she won by 23 points. this may be another situation like that. i heard that rudy giuliani was going to campaign for scott brown. i would consider that the kiss of death maybe for scott brown. but you're right there. is so much riding on this, ed. it's that 60th vote, this is massachusetts, this is ted kennedy's seat. barack obama should be in massachusetts. the same way he was in new jersey and virginia. >> well, bill clinton is going to campaign for bill cokely. but a.b., the democrats never thought they would have to fight so hard for ted kennedy's seat. and hold it back, if he comes close, even if he loses but if he comes close. >> ed, every democrat should know in swing states, marginal districts, the battle to try to sell it is going into their defensive position, heading into these elections will be a very tough one for them. >> ed, real quickly, here's a problem. you and i were talking about this health care. what do they need up there? they need the unions to get out there and vote. the unions are not so excited because. >> yeah. >> i mean, it's -- it's turn out -- if turn out is low, this republican with the backing of the tea partyiers, i hope not. thank you for being with us tonight. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. chris matthews has the latest on the crisis in haiti: >> earthquake in haiti. good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. here is what we know at this hour. bodies are piling up in the streets of port-au-prince. haiti's prime minister says hundreds of thousands of people may be dead. the haitian president says he has heard 30,000 to 50,000 people may be dead. there is no true casualty figure yet. haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and the damage from the earthquake is widespread. the quake flattened the palace the roman catholic cathedral the main prison and hospitals and schools in the capital. president obama pledged an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort. >> i have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives. the people of haiti will have the full support of the united states in the urgent rescue of those trapped beneath the rubble, to deliver humanitarian relief, food, water and medicine haitians will need in the coming days. secretary of state hillary clinton is returning to washington to continue her relief effort. the agencies is headed by a fella named rajiv shah. let's go to the head of salvation army who is joining us by skype. i've been in touch to you tonight so far, bob. give us a sense of being there in haiti, in the capital city, in the midst of all of that hell tonight. >> well, it's a very ominous place to be, to be honest with you. storm clouds just rolled in a little while ago. it's keeping us on our edge and it's a fairly nervous place to be tonight. >> have the relief efforts arrived at all? >> we are on the edge of that. we would know. we have team and supplies arriving tomorrow. that will help us to begin the distribution of resources to the haitian people. >> again, i asked you about this a couple of hours ago. i think everyone needs to know how bad the plight is in haiti. there is no real effective modern government in that country. it is, in a sense, a situation where hell has broken loose on earth and it's every person for themselves. families, individual groups of neighborhood people have to deal with this tragedy. is that correct? >> that's very correct. and to this point, we cannot see, at least in the community where we are, any attempts at the cleanup or service providers. and we have witnessed -- i personally have witnessed many people who have been dug out of the debris by family and friends, brought to us with first aid treatment and food and water. i've witnessed the number of bodies that have been brought out to the street to be dealt with at a later time. it's a very crude situation at the moment. >> who are the people looking to for help? can you tell by looking as to who they are looking for, individual haitians, who they hope to be fed by, given water by? is it almost entirely the united states? >> i don't think it's entirely the united states but i think it's entirely relief organizations. i don't think that there's a response to that coming. whatever relief is going to take place is going to be given by international relief organizations. >> is prime minister's open to aid? >> we have thought had any difficulty with the government, in receiving materials or distributing materials. >> let me ask you, to recount as you've done for me a couple of hours ago and just turning in when they get at home tonight, tell us what it's like to be in the midst of this earthquake. >> it was the most horrifying experience of my life. i was driving a pickup truck down to port-au-prince and i was stopped in traffic which is not uncommon in port-au-prince. and the truck began to shook from side to side. i thought hi been hit by another vehicle and didn't see that and i then i thought maybe people were shaking us but then we didn't see people and when i looked outside i saw these buildings right next to me on the street just going down, one after the other after the other. just falling down and flattening. and, of course, the people that were in them and then people were running out of these areas where the