captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> lehrer: good evening. i'm jim lehrer. a senior haitian official said today the death toll in haiti may be as high as 140,000. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: three days after the devastating earthquake, delivery of much needed international aid remains difficult because of a severely damaged seaport and a congested airport. >> lehrer: we'll look at conditions on the ground, including a security assessment from the united nations

undersecretary for peacekeeping operations. >> woodruff: plus, we'll hear from the haitian ambassador to the united states. >> woodruff: then, a look at the surprisingly hot campaign in massachusetts for ted kennedy's senate seat. >> lehrer: and, the weekly analysis of mark shields and david brooks. >> lehrer: and we'll close with the voices and see the faces of the desperate people of haiti. that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> what the world needs now is energy. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate change. what is that energy came from an energy company? everyday, chevron invests $62 million in people, in ideas-- seeking, teaching, building. fueling growth around the world to move us all ahead. this is the power of human energy. chevron.

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>> lehrer: the people of haiti confronted an ever-widening disaster today in the wake of tuesday's killer earthquake. estimates of the dead more than doubled in 24 hours, and survivors appealed for relief. we begin with two reports from independent television news, on the scene in port-au-prince. first, sarah smith. a warning-- some of the scenes may be disturbing. >> reporter: waiting outside the main hospital, injured people can only hope for treatment. everyone here has suffered some sort of ordeal, especially roberto rossi. after three terrifying days and nights trapped under a wall in her own home, roberta was finally dragged out of there today. she says she had been screaming for help, but no one could hear her. only when a bulldozer arrived this morning did they spot her pushing a stick out of the wreckage. neighbors dug her out, shocked, but relatively unhurt. like so many others, though, she now has nowhere to go.

it seems as though most of the people who live in port-au- prince are now forced to live out on the street. and just about every public space and even patches of waste ground, these makeshift shelters have appeared and people are surviving on only what they could grab from their collapsing homes. so, food, water and all kinds of supplies are running out quickly, and if they don't get some help soon, the mood could change. people have to carry what they can, because the hillsides that were covered with homes where the very poorest people live have almost entirely collapsed. every building here now is almost totally unsafe, and that leaves thousands upon thousands of people homeless. the u.n. are considering making the football stadium a field hospital, and they will find they already have plenty of patients waiting. and what do people here need most? >> they need a hospital, they need a doctor.

and they lost everything, they lost everything. me-- i lost everything. i lost my house, i lost everything. >> reporter: left lying in the middle of the pitch, nana has a broken leg, bandaged up with cardboard. her parents have left her here while they try to find some food. a small bottle of cherry juice is all she has, and she desperately needs a doctor. broken limbs, legs especially, are common, and the injured are, of course, then stranded. this girl told me she was carried here by some neighbors after the hospital turned her away, despite the fact that both her legs are clearly broken. none of her own family survived the earthquake to help her now look after her baby. it's obvious that, without treatment, soon, the injured will start to die. >> do something for me, please! i'm set bad. i'm bad, i'm so bad! please, do something for me! do something quick!

quick, quick! >> reporter: the streets are now full of smoke-- branches and leaves are being burnt to cover the pervasive stench of rotting corpses. and tempers are rising. these people are fighting over what to do with the body of their preacher. "burn it," insist some of them; "bury him," say the others, who eventually win their argument and take the corpse away. but it's not to a dignified funeral. the preacher's body is simply put in a pit, on top of at least 20 other departed souls. day and night, the bodies are piling up. it's deeply disturbing to look at, and it's dangerous as well. so just about any vehicle that can be found is being used to take them away. the morgue, though, is overwhelmed.

it now has well over a thousand bodies piled up outside. one family paid for a corpse to be removed, but there's no attempt to try and identify any of the others. the u.n. arrived with orders to count the bodies, not to remove them. the true numbers of how many people died here will take a long time to assess. what to do with the dead and how to help those left alive are now the urgent questions. >> woodruff: now, more on the americans caught in the haitian catastrophe. up to 50,000 u.s. citizens live in haiti. so far, six are confirmed dead and many more are missing. bill neely of independent television news has more. again, some of the scenes are visually graphic. >> reporter: they survived haiti's deadliest quake. at first light, they give thanks and pray. "god help us," they chant.

