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CNN Larry King Live

Heartbreak in Haiti; Rescue Workers Overwhelmed by Need in Haiti

Aired January 15, 2010 - 21:00   ET

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

LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, Haiti haunted by death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a catastrophe here. People are dead everywhere.

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KING: And the fight by the living to hang on...

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really need some more help. We need some help.

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KING: ...until aid from the world can get there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want the people of Haiti to know that we will do what it takes to save lives and to help them get back on their feet.

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KING: Food, water and medicine is on the way, but it's a race against time.

Can the will to live triumph over the cruelest fate imaginable?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want somebody to help me, please.

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KING: Next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Good evening.

I want to remind you that LARRY KING LIVE will be on the air tomorrow and Sunday with the latest news from Haiti. And we've got a big event planned for Monday night, too -- Mick Jagger, Seal, Colin Powell, Ringo Starr, John Mayer, Ryan Seacrest, Tia Leone are just a few of those who are going to join us. I'll tell you more about that later.

But first, the horror playing out before our very eyes.

Let's go to Ivan Watson in Port-au-Prince with a heartbreaking story of that little girl and yes.

What happened -- Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Larry, very bad news, very sad and tragic news. This 11-year-old girl, Anika San Luis (ph), we saw her fighting for her life, trapped for 48 hours under the rubble of her house. Yesterday, a beautiful little girl with braids and glasses and a chipped tooth, but really fighting for her life and, of course, terrified and cut free shortly after sunset last night.

But when we contacted her family today -- and the communications are very difficult -- they informed me that she did not survive the night, that they took her to be treated for first aid and she was just -- her leg was very badly damaged, crushed underneath all that rubble. And the doctors just did not have the means to save her. They informed the family that they should take this little girl to another better hospital some three hours drive away. And she did not make that trip. And the uncle informed me that she was buried this evening in the hometown of her mother.

So we lost little 11-year-old Anika. And that's just one of countless tragedies that have gripped Port-au-Prince over the past three days -- Larry.

KING: How -- how -- how is the family dealing with it, Ivan?

WATSON: It's tough. They told me they have not informed the mother that Anika (ph) passed away because they know that she will not be able to handle it. So they -- they buried her quietly and have not informed her, actually, that -- that she has died yet.

KING: Were you there when she was being rescued?

WATSON: Yes. Yes. We were -- I mean we were right there with her. This was one of many similar situations all around Port-au-Prince yesterday. And we got in right in the hole right next to her. And we -- I spoke with her. And when the volunteer who was trying to cut her free would -- would cut at the metal that was pinning her down, she'd reach back with her left arm and -- and she grabbed my hand. And she would just want somebody to keep her company in this terrifying ordeal.

And we -- there was very little we could do. We gave her a granola bar, Larry.

KING: How do you deal with this?

WATSON: It's not -- it's not easy. It's -- I don't think it's easy for anybody here. And if you can just imagine what it's like for the millions of people here in Port-au-Prince to endure this, losing, in a span of a few seconds, entire families, homes, everything. It's -- it's really hard to -- to comprehend what the people behind me and in this city are dealing with right now and how they can even cope.

Every person you talk to has a story of -- of tragedy and -- and something terrible. There are glimmers of hope. Fortunately, today, there was, you know, after the 72-hour mark, when -- when people pinned in the rubble are -- it gets very difficult for them to survive, our colleagues from a CNN affiliate, Channel 9 Australia, they were a news crew. They were out walking around. And they actually heard a baby crying from somewhere in the rubble.

And this was a little miracle amid all this misery. They climbed in and were able to actually fish out what they think was an 18-year-old -- 18-month-old girl named -- an 18-month-old girl and save her lost amid the rubble. It's incredible -- Larry.

KING: Thanks, Ivan.

You're incredible.

Ivan Watson, our CNN correspondent.

As John F. Kennedy once eloquently said, life isn't fair.

