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Earthquake Devastates Haiti

Aired January 13, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

STAN GRANT, HOST, PRISM (voice over): Daylight reveals the devastation in Haiti and the world has been told to expect a serious loss of life. International efforts are underway, but getting help to the people who need it maybe a problem.

And communication with people from Haiti is, at the best of times, difficult. But people there have still managed to send images to us via the Internet.

From CNN Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, this is PRISM and I'm Stan Grant.

These pictures you are seeing now are coming in live to us from the United Nations. Now we are going to take you and show you a few more of those pictures, as we get those pictures coming in live to us from the United Nations, of the devastation in Haiti.

Of course, the parliament has collapsed, schools have crumbled. Haiti's president says he believes thousands have died in Tuesday's devastating earthquake. And as you can see there, the rescue efforts underway sifting through the rubble to try and find any of the survivors from the devastation in this earthquake.

As we just said, there are the rescue crews digging through the rubble. Haiti's first lady reports that most of the capital, Port-Au- Prince is destroyed. The Red Cross estimates that one in three Haitians may be affected. That is about 3 million people. And more bad news, the U.N. says Haitian's main penitentiary has collapsed and the inmates have escaped.

Meanwhile, the main airport in Haiti appears to be operational. And that should let foreign at to start flowing into the country.

The U.S. is also sending an aid ship in. Now, the ornate presidential palace was among the buildings destroyed. Take a look at before and after pictures of that. While scores of other structures were also knocked down; the U.N. compound is among the buildings damaged. Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. is appealing for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND JOSEPH, HAITIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: It is a major catastrophe for Haiti. We have gone through all of this before, I'm quite sure that the Haitian people, courageous as they are, will come out of it in unity.

In the meantime, I'm asking for the international solidarity with Haiti and I'm asking those close to us, those that we have helped early on in the 1800s, to become independent, for them to come now, to our time of distress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRANT: We are just going to break away now and join our sister network, CNN USA, for more details on this earthquake in Haiti.

(BEGIN BREAKING NEWS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: .have a hand our satellite phone to him right now, Tony Harris. Here is the prime minister.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Mr. Prime Minister, you are detailing widespread devastation that begins to look in the order of the Southeast Asian tsunami. Once again, how many people do you fear may have succumbed to their injuries as a result of this earthquake?

JEAN-MAX BELLERIVE, PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI: I would like to explain it is very difficult at the time to have a fair assessment of the number of victims. What I make it, roughly, is a check of how many construction, how many buildings were collapsed. With typically the inhabitants inside, I believe we are well over 100,000.

HARRIS: Well over 100,000, did I hear you correctly?

BELLERIVE: I hope that is not true, because I hope the people had the time to get out. Because we have so much people on the streets right now, we don't know exactly where they were living. But when we saw, so many, so many buildings, so many neighborhoods totally destroyed. And some neighborhoods we don't even see people, so I don't know where those people are. So, I'm hoping that (INADUBLE)

HARRIS: Mr. Prime Minister, I just have to ask you, that is such a large number.

BELLERIVE: Yes.

HARRIS: To what extent, because I know that -- to what extent have you been able to travel, yourself, through the streets of your city to help you come to that kind of an assessment as to the possible death toll? How much of this is your own assessment, based on your knowledge of the city, and how much of this is based on reporting you're receiving from others?

BELLERIVE: As of 5:00 p.m. last night I was trying to go to everyplace they told me there was a large number of people, of victims. So in some places, you know we have really a lot of slums in Haiti. And they are really dense slums. So where you can find sometimes seven to eight people in the same house, in houses. And when I went there, I didn't see any houses. They were all destroyed. We don't see people leaving those places, so I just come from the different places that I visit myself, or other ministers, people that are willing to have the government to make status during the night. I hope that it's -- it will not be the case, but I (INAUDIBLE) believe that we are in that range.

HARRIS: How concerned are you with your ability now to maintain order and control in your city?

BELLERIVE: The good news is that until now, the city's pretty calm, for what is happening in Haiti. The population is taking it very -- with maturity. People are trying to take care of themselves in some quiet places. People are trying to help each other on the streets. And so (AUDIO GAP) the time to reorganize.

What happened in Haiti right now, the same people that are supposed to help the victim are also victims, policemen, doctors, they lose their homes, and lose their cars, they lose some family, so it's very difficult to organize the help with (AUDIO GAP).

