effort. reports out of haiti tonight indicate that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are trapped beneath collapsed buildings in the haitian capital of port-au-prince. an aid worker in haiti reporting that within minute of the quake soil, dust and smoke rose up over the city, describing it as a blanket that completely covered the city and obscured it for about 12 minutes. we spoke at the top of this hour with a new york-based nurse who was in haiti for a funeral. had just happened to be there at this time when this happened. she described being at a high point looking over the city and seeing a great cloud of dust that we now know must have been from the rubble of collapsing buildings rising up over city and obscuring it. within the last hour u.s. coast guard officials say they've mobilized four cutters and one fixed-wing aircraft that were in close proximity to haiti to render assistance. for those interested in helping immediately, you can donate to relief efforts. you can donate to the red cross by texting the word "haiti h-a-i-t-i to this number, 90999. $10 will be automatically donated. it will be charged to your cell phone bill. you can call 1-800-red-cross or go to redcross.org or donate to 1-800-4unicef. in terms of ways to donate immediately. in incidents like these, obviously, the initial need is to get people who can be rescued rescued. with this number of collapsed buildings, with the type of devastation we've both seen and heard described tonight, the main efforts will be to try to save people who can be saved, to try to find people who may be injured, who may be trapped inside these buildings. first couple of days, the first 24 hours that's absolutely critical in terps of the number of lives saved. it will be key to those efforts in terms of trying to save as many lives as can be saved. please say with msnbc as the our continuing coverage begins with david schuster. good evening. i'm david schuster. it's midnight on the east coast. we're bringing you our breaking news from the caribbean nation of haiti where there is every indication at this hour of an epic humanitarian disaster. some seven hours ago at about 5:00 eastern time, the strongest earthquake to strike the region in more than 200 years hit about ten miles southwest of the haitian capital port-au-prince. haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. and port-au-prince with 2 million people is one of the poorest cities in the world. the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and several aftershocks has left haiti in total disaster and chaos. we're now seeing images out of haiti. in addition to all of the collapsed buildings and the fires, there are multiple reports that the city of port-au-prince is without power, without cell phone service and without a hospital. the main hospital, we are told, collapsed. officials believe that thousands of people are now trapped beneath rubble across the city. one aid worker told reuters, quote, i think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement. one of the buildings damaged is haiti's presidential palace. this is the building you're looking at right now. here's what the building used to look like. that's what it used to look like. here is what the building looks like tonight. the building has essentially collapsed. we have confirmation from the haitian embassy that the haitian president and his wife escaped unharmed. now the associated press is reporting that at least two americans are believed to be trapped in wreckage in port-au-prince. they're staffers from a haitian ministries organization based out of connecticut. u.s. officials say tonight that the u.s. disaster rescue teams are being prepared to be dispatched to haiti to assist in the rescue effort, but again a big problem right now is that it's unclear just how awful the situation is. a number of u.s. officials are telling reporters tonight that there's not much anybody can really do until day break when they can get a better assessment as far as what the possibilities are for u.s. aid to either get in through the airport or through other ways. joining us now is acting deputy state department spokesman gordon dogett. >> well, the latest i had just before coming in to the studio was a team of embassy personnel, very dedicated people, are working from the embassy to try and do two things. the first is to try and contact american citizens in port-au-prince and in haiti in in general to find out where they are and what assistance they may need. the second task they have is to liase with the haitian government and to try to establish its priority needs for getting aid into the country. they'll be working to do that just as teams here in washington, d.c., at the state department, at the pentagon, at southern command and at the u.s. -- >> as you mention to communicate with, with no power, with essentially a primitive communications, you could argue, to begin with, have the diplomats in port-au-prince been able to even make contact with the haitian government to find out what sort of government they have in