and of course turnout's going to play a big part in this. Not an election year. So, what about turnout when it concerns this one?

APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Right. Political observers have noted that this is not a presidential election year. And anytime you have off-year or not a presidential election, you're not going to get the numbers. And especially for a special election, we're told, that you're not going to get the same kind of numbers.

And then also, you know, there's another interesting point in this Massachusetts race, is the fact that, you know, Senator Kennedy, they're vying for this seat for the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and he fought all of his political life for issues to include health care reform.

So, it's interesting how the state is not rallying against -- with that. More so the message is linked to President Obama. They're saying somewhat that they're rallying against it.

LEMON: Here's the question, though. All of this, would it make what is typically a blue state, all of this that you're saying? You're talking about apathy. You're talking about, you know, this seat and what Ted Kennedy fought for. Whatever it is, and she's not fighting enough, is this enough to make people, who are Democrats, turn Republican or vote for Republican -- a Republican, April?

RYAN: Well, you know, the message is very important. But you have also the big guns coming out. You've had Bill Clinton come out. You've had President Obama. And they're hoping that this could get people to come out and Democrats to say, OK, let me see what's going on.

But I mean, thus far, we've heard from people in the state. We've seen some polls. You know, it's tight. We know one thing, that it's very tight in a state that it shouldn't be, the bluest of blue states.

LEMON: If I can get a yes or no, is the president's visit today, do you think it's enough to put her over the top, April? RYAN: We have to see.

LEMON: We have to see. That's not a yes or no.

And Mark?

PRESTON: You know, it really is too close to call. I don't think we're going to know a winner perhaps Tuesday night. It might not be until Wednesday, Don.

LEMON: We'll be watching. Thanks to both of you.

RYAN: Thank you. Bye.

LEMON: The flight for safety for one Haitian woman aboard a Coast Guard helicopter. And by the time she landed, she was a new woman. We'll talk to the Coast Guardsman who made the special delivery. Of course, you know what I'm talking about, obviously delivering a baby there.

And winter weather back here in the U.S. especially on the East Coast. Jacqui Jeras is checking out our weather situation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: East to west, north and south, people are concerned about the weather and, of course, their commute tomorrow.

Jacqui Jeras, what do you have?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, not great stuff. But hey, it's a holiday. At least we'll look at that optimistically and hopefully maybe not as many people will be on the roadways because it is going to be really rough going.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: All right, Jacqui. Thank you very much.

You know, things are looking up for the nation's banks. But housing is still looking down, and prices are likely going up for our favorite drink.

Here's Stephanie Elam with our new series "Getting Down to Business."

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Top brass in the biggest banks got grilled last week before a congressional panel investigating the 2008 financial collapse. This week, we'll see how some of the banks are recovering.

Look for earnings reports from Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley among others. Analysts expect the largest banks to report profits. One of the factors prompting President Obama's call for a new tax on financial firms to recoup bailout money. The tax is part of the president's proposed 2011 budget due out next month. Banks may be profitable again, but the housing sector still looks grim. On Thursday, we find out the status of new home construction. Home builder KB Home saw a 27 percent drop in sales in the fourth quarter last year. And we learned a record-breaking 2.8 million households were threatened with foreclosure in 2009, with even more expected this year.

And finally this week, citrus crops in Florida have been hurt by unseasonably cold weather, and that might drive up the price of a glass of OJ in the coming weeks.

That's this week's "Getting Down to Business." Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: New video in to CNN tonight speaks directly to the desperate situation in Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince.

Look at this. This is -- shows you the situation that's happening there on the ground. We don't know exactly why this was going on. We do know that the people are crawling over rubble. Shots were fired. Police came. We saw some men being arrested or being taken away in a truck.

I want to bring in now retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore. He joins me by telephone for his perspective on this issue.

There's been some talk tonight about -- is this looting or is this just a struggle to survive? What do you make of this, General?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): Don, these are survival skills. We've got to really turn the picture on this. If we turn this into police -- U.N. forces or U.S. forces shooting people trying to get food. We will turn this table into something totally different.

These people are trying to survive. And you should not shoot someone over trying to get food. They are doing nothing but expressing a human need to get food. Over.

LEMON: So, listen, then where is the line, then, General, between looting and between survival? Because just to the naked eye here -- just to the people, to an average person, this appears to them to be looting.

HONORE: Look, the president of Haiti needs to declare right now, Don, that we're going to make this a better place, that no one will be shot for trying to take food. If we shoot people for trying to get to food, that they've sensed, smelled, or any other sense, we will turn this into something totally different. This is a humanitarian operation, and people are trying to get food.