HARRIS: I believe we may have just --

BELLERIVE: I am just starting to get into that.

HARRIS: OK. And, Mr. Prime Minister, one more question, can you clarify the situation at the airport? Are aid flights able to get in? Because, obviously, as you know, better than I do, sitting here in Atlanta, that time is of the essence. And you've got to get those aid flights on the ground there in Port-au-Prince.

BELLERIVE: Yeah. (AUDIO GAP)

HARRIS: Mr. Prime Minister?

BELLERIVE: Yes, yes. I am hearing you now.

HARRIS: OK. Just one question about the airport situation right now. Is the airport there in Port-au-Prince functioning? Because, as you know, you've got to get the aid flights on the ground there.

BELLERIVE: Uh-huh. Excuse me. I didn't hear you very -- so well.

HARRIS: All right. One more time, Mr. Prime Minister.

BELLERIVE: Yes.

HARRIS: Can you clear up the situation surrounding the airport? Is the airport open and functioning? Are you able to get flights on the ground with the aid that you're city and country really needs right now?

BELLERIVE: Right now, the airport as we have planes landing. I know that there is some are some problems (AUDIO GAP)

HARRIS: OK, I just think we've lost the connection.

I hope that was helpful. As you could hear yourself, the phone call was breaking up, in and out. As you would certainly understand, given the situation on the ground in Haiti. Now we've been speaking with Jean-Max Bellerive, the prime minister of Haiti.

CNN's Anderson Cooper is also on the ground there in Haiti, and I got his account of the situation just last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're just about to leave the airport. I've seen a number of U.N. vehicles, one armored personnel carrier driving by as well as a U.N. bulldozer. So, we're seeing some bulldozers, but not government -- Haitian government property. We're seeing some U.N. vehicles, also some private bulldozers from a construction company, Suralla (ph) Construction, which the owner of the company has put to try to aid people where they can.

But, again, the situation is really very fluid. Some streets you walk on seems almost normal. People are kind of just walking around, not in any particular direction, not really with any particular place to go. Just obviously businesses are not open. The airport is not open. The scene is just very strange. It's actually pretty quiet at the airport.

A number of huge Dominican military helicopters landed a short time ago, so there's a small Dominican military presence here, but it's just two helicopters, some more journalists, some aid workers have come in. But it's not a large scale by any means. We haven't seen any large C130s. The kind that will be needed to bring in large supplies. We've seeing one or two, three or four, Red Cross workers, the kind of people who are the first ones to come in, to try to assess what the needs are before some of this heavier equipment comes in.

But the situation is tense. It's very strange. We're now basically just to organize vehicles, which is a difficult thing to get, and we're going to go start reporting, seeing what we can see, and we'll get back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: That is CNN's Anderson Cooper leading our team coverage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The global resources of CNN absolutely trained now on Port-au-Prince, the devastation there just unimaginable. Many buildings have collapsed including the presidential palace, which was one of the sturdier structures in the country.

GRANT: On our sister network, CNN USA, we'll break away from them right now.

As you just heard in an interview with Jean Max-Bellerive, the Haitian prime minister, he is fearing that over 100,000 people - well over 100,000 people, he said - may have been killed in this earthquake, because of the devastation that he's been able to see.

He also said that the airport is open as you heard from Anderson Cooper, there, reporting on the ground, planes are landing, but as yet no big scale rescue planes or aid planes have been able to touch down. But, of course, all of that is a very fluid situation.

We want to show you exactly where all this is happening. The epicenter was about 58 kilometers southwest of the Haitian capital, Port- au-Prince. Some 2 million people right in and around the city proper, but many also live in the outlying areas. The United Nations is scrambling to find a number of members of its peacekeeping mission in Haiti, missing since the earthquake. The headquarters of the United Nations stabilization mission in Haiti was seriously damaged. The U.N. confirms at least four staff members are dead. Although countries contributing to the peacekeeping mission say many more may have perished.

There are some 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti. They were sent to Haiti in 2004 to stabilize the country after the ouster of President Jean- Bertrand Aristide.

Now, countries around the world are pledging to help with disaster relief in Haiti. Teams from across the U.S. and France are responding. International organizations are also dispatching help. We will look at the efforts being made, we will begin with those of the United Nations. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says the quake has had a devastating effect on Port-au-Prince. Our Richard Roth is at the United Nations in New York with more.