place? >> again, just before coming in, we had not takened any good contacts with the haitian government, but that doesn't mean that we are not still trying and they may have done so since i came into the studio. they are very confused. yes, it is difficult to make contact. but we do know where the emergency services should be congregating and we should try and reach them by relying on the experience that we've had in these sorts of situations before. the haitian government will be trying to establish its emergency services and coordinate them. we're going to try and hook up with them so that we can help in the most effective way possible. >> u.s. diplomats in port-au-prince, how many americans are part of the embassy? and what are they describing the situation as tonight? >> i don't have an exact number for you on embassy personnel at moment. what they describe to us was a city that had been devastated. they described seeing hotels being collapsed. they also saw the presidential palace had been collapsed. homes and businesses and buildings were in ruin. the streets were blocked by rubble. there was a sense of confusion in the streets. as you can imagine, it takes people some time to recover from a tragedy like this. as the president and the secretary have both expressed our deepest sim path es to the people of haiti. we are preparing. we're working right now to try and get into the country, in to port-au-prince and help as soon as we possibly can. >> i wonder what you make of the report of an american airlines flight that was due to take off right around the time the earthquake struck, that despite some problems there with the runway lights and problems at the airport, that the pilot was able to get at least that commercial jetliner out of the airport. it would suggest with at least one american pilot or one american crew felt that the airport itself, that the runway was safe for an aircraft the take off from? >> well, i'm not an expert on this particular issue, however, the aircraft that would come in with much of the relief supplies are very large and very heavy aircraft. and an expert team does need to get on the ground to see if the air -- to see if the runway can support the type of craft that's coming in. of course, those are fixed-wing craft. helicopters and other craft can vertical propeller craft, that is, can come in and land in very different places. and the u.s. military does have those type of assets to bring supplies in. so for large numbers of supplies, you do need a very solid runway, but for immediate purposes, there are other options including helicopters and other sorts of aircraft that can land in smaller places with much rougher conditions. >> mr. duguid, we're getting some information about americans have been told that in order to get in contact, they should use what's known as a warded network. i wonder if you can explain what that is. >> every embassy in the world has a warden network. and it is a telephone tree, in its best structure, where the embassy will put out a message and the people on duty in the embassy will telephone a few people who then have three or four more people to telephone, and i will go on down the telephone tree. now, of course, this causes some problems when there is no telephone network. at that point, the embassy has to work down the warden network really by foot or by car or however they can do it to try and identify where americans are and who may need help. the embassy website is also a vehicle for messages from the embassy. now, the embassy, as i understand it, may be releasing a warden message shortly, but that would only be accessible to people who have some electrical power. if they have a generator, for example. we're not relying on one means alone. we do know that you have to take drastic steps in a situation like this, and the embassy is working to try and identify where americans are and how they can get in touch with them, given the circumstances. but i would advise anyone -- and this is a general principle -- that when you do visit a foreign country or when you're a resident in a foreign country, you do need to register with the embassy to be able to become a part of the warden network. if you haven't registered with the embassy, they don't know you're there. so we only can work with the information that we have. i know that your program has been showing a telephone number where american citizens can call if they have concerns about the relative, a loved one or a friend who may be in haiti right now. i encourage everyone to use that telephone number to call. the telephone lines in haiti are down. it is unlikely that you're going to get through on a cell phone. please call our task force. they are the ones who can help you. >> mr. duguid, when we talk about port-au-prince and we were talking about one of the poorest cities in the world, a population of 2 million, and we're being advised that the pictures that we're seeing now, a representative of essentially an entire city, that everywhere you turn, there is devastation, there are collapsed buildings, bodies in the street