Unimaginable Death in Haiti: Where Help Is Needed Most

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," January 14, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: "On the Record" is live in Miami with the very latest breaking news on that earthquake in Haiti. Joining us live is Ambassador Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the United States. Good evening, Ambassador.

RAYMOND JOSEPH, HAITIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Good evening. How are you?

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm very well. Ambassador, what can we do for you immediately? What's the first thing you want from us, what kind of help?

JOSEPH: Well, the first thing that I have asked- and I've been to the State Department and put in some requests -- is helping with the communication. Secondly, helping securing the airport. Third, helping us clear the roads, the main arteries. And help with search-and-rescue missions because there are some people who are still in the rubble, and I - - we should do everything to rescue those that can be rescued still.

VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador...

JOSEPH: And...

VAN SUSTEREN: ... and maybe this is a -- go ahead, sir.

JOSEPH: Then I was going to say, food and water for those who are still alive.

VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, when we had our disaster in New Orleans, we had our government -- we sort of knew who could be in charge, you know, and we could make decisions. What's different here is that we almost in some instances almost need sort of permission, whether it's to take over your airport or to help direct planes in or whatever. And yet your government right now is in such disarray -- your buildings are down, your president doesn't have a home. Are those discussions you had with the State Department almost how much you're willing to let us make decisions for you?

JOSEPH: Well, I don't know about letting you make decisions for us. There are some decisions that have to be made together. The country already has about 9,000 troops and police of the United Nations. And in this situation, where our ministries are destroyed, where we don't know where some of our ministers are, I think it's called for -- call for us to ask (ph)...

VAN SUSTEREN: So you don't have any problem...

JOSEPH: ... and together (ph).

VAN SUSTEREN: So you don't have any problem -- you don't have any problem, then, sir -- I mean, like, the best example, I guess, you know, is the airport. This is your country, and you know -- and I assume the American people, the American government would love to come in and take total control and orchestrate the planes coming in and leaving, yet it is your sovereign nation. So you're happy -- you're content for us just to come in and to direct the airport in and out and get those supplies in. Is that (INAUDIBLE)

JOSEPH: But this is happening. This is happening right now. Before, they could not land, and now the United States, with the Pentagon, with the help of the Pentagon, has come in and is helping us. And I'm quite sure the government is going to accept some of the help. At the same time, you know, we still are a government. We cannot totally give our sovereignty.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, we look at these pictures, and I -- it's just -- it's -- the amount of suffering is just indescribable, isn't it.

JOSEPH: It's heart-rending. And you know, I feel pretty bad because in 2004, when I went to Haiti for the first time after a 13-year absence, from the air I saw some big problems. I saw those matchbox-type houses on the side of the hills. And I wrote a piece for the then New York Sun, and I said, Port-au-Prince is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

VAN SUSTEREN: And indeed, it has happened.

JOSEPH: I did not think -- I did not think about an earthquake. I was thinking about a hurricane coming in and just pulling down all these little houses by the hillsides. But it happened another way.

VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador...

JOSEPH: So...

VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, thank you, sir. And you know, and I hope that we can help you. You know, I hope our country can help very quickly because this has to be fast help. Thank you, sir.

JOSEPH: Thank you.

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