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CNN Tonight

Devastation in Haiti; U.S. Coast Guard First to Respond

Aired January 14, 2010 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, millions of earthquake survivors face a third terrifying night in the streets of Haiti and a desperate shortage of water, food and medicine.

BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you. The world stands with you.

PHILLIPS: Rescue teams from all over the world search furiously for victims trapped in the rubble. And the U.S. pledges $100 million in aid and dispatches 5,700 troops. The aircraft carrier, Carl Vinson, expected to arrive tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN TONIGHT live from New York. Here now Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: Good evening, everyone. Tonight 50 hours after Tuesday's massive earthquake in Haiti, the international response is gaining momentum. There is still no power or water in much of Port- au-Prince and no heavy earth-moving machinery is there yet. But rescue teams from all over the world have arrived to help dig out survivors.

The number of dead is still not known but could be higher than 100,000 with as many as three million people injured, hungry and homeless. But I have to tell you that even within this horrific devastation, we are seeing miracles, and they will undoubtedly pull at your heartstrings. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, brings us one of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Walking through the streets of Port-au-Prince right now to get a real idea of what things are like here. It is very low in the way of resources, very low in the promise of help. A 15-day-old baby, some sort of head injury. They're begging for a doctor.

(SOUNDS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

GUPTA: Can you tell me what happened (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother died.

GUPTA: How has she been?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

GUPTA: She's moving both of her arms. That's a good sign. She's moving both of her legs. Can you look through there again, see if we have any more gauze...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's some big gauze. I can cut it down.

(BABY CRYING)

GUPTA: She has a pretty significant laceration here. What I need to make sure is that she doesn't have a skull fracture underneath. The good news is I don't think she does. So that's good. This is OK. No skull fracture underneath here. She's got a big laceration underneath her skull, but she is moving all four extremities. Hi, sweetie. Hi, sweetie. Hi. How old is she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen days.

GUPTA: She's going to need some antibiotics, and we're going to need to redress this wound. Let's go ahead and do that (INAUDIBLE). So this is what's happening out here in the streets of Port-au-Prince (INAUDIBLE) a 15-day-old baby who was in the earthquake (INAUDIBLE). (INAUDIBLE) forehead. So she has no skull fracture. She does have a big laceration. She's going to need antibiotics, but she does not appear to have a head injury. I think she's going to be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

GUPTA: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) She's sucking her thumb. She's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

GUPTA: She'll get some antibiotics. We'll try and find some...

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Isn't that incredible? Susan Candiotti has also been following the search and rescue missions. She joins us live from Port-au-Prince. Susan, and I know you've seen that piece that Sanjay Gupta brought to us tending to that 15-year-old (ph) child. It brings tears to everybody's eyes, and we're seeing a lot of those remarkable miracles within all of this.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are, and not only that, those that show that strong sense of perseverance in a time of despair here in Haiti, for example, a simple act by the part of a hotel that strung its water hose out the door so that people could bring up containers and fill their bottles of containers up with water to get some bit of fresh water that they haven't had in a couple of hellish days.

Another scene where a group of people rolled a steel frame bed on wheels down the street, and on top of this, an injured man, probably trying to find him some kind of medical help, but in the scene I will remember the most this day, a man who had been pinned underneath the wreckage of a five-story schoolhouse. He had been there for 46 hours, and his family members were using chisels and a blow torch, at times scorching his skin in order to free his -- one of his legs and one of his hands that were caught, pinned beneath some of the wreckage.

And finally, even though they burned him and he was screaming out in agony, he was freed, and they pulled him out alive. They were able to save his hand, we think, a group of people pulling him out and rushing him to get some medical help. But again, this shows the strong sense of spirit as people try to help themselves until that international aid starts really pouring in -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And that is remarkable. You would expect nothing less from your own people and your friends and your family to try and save your life, but we are finally seeing more rescue teams from around the world trickle in, right? Have you seen any of those teams arrive tonight, any more?

