Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Eleven Days After Quake 24-Year-Old Man Pulled From Beneath Rubble, Very Much Alive

Aired January 23, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Rescue efforts in Haiti are gradually turning into recovery efforts. Here's what we know right now, even though some survivors are still being found, time is not on the side of rescue workers. Eleven days after the earthquake and U.N. officials say they are changing their emphasis to cleaning up destruction.

The Haitian government said more than 111,000 people died in last week's earthquake and international rescue teamed rescued about 130 people. More than 600,000 people are homeless.

And in this hour, a very special in depth look at the Haiti earthquake and its aftermath as seen by our CNN i-reporters on the scene. We'll bring you stories and pictures that you simply will not see anywhere else.

And even though time to find survivors is running out, some dramatic rescues are still being reported. This is video of a man in his 20s being pulled alive from the wreckage yesterday. A 69-year-old woman was also found alive yesterday. And today international rescue workers say they have found another survivor, a 24-year-old man who was believed to be in the rubble of a hotel right now. They continue to try to get to him. His brothers have recognized the voice and say it is their young brother who is in the rubble. We'll give you an update as we learn more.

Meantime, more than 1,000 mourners turned out for the funeral of the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince today. Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot was found buried beneath the rubble of a church. Ivan Watson joins us live now from Port-au-Prince with more on this. Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, I'm coming to you from the Champs Mars Park where there's a pretty jubilant Christian prayer concert under way and it's a welcome change from all the suffering and pain we have seen over the last week and a half here. The scene this morning, not far from here at the remains of the ruins at the National Cathedral here was very, very different.

It was a somber ceremony for the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, and for the vicar general as well. And you had a number of well-wishers there, several hundred people gathered. A quiet ceremony. And the monsignor being described as the monsignor of the poor. And later we followed the cortege and there was a quiet burial with only a couple of dozen people present as the two clerics were laid to rest side by side in a field on the edge of town.

Now the archbishop from New York, Timothy Dolan, he described this as, "a symbolic day of mourning for the entire community, and he's speaking for a lot of Haitians. At least 80 percent of this country consists of Roman Catholics. So this was a big blow, the loss of the archbishop of Port-au-Prince. And in addition quite striking to see this ceremony, this mass taking place in the shadow of really what was a magnificent structure, the National Cathedral, which now there's just one wall really remaining and some spectacular stained-glass windows and the sun actually shined through onto the mass that was taking place today. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible stuff. All right. Thanks so much, Ivan Watson.

Not far from where Ivan is in central Port-au-Prince at the Hotel Napoli, take a look now, I believe we have some live images of a search that's under way of what's believed to be a survivor, 24-year- old man who is believed to be in the rubble here and apparently more than 100 rescuers have descended upon the scene, trying their best to try to reach him.

Apparently his brothers reported that he was in there. There was some tapping that was heard, according to our reporter at CNN, international correspondent actually who you see right there in front of that shot. Hala Gorani, she was reporting to us earlier that there was some tapping and then some confirmation of that tapping, that of what they believe this 24-year-old man trapped in the rubble.

We're talking 11 days now after that earthquake. Hopefully we'll get a chance to talk to Hala when we re-establish some contact with her. It's a good thing we got the live signal to see the images of the rubble behind Hala. As it appears right now she's getting ready possibly to give us a live shot. The latest information on that search.

All right. People all over the world are reaching out to the victims of Haiti's earthquake and some have little or nothing themselves. Images like this have touched a nerve with some of the homeless thousands of miles away in Philadelphia. And they've been going door to door in Philadelphia, business to business, collecting clothes, blankets and other supplies for the people in Haiti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHIMOYAMA, HOMELESS IN PHILADELPHIA: Those people don't even have water. They don't have food. They don't have roofs or shelter over their head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they have less than you do?

SHIMOYAMA: Exactly.