What we need is an increase in food available on the ground and allow the 18th Airborne Corps and the Joint Task Force in Haiti to air-drop food, to open additional air fields to get more food into the country. This is a shame that we'd pull pistols on people trying get food.

LEMON: Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore. Of course, he took over New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Thank you, sir. We appreciate it.

And amidst so much devastation and death, there is new life. A Haitian mom-to-be goes into labor, and the Coast Guard answers the call of duty.

And houses of worship crumble, but the faith is unshaken. Haitians were digging deep into their pockets at Sunday services today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. So all the moms out there. You already know this, and dads as well. Childbirth doesn't wait for the ideal circumstances. And one Haitian newborn just couldn't wait. His mom went into labor on a coast guard cutter, aboard a coast guard cutter. And assistance survival technician 2 Chad Smoelar (ph) helped deliver the little guy. It is a little boy, correct? And he joins us by phone.

Take us through it.

CHAD SMOELAR, SURVIVAL TECHNICIAN 2, COAST GUARD CUTTER (via telephone): Well, Don, the morning started off with an early regular time flight, and we received a call from the Coast Guard Cutter "Tahoma" that they had five critical survivors on board. After which we landed on board The Cutter.

And as we were loading the patients on board the helicopter, we received word from one of the members of the Coast Guard Cutter that they were bringing a small boat up with a woman that was pregnant. We didn't know how far along she was. Once we got her up onto the flight deck, and had everyone triaged and started loading again, my lieutenant, Dewey Lawson, got my attention and said that she had stood up on her own power. And when I looked over, to my surprise, she was having the baby.

LEMON: Yes. And a five-pound baby. It went off without complications?

SMOELAR: No complications whatsoever. The delivery total lasted maybe five to seven minutes. And after the baby was completely out and separated from the mother, it took no longer than four or five seconds for it to start breathing and crying.

LEMON: Come up with a name yet? Do you know?

SMOELAR: I'm unaware.

LEMON: You're unaware of that.

First time for you? SMOELAR: No. I actually, coming up February 25th, it'll be the three-year mark of delivering my son.

LEMON: Oh, well, good for you. Hey, listen, you know, you guys are doing great work out there. Great work. And continue to do it. We appreciate it, OK?

SMOELAR: Thank you very much, Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you.

If you've been moved to donate money for Haitian relief, you'll want to watch this next story. In "Mastering Your Money," we'll show you how to avoid being scammed by bogus charities. That's a really big issue right now.

Plus, he recorded his hour-long walk home after the earthquake, stuck in Haiti. We'll have his exclusive story, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: At the beginning of this newscast, our Ivan Watson was on the scene of an imminent rescue. We understand that some people have now been pulled out. We go to Ivan now by phone.

Ivan, talk to us.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Don. I'm standing right next to one of the survivors. He's in a gurney in the back of an SUV being treated by Florida rescue service. He is one of two people who was just moments ago pulled out from the rubble of this supermarket. And I watched them bring him down on a stretcher, a firm stretcher, down a ladder.

And this man, he picked his head up, he looked around as he came into the light, and he picked his hand up and waved and gave a thumbs up. One of the first things he told the rescue workers was "I ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly." He, of course, was trapped in there for five days. And moments later, a second victim, a second survivor came out. This was a woman, also believed to be Haitian. She came out on a gurney, also carried down the ladder by a team of both American and Turkish rescue workers. She was looking around not smiling as much, but was able to lift her head up off of the stretcher. And we believe they pulled her out of...

LEMON: That is our Ivan Watson who is joining us by telephone. Just want to tell you, Ivan Watson was on the scene of a grocery store. A supermarket there that had collapsed during the earthquake. The Caribbean Supermarket housed a three-story building during the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Not sure how many people were inside. But they have rescued two more people. Earlier they had rescued three people from that location.

Ivan Watson tells us one man and one woman. The man came out and spoke, and said he ate a lot of peanut butter. We wish them the very best. We'll get back to Ivan if an update is warranted on this story. Many American parents adopting Haitian kids are stuck in heart- wrenching limbo. Their soon-to-be children are waiting in Haiti. But for other orphans the quake has given the adoption process a big jolt forward. Our Gary Tuchman live in Port-Au-Prince now.

Gary, you have some of the best news that we have heard all day.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is really great news, and we need that great news, obviously, over the last few days because it's been so sad here in Haiti.