buildings had come down and they were crying and bloody and screaming and they were panicked, of course, and didn't know what to do and we put as many in the back of our pickup truck as we could and carried them down the hill so we could get them some sort of medical treatment and then we drove as far as we could but had to leave the truck which was a very difficult thing to do. but we had to leave the truck overnight because you couldn't get in further. i had walk the last 2 1/2 miles home in the dark and -- but having the devastation all the around. i walked down the busiest of streets in the port-au-prince because i didn't want to be near any buildings and then we had a few aftershocks and within an hour i arrived back at our compound and saw that it, too, was heavily damaged. the buildings were standing but it's been compromised and our home has been destroyed as have others in the area and it's just a devastating situation. >> thank you, bob, who is with the salvation army. good luck to you and take care of yourself. on the phone with us from the capital of haiti, i have to remind people that this rick for scale, it was far worth than what hit us in 1989 in california in that region of northern california. we thought that was bad. this is somewhere between that and the great 1906 san francisco earthquake. we're bridging in right now kerry sanders. what do you hear and what do you see? >> i'm in port-au-prince in the capital. i spent a good portion of the day in the helicopter flying over this city and it's crushed. it is not the entire city flattened but there are significant areas that have pancaked and as we flew over the city, chris, there were people gathered in soccer fields, in parks, in any open space that they could get to because they do not want to go into those homes that did survive the quake. there have been more than 40 tremors. people started running in complete chaos only to get away from where they were. there was concrete tremendous belling down and i was in another location in the building when a tremor hit. people were screaming at the top of their lungs. nerves were on edge and tonight people are literally camped out in any open space that they can find. it is a terrible scene here. it's a city which, quite frankly, a country that has really never had itself together, either with the government or with any of the services. there is no fire department here. there is no service to help people out. and so now they have to rely on the outside help. i'm back at the airport now. there is an air lift that is under way. there are over land vehicles that have made their way in from the dominican republic. it appeared to be a line of vehicles that stretched as far as three-quarters of a mile of mobile food kitchens to help move people. but i cannot describe, as you've seen the pictures, the real mistery that now these survivors face. and let's not forget, there are people still trapped inside buildings who are alive. i had an opportunity to meet one of the doctors who flew in here a. trauma surgeon from florida. he said, if they are in there and still breathing, we can save them. there's the fairfax county, urban search and rescue team. they are already on the ground. they have a field team in place. they are beginning to assess. in a city under complete darkness, a lot of that work will not begin until sun rise tomorrow. >> haiti is a country without a real functioning government in any positive sense. it remains a fourth world country, a real collective activity on behalf of the people at any time. the state department, by the way, has set up a special information hotline for americans, us, seeking information about family members over in haiti. that number is 1-888-407-4747. this is a big part for everybody in this country, even without relatives. send donations to many organizations. contact unicef at 1-8-4unicef or call the american red cross at 1-800 red-cross. our special coverage of the earthquake and the aftermath and 40 tremors down there in the last day in haiti continues after this. 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. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investors got lost in the shuffle. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investment firms forgot whose money it is. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 enough is enough. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's time investors got what they deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 real help that's there when you need it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 pricing that leaves you with something to actually invest. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at schwab, we offer a lot more help for a lot less money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because at schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investors rule. