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CNN Saturday Morning News
Doctors Leave Hospital, Haiti Quake Victims for Safety; Web Sites Relay Messages to and From Quake Victims
Aired January 16, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this January the 16th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. It's 7 a.m. here in Atlanta. The sun expected to rise on Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at 6:25 this morning. And we do appreciate you starting your day with us.
There's a whole lot of developing news out of Haiti to get you caught up on today.
HOLMES: Yes, we're certainly going to be dedicating a majority of our newscast this morning to the relief efforts on the ground. We also are going to be talking to Haitian Americans looking for loved ones, those who have also found some family members.
But we do want to get you caught up right now.
Now this could be, a lot of people are saying, the critical day so far for Haiti. Medical help for the injured as well as food for the hungry desperately needed. The latest for you now: The death toll still unknown. The United Nations secretary-general says -- quote -- "We cannot do more than guess at the total dead and injured."
Rescue efforts go on, but heavy equipment is needed across heavily damaged parts of Port-au-Prince. The Navy hospital ship Comfort sails for Haiti this morning, but still it's not expected to get there for another several days. It has a medical team of more than 500.
Now later this morning, the former presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, will join current President Obama to appeal for help in Haiti's recovery and rebuilding effort.
NGUYEN: All right. So new overnight, earthquake victims left behind by a medical team in Port-au-Prince. But not by choice.
The U.N. ordered a group of doctors and nurses out, citing security concerns near their field hospital.
HOLMES: Yes, the only doctor that was left was our Sanjay Gupta. He's been working throughout the night with more than two dozen patients.
Listen to him describe it all to Anderson Cooper last night. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a -- a remarkable situation, and a -- and a very frustrating one, for sure, Anderson.
There were these tents put up earlier today, something that people had been waiting for, for some time. You and I talked about this quite a bit.
Come with me over here to give you an idea of what's happening. So many of these patients have been waiting for so long to try and get care. Anderson, just coming around the corner here, you can see patients just lined up all through here.
Some of them did get care throughout the day today. In fact, about a couple hundred patients did get care. But now, what we're hearing is that, because of security concerns, all of the doctors, nurses, everyone is, in fact, packing their bags, and they're leaving.
Anderson, it's kind of dark out. I don't know if you can see over there, but trucks actually are going to be taking these doctors and nurses way.
What is so striking to me, as a physician, Anderson, and reporting the story for some time now, is that patients who just had surgery, patients who are critically ill, are essentially left being here, nobody to care for them. It's -- it's really just hard -- hard to believe what's happening right now.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How -- how bad can the security situation be? I mean, you were there last night past midnight.
GUPTA: I know.
And we, obviously, as you know, have our own security team with us, and they're doing assessments continuously. And Haiti is -- and Port-au-Prince in particular does have some levels of violence that we have been hearing about. Over the last couple of days, there's been concerns about a mob mentality. There have been concerns about looting.
I haven't seen any of these things with my own eyes, but apparently it was enough to -- to -- to have the U.N. essentially try and, I don't know, evacuate these doctors. And -and so many patients who have been waiting so long to get care are not going to get care. And patients who have just received, again, major operations on this operating table over here right behind me are -are essentially just being left here.
They have IVs hanging. Literally, one of the doctors came over to me a little while ago and said, here is where the IV bags are. Here's where the stethoscope is. We have to go.
And that's -- they have to go. And they -- I -- I don't think that they want to go, and I'm not trying to imply that at all. I think they want to stay and take care of their patients. But they are being told to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And again, this was the scene we saw playing out last evening.
Sanjay, meanwhile, as he's working there, he has been tweeting as well. It's one of the best ways to kind of get the information out about what we've been seeing there, and what he is exactly seeing there.
We're going to share with you a few that he did send to us. I will start here in chronological order, starting at 2:00 in the morning.
He is saying to us here, "At a field hospital. The U.N. evacuated the docs, but my crew stayed with me. Twenty-five patients injured badly, but we're making sure they get good care."
Then at 2:06, he sends another that says, "All my thanks, blessings and well wishes" to a couple of people he's naming here, "for sticking with me tonight here in the Haitian hospital."
Then at 3:45 a.m., Sanjay -- again, Sanjay stuck around here at this hospital after these doctors left. You're seeing video of those doctors piling up and leaving. But another tweet he sent out at 3:45 saying, "Pulling an all-nighter at the Haiti field hospital. Lots of work, all the patients stable. Turned my crew into a crack medical team tonight."
And then the final one he sent to us at 5:00, an update we got, and I'm going to read it right off my screen here, saying, "We lost all generator power. Sun will come up in about 30 minutes. Now confident we will get all these patients through the night."
So our Sanjay Gupta, again, certainly reporting for us, but also still his responsibility as a doctor, and a doctor first, to care for those patients. He has been at that hospital all night. We'll be hearing from a little later again this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes, and we want to hear from you today as well. So let us know. Hit us up on Twitter and Facebook and our blog. Let us know what you think about the situation in Haiti. Is the relief getting there quick enough? Is all being done to help the people of Haiti? Time is obviously running out for those searching for survivors.
In the meantime though, I want to get you quickly to the ground in Port-au-Prince and our Chris Lawrence.
Chris, it's been three and a half days since the quake struck Tuesday afternoon. How are things right now when it comes to not only getting the chaos calm, but also getting help, that much-needed relief and aid to those in need.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, that's what we were trying to figure out, exactly, you know, how does this aid get from these airplanes and these ships on the ground and then get out to some of these neighborhoods where the people need it the most.
We started the day yesterday at the airport. We were seeing pallets and pallets full of food, water, medical supplies, different things like that. We linked up with the World Food Programme, that's got a -- a big infrastructure here. They had been here well before -- for years before the earthquake hit. And we followed them as they picked up certain things.
Their big thing yesterday was trying to deliver two things. Water-purification tablets, so that people could take the water that they do have, drop the tablet in, stir it up, and that water would be sterilized and clean. They were also trying to give out these high- energy biscuits. They're -- they're easily digested. People don't have to necessarily cook them, you know, which is -- which is a big thing here, when people don't have that capacity.
But as we went out, as we started to ride with them, we found out how -- just how frustrated, how -- how angry some people can be, and some people are getting, after days and days just living on the street.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: We're in the back of a United Nations truck heading to the center of the city. You can see we're jammed in pretty tight, with a lot of the same supplies that the World Food Programme's going to be delivering to the people of Haiti.