And for the U.N., not just trying to get a handle on the devastation and the potential catastrophe - or the catastrophe they are in fact dealing with, but also the potential loss of lives of their own people, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Stan, pretty chilling words just uttered seconds ago by the U.N.'s humanitarian chief. Again, saying that the top U.N. official in Haiti, along with his deputy, are under the rubble of what was the U.N. headquarters building.

We obviously just saw and we have shown, and we will continue to see the pictures there, of U.N. peacekeepers scrambling above the rubble. And also chilling to hear the words, I think, you'll hear, maybe under me, you'll hear, "We need more people down here." As they try to take the rubble off and search for people.

There are at least 100 people unaccounted for in a building the U.N. has told me normally has 200 to 250 people in it, at some points. Various national media and other countries are reporting some of the death tolls you have said. We know there are confirmed Brazilian dead, Jordanian, maybe Chinese, too.

The top U.N. official Heddi Anabee (ph) was meeting, according to the U.N., with a Chinese visiting delegation. There are Chinese troops among the 9,000 to 10,000 U.N. peacekeeper and police contingent on the island.

Heddi Anabee (ph) is an experience U.N. peacekeeping officials and diplomat. Has served in hot spots around the world and has had to administer, even back at U.N. headquarters, the 85,000 U.N. peacekeepers around the world. A very nice, very mild-mannered man, reminiscent of many of the U.N. officials who are doing tough work in some of these countries that don't get publicity until something disastrous strikes.

As for U.N. aid, Stan, well they say the airport is functional. They believe, according to the U.N. humanitarian chief, John Holmes, who has just said that he is very pleased with the urgent humanitarian response on an international basis. They are going to need clean water, he says. They are going to need urgent supplies. It is business as usual on that front for the U.N., but certainly not when it comes to signing their own blue helmets and others buried under mounds of rubble, Stan.

GRANT: Richard, thank you very much for that. Richard Roth, joining us there from the U.N.

As Richard said, dealing with the situation, trying to get a handle on what is needed, to try to bring some relief to Haiti. And of course, dealing with the loss of their own staff members in this earthquake.

Well, U.S. President Barack Obama reacted quickly promising Haiti that it has a, quote, "friend and partner" in the United States as it struggles to recover from the earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States. In the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble. And to deliver the humanitarian relief, the food, water, and medicine that Haitians will need in the coming days.

In that effort, our government, especially USAID, and the Departments of State and Defense, are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region and around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRANT: As you heard earlier there was that briefing from the State Department, talking about what the U.S. can offer to try to bring some relief to Haiti, including the possibility of sending troops in at some time in the future. Well, CNN World Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty is live from the State Department in Washington with details now, on how these plans are being put into action, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Stan, a couple of highlights here. One is, you know, there has been this question about whether the airport is functional, how it is performing, etc cetera. And General Doug Frazier, who is the head of SouthCom, which is Southern Command, says that the air-there is still concerns about the airport.

The State Department had been saying that it is pretty functional, and that is correct. However, he says there is only one runway working and the tower is limited. It appears that that is not really defined that well. But it is functional, but can they get everything in as quickly as they want to? I think it looks like there are a few questions.

What they would get in, and the most important thing was outlined by Rajiv Shah, who is the new head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. And they are, really, one of the key organizations that is coordinating every thing that is happening. He said that the primary thing is to save lives. And DART teams are the first to go in. They evaluate what is needed and then these search and rescue groups go in. And their mission is to get to people who need help, as quickly as possible. And they are the people with, you know, dogs, equipment, personnel who really know what they are doing.

And then, finally, there is a focus, of course, here at the State Department on American citizens; a very large number of them, 45,000 of them. But so far, it would appear that there are no confirmed reports of anyone being killed in this disaster, among the Americans, however, there have been some injured and the Coast Guard already has evacuated for critically injured staff from the U.S. embassy.

But one last thing, Stan, the embassy, the U.S. embassy is one of the structures that actually pretty much survived this. So that has become kind of a central clearing house for a lot of the assistance that will be going in.

GRANT: Jill, thank you. Jill Dougherty, bringing us up to date on the U.S. offers of assistance, coming there from the State Department in the U.S.

Now, France is sending disaster relief personnel to Haiti now. The country's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner says Haiti's need for aid and security is urgent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD KOUCHNER, FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANCE (through translator): This is a catastrophe, a terrible catastrophe, very serious for Haiti, which did not need this. And we also need to think about security because in all these catastrophes which take place in situations of terrible poverty even the daily seeking for food is very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRANT: Well, governments around the world are heeding the urgent calls for help and are pledging aid. France, again, said it is dispatching two planeloads of rescue workers. On board, 120 rapid response rescuers, specialized in locating people trapped under the rubble.