Back to Port-au-Prince and Anderson Cooper -- Anderson, what happens to the dead bodies?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we learned that -- that today. We've been seeing them getting collected starting late last night, put into dump trucks. Today we followed one of those dump trucks out to what is -- it's a mass grave. And the government says they've buried some 7,000 people so far. I'm -- I'm not sure how they're actually keeping track, because I didn't see any people actually recording the numbers of dead. What I saw was dump trucks coming and literally dumping people out like refuse into these pits.

As you remember from Sri Lanka, and the wake of the tsunami, there was mass graves there, as well. You have to do that, you know, when -- when you have death on this scale. But -- but at least they were taking pictures of the dead so loved ones could maybe identify them. There -- there are no pictures being taken, no names being taken. I don't even know if they're -- they're actually counting the numbers. They're just -- they're -- they're digging these pits and they're burying them in. And it's -- you know, these people are going to simply disappear. And -- and they could be Americans. They could be Haitians. They could be from -- from some other country. We won't know. We won't know where they've ended up. They're going to simply disappear.

And I mean, while Ivan's story of that little girl whose hand he held in the rubble, is just -- you know, there are just stupid death -- deaths happening right here now and it doesn't have to happen. It's -- it's very upsetting to see.

KING: Well, stupid because?

COOPER: Because a little girl is dying because her leg was crushed. I mean somebody doesn't have to die of that. That -- you know, a leg can be amputated if there is a doctor who can do it. If there's a doctor who can do it, if -- if there's -- if there's antibiotics, they can take an infection and it can be treated. It doesn't have to spread through the body and kill somebody.

It's really stupid. I mean, it's -- it's infuriating.

KING: Yes, so why are...

COOPER: It's very upsetting to a lot of people here.

KING: Why aren't the supplies...

Where -- where are the antibiotics?

Where are the doctors?

Where are the -- the people who do the amputations?

COOPER: Well...

KING: Where are they?

COOPER: Well, yes. I mean, I -- I don't know. I mean, you know, there are a lot of good people working incredibly hardly -- hard. And there's no infrastructure here. And they've been trying to get in the pipeline. And they've been trying to do, you know, logistical assessments of where the -- the needs are, because the -- you know, the central government can't say, well, the worst place is here, it seems like. They're doing -- there's not some overall organization.

So all these groups kind of acting on their own have to work together. And they're doing the best they can, I think. But it's just -- it's not enough. And I mean people are dying today. People died today who did not need to die. People will die tonight, in the next hour, who do not need to die. And people will die tomorrow who do not need to die.

KING: Sad.

Anderson Cooper.

He'll be hosting his own two hour program at the top of the next hour.

Thanks, Anderson.

God.

A former NBA great is putting his time, money and good name to work in Hawaii -- in Hai -- in Haiti. Alonzo Mourning is here.

That's ahead.

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KING: As soon as we hook up Alonzo Mourning, the former NBA star who has just arrived in Port-au-Prince, we'll go to him. We know that some of the images you're seeing throughout this catastrophe are disturbing. We present them to you in the context of a natural disaster that has impacted about a third of Haiti's 10 million citizens. The victims and the survivors all have personal stories. And we're doing our best to bring them to you responsibly.

Gary Tuchman, one of the best journalists in the business, is there in Haiti -- I understand, Gary, that you've looked at a situation at an orphanage.

What can you tell us?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's so tragic and sad, Larry, because there are so many orphanages here in Haiti. But the one example we picked today was an orphanage where the actual building partially collapsed. Fortunately, the 25 small children, babies to nine years old, were in a room that didn't collapse. So they're OK.

But because the house is precariously close to completely collapsing from these aftershocks that we keep getting, the children -- all 25 of them -- are now living outside. Twenty-four hours a day they're sleeping on mattresses in the dirt. They're playing outside. They're eating outside. And the two women who run the orphanage who, amazingly, are a 22- and 30-year-old woman -- they're sisters from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- they don't know what to do, because they can't leave them. They can't put them inside the house. There's nowhere to bring them. They're running out of food and water.

