Transcripts For CNN CNN Tonight 20100115
cnn.com/impact. it's called impact your world. a lot of organizations are listed there. we have links, you can make a chartable contribution, you can volunteer, you can get involved as you should right now. lives are literally at stake right now in haiti. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. our news continues right now on cnn tonight. tonight, millions of earthquake survivors face a third terrifying night in the streets of haiti. and a desperate shortage of water, food and medicine. >> in this, your hour of greatest need, america stands with you. the world stands with you. >> rescue teams from all over the world search furiously for victims trapped in the rubble. and the u.s. pledges $100 million in aid and dispatches 5700 troops. the aircraft carrier, carl vincent, expected to arrive tomorrow. >> good evening, everyone. tonight 50 hours after tuesday's massive earthquake in haiti, the international response is gaining momentum. there is still no power or water in much of port-au-prince and no heavy earth-moving machinery is there yet. but rescue teams from all over the world have arrived to help dig out survivors. the number of dead is still not known but could be higher than 100,000. with as many as 3 million people injured, hungry and homeless. but i have to tell you that even within this horrific devastation, we are seeing miracles, and they will undoubtedly pull at your heartstrings. our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, brings us one of them. >> walking through the streets of port-au-prince right now to get a real idea of what things are like here. it is very low in the way of resources, very low in the promise of help. a 15-day-old baby, some sort of head injury. they're begging for a doctor. >> dr. sanjay gupta. can you tell me what happened? >> the house collapsed. the mother died. >> how has she been? >> she's moving both of her arms. that's a good sign. she's moving both of her legs. look through there again, see if we have any more gauze. >> there's some big gauze. i can cut it down. she has a pretty significant laceration here. what i need to make sure is that she doesn't have a skull fracture underneath. the good news is i don't think she does. so that's good. this is okay. no skull fracture underneath here. she's got a big laceration underneath her skull, but she is moving all four extremities. hi, sweetie. hi, sweetie. hi. how old is she? >> 15 days. >> she's going to need some antibiotics, and we're going to need to redress this wound. let's go ahead and do that. so this is what's happening out here in port-au-prince. a 15-day-old baby who was in the earthqua earthquake. so she has no skull fracture. she does have a big laceration and will need antibiotics, but she does not appear to have a head injury. i think she's going to be okay. she's sucking her thumb. she's good. she could get some antibiotics. we'll try and find some. >> isn't that incredible? susan candiotti has also been following the search and rescue missions. she joins us live from port-au-prince. susan, i know you saw that piece that sanjay gupta brought to us tending to that 15-day-old child. it brings tears to everybody's eyes, and we're seeing a lot of those remarkable miracles within all of this. >> we are, and not only that, those that show that strong sense of per severance from people. for example, the hotel that brought its hose out so people could fill up their containers to get a bit of fresh water that they haven't had in a hellish couple days. other people have rolled steel beds down the street, and on top of this, an injured man, probably trying to find him some kind of medical help. but a scene i will remember most this day, a man who had been pinned underneath the wreckage of a five-story schoolhouse. he had been there for 46 hours, and his family members were using chisels and a blow torch, at times torching his skin, trying to free one of his legs and his hands that were pinned underneath the wreckage. finally, even though they burned him and he was screaming out in agony, he was free, and they pulled him out alive. they were able to save his hand, we think. a group of people pulling him out and rushing to get him some medical help. again, this shows the strong sense of spirit as people try to help themselves until that international aid starts really pouring in. kyra? >> that is remarkable. you would expect nothing less from your own people and your friends and your family to try and save your life, but we are finally seeing more rescue teams from around the world trickle in, right? have you seen any of those teams arrive tonight, any more? >> well, i've not seen any more. of course, we were caught up very much with this rescue today, but reportedly, that is beginning to happen. and, of course, will happen more and more. and that will bring along with it the expertise that is oftentimes needed to perhaps move these rescues along a little faster. look how long it took to get this one individual out. it doesn't guarantee that things will move along more quickly, but certainly with more people out there, more dogs to help with the search, it should make a difficult experience somewhat better. >> susan candiotti, thanks so much. i want to warn you that some of this video you're about to see is going to be pretty tough to watch. it shows us the quake as it struck tuesday evening. first of all, a surveillance camera along a haitian road c capturing violent shaking, panicked people running, and you'll see huge clouds of dust in the distance as the buildings on the hillside started to collapse. in this cnn exclusive video, anxiety and confusion in the streets immediately after the earth stopped shaking. you can see a thick, dusty haze in the air from shattered buildings, and people running, some dazed, some pretty calm, others with bloody wounds