You can take a look next to me. You can see some of the U.N. guards. It's going to be their job to try to keep some form of order so things don't get out of hand.
The truck's now made it here to the -- to the park near the presidential palace. A lot of people starting to push and shove their way, trying to get up to where the food is.
You can see a lot of the men pushing their way up. Haven't seen any of the women be able to get up here. It's swiftly getting a little chaotic here. They had to stop it. They start blowing their whistles and had to stop about it 10, 15 minutes ago. It just started back, but it seems to only be able to last for about five minutes before it starts getting out of hand again.
The thing that I'm noticing, too, is, like, there's a lot of small kids in there that are getting jammed up against other people, or they're just getting pushed out of the way entirely.
(voice-over): The World Food Programme is trying to distribute water-purification tablets and high-energy biscuits. The biscuits are vitamin-fortified and OK to eat. But a massive misunderstanding about the expiration date is causing people to refuse to eat them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's OK, it's good like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Not good.
LAWRENCE (on camera): What is wrong with the -- what is wrong with the biscuits? Why don't people want to eat them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bad. It's bad (ph).
LAWRENCE: What's happening is they're confusing the date that it was -- that it was packaged on, which was 2008, with the expiration date, which is November 2010. I know it's hard to see, but he's basically yelling and telling people, "Do not accept these biscuits because they're no good."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are very concerned, but the biscuits are very good. They're OK.
LAWRENCE: But you can see everybody's following the truck, but there it goes. They're trying to even just hold on to the back of it, but it's pulling away. A lot of people ended up with nothing, but I don't know if you can still see. They're running after the truck trying to get it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: And so basically two happened there, both of them incredibly frustrating.
One, because a couple people misread a label, they yelled at other people, and they -- they -- they got other people to believe that -- that the food was no good. This -- these are good biscuits; they're fine to eat. And we saw people throwing on the ground, stepping on them, angry, thinking they were being handed food that was two years old.
The other thing was, because people starting pushing and shoving, -- mainly just a few people at first, who just kind of pushed the crowd up there, they had to close the flap. And at one point, they were just handing it out through a little slit in the flap. And even that had to be closed.
And then people were reaching through the flap into the truck. And because people pushed so hard, that truck had to leave. And I -- I got to tell you, I saw it loaded up. They had to have half -- or more than half a truck full of supplies left in there, which means a lot of people on the ground didn't get the food, the water, that they could have gotten -- Betty.
NGUYEN: That is so unfortunate, because the situation is very desperate there.
And let me ask you this, when it comes to that chaos and that confusion, is any kind of order being established? Is the Haitian government working to establish that, the U.S. military, someone?
LAWRENCE: Well, I think that's the big question. Obviously, you saw the -- the armed U.N. security guards there. I think those guys were from Nepal.
On one hand, you have to give them credit in that they don't overreact to that situation. You know, they blew whistles, they moved people out of the way. But -- but it's a (AUDIO GAP) very fine line between perhaps being too much and -- and hurting people in the crowd and provoking something.
I -- I don't know exactly where that line is. That's a -- that's a judgment call on the ground by -- by the security teams. But obviously, if you could get (INAUDIBLE) funneled into more of a line (ph), having larger, perhaps police (ph), military presence there, I think maybe you could streamline that. I mean -- I mean, you're looking at a -- a truck with -- with -- I mean, you could see up there. I mean, you saw armed U.N. security guards, and -- and that crowd still got out of hand.
NGUYEN: Right, it still seemed a bit of a free-for-all until the confusion set in, and people started tossing the biscuits away and just destroying them, essentially.
All right. Chris Lawrence, great reporting from there. Of course, we'll be speaking with you again shortly. Thank you for that.
And you at home can help as well. All you have to do is log on to our Web site at CNN.com/impactyourworld. There, you will find a list of agencies providing emergency relief. You'll also see a "Find Your Loved Ones" module, with the State Department's toll-free number on it, and a link to the iReport "Looking for Loved Ones" photo gallery. There, you can see the different faces the names, the information of people that are still missing after the quake.
Well, our Reynolds Wolf is also following the weather in Haiti. And he joins us live.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, guys, the weather conditions there are basically what you'd expect for this time of year, and that doesn't make it easy for the people who are suffering down there. We're talking about high temperatures into the 90s, nighttime lows dropping back into the 70s.
But when you think about people who -- who are there on that island nation, and they're dealing with temperatures that are going to be into those 90s and people without fresh water -- I mean, the situation is just absolutely dire. There's a chance they may have some stray showers later on today.
Certainly nothing's that's going to cause a flooding situation. But still, high temperatures expected to be in that 90-degree range through the weekend, maybe cooling down a little bit into the upper 80s by the middle of next week.
Back to you.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you for that, Reynolds.
HOLMES: All right. And all of us, we've been watching over the past several days, there are some good news to report. People in Haiti using our camera crews that are on the ground to tell loved ones that they're OK.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jeff, your last name is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moussa (ph).
TUCHMAN: Jeff lives here in Haiti, Jeff Moussa.
Your mom and dad's name?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Evelyn Moussa (ph) and John-Shar Kayla (ph).
TUCHMAN: OK, so if any of you -- or, if they're watching, or if any of you know them in Miami, your son is alive and well.
Well, joining us now is Jean-Max Desou (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm alive, thanks to God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Eve Jandry (ph). I want to send message to my sister living in Brooklyn. I'm here. I'm safe. I want to let everybody know that everything is OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: All right. A big part of the story is, a lot of family members trying to find their missing loved ones in Haiti. Right now, it's just too difficult to try to get a hold of anybody there.
NGUYEN: It -- it's so hard because of cell-phone communication is sketchy at that. And then, you know, just trying to get to a computer and -- and let someone know via e-mail -- well, that's difficult as well.
Josh Levs is sorting through all of this online. And Josh, there are hundreds of thousands, in fact, people looking for missing loved ones.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All over the world, yes.
And we've been working on this throughout the night. In fact, you're seeing next to me here new pictures of -- of people, just some of the thousands of photos that have been pouring into us at iReport. We're going to show you how iReport is helping some people locate their loved ones.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Let's take a look at our top stories this morning. In Port-au-Prince, a group of injured people left behind without much medical help. The entire medical staff abandoned at a field hospital, taking their medical supplies with them. United Nations officials ordered this evacuation, citing security concerns nearby.
Now, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent, has been the only doctor there through the night. Less than three hours ago, he sent this message: "Pulling an all-night in Haiti at a field hospital there. Lots of work, but all patients stable. Turned my crew into a crack medical team tonight."