that are injured. i wonder if you can put in perspective from the state department view, what a monumental challenge, a humanitarian challenge this is tonight. >> well, any earthquake in a developing country can be devastating. the infrastructure is fragile to start with. destroying that infrastructure often destroys the ability of the local services to provide help and relief. this is why it's so important for the neighboring countries, for the international community, for ngos and aid organizations to work with the existing authorities and identify the priority needs. there are going to be needs across the board. they will have needs for medicine, they will have needs tore clean water, blankets, for tents, for any number of things that you could name. but we can't just flood the entire place with all things at once. there has to be the capacity to use the things that we provide, and we have to provide the things that the citizens of port-au-prince and the people of haiti need most desperately now. for a start, that is search and rescue teams. the u.s. has two search and rescue teams that are very experienced and very well known on alert and ready to fly in as soon as they are able. the first priority for the u.s. embassy in port-au-prince tonight is to identify americans in need and to help the government prior prioritize its need and get that search and rescue team in to start the search for survivors. >> gordon duguid the acting state department spokesman. thank you for your time tonight. >> you're quite welcome. >> if there is any, any good news that's coming out of haiti tonight, it's that the areas to the north of port-au-prince and other parts of the country, while they certainly felt the earthquake, the damage is not as vast in those parts of the country as it is in port-au-prince. joining us by phone is an american humanitarian worker who was on the north coast of haiti in a city almost 100 miles north of port-au-prince. luke, why don't you describe what you felt tonight and what you are seeing, i suppose, in terms of the limited damage where you are. >> well, david, limited damage is probably maybe not quite correct. from what we've seen, there's really no noticeable damage up here. structures are already weak in haiti to begin with. so if you looked around, if you were a newcomer, you would think maybe there's damage. but things look pretty much like they did this morning. the earthquake did it make it here. all of those after shocks that you've been hearing about, we felt them here through a vast mountain range, it's made it all the way here. it was very unnerving. people were screaming and running around. no one really knew what was going on at the time. but thankfully tonight in the north and i say this for any diaspora who may have family or in the countryside, you can probably take a deep breath. your family is probably doing or reasonably well this evening, all things considered. >> luke, based on your knowledge of port-au-prince, i wonder if you can describe what you imagine is going on there and what you've heard is going on there tonight. >> yeah, well, i don't need to imagine too much. we do have a fairly large network of friends and colleagues on the ground all throughout haiti. in 2008, i started an online network called hands across haiti.org. it is a network similar to facebook that networks humanitarian workers. some are missionaries, others are nongovernment kinds of organizations. thankfully because of facebook, twitter, hands across haiti and online resources like that, we've been in good contact with friends on the ground, as the representative from the state department just said. the cell phone network in haiti is basically down right now. i can't tell you that it's not functioning, but it's either nonfunctioning or it's overloaded, inundated with calls. the point is you can't make a call in haiti with your cell phone right now. i've tried time and time again. it's just not working. what's interesting and important to know about that is cell phones are basically the form of communication in haiti. the state department representative talked about the network for foreign aid workers. americans living in haiti. that they can sort of contact through this network. the problem is that most of these foreign aid workers, myself included. we communicate with cell phones and they're not working right now. from those we've been able to contact through facebook, through twitter is that one of my dear friends in port-au-prince, another american living with his family, they have said that any building that's a two-story building that he saw, every single one of them has come down. i don't know, you know, how much ground he was able to cover. you were correct, you look at port-au-prince in these pictures, you're looking at -- i mean, the entire city looks this way. i was absolutely devastated whenny saw the national palace. it is by far one of the most beautiful buildings in that city. and it's just been brought down to -- i mean, you look at it. there's nothing salvageable about that building. what i want to