as survivors tried to rescue people from the buildings. as if that wasn't enough, just listen to the voices. >> and the first ship to bring help to those desperate voices, the u.s. coast guard cutter forward. the forward, based in guantanamo bay, was steaming for haiti hours after the quake and got there early yesterday. the ship's commanding officer, commander diane durham, is on the phone with me now. commander, as soon as you pulled into port, what were your first thoughts, what did you see, how did it strike you? >> upon arrival in port-au-prince bay, we were amazed at the massive destruction of almost every building. we immediately noticed that the piers had collapsed into the water and the cranes had toppled over, and as we looked at the top of the hill, we saw that almost every single building either had structural damage or was completely demolished. the biggest thing we did see on the landscape was the cathedral with the spires had collapsed. >> and you were the first ship to get there. what was the response like? was it difficult to keep things calm? sort of give us a feel for what it was like for the people there to see the first signs of help. >> well, as we arrived in the harbor, we had a group of individuals, they were gathered in the shade, they were gathered in the soccer fields, wherever they could come together as a group to get away from the building, because we had repeated aftershocks. and we sent some of our crew where there were building little tent cities, whatever shelter they could put up, trying to help each other as best they can, providing medical assistance with limited suppl s supplies, and there was something we felt caused them to respond to the situation. they have, however, been responding with help. we've been providing as much food and water as we can, and today people received things. >> i can just imagine. this is everything you've trained for and now you're there commanding some pretty amazing sailors. thank you for calling in. it means a lot to us. even tonight, we still have very little information on the 40 to 45,000 americans in haiti. we do know that one u.s. embassy employee was among those killed, and about 400 americans have been airlifted out of the quake zone. jill dougherty, joining us now from the state room. >> today it turned quite personal, because the first american confirmed dead in this earthquake promises to be one of their own. her name is victoria delong. she was a dult k cultural affairs officer. long way from the state bpt as a and the people we talked to said she was really one of the best that they've had. meenl while, here on the sernt floor as we've been reporting, is really the brain dancer want to get together a bunch of airline praltd -- relief rescue operation. they're working 24 hype 77 and creating some of the -- the updates that we got from, kyra, 250 aid workers on the ground, but that is definitely going to grow. there are eight super, super natural on the road mighty jump out at when i people come to them as quickly as possible. also, the u.s. is correlating with ng orngss from around the world. then on the american side, it's okay. that the major evacuated up to about 4 on 0. they also evacuated seven americans who were injured and they went to gaunt, the naval air base there. they're saying there aren't a whole number of americans that live in haiti, a lot of them want to leave but they can't because they're helping so much. >> people around the world are responding to the critical scene in haiti. the united states has given $1 billion for emergency relief. china, spain, britain and iran are some of more than a dozen countries supplying relief supplies to haiti right now. president obama pledged $1 million in aid, saying this is one of the those moments that calls for real leadership. dan? >> the president trying to show that the u.s. the aid, and to show americans who are on the ground and that they can be airlifted. tends to get frequent updates as long as his american girl, talking to french president sarcozy. we are told by the official that he had made many attempts, but this obviously shows you what the condition is like on the ground? this $180 million that the president was pleased with the pace of the effort to this boy. he said the president is pleased, but he keeps stressing to his staff, the time is of the utmost importance to this administration. we heard the president speak tonight as he was speaking to house members on capitol hill. >> i just want everybody in the house of representatives to understand, this is a moment for american leadership. this is a time when the world looks to us, and they say, given our capacity, given our unique capacity to project power around the world that we have to protect not just for our own interests but to the instance. the team understands that i will not put up with any excuses for us to do our very best in this time of fraj did i. >> president obama has tapped former president george w. bush, to assist in the humanitarian effort and fund raising. this is much like the older bush in 2004. kyra? >> this disaster was hitting close to home as well when referring to the address, doesn't it? >> those house members on capitol hill, his director of plon if he r's sfishlz. people still have several family members that are missing and he added that the priest who basketball tiesed him when he was a baby. so this hitting close to home right here in the height house. >> we just heard from the commander of the coast guard cutter forward on the scene in haiti. still ahead, live with the coast guard's efforts of the rescue under way right now. thing as taking a chance? as having to decide to go for it? at the hartford, we help businesses of all kinds... feel confident doing what they do best. by protecting your business, your property, your people. you've counted on us for 200 years. let's embrace