CATHERINE CANADY, HOMELESS COUNSELOR: I've seen them do a lot of things but this is maybe one the most overwhelming things I have seen them do. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Catherine Canady tells CNN that people are dropping off even more donations this weekend and the Ridge Avenue Shelter is still trying to, of course, trying to find a way to get all of this donated material into Haiti.

All right. Congress has passed legislation allowing taxpayers to take 2009 tax deductions for contributions to Haitian relief made in 2010. 25 television networks actually carried a Hope for Haiti telethon last night.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: Alicia Keys was one of the celebrities and political figures participating in the telethon. No word yet on how much money was actually raised.

Our reports from Haiti, they have you wondering how you can help. We're making it easy for you. Just logon to cnn.com/impact and follow the prompts.

All right. Vice President Joe Biden makes an announcement in Iraq. We'll look at how it just might be affecting the Blackwater probe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk some movies, shall we? Harrison Ford is back in movie theaters this weekend taking on the role of a medical researcher. If you think that's odd, pro-wrestler turned actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is playing "The Tooth Fairy."

Ben Mankiewicz, host of "Turner Classic Movies" is playing himself in Los Angeles. Good to see you. Let's talk movies this weekend. And let's talk about the first one, "Extraordinary Measures." Before we talk, let's look and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We push ourselves. We work around the clock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I already work around the clock!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your clear diseases in theory but never helped a single human being in reality.

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't cure your kid, you know that. I think I can save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Harrison Ford, he can read a phone book and I'm always a fan. What did you think? BEN MANKIEWICZ, HOST, "TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES": Well, you know it's interesting, a lot of my friends had the same reaction when watching the trailers for this movie, Fredricka. It looked like a made-for-TV movie. Interestingly enough it turns out it's from CBS Films and it feels like a made-for-TV movie -

WHITFIELD: Are you dissing it?

MANKIEWICZ: I'm half dissing it. You never let me -. Let me - sort of dissing.

WHITFIELD: I'm reading your tone.

MANKIEWICZ: Well, you're correct in reading my tone. It is a bunch of sort of one-note performances. That's really what the script called for from Brendan Fraser and from Harrison Ford. Keri Russell is also in it. He plays a father, Brandon Fraser. He is a biotech executive. He has got two kids with this terrible disease that sort of attacks the muscles. He wants Harrison Ford to come up with a cure to save a bunch of children and also to help his kids. It's sort of their struggle throughout.

It does feel like a made-for-TV movie. It's very cliche, very one note. In the end though it's sort of hopeful and Harrison Ford is unquestionably likable. I'm giving it a C. It's OK. There's not much else out there but it is exactly what you expect it to be.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, it's made for TV or - yes, sort of made for TV like than perhaps you will give it an "A" if it comes out on DVD. Because you know sometimes -

MANKIEWICZ: Fredricka, you and I were made for TV. I'm not knocking that.

WHITFIELD: That's all right. Here we are. OK. Let's talk about "Tooth Fairy" now. "The Rock" is in it. You know, he seems to like some of these kind of funny, cute movies that kids like.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, these family comedies.

WHITFIELD: He's really thinking about - yes, he's thinking about his family as he's going out on a limb on some of these. But maybe we should watch and listen.

MANKIEWICZ: Let's watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jonathan, the incisor, what a hit and the tooth fairy had struck again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Is it cute, something to smile about?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, I know you have a - WHITFIELD: You don't like it. I know.

MANKIEWICZ: Hang on. Wait a minute. I took my five-year-old godson, Owen Sure, the cutest child in America -

WHITFIELD: Of course.

MANKIEWICZ: I took him to see this movie, and I think he was a little bit bored. He's five. And I think eight-year-olds will find this a little stupid. So it's a pretty small audience here for this movie. It's not terribly funny. Although it does pit "The Rock" on screen with Julie Andrews.

WHITFIELD: I know.