But earlier this week, Don, I did a story on these orphans who survived the earthquake, but their orphanage was partially damaged. They had to live outside. No one knew when they would get to the United States to go to their parents, who are trying to adopt them. But a big development today. A very positive one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): An orphanage in Haiti, where 25 small children were living and sleeping outdoors because of the partial collapse of the orphanage. Two sisters from Pittsburgh who run the orphanage were gravely concerned that the adoption processes, which were under way for all the children to move to the United States, would be postponed indefinitely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their paperwork was in government offices downtown, and their offices are crumbled. So there's -- that's what they need. All of those papers are what they need to be able to get a passport and a visa and go live somewhere else.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And most of the people, even if the paperwork was there, we're hearing that most of the people who would do anything about it are under the rubble, too.

TUCHMAN: But now, two days after we aired our story, some surprising but good news. The adoption process rapidly expedited. Six of the children given approval to start their new lives with their new parents in the United States, getting ready to fly on an Air Force C-17 to the U.S.

Mosey (ph) holding hands with his sister, Diana who came with a provision of Crunch Berries Cereal. Then there's Claudia, and little Ethan. And even littler Jenna, the tiniest of the group. 13-year-old Gertrude is the elder stateswoman. I asked my French-speaking producer Justin Redman to ask her if she knew where her new mom is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

TUCHMAN: Indeed, Melissa is meeting her at the Sanford Airport in Orlando.

(on camera) Little Jenna has lived in Port-Au-Prince her whole life. She will now be going to the Rocky Mountains, moving to Colorado. (voice-over) With her mother, Elizabeth, also meeting her and the other children in Florida. None of these children has ever seen a plane this close up, let alone been on a plane. The lives of these orphans are about to change profoundly and poignantly.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: That was a teamwork effort. I mean, there was a lot of moving parts in that coming together. The contingency response wing. The State Department. And CNN crews. The U.N. A lot of people back in the states working together.

TUCHMAN: All six children safely strapped into their Air Force seats, calmly prepared to begin their new lives. Before they take off, we look at a bracelet given to Gertrude by her new mother. One of the charms says "daughter."

Daughters and sons who survived lives as orphans and a catastrophic earthquake, on their way to America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: And Don, just in the last few minutes their plane landed in Central Florida, Sanford Airport near Orlando, where they are having their reunions with the parents they are now going to live with. There's a lot of paperwork to do. We just got the video in. It's hot off the press, this video. It's dark. It's hard to see. But the children have arrived in Florida.

I'm telling you, Don, when these children were at the airport here in Port-Au-Prince today, it was so noisy and there were so many things to see. Their eyes were so wide open. It was just unbelievable, visual and aural stimulation for these kids. They were so excited about it. And I imagine that they may have the same look in their eyes if their new parents take them to Disney World. You know, because they're in central Florida right now. It's a great idea if you ask me.

Could you imagine -- could you imagine being here in Haiti during this week, experiencing all this horror and then flying to your new country being with your new parents, going to Disney, and then in this case all these kids are going to Colorado. So good for the Rocky Mountain State. It's great.

LEMON: Spoken like a true dad. I'm sure you're used to the noise, Gary. You're a dad. And you know about Disney or whatever.

TUCHMAN: That's right.

LEMON: So you're going to become a spokesman. They're going to thank you for this. Hey, listen, we needed to smile tonight, and you did that for us. Thank you so much.

One group of orphans has already found their new home in Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yey!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Just look at that hugs, cheers, laughter. Well, some have waited years to be united with their adopted families. But because of the quake, they were reportedly granted emergency visas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALECIA O'BYRNE, ADOPTIVE MOTHER: I'm just overwhelmed.

EMILY O'BYRNE, ADOPTIVE SISTER: Never could I have imagined that an earthquake would bring the kids home. And even when the earthquake happened, the first thing I thought was this is going to prolong this even longer. We're never going to get our kids. But it brought them here.

ALECIA O'BYRNE: Yes, it did. God brought them here. This is our little bitty one, and she's been wearing all -- the whole trip, just a T-shirt and a pull-up all the whole trip, even no socks or shoes. And our friend, Esther, got her something to wear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Boy. Very nice. Very nice. There were seven Haitian orphans on that flight to Kansas City adopted by three overjoyed, as you can see, families.

Finding hope amid destruction. Worshiping outdoors when there's nowhere else to go. How the faithful attended Sunday services in Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, most churches in Port-Au-Prince held services outdoors today. That's because most cathedrals and other church buildings were destroyed in the quake.

CNN's Chris Lawrence reports many people who came to worship have lost everything. But they still found a way to help others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Haiti's churches have mostly crumbled. Or at least the buildings have.