"believe in the power of god." but it was the power of the earth that swept away their homes and their families. and three days on, that minute of terror is still reverberating deep underground we followed a french rescue team down into the bowels of a luxury hotel, through the concrete under the beams, and into a tiny cavity where a man is still alive. >> give me your hand. you want painkiller? >> reporter: clinton from new york is trapped by a concrete beam across his legs. the rescue workers have hooked him up to drips and believe they can get him out. they pulled four people out yesterday. near him, a second american man, and in a room beyond, an american woman. working next to them, american rescuers. and then a moment that stuns

everyone. they help out a haitian hotel waiter. but he hardly needs help-- he hasn't a scratch. he tells me he never thought he would die. he lived because he was trapped in a lift. >> it kept him from getting crushed. probably kept him from getting debris falling on them. so it's probably a safe bet that that elevator car served as a protection for them. >> reporter: they are still hearing voices in the rubble. it's really surprising that, after three days, anyone is still alive in this crush. this building really is a mass grave, with more than 100 bodies trapped in the debris. soon, slowly and carefully, the american team bring out a second man, eyes open, scanning the rescuers. he is badly injured. within minutes, the shock has rendered him unconscious, but they think he will make it.

so many thousands have not. like litter, they lie everywhere. at a police station and jail, the officers peer in, looking for colleagues, their men crushed with the inmates they were guarding. this earthquake didn't discriminate-- prisoner and guard, rich and poor-- it was the great leveler. and it leveled this city. outside a school that was three stories high, the injured parents and grandparents of the children wait. but here, tragedy was averted. the school closed 20 minutes before the quake struck. well, this is a scene of utter horror. behind this ll, there are bodies piled three deep. there are probably scenes like this all over haiti. we don't know because it is very difficult to get to some of the outlying areas. but clearly, this death toll looks like being in the tens of thousands. it is the kind of horror haiti has never known.

>> lehrer: haiti's pleas for help reached around the world today. newshour correspondent kwame holman reports on the building u.s. effort. >> holman: the scenes of desperation from haiti preoccupied official washington from the white house on down. president obama managed to get through to haiti's president rene preval on the telephone this morning. >> i pledged america's continued commitment to the government and the people of haiti in the immediate effort to save lives and deliver relief, and in the long-term effort to rebuild. >> holman: for now, severe damage to the port-au-prince harbor made airlifts the only reliable way to get the aid onshore. and helicopters from the newly arrived u.s. navy aircraft carrier "carl vinson" ferried in their first relief supplies today. but the city's badly damaged airport remained a bottleneck. with the control tower disabled, the u.s. military officially took over takeoffs and landings today.

these soldiers from the 82nd airborne division shipped out yesterday, but did not set down until late last night, after waiting hours to be cleared to land. in washington, the growing desperation in haiti intensified the focus on the pentagon's efforts to get the aid operation into high gear. u.s. military leaders said today there could be 10,000 american troops in port-au-prince and offshore by monday. in a morning briefing, joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen said the military is working as fast as it can. >> these ships, aircraft and troops also deliver hope, although it seems that supplies and security cannot come quickly enough. i echo the president's promise to the people of haiti that you will not be forsaken and you will not be forgotten. >> holman: u.s. officials acknowledged the need for secure distribution of aid, amid reports of widespread scavenging and growing unrest, with reports of young men and boys roaming the streets with machetes.

defense secretary robert gates said speedy relief will ease tension. >> the key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible, so that people don't, in their desperation, turn to violence or lead to the security situation deteriorating. and that's why there's such a high priority now in getting food and water in to people. but at this point, other than some scavenging and minor looting, our understanding is the security situation is pretty good. >> holman: outside washington, personnel from the national naval medical center prepared to ship out tomorrow aboard the hospital ship u.s. "n.s. comfort." the center's commander is rear admiral matthew nathan. >> the next big thing is how do you handle illnesses that travel person-to-person rapidly and could bring the population down. haiti already has a reservoir of airborne and waterborne illnesses, and our goal is to try to contain those as much as

possible and not allow them to flourish in this destructive environment. >> holman: as the u.s. military pressed to get its people into haiti, many u.s. civilians pressed to get out. >> we will see people with american passports, one at a time. please remain calm. >> holman: in scenes described as "chaotic," some 200 americans anxiously waved their passports at the port-au-prince airport as they were organized for evacuation. late today, secretary of state clinton announced she will travel to haiti tomorrow to size up the situation. >> with time and rescue missions it is a race against time to establish some way to clear the road so more supplies can get in. but boy, everybody is pushing as hard as they can. so i think we are making a lot of progress. i just want to make sure we move as quickly and effectively as we can .