tomorrow. and with the hartford behind you, achieve what's ahead of you. ♪ as many as 5500 u.s. infantry soldiers or marines will be on the ground in haiti or on shore by monday. the u.s. coast guard, which received some high-level praise from the state department today. >> our coast guard has been unbelievable. they got there first, as you might guess, being in the area. we've got the 82nd airborne and other military assets coming in. we had a military team reopen the airport so we can start to handle the big, heavy planes. there is an enormous amount of work going on. i'm very proud of our response, we're grateful for the international response, but i think we have a long way ahead of us. >> the u.s. coast guard commander, the man behind this praise has been working around the clock to help the haitian people. admiral, it must have been quite an honor to hear hillary clinton praise the coast guard as you were the first asset into haiti. >> we certainly appreciated the secretary's remarks and we were very fortunate to have someone in the area. our units are dispersed around the united states and can flow rather quickly. ultimately we need the back-up of the larger d.o.d. forces, but in this case we were able to be very responsive. >> and i know how you are, because i watched you in action during katrina. how did you devise your plan of action? you knew you were going to have the first cutter in there. how did you organize that? >> well, basically, it was done through our seventh district commander, admiral>>steve: >> bro -- steve brown in miami and pat. we had the cutter in there at first light at port-au-prince, to help with their traffic control, bring some supplies in, and we have a fourth cutter off of haiti right now. >> i saw how quickly you responded, saw these assets get in there immediately, but already critics are saying, what took the military so long? and i'm talking about other assets that are about to come in, even comparing this to the katrina response, citing the frustration with bureaucracy. how complicated is it, admiral torques bring our military into another sovereign nation? >> i don't think it's an issue of the military in a sovereign nation, it's the issue of the type of equipment, the access. i think what everybody needs to understand is the port in port-au-prince is completely destroyed and i ws unable to accommodate shipping. then you have just one single airport for the entire country, so the apertures by which equipment and supplies can flow is very, very small, and something to bring to bear is very, very large and that requires a lot of coordination, and that is going on. >> talking about coordination, there has also been a lot of chaos, and you helped bring in coordination to quell that. ain't lot of people realize the coast guard has swat teams. i saw them in action during the war, i saw them in katrina. security. what have you been able to provide on that aspect, not only to provide coast guard assets but also the haitians as some lawlessness has come to surface? >> well, the security we're providing right now is basically for our own units, kyra. the security forces brought in is the 82nd airborne and there will be more forces flowed in. in fact, that was what was used in katrina. >> final question. i know how katrina affected you and generoal russell. is this hard? were you looking at this and thinking, wow, a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. >> kyra, i think the biggest difference in this response is we're not dealing with the state and local government, and frankly, the stafford act exhibited by fema. we already have a u.n. mission down there that has been very effective in the past, and i think the focus of the response here needs to be how do we support the u.n. mission and how do we bring all the elements of national power together to support the ambassador in his role of working to represent the united states in haiti? that is probably the major difference in the two responses. >> we're already seeing the difference in how your men and women are helping people and were the first there. once again, i want to point that out. admiral allen, thank you for your time. >> thank you, kyra. >> coming up, a lot of horror and a lot of hope in haiti. we'll have the relief and rescue attempts, straight ahead. you know why i sell tools? 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(announcer) priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. an incredible number of donations flowing into haiti now. the state department tells us that at 7:00 p.m. eastern the total donations received for haiti is $5.9 million. if you'd like to contribute, you can text 90999. it's pretty amazing. families here in the u.s. are desperate to hear whether their loved ones have survived the devastation. lisa sylvester has that story for us now. >> reporter: they are newlyweds. chris bellzor and his wife married just four months ago. he was here at their home in maryland. now he's gathered with his sister and mother, waiting for any word about his wife, but the communication system in haiti is down. >> this not knowing, it's like your mind is just getting big and big and big and we don't know what to do right now. >> belzore is a member of americans in action. volunteers are working the phones to get donations from the community. >> we need everything for babies, anything ready to eat. >> among those traveling to haiti is independent video producer joseph boise, who was born there. he hopes to bring back unique images, a plea to the world for help. >> this story, it hits you personally. your mother, you don't know where she is? >> as of now, no. we've been trying to call since 6:00 yesterday, and we don't know where she's at. >> reporter: the pictures of the agony and devastation from haiti are heartbreaking and the president of the group doesn't know what it will be like when