the society in washington, and she was a very prominent woman with many prominent friends, easy access to the leadership of the country. she went to the vice president dan sheeran and use your offices to part and arthur and his mother is a very good, she says the execution would be worse than the crime and she couldn't contemplate arthur would be executed. ..

>> how the world came to save haiti and left behind a disaster" i will read a little bit about it and talk about it and i hope that we have a good discussion. i will start by reading from chapter one, the end.

>> per first i will drink some water. it is funny. this brand of water is in the book had i known that i would pick that section but these were delivered to haiti by u.s. military. it is called fiji water and it comes from fiji. that is not in the caribbean. and a lot of expense and effort it was a very beautiful project for photographers to take pictures of the gleaming palates of bottled water with the concept there was an incredible water and food crisis but it was reported

haiti was of the verge of a famine following the earthquake. there were real problems, and certainly needed to be a response but it was a response that was not well thought out. it was a nice gesture and if they are here today but it was ridiculous because they do have water in haiti. it is an island and when needed to be done was the water to be purified for the existing system to be improved and long before the earthquake for a system for potable water to be maintained and government institutions to be supportive to be capable to

do that kind of thing valid eliminate a major part of the crisis. and that could help to ameliorate of present crisis like the cholera epidemic. and other crisis of the future. drinking this may make me a hypocrite but that is part of my character, as you will read in the book. >> the phone was next to me on the bet not ringing. this is difficult. a slow january afternoon in the hills above port-au-prince and the time before christmas and cornball was a distraction. why alone housemates the photographer was at home my

a main translator was translating phone calls before heading down to a family's house for he had been living since his divorce. a haitian mechanic was replacing the brake pads on may 13 year-old jew tracker. the call was from someone telling me i could ship out. after two and a half years of disasters and riots, many pet cars nonutility i could count on i was done with haiti. my friends are great the house was terrific wins set back against the viscous and lime trees. the sounds of children filled the day and i would fall asleep to the church at

night. pfalz and most had shipped off to the next crisis. the editor said i could pick when exposition as long as it was called zero or baghdad. [laughter] i chose afghanistan. waiting for the phone to ring i kill time to play trivia. i was in a boxer's and an undershirt sweat take out the last of the h i heard zero loud rumbling outside and looked out the window. then that does started to vibrate.

i heard dishes rattling i always worried and medicine bottles, of bug spray were shaking on the table. there is a rumble before, a little one when i was a correspondent in the dominican republic. i stood up and felt nothing. the of roar outside got louder than the floor started to move. the vibration got thicker. maybe it is. what do you do? the doorway. something about the doorway. i went to it but then into the hall than a shove and then another way than the other way. suddenly everything was falling the frame barely missed my head.

of last coming through though wall. said contest of the up and down and decided to side. who would shove harder? i answered no, no, no no, no, no no-no no. the world turned gray after there should have been nothing left. the windows shut out from their frames and burster crossed i watched the of all cracked into. in the supports appeared from under me then were gone. it was going to fall. i was going to fall. the house next door collapsed i thought about running through the shattered glass but there was no time in the second-floor went and then i arrived on top of it. and i braced for the pain

the beginning of the end. quite literally. i will jump forward a little bit of the book takes a large step back and goes through through haitian history. and then talks about the immediate aftermath of the day after. then we have a chapter called the crossroads which is about the immediate tip of the spear response when the things that most of us all on television. responders, military.

i talk about a lot of things that was happening but here is search and rescue. >> search and rescue is the highest priority of responders. it was called the most urgent need and obama noted the six teams in all speeches. the head a joint task force haiti's said the morning after hundreds of thousands would be extracted. said training exemplified the death -- a vances. heat seeking devices and rescue dogs and microphones. new center and journalist made sure there would not miss a single survivor. a single survivor was is an earthquake in reverse. the tone took on a religious tinge. then york rescue squad pulled out to rebels.

said governor schwarzenegger said "many of us revel to watch the california rescuers live on television performing miracles quote for the first team to reach heydey was dispatched from u.n. headquarters and pulled out an estonian bodyguard with minor injuries. at the supermarket we once bought $10 boxes of cereal mostly foreigners were inside when it fell. the general, head of military response "the hotel montana had six teams alone because of the number of people trapped. the places where ordinary haitians lived and worked for those who had cast the numbers had less attention.