MANKIEWICZ: That was an inevitable pairing. I mean, it was only a matter of time. You know, it's OK. You know, it's not OK. It's a very silly script. It doesn't give "The Rock" an opportunity to be charming and he is capable of being charming. There is really not much bite to it. I don't even think kids will love it. I think it's dull. It's plotting - it's one joke. It's "The Rock" in that fairy outfit as the tooth fairy learning that you shouldn't kill people's dreams.

I gave it a D-minus. I considered an "F." It's not great. It's not great. I'm sorry. I like "The Rock." I like Duane Johnson and I like Julie Andrews and I'm glad they're together, finally.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's see if we can get a better grade out of the next one.

MANKIEWICZ: OK.

WHITFIELD: Not really a new release, but, you know, it's still kind of new. "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans."

MANKIEWICZ: Well, yes, this is a Werner Herzog film that came out in November. And the reason I wanted to include it this weekend was because, one, there's not a lot of great stuff out there. And then secondly, you know, few people saw it. It came out at a time when all of those sort of fall blockbusters came out on into December.

And I think this movie got lost in the shuffle. This is Nicolas Cage as a cop in New Orleans. You see him there around Katrina. He's sort of a hero cop. He saves somebody around Katrina. But in the process injured his back and gets hooked on painkillers and then he sort of - and then there's sort of - he falls into worse and becomes heroin, it becomes crack cocaine.

He starts trading to use trading sex for police favors, much like the Abel Ferrara (ph) in 1982 movie, which Werner Herzog claims this is not a remake or sequel to but it is remarkably similar about a police officer's sort of descent into his own personal hell. Nicolas Cage is outstanding at this. This is movie is actually fairly funny at points (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: He's really good at the green kind of characters.

MANKIEWICZ: He's phenomenal here. You know, the awards, the Oscar nominations come out February 2nd. I doubt very seriously he will get an award. He should. He's sensational in it. This is a good, interesting, tense, dramatic, funny, as I mentioned, movie. Difficult to watch at times. And Eva Mendes is in it and who doesn't want to look at Eva Mendes. And if you think Eva Mendes is only a pretty face (INAUDIBLE) -

WHITFIELD: Aha, so now we're at the root of it. And so now you're giving it a good grade.

MANKIEWICZ: No, the root of it is Nic Cage but I do like Eva Mendes. I think this is (INAUDIBLE) and I love her on Herzog.

WHITFIELD: What was your letter grade on this one?

MANKIEWICZ: A-minus. It's really good.

WHITFIELD: That's impressive.

MANKIEWICZ: Really good. (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: What?

MANKIEWICZ: I'm just saying fine. It may not be in your main theatre but you should find "Bad Lieutenant."

WHITFIELD: We got a few seconds left for some DVD releases.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes.

WHITFIELD: One a tribute to the late king of pop. We're talking "This is It." Was it it and is it it, for you?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, I mean, it's interesting and the notion that sort of Michael Jackson in the weeks before his death was ill and infirmed and weak, this movie will change your opinion of that.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it defies all of that.

MANKIEWICZ: This guy is moving and he is performing and regardless of what you think of him personally, if you care about the contribution he made to popular music, it's probably worth seeing. It's an interesting movie. It's just a performance video but it's interesting.

WHITFIELD: I did check that out and I thought it was compelling. "The Gamer," real quick, "The Gamer"? That's a DVD -

MANKIEWICZ: Not quite as compelling.

WHITFIELD: You're not game.

MANKIEWICZ: This is a Gerard Butler and this movie is nothing more than a pitch meeting - what if we had video games where you control real people so they could really kill each other, wouldn't that be fascinating? But it doesn't progress beyond that four-second pitch meeting. It is without a degree of tension, without a degree of narrative. This is a terrible movie. This makes the "Tooth Fairy" look like an Academy Award winner.

WHITFIELD: You kill me.

MANKIEWICZ: If there is such a thing and if you could ever give an F- minus to a movie, I give it to "Gamer."

WHITFIELD: Oh, man, that is harsh.