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 are you ready to rule? we will keep their foomlys and their friendsress lawsuit and you'll have a partner of the united states of america today and going forward. may got bless those and 40 tremors during the day here and there's been no relief let's turn to chuck todd. this is one of those and there's a job to be done here. >> there s what the president indicated today and simply coming out and saying what he said, this is our disaster relief. >> there's nobody else that can do it. we have the military and we already have. we've got the coast gaurt obviously second to none when it comes to the caribbean. they have already made it over there. we have aerial footage and we are going to do what we can and raise money. we're the lead organization here, not the haitian government and maybe not even the united nations. they are going to come in. but by the way it's been devastating for the u.n. there are some reports that this could be the single biggest laws of u.n. workers. >> for a natural disaster, they usually hit the rough part of the territory. they don't usually -- the cathedral went down. >> this is how devastating, when these kinds of incident top to bottom, president cloimpbt is so much involved. he was a sign down there to that country as sort of his relance role. >> many of them are alive and we don't know for many days how many there are. >> what was his role responsibilities there before this terror, this horror? >> i think he had just visited. the whole idea was to try to figure out was there a way to bring in extra attention. >> it's been an economic and that's why it's always taken an extra sort of sense of burden that all of the ex presidents and current presidents have here. bill clinton and the bush family as well, you are going to see them, i have a feeling, become the faith of the relief efforts going on. we know that there is some chatter about -- it wouldn't be surprised to see what bush 43 -- >> it's everything is different but bill clinton was president when we had the arkansas -- >> right. >> when you bring in a lot of poor people like that at once, a big crowd, it's always disconcerting at least to the lower people there. >> the next story, i'm a florida native -- the next big story out of here in three, four day, maybe a couple of weeks, is going to be, look, there's going to be -- >> there's going to be an immigration into the united states because they are going to have nowhere else to go. i was talking to former senator bob graham about this and he he reminded me that this is actually the unofficial season of when haitians try to get into boats and come over to florida to try to get out of their poverty. >> but you can provide basic relief services in that country as easily as you can -- >> and that's going to be the way the obama administration is going to have to motivate -- >> or anybody that feels a little hesitant about spending money there. if you don't, we're going to have a service crisis in the state of florida when they are having to deal with an influx of thousands and thousands of people. >> the possibilities here n. this horror, other than maybe -- no, i'm not sure i should say t. the haitian government, it's had a terrible political culture and just a horrendous history. a couple of hours ago i was there in the '70s, just as a tourist like i used to do, bob around. when you see young people, kids, drinking water out of pothole, you realize it's not just a third world country, they don't have water supplies for the urban population. they don't have anything. i was talking to bob pot a few moments ago. they don't have any collective action. we worry about countries getting too much in our face. they don't have any government. nothing gets done there in the terms of public services. >> this is one of the greatest em bearsments. >> that's right. >> it's not our fault that they don't have a country there. >> haiti has stood out. the dominican republic, they have picked themselves up and developed and become third or second world countries and haiti hasn't. it's been sort of the center of poverty for so long. you do wonder, if there's ever been an opportunity out of catastrophe -- >> people have to demand better government. you can't be paternalistic. maybe that you can do it. we'll see. i hope we do our best. i hope america feels good about this. chair stee a good thing and i think this is where it's necessary. thank you, chuck todd, very much. you know, you're so good at so many things. we'll be right back, including the challenge and the big obstacles facing the relief organizations. they have to work hand and glove. there has to be a good working relationship on behalf of all of the organizations. overactive bladder and you worry your pipes might leak (pipe doctor) ask your doctor about treating with vesicare. 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(pipe woman) so, you could treat yourself to more time with friends and family or more of whatever you like to do with fewer urges and leaks. ask your doctor today about taking care with vesicare. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at $4.95 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. welcome back to our live coverage of the earthquake in haiti. we're joined right now by louis. thank you for joining us. what do you see as the prospects for helping this country that's been hit so hard in the days ahead? >> i think the prospects are very good. obviously, you know, there's going to be some delay because, as you say, there's been serious infrastructure issues that we need to deal with and serious communication issueses that we need to deal with. so in terms of reaching our colleagues and in reaching -- as you mentioned, talking to each other, that's one little nugget that we're going to have to tackle right there just because we don't want to bump into each other and we don't want any aid being wasted. one of the main issues for us at the moment is the airport. any charters or cargo cannot fly in so that's obviously one issue that's going to need to be tackled right away. but to answer your question, doctors and u.n. and the red cross, we're all very capable. we know what we're doing. and we're just needing a little bit of help in terms of improved communication and we'll get there. >> are you confident that the haitian government can keep order, law and order? >> there's a big u.n. peace keeping presence held by the brazilian at the moment and they have been hit pretty badly. we've heard that part of their building, the u.n. blue helmet has been damaged. so that's pretty alarming. i think people in the first hours of the conflict were shocked and i think the government can do a good job. >> the concern i have, of course, was ignited by the news that we got earlier today that the main prince in port-au-prince has been blown up by the earthquake and that would be, to me, a dangerous situation on top of it, a dangerous situation where the prison population is now loose in the country and you never know how people are going to exploit their situation when they are desperate. let me ask you about the remain relief efforts. do you think that's going to be the main food and water supply coming in? >> yeah, i think one of the experts in water supply, i think we hope to have president clinton and obama step up to the plate with serious funding, i think we'll be needing it. obviously european countries and the rest as canada and the rest need to come in and deliver. but, you know, i think in terms of coordination, we're getting good at this. after the tsunami of 2004, the communication has improved tremendously. if we try to improve the communication efforts, i think we can get aid pretty quickly. >> thank you. it's an odd time to meet a gentleman like you but thank you for getting in touch with us. let's go to brian williams who is anchor of the nightly news you are there on site and what do you see so far? >> it's been a struggle to get on the air tonight and we're still dealing with some of the technical aspects because, remember, this is a place with no power of its own. we came in here having to supply our own generators, fuel, and then try to get a signal up to the satellite. so we're working on this as we talk to you. a couple of things, if i might just set the scene. we're on an active tarmac at the airport at the -- here in port-au-prince haiti. there's a c 1-30 unloading behind us. it's from the canadian government. canadian troops came off with some relief aid. there's also a charter flight from finland that came in, at least the aircraft was leased from finland air. i am joined by al rocker and ann curry. they are both here as part of our traveling party. they join our coverage. chris, we have a number of situations developing here. there's no shortage. it's early yet, of aid arriving here at the airport. kerry sanders just joined us as well. no shortage of aid arriving, yet it won't yet meet the need. but right now it's so early. we're just over 24 hours into this. there's a real problem in vehicles, vehicles with fuel, people with the time who can come here and pick it up to get it. triage is still going on. search and rescue is still going on. perhaps we'll go left to right. your right to left. kerry sanders, we were saying on nightly news earlier tonight, we did the math. you probably lived here an entire year throughout your career. >> i felt like the saddest place on earth is horrific. i spent 45 minutes in a helicopter flying over port-au-prince. it is crushed. home after home flattened, pancaked. now, there are homes as you fly over that are still standing but they are empty. nobody's inside because of the fear of the aftershocks. i was out during aftershocks. concrete falling and people running in chaos. no destination, just running to go one place or another. a real palpable fear. >> and, ann, it would stand to reason, if you come to the airport, you stand a better than average chance of getting out of here, knowing somebody, finding something, so we have people all day coming to the airport. >> that's right. the gates are crowded. and we happen to know that so many of the hospitals are down, that the triage that you were talking about, is happening out in clinics out on the streets, but there are also bodies laying under the sheets. it's a real tragedy. people are trying to find their way out of here, coming here needing medical care. we saw people covered in dust, brian, at the gates. their open wounds not treated waiting for a ride out of here. we also found something pretty remarkable, though. we also found a construction company from the dominican republic, knowing that there was not enough voluntarily taking the most wounded people out on its own. these are construction people, the company executive, using their plane to rescue people. such is the direness of the need here for help. these people -- we cannot overstate how much help they need, brian. >> and, chris, one more thing, sort of a local