one hill over cnn team watched rescuers trying to free an 11 year-old girl. sheet they could reach her but did not have the equipment to dig her out. they debated to sever her leg but the invitation would kill her with no blood. he said on a neighboring hill there is a posh hotel with dozens of american and french in chile and rescuers trying to work one who is trapped by the screaming stopped them cold it took the rest of the day to pull the girl out. she died of injuries two days later. most foreign rescuers without clear orders were to go. the haitian government had no reporting mechanism and no formal coordination

between international organizations or the u.s. task force. for officials knew the un headquarters that one own men was hundreds of those that were buried. with the language barriers, security concerns and curfews and those were based on civil unrest. it provided a much-needed uplift. miracles would float some hope but the luxury hotel and high and a supermarket was with the broadcast around the world and then they knew where to go. they sought it on tv. >> now i will jump to one more.

this talks about a donor's conference held march 2010 in which the international community represented major organizations like red cross team together to make pledges for the long-term rebuilding. this part is a little part of that. >> as a conference approached organizers tried to draw attention to what they thought were priorities. un secretary arrived in march 14 for the days are getting longer the wintered giving way to heat. and the farmers had their grain to nurse their crops but the weather looks more ominous. it was hard to say how many

people were sleeping under open skies but estimates were 1 million. journalists and policy makers begin reporting on the hazard with unsanitary and crime-ridden hotbeds at risk for further to eliminate as a microcosm for haiti. the highlight of the secretary general's triple take to the most famous camp at downtown port-au-prince on the golf course. the clubhouse was still part of the airborne troops that was with the handlers and security guards and journalists. but with the t-shirt and a trucker at it was a force more powerful. sean penn arrived in haiti nine days after it with the

vague quote from jenkins. for a few days they had a haitian relief organization distributes water filters and medical needs. to everyone on the team soldiers were most excited about maria who had played a bartender in coyote ugly. they lived in a temporary structure that protected them from the elements. then they would stop to take the two were of the camp. then to highlight the ongoing medical aid with the need to protect women and girls from sexual violence then they overlooked the golf course. cameras they called out as they all looked in that direction then when

everybody was in place, i am concerns the rainy season is approaching. of happen to those people? the secretary general motion to the people below. we have to move these people to a safer place. as important to understand the threat and the limits on a normal day rain is dangerous there is little drainage on the streets causing the roads to back up like a bathtub. there is one drop then at a river street merchants will sit patiently through gunfire run over each other if the rain hits their heads. some pedestrians will be swept away. now they thought they would cause a second round of death commensurate with the earthquake that bill clinton warned for the ground becomes more significantly more dangerous for disease.

the rate can't be bad but it is normally not that bad. floods and landslides threat would be somewhat greater but in march they could mitigate the danger. after returning to new york officials would say this:the ground would soon turned to mud in danger in disease he talked about the approaching rain. there and a race against time. as if they had to have been discriminant panicked need to be created to get aid. some might editors rushed me out to the golf course with a delicate and headlamp and looked like i was entering

the delta of. and then a stop to those men playing cards. no mother would want to spend a night holding her crying baby into feats of if -- chilled water. nearly every major ngo signed on to a minimum global standard that people have sufficient covered living space with fresher and protection to ensure their privacy safety and health quote. that that is part of what bill clinton meant that haiti should build back better but responders would have done well to avoid the panic for after all of those who had rushed in not panicked over civil unrest and famine and carefully

consider strategies for the spontaneous decentralization of those went to the countryside for the quake zone would not end up with a huge for camp in the first place. the secretary general said nobody would be rolled -- relocated before the rain. their chance to get solid because wealthy families controlled most of the land refuse to donate but moon and note that they would be relocated to iran to ask him more but after a few words he was caught on camera then i saw sean penn walking alone i talk to him first what is the plan for the rain? quite surprised he answered

it is utile. what is the planner what should be? it should be total relocation. he started to give the extended answer the attorney -- assistant general had not you could forgive all this morning he is handsome and weathered with tan skin and tattoos over his arms and aviator sunglasses. as he explained the details of the camp life people from the governor of louisiana in the remake of all the king's men but that character is a 1930's favor now talking brought the modern ngo. "other thing that i cast a very clear is that a t.a.r.p. is not a tent. a t.a.r.p. structure is not