CANDIOTTI: Well, I've not seen any more. Of course, we were caught up very much with this rescue today, but reportedly, that is beginning to happen. And, of course, will happen more and more. And that will bring along with it the expertise that is oftentimes needed to perhaps move these rescues along a little faster. Look how long it took to get this one individual out. Of course it doesn't guarantee that things will move along more quickly, but certainly with more people out there, more dogs to help with the search, it should make a difficult experience somewhat better.

PHILLIPS: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. Now I want to warn you that some of this video that you're about to see is going to be pretty tough to watch. It shows us the quake as it struck Tuesday evening. First of all, a surveillance camera along a Haitian road capturing violent shaking, panicked people running, and you'll see huge clouds of dust in the distance as the buildings on the hillside started to collapse.

Then in this CNN exclusive video, anxiety and confusion in the streets immediately after the earth stopped shaking. You can see a thick, dusty haze in the air from shattered buildings, and people running, some dazed, some seeming pretty calm, others with bleeding wounds as survivors tried to rescue the victims from collapsed buildings and if that isn't chilling enough, just listen to these voices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(SOUNDS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(SHOUTING)

(SOUNDS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(SOUNDS)

(SHOUTING)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And the first ship to bring help to those desperate voices, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Forward (ph). The Forward, based in Guantanamo Bay, was steaming for Haiti only hours after the quake and got there early yesterday. The ship's commanding officer, Commander Diane Durham joining me by phone now.

Commander, as soon as you pulled into port, what were your first thoughts? What did you see? How did it strike you?

COMMANDER DIANE DURHAM, U.S. COAST GUARD (via phone): Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince bay, we were amazed at the massive destruction of almost every building. We immediately noticed that the piers had collapsed into the water and the cranes had toppled over, and as we looked from the glass building at the harbor and up the hill, we saw that almost every single building either had structural damage or was completely demolished. The biggest thing that we did see on the landscape was the cathedral with the spires that had collapsed.

PHILLIPS: And you were the first ship to get there. How -- what was the response like? How -- was it difficult to keep things calm? Sort of give us a feel for what it was like for the people there to see the first signs of help.

DURHAM: Well, as we arrived in the harbor, we had a group of individuals, they were gathered in the shade, they were gathered in the soccer fields, wherever they could come together as a group and get away from the building, because we've had repeated aftershocks. And (INAUDIBLE) we sent some of our crew up to the Haitian Coast Guard (INAUDIBLE) where they were building little tent cities, you know whatever shelter they could put up, trying to help each other as best they can, providing medical assistance with limited supplies, and there was a sense that we felt (INAUDIBLE) almost a feeling like they were beat down by the situation. They are, however, very helpful to strangers. We've been providing as much food and water as we possibly can, and today (INAUDIBLE) actually brought in medical supplies and medical personnel (INAUDIBLE) and I cannot tell you how appreciative the Haitians (INAUDIBLE).

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. This is everything you've trained for and now you're there commanding some pretty amazing sailors. Commander Diane Durham, thanks so much for calling in. It means a lot to us.

And even tonight, we still have very little information on the 40 to 45,000 Americans in Haiti. We do know that one U.S. Embassy employee was among those killed, and about 400 Americans have been airlifted out of the quake zone -- Jill Dougherty, joining us now live from the State Department -- Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know the State Department has been giving us a lot of information on this operation and today it turned quite personal, because the first American confirmed dead in this earthquake happens to be one of their own. Her name was Victoria Delong (ph). She was a cultural affairs officer.

Long time employee of the State Department as a foreign service officer and she had been in Haiti for one year. She was working in cultural affairs, educational exchange, and the people that we talked to said that she was really one of the best that they had. Meanwhile, here on the seventh floor as we've been reporting at the State Department, it's really the brain center of this operation, bringing together a number of U.S. agencies, U.S. government agencies that are carrying out what's turning out to be a massive rescue and search relief rescue operation.