he's actually on the ground. >> yes, it's hard. we have to do something and we need to stand together as haitians for once to look at this healing opportunity and do something for our people back home. >> and the group, and this is really a small grass roots effort. they left this morning from puerto rico, but they do acknowledge it's going to be very difficult, but they still feel that they have to do everything they can to try to bring some relief. kyra? >> thank you so much. tonight a dramatic story unfolding in haiti. for every life, every second counts. you'll see afternon incredible under way right now to save a little girl. tion that's perfect for your needs. we'll close your loan at your own house if you want. you don't have to come to us. we'll come to you. my cell phone's always on. if you need me, i'm here for you. every client. every time. - no exceptions. - no excuses. that's what we're all about. - and that's why i love... - i love... i love being a home loan expert. ♪ (announcer) take your time to find the right time with cialis for daily use... a clinically proven, low-dose tablet for erectile dysfunction you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. 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[ male announcer ] every business day, bank of america lends nearly $3 billion dollars to individuals, institutions, schools, organizations and businesses in every corner of the economy. ♪ america. growing stronger. every day. ♪ tonight a rescue in progress. we've been following it for hours right now. it took two days for rescue teams to trickle in after haiti's monster quake made it nearly impossible to get in and get working. now the clock is ticking and rescuers from around the world are hoping to find signs of life. our ivan watson is waiting and watching one dramatic rescue effort right now to save a little girl. >> right behind me, and you can hear her voice sometimes, is an 11-year-old girl. she's pinned underneath this rubble, and the volunteers here are snaking through a hose right now to get her some drinking water. she's about ten feet away, and you can see the braids of this little girl's hair. i talked with her, she is wearing glasses and she's crying. she's in a lot of pain right now and she's terribly scared. this little girl -- it's kind of heartbreaking to hear this, because she's pinned there. her right leg is underneath the concrete, and her hands are free and her leg is free, and she's talking to us. they're trying to give her some drinking water right now. they've given her some food already. they only discovered her today, two days after the earthquake. they think there are several dozen other people trapped under the rubble that probably did not survive. they're desperately trying to figure out how to get her out. they're thinking of trying to cut her leg. they have anesthetics, but they don't have blood to help her if they have to cut her leg to get her out. so they just don't know what to do right now. we've seen other cases like this today and it's pretty heartbreaking. >> ivan also tells us the volunteers you saw right there say all they needed was an electric saw and a generator to power it so they could cut the girl free. well, somehow, in all the chaos, they found one, but the little girl remained trapped. ivan is trying to get an update right now for us. we're going to keep you apprised of any new information as it comes in. help is on its way. aid groups from across the world now in haiti trying to feverishly deliver food, water, medicine, all the basics to those in need. but with the country's infrastructure in tatters, getting those supplies in the hands of survivors is still an uphill battle. chris is live in port-au-prince with the very latest. chris? >> we got some real clarification, and i think it plays to that incredible report you just heard there from ivan. when we were talking to usaid at the airport today, we asked them about some of the criticism they received because some felt the humanitarian aid wasn't coming in fast enough. they said the priority was getting the search and rescue teams here on the ground first, and that until the haitian government said there was no use in looking for survivors, that would be their priority. so that's why earlier in the day, mostly what we saw was search and rescue teams. in fact, the usaid representative told us it was some of the bomb-sniffing dogs that came in earlier that pointed them to a hotel where they had four people trapped in the hotel and they were able to make contact with them and then to start a rescue. they said wouithout those dogs d without the team, that wouldn't have been possible. as to aid, definitely as we just left about an hour ago, you could see the changeover start to take place. we were seeing more supplies start to come in. the airport there handles about 25 to 30 flights a day on a normal day. by 3:30 in the afternoon, they had already handled twice that many today. so there is a space issue. it's a sicngle runway. there is only so much space they have there. that's why earlier in the day, a lot of planes were forced to circle the airport. they could not land because the planes already on the ground just had not cleared in time to make space for yet another plane on the runway. the to hother way to get supplin is obviously through the port. we were there early in the morning and could see the problems there as well. they were telling us there were serious concerns about the structural integrity of the pier there. normally ships would just pull up right at the end. they offload these huge pieces of cargo, load it right on a truck and the truck would just drive right off that pier into the streets ask gnd get that ai. but i can tell you the road there just off the pier is buckled about five feet high, almost as tall as i can. there is no way for trucks to even get to the pier. we