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American Morning
Gates to Appear Before Senate Committee on Don't Ask, Don't Tell; Baptist Church Pastor Speaks Out on the True Mission of Its Church; Security Plan for Vancouver Games Beefed Up on Both Sides of the Border; Olympic Security Watch; Another Stimulus?; The Price of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Aired February 02, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Tuesday, February 2nd. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
It could be the beginning of the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. A Senate committee will hear from the defense secretary today about how to lift the ban on openly gay soldiers serving in the military, but not everyone is on board. And ending the policy could prove to be very complicated for the Pentagon and the president.
CHETRY: Ten American missionaries arrested in Haiti are expected to finally get a hearing today. They were put in jail on charges of illegally trying to take 33 children out of the country. Today we're going to hear from all sides, their pastor, the parents, who say they gave their kids away so they wouldn't suffer, and also the Haitian prime minister who calls this is a case of kidnapping.
ROBERTS: And with the plan five years in the making, police and intelligence agencies here in the United States are bracing for the start of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. By land, sea and air, our Jeanne Meserve is looking at the threat on this side of the border.
CHETRY: Our top story at this hour, though, ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on openly gay soldiers serving in the military. That ban now in the crosshairs of Capitol Hill lawmakers.
Just last week, the president pledged to end the policy and today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee to begin the process. He's expected to say that he needs a year or more to figure out just how to do it. And as Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr tells us, there are plenty of challenges ahead.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the point man to tell Congress that the president wants a big change. But the question now is how much support there will be from the troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): The president made his intentions clear.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.
STARR: But the stone-faced Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't react to the sensitive matter. We now know more about what they are thinking.
A senior Pentagon official tells CNN the chiefs are expected to support the president, but they will tell him to what extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and readiness of the force. The official says, of the chiefs, all they want is a little bit of time to come up with their ideas on how to implement a change in the law, if it's approved by Congress.
As a first step, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to call for no longer discharging people who are outed by others. Over the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have been discharged from the military for being gay. Defense officials privately say the appetite to enforce the law is declining. Many say the debate now is how to live with the change.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: One school of thought says just do it. It won't be that big a deal.
STARR: Existing regulations governing sexual behavior may be enough to allay concerns about living in close quarters, but that may not work for everybody.
O'HANLON: We can talk about this delicately or we can just be fairly direct. There are a lot of 18-year-old, old-fashioned testosterone-laden men in the military who are top guys. They're often politically old fashioned or conservative. They are not necessarily at the vanguard in many cases accepting alternative forms of lifestyle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: But many believe that the young troops in the field on the front lines are more concerned about staying alive in wartime than the sexual orientation of their buddies, and that the real challenge is convincing older troops that the time for change has come -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning, thanks.
Also in 20 minutes, Carol Costello reports on the dollars and cents of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. What it's been costing you, the taxpayer, to keep the policy in place and also what it might end up costing all of us if we do away with it.
ROBERTS: We're also following new developments this morning that led to the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles. The world's largest automaker says the parts needed to fix sticky gas pedals will be arriving at dealers as early as today. The company says a small steel shim, about the size of a postage stamp, is all that's needed to fix the accelerator pedal defect. Toyota denies that there are any underlying electronic problems in the recalled vehicles.
Meantime, Toyota faces at least a dozen lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada seeking class action status related to the problems with sudden accelerations. The suits were filed on behalf of the owners of Toyota and Lexus models with an allegedly defective electronic throttle system.
If you own a Toyota, we want to know what you think of the brand, the recall, and why you decided to buy one. Send us an iReport. Go to CNNiReport.com. Share your opinions and your photos.