say to those who are trying to reach out to family, i've had people calling me saying how can we get in touch with our families? i've had random haitian families in the states call just crying and wailing looking for information. people i don't even know. try to get in touch as best you can through any kind of internet-based communications. you're welcome to try hands across haiti.org. if that doesn't work try facebook, twitter, anything you can. i've had some people say they want to come, they want to get on a plane. don't did that right now. that's a bad idea. you are going to get stuck in an airport somewhere. you are not going to make it here. my advice, if someone were asking me, while the u.s. state department is preparing to bring down large amounts of support and aid, there are currently hundreds if not thousands of international workers already in haiti. haiti is a difficult place already before the earthquake. there are people on the ground who are doing what they can right now. find these organizations that you can trust, the bigger ones, if you've never heard of any, go to c.a.r.e., world vision, food for the poor. give generously right now. >> luke, we've got the run. >> i can't stress that enough. >> luke renner, in haiti tonight. thank you for your time. stay safe. when we return, we'll talk to luke on the other side of the break. you might be missing something. with prego, it's all about the sauce. in a blind taste test, more people preferred prego over bertolli. the sweet and savory taste of prego. it's in there. the latest in what is certainly hell on earth tonight. port-au-prince sh a city of 2 million. most structures have been brought down by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. reports of thousands killed. if you want to help, go to unicef, 1-800-4unicef. redcross.org. 1-800-red-cross. you can text "haiti" to 90999. it automatically donates $10 to the red cross effort. we're continuing our coverage of the devastating earthquake that hit haiti today. and the associated press has just crossed this wire. it's a short one. and it's devastating. ap journalists: haiti capital largely destroyed in quake. casualties severe and widespread. that's it. when it refers to the capital of haiti, you're talking about a city of 2 million people. one of the poorest cities on the planet. and again, the associated press quoting their journalists say that the haiti capital, port-au-prince, has largely been destroyed by this magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the epicenter ten miles west of port-au-prince about six hours ago. again, just a nightmare of unimaginable proportions tonight in port-au-prince. as we've been talking with our guests, port-au-prince, there are essentially no construction standards there. so one of our most recent ges was describing how that his reporting has been from his network of contacts and humanitarian aid workers is that if there was a building more than two stories tall in port-au-prince, that building collapsed. we're joined now by marie michelle, a new york-based nurse, who happened to be visiting haiti today for a funeral. she joins us live on the phone from a suburb east of the capital. i wonder if you can describe what the latest that you're picking up and that you're seeing with your very own eyes tonight. >> there isn't much to see because it's dark and we're running on a generator. from what we know being up here in the mountains, you can't get through. so you won't be able to survey anything until the morning. one aftershock after the other one, in fact, i was just trying to nap and we had one after another. and this is a stone house. it's been shaking vintly. >> i wonder if you can describe where you were when the earthquake hit, what did you see, and i know you were suggesting earlier tonight that you believe that there may be hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed. i wonder if you can add a little bit the that and explain what make us think that. >> well, there is no rescue effort. haiti is not equipped for this magnitude of disaster. i can imagine people are stuck in the rubble. i passed somebody who wanted me to go and see about a friend. in fact, i think one of the missionaries, who is stuck in the rubble and her husband and there is no way of getting down the mountain to her. so it's heartbreaking. >> we should tell our viewers that the reason again that you're able to talk to us is because you have generator power to essentially power up your phone there. you're essentially along a mount on the the east of port-au-prince. >> and the phone is satellite. we have a satellite hooked up, too. >> i wonder for people who are not familiar with port-au-prince, i wonder if you can describe the city on a normal day just how crowded, how dense it is, what the structures are like and some of the problems that port-au-prince has anyway. >> i was -- i haven't been in there in a lot of years. and it was shock to see the people. it was like with transportation and the people on the streets, it's like -- it's indescribable. it was shocking to