MANKIEWICZ: Sorry.

WHITFIELD: OK. Call it as you see it.

MANKIEWICZ: "This is It" and "Bad Lieutenant" are worth seeing.

WHITFIELD: OK. I like that, two out of five. Good.

MANKIEWICZ: Two out of five, not bad.

WHITFIELD: Ben, good to see you. Enjoy L.A., stay dry while you can.

MANKIEWICZ: Thank you very much, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Much more straight ahead, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. 11 days after that earthquake in Haiti, and there are signs of life beneath the rubble of a hotel. CNN's Hala Gorani is in Port-au-Prince with the latest on this incredible search.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Yes, 11 days after this earthquake first struck, rescue workers tell us a 24-year-old man is alive under this pile of rubble behind me. It used to be the Hotel Napoli, and there have been some significant developments since we last spoke, Fredricka.

We understand a body board has been lowered into the hole where rescue workers believed this man had been trapped for so long. We also understand what he told them - so there's verbal communication that he could move his extremities and see their light. They have not been able to get to him yet but word from rescue workers who are working hard right now to try to get to this young man is that things could develop rather soon.

So apart from that, we're seeing a lot of interest, of course. 11 days as you can imagine, Fredricka, the world record for the number of days anyone has been able to stay alive trapped after an earthquake is 14 days. So this is extremely rare. And everyone here, journalists, ordinary Haitians alive, rescue workers, holding their breath.

WHITFIELD: And Hala, how had anyone noticed this sign of life in this rubble?

GORANI: Well, hat story is still murky, Fredricka. Because we understood from family members of this young man, we spoke with, two of his brothers, that for several days they have tried to get attention and help to this site but as they were telling me they were hearing tapping coming from under the rubble. And then a Greek gentleman (ph) said that he was alerted by them, called Greek rescuers.

Greek rescuers got French workers involved. Those are the men right now working behind me. And American teams converged onto the area as well just a few hours ago. The L.A. county search and rescue team as well as the Fairfax County, Virginia, urban search and rescue team. So everyone is here. Again, it's a question of hoping that even if he's pulled out alive at this point is if he will be healthy enough to make it. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, extraordinary. We will keep checking with you and we are hoping for the best results in this continued search there at the Hotel Napoli in central Port-Au-Prince. Hala Gorani, appreciate that.

All right. In the meantime, President Obama has a big item on his agenda next week. The "State of the Union" address. One key component likely to get a whole lot of attention, unemployment.

And during his town hall meeting in Ohio yesterday, the president showed empathy for the heartland's economic woes. He vowed to keep fighting to help Americans get new jobs. Washington insiders believe that he will pressure Congress for another economy recovery package to create more employment opportunities.

So that's easy to understand when you consider these discouraging numbers on jobless rates. The Labor Department says 43 states and the District of Columbia reported higher jobless rates last month, reversing signs of improvement in November. Jobless rates were unchanged in three other states and down in the remaining four.

And President Obama holds his first "State of the Union" address next Wednesday, and heading into that speech, his first year in office came to a frustrating end this week. His health care agenda hit a brick wall. His approval ratings plummeted, and unemployment is up and Washington seems more partisan than ever.

All right. We're going to go straight back to Port-au-Prince now. Because we understand some good news possibly is available right here. Let's listen in to Hala Gorani.

GORANI: Right now we saw him and rescue workers gently usher him down this mount of rubble. I'm trying to figure out how much of this we can show you. We're being asked to stay quiet right now. So I'm going to whisper. But I can see right now are people and rescue workers gathered around this young man. We have, of course, other cameras there filming the scene from the other side so we get a sense of what condition this young man is in.

But everyone here has been holding their breath, hoping against hope, frankly, after 11 days that this young man will be able to survive without water. The good news, according to rescuers, is he was able to move his extremities the whole time. In other words, it appears as though he has not suffered crush injuries.