>> holman: around the world, charitable organizations began raising funds in earnest to aid the earthquake victims, and cities with major haitian- american populations joined the effort. the speaker of the new york city council made this announcement today. >> starting immediately, new york city municipal employees-- that's 300,000 people-- for the next four pay periods will be able to make check-offs on their paychecks, donations to the mayor's fund to go to relief organizations that are helping in haiti. >> holman: additional fundraising also is gathering momentum. a celebrity-filled national telethon was in the works. and the president will meet tomorrow with former presidents george w. bush and bill clinton to discuss their new effort to promote rebuilding haiti. >> lehrer: now to jeffrey brown. he spoke earlier today with tina susman of the "los angeles times" in port-au-prince. >> reporter: tina, thanks for joining us. you are at the airport so tell us first what's the situation there in terms of supplies being able to get

in. >> well, today appears to be the first day that things have really gotten under way here at the airport. up until this morning they were having problems landing planes full of people and supplies because of crowd on the runway. but just today there have been, for instance, several cargo planes bringing people in, among them 250 doctors, nurses and medical experts including veterinarians, sent out from the health and human services department by the state department. they just arrived this afternoon. and aid agencies are expecting some cargo planes to come in. in fact they are expecting 18 metric tons of supplies arrive on a cargo plane this afternoon. >> reporter: give us a sense, if you would, about how hard it is to get around the city for you, for aid workers for anybody at this point. >> extraordinarily hard. in fact, everybody i have

spoken to, the aid workers, the people who just arrived from health and human services, they all say the same thing. we can get the supplies in but ho do we get them out to the people that need them. and as one, i got here wednesday morning and i have been roaming around the city ever since. it's extraordinarily hard. there is rubble in the streets. i mean port-au-prince is a hard place to travel in in a good day. you can imagine what it must be like now. plus you have fuel shortages. a lot of people have cars, but a lot of people are walking mainly because the lines to get gasoline, if you can even find it are over a mile long and that is not an exaggeration. so that is going to be a real problem. and everybody seems to be thinking that's the next obstacle to overcome. now they've got the airport up and running, getting supplies in. how do they get them out. >> reporter: now what about the security situation. because we're getting reports of groups of young men, even armed with machetes. there are reports from the government talking about potential violence as their biggest fear at this point.

can you see any of that at this point? as you travel around. can you feel it? >> well, i can certainly feel the frustration and the sense, the concern that if aid doesn't get out soon, very soon as in like the next 4 hours, there could be some eruption of violence. but honestly, i have not seen any evidence of illegal activity so far. in fact, i have actually been quite surprised at how calm the situation is. i walk around without any problems whatsoever. the only time people come up and approach me is because they might think i'm an aid worker. and they think that somehow i can help find a hospital to take their daughter who has a broken leg, for instance. no question, if this goes on, as bad as it has been the last two and a half, nearly three full days now, you can expect that people would get impatient enough to start trying to break a winnow and get something to eat. >> and what about the aid effort itself.

as you say you've been there a few days now. is there a sense that it is better organized at this point? is there any sort of coordination between the government or the local police or -- and aid workers or is it all sort of ad hoc still? >> it's still a bit ad hoc. and that's primarily because of the lack of communications and also, once again, the inability for people simply to get to one another and find out what they need and what's going on. telephone lines are down for the most part. it's not like you can just turn on your cell phone and find out what hospital needs what. however, there are individual efforts seriously under way. for the first time today, for instance, i saw armed uniformed haitian police standing guard at one of those incredibly long gasoline lines. that was the first time hi seen that since i got here wednesday morning. the individual aid organizations all said they are, you know, getting their teams in and they are expecting to get their

supplies in, hopefully by this afternoon and more tomorrow so that they can actually start distributing the supplies. so the biggest concern at this point is how they are going to distribute the supplies, not only logistically, but how will they prevent themselves from being mobbed when they do show up in a crowded area with things like water which is almost impossible to find at this point. >> all right, tina susman of the los angeles times, thanks so much for talking to us, and take care. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: the biggest security force in port-au-prince is the united nations peacekeeping contingent of 9,000 soldiers and police, an international force with brazilians in the lead. a few moments ago, i talked with alain le roy, the u.n. undersecretary general for peacekeeping. >> mr. undersecretary general thank you very much for talking with us. first of all, tell us how many peacekeeping troops are in haiti with the united nations and what is their mission now?