They're working 24/7 coordinating the various sides of this and the -- some of the updates that we've gotten, Kyra, there are now according to the State Department, 250 aid workers on the ground, but that is definitely going to grow. There are eight international and U.S. search and rescue teams on the ground and they are -- they are going out trying to figure out what roads are passable, what buildings might have people trapped and how can they get them -- get to them as quickly as quickly as possible.

There are also, the U.S. is coordinating with NGOs from around the world, bringing in food, water, medicine, shelter and other supplies. And then on the American side, getting back to that because that is a major responsibility of the State Department -- they're -- they evacuated up to about 400 Americans today, those who wanted to leave. And they went to the Dominican Republic.

They also evacuated seven Americans who were injured and they went to Guantanamo, the naval base there. Interestingly, Kyra, the State Department is saying that there aren't a whole lot of Americans who live in Haiti, who really want to leave that a lot of them want to stay and they want to help.

PHILLIPS: Jill Dougherty, live from the State Department -- Jill thanks so much.

And you mentioned all that help, nations around the world are responding to the critical circumstances in Haiti. The United Nations has released a $10 million emergency fund for rescue and relief. The European Union has approved more than $4 million in emergency funds. Canada, China, Britain, Spain, and Iran are among the more than a dozen countries providing relief supplies and funds to Haiti right now. And here at home President Obama pledged $100 million in U.S. aid, saying this is one of those moments that calls for American leadership. Dan Lothian joins us live from the White House with more -- Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, the president trying to show that the U.S. is taking the lead and sending the resources, not only to help the people of Haiti, but to help the Americans who are there on the ground and to make sure that they can be airlifted out. The president also continues to get frequent updates from his national security team. He's staying in touch with a lot of the world leaders today, talking with French President Sarkozy.

Although he has not been able to reach out yet to the Haiti's president, we were told by senior administration officials that he had made -- official rather -- that he had made many attempts, but this obviously shows you what the conditions are like on the ground there, as you pointed out, this $100 million that the president has pledged will go toward helping to get equipment in the rescue operation there, food, water, medicine, other supplies.

I asked Robert Gibbs if the president was pleased with the pace of the effort to this point. He said that the president is pleased, but he keeps stressing to his staff that the situation is urgent that time is of the essence and that this is a top priority for this administration. We heard more of that tonight from the president as he was speaking to House members up on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I just want everybody in the House of Representatives to understand, this is a moment for American leadership. This is a time when the world looks to us, and they say, given our capacity, given our unique capacity to project power around the world that we have to project that not just for our own interests but for the interest of the world as a whole and my national security team understands that I will not put up with any excuses for us not doing the very best in this time of tragedy. Now...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: President Obama has tapped former President George W. Bush, also President Bill Clinton to assist in the humanitarian effort and fundraising. This is much like the elder Bush and Mr. Clinton did in the wake of the tsunami in 2004 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now Dan, this disaster is hitting close to home for the president as well, isn't it?

LOTHIAN: It really is and we heard the president talk about that tonight in that address when he was talking to those House members up on Capitol Hill, his director of political affairs, Patrick Gaspar (ph). The president says he's a Haitian American who still has several family members who are missing in Haiti and he also pointed out that a priest who baptized him when he was a baby is suspected dead, so this story here hitting close to home for the president right here in the White House.

PHILLIPS: Dan Lothian at the White House tonight -- Dan thanks.

Now we just heard from the commander of the Coast Guard Cutter Forward on the scene in Haiti. Still ahead, live with the Coast Guard's commanding admiral about the rescue efforts under way right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: As many as 5,500 U.S. infantry soldiers and Marines will be on the ground in Haiti or off shore by Monday. Among the first responders the U.S. Coast Guard which received some high-level praise from the State Department today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Our Coast Guard has been unbelievable. They got there first, as you might guess, being in the area. We've got the 82nd Airborne and other military assets coming in. We had a military team reopen the airport so we can start to handle the big, heavy planes. There is an enormous amount of work going on. I'm very proud of our response, we're grateful for the international response, but I think we have a long way ahead of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Admiral Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant is the man behind that praise not to mention his life savers who have been working around the clock to help the Haitian people. Admiral, it must have been quite an honor to hear Hillary Clinton praise the Coast Guard as you were the first asset into Haiti.

ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD COMMANDANT: Well we certainly appreciated the secretary's remarks and we were very fortunate to have some units in the area. One of the things that is the hallmark of Coast Guard operations is the fact that our units are dispersed around the United States and can flow rather quickly. Ultimately we need the back-up of the larger DOD forces, but in this case we were able to be very responsive.

PHILLIPS: And I know how you are, because I watched you in action during Katrina. How did you devise your plan of action? You knew you were going to have the first cutter in there. How did you organize that?

ALLEN: Well, basically, it was done through our Seventh District Commander Admiral Steve Branham in Miami and Vice Admiral Pathar (ph), Atlantic area commander. They make an assessment of the types of vessels that are available. In this case we could get the Coast Guard Cutter Forward in shortly after first light that first morning in Port-au-Prince, to do assessments in the harbor, to help with air traffic control, bring some relief supplies in, and then we flowed two other cutters right in behind it and we have a fourth cutter off the North Claw (ph) of Haiti right now.

PHILLIPS: Now I saw how quickly you responded, saw these assets get in there immediately, but already critics are saying what took the military so long? And I'm talking about other assets that are about to come in, even comparing this to the Katrina response, citing the frustration with bureaucracy. How complicated is it, Admiral, to bring our military into another sovereign nation?

ALLEN: Well I don't think it's an issue of the military in a sovereign nation; it's the issue of the type of equipment, the access. I think what everybody needs to understand is the port in Port-au- Prince is completely destroyed and is unable to accommodate shipping. And there are issues with the airport getting that back on line and then you have just one single airport for the entire country, so the aperture by which equipment and supplies can flow is very, very small, and some of the most effective capabilities you can bring to bear are very, very large and that requires time phased deployment and a lot of coordination, and I can assure you that is going on.

PHILLIPS: Talking about coordination, there has also been a lot of chaos, and you helped to bring in a lot of coordination to quell that. Not a lot of people realize that the Coast Guard has SWAT teams. I saw them in action during the war. I've seen them in Katrina. Security, what have you been able to provide on that aspect, not only to protect Coast Guard assets but also the Haitians as some lawlessness has come to surface?

ALLEN: Well, the security we're providing right now is basically for our own units, Kyra. The security force that has been brought in is the 82nd Airborne and there will be more forces that are flowed in. And in fact, that was the same paradigm that was used during Katrina.

PHILLIPS: Final question. I know how Katrina affected you and General Russel Honore. Both of you have been talking a lot about what's happening in Haiti. Is this hard personally because I know you've been looking at this thinking, wow, a lot of similarities and a lot of differences.

ALLEN: Kyra, I think the biggest difference in this response is the fact that we're not dealing with the state and local government, and frankly and statutorily define roles and responsibilities and frankly the Stafford Act (ph), which is administered by FEMA. In this case the chief representative of the United States and the country is the chief of mission, the ambassador in Haiti, and we already have a U.N. mission down there that has been very effective in the past.

And I think the focus of the response here needs to be how do we support the U.N. mission and how do we bring all the elements of national power together to support the ambassador in his role of working to represent the United States in Haiti and that is probably the major difference in the two responses.

PHILLIPS: Well we're already seeing the difference in how your men and women are helping people and were the first there. Once again, I want to point that out. Admiral Thad Allen, always an honor to have you sir. Thank you for your time.

ALLEN: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Coming up, a lot of horror but a lot of hope in the devastated streets of Haiti. We're going to have the latest on relief and rescue attempts, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: An incredible number of donations flowing into Haiti now. The State Department tonight telling us that at 7:00 p.m. Eastern total donations received for Haiti humanitarian relief through the estimas (ph) texting campaign is $5.9 million. If you'd like to contribute, you can text to 90999. It's pretty amazing. Families here in the U.S. are desperate to hear whether their loved ones have survived the devastation. Lisa Sylvester has that story for us now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are newlyweds. Chrisroi Belzoir and his wife Theolim (ph) married just four months ago. She was visiting her aunt's family in Haiti when the earthquake hit. He was here at their home in Maryland. Now he's gathered with his sister and mother, waiting for any word about his wife, but the communication system in Haiti is down.