But he also filed another tweet this morning at 5:00 a.m., saying that the generator went out. But they are getting everyone stable in that situation. So we'll continue to follow it for you.
HOLMES: Officials in Yemen say air raids have killed six operatives with al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula. That's the group that claims responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day plane bombing. Officials believe the group's military commander among the dead. He was the intended target of those raids.
Three other dangerous operatives are also believed to have been killed.
NGUYEN: Much of the earthquake has focused on Port-au-Prince, but this is some of the first footage from Jacmel, which is a cultural hub in Haiti. This was shot by students at the Cine Institute, which is a film school there. And you can see survivors lying in the streets, buildings ripped open. Jacmel is about 24 miles south of the capital.
HOLMES: We, of course, in Haiti, have been seeing some stories -- some uplifting stories of people who have been pulled from rubble, people who have survived, including the story we are going to bring you of a baby that was rescued. And it was all caught on tape.
NGUYEN: Yes, the story behind what it took to save this little girl is pretty remarkable.
But first though, some emotional and heartbreaking images of Haiti from "Time" magazine. These photos can be found at time.com.
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(END VIDEO CLIP)
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NGUYEN: Well, CNN iReport has now received more than 5,000 submissions from people searching for their loved ones.
HOLMES: Yes, Josh Levs here to show us now how people in Haiti are using the Web to send out word that they are alive.
Good morning to you, Josh.
LEVS: Good morning to you guys.
This is such a huge story, and such a huge part of what's going on, that the teams have been working throughout the night. I'm going to be here throughout the entire day today, following this.
And as you guys just said, more than 5,000 now. So the numbers grew even further.
I'm at the CNN International Desk, and what I want to do now is show you all what we're talking about, and how you can access this, if you're looking for anyone you know in Haiti.
Let's zoom into this screen behind me right here. We're leaving the links on the main page for you. So you got CNN.com right here. And underneath it, in little letters, you have something here that says, "Looking For Loved Ones," and another one that says, "I'm Alive." So what it does -- "Looking For Loved Ones" brings you to this page right here, which is filled with photos from people who have submit -- sent in their photos, saying, 'I'm looking for my sister, my cousin, my aunt or someone I work with, whoever it is.'
We now have 439 pages, which totals more than 5,200 photos that have been sent in. If you're looking for someone, you can type in a name there, and you can search for that person.
Let's take a video here that shows just some of the latest photos that we've been getting here at iReport. And again, it's just coming in throughout the night. You were just seeing some of these. Each has an accompanying story. And in each case, people are saying the last place that they knew the person to be in Haiti, which city, what they were up to, other people they knew, other people who might be contacting them.
And what's so significant here is that even amidst all the destruction in Haiti, people are still getting online, and they're actually using iReport.com from there. So what we've been doing is, we've been getting as many iReports from there as possible, and we have been telling people, 'Look, here are some examples of people who have made it.'
Let's zoom back into this screen here. The page that says, "I'm Alive" now has -- here it is. This is "I'm Alive: Messages From Haiti." What you see are more and more people submitting videos saying, 'Here I am. I am -- I'm alive.'
And if you look here at how many are listed as "found" on our iReport, we have 56 pages now of people who have been found, apparently. So that's about 500 people of those who have been submitted on iReport. And we're also posting videos for you of people saying, 'Here I am. I'm OK. I'm alive.'
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), especially my sister, that we OK in Haiti.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to let you know that all my family's OK. So about my daddy, my brother -- my brothers, my sisters, everyone is OK. We have no problem. We all right.
(IEND VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: A couple examples there.
Now, there are also other Web sites that are doing something similar, and we link you to those as well.
For the last time, let's zoom back in here. I want to show you one more thing, because you should use iReport if you're looking for someone. We also link you to "Family Links" from the International Red Cross. And we link you to another Web page where people are posting information.
Obviously, if you have someone you're worried about, using as many of these sites as possible is the way to go. And it's all linked for you. You don't need to memorize anything; you don't need to write anything down. It's all right there for you, at CNN.com, which as you know, is the place for you to get a lot of information right now, in the wake of all this.
Including "Impact Your World." If you want to know how you can help, just go to CNN.com or go to CNN.com/impact. And of course, along with it, you will see all sorts of agencies that are providing relief in the region.
You will also see the link to what I was just talking to you about, iReport, "Looking for Loved Ones," the photo gallery. Keep your stories, your photos, your videos coming.
Betty and T.J., we are going to be manning this throughout the day, hopefully getting some more good news.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's such a great resource. And also on that site, there is a search key for those who have already been found.
LEVS: Exactly.
NGUYEN: So for those still looking for loved ones, you may want to click the "Found" button there.
LEVS: So true (ph).
NGUYEN: So that you can see if indeed your family members has been found.
LEVS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Thank you so much for that, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you. You got it.
NGUYEN: OK, so more help from the American military is on the way to Haiti today. A medical team aboard a Navy ship is leaving this morning.
Here is a live look at that ship. It's the USNS Comfort. It is leaving today for Haiti. Should get there in the next few days. Of course, we're going to bring you a live report a little bit later this morning.
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NGUYEN: Well good morning, everybody and welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could start your day here with us. We want to check on the top stories we are keeping an eye on this morning.
We start in Port-au-Prince. As we saw this really a heartbreaking situation, where a group of injured people were left without medical help. The entire U.N. medical staff left a field hospital last night and they took their medical supplies with them. The United Nations officials ordered that evacuation, citing security concerns nearby.
Our Doctor Sanjay Gupta has been the only doctor that's been with them throughout the night. Just a couple of hours ago, he sent out a message. He has been Tweeting and he put this message out, saying was "Pulling an all-nighter at Haiti field hospital, lots of work. But all patients stable. Turned my crew into a crack med team tonight."
We also got an update from him just a short while ago, saying that all the patients again, are stable. He lost generator power, but it appears that all those patients were going to make it through the night.
NGUYEN: That is definitely good news.
Well, in other news around the world, Yemen says targeted air raids in the northern part of the country have killed six Al Qaeda leaders. The dead include the military commander of the group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That's the group that has claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day plane bombing. HOLMES: Also on Haiti front again, the Pan-American Health Organization urging international aid teams arriving in Haiti to be self-sufficient. That means they need to have their own food, water, supplies, even ladders to get off the planes. Officials say Haiti's services are already stretched and can't support additional needs.
