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U.S. Troops in Port-au-Prince; Losing Lives and Limbs in Haiti; Massachusetts Senate Seat at Risk
Aired January 19, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for your top-of-the-hour reset.
I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is noon in Haiti, where the U.S. increases its visibility with troops on the ground. They land on the lawn of Haiti's ruined presidential palace.
In Massachusetts, angry voters may decide today to put a Republican in the seat held by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and what that could mean for President Obama's agenda.
And midday in the Cayman Islands, where an earthquake shakes another Caribbean nation.
Let's get started.
It is now one week since the killer quake in Haiti, and getting basics like food and water to survivors is still a logistical nightmare.
Here is what we know.
The U.N. estimates three million people in need of food, water, shelter and medical assistance. But roads remain blocked and the airport congested, preventing aid from reaching them.
Security is a growing concern. Sporadic violence and looting have erupted as survivors grow more desperate. Experts warn of growing dangers such as deaths from untreated wounds and disease outbreak.
Enter U.S. troops, to the rescue in Haiti's crumbled capital of Port-au-Prince. Let's go there live now to CNN's Karl Penhaul, near the presidential palace.
And Karl, what can you tell us about this mission?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're at the General Hospital right now, Tony, and that's the biggest government-run medical facility in the country. U.S. troops, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, have arrived here, and they're providing security around the cordon, around the perimeter, of the hospital. They marched along the street from where they landed and on the lawn of the ruined presidential palace earlier this morning, and marched from thereafter, arriving in eight or nine helicopters.
Now, Haitians themselves turned out. They were curious by that arrival. Some seemed to welcome it. They say that Haiti has been shattered. It's a shattered nation after this earthquake, and they hope that the Americans will be able to get what has been so far a somewhat uncoordinated relief effort back on track.
Other Haitians we've spoken to do not seem happy with the presence of American troops here. They say that they do not need more people with guns right now. They say that they need vital aid supplies, food, water and medicines. And that is nowhere more apparent than at this General Hospital.
Talking to doctors, both Haitians and American doctors who have been volunteering here for the last week, they say that they're still swabbing down vital surgical equipment with vodka. They can get vodka, but they can't get surgical alcohol to surgically clean some of this equipment.
But today, as I say, we've seen paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne. They are further down. They're at the main gate, and that is, to be honest, generating some problems.
We know these people. We know everybody that's come to Haiti has come with the best of intentions. But we see them throwing up a security cordon by the gate, and that is slowing up the passage of some of the people who have come to see their injured relatives.
One lady came through the gates after a long wait there. She was furious. She was bringing some soup for her child who has been here since Tuesday and said the Americans simply weren't letting her through.
So, a mixed bag of feelings so far about the arrivals of American troops. They say they need more aid -- Tony.
HARRIS: But Karl, is this -- I understand the criticism, but is this, at the very least, an operation that is secure?
PENHAUL: This hospital has been secure since the quake occurred. And that, from the voice of Dr. Mark Hyman (ph), from an international aid organization, Partners in Health. He says there has not been a security problem here at the hospital.
That's not a criticism from him about the presence of U.S. troops here. He says that the U.S. troops, he hopes, are an advanced team that will then bring in logistic supplies. He says that he understands the U.S. troops, later in the day, will bring along a power plant. They will bring energy to this hospital, and that is going to be vital.
He also hopes that they will be bringing in surgical supplies, particularly the cleaning alcohol, simple things like that. And a U.S. general we spoke to, General Keen, who we spoke to this morning, he said in the coming days, personnel from the USS Comfort, a medical ship, should be arriving here at the hospital to provide relief -- Tony.
HARRIS: Karl, let me pivot to another. You mentioned General Keen, who is the senior officer on the ground there, leading the U.S. effort. There's been a discussion here developing over the last day or so over who is in charge of this massive operation.
Does General Keen have a view as to who, what organization, what agency is actually running the show in Haiti? Is it the government first, then the U.N.? The U.N. and then the U.S.? Maybe you can clear this up for us.
PENHAUL: I think that's been one of the big problems so far, Tony. No one organization is in overall charge of this.
The Haitian government relief effort, as in any other disaster that I've ever seen here in Haiti, has been almost nonexistent. Government officials are not out there providing leadership.
You then have parallel structures set up by the United Nations. They're also protected to some extent by the U.N. peacekeepers here, and what seems to happen there is that they have their own apparatus in place to try and distribute aid. It's an internal organization. Sometimes uncoordinated as well.