CHRISROI BELZOIR, HAITIAN-AMERICAN: It's not knowing, it's like your mind is just getting big and big and big and we just don't know what to do right now. We don't know what to do.

SYLVESTER: Belzoir is a member of the Maryland group called Haitians United for Action. They are already gathering supplies and plan to bring them to Haiti within the next 48 hours. Volunteers are working the phones to get donations from the community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need everything for babies, you know (INAUDIBLE) anything that (INAUDIBLE) to eat.

SYLVESTER: Among those traveling to Haiti is independent video producer Joseph Boise, who was born there. He hopes to bring back unique images, a plea to the world for help.

(On camera): In this story -- it hits you personally. Your mother, you don't know where she is?

JOSEPH BOISE, VIDEO PRODUCER: As of now, no. We've been trying to call since 6:00 yesterday, and we don't know where she's at.

SYLVESTER: The pictures of the agony and devastation from Haiti are heartbreaking and the president of the group doesn't know what it will be like when he's actually on the ground.

RIDDLER DORCELY, HAITIAN UNITED FOR ACTION: Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's painful. We have to do something and we need to stand together as Haitians for once to look at this unique opportunity and do something for our people back home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: And the group, and this is really a small grassroots effort. They left this morning for the Dominican Republic and from there they plan to try to get to Port-au-Prince either by road or by helicopter, but you know they do acknowledge that it's going to be very difficult, but they still feel that they have to do everything that they can to try to bring some relief. Kyra?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Lisa, thanks so much.

Coming up, a dramatic story unfolding this hour in Haiti. For every life, every second counts. You'll see an incredible effort under way right now to save a little girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN TONIGHT live from New York. Here again, Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: Tonight a rescue in progress. We've been following it for hours right now. It took two days for rescue teams to trickle in after Haiti's monster quake made it nearly impossible to get in and get working.

Now the clock is ticking and rescuers from around the world are hoping to find signs of life.

Our Ivan Watson is waiting and watching one dramatic rescue effort right now to save a little girl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right behind me, and you can hear her voice sometimes, is an 11-year-old girl named Anaika San Luis (ph). She's pinned underneath this rubble, and the volunteers here are snaking through a hose right now to get her some drinking water.

She's about 10 feet away and you can see the braids of this little girl's hair. I talked with her, she's wearing glasses, and she's crying. She's in a lot of pain right now and she's terribly scared.

This little girl -- it's kind of heartbreaking to hear this, because she's pinned there, Don. Her right leg is underneath the concrete, and her hands are free and her leg is free, and she's talking to us.

They're trying to give her some drinking water right now. They've given her some food already. They only discovered her today, two days after the earthquake. They think there are several dozen other people trapped under the rubble probably did not survive.

They're desperately trying to figure out how to get her out. They're thinking about trying to cut her leg. They have anesthetics, but they don't have blood to help her if they have to cut her leg off to get her out.

So they don't know what to do right now. And we've seen other cases like this today and it is pretty heartbreaking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Ivan also tells us that the volunteers that you saw right there say that all they needed was an electric saw and a generator to power it so they could cut the girl free.

Well, somehow, in all the chaos, they found one, but the little girl remained trapped. Ivan is trying to get an update right now for us. We're going to keep you apprised of any new information as it comes in.

Help is on its way. Aid groups from across the world now in Haiti feverishly trying to deliver food, water, medicine, all the basics to those in need. But with the country's infrastructure in tatters, getting those supplies in the hands of survivors is still an uphill battle.

Chris Lawrence is joining us live from Port-au-Prince with the very latest. Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we've got some real clarification, and I think it really plays into that incredible report you just heard there from Ivan.