So they' say they're just taking it 24 hours at a time and staying outside. And I said to them, what happens when it rains here?

Because when it rains in Haiti, there are mudslides, there are big problems. And they said, frankly, we don't know what we're going to do.

KING: Gary, are some of the aftershocks severe?

TUCHMAN: Larry, very severe. And even those of us here at CNN who have covered earthquakes before and other natural disasters are -- we're really very nervous when we feel it. For example, at 5:00 this morning, most of us were in our beds in this hotel that we're staying at. And my bed just started shaking. It's shake -- it started shocking and then I felt some parts of the hotel creak and then a little crack came in my wall.

Obviously, there's nothing you can do once you feel the shocking. But it makes your heart beat faster. And you're aware and we're aware that it's very unusual for an aftershock to be more powerful than the actual earthquake. And this particular hotel we're staying at wasn't destroyed. Nevertheless, it makes you nervous.

And I will tell you that so many Haitians here, they keep spreading and hearing the rumor that there's going to be an aftershock that's more powerful than the earthquake. And we keep telling them that historically, that's not something that's going to happen, please don't be worried. Nevertheless, they are very worried about it, so many of the Haitians. And here, when we feel the aftershocks, it makes us worried even if it's not as powerful as the original earthquake.

KING: That's Gary Tuchman in Port-au-Prince.

We switch to another location in Port-au-Prince and bring in Alonzo Mourning, the great NBA star, now retired.

He arrived in Haiti today.

How did you get there, Alonzo?

ALONZO MOURNING, HELPING HAITIANS: Well, I came over here, Larry, with the University of Miami medical teams -- doctors that are led by Dr. Barth Green and Dr. Pornier (ph). And they're on the ground working some countless hours, you know. And I just wanted to come over and -- and assist and do my part.

And I mean there's some devastating scenes over here. And at the same time, in my heart, is extremely heavy for the children and the families that I see suffering that need -- that need medical attention.

KING: What are you doing personally?

MOURNING: Well, I've done everything from manual labor to administering -- helping to administer IVs. Unfortunately, because of the lack of supplies, we've had to cut up paper boxes -- cardboard boxes to -- to help splint a lot of the broken bones, because people have broken legs and arms and pelvic bones, neck, everything, you know. And, you know, we're using towels that go on the -- on the under dressing of these, you know, these fractures and everything. You know, it's just some of the most graphic scenes I've ever seen in my life, you know.

But people are working tireless, tireless hours, you know, to make sure that the people here in Haiti are accommodated. And my heart goes out to the families, you know, across this -- this beautiful country of Haiti, you know. And the more that we can get individuals to send relief, you know, I mean we -- I've reached out to all my colleagues and professional athletes and put together a fund through -- through my own personal foundation, A.M. Charities. And Dwyane and myself are leading and trying to stimulate this initiative to try to raise funds and try to raise $1 million for Project Medishare and Bark Rayne (ph) and his efforts with the doctors right here on the ground. And you can go to amcharities.org and you can help assist us. Then we have somebody to match, dollar for dollar, up to a million dollars, you know. So we're trying to raise those funds right now.

KING: Wow! Amcharities.org.

We're going to have other sports stars with us on a two hour special Monday night, Alonzo. We'll be calling on you again.

I salute you for what you're doing. Alonzo Mourning, an amazing guy.

MOURNING: Right.

KING: What's it like to have your world crash down around you, wondering if you're going to be buried alive?

A man who made it out of the rubble tells us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us now is Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the CNN chief medical correspondent, a practicing neurosurgeon, reporting today on medical tents and treatment at the makeshift field hospitals.

How are they doing at those hospitals, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's been a -- it's been a day of highs and lows, Larry. As you know, last night we were talking about the fact there is such a dramatic need, so few personnel and so few supplies. This morning, we found these field hospital tents that are over here. Five of them were set up in an area close to the hospital where we were last night.

That was the good news. They were able to take care of several hundred patients over just a few hours.