a tent. it sits on church. talks -- -- toxic dirt that has bacteria this is a camp that should be relocated as many should be. and frankly we have to work to understand the relative on the the ability of this city. every good deed today is another cancer patient tomorrow. the actors of the parameters like a field manager. dreaming of decentralization but not enough lead sewn but large-scale urban camps with plans for agriculture. the impassioned plea unafraid to contradict policy and impressively the needs a specially came from a new league minted worker

for maybe it was hypothetical but the population spokesman asked sean penn if he was helping to choose the site which is an odd question and he surprised me again by saying "had a meeting with the president washington and extended the members of government to revise on this. i was confused. sean penn had a meeting with the haitian president in washington? now has eight official ambassador in george clooney would become a spy master that year organizing private satellites to monitor and sudan and sean penn is an advocate seemed to take the next up contributing to policy-making. perhaps more of the moon

camp to visit. >> that is all that i will read. [applause] i think the best thing to do is to open up to questions. >> are you planning to go back soon? >> yes. [laughter] >> i and a stand that white club started a foundation

that raised money and the many disappeared and he is under investigation can you give some substance to that story? >> sure. he is in the book. and interesting character. he was best known for through 2010 is you wanted to become the president of the republic of haiti but then at the last minute he was left off the ballot. but at that time his financial problems both financial and his charity charity, ngo were factored into that. i would say interestingly enough, although wyclef was common knowledge there were widespread allegations of

unpaid taxes, misspent money, most people that i was talking to commendations did not care that much. they were much more interested in his promise as someone who had lived the dream to grow up for and moved to brooklyn then making it a huge to come back as a major star in and force. i have a conversation in the ng to a waiter ia waiter i said hoodoos' support? he said wyclef.

he said i know but if he is american that means when he is elected president that means you all get a visa. [laughter] he said that. with the allegations that have only gotten worse with time, it is hard to say there is not proved that they are wrong there mostly based with paperwork for filings with the irs. then eyes way business is conducted in this country that at least there are five main agencies so normally when you have done something wrong if somebody goes to look for you have a paper trail.

he seems to be caught up in that. when you talk to wyclef, a lot of people to agree he does have big dreams and he does want his organization to help life get better but that organization has been shut down. i don't know if there will be a criminal follow-up but it is pretty ugly. things did not turn out well in the end. >> with all the problems that occurred during katrina, why do think they did not do a more effective job with the engagements the

president bush and clinton? that is a very good question. basically this is not the first time aid has gone wrong or not done what it was set out to do. people can tell you over and over again places they work that they came in and thought it would go one way but then goes the other. these are deep seated structural problems. it was not a surprise to me you're anybody who knows heydey well or disaster relief well that many of

these issues ochered. they occur here in a different way after hurricane sandy i paid very close attention to the news. you saw a lot of the same thing this. with in the wake of the storm there would be a wave of panic and society would break down and mob mentality would break down. disaster relief officials were looking for any sign they could find with society breaking down with those voters and usually blowing it out of proportion there were isolated incidents but it was not take deal but it

had major ramifications but talk about in the said nora libyans -- citizens of new orleans getting shot because the police assumed they were stealing. it would be nice if there was a period of reflection for disaster relief going forward with the haitian earthquake hit could have been implemented but it is no surprise it did not take place before but it is never too late and a period of reflection now would be a good time. >> three questions.

number one, what do you think of the current president? what you think should have happened to those who returned to haiti? what about raw earth? i heard their discovery of gold and raw materials and what is the solution right now? if the u.n. is down there i hear women being abducted and kidnapping? >> so to recap, the current president? what i think should have happened and what can be done to fix it?

i have been waiting for this question. [laughter] the answer is one word. [laughter] speeeleven. [laughter] the president at the time that in many ways the ark of the book is what happened to his political trajectory and how that led to the elections because everything has to happen at the same time a couple months later resulted in the election the

next president with that was known as say carnivale singer and taking off his pants. normally we are used to them doing that after they become president. [laughter] but michelle was interesting. he was seen as the haitian wyclef and not merely a serious candidate but became a very good candidate that people liked there were many

people who would cry conspiracy no matter what but they could not figure out how a man like sweet mickey became president but you can read about it. he did have a large contingent of support. people really did seem to like kim and have high hopes. the safest answer it is a little too soon to say the results of his presidency. things have not changed that much. my friends in the press feel more restricted than they did previously.