note in the d.c. area. al was walking through -- there's standing water and huge cracks in the walls and there's the fairfax county search and rescue team. >> it's funny. we spoke with them this morning on wake up with al on the weather channel. they were heading to the airport, they are here, and they got here ahead of canada, ahead of the united states, ahead of iceland, and they are doing really incredible work. but when you look out here, we just saw a u.n. flight just land. american airlines is running commercial flights again. but the runways are dark. the control tower unmanned. no power. so people are -- the aircraft are going to have to do visual flights to keep people in touch with each other. but it's really remarkable to see these airlines lined up to help. >> so, chris, a desperate place on a good day and now desperate conditions here and i think a lot of people are about to learn all over again, we revisit haiti every few years, usually because of violence or political strive. this is a natural disaster that is going to teach us again about the conditions of life here to ourself. >> brian, let me ask you one last question because i know you understand logistics better than most reporters. is this the kind of project that you can handle through air lift or do you need to bring in sea help to -- >> i don't know if there's that much cargo capacity. if they set up the kind of help like they did in indonesia, you're going to need all of the ss, the us has announced so far and some of those are coming from back home in the northeast. there's a lot of assets en route. it's going to take a lot. and in the course of the relief effort, perhaps they will actually do some infrastructure here. there's no building codes to speak of and that's part of the problem. we've got buildings, including the capital building, the presidential palace pancaking in on itself in the middle of town of port-au-prince. >> that could be helpful, coming from san francisco and those areas. thank you very much, brian williams, who has arrived on the job in haiti ann curry and al roker and kerry sanders. we're going to have more from the devastation of haiti. we'll be right back. years from now, how will we look back on today? as the great recession? or as the recession that made us great? allstate has seen twelve recoveries. but this one's different. because we're different. we realized our things are not as important... as the future we're building with the ones we love. protect yours. put it... in good hands. ♪ put it... in good hands. what if you could capture the fresh taste of broccoli in a luscious soup? v8 garden broccoli. from campbell's. velvety, delicious. campbell's v8 soups. also, try new garden vegetable blend. welcome back to hardball. let's talk about tuesday's special election in massachusetts with the senate seat previously held by the late ted kennedy. peter, you have been endorsing the democratic nominee? >> yes, martha coakley. we are telling people in massachusetts we understand they are frustrated. one way to send a message is to send coakley. she is not a ted kennedy style full throated liberal, she goes for measured results and that seems to be where the mood of the people is right now. >> are you speaking for the editorial board? >> i'm the editorial page editor now. i'm speaking for the editorial board. >> oh, i thought you sounded like a big guy. there's a change in attitude. but let me tell you this, the day that the globe endorses a republican would be what day would you estimate that? when would you estimate your paper would endorse a republican? >> when the republicans come around to our point of view. we consider ourselves to be in line with sort of independent thinkers in massachusetts who tend to be left of center and coakley is right in line. >> here is scott brown. we have to show the cosmo picture. wait until you see this guy. full body. >> too much information. >> that was the candidate for the republican -- well, the republican candidate for senator for massachusetts. we have david gergen moderating the debate monday night. an interesting debate. a lot of people think scott brown the republican did very well in that debate. let's watch. >> are you willing under those circumstances to say i'm going to be the person? i'm going to sit in teddy kennedy's seat and block it for another 15 years. >> with all due respect, it is not the kennedy seat and not the democrat seat but the people's seat. >> the populist answer. >> i agree. he's got a shot. if you told me a month ago scott brown had a chance of taking the seat held by ted kennedy i would have told you that is crazy. that scare has lit a fire by some of the disaffected democrats in massachusetts and helped martha coakley. people who would have stayed home and disillusioned and tired of what is going on in washington may get to the polls. >> the boston globe poll leads 50 to 49. i saw them converging the two numbers. do you see these numbers converging by next tuesday night? >> the race is very, very close. leading democrats are trying to get the vote out. the voters are frustrated. scott brown has tapped into that frustration. there are good arguments for why coakley could be the candidate who does but no question brown could win. >> what is the worst issue for the democrats, the