CHETRY: Well, there are also new developments this morning in the case of 10 Americans arrested in Haiti. They're expected to get a hearing at 10:00 Eastern this morning. The government there says they were trying to take 33 children out of the country without permission. Haiti says that the Baptist missionary should be sent back to the U.S. since the court system was devastated, just like almost everything else in the quake. And this morning, some of the parents are admitting to CNN that they gave their young children away, hoping a brighter future was waiting for them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, GAVE CHILD TO AMERICANS (through translator): I put them on the bus with the Americans with my own hands. I played with them up until the last minute, and I kissed them both goodbye and told them don't forget daddy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The Haitian prime minister is saying it is not up to the parents, though, or the kids, or the missionaries. He says that the 10 should be tried in court, if not in Haiti, then in the U.S. Wherever it may happen, he says that they are kidnappers who didn't obey the law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-MAX BELLERIVE, HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: For what they know until now, this is a kidnapping case. If we have some related parents involved in that operation, the children certainly were not fully willing to go, because in some case, for what I heard, that they were asking for their parents. They wanted to return to their parents. So, in any case, really just -- it's not acceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: But the pastor says his church members, five of whom are now behind bars in Haiti, were not trying to steal the kids. He says there were plans to build an orphanage for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic long before the earthquake hit. Then when the disaster did strike, they improvised the whole thing. Dan Simon caught up with him in Idaho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PASTOR DREW HAM, CENTRAL VALLEY BAPTISH CHURCH: The goal really was exactly that, to go into Haiti, rescue children that might otherwise be victims of human trafficking, bring them to the Dominican Republic, give them some medical and physical aid that they might not otherwise have.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the goal was to keep them in the Dominican Republic, not bring them eventually to the United States?
HAM: You know, Dan, there's no telling. Maybe adoptions would be at some point in the future. But that certainly wasn't the purpose of this trip at all.
SIMON: And the goal -- they were going to acquire some land -- long term, they were going to acquire some land, build an orphanage, a church and a school, but then the quake happened.
HAM: Yes, sir. You know, January 12th brought a lot of emotion for a lot of folks and really a great desire for folks who had needs down in Haiti. And so these people in particular had a desire to go and simply help those who might have needs there.
SIMON: And how did they get these children? The 33 children who were with them?
HAM: You know, Dan, we don't have a lot of knowledge of how exactly that took place just because communication has been very, very limited with our team. We haven't had any communication with them since Friday.
And so our understanding, at least our directives were -- and we asked them to work specifically with founded orphanages so that we could establish that these children were indeed orphans, so that you avoid the problem of a child that might be on the side of the road and may appear in need but whose parents may be simply a matter of blocks away.
SIMON: So what happens now?
HAM: Dan, now we're just making a passionate plea to get our people home. Get these Americans home where they belong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: I also spoke to one member here whose wife is detained in Haiti, and he told me that he felt like the U.S. embassy was not doing enough to secure the release of the Americans. Another relative told me that if the Haitian government would just understand in terms of the preparations of what went in to all of this, that they would realize that this church really had the best intentions. John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Dan Simon for us this morning. Dan, thanks.
Coming up at the bottom of the hour, we're going to talk with adoption expert Dr. Jane Aronson who just returned from Port-au-Prince and George Willeit, a spokesman for the orphanage that is caring for the children who were caught up in the middle of this fight.
CHETRY: Also, for every orphan leaving the chaos of Haiti, there are thousands still left behind. So who will be there to help them? Join us as we look for answers on an "AC 360" special series, "Children of Haiti." It starts tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning, a top federal prosecutor has recused himself from the case involving four conservative activists arrested in Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu's office. The Justice Department isn't saying why U.S. Attorney Jim Letten asked to be taken off the case. The suspects are charged with illegally entering Senator Landrieu's New Orleans office to commit a felony. They include James O'Keefe, the man who in an unrelated incident posed as a pimp and used a hidden camera to target the community organizing group ACORN.
CHETRY: President Obama's plan for a new high-speed rail network could be derailed because of a lack of money. Last week, you may remember the president awarded $8 billion in stimulus funds to build 13 high-speed rail corridors across the country. The problem is that investment is really just a drop in the bucket, and states and federal governments are dealing with huge budget deficits right now. Still not clear if anyone would foot the rest of the bill which they say could top $100 billion.
ROBERTS: And Happy Groundhog's Day. We should know in a little more than an hour if it's going to be an early spring or six more weeks of winter. That's what Punxsutawney Phil will make his appearance along with Staten Island Chuck (ph) and Wart and Willy, and gosh knows how many other groundhogs this morning. If he sees the shadow, it will be six more weeks of winter. So, Phil, if you're watching, do the right thing.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, it's nine minutes past the hour. We got a check of the weather this morning. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center.