nothing to do with the dictatorships of the past but it is a concern. but he is very charismatic and likable and willing to play ball with united states. i am critical of many but i guess we will see but it is a dodge. under the ground is gold and minerals. with the dominican republic the borders have been a mystery users of gold so it would not surprise me at all. many people believe everything that is going on in haiti is the grand game to secure middle rights for american and canadian companies.

it is, i will write a story. president michel martelly is setting over mineral rights to those that previously had not war with open pit mining. before port of prince i was the correspondent and reported from the open mind product in than clothes when the price went down so it would be reopened and there is a huge fight to clean up the mine area. it was a mess. rivers running red, a peoples who lost water sources and the had to

abandon with a lift over generations because the land was ruined. if that is a feature of haiti it seems like another problem. we're large scale mining takes place normally the most country does not benefit. this is not your question but rather than plastic, a gold i am not sure that has been a big deal since christopher columbus. i know think there is one single answer. it is up part of the mix. i will let somebody else propose how to fix heydey.

>> was the impact of the earthquake largely in port-au-prince or outside as well? >> this is a fantastic question. it is hard to write about. because port-au-prince has often stood in for haiti in people's imagination. to describe the country of the capital but millions cliff not there which is a big deal. if you try to increase tourism, thinking outside of port-au-prince is important

because the odds of them becoming a strong tourist destination are strong but port-au-prince are almost zero. that is a long long time away. a very big city in very crowded. it impacted the way people thought about where to direct a. people who were dealing with problems that are emergencies but they're very angry the agency concentrated with port-au-prince and the rest of the country ignored. this is the thing. there are two parts. on the one hand the impact was basically southern

haiti. it was close to port-au-prince it was by far the largest center of mortality and by far the largest center of homelessness but not the only -- only place directly impacted. but the epicenter was not even near there which is the beginning of the countryside there is another beautiful city in southern haiti on the other side of the mountain was also hard hit. it was ironic because there is a concern all they aid was concentrated and port-au-prince and the part of the country not impacted were forgotten but the aid

effort to not even doing a good job to hit the earthquake zone. those areas right on top of the epicenter because as a resident correspondent, the a.p. send in the enormous team it freed us up to do different things. because i spoke creole and i knew the country and i probably looked like they needed a break from the city and was sent out to places outside of the quake sonat people were fleeing to. number one, the two cities near the epicenter were almost literally wiped out.

seeing the unimaginable lovell of destruction, it looked like a jerry brown climber fell. like a monster came out of the ocean and smashed the city. it was flat. a complete dead zone. many people died and many people survived this is not in the book but i was in the back of a pickup trucks may be four days after the earthquake. and was sitting there tidying what i sought and even typed jerry brock camera film some guys came

around and rescinding next to what used to be a hospital. they came through and said are you american? they said is the hospital open? literally. [laughter] but clearly not operating. they said they came from kansas city and they had raised money and brought pharmaceuticals and bandages and medical supplies they drove out there because they heard it is in dire straits and wanted to help it if i had seen any ngos to give the medicine to. i said no.

then they walked out into the rebel field. this was four days afterwards. it was interesting. people were overly focused on parts that were hit by the earthquake but overly concerned of port-au-prince but the major reason there was so much confusion at the beginning of the cholera outbreak, nine months later there was the supposition outside of the world that surely it was a result of the earthquake. one of the most important things that we we're doing but we broke the story to show the link between the u.s. peace keepers bringing

a the cholera bacteria to haiti and it shows the un caused the outbreak but it was hard to explain. yes. it started in may there are two different places. because haiti is haiti and that is port-au-prince it is hard to explain. is outside of the earthquake zone so it is not likely is a direct result. >> what do you see as the future of haiti 10 years from now? >> said is a fast question. [laughter] i don't know. i don't know.