Spain is sending three airplanes to Haiti with at least 100 tons of tents, blankets, and cooking kits. German has offered 1 million euros in direct aid and is sending (AUDIO GAP). Pope Benedict XVI has ordered the global Catholic relief network activated. China is pledging $1 million in relief for Haiti and is dispatching survey teams to help in the assessment process.

Israel, too, is pitching in to help. An elite army rescue unit, including engineers and medics will be sent to assist in Haiti. Iceland, Canada, Mexico and Venezuela join the growing list of nations pledging money and support teams to the stricken island nation.

Now we know that you may want to help the victims at CNN.com/impact we have a special page on the devastation in Haiti, complete with links to aide agencies that are organizing help for the region. It is a chance for you to impact your world. Again, CNN.com/impact.

Well, friends and relatives cut off from loved ones in Haiti in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake there will bring you pictures from people who are there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRANT: Welcome back.

Well, some of the most powerful images from the quake zone are surfacing on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Our Rosemary Church is tracking them from our Haiti Desk in the CNN newsroom.

Rosemary.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Stan. Yes, we are certainly doing that and we're seeing a lot of stuff today. I want to take you to Twitter first. And you see here that the trending top topics here, helping Haiti, Port-au-Prince, and Yellow (ph). All of those dedicated to what has happened here. The aftermath of the earthquake there in Haiti. And anyone who wants to help is getting involved there, donations, etc cetera.

Now, here, have a look at this. I did show you this a little earlier. It is Facebook on, on Facebook, and Earthquake Haiti, 22,000 members here now. And what we are seeing are various posting here.

This one, from Bianca, "If anyone knows anything about my dad, Ricardo, and my grandma, please, please let me know."

She is -you know the same thing, any information on this person. Just a whole list of people trying to get an idea on where their loved ones are. They are also posting lots of photographs, as well.

Now, a fellow that we Skyped with yesterday. We invited him to Skype yesterday here. Carell Pedray (ph), now he is also doing that. He is posting people's urgent messages. Saying anyone, anyone that knows anything about their family members, please get in touch with them. They are desperate to do this.

And they are posting photos here. Now, you get an idea on all the devastation, too, the extent of this. You know what we are learning, of course, none of this concrete is reinforced. And that is why it has just tumbled in the 7.0 magnitude quake. So, those pictures give you an idea on what is going on in the streets. People being taken to some sort of care, any care they can find.

And then, of course, we have our iReporters. Now, this -I did show you this a little earlier, but I just want to show you this from Fabio Serena (ph), who was in touch with her parents. And this gives you an idea of their home. This is their family home.

And she says she has been in touch with her family, there in Debussy, Haiti. Both areas, severely damaged. She has been in touch with her parents, as I said, through Gmail video chat. But they have been telling her, "quickly running out of supplies". There you go, gives you an idea there of what's going on.

Then we have this other iReporter, these other photos coming in. This from Jonathan Luzema (ph). He took these photos in the morning, the severely damaged buildings, of course, as you see. He told us the situation. He painted a picture with words.

He said it was a typical day in Haiti, all of a sudden, we were in total chaos, and because of the multiple aftershocks, he says, people felt safest spending the evening outdoors. So , his photos, too, very graphic. Giving you an idea, of these great slabs of concrete, just coming tumbling down on the top of people.

And then, of course, we have our interactive site, CNN.com. I want you to check that out. It gives you an idea, we are pulling together all the information so that you have it there at your fingertips. And if there is something you want to do. Look at this, CNN.com/impact. Impact your world. Please go there. If you feel compelled to help the people, there, of Haiti, there is a list of international organizations and aid groups that you can help out. Just click on them and they are directly linked to those organizations.

So, Stan, there is a lot happening. We are pulling together all of this information on these social media networks. And people are sending stuff in despite the fact that they are some problems, communications problems. People are managing to get some of these pictures and video, too, in some instance, out of Haiti. Back to you.

GRANT: Rosemary, thank you very much for that remarkable images and of course, stories that are being shared on social networking sites. As Rosemary said, the place that you can go to, if you want to make a difference at CNN.com/impact your world, at our CNN web site.

END