Clinton cancels Asia trip to help with Haiti earthquake response

Clinton initially intended to continue her trip and to visit Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia. But spending five hours of consultations with world leaders, and as the extent of the devastation in Haiti became clearer, the secretary said she would return home.

Clinton called the earthquake a disaster of "unimaginable" proportions, and compared it to the 2004 tsunami that rocked Asia. "The scope of it is just overwhelming," she said.

Clinton was visibly shaken early Wednesday when she talked to reporters about the earthquake. She and her husband, Bill, honeymooned on Hispaniola decades ago, and Bill Clinton is the U.N. special envoy to Haiti.

"It is biblical the tragedy that continues to stalk Haiti and the Haitian people," she said. "It is so tragic. They had the four hurricanes last year. We had a good plan, we were feeling positive about how we could implement that plan."

And then, she said, "along comes Mother Nature and just flattens the whole place."