NGUYEN: We've talked a lot this morning about the critical need for medical care in Haiti. The U.S. Navy is sending help in the form of the USNS Comfort, it is a fully stock and staffed floating hospital. But it won't get there until later this week. CNN's Sandra Endo joins me live from Baltimore, Maryland, where the Comfort has been docked.
Sandra, Haiti's first lady specifically asked for the U.S. to send this hospital ship on Tuesday right after the quake hit. Why is it just now leaving?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well that's a good question, Betty. Because it takes a couple of days, from what we understand, to fully stock this ship with supplies needed for the long journey and its mission is to really save lives and treat the injured of so many people down in Haiti who really need the help.
The medical care, as you mentioned, that they need after this devastating earthquake. Now, this hospital ship is huge. It's three football fields long; one football field wide. Take a look inside. We had a chance to go on board. And it has 250 hospital beds. A 550- personnel medical team, which includes trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, obstetricians and gynecologists as well.
It is carrying a full stock of medical supplies and medication, that so many Haitians need right now. They have enough supply of food and water to last more than 45 days on this ship as well. So, clearly, much-needed relief for a lot of people down in Haiti.
Now the personnel is made up of Navy, Army and Air Force personnel, along with other agencies. And right now, I'm joined by Navy Commander Cappy Surette.
Thank you so much for your time this morning. Tell me about the challenges your team will be facing when you get down to Haiti after leaving this morning.
CMDR. J.A. CAPPY SURETTE: The this ship that I'm standing in front of, the USNS Comfort, it's important to understand, that we know Haiti. This ship deployed to Haiti and the Caribbean last year. We're familiar with it. There were some challenges there, then. There's more now. We're facing certain, tremendous calamity of huge proportions.
We're expecting a lot of people needing the care that our teams can provide when they get on station. This ship behind us can provide everything from, as you were talking about, trauma care to burn units to pediatrics, dentistry. What the people of Haiti need -- we can help provide. ENDO: The need is so great there, though. How many patients will you be seeing a day and what kind of services will you be providing?
SURETTE: We're going to be ready to answer all, all bells from what the, our leaders down at the joint task force and in southern command are going to require of us. And what the people of Haiti need. A lot of that is going to develop you know, in probably we'll have a better idea as we get closer.
The ship, the ship we know is too big to get into Haiti. In fact, this ship behind us, if it was ashore, it would be the largest hospital in Maryland. It's going to be, it's going to stay afloat. But we'll start bringing the people who need care out via helicopter, via small boat, big boat.
ENDO: How many patients are we talking about, though?
SURETTE: We'll see when we get down there. The situation will become more clear after we get under way. Our main task is to get the capability off the pier today and get it down to Haiti, to provide the care they desperately need.
ENDO: You mentioned all the patients will be taken on board the ship. Will medical supplies be taken onshore as well?
SURETTE: This has a fly-away capability, it does. So in fact, 250 beds, that's a starting point. It's actually can grow to 1,000 beds. You know, this has all the hospital care that anything, a normal hospital would have in the States. So since so many of the hospitals have been destroyed down there, this is bringing the capability that the people of Haiti desperately need.
ENDO: Commander Surette, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Again, this ship will be off the dock soon and it will arrive in Haiti later this week.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: All right, much-need help on the way. Sandra, thank you for that we'll be checking in with you as well throughout the morning.
HOLMES: Well, aid is starting to arrive. One of the biggest problems for the people of Haiti right now is finding drinkable water, our Jonathan Mann, standing by live for us in Port-au-Prince.
Jonathan, good morning to you. People can survive a few days, it is one thing to go without food. But you really can't go that long without water.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, you can't go without water. And if you're homeless here, that means there is no water essentially to be had. Think of it, T.J., 750,000 people, according to the Ministry of Civil Protection's estimate are still homeless after the earthquake. And they're forming tent cities around the city.
Basically, Port-au-Prince is a series of rubble-strewn debris, buildings still standing, but people for the most part, out in the open, getting by as best they can. Just behind me, you'll see some of those people, they've spent three or four nights since the earthquake out in the open.
Those people, in particular, have told us about how precious water is. Some of them have it, some of them are sharing what they have, some of them simply don't. So what do you do if you're out, if you've got family, if you've got children what do you do with no water?
Well, the people of Port-au-Prince have themselves been moved by the plight of so many of their neighbors going without. We are staying actually in a hotel that is courageously managing to keep functioning and has actually offered, this is where it comes down to. The 82 Airborne is in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Navy is off the coast.
But a private businessman has simply put a hose, like a garden hose out the door, and that's where people here are getting their water. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANN (On camera): In the best of times, Haiti has an epidemic of waterborne diseases, this is not a country where people find it easy to find clean drinking water. And on a day like today, it's not a country where it is easy to water of any kind, especially for these people. Most of these people, here, are homeless right now. They are staying across the street in the plaza that we have been watching through so many of our broadcasts.
With the first light of day, the plaza begins to empty out. People go about the business, the routines that they might still have, even after the earthquake. And chief among them -- is the business, the routine of finding water.
Now you'll notice an intriguing thing. One thing hasn't changed about Haiti -- so many of the people who are coming here are women and children, still doing the traditional woman's work of finding the water. And they're crowding around a hose that is their only supply of drinking water for the day.
These people haven't gotten any government help. They're sleeping outside. They're running out of food. And only the generosity of a Haitian-owned hotel is allowing them to have drinking water from a single hose that they line up for patiently and try to use.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: So what you're looking at now are the lucky people of Haiti, these are the survivors, these are people who are bathing themselves on available water. They are brushing their teeth. They're basically trying to lead lives out in the open air. We haven't seen the kind of anger and frustration that's frightened some of the aid workers and disrupted the aid work, because there's been so little of that kind of feeling here.
Though, there has been as well, so little of that kind of aid. These people are on their own for the most part, getting by with each other, with what they have. With the small amounts of water that they still have. The extraordinary thing is, is that we are just -- we're a three-minute walk from the presidential palace.
We're in the very center of Port-au-Prince . We're in the -- well it would be like the National Mall, if we're at the White House or being in Red Square looking at the Kremlin. This is the very center of the Haitian capital. There's no sign of the Haitian government, and there's no sign of all the international aid that's promised to these people. And so, drinking water? They've got a hose, T.J.
HOLMES: That is heartbreaking to watch. Jonathan, we appreciate you. Thank you so much. For giving us those pictures and giving us an idea. And as Jonathan is saying there, you don't see any sign of any kind of relief or anything getting in. But so much of it is sitting on the tarmac, essentially sitting there at the airport. They just can't get it out.