see. imagine on a normal day you have thousands of people out walking the streets. and for this to have happened at a time when there was another aftershock, people were coming back from school, from their job, it's -- and shortly thereafter it got dark. so the rescue effort, we haven't been able to get to people. >> marie michele. >> we won't be able to see anything in the morning. >> in haiti tonight. thank you so much for your time. we appreciate your giving us your views of what you've seen and, of course, all the thoughts and prayers of everybody are with you and your relatives and family and everybody in port-au-prince tonight. >> thank you. >> we are continuing our coverage, of course, of this unimaginable earthquake. magnitude 7.0. again, the associated press across the wire just a few minutes ago. saying that -- quoting ap journalists attributing this to them, that the haiti capital largely destroyed in quake, casualties severe and widepred. again they're talking about a city of 2 million people. that was one of the poorest in the world to begin with. we were talking on the phone a short time ago with luke renner. he's a humanitarian worker on the north coast of haiti, and luke is with us again. luke, you were talking a little bit a while ago about your network in terms of how you're able to communicate with people in port-au-prince. i wonder if you been psychiatric the anecdotal information that you've been getting from humanitarian aid workers in port-au-prince tonight? >> well, it's a lot of -- its ops sort of a lot of the same kinds of roaring. buildings that have fallen, trapped people or killed people. it's starting to kind of go a little bit quiet now. because as it turns out, this is a very exasperating thing to go through on the ground, whether you're haitian or not. this is one of those things that if it's very difficult to sort of put into words, much less sort of contain within yourself. it's hard to know how to deal with this. if i had to totally make a guess here and give you some kind of an idea just so that the viewers here get an idea of what's at stake here, i mean, in a city of 2 million people, built the way that it was -- and i say was because i suspect that, by and large, much of that city is no more, i would not be surprised at all -- and i do not mean to be sensationalist. i mean to be realist ing here. if 100,000 people or more have suffered extreme injury if not outright death. and i say that for this reason. it is extremely important for people right now who are listening, extremely important if you have any shred of love for your fellow man in your heart at all, find a way to get plugged into this. find a way to give. you don't have to give much. you don't even have to give money. you can give resources. find someone. our organization is really not in the business of the relieving of short-term human suffering. we're here for different reasons. we're here for technology reasons. this isn't about me. this is find an organization that you can trust and, before you even -- don't even wait to get all the information. i'm telling you right now. as an american who has been coming to haiti for 16 years who now lives here with my wife and three kids, do not hesitate. find a way to give and give generously. this is going to be unbelievably catastrophic. >> luke renner in haiti tonight. thank you again. so much for your time. stay safe. i know that you were saying you were going to try to get to port-au-prince. we'll keep in contact with you and try to get your reporting and what you're seeing along the way. luke renner in haiti. we're going to be back after this. one of the saddest stories that we've seen, of course, involves the hospital in port-au-prince. there's essentially no working hospital in port-au-prince tonight because apparently the main hospital with perhaps hundreds of people in it, that collapsed. and that's just of the scenes of utter heartbreak and devastation tonight in port-au-prince. new mousse temptations by jell-o. a rich and airy treat. ♪ because after you've washed the bills... and paid all the dishes... it's finally me o'clock. enjoy it with mousse temptations. three decadent flavors. 60 calories. it's me o'clock. time for jell-o. but when you look a little closer... their story begins to fall apart. see, at&t let's you talk on the phone while you surf the web. [ clattering ] verizon...doesn't. at&t has the most popular smartphones and the nation's fastest 3g network. verizon...doesn't. [ clattering ] glad that's cleared up. oh, boy. [ male announcer ] at&t. a better 3g experience. get an exclusive pantech messaging phone free after mail-in rebate, only from at&t. yosothing about osteoporosis you don't already know. it runs in families - my mother has it, and now i have it. so even though i tried to keep my bones strong, it wasn't enough. now, once-monthly boniva is helping me do more. it didn't just stop my bone loss. boniva worked with my body to stop and reverse my bone loss. and studies show, after one year on boniva, nine out of ten women stopped and reversed