Right now, of course, we're seeing people converging towards him. I'm going to try to see how much of this we can show you. There's an ambulance parked there. The French rescue officials who were leading this operation told me that there is a medical team on hand. Doctors, nurses as well. People are standing on top of vehicles to get a view of what's happening right now.

But for the last few hours, I understand from Gab Ramirez (ph), one of our producers, that he is moving -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's moving his arms.

GORANI: He's moving his arms. And the stretcher is now in the ambulance. Richard - Richard, I will let you take in the atmosphere here because everybody gathering here, there is just spontaneous applause. This young man hasn't had a drop of water, is moving his arm and legs on his own, which is absolutely miraculous.

If you ask any of the rescue officials who are gathered here, I asked some of the L.A. County search and rescue team members, and they said, you know, after four or five days we're really not holding out much hope. And after 11 days, this young man, a 24-year-old man, has been pulled out.

We understand he was a cashier in this Hotel Napoli. And the building collapsed spontaneously on him. And thankfully, it seems as though he was caught in some sort of pocket, which allowed him to move around and most probably saved his life, Richard.

We're going to - we're still on. You can imagine there's a lot going on, a lot of commotion, a little bit of chaos even as people are trying to assemble their crews and their teams to cover this as best we can. We're trying to get in touch with the rescue official and the ambulance carrying this young man has just pulled away.

I was speaking to his brother earlier. He said he called the victim's mother and father who live out in the suburbs outside of Port-au- Prince. You can just imagine parents hoping that their son will be found alive but losing hope perhaps a little bit every day. And today getting the call that their son has made it.

We're going to continue to follow this, of course, this situation is still precarious. He has been without a drop of water for 11 days. He will need a lot of medical attention. He's going to need a lot of rehydration right now, Richard.

WHITFIELD: What an extraordinary story of survival. CNN's Hala Gorani explaining right there, right outside the rubble of the Hotel Napoli in central Port-au-Prince where a 24-year-old individual was pulled to safety. And she was just describing it. It appears that he has no injuries to his extremities but he has been without water for 11 days. Let's see if we can listen in a little bit more of what she's learned.

GORANI: ... under the rubble telling us he can move his arms. He can move his legs. You can tell on their faces how hopeful they were having worked in so many disaster zones. One man told me, if this man comes out alive, this will be an absolute miracle. Not anything has come close to this.

Apart from the rescue officials, you see ordinary Haitians who have gone through the last 11, 12 days now, and any bit of positive news is something everyone needs. As I'm talking to you all, this positive news story has just emerged from the rubble of a collapsed billing where all around me are rubble where people lost their livelihoods, their lives and met so many family members who suffered and so many people have been left homeless. The scope of this tragedy is still immeasurable.

WHITFIELD: An incredible, happy story, to be able to report here. Hala was just describing this young man, this 24-year-old man, was pulled from the rubble alive. He's already made a phone call. Someone's helped him make a phone call already to his mother and father to let him know that he's OK. Hala was describing earlier that two brothers were in the area, heard the tapping and were able to summon the rescue teams and others to pay attention to the fact that they heard some tapping and it might be their brother.

Let's listen in right now to one of the rescuers that's part of this mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, we're about to pull him out of the debris. We can say he's in very good condition - I should say pretty good condition. According to where he has been for 11 days. He didn't say a lot when he got out. So we got more information is not good. But he didn't say a lot. He didn't say how many people can be about how many people that could be around him but we're sending another team who is going to scan (INAUDIBLE) to check for anybody else and another team to try to find people. That man right now is going to the French field hospital, which is located in the French College in (INAUDIBLE).

GORANI: So he must be severely dehydrated. You're saying given the circumstances, he's actually doing pretty well?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going pretty well. He didn't look so bad. We kind of assume he's got water. He's got access to water, (INAUDIBLE) taking a breath. That's all we can expect as he gets access to water or something like that.