Again, Jonathan, thank you, we'll check in with you again. Stay here with CNN for the updates on the Haiti earthquake and the relief efforts. You can log onto our web site at CNN.com/impactyourworld. There you'll find a list of agencies providing emergency relief and you'll see a link to our iReport, looking for loved ones' photo gallery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A gruesome discovery was made Friday and a sign of how desperate Haitians are to deal with the death and the crumbling of their country. Please be aware that some of the images that you're about to see may be disturbing.
CNN crews found this: mass graves serving as possibly the final resting place for many earthquake victims. Bulldozers and dump trucks are being used to move bodies off the streets. The Haitian government estimates more than 50,000 people were killed. But that number could double after an official count is taken.
HOLMES: Much of the earthquake coverage has focus on the capital of Port-au-Prince. But these are some of the first images we're seeing from Jacmel, that is a cultural hub in Haiti. This video was taken for us by a student at the Senee Institute, that is a film school there. Survivors, similar to the scenes we've been seeing in Port-au-Prince, though, lying in the streets, buildings ripped open, Jacmel is about 24 miles south of Port-au-Prince.
NGUYEN: Officials in Yemen say air raids have killed six operatives with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That is a group that's claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas-Day plane bombing. Officials believe the group's military commander is among the dead. He was the intended target of the raids.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So despite all the destruction we have seen, there are some incredible stories of courage and survival.
HOLMES: With only the faint cries of a baby to guide them, and time running out, our Anderson Cooper shows us how one man took matters into his own hands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: For those who have given up hope, for those who think there's nothing but horror, we learned a lesson in the power of faith.
In the ruins of a neighborhood, where a hillside collapsed, a TV crew from Australia witnessed what no one would have believed. They're told a baby girl is under the rubble. She's alive. And you can hear the child's faint cries. She's been trapped for 68 hours, no food, no water, alone and scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's been there all of these days without eating, she's weak.
COOPER: Concerned, the rescue efforts are taking too long, a man from the Dominican Republic, working with the TV crew, jumps into the concrete hole.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think you can get close enough to the baby?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to try.
COOPER: To get to her, he crawls over dead bodies, and finally manages to pull her out of it all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get some water!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water, water, water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get some water!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, baby. Here, baby. Here, baby.
COOPER: It takes just 30 minutes, 30 minutes to save a little girl's life. Her name is Winnie. She's just 18 months old. Covered in dust, she's stunned, but seems uninjured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to get a doctor.
COOPER: They give her water and put her in her uncle's arms. They're the last two survivors from this now-broken home. Winnie's parents are dead. Her uncle's pregnant wife is also now gone. "She's OK, she's lucky", one person says, and in spite of it all, that certainly seems true. A little survivor, an awful lot of joy, there are people still living against all the odds. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Just so very tragic, but just a small glimmer of hope in that search for survival. And each time you find someone that hope continues. And gosh, time is ticking and they're up against the clock.
HOLMES: That's one front, trying to rescue those under rubble. But the fight now is to keep people alive. People who survived just fine, many of them without a scratch on them, they now have to still worry about dying in the aftermath. Because they can't get food, they can't get water. You have disease you have to worry about as well.
NGUYEN: They can't get medical help.
HOLMES: So we've got two fronts still going on there.
NGUYEN: All right. Well the kids already in an orphanage that you're looking at right now. When that orphanage collapsed, now they are sleeping outside. And many of them are being adopted by American families. But the process is in limbo, because the paperwork needed for passports and visas lies in buildings that have been destroyed.
HOLMES: We've been showing you, as often the case, our Doctor Sanjay Gupta, whenever there's a crisis somewhere in the world, he's always there to help cover the story. And with his medical expertise certainly comes in handy. But you have to remember, he is a doctor first. He's a correspondent second.
So no surprise that he helped out a medical group, or helped out quite frankly when that medical group had to pull out. He stayed behind and you're just seeing some of the pictures. This is what Doctor Sanjay Gupta spent the night doing.
NGUYEN: He worked overnight at a U.N. field hospital with several dozen patients, he is the only doctor there. Why did everyone leave? That's what we're asking this morning. He's going to join us live to talk about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well time is of the essence right now in Haiti. Experts, and ordinary folks alike, struggling to reach survivors under mounds of rubble.
NGUYEN: CNN's Ivan Watson got a firsthand look at some of these rescues. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sarah, can you hear me!
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rescue workers call out to a woman trapped under rubble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll tell you exactly what room number is and you'll know exactly where you're at.
WATSON: This is all that's left of what was once the posh five- storey Montana Hotel. A place frequented by foreigners and diplomats. Professional rescue teams have started arriving here from Chile, France and the U.S. David Barlow of Fairfax, Virginia, say his squad made contact with a woman named Sarah, trapped somewhere near what was the hotel bar.
DAVID BARLOW, RESCUE SQUAD LEADER: She indicated to us she was just trapped, she wasn't pinned by anything, there was nothing actually holding her down. She was trapped in a void and that she was OK. So it's just a matter of us getting to her.
WATSON: How critical is this period right now for people like this woman?
BARLOW: Obviously, the first 24-48 hours is critical, after any incident.
WATSON: But professional rescue workers are hard to find elsewhere in devastated Port-au-Prince. All too often, ordinary Haitians have to pull survivors out of the rubble by themselves.
At the ruins of a government office Thursday morning, a team of volunteers pulled out two men, injured but alive, 36 hours after the quake.
"The main gate fell on us," this survivor says. "A cinder block fell on my head, my arm and leg are broken."
The rescue team here consists of local residents; volunteers with no emergency training. Everywhere you go in this city, desperate Haitians are asking for help.
(On camera): She's telling me that she's a single mother, with one daughter. And the daughter is trapped here right now. She's talking and there's nobody out here to help her.
(Voice over): At this house, we found 11-year-old Anaika Salube (ph). For two days, her right leg has been pinned under a metal bar; a neighbor with a hacksaw struggling to cut her free.
(CHILD CRYING OUT)
WATSON: Thursday afternoon, she was terrified and in pain. But also, eating and drinking water. To save Anaika (ph), the volunteers say all they need is an electric saw.