Who needs Punxsutawney Phil? We have Rob Marciano. You're far more accurate.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Thank goodness. Thank goodness. I think there was a study done with Punxsutawney, and I think he was like 37 percent accurate. So you might as well flip a coin. Leave it to a rodent, that's the kind of accuracy you're going to get, my friends.
All right. Let's take a look for fun, though, we'll be talking about Phil, no doubt. And here's the radar going into western Pennsylvania. All eyes on Punxsutawney this morning and the clouds are moving in. Not a whole lot of precip, not touching the ground at least. But certainly some snow on the radar near western Pennsylvania, and clouds will be thickening, which would mean no shadow, which would mean early spring if he's right this year.
Rain down across the south. Some of this could cause some flooding. We saw some minor flooding down across parts of central Florida. And some of this will be stretching up towards the northeast, but I don't think a whole lot of it will get towards the New York area. We'll talk more about in 30 minutes, for all those who love your friendly rodents.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much.
Still ahead in the Most News in the Morning, the winter Olympics may be in Vancouver, Canada, but security officials in the United States gearing up for the Games, too. Our Jeanne Meserve with a look at how they're preparing on our side of the border.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirteen minutes now after the hour, and a quick check of other stories new this morning.
A federal judge dismissing a lawsuit over a police blockade that kept Hurricane Katrina victims from leaving New Orleans. The suit filed by a New Orleans couple claimed the closure of Twin Bridges over the Mississippi, to pedestrians in the aftermath of the disaster violated their constitutional right to travel. The judge thought otherwise, ruling there was no unreasonable restraint of liberty.
CHETRY: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the Feds are well prepared to tackle any kind of Super Bowl terror threat. She made those comments following a personal tour of Miami Sun Life Stadium. That's a first for a sitting cabinet secretary.
It was in preparation for Sunday's showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. About a thousand federal, local and state enforcement personnel are all going to be involved in that security operation.
ROBERTS: U.S. and Canadian police and intelligence agencies are ready to launch a critical joint operation to keep things safe during the Vancouver Olympics. And the huge point of focus here in the U.S., security at the border.
CHETRY: More planes in the air, more boats in the waters, and plenty of extra eyes on border crossings. Our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is breaking down the security plan five years in the making.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, Vancouver is 30 miles north of here which means there will Olympic security on both sides of this border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): During the Olympic Games, as many as 90,000 people a day may cross into the U.S. returning from events. There is one overarching worry.
SHERIFF BILL ELFO, WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON: There's no secret as we're always concerned about terrorism and terrorist threats.
MESERVE (voice-over): In 1999, Ahmed Ressam (ph), the so-called millennium bomber was arrested crossing into Washington State with a car full of explosives to blow up Los Angeles International Airport. Since then, there's been a big boost in intelligence sharing, technology and staffing on the border. But for the Olympics, even more.
Customs and Border Protection has increased personnel 20 percent over the past 18 months and is building new travel lanes.
GREG ALVAREZ, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: We have contingency plans to adjust to a natural or man-made disaster, up and to and including a mass migration of persons.
MESERVE (on camera): Any car coming to the border goes through a gauntlet of technology, first these radiation detection portals, then cameras that capture still pictures and videos of the car's license plates.
(voice-over): Audio and video of border activity is recorded and stored for 90 days. This group of Canadian teenagers tested the system in a memorial way, by mooning the cameras. Olympic athletes are helping alert travelers to new document requirements.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out here it's all about having the right partner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Especially when you're crossing the border back home.
MESERVE: Cameras and motion sensors along open stretches of the border are being monitored by additional personnel.
(on camera): Do you think in fact you might see a decrease in certain kinds of illegal traffic while the Olympics are going on?
JOHN BATES, U.S. BORDER PATROL: I believe so. I think that we'll probably see an increase shortly afterwards.
MESERVE (voice-over): The waters along the border will see a ramped up Coast Guard and military presence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smaller boats like this one right here, and then larger vessels like this high-endurance cutter behind me.
MESERVE: The restricted flight zones for the games dip into U.S. territory NORAD will monitor. Forty-two other agencies will move into a new $4.5 million command center to coordinate with Canadian security.
Mark BEATY, DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY, FED. COORDINATOR: They are our neighbors. They are right next door, so if it happens to one it's going to affect the other immediately.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Officials on this side of the border hope that a lot of their plans and preparations never get used that the games go off without any major security glitch -- John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us, thanks.