GORANI: And importantly one of your colleagues told me earlier that he didn't have crush injuries. In other words, perhaps he was in a pocket of air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he was in a pocket of air. And he was pretty safe. So as far as injuries, nothing very serious.

GORANI: What did he tell you? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told us in the beginning his name, his age, information about his home. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) It could be around here. But he says that the other (INAUDIBLE) has not moved for a couple of days, so ...

GORANI: A couple of days, so for a while he was hearing people. How did you get the call to come here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody from his family has gotten contact with him. And he called the Greeks, or he met one of the Greek teams. Because the Greeks were not able to come. They call the United Nations, at the airport, and they the information. And then the U.N. team there called the French and the Americans to come here, and both arrived on the spot, and because the French were first, just chance timing. So we start working and the Americans were close supporting, beside us, and after a while decided try to (INAUDIBLE)

GORANI: I know you have a lot of work to do but I just have one last question. You work on so many disasters and rescue people. You're used to this kind of thing. How does this compare to what you have experienced in the past?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we try to compare, I would say just to let you know, this is complicated for me. This is very disaster, what happened here. But happened in this spot here is a miracle. Seven days, that we could rescue somebody somewhere, we're good. So we hope we get somebody else in the next days.

GORANI: Congratulations to your team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

GORANI: Thank you, and best of luck with the others.

There you heard it from a Lieutenant Colonel Honue (ph) who knew from the French rescue team there describing -- with some emotion I think towards the end -- what he experienced when he was able to pull this young 24-year-old man out of the rubble. Saying that nothing he's experienced in the past truly compared to what happened here today, Richard.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Wow. What an incredible story there. CNN's Hala Gorani there, talking with one of the French rescue team members. They were able to locate and pull to safety a 24-year-old man caught under the rubble of Hotel Napoli, in central Port-au-Prince for 11 days. And according to the rescue worker there, he's in pretty good condition and he may have actually had access to water in a little pocket of the debris, where he has been for so many days. Now he's on his way to a French hospital. It's wonderful to believe able to report that great news now 11 days after that disaster in Haiti.

Meantime when we come back, eye witness to disaster. I-Reporters in Haiti tell us and show us their amazing stories of heartbreak and survival from the moment of the earthquake to the search for survivors. You don't want to miss it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Just moments ago a 24-year-old man was pulled from the rubble of hotel in Port-au-Prince, alive. And he's believed to be in pretty good condition; a pretty extraordinary story to be able to tell 11 days after this earthquake.

Meantime, some pretty powerful images continue to pour in to CNN from Ii-reporters after that earthquake in Haiti. And bringing you many of the heart-wrenching stories and picture pictures survivors want the world to see. Here are their reports of the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEO MONTAGE)

JULIANO PUZO, CNN iREPORTER: Seconds after everything went off and everybody came outside and there was just wailing. There was just people crying, and carrying their children, and carrying their grandparents and all of the injured. And they crying and screaming didn't stop for hours and hours.

RICK HURSH, CNN iREPORTER: Oh, my God!

CAREL PEDRE, iREPORTER: Every two steps I saw like a house collapsed. Every two steps I saw people bleeding. Every two steps I saw young children, which a big hole in their head. I saw there was a little traffic. Everybody was off the streets and I see the some place I used to go collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Everything was shaking and I feel like I am shaking, and I tried to walk out. That's when a brick fell on me and I started crying, I'm awake. I'm awake.

SHERLY CHARLES, CNN iREPORTER: I'm looking for my family members, my aunt, my mom's two younger sisters, and also their children, who are located in the Cafur (ph), Monen Port (ph), and Francis, which are different regions. My mom is crying all day. And I'm just trying to keep her calm.