(CHANTING)

The pastors and people have simply moved, in Santo, to a dusty dirt field.

(on camera) The real Church of God in Santo is right across the street here. But it was damaged so badly in the earthquake, it's just not safe to hold services inside.

(voice-over) So worshipers squatted on cinder blocks and used a generator to power the microphones and music.

(SINGING)

The sermon gave families a different interpretation of the earthquake. That it was God's punishment for Haiti's sins.

UNIDENTIFIED HAITIAN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

LAWRENCE: Haiti's a mostly Catholic country with about a million Protestants, including this church. But many in both faiths also believe in Voodoo, which the sermon criticized.

(SINGING)

Some of the congregation lost their families. Others, everything they owned.

JOSEPH FEDNER, HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I got no job now. I'm a teacher. I used to teach. There's no schools anymore.

(on camera) So this is your home? Was your home?

(voice-over) Joseph Fedner took us down the road to show us what the earthquake did to his home. He's now living on the street looking for work.

FEDNER: I got my wife. I got my children. I'm supposed to got something to spend for then. But now, I've got nothing.

(SINGING)

LAWRENCE: Joseph got a shock at the end of the service when the church made an urgent plea to help him and other families hit hardest, and nearly everyone pitched in.

UNIDENTIFIED HAITIAN: They lost their families. They are homeless. There's no bank. Nowhere they can go. If you have some money, please put together what you have that we can buy things together.

LAWRENCE: Haitians helping Haitians, families with little helping those with nothing.

(on camera) The things we heard about God's judgment and punishment are ingrained in the religious culture of Haiti. At the same time, we also heard the pastor tell this congregation this earthquake hit rich and poor alike, and that if they only had one potato they should slice it in half and share it.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well said, Chris. And if you'd like to contribute to the Haitian relief effort, we have a one-stop Web site that contains everything you need. CNN.com/ImpactYourWorld has a list of reputable charities and agencies providing emergency relief.

Plus tips on how to avoid getting scammed. There's also a find your loved one section with the State Department's toll-free number, and a link to the iReport looking for loved ones photo gallery. Lots of people have found their loved ones on that page.

And the worldwide outpouring of the support for Haiti has opened the door to people who prey on public generosity. Sad that that happens. Phony Web sites and other scams are popping up. And they often look like the real thing.

So in tonight's "Mastering Your Money," we're going to tell you how to keep it going to the right place.

Our Christine Durst joins me now by phone with tips on how to avoid getting ripped off.

So what are they doing? As we said, many of it looks, looks like the real thing. It looks original, like the money is going to go to someplace reputable, and it's not. So what do we look for, Christine?

CHRISTINE DURST, CEO, STAFFCENTRIX (via telephone): There are certain things that you can do, Don. Of course, the first thing to do is look for the known organizations, those that have a proven track record. For example, the Red Cross, The United Way, The International Medical Corps.

There are also a couple of new ones on the radar. For example, Yele Haiti was set up by Haiti-born musician Wyclef Jean, who set up a text to donate. It's $5 that will be charge to your phone bill.

Be careful about the ones that arrive as spam in your inbox. Scammers have -- they use this opportunity to send people very compelling e-mails, oftentimes saying that they're survivors, they have these wonderful, horrific survival stories. And they can be very compelling. And it's difficult to make yourself say no and hit the delete button, but you really have to do that.

LEMON: Yes. They'll text you saying I'm with a reputable organization, I'm with this or that organization, and if you, you know, press yes, the money will go there, when in fact it's not going to go there.

And, also, you know, talk more about this. One key stroke off on the computer or typewriter, they'll add an "S" to it or just one little thing where you may hit a keystroke error and then you end up giving money to a place you didn't want to as well.

DURST: And they absolutely rely on that. I can't stress enough, when you're making a donation online to this or any other cause, make sure that you also look at the beginning of the URL or the Web site address. It should be an HTTPS. The "S" always indicates that you're working on a secure site. And don't give too much information. There's no reason why when you're making a donation people need to have a lot of personal or financial information from you. LEMON: Christine Durst, we really appreciate it. Thank you so much. And as always, we tell you to go to CNN.com/ImpactYourWorld, and we have some reputable sites there.

CNN's Larry King is once again reaching out, this time to help the people of Haiti just as he helped the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Monday night Larry King hosts a two-hour special, "LARRY KING LIVE," called "Haiti: How You Can Help."