And coming up in the next hour in "Most News in the Morning" we're taking a closer look at the president's budget. Is a second stimulus in sight (ph) with Stephanie Elam "Minding your Business"?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Yes, things got started pretty early in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania this morning. Of course because it's Groundhog Day and there's a huge celebration, a lot of focus on this little town as they await Phil's prediction. Will there be six more weeks of winter?
As Rob says, however, they're only correct about -- he is only correct about 37 percent of the time. That's what happens when you trust the weather forecasting to a rodent. But hey they're having fun anyway.
Meanwhile, it's 20 minutes past the hour. It means it's time for "Minding your Business". If you wanted to get an ad on during the Super Bowl, it's actually too late. Six days before the Colts and Saints face off, CBS says the commercial space for the big game is sold out and that some of the 30-second spots went for more than $3 million. Because of the recession last year, it wasn't until the day before the Super Bowl that all of the ads sold out.
ROBERTS: Stephanie Elam is here for Christine Romans "Minding your Business" this morning with more on how the stimulus is now making its way into the 2010 budget -- good morning to you.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, yes, one of those things, maybe it's Groundhog Day as far as this budget is concerned because some of the things that we saw in the original American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, well the Obama administration wants to make sure that they live a little bit longer. So I'll just give you a bit of background here, that $862 billion that was put into that plan, a lot of those plans are expected to run out this year.
And they're saying some of those are good ideas, the Obama administration saying so that they want to see them last, so they are putting them into the fiscal 2011 budget. So just to give you an idea of some of the things we're talking about here, how about extending tax breaks longer? Some of these ideas including making work pay, which is a tax credit and it would boost the deficit by another $62 billion, but it would give credit to -- up to $400 a person or $800 for a couple. Also they would extend the deadline for COBRA benefits by another 10 months, and that's obviously for people who are out there without a job so that they can still have benefits there and it would send an added (ph) $250 to Social Security recipients and then the other big push that we've been hearing so much from the Obama administration about is education reform, and infrastructure projects, those are two of the big ones there.
If you take a look here, you can see that Medicaid assistance to states -- the big one for states. They have been having to cut back because budgets are tight and so this would give states an added $25.5 billion for that that was already allocated was $87 billion, just to give you an idea there and then also, subsidizing these capital construction projects, all of these infrastructure things, getting broadband out to the rural areas of the country, things that people they're saying would help add jobs.
Because they say if you build infrastructure, you build jobs, so a lot of these, obviously, I mentioned that this is what they would like to do, because Congress would still have to agree to have them in the budget. So they are just trying to put them in there and avoid having to pass them as separate measures, which obviously is less than a battle.
ROBERTS: Certainly there's no shortage of infrastructure that needs repairing either.
ELAM: No and I think a lot of people agree on that one. I think some of the harder ones will probably have to do with anything that seems too stimulus like...
ROBERTS: Yes.
ELAM: Those are going to be the battles.
ROBERTS: Stimulus is a bad word...
ELAM: Yes, that's not a good word. It's not four letters, but...
CHETRY: Right, that's why they're talking jobs Bill...
ELAM: Yes, exactly...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's a four letter word...
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Hey, also one quick thing -- Stephanie has a little bit of good news to share with everybody. We want to congratulate you on a coming new addition.
ELAM: New addition, I know. There's a baby in there. I'm pregnant. I've not been hitting the doughnuts. Just for the record, I'm having a baby girl in June, so my husband and I are really excited.
ROBERTS: Good for you...
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: Thank you. Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: Yes. Thanks a lot.
CHETRY: All right, well coming up next in the "Most News in the Morning" the military set to throw out its "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to gays serving in the military. Carol Costello takes a look at the price tag that could come with changing the rule.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning".
Today may mark the beginning of the end for the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans gays from openly serving. This morning we're taking a closer look at what the policy has cost taxpayers and also the price of repealing it. Our own Carol Costello has that part of the story live from Washington this morning. Good to see you, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you too. We're going to get practical on this issue this morning. There are plenty of people in high places who say now is not the time to be talking about this issue. America has bigger problems to deal with, government spending, the deficit, jobs, but others say those things are precisely why this is the time. They say "don't ask, don't tell" is costing taxpayers in dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Economic crisis.