talked to one man from a shipping company who had three ships ready to go filled with food and water but he has no way to offload that into po port-au-prince. so getting the aid here to haiti is one hurdle. offloading it and actually getting it out to the neighborhoods where people need it most, that is a second hurdle indeed, kyra. >> chris, i have a bit of a personal question for you. we heard from susan candiotti, sanjay gupta, ivan watson, and they've been telling these stories they say they'll never forget and there is a person or moment they've talked about. what has been that moment for you thus far? >> well, i think one of them was literally just about 30 minutes ago as we were driving back. we stopped for a while because we saw these piles of bodies, and there were teams out there, and they had dump trucks and they had bulldozers, and the men with gloves were taking the bodies and they were tossing them into the bulldozers, into the shovel part, and as three or four bodies got in there, they would then dump them into the dump trucks, and we saw one dump truck that looked to be full already speeding away. and to just see and to be up close and to see the blood on the gloves of these men, the work that it's going to take to move some of these bodies out of there, and to see people walk by and just shake their heads when they look at these bodies piled up, in the manner in which, really, they have to be taken off the street because of health concerns for the people who still live here. >> wow. and you want to respectfully deal with the dead, and it's just so hard when there is so much going on. chris lawrence, thank you. well, coming up, the dramatic story unfolding this hour. we're talking about reaching out to the missing. we're going to tell you about the best way to find out how to locate a loved one in the quake zone. coming up. cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? 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(announcer) don't wait. talk to your doctor about aricept. untold numbers of people are still missing and many are feared dead or trapped in the rubble. meantime, travel restrictions and downed phone lines have left families in the states and around the world frantic for news of their loved ones. and so far the internet has been their best bet. rosemary church with the very latest. you can try and get in touch with their loved ones. rosemary, how is it work and go has it proved beneficial for families? >> kyra, i want to you take a look because cnn is encouraging people who are missing their loved ones to go to ireport.com. on this side you can see already per page, there is 256 pages so far, 12 people per page, so that gives you an idea of the number of people missing. and these are heartbreaking stories. i want to just draw your attention to this one, this young boy is shawn pierre antoine. he is missing. he's two years old. he went with his aunt to haiti for a visit. he is now missing. his mother, who is pregnant, has basically hichdriched a ride wi supply plane. she is on the ground in haiti desperately searching for her little boy. these are difficult stories to tell. the 12-year-old girl, her mother put up her story, and her mother had come across to the united states many occasions, so that is a heartbreaking story, too. let's just bring out some vision. this is from untv, if we can just bring that up. that gives you an idea. it's a drive through the streets of port-au-prince. can we bring out that vision? we're actually trying to find that. i want to talk to you about some calls we're receiving here at cnn. we've had two calls today from a woman whose family are buried under the rubble. they are sending text messages at this point, trying to get someone to help. they've given their location, and the brother of this woman has said that he cannot hold on any longer. he has lost his daughter. these are really tough stories to tell, and it is hard and they're trying to get the word out so people can try and get them some information on these people still missing. >> you know, rosemary, whether here in the states or in haiti, it's affecting all of us even if we aren't there on the ground and there's stories like this. >> indeed. >> rosemary, thanks. whether you're searching for your loved ones or just want to stay informed, cnn on line as you covered. just go to cnn.com/haiti for the latest news on the ground and c cnn.com/impact. i want to update you on a story we brought you just a few minutes ago about a rescue in process. our ivan watson joining us live. what's the latelatest, ivan? we've been holding onto tremendous hope. >> some good news. we just spoke with the uncle of this little girl, and he says they broke her out of that trap a little bit more than an hour ago. they managed to get that generator, a little generator we saw them bring in going, and run an electric saw to cut the iron beam that was pinning her right leg, and they rushed her to a first aid center. they say that she is crying, she's in a lot of pain. her leg very badly wounded and now she's going to be transferred to a more sophisticated medical facility, they say possibly as far as three hours drive from port-au-prince to treat this little 11-year-old girl. one additional fact we've learned just now from this urng he wi -- uncle, her father is believed to be in the united states right now. for the time being, that little girl has escaped from that death drop that had the bodies of at least 25 other relatives and neighbors, and now hopefully she is getting some good treatment. >> i hope her dad can see this story if he's here in the u.s., ivan. and this was tough for you as well. you were listening to her for hours when these guys were trying to figure out what to do. >> it was pretty awful, and i'd climb in to talk to her, and as the rescuers would try to saw with a hacksaw through this iron, she