>> we have 7,000 troops and police in haiti, among them 3,000 just in port-au-prince. their main mission for the time being is first to patroling the streets to ensure security. of course we have a lot of engineers, they are moving the rubble, they are figuring many important places in port-au-prince and one more time they are patroling. their main tas something to assure security and of course to help the haitian people remove the rubble . >> woodruff: an are they getting that job done? we know many of the streets are not passable. we know there are till bodies, corpss in the streets. tell us about some of the challenges spacing these troops. >> we have to clean the main roads to ensure that the heavy equipment can reach the most important places. that has been done. but of course there are still many streets where thousands of bodys are lined. so we have, of course, that is our task to remove the bodies.

we are also digging holes to ensure bodies can be buried. but of course a huge number of bodys are lining the streets so it takes some time but we will continue that work. and again the main streets have been clear to ensure that they can reach the most important places. >> woodruff: are the peace-keeping troops involved in search-and-rescue. we've seen so many places in port-au-prince where people are not able to get to their loved ones because of just the heavy, heavy structure still on top of them. >> yes, yes, we have engineers who are participating a whole lot in the search-and-rescue operation from the first hours of the earthquake. but it's clear that many streets in port-au-prince are very small and as you say there are still many bodies. so they, hour-by-hour we are cleaning more and more streets to ensure that the equipment can reach the right places. >> undersecretary general we've also -- various people have said this they don't

really think any one is in charge, that the haitian government has been so undermined by what happened that things are being done in an ad hoc way with. what is your understanding of that? >> of course we are still in the first 48 hours, after the earthquake. so it is still -- it is clear that the they have been hit a lot. but clearly they are still in charge. we are outfitting them and of course we are -- the humanitarian activities and we are work of course with all the major countries. and any countries that are providing help to haiti, we have the task to coordination -- considered nature of course. a lot of search-and-rescue teams have already arrived and are work. they are not -- on every spot because so thousands have been des troyed but a number of them are being certained while we speak.

>> what is your understanding of the law and order situation. there has been -- there have been reports of looting, other incidents, but there have also been people who said there is not much of that going on. what is your sense of it. >> yes, there have been some incidents where people were looting or fighting for food, that very clear. they are desperate. they have been three days now with -- some of them without any food orasis dance. so it's clear there, but globally remains -- under control for the time being and the u.n. operation has the task to ensure -- insurance security in port-au-prince, of course we have to make sure the situation doesn't unravel. for that we need very much to ensure that the assistance is coming as quickly as possible so that the people who are dying for food, assistance, medicine, get them as soon as possible. we clearly need medicine, water, food, shelter as soon as possible because the

people are desperate to get them. >> from what you know what is the outlook do you think for the next few days. are things getting better by the day? i mean how do you see things unfolding in the next 24-48, three, four days? >> it is obvious that assistance is coming by a lot of u.n. agencies. so the situation is improving but at the same time we know that we will discover more and more people under the rubble. that is for sure. the situation is improving. improving at the airport, improving in the streets. but of course as far as we speak, for the timing we have only 7,000 bodies buried. and of course there must be thousands more. so still a lot to be donement but i think the coordination is more and more in place. we have reinforced our mission. you know our mission, the mission have. we have a sent a new head of mission.

and any hour we are enforcing our mission by more staff, more experts and with the full assistance of military from other countries. i think the situation is improving but when you are walking the streets of port-au-prince you see all the bodies in the street. >> well, we know it is a monumental task. united nations undersecretary general for peacekeeping alain leroy, thank you very much. >> thank you very much, to you >> woodruff: and how is the haitian government-- its officials among the quake victims and its main buildings severely damaged-- responding to this crisis? for that, we go to haiti's ambassador to the united states, raymond joseph. mr. ambassador, we know that a memorandum of understanding was announced today between the u.s. and haiti to temporarily take over your main airport. we know there will be 10,000 u.s. troops there by monday. is your government essentially turning over management of this crisis to the u.s.? >> well, i don't know whether it is turning

management to the u.s. i know they are turning management of the airport to the u.s. and this is really needed because the tower at the airport fell and we had no way of controlling air place -- airspace. from there to go and say that they are turning the whole management of the crisis to the u.s. i think is going a little bit too far. the government has also set up a crisis unit, not too far from the airport as of yesterday. and the various minister s who went unaccounted for now are become found. and we might take a little time to get things moving. but i think the haitian government is taking steps to respond, especially in

the field of security. >> woodruff: secretary of state clinton, of course, is come og to haiti tomorrow to port-au-prince. what do you look to her to do. >> i am looking, first of all it is symbolic gesture. you know, she was out ina and she cancelled the trip there and got back to washington. and is focusing on haiti. for her to come down to haiti together with the administrator of usaid is a way of telling us you are important for us, you are a priority for us. we understand what you are going through. and we are showing that we care. moreover her presence in haiti will help to paper over any hard feengs, you