theirs, too. (announcer) don't take boniva if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone, joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. you've got one body and one life, so don't wait. ask your doctor if boniva can help you stop losing and start reversing. (announcer) for a free trial offer call 1-800-4-boniva or visit boniva.com to make certain your child is prepared... call sylvan now. our individualized approach sharpens the skills your child needs to succeed. sylvan even guarantees improvement. invest in your child's education. call... for a free dvd/ information kit. that's... call now. as we continue our coverage of this devastating earthquake in haiti, the associated press has been reporting for the last few minutes now that the haitian capital of port-au-prince has largely been destroyed by this earthquake. casualties are believed to be severe and widespread in a city with a population of 2 million. joining us now on the phone is the haitian ambassador to the united states raymond joseph. ambassador joseph, thanks for your time tonight. first of all, your reaction to these reports that most of port-au-prince has been destroyed. >> well, i would not be surprised, and i am saddened by it. but even back in 2004 when i was flying in to the capital of haiti, port-au-prince, after 13 years being away, from the air, i saw the kind of buildings that were dotting the hills around port-au-prince willy-nilly. i wrote a piece in which i said port-au-prince is a catastrophe waiting to happen. and it saddens me that this prophetic piece that i wrote back in 2004 has come to a reality today. so i know my country has suffered a lot, and this is an added suffering that we did not need. >> ambassador raymond joseph. ambassador joseph, we're going to ask you to stick around. we're going to take a quick break and get some of the latest information. we'll talk to the ambassador and update all of our viewers of the latest information coming from haiti. just a scene of utter catastrophe as the ambassador's pointed out, in one of the poorest cities on the planet tonight. if you choose a sauce based only on the label, you might be missing something. with prego, it's all about the sauce. in a blind taste test, more people preferred prego over bertolli. the sweet and savory taste of prego. it's in there. and freedom of the outdoors for your indoor cat. specially formulated to promote hairball control... and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. the soshed press is reporting that the capital of haiti, port-au-prince, has largely been destroyed tonight by this magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck about 7 1/2 hours ago. it's a city with a population of 2 million. at this hour, there's every indication that widespread fires, buildings over two stories largely destroyed across the city. there was something of a dust storm when this first started. the main hospital has been destroyed. there are bodies in the streets. and again, no electricity, no power, and it's been raining tonight. at the united nations, the secretary-general has been briefed on the latest developments and is being quoted now as saying he is shocked at the scale of the devastation in port-au-prince. furthermore, former u.s. president bill clinton who is the secretary-general's special envoy to haiti, he has apparently been on the phone tonight talking with officials of the united nations to discuss how the world might be able to respond to this catastrophe, and there will be more discussions, of course, when daylight comes and officials in haiti can get a better assessment of what sorts of infrastructure they may have to actually receive some of the aid and some of the help that the world is poised to bring to haiti. joining us on the phone again is the haitian ambassador to the united states, raymond joseph. ambassador joseph, i wonder if you can describe what would be the keys tonight as far as when daylight comes, what is it that, in a best case scenario, would help in terms of being able to bring in the sort of resources to conduct successful search and rescue missions tomorrow? >> well, sitting here in washington, d.c., just heartbroken in seeing some of the images of what happened to my country. and we don't have a real assessment yet, but in conversation with the first lady of haiti, consulate general in miami said that about half an hour ago, she said, we need hospital hospitals ship, you know, like the ship that the u.s. sent when we had the four hurricanes last year. she said that would be really helpful to haiti right now. the hospital ship off the coast of haiti. also, we need teams with special rescue team with dogs to come and search for bodies. and any crisis team that could be put together, it's the time to do it. especially since the airport of port-au-prince was not affected and they can come into the airport. >> i wonder if you can describe the state of the government back at port-au-prince. is there essentially -- i know you mentioned you talked to the first lady and a counselor in miami. but is there a functioning