elitism of harvard, the bullying of the federal government or the grubiness of wall street? there are three big targets on the right. which is the fattest target for the republican candidate? is he going after wall street or washington or harvard? >> i think taxes and the health care thing and some people are very concerned about where the health care plan is going. >> he is running a beat the health care bill. >> oh, definitely. >> if he gets in there ain't 60 democrats. >> absolutely. >> peter, that is a rare case where your vote has an immediate consequence in the congress and in your life. he says he will vote against health care bill. coakley says she will vote for it. >> that is true. people are frustrated we have a system in the senate where one senator can hold things up. they are sick and tired of it. the logical response isn't necessarily to vote for scott brown who says he is going to hold everything up. we have to see how that plays out. >> you are such an editorial writer. let me go back to a straight reporter. susan, every time the elite democrats get in trouble they go to the irish guys. michael hooley. they are out there putting a pulling operation together. >> yeah. michael mann may have been out there. >> they don't pay much attention to the scrubs until it is time to win an election then they go to the street corner guys. your thoughts, peter. >> point to coakley's last name. she has a good following. >> maybe i'm wrong? do they go to the street corner guys when they are in trouble? >> you are absolutely right. she has been going to the street corner guys for a while. that is how she won the primary by a large margin. >> there is buzz that sunday night or some time but may be offset by the hell in haiti, one of the two leaders of our country will go up there. will that help or hurt it? >> it is an open question. i think that some people feel like having her surrounded by prominent democrat makes her look weak. other people feel like if you bring in the prominent democrats reminds people of what is at stake, the health care bill. >> will you editorialize on friday whether the president should come or not. >> interesting question. we will certainly consider it. >> come on tell me. are you going to editorialize if the president should come up there or not? >> it hasn't been presented adds a real possibility so we will wait for something more concrete. >> thank you susan who knows the people of massachusetts. i have known you forever. not forever. you are a young lady. you have a young lady. thank you peter, the book on ted kennedy "the last lion." tuesday night is the epicenter, the center of american politics next tuesday night. when we return much more on the devastating earthquake in haiti. if you want to help, you can find a list of charitable organizations active in haiti on our website. go to it haitiquake@mns.com. there are a lot of great groups getting involved already. welcome back to our special coverage of the earthquake (announcer) 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[ doorbell rings ] you may never go back to your old furniture polish. ♪ swiffer gis cleaning a fresh new meaning. if you could see how nature made fish oil protects your heart, you'd be glad you take it. its omega 3's strengthen your cell walls so they stay flexible. and it's the number one recommended by pharmacists. learn more at naturemade.com. glad you took your vitamins. welcome back to this special edition of "hardball." more on the haiti earthquake in just a minute. we're getting now new information tonight that al qaeda in yemen is determined to try to strike again against the united states inside this country. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams is with us with the latest. pete? >> chris, federal officials tell us tonight that they've become aware of new intelligence suggesting that al qaeda in yemen, the group formerly known as al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, is planning another attack against the united states. now, they won't tell us what it is. they won't describe this in any detail. they will not say what is targeted, when or where, but they do say they consider this new threat intelligence credible. ever since the discovery on christmas day of the airliner plot, the plot to blow up that plane from amsterdam to detroit, officials have been saying that they expect al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, the group in yemen, to continue planning attacks against the u.s. so one official tells us tonight, this should not come as any surprise. now, chris, federal officials say they've been discussing whether additional security measures should be imposed and they say any decision on that will depend in part on what more they learn about this threat. they're working on that now and how seriously to take it. >> do they know enough to know where to bolster our defenses? >> i'm told that they do. i think, you know, part of this is, they don't want to be very specific with us. part of it is, they've given us a little piece of it and it seems unfair to say much about that if we don't know more about it. but you get the impression that they know what it is and they're discussing what more to do, and even whether to say anything publicly about it, which they haven't