know, friction that may have occurred between some people who are in charge of the airport in port-au-prince and who now see that this is going into american hands. but they should know that this is temporary situation, just to help us get through this hard period. it doesn't mean america is taking over haiti. >> you mentioned friction, hard feelings, can you elaborate on that? >> i know that some people, you know, for the past two days, there were problems that planes could not land at the airport. and i understand that as you said today there is a memorandum of understanding that was signed that had to be worked out. because some of the airport officials thought they were still in control but you

know, in control in what way? now that they, the u.s. airborne and other units are coming, u.s. 82nd airborne, they have more equipment, more experience to deal with the situation like that, it is a way of saying okay, you know, let go. >> mr. ambassador, one final quick, quick question and that is, we hear so many descriptions of the desperation, people begging for food. we know that -- we've seen nothing but terrible scenes, gvs -- give us your personal sense of what this is like for the haitian people. >> well, it's definitely the haitian people that act that way in a crisis. we saw what happened in katrina here.

we saw what happened when the tsunami hit in southeasta. we saw how people tried to loot and they had to put some order. i think the human being in general who are facing a crisis of the stomach, of the throat or whatever else, will grab unless you place some security to have some water. but in general, i think the people of haiti have been pretty courageous and have worked together quite a bit. it's now three days desperation starts to kick in. however, i expect that with proper security the people will react properly. and i think i see a silver

lining in what is happening. the chaos of port-au-prince, a city that was built for 50,000 now houses more than two million, i'm quite sure it's not going to be rebuilt the same way again. we're going to have some order in haiti. >> woodruff: ambassador raymond joseph, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> lehrer: and still to come on the newshour: an unexpectedly close senate race; shields and brooks; and haiti's voices and images. that follows the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. hari. >> sreenivasan: an independent report today blamed a series of army officers for failing to prevent the fort hood massacre. last november, major nidal hasan allegedly killed 13 people and wounded 43 at the texas military base. it turned out he had a history of erratic behavior and making troubling statements. former army secretary togo west and retired admiral vernon clark

investigated. west said today commanders should have been more aware of problems with hasan. >> do we want commanders in the mosques? no. do we want anybody there? no. what we want is commanders' awareness of what's happening in their units and what's happening to their people. >> sreenivasan: at a separate briefing, defense secretary robert gates said the military must confront the wider issue of threats within its own ranks. >> we have not done enough to adapt to the evolving domestic internal security threat to american troops and military facilities that has emerged over the past decade. in this area, as in so many others, this department is burdened by 20th-century processes and attitudes, mostly rooted in the cold war. >> sreenivasan: as many as eight army officers could face disciplinary action as a result of the findings. the man accused of planning the bali bombing in 2002 may be tried in washington. it was widely reported today the

obama administration is moving riduan isamuddin from guantanamo bay. he was believed to be al-qaeda's link to jemaah islamiyah. that indonesian group was blamed for the nightclub bombings on the island of bali in 2002. more than 200 people were killed, many of them foreign tourists. wall street had a rough day after a private index of consumer sentiment came in weaker than expected. the dow jones industrial average lost more than 100 points to close at 10,609. the nasdaq fell more than 28 points to close just under 2,288. for the week, the dow lost a fraction of 1%. the nasdaq fell more than 1%. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to jim. >> lehrer: now, tuesday's special senate election in massachusetts. with the republican candidate surging in the polls, president obama is to campaign for the democratic nominee on sunday. margaret warner reports. >> warner: when massachusetts

senator edward kennedy died last august, it was taken for granted that the seat he'd held for decades would be filled by another democrat. family friend paul kirk became interim senator until a special election could fill the seat for real. the democratic candidate in tuesday's election is state attorney general martha coakley, a lifelong prosecutor, she's decidedly unflashy. her opponent is state senator scott brown. at 22, he posed for a nude centerfold in "cosmopolitan" magazine. calling himself an independent conservative, he has vowed, if elected, to provide the 41st vote to block the democrats' health care reform bill in the senate. from the outset, coakley wrapped herself in the kennedy mantle, and early polls showed her with a 30-point lead. >> as some have noted, no one can fill his shoes, but we must strive to follow in his footsteps. >> warner: but in recent weeks, brown has surged.