i really don't know. i can say haiti as a country and those other cities of the earthquake zone and there have been larger earthquakes previously in northwestern haiti that is routinely hit by devastating floods and hurricanes. those places are no better prepared for disaster then they were jittery 12, 2010. if there is another disaster , a storm that other places is a bump in the road remains high. optimism needs no evidence.

as long as people are alive, there is hope. as long as people have an opportunity to make choices. we in developed nations, we are all in with fully invested in the country's past and liberal investment into the future. we can make good decisions to make the country stronger and more resilient and better able to be more productive. we could set back to allow haitians to be the way. and we can decide to allow for the possibility we have

been wrong. and try to do better for the future. things, a turnaround immediately. 10 years from now things could be better. if we keep doing what we we're doing, 10 years from now say will be worse with more disaster and the suffering. there is no reason the past have been. i am a journalist just showing how it is. this country was my home over three years. is a wonderful place. i think if there is some good may killick at the mistakes of the past and choose to make a better future.

[applause] >> first of all, persuade them they are in dire danger. they're headed for the ultimate bonfire of existence. then talk about the devil and the diabolical human beings. they look for the double. station double and look for the deities. it is a complex -- it is a

complex issue whose issue? i often refer to get it as the eminent of the human condition. it is unpredictable of the spirit. it teaches humanity there is more than one side to the eshoo to face any reality or to be aware of appearances. eshoo the embodiment of those in such things. when humanity developed their folly to be dogmatic

comet it is like a good teacher with a cane symbolically for adults who look apple sides of the question. and the crossroads, which roads to take? eshoo is a mischievous he is not allowed in the house. his place is on the doorstep because eshoo is the temperamental and before you -- worship any of the deities you set aside a morsel for eshoo. is the messenger for the deities. it to be strict he is always cheerful but may deliver in a way without lying unless

you misinterpret the message. when the missionaries with a look at this along the deities, rivers, purity, war , the moist elements is eshoo is the answer. this mischievous person so eshoo became the double for christians. it is the year of the double -- devil. with us compare of the

wisdom from ecology and those whose verses are from see divine. eshoo is anything but the devil but it is painful today to find one's own contraband of women referred to teeeighteen as the devil. look at what happened to devil when moving slaves to latin america. they arrived with the knowledge that teeeighteen was feared by the christian message -- missionaries of slaves adopted eshoo as their deity.

the christians wanted them to convert to. eshoo was the paramount symbol of resistance of latin america. in certain parts of brazil you would find teeeighteen was elevated to the supreme deity simply because that was the symbol that was there, the protagonist for freedom. looking the transposition of deities across the semantic now not only was the symbol of resistance in the new world, but the supreme deity in certain parts of brazil. on the contrary to go to the heartland of brazil, the hierarchy is plain.

but in others it eshoo is the supreme deity. this is the history of africa and it goes back a couple of centuries. but today, to be a follower of the religion is to earn a death sentence in certain parts of nigeria. and of course, christians respond in kind with their colleagues in reprisal. put that level of intolerance based on ignorance has raised that such a pitch that if you open the papers at any time in nigeria of the church has

been burned down, worshipers machine gunned, a mosque was burned down and worshipers were bombed out of existence. even within the muslim religion there are different grades of purity. one side considers the other not sufficient so therefore deserving of criminal censorship. but then i jeers censorship never has one single issue that leads to total destabilization of society. >> booktv is here at the national press club author night joining us now is the author of a first cameraman.

what is your association with the obama administration? >> in 2008 on the campaign i was a personal videographer that i carried through the first two and a half years of the white house. the last cycle i did not work on the campaign formally or at the white house but in the super pac and independent expenditures. >> talk about the campaign in 2008 civic there was an ad in craig's last. no. i was in the right place at the right time. a friend was working as cnn as a documentary producer. i was a fiction film maker. she knew i was passionate about politics and brought me in then i hit it off with a senator and started traveling. >> how long did you do it?

was a 24/7? >> especially on the campaign and felt that way i was living in chicago but maybe two or three-- per month but it scaled back at the white house because the president does value having dinner with his daughters so i dinnertime i could have a reasonable chance he would do family stuff. >> who has the video? >> it is at the white house and those in twos the white house and it has to be preserved for posterity so it can never be erased so all of it, warts and all go to the archives and it will be available to the public after the a ministration. >> the campaign video is private? >> idiocy kept