(On camera): And a few hours later, volunteers succeed in cutting little Anaika (ph) free. She escaped the death trap, but her ordeal is far from over. She now has to find medical treatment for her badly injured leg in a city where the hospitals are simply overwhelmed.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Port-au-Prince.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: CNN has learned that that 11-year-old girl, Ivan Watson just showed in the piece died the next day as a result of her injuries. First aid station she was rushed to lacked the proper equipment to treat her leg properly. Her uncle says her last words were, "Mother, don't let me die."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for Saturday, January 16th. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for joining us. It is 7:00 a.m. here in Atlanta and 4:00 a.m. Pacific. We do appreciate you starting your day with us.
There's a lot of developing news out of Haiti this morning that we definitely want to get you caught up on.
HOLMES: We'll be dedicating most of our coverage this morning to the relief efforts there on the ground. We'll also be talking to Haitian-Americans who are looking for loved ones. Also those who have found family members as well.
NGUYEN: This could be a critical day for Haiti. Medical help for the injured as well as food for the hungry, all of that is just so desperately needed. Here is the latest: The death toll, that is still unknown.
The United Nations secretary-general says, quote, "We cannot do more than guess at the total dead and injured."
Rescue efforts (AUDIO BREAK) but heavy equipment is needed across heavily-damaged Port-au-Prince. The Navy hospital ship, Comfort, sails for Haiti this morning. It has a medical team of more than 500 professionals.
And later this morning, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush join President Obama to appeal for help in Haiti's recovery and rebuilding effort.
But there is fear and uncertainty this morning in Port-au-Prince. The entire medical staff at one field hospital abandoned it overnight, about five hours ago, taking their medical supplies with them. United Nations officials ordered the evacuation over security concerns.
HOLMES: And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta was there. He did stay through the night. He's been giving us some updates via tweeting over the night. This is some of those pictures.
Here's a live one I do believe now. Sanjay Gupta is getting ready for his show. He's going to be coming up at the bottom of the hour. Of course, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." airs here every weekend at 7:30. But a special one this weekend we're going to be showing you.
Now, again, this was the scene or this is same place where those doctors left last night. There's a community worker that we're seeing right now. It appears and they guess that many of them would be coming back this morning, even though some of those officials left last night.
Again, the story is that the U.N. ordered their medical staff out of this area because there was a threat that there may be riots and there could be some violence there. So they pulled them out.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, however, stayed throughout the night, continued to treat several patients there who did have some serious medical issues and essentially, that he had no medical equipment to use to help them out.
And again, this is a live picture. You can see there's a back- and-forth going on.
I'm not sure -- guys, can we bring this up and see what this conversation is possibly?
(PEOPLE TALKING FRENCH)
HOLMES: Oh, we can't translate the French here obviously. But -- still, we can't translate the French. But, again, the woman there on the right, who's a community worker, who is clearly upset last night about the U.N. group of medical staff leaving, we're going to be hearing from Sanjay Gupta here in a second.
But take a listen to what some of the reporting was from him overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: All the doctors, all the nurses, everybody.
SANDRA PIERRE, COMMUNITY WORKER: All the doctors, all the nurses are gone. They are expected to be back tomorrow. They were not -- they had no plan on leaving tonight. It's an order that came suddenly. Not even 10 minutes ago and they had to follow orders.
GUPTA: And they took so many of their supplies. They've left me with nothing.
PIERRE: They took most of the supplies with them. They were not prepared. They had come with the intention of staying all night and for the next 10 days. However, the order came and right at this minute, they had to follow the orders that they had received.
GUPTA: Doctors, I think they wanted to stay, but they had no choice here.
PIERRE: The doctors wanted to stay. They were aware of the situation.
GUPTA: So, what happens to the patients?
PIERRE: At this time, we don't have any Haitian doctors. We do not have any Haitian nurse. We were not warned about it. We told that we're going to have some coverage for the night. Unfortunately, we are left with the patients.
GUPTA: What happens?
PIERRE: I guess, Dr. Gupta, it's just you. And we have an American soldier, retired, who came here from Santa Domingo to help. And it's just...
GUPTA: It's just me and him.
PIERRE: It's just you, him, and the national reference lab.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Just a desperate situation there.
Dr. Gupta, as we've been mentioning, stayed overnight. Basically rounding up his CNN crew and engaging them into helping those that were in need. We understand that everyone is stable. But around 5:00 this morning, he did send a tweet saying that the generator went down. But they were still working around the clock. They have not slept at all.
Here's his update saying that "we lost generator power, sun will come up in about 30 minutes, now confident we will get all of these patients through the night."
And, of course, we're going to be speaking live with Dr. Gupta in less than 30 minutes from now and assess the situation there once we get a chance to speak with him.
But, you know, up until just a few hours ago, Retired Army Lieutenant-General Russel Honore thought he had seen it all.
HOLMES: Yes. Of course, you know the name. You know the face. He oversaw the relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, knows -- the three-star general also that's heading up the U.S. military response there in Haiti. He joins us right now after spending most of the night, of course, on phone calls and also doing some reporting here for us.
Glad you can be here. I want to -- I want to address this thing first. How do you balance, General, the security of the staff there, the doctors, with the work they need to do? When you see them and see that they had to leave, do you just find that unconscionable? Or do you actually have to protect your people at some level?
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well you have to protect your people. But you, during search and rescue and saving lives, saving lives and doing rescue trumps security. There's a notion, as it was in New Orleans, at the opening days of Katrina, that word about rioting. There were no riots. We talked about snipers, there were no snipers.
You've got to throw caution to the wind. People have to adapt and overcome. Just like Sanjay did, adapt and overcome, kept those people alive. And there's a risk associated with missions. We can't be leaning so much towards security that we allow people to die.
And bless Dr. Gupta and his team for staying there. We were able to contact Southern Command and spoke to the watch officer. And they know where Dr. Gupta is. He's located at Delmas 33. It's an open field next to the University Hospital. They know that.
They're working with the U.N. to try to get that resolved through the night.
NGUYEN: Well, let me ask you about that response, whether it be the U.N. or the U.S. military. Is that coming in fast enough? Because a lot of people will say, you know, the journalists can get in there, why can't the aid get in there?
HONORE: Look, I know these warriors. They're soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines down there. They're chomping at the bit to get in there. I can tell you, those sailors on the Carl Vinson, when they saw that report, they want to go. It's a coordination that's required.
Now that the U.S. military is there, along with the U.N. command, which has the authority in that area where Dr. Gupta is, throughout that area for security -- I can tell you from contacts I made last night, and information I'm receiving on my email, the troops are ready to go, they best unleash the United States military and let them get in there and provide more airplanes to get them.