And then you try and bolt on assistance from independent aid groups and the U.S. military as well, and you have many different groups, all working with great intentions towards the same end. But there's not always communication between them on the communications front, and then add on top of that inevitable logjams.
The airspace, can they get enough planes in? And then on the ground, are the roads clear to get supplies through? Have they carried out field surveys? Do they know where the aid is needed most?
All these things, this is what adds to the chaos -- Tony.
HARRIS: Have you heard -- and I know I'm going long in this segment here, and you've got -- oh, boy, you've got someone being brought in.
PENHAUL: Yes. This is just what I wanted to show you, Tony. And this is what the scene has been throughout the course of the morning.
The patients, a week on from the earthquake, are still being brought here for vital medical treatment. You can see another one being wheeled there as well.
That's because this hospital has been very good at carrying out surgeries, a lot of orthopedic surgery for crush wounds and that kind of stuff. But the problem is, the lack of supplies, like I say, even basic surgical cleaning alcohol, is in short supply or nonexistent. And then once those people have been treated -- that man, for instance, once he has had surgery, you'll see him being wheeled back out here. And he will be parked in his hospital bed over there under a tent. There are no hospital wards where people can recover.
HARRIS: Yes.
PENHAUL: They're being lined up on the pathways of the hospital, in the sun, with a little bit of shade provided by a tent, and that is where they will recover. And as you can see, what the doctors are saying there, that if these people -- some of them -- don't get those nickel antibiotics and other medicines that they need, they could have well survived the quake, they could have quite well survived surgery, but they may later on succumb to infections that they're going to pick up out here -- Tony.
HARRIS: Karl, terrific. You're at a prime location, obviously, and giving us a great look at the operation in progress right now. Folks running behind you just a moment ago.
CNN's Karl Penhaul.
Karl, appreciate it. Thank you.
The U.S. military bypassing the gridlock to deliver desperately needed food and water to the people of Haiti. An Air Force C-17 dropped 40 pallets of bottled water and food just north of Port-au- Prince yesterday. The flight delivered 9,600 bottles of water and 42,000 MREs, meals ready to eat. No word yet on whether more airdrops are planned.
In a briefing this morning, the deputy commander of the U.S. military response said the situation is improving daily.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. DANIEL ALLYN, U.S. ARMY: We're employing all of our resources as fast as we can, and we continue to make progress here every day. We do not underestimate the scope of the challenge in front of us.
We are here at the request of the government of Haiti, and we are working in partnership with the United Nations and the international community. We enjoy incredible teamwork and support with and for all contributing parties and the people of Haiti.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK.
Senior Medical Elizabeth Cohen is in the middle of the earthquake zone. She has been helping out the wounded there for days, and she can tell us firsthand about some of the injuries.
Elizabeth, you're at a U.N. compound, I understand, in Port-au- Prince. And describe what you're seeing. My understanding is amputations, a lot of amputations.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There have been many amputations. There have been 30 surgeries here, and most of those have been amputations.
And Tony, what I have to tell you is, it is incredible that they are doing surgery here. This operating room is rudimentary. They just sort of invented it.
They put in a bunch of kitchen tables and put in what equipment they could. There is no technology. Nothing beeps. There is no monitors.
They have no blood, they have no oxygen. Yet, in these 30 surgeries, not a single person has died. So that really is pretty incredible.
And these surgeons and anesthesiologists and nurses are working around the clock. They are sleeping underneath those tables. It is just the most incredible thing that I've ever seen.
But here's what's going on, Tony, that some people are finding pretty frustrating, is that with all of these hard times, they are getting -- they're not getting the equipment that they need.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
COHEN: For example, if you can guess, you know what they're using for a tourniquet? They were using a belt. They're using a belt. And here's the belt. It broke, so they're not using it anymore. Now they're using a garden hose -- Tony.
HARRIS: Oh boy.
Do you have any idea of the time frame for that location where you are right now, set up by the U.N., to get more supplies for the doctors who are performing these surgeries?
COHEN: Well, you know what's interesting, Tony? It's they don't need more supplies, they need the right supplies.
So, on the one hand, they don't have tourniquets and they have two blood pressure cuffs for 200 patients. But, on the other hand, here's what they do have.
HARRIS: No, fine.
COHEN: They have corneas. Yes, these are actual corneas from cadavers that people lovingly donated. You know, signed their organ card -- and they have corneas. They're not doing cornea surgery here. They're barely able to do amputations.
