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Rendell's rescue mission of 53 orphans meets opposition from CNN anchor

By Laura Vecsey
January 20, 2010, 12:00AM


Haitian orphans, whose orphanage was destroyed by last week's massive earthquake, arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport.It was the feel-good story of the day out of earthquake-ravaged Haiti, but Gov. Ed Rendell’s airplane rescue mission of 53 orphans might have cracked open a logistical, procedural and philosophical question about who Haitian relief will serve and how.

During his CNN broadcast from Port-au-Prince on Monday night, anchor Anderson Cooper implied that the overwhelming task of helping Haiti’s victims might be being compromised by ad-hoc rescue missions launched through political channels.

Cooper was talking about Rendell — a well-connected deal-maker who, with a few calls to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s office and to the ambassador to Haiti, extracted 53 orphans from the rubble to snowy Pittsburgh.

All in about 22 hours.

Rendell returned to the state Capitol on Tuesday with not only a compelling rescue story, but what could be a dramatic chapter of his forthcoming autobiography, including Cooper’s assertion.

“Again, I just don’t understand that decision, and allowing [a] Democratic governor of a state to fly out a group of orphans who weren’t severely injured, but, you know, who God knows deserved to go to the United States and be united with parents,” Cooper said on air Monday.

At that time, Rendell, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., and 23 medical personnel from Pennsylvania were in the middle of their rescue mission.

Cooper was one of the first anchors to hit the ground after the quake that caused hellish devastation to Haiti’s capital city and had witnessed agonizing scenes of suffering. He and CNN’s chief medical reporter, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, were visibly agitated about the lack of medical supplies and “stupid deaths” taking place.

But upon his return Tuesday, Rendell said there was no equation to be drawn between American officials pulling strings to rescue healthy children and the thousands still in need of aid and care.

Rendell said he was drawn to action after two Pittsburgh-area sisters, Jamie and Ali McMurtrie, who run the Haitian orphanage, used Twitter and Facebook to plead for help in evacuating the children.

“Anderson Cooper was mistaken and wasn’t equipped with the facts. CNN was mistaken. He said we had 28 kids. We had 53. He did not know that we were carrying 2½ tons of medical supplies, more than Doctors Without Borders,” Rendell said.

“This is one success. There needs to be a hundred successes. The good news we were told by the State Department is that what we did will probably be the breakthrough that will open it up for a lot more orphans to come to the U.S.,” Rendell said.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answered questions on Rendell’s rescue mission. Gibbs said he expected to have further briefing information on the rescue soon.

Rendell is scheduled to speak today at the National Press Club, where he will likely face more questions about how he was able to pull off the dramatic rescue.

“I don’t care about [criticism from Cooper]. If you had seen the faces of these kids ... it would have absolutely melted your hearts,” Rendell said.

“It was just incredible. It looked like it was going to fail, then it succeeded,” he said.

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They've had many, many comments posted, some pro and some against Anderson. I print here only 4 of them, all pro Anderson of course.

Posted by buffyj
January 20, 2010, 8:14AM
The problem is that little groups (whethere it's the governor or a local church) want to swoop in and get their needs and wants taken care of without seeing the big picture of what the priorities should be and who can best meet those needs. And why was Altmire there, other than to give him a good photo op for a potentially tough reelection battle?


Posted by geminijlw1
January 20, 2010, 8:15AM
Watching the news out of Haiti on a regular basis, the problem with not getting help to those that need it (and are dying daily) is the logistics at the airport, and the roads to the capital. It is a small airport, and therefore, planes are having to stay airborne for long hours. So supplies are coming in slowly. So, some politician wants to make a name for himself, goes in and takes out children that are not injured or in danger. Taking up needed air space for grandstanding. What else is new? We can be so proud of Rendell.


Posted by mytowngl
January 20, 2010, 8:44AM
Rendell did it for political facetime, he's no humanitarian!


Posted by Peter Trevino
January 20, 2010, 9:28PM
Why did Rendell and U.S. Rep. Jason Altimire, D-Pa. had to go to Haiti themselves if not for a guaranteed photo op? Their space would have made room for at least five more children. As it is, they left behind a 2-year-old girl named Emma and left before they had found her. They got an email about an hour later saying Emma had been found. Great rescue: loose a child, leave her behind, who cares?