What we were told recently was that because of safety concerns, they were being told by the United Nations folks that they needed to actually pack up and move all the health care personnel to a more secure location.

So there are patients still waiting, as you can see, in the tents behind me. Some of them have had operations. Some of them are recovering. Some are still waiting. But now, as a result of these safety concerns -- I see the U.N. trucks are actually pulling up, Larry, as I'm talking to you. They've come here to evacuate the health care personnel.

I don't know if you can see this, given how dark it is. But you can see the health care personnel actually putting on their packs and getting ready to leave and get in those trucks.

This is the low part of the day, Larry. This is when, you know, we thought there was going to be an opportunity for so many of these patients to receive care that they otherwise weren't receiving. But this is what happens here. You have violence erupt and it shuts down operations, at least for the time being -- Larry.

KING: You told "The New York Times," quote, "that the help has to come from outside now because the capability of aid organizations inside Haiti has been smashed."

Totally smashed?

GUPTA: I'm sorry, Larry, did you say about the -- the medical organizations within Haiti have been smashed?

Is that what you said?

KING: Yes, that you said -- you told "The New York Times" that they've been smashed.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, even in the best of times, the -- the medical infrastructure here so -- so poor. The lowest physician to patient ratio anywhere in the world is here in Haiti, short of the earthquake. And then you have two things sort of happening at the same time -- fewer medical resources as a result of the earthquake and exponentially more patients.

So there's just no, seemingly, possible way that it could keep up with the demand right now.

You know, field hospitals like this, Larry, do help a lot. I've seen these deployed in Afghanistan and in Iraq. They can work very well and take care of the exact injuries that -- that occur in a situation like this. But, again, what's so frustrating for people here today -- and we spent a lot of time talking to the personnel here on the ground -- is that they're going to have to move. And now they're going to have to pack up and move to another location.

KING: Wow!

GUPTA: And they're not going to be able to take care of the patients...

KING: That's bad.

JIE-AE: -- even though that's why they were here -- deployed to do.

KING: Thanks, Sanjay.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

He'll be back with us on a big two hour special Monday night.

Mikey Stewart is in Port-au-Prince.

He's country director for Hope for Haiti.

This charity has set up a makeshift mini hospital in the Villa Creole Hotel.

How are they doing, Mikey?

MIKE STEWART, HOPE FOR HAITI: Well, today, we're doing the best we can. We've been lucky enough, we've taken in a couple of more doctors from multiple organizations. The International Medical Corps, we're partnering with right now, which has -- they've been wonderful. They have good logistics and good connections with many doctors that are massing and should be arriving. We had some come today. Some will come tomorrow. Our own organization is coordinating a large plane to come in tomorrow morning, which will bring in a lot of medications that we desperately need. We're a massing a triage clinic in the Villa Creole and trying to move them to a better setting where we'll be able to take care of more of -- more of the serious issues and supply those -- those clinics, because they have doctors without any supplies.

After that, we're focusing on the general hospital downtown, which will be able to serve the most amount of people in the fastest amount of time, as they've been hit very hard not only with their support staff, but also with their doctors, having yesterday the day after four doctors show up and only a handful of nurses and hundreds and hundreds of patients, let alone the hundreds and hundreds of bodies that are now massing outside the morgue and outside the hospital itself.

KING: Thanks, Mikey.

Outstanding work.

When we come back, Edmund Mulet, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, will join us.

We're also going to meet the wonderful actor, Jimmy Jean Louis, the Haitian-born actor. He's here with us in Los Angeles. His family is in Haiti and he's heading there later tonight.

For up to the minute information about the disaster in Haiti, go to CNN.com/larryking or go to CNN.com/impact. You can follow CNN reporters on the ground around the clock, link to their Twitter accounts.

Next, about the anguish of Haitians watching from afar.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We have a two hour LARRY KING LIVE special event for Monday night, "Haiti: How You Can Help." Some very big names will be here to help us raise money for some of the neediest people in the world, who are suffering in a most horrific way.