Yes, so, no one knows how they ended up here. I found them underneath the table next to a box of granola bars. It's just crazy, the kinds of things that are ending up here and the kinds of things that are not ending up here. HARRIS: And the stuff that's desperately needed, to your point, that's not ending up there.
Elizabeth Cohen for us.
Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.
I've got to tell you, we have special coverage planned for you this Friday. Wyclef Jean will join George Clooney and CNN's Anderson Cooper in hosting "Hope for Haiti," the global telethon to air commercial-free Friday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Voters in Massachusetts are headed to the polls today. Their decision may impact the kind of health care you get. We're watching this election closely.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 75 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Our "Random Moment of the Day" returns with a pair of lovebirds sharing their love with Haiti.
This Minnesota couple -- show you in a second here -- is giving a quarter of their wedding budget, $2,500, to quake victims in Haiti. That's every penny they had set aside for food. The bride-to-be says the menu will be decidedly downscale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAH BOGEN, DONATING TO HAITI: We have some ideas. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were the first one that I could come up with, could put those together really fast and have them ready for everybody.
WILL NICHOLSON, DONATING TO HAITI: We'll still have the core elements. We'll have the people we care about around, we'll have us and we'll have the rest of our lives. I think that's the main thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: How good is that? The couple weds in June with a little less to eat, knowing someone in Haiti has a little more. Our "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Got to tell you, it seems unthinkable. The Democratic candidate to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy is trailing in just about every poll. If voters decide today to put a Republican in the seat, there will be fallout far beyond Massachusetts, that's for sure.
CNN White House Correspondent Dan Lothian is covering the vote for us from Medford, Massachusetts.
And Dan, how did this happen? The Democrat, Martha Coakley, was coasting in the polls. Did she start coasting?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, some people would say that she did, that she ran really a lackluster campaign, was not very aggressive, did not get out there and shake hands, took time off over Christmas when she should have been out there hitting the pavement.
In the meantime, you had Scott Brown, the state senator, who was working very hard, very aggressive, on the airwaves out there shaking hands. And the voters took notice.
He also tapped into a lot of voter anger and frustration, and really built his campaign on opposing the health care reform that President Obama is trying to get passed. And we heard some of that when we talked to voters who were showing up here earlier today.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was a nasty campaign on Coakley's part. And I also felt that that he is for change in the health system. It's not that he is against it. He wants to send it back and wants to revise it, make it better than what it is.
And I don't like neither party to have control of the Senate or the filibuster or what. That stops negotiation and it doesn't make it a bipartisan bill. This way, I think, in essence, it will force us to go back and do it in a more bipartisan way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, political observers are saying that heavy voter turnout would favor the Republican. In terms of the latest numbers that we're hearing from the secretary of state's office, they're just telling us that they expect turnout to be "pretty good." And they give us sort of a little looking back as to what happened.
In the primary, about 800,000 or so voters turned out. They're expecting double that, so 1.6 million voters expected. More than 100,000 absentee ballots have been sent out. That doesn't mean they've been sent back yet, but, certainly, that gives you the idea we're talking about big numbers here, potentially, according to the secretary of state's office, because there's so much enthusiasm in this race -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Dan Lothian for us.
Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.
Got to tell you, CNN will bring you results from the Massachusetts Senate race tonight. Polls close at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. And Campbell Brown leads our CNN coverage with the best political team on television.
If the Democrats manage to lose the Massachusetts Senate race, can they still pass health care reform?
Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash joining us live from Capitol Hill to take that one on.
All right, Dana, one alternative talked about would be that the House would go ahead and pass the version of health care already passed by the Senate.
How viable is that as an option?
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this point -- and emphasize "at this point" -- that seems to be the most viable bad option on a list of very, very bad options from the perspective of Democrats, if they do lose that critical 60th vote in the Senate. Why is that? Because they want to try to avoid having to push anything, again, through the Senate. And that would allow them to do that, essentially push the House to pass the Senate bill.
The House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, he's careful not to go there, because many of them are before there actually are results in Massachusetts tonight. But he just told reporters that the Senate bill would be better than the House bill. But that is very, very problematic, for so many reasons, Tony.
We've been talking about the major differences between Democrats in these two bills. And you also you have many House Democrats who not only look at the Senate bill and say, you know, I can't vote for things like the way that they structured the tax on high-cost plans -- that's just one of many, many things -- but there's a political dynamic that cannot be ignored here. And that dynamic is what the reaction will be if, in fact, the Democrat loses Massachusetts tonight.