Look, four days after Katrina, we had over 200 helicopters in New Orleans. Now, Haiti is a lot further away. You have to take all of that into consideration. But it's going to take a lot of helicopters.
They're going to have to embrace the Haitian people to clear drop zones, so the helicopters can land, and they're going to have to work hard to get the communications in there. And that's what those ground troops from the 82nd will bring because they have radios with them. They'll be able to increase the communications between the U.N. forces and the U.S. ground forces and help weave the communication with those Good Samaritans on the ground and the doctors that have flown in from all over the world.
NGUYEN: But when do you expect that will start?
HONORE: Hopefully today. We should see some more flow from the 82nd Airborne today and, hopefully, they'll tweak that up and move the rest of that brigade in there because what they'll bring is communications. They will allow the desperate areas of that area to communicate and hopefully, they'll bring more headquarter units in because you need people on all points of this disaster, all sides of it because you can't transit it on the streets until they get the streets open.
HOLMES: And we want to remind viewers what we're seeing up on the screen. This is a live picture of that hospital we're talking about, where the doctors had to leave, the medical staff last night that was ordered out. They are arriving again this morning.
Again, they were pulled out. The U.N. pulled their medical team out of this particular area, citing security issues. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, however, stayed overnight with his news crew, actually, and turned them into doctors and nurses and kept those people alive overnight.
But on this front, they're getting people medical help, General Honore, is a big deal. We have another picture we can show of this USNS Comfort that a lot of people are hearing. All right, this big medical ship that has 500 medical personnel, 250 beds, is still sitting in Baltimore right now.
Now, a lot of people -- most of us -- just don't realize, a lot of viewers wondering, well, why we knew this would happen. This was Tuesday's earthquake happened. Why didn't this thing just hit the road, if you will?
Explain to people why this stakes sometime and still take them a few more days to get there. And still might be a few more days after that before they actually start treating people.
HONORE: Operative word: hospital ship. That is kept in a warm state with a small crew on it, all of the doctors and nurses and technicians that are required, the Navy will pull them from hospitals throughout the United States and it's come at a great burden but one that they're willing to do.
But with the earthquake, with no warning, and hurricanes, we have two or three days, they can get them ready, they start moving the doctors. This is not unusual. And this is one of those things that you wish you could make it happen overnight. But it takes that time.
And this is old ship, it doesn't move that fast. But when it gets there, it will make a big difference.
The question one might ask is: we know for a fact that the Cubans have a medical brigade called the Henry Medical Brigade. Why the U.N. haven't engaged Cuba about bringing that brigade in of 2,500 doctors and nurses who can make an immediate difference?
The U.N. helped support them, they went to Pakistan. They have done great work at many of the significant disasters in the last few years. The question is: if the U.N. is going to engage Cuba and bring them in, with that Henry Reeve Medical Brigade, that could make a significant difference right now.
NGUYEN: Yes. There's a lot of questions, a lot of time in play here. But the immediate need. There's been talk of maybe parachuting in, not even parachuting, but dropping, say, body bags and things like that, so that people can get what they need right now to help the situation on the ground. Is that even feasible?
HONORE: You know, some safety officer told them probably not a good idea to drop stuff. They've got to throw caution to the wind. They've got to take some risks. And they've got to adapt and overcome.
I would suspect in the next 24 or 36 hours, you will start seeing parachute drops of critical things because you can't get them to the places they want. They're going to have to get a lot more helicopters in theater that they have right now to operate off the Vinson.
NGUYEN: So, not only body bags but food as well?
HONORE: Absolutely. You can do it all. You can do it (INAUDIBLE) in good weather. People can see it coming down. And yet, it will not be an organized distribution.
NGUYEN: No.
HONORE: But any food and water is better than no food and water. Worry about safety and worry about risk of it falling on someone. You do this on the day time, those things come down and doing the edge of the city where there's not much population. Working with the U.N. forces, that should be done.
HOLMES: We're getting to the point, you've got to do what you got to do. And we might start seeing that like you said.
General Honore, it's so good to have you and your expertise. I know you're going to be here with CNN throughout the day. So, we'll be talking to you plenty.
HONORE: I'm telling you, the capabilities of XVIII Airborne Corps with the logistics.
HOLMES: Yes.
HONORE: And the airborne capability they've got, we just got to get it moving. It's no criticism of the military. We need to let the military go and let them do their job.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Yes, the need is so great at this point.
General, thank you so much.
HOLMES: Thanks so much, General.
NGUYEN: We'll be talking with you shortly.
And you can help, too. You can log on to our Web site, at CNN.com/ImpactYourWorld. There, you will find a list of agencies providing emergency relief. You'll also see a "find your loved ones" module with the State Department's toll-free number and a link to the iReport "Looking for Loved Ones" photo gallery.
HOLMES: A lot of people are looking for loved ones, a lot of people in Haiti trying to get word and a lot of people here in the States and around the world are trying to get word about their loved ones in Haiti, using any methods they can find, including our camera crews.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MATTHEW ALEXANDER UKASIM (ph), EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: This is Matthew Alexander Ukasim, your father still have life. And your cousin (INAUDIBLE), she's got a cut in her face and her hands break. But I'm still have a life.
OLIVER JEAN-PHILIPPE (ph), EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: My name is Oliver Jean-Philippe and I would like to say to everybody that I'm living at FMC, all of my friends, those who are in New York, that my family is all alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is (INAUDIBLE) David. We are here at (INAUDIBLE) right now. Me and family, we are alive.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Desperation and frustration in Haiti. It's now been more than three days since the earthquake struck.
HOLMES: And we're covering all the angles for you there. Our correspondents are in Haiti and elsewhere. Chris Lawrence is in Port- au-Prince for us. He was caught in the middle of a near-riot over some food. We'll be checking with him.
Sandra Endo is in Baltimore where a U.S. Navy hospital ship is preparing to leave at any moment.
And our Suzanne Malveaux is in Washington for us, where President Obama has asked for help raising money and awareness for the relief efforts.
Good morning to you all.
But we do want to start with Chris Lawrence who is on the ground in Haiti.
Chris, good morning to you again. And you are getting that view of what is becoming an increasingly desperate situation. People looking for the essentials -- that includes food and water.
LAWRENCE: Yes, T.J. Early morning, already another hot, sweltering day, where tens if not hundreds of thousands are going to be living outside again, trying to scavenge whatever food and water they can get. A lot of local businesses that have been able to reopen are pitching in, starting to put out hoses, offering free water, where people can bring up buckets and get it.