We hope you'll join Mick Jagger and Seal, Colin Powell, Ringo Starr, John Mayer, Ryan Seacrest, Tai Leone and many more, Monday night, 8:00 to 10:00, 5:00 to 7:00 Pacific.

Joining us from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami is John Scarborough.

He survived the earthquake, pulled from the rubble at Port-au-Prince's Hotel Montana the night the quake occurred.

Where were you and what happened, John?

JOHN SCARBORO, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: Well, I was in the Hotel Montana. And about five minutes to 5:00, I guess, when almost everything started moving. And within about five seconds, I was on the floor -- I was on the fifth floor. I was laying on the floor and the concrete and steel on top of me.

I, to go on a little further, I pulled myself out. I looked up and there was a little -- just a light up at the top. And I started clawing and clawing. And after about 30 minutes, I got up on top.

KING: What were you doing in Haiti?

SCARBORO: It was a business venture. I had three of my other friends. I had my brother-in-law -- my -- my son-in-law, excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm a little bit nervous.

My son-in-law, a guy from New York, Joe Guercia, and Jim Birch out of California. And what we were going to do was working with the government on putting together some basketball courts that we were going to put all over the country. And that was going to be for -- for the kids.

KING: Are those guys all right?

SCARBORO: No, all three of those are missing. My son-in-law is missing. And we're desperately trying to find them. Joe Guercia is missing. We heard a little news today that -- that he might be in a daze, but we don't know that yet.

And the other guy, Jim Beck -- Birch, excuse me, we haven't heard anything on him.

KING: Were they all in the hotel?

SCARBORO: Yes. We -- we were in different rooms. I was with Joe Guercia in -- on the fifth floor. David Apperson was on the fourth floor. And also with Jim Birch. Then the whole thing came caving in within about five seconds.

KING: What injuries did you sustain?

SCARBORO: I was real fortunate. God was good to me. And I give all the glory to this -- to God, that I -- I'm bruised up all over my face. And I guess you can see it right now.

KING: Uh-huh.

SCARBORO: But other than that, I didn't have any substantial injuries. Like I said, by the grace of God, I was saved.

KING: How did they fly you out?

SCARBORO: I was flown out by the United Nations on the plane that brought in -- out of Miami -- that brought in the physicians, that private jet. They flew me out on, I believe it was Wednesday -- Wednesday night.

KING: Well, you're lucky, John. I hope your three friends and your son-in-law -- well, I hope you hear from them soon.

SCARBORO: Yes, I hope your audience will -- I hope you see pictures of them. If you don't, I've got them on Twitter -- on Twitter and everything else -- and Facepage. I would like for you all just to pray for them. And not -- not only them, pray for all the people who are trapped in there. It's such a tragedy, such a terrible tragedy.

KING: Their pictures are up there.

Thanks.

John Scarboro at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

The actor from the TV show, "Heroes," Jimmy John Louis, will join us next.

He's right here in Los Angeles.

He's heading for Haiti later.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us now by phone because we lost power is Edmond Mulet, the UN assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations. He previously served as UN special representative to Haiti. And the Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, dispatched him to the scene because the top UN official, Hedi Annabi, remains missing. Any word on Annabi, Edmond?

EDMOND MULET, UN ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL FOR PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: No, Larry, we are still on all the search and rescue efforts at the UN headquarters. No news yet from him, nor from 36 other colleagues at the UN who remain unaccounted for.

KING: They're all missing?

MULET: All 36 are still missing. We have 14 confirmed dead, and 34 unaccounted for, still missing. And all the search efforts are continuing with dogs and sensors and removing rubble from the UN headquarters here in Port-Au-Prince.

KING: Have the Haitian leaders -- if there are Haitian leaders -- given you any indication, any help in this search?

MULET: Well, we've been in touch, of course, with the government, with the president, with the prime minister. There are on the ground around 20 official teams from different countries, plus I believe seven other teams searching, not only at UN headquarters but in hotels and official buildings and ministries, everywhere.