When we were talking with USAID at the airport today, we asked them about some of the criticism they had received because people had felt that maybe some of the humanitarian aid wasn't coming in fast enough.

They said the priority was getting the search and rescue teams here on the ground first, and that until the Haitian government said that there was no use in looking for survivors, that would be their priority.

So that's why earlier in the day, mostly what we saw was search and rescue teams. In fact, the USAID representative told us that it was some of the bomb-sniffing dogs that had come in earlier that pointed them to a hotel where they had four people trapped in the hotel and they were able to make contact with them and then to start a rescue. And they said without those dogs and without the team, that wouldn't have been possible. Now as to aid, definitely as we just left about an hour ago, you could see the changeover start to take place. We were seeing more supplies start to come in.

The airport there handles about 25 to 30 flights a day on a normal day. By 3:30 in the afternoon, they had already handled twice that many today. So there is a space issue. It's a single runway. There is only so much space they have there. And that's why earlier in the day, a lot of planes were forced to circle the airport.

They could not land because the planes already on the ground just had not cleared in time to make space for yet another plane on the runway.

The other way to get supplies in is obviously through the port. We were there during the morning and could see the problems there as well. Authorities are telling us there are serious concerns about the structural integrity of the pier there.

Normally ships would just pull up right at the end. They offload these huge cargo, pieces of cargo, load it right on a truck and the truck would just drive right off that pier into the streets and get that aid in.

But I can tell you the road there just off the pier is buckled about five feet high, almost as tall as I am. There is no way for trucks to even get to the pier. We talked to one man from a shipping company who had three ships ready to go filled with food and water but he has no way to offload that into Port-au-Prince.

So getting the aid here to Haiti is one hurdle. Offloading it and actually getting it out to the neighborhoods where people need it most, that is a second hurdle indeed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Chris, I have a bit of a personal question for you. We heard from Susan Candiotti, Sanjay Gupta, Ivan Watson, and they've been telling these stories that they say they'll just -- they'll never forget and there is usually a person or a moment that they've talked about.

What has been that moment for you thus far?

LAWRENCE: Well, I think one of them was literally just about 30 minutes ago as we were driving back. We stopped for a while because we saw these piles of bodies, and there were teams out there, and they had dump trucks and they had bulldozers.

And the men with gloves were taking the bodies and they were tossing them into the bulldozers, into the shovel part, and as three or four bodies got in there, they would then dump them into the dump trucks, and we saw one dump truck that looked to be full already speeding away.

And to just see and to be up close and to see the blood on the gloves of these men, the work that it's going to take to move some of these bodies out of there, and to see people walk by and just shake their heads when they look at these bodies piled up, in the manner in which, really, they have to be taken off the street because of health concerns for the people who still live here.

PHILLIPS: Wow. And you want to respectfully deal with the dead, and it's just so hard when there's so much going on.

Chris Lawrence, thank you.

Well, coming up, the dramatic story unfolding this hour. We're talking about reaching out to the missing. We're going to tell you about the best way to find out how to locate a loved one in the quake zone.

You're going to hear more personal stories coming up. Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Untold numbers of people are still missing and many are feared dead or trapped in the rubble. Meantime, travel restrictions and downed phone lines have left families in the states and around the world frantic for news of their loved ones. And so far the Internet has been their best bet.

Rosemary Church joining us now with the very latest on how you can try to get in touch with their loved ones.

Rosemary, how is it working and has it proved beneficial for families?

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, I want to you take a look because CNN is encouraging people who are missing their loved ones to go to iReport.com.

Now on this side you can see already per page, there's 256 pages so far, 12 people per page, so that gives you an idea of the number of people missing. And these are heartbreaking stories.

I want to just draw your attention to this one, this young boy is Sean Pierre Antoine. He's missing. He's a 2-year-old. He went from New York with his aunt to Haiti for a visit. He is now missing.

His mother, who is pregnant, has basically hitched a ride with a supply aircraft. She is now on Port-au-Prince on the ground in Haiti desperately trying to find her little baby boy.

