Obama promises Haitians swift response, ‘full support’ of U.S.

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Reporting from Washington -- President Obama promised swift delivery of rescue assistance and humanitarian aid to the island nation of Haiti this morning in the wake of a devastating earthquake there that has left hundreds dead and many more missing.

Haitians will have the ‘full support’ of the U.S. as they work to rescue those trapped and to gather food, water and medicine in the crucial early hours of the recovery, the president said.

‘This is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity we all share,’ Obama told reporters in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room. ‘With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us,’ he said, ‘Haitians are our neighbors in the Americas and here at home. We have to be with them in their hour of need.’

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-- Christi Parsons and Mark Silva

Photo gallery: Earthquake hits Haiti | Twitter: Reports from Haiti | Resources: How to help

Top photo: President Obama makes a statement in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House. The president ordered U.S. agencies to undertake a ‘swift, coordinated’ effort to get aid to Haiti. Credit: Brendan Smialowski / Bloomberg