On the one hand, I talked to Democrats who say it could cut in the favor of health care in that some Democrats could say, you know what? We've come this far, we want to claim victory, let's just do what it takes, pass the Senate bill, even though House Democrats don't like it, and just move on.
On the other hand, you could have some House Democrats looking at the results in Massachusetts and saying, wait a minute, the last thing in the world I want to do is take another vote on health care and vote no. So, it is very tough.
There's also an undercurrent of distrust that has been inside baseball -- we haven't talked about it this much -- between the House and the Senate. But that could bubble over and be a real factor on whether or not health care could survive using that method.
HARRIS: Amazing how difficult this is.
How about another bad option I'll tee up for you? How about the option of rushing to pass health care legislation before Brown could be seated, if he wins?
BASH: I have not talked to anybody who thinks that that is really a viable option. And the reason -- there's a couple reasons.
One is just in terms of the logistics and the practical reason, because in order to do that, House and Senate negotiators and the president would have to actually come up with a deal. And they are not there yet.
But, more importantly, if you look at the politics of what's going on in Massachusetts, distrust of Washington, distrust of Democrats, I've talked to so many people who are trying to figure out what to do. And they say that would play right into it, to try to push something through, ram health care through, just in time before they lost that seat. So, that is a big reason why that is probably not going to happen.
Another is I'm told that there are some Democrats who have made clear, if Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts, don't count on their vote if they want to -- if the Democratic leadership wants to push it through, essentially for that same reason, because it would just be emphasizing politics as usual that voters seem to be really revolting against.
HARRIS: Wow. Amazing developments here.
Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, for us on Capitol Hill.
Dana, appreciate it. Thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
HARRIS: Man. Some other top stories we're following for you right now.
Extremely tight security in Afghanistan's capital a day after a brazen assault by the Taliban. Troops are searching vehicles entering Kabul, and they have increased the number of checkpoints. A dozen people were killed in the assault in the central part of the city.
President Obama is pressing Congress to extend his race to the top education grant program for states. The price tag? $1.3 billion. The president made his pitch this morning at a school in Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to raise the bar for all our students and take bigger steps towards closing the achievement gap that denies so many students, especially black and Latino students, a fair shot at their dreams.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Another check of our top stories coming up for you in 20 minutes.
Are the best methods being used to get aid to Haitians in need? I am going to talk about the logistics of this relief operation with a retired general who is credited with getting everything where it needed to be for the Gulf War.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And very quickly now, we want to get back to our Karl Penhaul. He is in Port-au-Prince. He just spokes just moments ago with the senior officer on the ground there in Haiti, General Keen -- Karl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL: How is the mission going this morning? And what is the purpose of the mission?
LT. GEN. P.K. KEEN, COMMANDER, JOINT TASK FORCE, HAITI: Well, the purpose of my mission here this morning was to come to the hospital and see Dr. Hyman (ph) and the operation he had going here to get a personal observation of the challenges he's facing. We're assisting with security at the hospital, but we also have the USS hospital ship Comfort that will be arriving on Thursday.
So, we're working with the minister of health and the United Nations as we move patients from various hospitals and take pressure off of them. But, clearly, this hospital, among others, has significant challenges, so we're trying to do our best to provide assistance.
PENHAUL: Now, obviously you're providing security for the humanitarian mission, but you might be aware that in Latin America and also in Europe is saying maybe the U.S. is putting too much emphasis on the military side and not on the civilian humanitarian side.
What do you think about that?
KEEN: Well, what I know about that is that we are -- our primary purpose is providing humanitarian assistance in getting to the population, whether it be the distribution of water, food, or, in this case, where they've got medical treatment going on and they're overwhelmed. We're providing some security here because -- and coordination, working alongside the MINUSTAH forces. And we've been doing that every day. I've met with their commander every day and we're coordinating that aspect of it.
So, it is fundamental to our humanitarian assistance mission to have a safe and secure environment. So, security goes hand in hand with our mission.
So -- but we're doing that because MINUSTAH's mission is to provide security and stability throughout the country, and they have been doing that, as you know, for a number of years. And they continue to do that. The more we do our mission with humanitarian assistance, the more it enables MINUSTAH to focus on security and stability. But they go hand in hand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Terrific stuff there. The senior U.S. commander on the ground in Haiti, General Keen, getting aid to Haiti. A logistical nightmare so far.
Could the military do an even better job than government agencies in getting aid there faster?
With me from Pittsburgh, retired Lieutenant General Gus Pagonis, who is now chairing -- he's the vice chairman of GENCO. He is widely recognized for masterminding the logistics for the first Gulf War.
