From Denny: The Obama administration held off sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Haiti initially so as not to take away from Haiti any of the news cycle. They did not want the media focused upon "the Americans" visiting instead of focused upon what the Haitian people needed. Finally, an Oval Office resident with some decency, sensitivity and class.
The earthquake erupted in Haiti late Tuesday afternoon. Secretary Clinton scheduled her visit for Saturday as by then she would have more details to relate to the Haitian government of what America will be doing in their relief efforts. She also negotiated permission from the Haitian government to allow our military to take temporary control of the airport in order to fully staff and properly facilitate faster flights in and out to which the Prime Minister agreed.
The world beat a path to Haiti's door to help but without anyone to help them land or off load desperately needed medical supplies, food and water in an efficient manner. Secretary Clinton was successful in receiving permission for a few days to be negotiated again as needed.
"America is here to help," she says.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Rescue efforts turn to the next phase of recovery efforts:
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Take a look at this brief clip to get an idea of the logistics of how difficult it is to get supplies directly to the people:
If does not load properly as CNN is overwhelmed, here is the link, go here.
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