Haitian people are strong people. Even though people talk about how we're the poorest country on Earth and our literacy rate is low, but we are strong people and we will make it through this.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN CENTER: Everything you just saw and heard was sent to us by citizen journalists. They played a pivotal role in the aftermath of Haiti's devastating quake. So we bring you this iReport special. I'm Errol Barnett at CNN World Headquarters. We know social media played a major role, as well did technology. Survivors uploaded images to iReport, sent texts from within the rubble, and connected with us via webcam. Even here at our International Desk, really the nerve center of CNN's global operations, we used social media to reach out, because a lot of the communication lines were down. I'm going to take you back now to those moments when this story first broke.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CENTER: I want you to hang on, if you can. I want to come to you on air in just a minute. Is that OK? Do you have time to wait? I have a guy in Haiti on Skype and we're going to try to interview him on air, which will be interesting. I haven't done that before.

TYSON WHEATLEY, iREPORT PRODUCER: I'm Tyson Wheatley. I'm from the CNN iReport Desk.

Wow, OK. Are you all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm all right.

HOLMES: It won't be long at all. Just a couple of minutes, if he wants, to tell me what are you seeing?

WHEATLEY: We have been monitoring iReports all night. Whenever we get an iReport, we make every effort to reach out to the submitter and try to get as much information as you can. Communication has been really tough tonight. These are images that come to us from Phyllis Bass. She's been working at a medical clinic and these are actually some pretty graphic images that she's sharing to us from the situation there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And since then Haitians and visitors to the country have continued to upload chilling eyewitness accounts and sobering updates from the ground. Juliano Puzo is one of them. He uploaded this video and a number of others. So, I reached out to him via webcam and he detailed the days he will never forget.

JULIANO PUZO, QUAKE SURVIVOR: It was a very horrifying scene. What actually happened, happened when I was out of walls inside my house out in front of the gate. And I remember, I remember seeing all of the birds -- all of the birds in the sky, they were flying into one direction to the left where I was standing. And then I looked to the right, and the earth started shaking and shaking and my mom was inside. So I held on because I lost my balance and fell down and I ran inside the house and my mom was already outside and she was screaming get out of the house. So the house doesn't collapse on me. When I walked outside, it had stopped. And I was already outside so I could see in the street. Now I remember now perfectly all of the houses started collapsing in front of me. I saw it with my two eyes.

BARNETT: In your video people seem dazed. People are trying to drive and get around the rubble. What was your plan of action?

PUZO: My plan of action was to go around and then try to look for -- because I think I was the calmest one there because I told everybody in my neighborhood, remain calm, remain calm. And I wanted to go around and see if I could help somebody, help different people at different times, but everybody was such in a panic mode. Some people were going up and down. But everybody was screaming scared. They had no idea.

BARNETT: Right now you're talking to me via webcam from Miami. How did you get out?

PUZO: OK, how I got out, I went to see all of my friends that I know. I went to check on everybody and I went to one of my friend's house and his mom was telling us she know somebody that was actually sending a helicopter from the Dominican Republic to Haiti to bring material, like water, you know, food and first aid kit. But the helicopter had to go back to the Dominican Republic to grab more stuff. So on a trip back, we -- I don't know if he rented the spots, or anything, but she asked me if I have one more spot, if I want to go, and I was like, I asked my mom, and my mom was like, there is nothing for you to do here. And it very unsafe, but you have to go back to school. I don't know when the airports will open. So I go to the Dominican Republic. And then from there we take a plane to Miami. When I left Haiti, I had at least 200 people in my yard.

Juliano tells me he will be returning to Haiti, both to help his mother and to attend the funerals of some of his friends.

When we come back, going from the missing to the list of those found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Jean Baptist Tujur (ph). I want to say to people in Boston, especially my sister. We're OK, in Haiti.

BARNETT: Plus, relief workers using the Internet trying to desperately connect and call others to action.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Images there of just some of the victims of Haiti's deadly quake. Many families looking for some sort of closure. We've seen so many victims. We have this special page on I-Report we have dedicated to them. I have become closer with many CNN viewers this past week as friends and family ask us to help them find their loved ones in Haiti. But the reality is, most will not get good news, if they get any news at all. And it's that kind of uncertainty that really tests your patience and can tug at your soul.