Thanks for being with us. We appreciate your time.
The first question to you, are the best methods being used, in your view, to get aid to Haitians in need?
LT. GEN. GUS PAGONIS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Of course, the first big step was getting the military involved. They're trained, have the expertise and the capability of the forces to get things done. So, that's the right move in the right direction.
And then, of course, they have to designate a single point of contact, because everybody is going to think they're in charge. And I'm sure that's what they're working on right now.
HARRIS: All right. In your view, what agency, what entity should be in charge? Should it be the government of Haiti?
We know what the challenges are there. I don't even know where they're meeting right now. The U.N. and the U.S. in support of the U.N. effort?
What's your view of this?
PAGONIS: Personally, I think the U.S. should be put in charge. They have the expertise, have an operations center with all other parties involved in it for coordination, because it's going to take a huge, coordinated effort. And then that's what I would do. Of course, there's a lot of political ramifications that have to be considered.
HARRIS: What about the possibility of resentment and this looking like a U.S. takeover of the operation? And maybe extended beyond that, a U.S. takeover of Haiti? Maybe that would be the view of Haitians on the ground.
PAGONIS: Well, if you get the job done, you get medical supplies, food and water to the right people, I don't think anybody's going to care. The key is going to be, get it established, stabilized, then withdraw and allow the Haitians and other U.N. forces to take over.
HARRIS: Let's go back to the early days here. We're a week in now.
I've heard you suggest that one of the things that should have been done very early on was to build an unimproved airport. Describe what that is and the logistics involved in that. PAGONIS: Well, what my suggestion was, if we had gotten the military involved sooner, they could make a short-type runway where C- 130s could land and take off on unimproved runways. And in addition to that, using fast sea-lift ships to get the cargo in to the limited cargo space that they have at the port. I'm sure people thought of this, but these things just don't happen overnight, and I think they're in the process of occurring right now.
HARRIS: How long would it take to put that together?
PAGONIS: Well, to build an airfield, if you have a combat air engineer unit, within a month they would have it up and running, or even sooner. It's amazing what they can do if they can get their equipment in there and able to have the right piece of land to do it on.
HARRIS: I want to give you a little bit of a wide berth here to talk to us about the challenges and the way -- just based on your experience, you would have approached this if you were the point person.
PAGONIS: Well, first of all, all the countries in the world think they're helping you by sending all their goods that they've loaded in safe ports that were easy to load the cargo. The question is, are they loading the right stuff that you really need?
Once it arrives, it has to be offloaded, has to be warehoused, has to be inventoried so you know what's there so you can send the right stuff to the right place through the distribution system. So, setting up a single point of contact as soon as possible to coordinate all these efforts is what's needed.
We seem to do that. It just takes a little while.
In the first Gulf War, I was fortunate. I had General Powell and General Schwarzkopf, who said that was it, there's going to be a single point of contact for all the logistical effort. And then I was fortunate enough with my command to be able to do it. Anybody could have done the job, because I had the authority and responsibility tied into one.
When you have a huge tragedy like we've had in Haiti, it takes a while to sort it out, because of course the Haiti government thinks they should be in charge. It's their country. But when you come down to lives, and especially children and women, you need to get aid there and you need to get rid of all the political ramifications and have a single point of contact, and then logistically tie it all together. You will be amazed how rapidly, now that the 18th Airborne Corps is in there doing the coordination, how rapidly the logistical effort will improve.
HARRIS: Time was lost here. Would you agree that time was lost? As you describe it, it seems clear to me that time was lost.
LT. GEN. GUS PAGONIS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, of course, you know, it's easy to sit back here with no responsibilities saying time was lost. I don't know all the circumstances. I know everybody's probably doing the best they can. We have a hard time with lessons learned. In the military, we do study them. But whenever you have a foreign country or a territory that has a problem, you have the political ramifications. We had our own issues in New Orleans. It took a while to get a single point of contact even within this country. It's just something that's difficult to do. But once it's done, I think you're going to be truly amazed what's going to happen this week.
HARRIS: Retired Lieutenant General Gus Pagonis with us. Thanks for your insights. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it.
PAGONIS: You're welcome.
HARRIS: The financial giving for Haiti has been generous and creative. Our Christine Romans is following the dollars and we will talk to Christine there she is right after the break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So many of you, so many Americans, generously sending money for relief in Haiti. More than $200 million donated so far to major U.S. relief groups. Let's get you to Christine Romans in New York.