reached out and she grabbed my hand and asked for water. and we poured some water in her mouth, we gave her some granola, and this brave littles gi girl, just can't imagine the kind of conditions she was endurg there. her left shoulder was injured as well. the people who were working to save her amid other putrefying korpsz there and improvising on the spot. these are not doctors, these are not firemen, they have no training whatsoever. they are neighbors, relatives that are just going in underneath huge slabs of concrete that are unstable. there are periodic aftershocks, working to free a little girl, and after hours and hours, after sunset, they did manage to set her free. these people really are heroes, kyra. >> i agree with you and it's beautiful to see the miracles coming about. ivan watson, amazing reporting. thank you so much. coming up, the dazed and injured people of haiti wait for help to arrive. we'll have the latest on the rush to get more aid into that place. desperately need doctors. that's what we keep hearing out of haiti in the disaster there after the quake. medicine and doctors and rescuers, all trying to head to haiti right now. and dr. garzon is one of them, a member of california's urban search and rescue team. also joining me, senior director, international response of programs at the american red cross. thank you for joining me. doctor, let's start with you. you're a doctor. you are heading that way. we have heard, i mean, for the last 50 hours we desperately need doctors. medical help, to tend to these people as we rescue them. what are you going to be able to offer? >> well, i do have experience with our national urban search and rescue system but i'm actually going with relief international, ngo based in los angeles. we're really going to run medical teams and provide medical care to those affected by the earthquake. >> what are the medical teams going to do, what are they going to be able to do and how quickly can they mobilize? >> well, the relief international medical teams usually start out small. we're going three of us to begin with and enough medical supplies with us that we can set up shop and start working right away. then over the course of a few days we will add personnel and equipment so we can be sort of a full-running service with tents where we can deliver more sophisticated care. >> will you be able to do surgeries? i mean, how -- how sophisticated will you be able to go forward? >> we don't expect to be able to do surgeries. we may have -- we have emergency physicians who are going. in that capacity we can take care of fractures, fairly extensive wounds. we can do the kinds of treatments that don't require an operating room. broken bones, treating infected wounds, doing large lacerations, treating some basic crushed syndrome and crush injury. and then all the other types of illnesses we may see there. >> than buzzard, what's been the biggest challenge, the biggest obstacle? i know you have red cross folks already there. are they okay? have they been able to get right into action? >> they have gotten into action. but we are still very much suffering from the enormous logistical challenges of working in this environment. i cannot stress enough the inverse relationship between the scale of this disaster and the weakness of this infrastructure and at the moment kind of vacuum of coordination due to the scale of harm that's been done both to the government, u.n., and other agencies that would normally be leading this effort. the red cross is on the ground. we're looking at a lot of innovative ways of making land and sea and air bridges just like many aid agencies and it will start pouring in, but these logistics are at the crunch right now. >> and, nan, you know, in such a chaotic situation, how do you even begin to organize efforts, because there are, as we heard dr. garzon mention, there are so many people to communicate with and try to facilitate with when it comes to using your assets as quickly and effectively as possible. where do you even begin? >> you begin in stages. so for us it's about having our staff coordinate with each other. coordinating with the other red cross members of our large movement in circles, coordinating with our local counterparts, with the u.n., with other aid agencies, with the military, with the local authorities when they're available. so you do it in stages and circles. >> and a lot of people, as you can imagine, on a regular basis, throughout the day, throughout the night, they want to know how to help. i want you both to be able to chime in on this. you've got a number of efforts going from each side here. dr. garzon, what can people do to help support you and the medical teams you're going in with? >> well, first of all, i think anybody that has experience doing some of this work, whether it was katrina or whether some other overseas work they've done, peace corps, that kind of thing, if they're open and available they can always volunteer and the other big thing is that these relief agencies need money to do the work that they do. so donations would be very important. >> nan buzard, what about you? >> for us it's complicated because we're working throughout an entire international system in which we have relief coordinated through an 186 member red cross red crescent network. there are rooms for volunteers but for the most part have experienced relief workers already on the ground. for the most part we're looking for funds. we're working with some donations in kind. really right now we're trying to fix the logistical problem to move the aid as fastly and quickly and appropriately as possible. >> i salute your efforts. thanks so much for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. the might mare is haiti is far from over. some say it's only just the beginning. here's a look at some of the images over just the last 24 hours. ♪ ♪ ♪