COSTELLO (voice-over): With the country gripped by economic anxiety, Republicans say it's not exactly prime time to revisit such a divisive issue.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: At a time when Americans are asking where are the jobs why do we want to get in this debate?
COSTELLO: But those who support repealing "don't ask, don't tell", say now is the time if Americans want fiscal responsibility in government, then...
NATHANIEL FRANK, PALM CENTER: Repealing the ban would save money in the long run, absolutely.
COSTELLO: Since 1994, the Pentagon has discharged around 13,000 troops because of "don't ask, don't tell". The government's General Accountability Office says that's cost taxpayers more than $190 million. The University of California put the price tag closer to 363 million, if you factor in the cost to recruit, train and then discharge gay troops. But critics say none of this justifies repealing "don't ask, don't tell", $363 million is a drop in the bucket.
BOB MAGINNIS, U.S. ARMY, (RET.) SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Well the discharge of 13,000 or so people is miniscule in comparison to the overall administrative burden that military pays every year. Discharging 230,000 people a year.
COSTELLO: Others say repealing the policy could end up costing taxpayers more. A 2008 "Military Times" survey show 24 percent of military personnel would eventually leave the service if gay troops served openly, and what about the cost of sensitivity training and the possibility of creating separate barracks for gay and straight troops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most people think this is a dumb law.
COSTELLO: David Hall, who is gay, served six years in the Air Force before he was outed by a fellow cadet. He says talk of a mass exodus is ridiculous and notes the "Military Times" survey also show 71 percent said they would continue to serve if "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed -- as for separate barracks?
DAVID HALL, SERVICEMEMBER'S LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK: That makes no sense. I mean gay people are already serving in the military and everybody knows that.
COSTELLO: But under "don't ask, don't tell" at what cost? Both sides hope Tuesday's congressional hearing will answer that question.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Some say the only clear thing about the upcoming hearings is the Pentagon would at least, at the very least soften the policy, making it harder for gays in the military to be discharged. As to whether Congress will actually vote to repeal the policy, they are hopeful, but they're not holding their breath -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We'll have to see what happens today on Capitol Hill. Carol Costello for us this morning, thanks so much.
We're crossing the half hour right now. It means it's time for the top stories.
And Toyota dealers should begin getting replacement parts today to fix gas pedals that can get stuck and cause sudden acceleration. The problem caused millions of Toyota vehicles to be recalled. A company executive says there are no electronic problems in the recall vehicles and he also says earlier recalls for floor mats are totally unrelated to the gas pedal problem.
Well, nearly a year after 50 people died in the Colgan Air crash outside of Buffalo, New York, the National Transportation Safety Board is set to reveal the cause this morning. There is speculation that includes inadequate pilot training and fatigue. Meanwhile the FAA is still drafting regulations to address key safety issues raised by the accident.
And 10 American missionaries arrested in Haiti are expected to finally get a hearing today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. They were put in jail on charges of illegally trying to take 33 children out of country. The missionaries say they were just trying to help children leave the tragedy behind and start a new life.
ROBERTS: So, who are we to believe, and how are the children now?
Joining me now is international adoption expert, Dr. Jane Aronson. She is the founder of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation. She returned from Haiti just a few days go. And in Port-au-Prince, Georg Willeit. He is the spokesperson for SOS Children's Villages, the group that has taken in these 33 children.
You're caring for these children, Georg, at your facility there. What do you make of what happened? The Haitian government is calling this child trafficking. The people who are involved say no, that's just not the case. I mean, were they -- are they traffickers? Were they just misguided in what they were doing? What do you think?
GEORG WILLEIT, SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES: I don't -- I don't really know. I can't judge about the intentions. I know that these children, since three days, are now in SOS Children's Villages. And there, we give them the care they need and the attentions they need, and also, psychological treatment because they are very confused, they are still very scared about the situation, because some of them did not even know what's going to happen with them. And it can't be in the best interest of a child to separate families because many of them still have lived with their parents.
ROBERTS: Yes, that's what we heard. That, in fact, Karl Penhaul went to the village where these children were from, and many of them has said that most of them, Dr. Aronson, were not orphans. They did have parents. Parents, who we should say, willingly gave up their children, saying, "We can't care for them, can you help?" I mean, what do you make of all this?