(VIDEO MONTAGE)

CAROLINE PRATO ZENNY, COUSIN TRAPPED IN RUBBLE: It's a very mixed feeling. You're praying. You're happy when you see someone who's rescued and then you go back to the fear again. Days are going by. Time is of the essence. And we're pleading, pleading they would send more people there to help in the rescues, not only there in Mantana (ph) and so many other places where we know people are still alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Luis Carazas and Heidy Carazas. They have family in Peru. We have been in touch with Joanna. She is the cousin of Luis Carazas. We have reached out to her. She just e- mailed us saying thanks for your help. Here in Peru we have given information to television programs hoping that somehow we will hear from him. He is married to a Haitian named Heidi. You can see her in the picture. He adds it's been three days and still don't know anything about him. We are worried.

YVES MOMBRUN, CNN iREPORTER: We've been searching for my sister, and she's missing. We haven't heard from her, and also my aunt. She traveled to Haiti two days ago to a mission, along with her mother. And we haven't heard from them. We've called every -- every phone number down there, sent text message, e-mail and we haven't heard anything. So we really don't know what's going on.

These are some of the stories we've seen. In fact, more than 6,000 people have searched for their loved ones through I-Report, so we were able to create this special page for them. As days move on, you might expect families to lose hope.

But in the rubble of Port-au-Prince exists the stuff of miracles. Imagine finding out that your lost loved one isn't missing, isn't dead, but has been found alive. So one of our viewers saw that woman wearing black with the mega phone and called into our Haiti desk and said, "That is my mother."

MONA SCOTT-YOUNG, FOUND MOTHER IN HAITI: I heard the singing, which caught my attention and I looked up at the screen. And there was this woman standing with this bullhorn. When I looked at it, I said, wait a minute, that's mom.

I heard her voice and, of course, got excited but then calmed myself to find out where she was. What I got from her is we're at the children's hospital. But we need water, desperately, I'm thirsty. The kids are -you know, the babies are thirsty. And they're dying, send water.

I just want to tell everyone about my sister, Mical. Mical, she gave me a phone call today when I was at work to inform me she had reunited with my brother, and that she received food, water and was treated for her injuries.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You used CNN iReport, right? You used the Red Cross website.

Exactly.

LEVS: I don't want to delay the great news. So, Shezar tell me, you got a phone call. And it was the news? Tell me what happened.

SHEZA DORCE, iREPORTER: Exactly. Yesterday morning I was on the way to pick her up for breakfast. And 10:22, I was on I-20 west heading to her house. I received a call from my father. At first I couldn't believe it. I was very elated to hear his voice, very difficult to keep the car on the road.

TETCHANA BELLANGE, iREPORTER: We contacted CNN. We contacted other reporters. We contacted the Red Cross. We contacted the Doctors Without Borders. We did everything that had to be done to be able to -- to get her.

LEVS: Joining me on the phone is Toma Joseph, who was told that her cousin was dead, and then saw her cousin's photo on CNN.

TOMA JOSEPH, SAW COUSIN ALIVE ON CNN: Yes, I have great news, my cousin, she just called me actually from a hospital in Santo Domingo, called Jumani. She sounded really good she told me she - is by herself, she doesn't have anybody. She paused, and then she said, Toma, I lost one of my legs. I started crying and she said, Toma, Toma, please, don't cry. When the earthquake happen, her and two other people fell into the hole. She was the only one they took out alive. She was buried there for three days with two dead bodies. She told me to pray, not only for me, but pray for other people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We can't bring you the last section of that special I-Report special, because we watched instead the 11th-day rescue of a 24-year-old man who was pulled out of the rubble of a Port-au-Prince hotel. In fact these are the latest images right now we're getting in. You can see the moment when they brought this man 11 days after that earthquake hit Haiti out of the rubble. Pretty extraordinary. We'll have much more throughout the evening with Don Lemon. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a great day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)