decided to do yet. >> have they admitted or leaked out at all whether the cleric from falls church who was involved with the thing down at ft. hood and the christmas thing, the same fellow, awlaki? >> it's the same group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, of which he is related, associated. although it's never been quite clear precisely what his role is. in the past couple of weeks, we've heard that he's an adviser. we've been told, no, he's gone operational. but whether or not he, specifically, is involved in it, it's certainly those people, they say, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, the ones that he was working with. >> okay, pete williams, you're the best. thank you. i'll be thinking about this myself, personally throughout the night. i do have a sense, like a lot of us, that this is not going to go away. thank you very much, pete williams, from nbc news. now back to the earthquake in haiti. let's bring in now nbc's michelle kosinski, who's on the phone from the dominican republic. michelle, thank you so much for the effort to get on tonight, on "hardball" here. what can you tell us from the location you're at right now? >> reporter: we almost made it on tonight, pretty much par for the course, and we almost made it into haiti too. that's the story many are facing, whether they're embassy employees or doctors or press. earlier in the day, it was much easier to get into the airport. obviously, it was daylight. air traffic control was operational enough to let a number of planes flying in. we got word from pilots, in the beginning of the day, they were only letting aid workers in, but as the afternoon wore on and the traffic increased and also losing a little bit of daylight, apparently the situation just got too much for air traffic control to handle. because, remember, there were report of pretty severe damage at the airport and people who were leaving, the last plane out of haiti last night, arriving in miami, were talking about seeing the airport structures cracking around them. and when they were able to take off at the last minute, they could see the tower damaged in all of that. we couldn't really see that from the air, but what's been happening to us and other planes that were trying to get out a little bit later in the afternoon was a lot of waiting, they'll give you a flight pass to get in, but then when you get there, the traffic system just can't handle it and they were turning people away in the air and sending them right back to the dominican republic. so a lot of frustration at the airport, from pilots, from people who thought they would be able to get in and do what they could with various aid organizations. like i said, these doctors were trying to get in. one pilot was very agitated because he said he was carrying embassy employees. we didn't know exactly if they were u.s. embassy or from where. it was a chaotic scene, but, you know, the people trying to get in are upset, so are the pilots. we're hearing that things might be going more smoothly tomorrow. and we know that the u.s. was going to send some assets in to help with air traffic control there in port-au-prince. i guess the good news is that so many people are trying to get in to do what they can to help. the bad news is, obviously, structures there are so damaged, throughout the capital, and in that surrounding area that it's just tough to really have anything work as planned at this point, chris. >> what's it feel like in that adjoining country of dmin comin republic. >> reporter: completely different. it almost makes me feel guilty how peaceful and perfect everything is here and things are functioning and you can go to a restaurant on the corner. it's like a different world over here. and it really reminds you of what a different world haiti, itself, is on any given day from the dominican republic. just when you see it from the air, recent reports showed that the dominican republic, for example, was about 30% forested right now. haiti is about 2% to 3% forested. so you see the difference from the air and on the ground. i mean, the talk among citizens here is just, their hearts going out for their neighbors on this island, who do live, in many ways, a different world from them. there's also a lot of fear of trying to go across the border if you wanted to help out, because reports of looting were making their way over here. so people who were thinking of going over there to help are now leery of that. they want to get more information and hopefully see things a little bit more under control in certain areas. i think what we're seeing not only in the dominican republic, but into miami as well, the people who were able to get out of their country during times of political turmoil are now unable to reach their families that are still there. there's really a sense of panic about that. i have a lot of contact in the hatian community from living in miami so long, and they're e-mailing me with their heartbreaking stories. you know, i have a daughter who's there. she's 24 years old. we've been calling and calling. we've been able to reach some other people, but we can't reach her. stories of, my 96-year-old brother was in the shower, when he felt the earth shaking, he was able to run out of his house, but his house was completely dero