And, Christine, the largesse on display here from Americans.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: At 10 percent unemployment, it's remarkable.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: A big response to the Haiti disaster, $210 million right now and counting, Tony. A record number of text donations. The Red Cross says $22 million now through text to its campaign to encourage $10 texts at a time. Keep that in mind, it got just $200,000 to text donations for the entire 2008 hurricane season.
A couple of things you need to know about these text donations is, there's some concern that it can take a while before you're billed for it, before it goes through to the middleman and before it gets to the charity. We wanted to tell you, we've been checking up with all of the wireless carriers and finding out what they're doing about that. Verizon said last Friday it's donating 100 percent of its money to the Red Cross. They're going to forward the money. Sprint is advancing 80 percent of its money donated to five big charities.
Keep in mind, according to the Better Business Bureau, confirm the number with the charity if you get a text message from somebody because you can be sure, Tony, scams are going to start. Those text donations, in some cases, may not be immediate, but the charity knows it's coming and they're planning for it and they're already getting ready to figure out how to use your money.
Review the fine print and research the charity. You want to use a charity that spends no more than $25, Tony, to raise $100. You want a charity that has a long track record in Haiti and with natural disasters. Some charities are perfectly fine and dandy for humanitarian efforts or for education, but might not be prepared right now for disaster relief.
And, remember, this is a crisis that's going to last for months, if not years. So make sure your money is going to a place where it's really going to get maximum use because there's a big, big crisis there and we're going to be needing that money for a long time.
HARRIS: Christine, thanks for sticking around.
ROMANS: Sure.
HARRIS: We've been trying to get you into this show. Christine Romans in New York for us.
And last night Larry King was part of something big, huge, as usual. We will show you who was helping him out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. As always, if you want the latest financial news and analysis, we always direct you to cnnmoney.com and the terrific work being done there by our Money team.
Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange. Better than three hours into the trading day. Let's see where we are. In positive territory. Close to triple-digit gains right now. We are up 94 points. The Nasdaq, at last check, was up 27. Susan Lisovicz tracking these numbers for you throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You know, many of you no doubt took part in last night's fund- raiser on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." He and an impressive line-up of top stars raised more than $7 million for Haiti with your help. Our Alina Cho has details.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.
Larry said himself last night, I've had some unusual panels in the history of "LARRY KING LIVE," but this is different. Ben Stiller with Boneto Deltor (ph), J.Lo and Paula Abdul, an unlikely group for sure, but coming together to make a difference. A star-studded night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN MAYER, MUSICIAN (singing): No, it's not been known that there's never a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They described it as a nuclear bomb going off.
MICK JAGGER, MUSICIAN: This is like a huge, massive disaster for one of the poorest, poorest countries.
PAULA ABDUL, ENTERTAINER: Overwhelming despair and families not knowing who's alive.
CHO: J.Lo, Mick Jagger, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Ben Stiller, even Ringo Star. A constellation of stars, with so much to give, helping people with so little. Larry King welcomed all of them, for a telethon, and tweet-a-thon, called "Haiti, How Yan Can Help," and they raised millions in a matter of hours.
RYAN SEACREST, HOST, "AMERICAN IDOL": The need is immediate.
CHO: And what's more immediate than Twitter? Ryan Seacrest, an avid tweeter, was on hand in Larry's tweet-suite, with Jared Leto, who lived in Haiti.
JARED LETO, ACTOR & MUSICIAN: See, I saw through Twitter that people were actually building houses around the world, some of our fans, some kind of joining in and helping the cause.
CHO: Some of the first images of disaster came in through social media. Now it's being used to prevent a humanitarian aftershock.
SEAN COMBS, RECORDING ARTIST: Haiti, for me, is such an inspirational country. They were the first people to take back their freedom. The first people to say that we will not be slaves anymore.
GARCELLE BEAUVAIS-NILON, HAITIAN-AMERICAN ACTRESS: My cousins are OK. My aunt is still missing, but my cousins are OK. And I got to speak to a few Haitian callers and we got to speak in Creole. And I can't tell you how -- how moved I am that everybody cares.
CHO: Even Larry King's signature suspenders are helping.
JEFF PROBST, HOST, SURVIVOR: Herbal Gram (ph) says Larry should auction off his suspenders tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jared Leto's at $400.
CHO: And Ben Stiller, who I sat down with just a few weeks ago, says he hopes Haiti remains in everyone's heart long after the last plane leaves.