DR. JANE ARONSON, INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION EXPERT: I think people are very misinformed and ignorant about the importance of children being allowed to be as close as they can to family. And to remove people -- children physically from a local area where they might have an opportunity to be reunited with their family, I think, is just really misdirected.
ROBERTS: Georg, how much -- how much of that have you seen down there in Haiti? Where people are in such dire straits, that's difficult situations, that if an aid or a relief organization comes along, they say, "I can't take care of my child, could you please take care of him or her for me?"
WILLEIT: Well, the situation is really terrible and we are trying, at SOS Children's Villages, to build up safe haven for a few hundreds of children. But -- for me, it's still surprising. How can you have the idea to bring children out of the country? Because the situation is quite clear. SOS Children's Villages and all other organizations stated 10 days ago, please stop this pressure for international adoption, because this opens the doors not only for adoption, but also for crime.
The U.N. and Haitian government are on the same -- in the same line, and the government of Haiti stopped to bring out children eight days ago. We have to keep the children in here. We have to try to reunion families. We have to trace these families and, in the meanwhile, giving children safe shelter...
ROBERTS: Right.
WILLEIT: ... and not separating children from their existing families. There are thousands of unaccounted children. There will be many, many orphans remaining. But why taking children away from an existing family?
ROBERTS: Well, Dr. Aronson, what do you think about this idea of the rush to adopt Haitian children? Because, certainly, one of the big stories in the aftermath of the earthquake has been all of these orphans, some of the facilities that they were housed have collapsed. They don't have a place to live immediately.
And people are rushing in to try to adopt these children or push forward adoptions that were already in the works. And we saw the governor of Pennsylvania come back with 50-some odd kids the other day.
ARONSON: I don't think that's really what happened. Let me just explain to you that I think the United States government, the State Department, put together, I think, very reasonable provisos, if you will, parole and also the follow-up of all visas that had already been in the works for adopted children. There are approximately 800 children being adopted by American families and probably another 6,000 to 7,000 for other countries.
All of those children have been assigned to families. This is not a rush for adoption. These are families that already were connected. The children were assigned. The papers were done.
So, I think the expediting of those adoptions was perfectly reasonable. I think the attention paid to that is the issue.
I think people are not rushing to adopt. I think people want to adopt. That's nice, but we're trying to tell people that children need to be taken care of in their country. If they have not been assigned, the children need to stay in their local communities so they can be reunited with known family.
ROBERTS: Well, what about what Georg said. I mean, Georg said he doesn't like this idea of people coming in to adopt? So, obviously, somebody is doing it.
ARONSON: No, no. There's no adoption that hasn't been already in the works. The queue was set. The expedited adoptions were clearly set up based on the papers going through the system.
So, that's not correct. That's a -- definitely, I think a very confusing idea that we don't want to give to people. Those adoptions were all set up.
I think, though, that when people come to us now and say, "I want to adopt a Haitian orphan," I think we need to tell them that that's not the direction we want to be in. The direction at this point is the focus on children who need our services and that's in country.
ROBERTS: All right.
You know, Georg, as we said, our Karl Penhaul went to a village where many of these children were from, and found destitute parents who weren't able to care for their children. What is your organization doing? What can you do to try to reunite these children with their parents?
WILLEIT: We are an international organization. We are working since 60 years in child care, and what we are now going to do, as I mentioned before, we want to give few hundreds of children a safe haven, a safe place in our village and then tracing the families.
And from these 33 children, we also -- we already know a lot of the families. We are in contact with the existing families. But this is the part of -- this is the duty of the social welfare system now in Haiti to decide at what time we can get -- reunite these children with their families, because this -- it must be a real issue of why have they been on this bus? What were the reasons?
ROBERTS: Right.
WILLEIT: And we want -- and we need to be sure that they are not -- that we are not giving them back and tomorrow they are sitting on another bus.
ROBERTS: All right.
WILLEIT: What I mentioned before, taking a child out now of Haiti, not only these 33, but talking about taking children out, there's always running the risk to separate children from their families because there's a lot of registration work and a lot of reunion work to do in the next months to come.
ROBERTS: All right. Obviously, a lot of work to do.
Georg Willeit, thanks very much for being with us.
Dr. Jane Aronson, great to see you this morning. Thank you, too.