We've seen a few water trucks around. People are waiting in line.
But some of the distribution isn't going quite so smoothly. I was in the middle of it yesterday, where, literally, a few people started pushing and it just swept through the crowd, where all of a sudden, everybody was crammed up against the truck, reaching inside the truck, grabbing food. Some of the stronger people are taking it away from the weaker people. Women, some of the children, jammed up against the edges.
So again, I think there's an urgent need for some security to sort of coordinate and handle all of this distribution.
ENDO: I'm Sandra Endo here in front of the U.S. navy ship named the Comfort. And final preparations are under way to get the ship from the dock here in Baltimore and make its way down to Haiti.
Now, this floating hospital is enormous. It's three football fields long; one football field wide.
And take a look inside. We were able to go on board, where they have 250 hospital beds; a 550-person medical team with medical supplies and medicine necessary for the people who desperately need it in Haiti. And they're expecting to treat about 500 patients a day once the ship gets to Haiti.
It will take a couple of days for the journey to get down to the island nation. But we're expecting is the ship to get there later this week.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. This is where former Presidents Bill Clinton, as well as George W. Bush will be here on familiar ground. They're going to be meeting with President Obama at the White House, the Oval Office at 10:30.
Now, as you know, Clinton is already the U.N. special envoy to Haiti. But President Obama picked up the phone on Wednesday night, calling Bush, asking him if he would be a part of the humanitarian effort for these leaders to come together and do an international humanitarian project together.
Now, this is Obama taking a page from former President Bush. It was Bush, if you may recall, who actually asked Bill Clinton and his father, George H.W. Bush to participate in a humanitarian project, after the Indonesian tsunami, as well as Hurricane Katrina.
All three of these leaders are going to get together today and they're really focusing on trying to raise money and awareness from private citizens and investors when it comes to the long-term, beyond the emergency money, how to invest in Haiti -- the people, their education, as well as their well-being and their health care for the future.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
NGUYEN: All right. We thank you all.
And we have many more correspondents covering the story for you. This is just a fraction of the stories that CNN is bringing to you. So definitely stay with us throughout the morning. HOLMES: So many of you out there want to help. You want to give to an organization that you think is the best way to go. But you're not sure which one.
Josh Levs is here to make sure you're not getting taken advantage of.
Good morning, again, Josh.
LEVS: Good morning to you, guys.
The FBI has sent out a warning about this, about contributing to charities for Haiti. Beware of some scams that are out there. There are a few key steps that you should follow to give safely.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A lot of money has been pouring in to charities to help the people of Haiti. But the FBI is now warning about fake charities who have set up scans.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Our Josh Levs is here with that part of the story.
All right. Tell us what we need to know.
LEVS: Yes. I'm going to talk you guys through some steps.
First of all, you're right about huge amounts of money coming in. According to Philanthropy.com, it's now about $100 million. So, a lot of these relief agencies have pulled in. In a sense, that's a drop in the bucket though. The U.N. alone is trying to raise $560 million for Haiti. But still, $100 million in this short of time, pretty big.
The key here is to not get taken advantage of. Come with me for a second. This is CNN.com's "Impact" site. I'm going to tell you more about it on how to give to charity.
But this is one of the stories we link you to. FBI warning of Haiti earthquake scams. The FBI is saying there are people out there trying to take advantage of you right now, trying to take advantage of your good intentions. There are fake emails. There are fake Facebook messages, pretending to be charities.
So, there are few key steps you should follow. Let's go to this graphics. I'm going to talk you through a few basics.
First of all, any time you're looking at a charity, especially if it's one you're not familiar with, ask for their phone number, ask for their mailing address. Double-check it and then check for their registration. And in order to figure out what that means, I'll show you in a second how to check the registries.
There are also some things you should definitely not do, on the next screen. A few don'ts for you -- do not give any personal financial information, a legitimate charity is not going to need to know your bank account. Don't donate cash. You want to be able to track what happens with a check or credit card donation you give.
Also, if you receive an email, even if it looks like it's from a legitimate agency, do not open the attachments. There are some people out there pretending to be with legitimate agencies, giving you these attachments that could mess up your computer big-time. So, follow those.
Now, here's the easy way to know what you can trust. Let's go back to the screen to "Impact." I'm going to show you something here.
"Impact Your World," what we do, CNN.com/Impact, is we link you to tons of legitimate agencies. You don't need to see these words here. Just know that every single line is a legitimate agency that's been vetted, that's watched by something called Charity Navigator that shows you what happens to your money.
And here are just a few examples -- Mercy Corps is one of them. Operation Blessing is another one. World Relief is another one. Just a few examples of what we're linking you to here at "Impact Your World."
So, guys, this is a safe way to give, knowing that you can trust these agencies.
HOLMES: All right. Everybody is worried about all of this money, Josh. How long does it take? Once you hit the -- some people have been sending text messages to donate money and sending money in...
NGUYEN: Online.
HOLMES: Whatever they do...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: ... how long does it take to actually get and actually turn into something on the ground?
LEVS: Yes, you know what? That's interesting because it takes -- it can take three months. The Red Cross is saying...
NGUYEN: Really?
LEVS: Yes. Like for your text that you send in money to the Red Cross, it will take about three months in a lot of cases for that money to turn into money on the ground. But they're also trying to let people know that doesn't mean they're not acting now. What they're doing is, for Red Cross for example, they're taking money out of their reservoir and they're using it right now and they'll replenish it with your the text, the money that you've sent in through texts.
So, yes, in some cases, your contributions take a while, but the agencies are saying, "We're still acting right away."
Also, they are looking ahead. They're making plans for a month, six months, even a year -- just a few examples.
Now, let me just let you know all this information is here at your online resource for all of this. CNN.com is, of course, the place you can go to get all the latest about this, about "Impact Your World," which we were taking a look at.
And also, you will see a link to our iReport that we're talking to you throughout the day about. Looking for loved ones, finding out if they're OK. All the sites are right there on CNN.com/Haiti. We'll get you where you need to go.
Betty and T.J., back to you.
NGUYEN: All right. That's some really good information there, Josh. Thank you for that.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Well, several doctors at a field hospital in Haiti were forced to leave because of security concerns. But our Dr. Sanjay Gupta stayed behind.
NGUYEN: Yes. He worked all through the night, treating dozens of patients. We have his story next.
"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right after this break.