a turning point came just after christmas, when brown aired an ad comparing himself to president john f. kennedy. >> ...will have both immediate and permanent benefits to our economy. every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary. >> warner: coakley did not respond, and in early january, polls showed the race tightening. with a filibuster-proof senate majority at stake, democrats belatedly began pouring talent and ad money into coakley's campaign. >> he drives around in a pickup truck, but you have to look under the hood to find the real scott brown. on health care, brown wants to be the deciding vote to kill ted kennedy's legislation. >> warner: but brown appeared to get another boost from monday night's debate with coakley and third party candidate joe kennedy, no relation to the late senator. coakley painted brown as a conservative in the mold of george w. bush. >> he wants to go back to the drawing board.

he wants to go back to those bush/cheney policies that provide for the wealthiest. >> warner: brown painted coakley as a liberal rubber-stamp for president obama. >> you're in favor of cap and trade. it's a tax. >> it's not a tax. >> it's a tax. you're in favor of a bill that will cost a billion dollars... >> warner: moderator david gergen asked brown if he'd use "ted kennedy's seat" to block health care legislation that kennedy had championed. >> with all due respect, it's not the kennedys' seat, and it's not the democrats' seat-- it's the people's seat. >> warner: in the closing days, senior massachusetts senator john kerry has emailed supporters for donations to coakley's campaign. and president obama recorded an internet video on her behalf. >> as your attorney general, she has taken on wall street schemes, insurance company abuses, and big polluters on your behalf. she represents the best progressive values of massachusetts. >> warner: today, ted kennedy's widow vicki added her voice.

>> it's the peoples' seat-- the mother struggling to make ends meet, the father trying to find a job. my husband fought for them, and so does martha coakley. >> warner: brown's campaign has been active on the web, too, with ads and vigorous fund- raising. though a "boston globe" poll last sunday had coakley up by 15 points, a suffolk university survey last night showed brown with a four-point lead. one further wild card, with implications for the health care vote-- the massachusetts secretary of state says it will take ten days or more to certify the results of the election. >> lehrer: and to the analysis of shields and brooks-- syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. mark, how could it be that this massachusetts senate race has suddenly become too close to call? >> massachusetts isn't that democratic a state, jim. they have ten congressman, they're all democrats. they have two senators, they're both democrats. they have 200 people in the legislature, 176 of them are democrats and all 6

constitution al officers are democrats. so that is the question. >> lehrer: what's the answer? >> well, the answer you get, at least talking to people involved politically in massachusetts, a lot of criticism of martha coakley sit on a nonexistent lead in her campaign, that scott brown has run a good campaign. but underlying everything else is this sense of anger . this almost formless furry and anger that people are feeling against washington, against the democrats. i mean it seems to be the harbinger of the third election in a row where you have had the ins thrown out and the outs put in. it happened in 2006 when the democrats took over the congress. it happened in 200 when the democrats swept everything. and now democrats are the ins and there is a building, building fury. and scott brown has tapped into it, as a sense of independence. and it is very much a race. the president is going in

there sunday. >> lehrer: he had no plans to do that three moments ago. >> that's right. and which tells you the seriousness of it. but the second thing for those of you of the two campaigns t is incredibly disruptive to have a presidential visit. because when you -- 48 hours away for an election, are you getting your assignments about who is going to work which precinct and make what calls and drive what calls. all of a sudden a presidential visit comes in and it just those everything up in the air and everybody is involved in that. it really disrupts the campaign. but they must feel the need for that energy. >> lehrer: how do you read what has happened? >> well, firstly, i think coakley is a bad candidate, as mark said. >> lehrer: in what way. >> a couple things, one, it is an outsider year, she is running as an incumbent. she is running as an insider that is a mistake. then there are the stray gaffes, she said in the famous episode sherx was asked to shake hands, she said what would i gain by shaking hands out of fenway park that is exactly what

you should be doing, shake some hands, meet the people. there is that problem. then there is the general and never the country but then there is opposition to health care. brown, it strikes me, is not waging a bill weld republican massachusetts campaign, he is waging an idaho campaign, he is wage a conservative campaign directly at health care. she say russ going to kill health care. he says yes, that is why i am rung. he is running a very conservative campaign. and he is drawing very even. and i, as of yesterday oa was to the going up there. and you could see why --. >> lehrer: he made a decision a few hours ago. >> is he still popular there. >> lehrer: obama is. >> so maybe it would help. but i would be worried about a couple of things. one, it is the barrage of the insiders coming up there, and secondly, and i know this was a concern in the white house. some of the people with whom they need to win over, are not core oa people. remember, he lost the primary there to hill ceo -- hillary clinton, so they are