ARONSON: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, still to come on the Most News in the Morning, Ed Lavandera has done a lot of work and is digging right now on some of the steps being taken to get the word out about the census in some of the most remote little towns on the U.S./Mexico border. It's a very interesting piece. We'll bring it to you in just a moment.
Thirty-seven minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
No running water, questionable sanitation, abject poverty. No, it's not Port-au-Prince, but towns along America's Mexican border called Colonias -- where many are illegal immigrants.
CHETRY: Yes, near Laredo, Texas, the U.S. Census Bureau is trying to reach out, hoping that the desperately poor will participate in next year's census. And our -- as our Ed Lavandera found out, many in the Colonias would rather be counted out than in.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, I'm going to take you on a journey into one of the poorest neighborhoods in America. This is the San Carlos Colonia, along the Texas/Mexico border. And you walk through here and it's like stepping into another world.
(voice-over): A Colonia is clustered of homes carved out of the most undesirable property along the southern U.S. border. In Texas, it's estimated some 400,000 live like 14-year-old Anabeli Rendon.
(on camera): Who do you live here in with?
ANABELI RENDON, COLONIA RESIDENT: With my mom and my little sister.
LAVANDERA: The three of you live in here?
RENDON: Yes.
LAVANDERA: Wow.
RENDON: We have one bed. I used to sleep on the floor.
LAVANDERA: You slept on the floor?
RENDON: Yes.
LAVANDERA: Anabeli and her family are moving into a new house, for $200 a month, it's not much better.
(on camera): This is the house they're moving into. It's 264 square feet. There's going to be five people living here. Three brothers and sisters, two small children.
And they're still working on the house as we speak here. They've been painting. And this is the area that's of most concern, a big hole in the ceiling and it's been leaking water since we've been here.
Follow me inside here and you see this is what passes as a bathroom in the Colonias. And the owners aren't eve sure that the septic tank or the sewage system even works.
(voice-over): The roads aren't paved. There's no air conditioning or heat, and finding water is a daily quest.
(on camera): So, this is life in the Colonia. We jumped in the back of this pickup truck, and the man driving the truck is going to take us to the water pump so he can fill up this tank and then he's going to start driving the neighborhood streets here in the Colonia and fill up barrels of water for people.
(voice-over): Most of the people who live here make under $10,000 a year, finding work wherever they can. So, you'd think the farthest thing from their minds would be the 2010 census count. But Anabeli says the census sparks fear.
RENDON: I just think they are scared, like going out.
LAVANDERA (on camera): You think they're scared?
RENDON: I think so, yes.
LAVANDERA: And why do you think they're scared?
RENDON: I don't know because -- I don't know because most of the people are immigrants here. So, yes.
LAVANDERA: So, they don't -- they don't trust them.
RENDON: I don't think they do.
REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D), TEXAS: What can we do a better job to make sure we count everybody?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Congressman Henry Cuellar and the Census director are trying to build trust. Many in this group have relatives living here illegally but they assure the neighbors it's not about deporting immigrants.
DR. ROBERT GROVES, U.S. CENSUS DIRECTOR: The benefits of participating are quite large. We return as a country over $400 billion a year to local areas, neighborhoods like this, cities and states, dependent on census counts. If you get counted, you get your fair share of that money.
LAVANDERA (on camera): This is Anabeli's mom and she just listened to the -- to the meeting with the Census folks and she's moving to her new place here. She's telling us that after listening to that, she feels confident to answer those questions, and it's something that she wants to do.
(voice-over): Ed Lavandera, CNN, Laredo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Ed, thank you.
Well, right now, it's 43 minutes past the hour. It means it's time to check in with Rob for his travel forecast right after the break.
ROBERTS: And in 10 minutes' time, Jeanne Moos takes a look at the U.S. Senate's newest member and his hunky reputation.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- six minutes past the hour right now and that means it's time for "AM House Call" stories about your health.
There's a new study finds teaching adolescents abstinence may actually help delay sexual activity. Researchers say only about a third of 6th and 7th graders in abstinence on the classes say that they had sex in the next two years. Now in about 15 minutes, our Elizabeth Cohen is going to be breaking down more details about that study.