government tonight in port-au-prince? >> well, there is a functioning government. there is no lawlessness. in fact, the people are in the streets, but they're calm. i haven't heard of any looting. you see, there is something that happ happens in haiti that really should send a lesson to the world. since 2004, the government of haiti has gone from about 2500 policemen to 10,000 policemen in a country of 8.5 million. even that, there is no level of violence that you hear in other parts. the other thing is that right now the political parties in haiti, various political parties, are part of the government. and so everybody has a state in the government. so you don't hear people trying to make hay of -- political hay of this disaster or disasters we have had in the past three years. so i think that's a lesson that haiti has given to the world, that there is a unity among the people to face their common misery. >> mr. ambassador, as we see these pictures of the fires, and again indications from humanitarian workers that there are fires essentially all over the city of port-au-prince, i wonder if you can describe for our american audience and others who are watching, just what kind of infrastructure exists such as trying the put ot the fires. is there a functioning fire department? >> there is a fire department in haiti, but i cannot say that they are of a level of a fire department in the united states or some well developed countries. but we have dealt with disaster like that in the past. i hope that the firefighter in haiti or firefighters coming from the dominican republic, as the dominican republic tonight offered its help, and even firefighters coming from florida can be of some help to haiti. >> haitian ambassador to the united states raymond joseph. mr. ambassador, thank you very much for your time tonight. and good luck. >> thank you, sir. thank you for your solidarity. >> of course. again, we're only really gradually starting to comprehend the scope of the devastating historic and catastrophic earthquake that has hit the island of haiti. our coverage will continue. it's like your old mop's worst nightmare. ♪ [ thunder crashes ] [ man ] love stinks. ♪ love stinks! ♪ yeah! yeah! [ female announcer ] swiffer wet cloths clean better than a mop with new cleansers that attract dirt deep into the cloth and lock it away. new swiffer wet cloths clean better, or your money back. ♪ love stinks! the news continues to be grim in port-au-prince, haiti, tonight, following this magnitude 7.0 earthquake that, according to the associated press, has essentially destroyed much of the city. if you would like to help go to unisef.org, the american red cross at redcross.org. you can text "haiti" to 90999. it will automatically donate $10 to the red cross relief effort. much of the city has been destroyed by the earthquake. again, port-au-prince, a city with 2 million people and one of the poorest cities on earth. or r insurance? host: did the waltons take way too long to say goodnight? mom: g'night john boy. g'night mary ellen. mary ellen: g'night mama. g'night erin. elizabeth: g'night john boy. jim bob: g'night grandpa. elizabeth: g'night ben. jim bob:'night. elizabeth: g'night jim bob. jim bob: g'night everybody, grandpa: g'night everybody. jim bob: g'night daddy. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. [ donald ] you guys are gonna get creamed! yes! cool it, sir-pass-a-lot. ♪ bring it, donny. ♪ as we continue our coverage of the earthquake that has just devastated the city of port-au-prince in haiti tonight, our own andrea mitchell is reporting that the u.s. embassy in port-au-prince is largely intact and at least no injuries have been reported among u.s. diplomats. however, there are reports of americans in the city of port-au-prince who have been injured. and joining us now is the executive director of the haitian ministries for the diocese of norwich, connecticut. two of her staffers are apparently trapped in a house in haiti. can you describe the situation that you and your staffers are facing right now? >> as you can well imagine, with an earthquake of this magnitude in haiti, it is absolute chaos. just before you called this evening, i got a call from my assistant director who was not in the house. and he had just gotten back up to our headquarters with some men and they were literally digging our staff out by hand. and he said it's just chaos throughout the entire area. buildings have totally collapsed. and he said people are just wandering around the streets. >> what's the condition of the two staff members that your troupe was trying to dig out? >> we don't know exactly. we do know that both of them are able to communicate with the people they're trying to get them out. we found out early this evening when someone called into our mission house and our assistant director, she at that point was trapped, was able to respond to her cell phone and let the person know that the house had collapsed on them and that they were trapped in the first office in the house, that we were able to identify exactly where they were. we