This story, too. I mean these are very difficult stories to tell. This 12-year-old girl, the woman who's posted her photo and her details was actually intending to adopt her. So she wants to get details of her and indeed her mother. She had come across to the United States on many occasions.

And so that is a heartbreaking story, too.

Let's just bring out some vision. This is from UNTV, if we can just bring that up. And that gives you an idea. It's a drive through the streets of Port-au-Prince. Can we bring out that vision? Just won't. We're actually trying to find that.

I want to talk to you about some calls that we're receiving here at CNN. We've had two calls today from a woman whose family are buried under the rubble. They are sending text messages at this point, trying to get someone to help.

They've given their location, and the brother of this woman has said that he cannot hold on any longer. He has lost his daughter.

Kyra, these are really tough stories to tell, and it is hard and they're trying to get the word out so that people can try and give them some information on these people who are still missing.

PHILLIPS: You know, Rosemary, whether we're here in the States or in Haiti, it's affecting all of us even if we aren't there on the ground and it's -- there's stories like this.

CHURCH: Indeed.

PHILLIPS: Rosemary, thanks.

Whether you're searching for your loved ones or just want to stay informed, CNN online has you covered. Just go to CNN.com/Haiti for the latest news on the ground and CNN.com/impact to find out how you can help.

CNNiReport.com lets you share your stories and images. And to connect with us on Twitter, search for #HaitiCNN, all one word.

I want to bring you an update now you on a story that we brought to you just a few minutes ago about a rescue in progress. Our Ivan Watson joining us live.

What's the latest, Ivan? We've all been holding on to tremendous hope.

WATSON: Well, Kyra, some good news. We just spoke with the uncle of little Anaika San Luis, and he says that they broke her out of that trap a little bit more than an hour ago. They've managed to get that generator, a little generator we saw them bring in going, and run an electric saw to cut the iron beam that was pinning her right leg, and they rushed her to a first aid center.

They say that she is crying, she's in a lot of pain. Her leg very badly wounded and now she's going to be transferred to a more sophisticated medical facility, they say, possibly as far as three hours drive from Port-au-Prince to treat this little 11-year-old girl.

And one additional fact we've learned just now from this uncle, her father is believed to be in the United States right now. But for the time being, that little girl has escaped from underneath that death trap that had the bodies of at least 25 other relatives and neighbors, and now hopefully she is getting some good treatment.

PHILLIPS: I hope her dad can see this story if he's here in the U.S., Ivan. And this was tough for you as well. You were listening to her for hours when these guys were trying to figure out what to do.

WATSON: It was pretty awful, and I'd climb in to talk to her, and as the rescuers would try to saw with a hacksaw through this iron, she reached out and she grabbed my hand and asked for water.

And we poured some water in her mouth, we gave her some granola, and this brave little girl, you just can't imagine the kind of conditions she was enduring there. She also -- her left shoulder was injured as well, was laying there.

And the people who were working to save her amid other putrefying corpses there and just improvising on the spot, these are just normal Haitians. These are not doctors, these are not firemen, they have no training whatsoever.

They are neighbors, relatives that are just going in underneath huge slabs of concrete that are unstable -- there are periodic aftershocks -- working to free a little girl, and after hours and hours, after sunset, they did manage to set her free.

These people really are heroes -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I agree with you and it's beautiful to see the miracles coming about. Ivan Watson, amazing reporting. Thank you so much.

And coming up, the dazed and injured people of Haiti wait for help to arrive. We're going to have the latest on the rush to get more aid into that place.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We desperately need doctors. That's what we keep hearing out of Haiti in the disaster there after the quake. Medicine and doctors and rescuers, all trying to head to Haiti right now.

And Dr. Hernando Garzon is one of them. He is a member of California's Urban Search and Rescue Team. Also joining me, Nun Buzard, senior director, International Response and Programs at the American Red Cross.

Thank you both for joining me.