We have to be reminded that around three million people were affected by this earthquake. And according to government officials, between 100,000 to 150,000 casualties. And so far 13,000 bodies have been recovered. KING: Is the UN sending in other people?

MULET: Yes. The secretary general is coming to Port-Au-Prince, to Haiti, this Sunday. And he's bringing another team to reinforce the mission. The first thing we have to do right now is to put the mission back on its feet, in order to support the Haitian government on all the coordinating efforts on the humanitarian assistance and recovery, and then eventually, later on, for the reconstruction of the country.

KING: You've been seeing all of this on television. What was it like to arrive there?

MULET: Well, I've been -- I went with President Preval this afternoon on an aerial -- on a helicopter, to look from above. And being here on the ground, driving on the streets, and meeting with the people, I think CNN has presented a very good picture of what the situation is. Of course, it's nothing like living the situation and the smells and the crying and the sorrow and the loss. And psychologically, it's quite an impact. It's a very emotional moment for all of us here.

KING: Honestly speaking, do you fear the worst for these UN employees?

MULET: Well, today, for example, we rescued, three hours ago, a colleague who was still alive in the rubble. And he's being medically assisted right now and trying to stabilize him. So we never lose hope. I mean, we're still working and searching. And we've seen in other parts of the world where these earthquakes have happened that even a week later, or even two weeks later, people are still alive, in pockets of air down below. So we're still working and we're still hopeful.

KING: We'll keep in constant touch. Edmond Mulet, the UN assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, informing us, by the way, that Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will be arriving on Sunday. Jimmy Jean-Louis is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us here in LA is Jimmy Jean-Louis, the Haitian born actor. You probably know him best from the popular series, "Heroes." He's the founder of Hollywood Unites for Haiti, leading the Pan American Foundation's awareness campaign to raise money for quake survivors. Your parents live there, right?

JIMMY JEAN-LOUIS, HAITIAN ACTOR: Yes, they do.

KING: What have you heard from them?

JEAN-LOUIS: Finally, yesterday, I was about to get in touch with them. It took me two days before I could speak to my mom or my dad.

KING: You told me before your father lost his original house?

JEAN-LOUIS: Yeah. It's a house I grew up in and he spent most of his life building, from the first stone to the last one. So for him, that was his baby.

KING: How is he dealing with this?

JEAN-LOUIS: From what I've been told, badly. And they haven't stopped crying ever since the earthquake.

KING: Did they leave Haiti, do you think?

JEAN-LOUIS: I don't know. I'm about to find out. I don't believe that they would like to leave Haiti, because they love the country. But after this, I don't know what's in their mind.

KING: You're going there tonight?

JEAN-LOUIS: Yes, I am.

KING: How long do you plan to stay?

JEAN-LOUIS: I'm going to be there until Friday, to really try to understand the situation. And then I'll know how to proceed.

KING: What is Hollywood Unites for Haiti?

JEAN-LOUIS: It's a non-profit organization that I started last year. Originally, the mission was to promote sport and cultural activity, especially for the youth, the under-privileged kids. But right now, we're shifting gears. We just have to help however we can.

KING: Is this the toll-free number for people who want to help?

JEAN-LOUIS: Yes, this is a toll-free number for the Pan American Foundation and also for Hollywood Unites for Haiti.

KING: The number is 877-572-4484 -- 877-572-4484. Is it a little frustrating for you to be here when your family is there?

JEAN-LOUIS: It is. It is. It is very frustrating. The worst part about the first couple of days is the fact that I couldn't speak to them. I didn't know if they were alive or not. And I just didn't know how to react.

You have to know that most of the places that you're showing there are places that I grew up in. I know most of the monuments that went down, most of the hotels, hospitals. So it's very close to me.

My first football game happened in a stadium, and that stadium doesn't exist any more. That church that I used to go to doesn't exist any more. Most of the houses of my friends are gone.