BEN STILLER, ACTOR & DIRECTOR: A month, two months, you know, six months down the line when people aren't doing specials on it, when the news cycle's moved on, the support they're going to need and I think that's what, you know, we have to all sort of work towards keeping attention.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: I spoke to Ben Stiller by phone after the show last night and he told me he does plan to go back to Haiti once the cameras are gone. By the way, Ben does have his own charity, Stiller Strong, and he has redirected his focus, all donations will now go toward emergency relief in Haiti. He also told me that his biggest asset as a celebrity is that he can draw attention to a cause. And by all accounts, Tony, it worked -- Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, boy, Alina, appreciate. Thank you. Alina Cho for us.
We have special coverage planned for this Friday. Wyclef Jean will join George Clooney and CNN's Anderson Cooper in hosting "Hope for Haiti." The global telethon will air commercial free Friday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Let's get you caught up now on our top stories.
Voters are deciding right now in Massachusetts. They are choosing a senator to replace the late Ted Kennedy. Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown are locked in a surprisingly tight race. A Republican victory would end the Democrat's Senate super majority.
President Obama is pressing Congress to extend his "race to the top" education grant program for states. The price tag, $1.3 billion. The president made his pitch this morning at a school in Virginia. The program is designed to encourage higher state standards and stronger teacher recruitment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. If you want to help with the Haiti relief effort, I want to tell you just how you can do that. Just log on to our website at cnn.com/impactyourworld. There you will find a list of agencies providing emergency relief. You will also see a find your loved ones module with the State Department's toll free number and a link to the iReport looking for loved ones photo gallery. Again, that's at cnn.com/impact.
Massachusetts voters have a lot of power over your life today. We are going to show you just how much.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, it is the one vote in the one state that could shake up the entire country. Will Massachusetts voters kill the Democrats' health care reform efforts? Kill them! All right, a little dramatic. A little over the top, but I like it. Josh Levs is here to show us how all of this might shake out -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You only got over dramatic when you said it twice.
HARRIS: Well, OK.
LEVS: I mean it could kill the Democrats' efforts. I mean that's for sure.
You know, Tony, people are talking about the politics of this, obviously, and that's where a lot of the focus is. But this is also a story of American democracy and the power of the vote and what the crux of our democracy is.
What I want to do is now talk all of you through why this is so significant. We've got a little "Schoolhouse Rock" action for you.
HARRIS: OK.
LEVS: Let's get to this first little picture. First of all, just to remind everyone why this vote is so important. It takes 60 votes in the Senate to break a filibuster. And if a Republican wins in Massachusetts, the Democrats will no longer have the 60. All of a sudden the Republicans will be able to filibuster again. This is the picture, the wonderful folks at graphics gave us. See, you've got a lawmaker saying, "blah, blah, blah," and a reminder, it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. That's what's at stake here.
Now, let's get to the numbers for Massachusetts. I want you to see how this boils down.
First of all, we have this. The breakdown inside Massachusetts is that about half the electorate there is considered independent. It's unenrolled. You've got 37 percent Democratic, 11 percent Republican. So you can see, the unenrolled section, technically just barely the majority. The independent voters in Massachusetts can make all the difference.
Let's go to the next screen. I want you to see these big numbers because this shows you how many people were actually expecting to take part. Number of enrolled voters inside Massachusetts, 4.1 million. That's the total. Number expected to turn out, according to state officials quoted in "The Boston Globe," up to 2.2 million.
So even if that many people turn out, 2.2 million to vote, you have these people affecting health care for the entire country, which means each vote here would affect more than 100 Americans. It could affect 200 Americans for each vote depending on how many voters show up. That's how it's going to play out, Tony. Each of these voters has enough power to affect 100, maybe even 200 people in America when it comes to health care and other issues all over the country because of that filibuster rule -- Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, my goodness. All right, Josh, when you put it that way, we get an idea of just how important this vote is today. But I think there's some other ways that the Democrats can make this happen if they want to, but it's awfully difficult.
LEVS: Right. (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: This is the easiest road forward to retain a seat they theoretically shouldn't be losing.
Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: Remember when the major car companies ordered many of their dealers to shut down? Well, some are fighting back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: You know, thousands of GM and Chrysler dealers are still reeling after their Michigan mother ships shut them down last summer. But some are fighting back. Here's CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): In all the fallout from the U.S. auto industry, Colleen McDonald didn't exactly make the headlines, but she, and others like her, should have.
COLLEEN MCDONALD, FORMER PRESIDENT, HOLIDAY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP: Everything that I once knew was no more.