afraid he doesn't really deliver those people. >> one wrinkle on the health thing that scott brown has a very adroit answer which is we in massachusetts already have health insurance, mitt romney's plan which he owned and disowned in his campaign for the presidency. >> lehrer: but it is still in existence. >> that's right t is still the law, 96% of the people in massachusetts have elevator insurance. he said why should we pay our tacks to cover people in texas so there is a certain sense of pride as well as provincialism, as well as anti-tax in his message. republicans have already won this race, swim, let's get that straight. >> lehrer: what dow mean. >> i mean because -- here is the democrats spending the president's capitol and time, a half a million dollars in massachusetts in january. i mean what does that mean they are going to be spending in nevada and arkansas and ohio and missouri in october.

you know, i have to go to benzodiazepine ang to underwrite it tand has made the recruiting easier for the republicans. victories in new jersey, candidate recruitment, convince piece people to to run for office. >> lehrer: the two governors. >> that's right, kevin mccarthy is in charge of the house republican recruitment called me this afternoon to tell me not only this job is easier but that dick snyder, seven term democrat from arkansas just announced his retirement. he has tim griffin former u.s. attorney running against him. >> there still is something hanging out there. because health care is really -- >> health care is on top. >> but it's really hanging in the balance. >> lehrer: so it is because of -- as the republican candidate keeps saying, i will be the 41s republican and that means no 60 votes for the democrats, no health-care reform. >> there is the psychological aftershocks of losing in massachusetts. and then so now washington, in washington the democrats are saying well, if he loses maybe we could pass it in the lame duck session before

he actually takes a seat or hold it up, claim's recount. ask for a recount to. me that is crazy talk because if you have an earthquake you can't just then do some monkey business and pass a lame duck session a major piece of legislation. >> do you agree that is crazy. >> i agree. you have ten days to certify the results. i mean the results are the results. and ten days are not required to do it. and david is right. >> anybody tried to play games they couldn't get away with it. >> no, they couldn't get away with it. >> this race has been nationalized. i mean the president, you know, is up or down vote on him whether he went there or didn't go there. so he has made the decision to go there to push all the chips into the middle of the table. >> but in a word, if by chance coakley does win and they maintain the 60 votes, does this deal today on health-care reform, not today, this week on health-care reform on these so-called cadillac plans, is that going to make it -- is it going to get through do you think. >> i think so. i should say i still think coakley will win it.

at the end of the day, that is from massachusetts. so i think it will win. and then the deal they've struck is the deal they needed with the unions. and i said i don't like the deal because i think it is a sweetheart, a special carve out for people who happen to have union contracts. nonetheless -- >> it is enough. >> it there get through, yes. >> do you agree. >> yeah, i just -- i really have nothing but disdain. admiration for the person that came up with the term cadillac plan. i mean these are not cadillac plans. i mean --. >> lehrer: you mean the people on the other side. >> yeah, the people who oppose it call them cadillac plans. if you took the united states senate, alan shown makes this point, as a separate entity, 63-year-old men, the average premium for an individual would be $13,000 a year, $32,000 for a family this that is a cadillac plan. but because they are in the whole federal program, with everybody else as an employee it's $6,000 and $13,000 so they get a pretty good deal out of it. i mean so workers who are older, who have tougher jobs,

who picked up more, have higher premiums as a result. >> do you agree with david that coakley is probably going to win out. >> i don't know who is going it to win, the most pessimistic. >> the most optimistic democrat i talked to today said i think coakley is in good shape. i said how good shape. i think the middle single digits. middle single digits, bad weather in january, anything can happen. >> lehrer: finally, david, you wrote a column today on haiti and what it is as about global poverty. explain your thesis. >> to me this is not only a natural disaster story, it is a poverty story. we had a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in this country in 1998 or '96 in the bay area, very densely populated. 63 people died. now 45,000, 50,000. so it is not only the disaster t is the poverty t is the bad construction. >> lehrer: maybe 140 or 150. >> well maybe, yeah. so that's about the social underlying factor here. and the problem is we have spent 30 years trying to use

foreign aid to create economic growth and reduce poverty. we don't know how to do it we have reduced poverty in china where we have no aid but we have 10,000 ngos in haiti with. we have more aid workers per capita in haiti than in any other country, just about. and yet they are doing wonderful work. but we haven't been able to build it into some comprehensive change. so to me what this -- beyond the short term n the medium term we have to think about how do we rethink aid, how do we -- do we want to make a long-term commitment to places, to failed states like haiti to bring them up to the dominican republic which is next door. i think it is worth doing and it should be an occasion 20 do that. >> lehrer: they will rekpament inall of them. >> we have done a lot in haiti, militarily, politically, and in aid and it hasn't done much. >> lehrer: how do you feel about that. >> i think it is -- very, very worthwhile and interesting to say that i think the president's response was appropriate and right. i think if not us, i don't know who. we are the only people that