I have friends that are gone. I have family members. And I even have strangers that I didn't know. There is that lovely American girl that went there to help an orphanage, and we had dinner together this past December. And today I just learned that she was gone, Miss Hightower.

KING: That number again -- and Jimmy, stay here in case we lose contact with others -- 877-524-44844. Let's go to Port-Au-Prince, Check in with our CNN correspondent Karl Penhall, who has been looking into Voodoo burials. What's that about, Karl?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really, there is a saying that goes something along the lines of Haitians are 80 percent Catholic, 50 percent Protestant and 100 percent Voodoo. Really, these African that beliefs that have come from at least slave times are enmeshed here with Catholic beliefs as well. And that was plain to me today, when I pulled up alongside the road, and some friends were burying a loved one. They dug the grave themselves and started to place the body in.

They were sprinkling sugar cane alcohol on the body. Each one who helped to dig the hole was dropping three hands of dirt in there. And they were saying that that was part of their belief, that they don't want to be the next ones. They said they don't want him to come next for them. They were referring to Baran Samdy (ph), the Voodoo spirit of the dead.

But certainly the Catholicism and the Voodoo enmeshed here, which makes for some complicated, but certainly interesting funeral rights, if you can call it that. Of course, whatever religion they are, underlying this is the sorrow and grief of losing friends, family, and other loved ones, Larry.

KING: We hear you had quite a time getting there, Karl.

PENHAUL: We certainly did. Normally, the trip from Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince -- we expected it to take about 5.5 hours. It took more than 12 hours today. There roads aren't in a bad state. They don't seem to have sustained damage. The bridges don't seem to have sustained any major damage en route to Port-Au-Prince.

There is a lot of traffic on the road, though. It is not aid traffic. I was expecting to see aid convoys flying along that route. But not at all. It's people trying to get in, a lot of journalists, a lot of other -- some rescue crews, but certainly not food and water, the things that are most needed.

And there, of course, is the Haitian border with the Dominican Republic -- you have got Dominican border guards. Their orders, they tell me, are to allow injured Haitians in, but certainly they will not let Haitians in who are refugees, who are the hungry, looking for something to eat, looking for something to drink. They're keeping them out of the country for now. But certainly tough times, Larry.

KING: Thanks, Karl. Karl Penhaul, and you'll be making that trip tomorrow morning. So be careful on the road.

JEAN-LOUIS: Yes, it's going to be a long trip but a happy trip. I'm going to be close to my loved ones.

KING: We've got a special event for you Monday night, a two-hour LARRY KING LIVE called "Haiti, How You Can Help." So many of you have given your time and money to the people of Haiti already, but their need will be great for a very long time. tune in, take part in lending a hand, Monday night, 8:00 to 10:00 Eastern, 5:00 to 7:00 Pacific. Mick Jagger, Colin Powell, Seal, Ringo Starr, Ashley Judd and others are all going to be here. Ryan Seacrest too. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joining us now from Washington, Frank and Jillian Thorp, survivors of the Haitian earthquake. Gillian was buried alive beneath rubble for many hours, trapped in the wreckage of the Italian -- of the Haitian headquarters of the mission for which she and Frank worked. Frank, how far away were you?

FRANK THORP, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I was about 100 miles north of Port-Au-Prince. I was doing research on a story up north in a region called Ahmsrouge (ph). The region doesn't have any cell phone reception or power. So we felt the earthquake up there. The ground beneath us bounced. But we didn't know it was so serious. We didn't know it had hit Port-Au-Prince hard until about two hours later.

KING: Then, of course, you drive frantically to reach Jillian. What happened to you, Jillian?

JILLIAN THORP, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: I was in a meeting with my coworker, Chuck, when the earthquake hit, and the ground started shaking. And I couldn't place what was going on. And I asked him what was going on, and he said it was an earthquake. We ducked underneath a door frame, and within 20 seconds, we were completely buried under and pinned.

KING: Frank, when you got there, how did you find Jillian?