HARLOW: Within just two days last spring, McDonald lost all three of her car dealerships on the outskirts of Detroit. Victims of GM and Chrysler bankruptcy. "We wish there was a better way, but there isn't," reads a letter to McDonald from Chrysler.
MCDONALD: I just -- I can't believe what's happened. You know, we're sitting here in my showroom that's freezing cold, as you can see, and, you know, no heat on, no one's around, no cars and, you know, we're just here left to try and pick up the pieces and see what we can do in the future.
HARLOW: More than 2,000 U.S. dealership closings were announced last year. And more than 88,000 jobs lost as a result. "The rejected dealers are left in the cold, shaking our heads, pounding our fists, and demanding justice," McDonald wrote in a letter to lawmakers. And Washington responded. President Obama signed an appeal procedure into law last month that allows owners of terminated dealerships to file for arbitration against GM and Chrysler. McDonald, who started working at her father's dealership when she was 16, is preparing to do just that to try to win back her Chrysler dealership.
MCDONALD: This is what the right thing to do is, is to fight for what he's worked so hard for and all I've ever done. That's our life. There's our livelihood. They took it away for no reason at all.
HARLOW: Despite testifying at the Chrysler bankruptcy hearing and meeting with lawmakers in Washington, McDonald couldn't save her business. All 170 of her employees lost their jobs.
MCDONALD: It's so, so sad. I mean, to this day, I just -- I miss them. I'll get teary-eyed already. It's just -- it's horrible.
HARLOW: GM calls the restructuring of its dealer network extremely painful, but necessary. Chrysler's CEO expressed his understanding when we told him about McDonald.
SERGIO MARCHIONNE, CEO, CHRYSLER GROUP: I understand her plight. She needs to understand ours and we need to find a way to resolve it for her benefit and for ours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: All right. We will see if they can come to an understanding. But, Tony, the arbitration process can cost thousands of dollars for dealers, not to mention all of the time involved on both sides. So a lot of dealers have given up, but not Colleen McDonald. Not only, Tony, last week did she file for arbitration, she also filed her paperwork to run for state senate in Michigan. She says, listen, my representatives didn't stand up for me when I needed them, so I'm going to take a run for office. We'll be following what happens with her and her dealership -- Tony.
HARRIS: Poppy, this is what we mean when we say difficult choices need to be made. This is exactly what we mean.
HARLOW: Right. Exactly.
HARRIS: People lose their jobs.
Poppy Harlow for us. Poppy, thank you.
An amazing rescue six days after the earthquake. Then the story takes another dramatic turn.
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HARRIS: So, imagine this. She spent six days trapped under the rubble of her flattened school. We're talking about a 23-year-old student rescued, but in urgent need of medical attention.
CNN's Chris Lawrence picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): We're driving to a story when a paramedic runs out in front of our truck begging for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now. Right now. Up here. Right now, up here.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So what's happened was, we were just passing by and the rescue team told us, can we please use your truck?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, take care, man.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): They just pulled a young woman out of the rubble and her blood pressure is 60/20. She's got to get to a hospital, they need to keep their truck to search for other survives. So our CNN pickup truck becomes an instant ambulance. And it's our driver behind the wheel.
A rescue team from Peru and Nicaragua had just pulled her out of a collapsed building six days after the earthquake.
LAWRENCE (on camera): It looks like she had lost consciousness there for a minute or two and she just blinked and now she's opened her eyes again. I can see the paramedic. He's got her head -- his hand firmly on her neck. He's feeling for her pulse. It looks like we're pulling up now to the U.N. hospital. Maybe we were driving for 10 minutes. You think 10 minutes? Ten-minute drive. It seemed like a lot longer.
Now, this place really isn't set up for any sort of long-term care. You can see she's being treated outside right here on the sidewalk. The doctors are telling us what they're trying to do is just stabilize her enough so that they can transport her to a better hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ah, ah, ah!
LAWRENCE (voice-over): She's a college student named Maxi Falon (ph), and her sister tells me she's been looking for her all week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (talking in foreign language).
LAWRENCE: We think it's over, but, no, they load another quake survivor in our flatbed, both need to go to a better hospital. The first one can't take them. So, we drive another 40 minutes. And it's dark by the time we get to this French hospital, where the paramedics finally get her inside.
(on camera): The doctors say she was severely dehydrated and may have a few fractures, but she's OK. He's going to live. The paramedics told us that her legs were bent back over her chest, which may have taken some pressure off and allowed her to breathe. Maxi told us that she could smell the dead people around her, but she prayed every day and never gave up hope.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
