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To help overwhelmed hospitals there. and they would not be leaving if the death toll at least in the capital was on the scale of what it was 11 years ago. but well get a definitive answer in the coming days. >> ed augustine joining us from havana. thank you. joining me, the founder and executive director of the haitian bring alliance and managing editor of "the haitian times." we know search and rescue missions are under way. how have those been going so far? >> weve seen them have -- theyve bee...

Officials updating the death toll to 304, all killed by this mornings massive 7.2-magnitude earthquake. close to 2,000 injured. with an unknown number missing rescue crews are searching for survivors. the death toll feared to go higher, not to mention a tropical storm is in the forecast. nbc is tracking the latest from havana. ed, are there concerns this could be worse than 2010 earthquake? >> reporter: earlier this morning when we had the breaking news that this earthquake on the richter scale ...

Well get right to it. thanks,tive. tiff. good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. its high noon in the east, 9:00 out west. im lindsey reiser. a 7.2 earthquake has hit off the coast of haiti, more powerful than the one that devastated the island in 2010. it happened earlier this morning, about eight miles offshore, about 100 miles southwest of the capital of port-au-prince. reports of damage are coming in with some homes reduced to rubble as that area deals with aftershocks as well ...

Tropical storm is in the forecast. nbc is tracking the latest from havana. ed, are there concerns this could be worse than 2010 earthquake? >> reporter: earlier this morning when we had the breaking news that this earthquake on the richter scale was bigger, people were very, very worried. but as the day has passed, thank goodness, those worries have diminished. of course this is a deadly earthquake, we have 304 people already confirmed dead. as you say, that figure is likely to go far, far highe...

Good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to "alex witt reports." im lindsey reiser. breaking news out of haiti, the prime minister confirming in the last hour people have died after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit just off the coast of the caribbean this morning. now, the exact number of fatalities is still unknown. but we want to show you a look at the damage here. this is near the site of the quake. people in jamaica reportedly felt the tremors. that was from a distance of ab...

Were more than 12 hours after the earthquake, and the number right now is at 300. and i think the main reason that the impression were getting is that this hasnt been so cataclysmic as the terrible earthquake 11 years ago is port prince. its densely populated. this happened further to the southwest in a rural area. a did benefit of the doubt evidence suggests it the hasnt been so deadly, is that throughout the day over 50 doctors from the general hospital in port prince, which is the biggest hos...

About. ed, well seen you soon. joining me, william heck of the u.s. geological survey. we talked about the quake being bigger than in 2010. does that necessarily mean more destruction? >> reporter: thats a really good question. we detected it as an earthquake larger in magnitude than we saw in 2010. its about 100 kilometers away from the 2010 earthquake. what we worry about is not just the size of the earthquake but how shallow it is because that controls how much shaking occurred and how close ...

In the following days, we can only hope that its not as terrible as what happened 11 years ago. but well be reporting on this today, following it throughout the day and keeping you up to date. >> what else are you hearing from your friend, ed? has your friend been able to look around and survey the damage? and how is your friend doing? >> reporter: he was okay. hes a cameraman, and being a freelancer cameraman in haiti, youve got to be pretty tough. he even told me, i was surprised to hear, he w...

Good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to "alex witt reports." here is what is happening at 2:00 p.m. eastern, 11:00 a.m. pacific. we will start with breaking news. at least 29 people were killed and multiple hurt in that 7.2 magnitude earthquake off the coast of haiti this morning. just last hour the prime minister declaring a state of emergency, the quake happening about eight miles offshore, about 100 miles southwest of the capital port-au-prince. lets go straight to nbcs...

Protesters and activists vo fd in the sweeping demonstrations that happened only ten days ago. marco rubio joined my colleague andrea mitchell just before sanctions were announced. here is a part of his reaction. >> this will be welcome. i think its additional pressure especially if it begins to filter down to sort of the mid levels of the security forces. at the end of the day the key here is to go after the loyalty and the confidence of those in the security apparatus in cuba. is it enough? no...