can do t something we do and do well. and it is very important that we do it and go into haiti. an i think the fact that the sense of urgency of bringing secretary clinton back from her ashean trip and cancelling secretary gates trip to australia. i mean i think it shows a commitment and i hope it is as thoughtful and reason. it is an important to restore that country and to rebuild it. and the united states military is the de facto operating command of that country. >> right now at this moment. >> david, mark, thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, we return to haiti. as the weekend begins, there is still an enormous need for humanitarian aid to reach people who are crowding parts of port-au-prince and searching for food, water, medical supplies and gasoline. a country that is no stranger to adversity is closing out a week dominated by the sights and

sounds of disaster. >> the world is coming to an end! >> in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake on tuesday afternoon. >> people screaming outside. >> i hear people screaming outside and i hear sirens from down the hill. >> people are basically in the streets, trying to stay away from buildings and walls and things that could collapse. they're... they're trying to survive, at this point. there's not much in the way of rescue efforts, really nothing in the way of official rescue efforts that i have seen in the streets. i think they're sort of in a state of shock. >> the devastation caused by the earthquake is extremely widespread. we believe and fear that there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of victims still under rubble in houses and buildings of various kinds. the medical infrastructure, such as it is, in port-au-prince has been clearly overwhelmed by the number of victims.

>> there is no power. it's very, very dark. earlier in the evening, before it got too dark, you were hearing a lot of people obviously breathing and a lot of distress going on, looking for their missing relatives. we are really quite concerned about children and families at the moment and what's going to happen. >> it is devastating to tour the city and see the destruction. it is so widespread. i'm looking now over a hillside, and there are houses crushed one on top of the other on top of the other. and then there is a house that is leaning at a 45-degree angle. just devastating. everywhere we went along the streets, there were dead bodies. people were desperately trying to cover them with anything they could, whether it was cardboard, a sheet, if they had it, anything they found in the street. we saw people still trying to get people out of the rubble. they have very rudimentary

tools. what you see is people on the move, large groups of people on the move. they can not get out of port-au- prince. there is no transportation, there is no gas. so people are trying to find shelter. they are desperately trying to find water. they are trying to find some food. they are trying to find health, anything they can. >> what's needed right now is, in fact, money, resources, so that we can continue to bring in the kinds of supplies, bring in the kinds of support that's necessary. >> we have got bodies and no refrigeration capacity. haitians bury their dead. i... i hope that we can get some refrigeration ships and some other capacity there with generators that will operate, so we can preserve as many people who have been killed for their loved ones as possible. >> i'm seeing people who are very, very strong, who are very courageous. i'm seeing them fight against all the things that have happened to them with this devastation. people are very anxious.

they need to know if they're going to have food and water in the coming hours. but i see people who are also quite strong and quite willing to do what it takes to make a difference. >> there are still bodies lying in streets. we saw a makeshift grave operation on a hillside in port- au-prince, where people were burying people in shallow graves, perhaps just a feet deep. meanwhile, people are still living out in the open under tent cities that have popped up all over the town, fearful of getting inside. fl was a long story on how haiti was on the way back. and it was such a hopeful story. and the next day, this happens. >> i am very sad because a lot of people died, a lot of people are suffering, and i am very sad

because my country is in great difficulty. but i am very happy also to see how the world is with us, is helping us. >> lehrer: again, the major developments in haiti: estimates of the dead soared to 140,000. tensions rose among survivors, with scattered reports of looting as the u.s. military and others struggled to deliver aid. and secretary of state clinton announced she would go to haiti tomorrow to survey the situation. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari. >> sreenivasan: we catch up with journalist ansel herz, who survived the earthquake in haiti and has been covering it ever since. and on our education site, "newshour extra," haitian

students in the u.s. describe what it's like to watch the crisis unfold from a distance. betty ann bowser updates us on the healthcare debate and prospects for agreement on a final bill. chris cillizza of "the washington post" provides details on the unexpectedly competitive race to fill ted kennedy's massachusetts senate seat. and last week, jeffrey brown interviewed the head of the national endowment for the arts, rocco landesman, and now it's your turn to ask the questions in a follow-up forum on "art beat." all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by:

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