Ryan Seacrest and Susan Sarandon are just two of the guests that will be helping Larry to raise awareness about the devastation in Haiti. Monday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

It was a long journey home for one earthquake survivor. He walked from one end of Port-Au-Prince to the other, all the while recording video on his cell phone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: An earthquake survivor documents the horrific moments after the ground stopped shaking in Haiti. Jean Marie Altema recorded his desperate walk home to his wife and his child on his cell phone camera. He managed to evacuate with his family, and spoke with our Ed Lavandera in South Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN MARIE ALTEMA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I cannot understand. I said --

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The earthquake strikes, and Jean Marie Altema is in a car driving home.

(on camera) On your cell phone camera, you started recording video.

ALTEMA: Yes.

LAVANDERA: You basically documented your hour-long walk home.

ALTEMA: Yes. Exactly.

LAVANDERA: His wife and one-year-old son were at home on the other side of Port-Au-Prince. Jean-Marie starts recording this video seconds after the shaking ends. The nightmare will quickly unfold before his eyes.

(on camera) At this point you still don't have an understanding of how bad this is?

ALTEMA: No. No. No. Because I wanted to go home.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Emotional cries are the first thing you hear in the seconds after the quake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) LAVANDERA (on camera): What was she saying?

ALTEMA: She was crying. In Haiti we say, "Mes Amis." It's "my friends" in English. But it's a cry from the heart. Someone said "We are nothing. Nothing." because in around 40 seconds everything is going away.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The despair, the confusion, the fear is now everywhere. The wounded walk the streets. But then Jean-Marie sees the body of a young boy crushed by concrete.

(on camera) At this point, is it starting to sink in?

ALTEMA: Yes, yes. Sink in, yes. So --

LAVANDERA: Will you ever forget that image?

ALTEMA: No. No. No. That's the first time that I see something like this.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Jean Marie is now overwhelmed by what he sees.

(on camera) It's almost like you couldn't believe what you were seeing.

ALTEMA: Yes, exactly. I couldn't believe. I couldn't believe. I couldn't believe. I said to myself, is it a dream?

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

LAVANDERA: What were you saying there?

ALTEMA: Yes. I was saying "Thanks, God." "Thanks, God." I said I could be anywhere. I could be anywhere. I could be somewhere in the market. I could be in the street. I could be anywhere.

LAVANDERA: What do you think the people around you are thinking at this point?

ALTEMA: The end. The end. The end of the ends.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): An hour after he started walking, the journey home is over.

(on camera) How happy were you when you get home?

ALTEMA: I saw my wife with my son. The only one that we have. And I kiss her and I said, praise God. I said, praise God.

LAVANDERA: Jean Marie Altema is back in the arms of his family.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Lake Worth, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Because of stories like that, you guys have been reaching out to us. Some people personally e-mailing me. Others sending things on the social networking sites.

Some of your responses right now, I'm going to read a few. Here's what one viewer says. His name is Cricket. It says, "It's nice to cry tears because of a happy story instead of tears filled with grief. Thanks, CNN."

Then the same viewer says, "I'm so glad CNN has the general on." Talking about General Russell Honore on. "As much as they do, he lends common sense and knowledge few have to this horror."

And then WLPerie says "I love hearing all of the positive stories among the bad from Haiti. Excellent job, Don, and everyone at CNN. Bravo for what Honore just said," talking about what people are calling looting in Haiti.

So we appreciate your feedback. Keep it coming. Keep it coming. Thank you so much. As always, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or iReport.com.

So, listen, on the eve of the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Barack Obama this morning told members of a D.C. Baptist Church founded by former slaves to keep the faith. And he talked about the people of Haiti and the challenges they are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our Haitian brothers and sisters are in desperate need. Bruised, battered. Many people are legitimately feeling doubt. Even despair about the future. Like those who came to this church on that Thursday in 1956, folks are wondering where do we go from here?

I understand those feelings. I understand the frustration and sometimes anger that so many folks feel as they struggle to stay afloat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was the president speaking this morning. And earlier we saw the president sort of getting into the spirit, dancing around because he was at church. So listen, it's been a very interesting, interesting weekend. A couple of days to be reporting here on CNN. Our broadcast this weekend, especially, there were some amazing things that happened live. Anderson cooper was live at a rescue.

We have had Ivan Watson live at a rescue. Gary Tuchman with the wonderful story about the people with adoption. Elizabeth Cohen, all of our reporters there doing amazing jobs. And let's not forget, of course, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta who stayed behind at a hospital when everyone else left. You want to keep it right here on CNN.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here next weekend. Thanks for watching. Have a great week.