Dr. Garzon, let's start with you. You're a doctor. You are heading that way. We have heard -- I mean, for the last 50 hours we desperately need doctors, medical help, to tend to these people as we rescue them. What are you going to be able to offer?

DR. HERNANDO GARZON, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Well, I do have experience with our National Urban Search and Rescue System but I'm actually going with Relief International, an NGO based in Los Angeles. We're really going to run medical teams and provide medical care to those that were affected by the earthquake.

PHILLIPS: What are those medical teams going to do? What are they going to be able to do and how quickly can they mobilize? GARZON: Well, the Relief International medical teams usually start out small. We're going three of us to begin with and enough medical supplies with us that we can set up shop and start working right away.

And then over the course of a few days we will add personnel and equipment so we can be sort of a full-running service with tents where we can deliver more sophisticated care.

PHILLIPS: Will you be able to do surgeries? I mean, how -- how sophisticated will you be able to go forward?

GARZON: We don't expect to be able to do surgeries. We may have -- we have emergency physicians that are going. So in that capacity we can take care of fractures and fairly extensive wounds.

We can do the kinds of treatments that don't require an operating room. Broken bones, treating infected wounds, doing large lacerations, treating some basic crushed syndrome and crush injury. And then all the other types of illnesses we may see there.

PHILLIPS: Nan Buzard, what's been the biggest challenge, the biggest obstacle? I know you have Red Cross folks already there. Are they OK? Have they been able to get right into action?

NUN BUZARD, SR. DIR., INTERNATIONAL RESPONDENT/AMERICAN RED CROSS: They have gotten into action. But we are still very much suffering from the enormous logistical challenges of working in this environment.

I cannot stress enough the inverse relationship between the scale of this disaster and the weakness of this infrastructure and at the moment kind of vacuum of coordination due to the scale of harm that's been done both to the government, U.N., and other agencies that would normally be leading this effort.

The Red Cross is on the ground. We're looking at a lot of innovative ways of making land and sea and air bridges just like many aid agencies and it will start pouring in, but these logistics are at the crunch right now.

PHILLIPS: And, Nan, you know, in such a chaotic situation, how do you even begin to organize efforts, because there are, as we heard Dr. Garzon mentioned, there are so many people to communicate with and try to facilitate with when it comes to using your assets as quickly and effectively as possible. Where do you even begin?

BUZARD: You begin in stages. So for us it's about having our staff coordinate with each other. Coordinating with the other Red Cross members of our large movement in concentric circles. Coordinating with our local counterparts, with the U.N., with other aid agencies, with the military, with the local authorities when they're available.

So you do it in stages and concentric circles. PHILLIPS: And a lot of people, as you can imagine, on a regular basis, throughout the day, throughout the night, they want to know how to help. I want you both to be able to chime in on this. You've got a number of efforts going from each side here.

Dr. Garzon, what can people do to help support you and the medical teams that you're going in with?

GARZON: Well, first of all, I think anybody that has experience doing some of this work, whether it was Katrina or whether some other overseas work they've done, Peace Corps, that kind of thing, if they're open and available they can always volunteer.

And the other big thing is that these relief agencies need money to do the work that they do. So donations would be very important.

PHILLIPS: Nan Buzard, what about you?

BUZARD: For us it's more complicated because we're working throughout an entire international system in which we have relief coordinated through an 186 member Red Cross Red Crescent network. So there are rooms for volunteers but for the most part we have experienced relief workers already on the ground.

For the most part we're looking for funds. We're working with some agencies -- some donations in kind. But really right now we're trying to fix the logistical problem so we can move that aid as fastly and as quickly and as appropriately as possible.

PHILLIPS: Nan and Hernando, I salute your efforts. Thanks so much for your time tonight.

BUZARD: Thank you.

GARZON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the nightmare in Haiti is far from over. Some say it's only just the beginning. Here's a look at some of the images over just the last 24 hours.

(VIDEO FROM HAITI)

PHILLIPS: Thanks for joining me tonight. Our coverage of the devastation in Haiti continues right here on CNN. Next, "CAMPBELL BROWN."