kept some communication via partners in haiti. it was easier in haiti to call around than it is internationally. and until about 8:00, we had contact with jill, who is our assistant director. and at that point she said she and chuck stitch, who is a consultant working with us in haiti, were both in the office. they were both trapped under rubble and couldn't get out. she said she had some type of a leg injury and didn't describe any injuries to chuck other than, you know, he was trapped and couldn't move. >> emily, i wonder if you can give us a ballpark estimate as to how many american humanitarian aid workers would normally be in port-au-prince? >> oh, thousands. you know, i think with haiti, the relief efforts are generally speaking, from foreign countries, either the united states, canada, france, ireland. generally speaking, the foreign aid workers in haiti are doing the work of normal social services we'd do in any other country. so that there's a huge, very, very large expat community in port-au-prince area. and i would say literally it's thousands. >> emily smack -- >> i know folks from notre dame university have a project and one of our partners just called me to say their team had been at the hotel montana when it collapsed, but they got out of the hotel and they were all doctors and nurses, and they literally are triaging people, people on the streets in haiti tonight. >> emily smack, the executive director of the haitian ministries for the diocese of norwich. thank you for yr time tonight. our thoughts and prayers are with you and your staffers and your organization and everybody who's there. >> okay. thank you very much. >> when we come back, we're going to get the latest from nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. she's going to talk about the situation with the u.s. embassy and also the developments involving essentially the effort already around the globe tonight, led, of course, at the united nations, so that the world can respond once daylight breaks in haiti and the world can get a better look at the humanitarian crisis and disaster that our world confronts. we'll be back with more coverage after this. let's find out what people think of maxwell house's flavor lock lid. hear that? seals it tight. smells like fresh ground. fresh fresh fresh fre-- that's our favorite part. ...fresh! (announcer) taste why maxwell house is good to the last drop. when it comes to italian sauce, some people prefer this jar. but more people prefer this sauce. winner of the blind taste test. the sweet and savory taste of prego. it's in there. and island music] ♪ fa-diddle-diddle-do-do-do ♪ fa-daddle-daddle-la-da-da ♪ fa-diddle-diddle-leh-dee-dee ♪ fa-daddle-daddle-leh-do-do ♪ fa-daddle-daddle-leh-deh-dee ♪ i need to get out of here ♪ ah-deedle-deedle-leh-deh-do travelocity is your cure for cabin fever. if you find a lower hotel or vacation package price online, we'll match it, right up until the day before check-in. and we'll also guarantee that your booking will be right. travelocity. you'll never roam alone. as we continue our breaking news coverage of the massive earthquake that has essentially brought the city of port-au-prince to the ground tonight, let's go right to nbc news chief foreign correspondent andrea mitchell with the latest. what you're picking up as far as the global efforts tonight to try to prepare for the h humanitarian relief. >> reporter: there's a huge effort. first of all, the u.s. government has had two government-wide conference calls organizing the pentagon, usaid, state department, the white house and nce. organizing at dawn, first light, usaid teams will try to go in chartering planes from washington in particular. they've also got the pentagon ordering up whatever assets they have, mostly ships in puerto rico. they've got communications gear, disaster gear in costa rica. they need to find out the state of the port and the airport runway. none of this can be done really until dawn. there will be another conference call at 7:00 a.m. for the government-wide effort. the u.n. has also briefed us that the u.n. headquarters collapsed. and that's the main problem right now for the united nations. they have thousands of peacekeepers as well as other civilian nonuniformed personnel there. and that main u.n. mission is trying to organize around the collapsed u.n. headquarters, but they do not know yet what the damage is. of course, i know you were just talking to emily smack about the two worker, the mission workers who are trapped there. those are two americans, one of them we know very well here. her husband, frank thorpe, who works with her, they've lived there since august. he is driving down from northern -- this is frank thorpe jr., he's driving down from northern haiti. but he was a "today" show producer from this bureau, i'm calling from the washington bureau, went to work with his wife on that aids relief in haiti. we're very concerned about jillian, who is the daughter-in-law of a longtime nbc producer. >> we expect to see former president bill clinton tomorrow giving special envoy status to