F. THORP: I walked up to the house and the road the house was on was blocked. And the house had completely pancaked. It's a large concrete building, and the roof of the building had completely gone to the ground level. It was not -- I wasn't expecting that at all. And when I got there, I jumped onto the roof and Gillian's coworkers at Haitian Ministries, the Haitians -- the Haitian staff had dug a hole, broken a hole into the roof of the building. And I was able to go down and she was able to reach her hand up around what was blocking us from her, and to wave to us.

KING: And then she gets free. Are you hurt, Jillian?

J. THORP: I am -- miraculously have very few injuries. I have a couple lacerations on my leg and my lower back. But the doctors that I saw today said that within two weeks, I should be as good as new.

KING: We'll be checking back with you, Frank and Jillian Thorpe. Back to Port-Au-Prince and Bob Poff of the Salvation Army, the divisional director of disaster services. He was driving when the earthquake struck. What's the latest vis-a-vis the Salvation Army, Bob?

BOB POFF, SALVATION ARMY: Well, Larry, I'm pleased to tell you that our first teams from our international response team have arrived. They're on the ground and doing work already here in Port-Au-Prince. And tomorrow, our first planeload of food supplies arrive. And feeling pretty good about that tonight.

KING: Boy, I'll bet. Everybody working for the Army OK?

POFF: Everybody's doing fine, yes, sir. We've been able to account for all of our personnel.

KING: That's Bob Poff. We'll be checking periodically with him. He was with us the other night. Back to Port-Au-Prince and Elizabeth Cohen, who is CNN's senior medical correspondent, reporting from a field hospital. You describe doctors as being reduced to practicing civil war style medicine. What do you mean?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, what I mean is that they can't fully anesthetize people for things like amputations. Larry, today, I watched a woman have her foot amputated. It was on the side of the road. She was on a stretcher. There was no general anesthesia. She didn't have general anesthesia. She had a local anesthetic. She had some sedation. But it's, you know, horrifying to watch them amputate a foot while she's still awake and watching it.

KING: How did she -- well, what did she do?

COHEN: She just had to suffer through it. I mean, they could sedate her pretty well. But still she just had to suffer through it and I'm told she's doing quite well. But they're really operating on -- I saw the nurses sterilizing the equipment by just washing it in a big open pan of warm, soapy water. I mean, things are -- they're not even low- tech. They're no-tech here, Larry.

KING: We got about a minute left. What's the situation with orphans?

COHEN: The situation with orphans is so sad here, Larry. This is a hospital of about 200 beds and there are several orphans here. Now, as you can imagine, people can't get the attention they need here. There aren't enough doctors. There aren't enough nurses so that parents play a huge role when their kid is sick. But these kids have no parents. So when they're needing pain medication or anything else, people can't always get to them.

It is just heartbreaking. But I wanted to tell you that Alonzo Mourning, who was on your show earlier this evening, he has gone and played with these orphans, and it's been heartwarming to see that happen.

KING: He's a very special guy. Keep it up, Elizabeth. You're doing great work.

COHEN: Will do, thanks, Larry.

KING: Elizabeth Cohen. What a team we have out there, don't we? Look at the work they've done. Patti Austin is here. She's got a musical message for the people of Haiti. I promise it will move you, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Welcome back. Patty Austin is a Grammy-award winning artist, who, like everyone else, wants to do what she can for the people of Haiti. She's right here with us tonight to lift spirits, inspire hope, and generate goodwill for those who need it most.

Here's Patti Austin singing "Lean On Me." Patti?

(SINGING)

KING: Thank you, Patti. Terrific, Patti Austin.

"LARRY KING LIVE" is live on Saturday night. We'll also be back live Sunday night as well, to keep you up to date on what's going on in Haiti. And as we've told you, a big event Monday night, Seal, will.i.am, Colin Powell, Ryan Seacrest, Mick Jagger will help us, joining hands with the world, to help the people of Haiti. It's on at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific. Hope to see you then.

Right now, Anderson Cooper and "AC 360." Anderson?