Fish oil supplements may prevent young people showing signs of mental illness from actually developing schizophrenia. In the study, 41 patients took 1200 mg of fish oil a day for three months. There were 40 other patients given placebos. Only two of the fish oil taking patients became psychotic compared to 11 who are taking the dummy pills. Researchers say that the omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil could actually help repair and stabilize brain cells.
Also being slightly overweight may not be all that bad if you're over 70. An Australian study found that overweight adults between the ages of 70 and 75 were 13% less likely to die over a ten-year period than normal their normal weight peers. There is a limit though on how much weight you can carry. Those who were considered obese did not have the same long life benefits. Interesting stuff.
ROBERTS: It's same old story. Everything in moderation, you know.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
ROBERTS: You can be a little overweight and happy. Maybe you're too thin and you're stressed and that's why you're so thin.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Who knows. The research changes all the time. It's really interesting to know.
Forty-eight minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the Weather Center. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. I got a couple of things going on.
CHETRY: Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Hi Kiran. Low across the southeast, that's bringing some rainfall, already did yesterday. Check out some of the video coming into us from Florida. Broward County seeing some flooding from this heavy rain, coming down in buckets yesterday. Rainfall totals anywhere from 2.5 to 4 inches from Miami up to Fort Lauderdale in Hollywood, and at times, coming down sideways. This moisture beginning to roll up northward into northern parts of Florida, Georgia and getting into the Carolinas as well and some of this heavy at times, but also some of it getting into an area that's, in some cases, subfreezing.
So, we got winter weather advisories out for some of the higher country of Western North Carolina where there's pocket of cold air. Might see some icing here at least in the morning and then western parts of Virginia, maybe 1 to 3 inches of rain, snow, and ice mixed throughout the day today. There is a snow dust stretch back to Chicago. Don't expect a lot here. It will get up towards New York City, but noticed in through Western Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Area, that's where the clouds are beginning to increase, and if you're -- if you want to look at the last few years, Punxsutawney's forecast, he saw a shadow in 2006. That means winter held on.
No shadow in 2007. Shadow back in 2008. Shadow back in 2009. Today, he will probably see a shadow which would mean, let's see, his shadow runs back, that means -- that means an early spring which would be nice, but guys, that's not necessarily good forecasting skills over the years. A study recently done, 37% accuracy rating, so it's more of the pomp and circumstance. It's more of the celebration that maybe -- maybe, especially after this dire winter we've had, that spring will come early.
CHETRY: We got back up because I'm a little confused. I thought if he saw his shadow, doesn't he get scared, run back in the hole, and there are six more weeks of winter?
MARCIANO: That's right.
CHETRY: Okay.
MARCIANO: So, last year he saw his shadow, which theoretically means more winter. Today, I don't think he is going to see his shadow.
CHETRY: Oh, you don't think he's going to see his shadow.
MARCIANO: No, probably clouds. You know, I said that before, and they get those lights out and he ends up seeing his shadow anyway. So, I think it's whatever they decide, because you know, it's been a long night waiting for Punxsutawney to wake up in the morning and some of those people aren't necessarily seeing straight. CHETRY: Yes, exactly. So, he is seeing his shadow in the klieg lights, poor guy. All right. There you go. Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: This morning's top stories just minutes away including what's in store for don't ask, don't tell. The Secretary of Defense said to testify in Capitol Hill today about lifting the ban on openly gay soldiers serving in the U.S. military, but two issues, money and morale could cloud the process for Congress.
CHETRY: Help for Haiti pouring in. The Red Cross already raking in $30 million in donations just from texting alone which left us all wondering if that money is really in good hands. We're taking a look.
ROBERTS: And tensions are on the rise between the White House and Tehran. Does Washington need to reconsider what it's doing about Tehran. Rest as say with the memo to the President this morning. Those stories and more coming you way at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The cast and crew of the top-grossing movie in history has been spending a little bit of time with our -- with the troops and with other folks as well.
CHETRY: Yes, that's right. Sigourney Weaver as well other stars from the movie Avatar signed autographs and shared a few hugs on Sandig (ph) with U.S. soldier station in Bahrain. The troops were also treated to a special screening of the hit film.
ROBERTS: You don't have to be stationed overseas to get up close and personal with the Avatar crew because all you have to do is tune in tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern with Director James Cameron and the Avatar cast join Larry King Live. That' tomorrow night, right here on CNN.
CHETRY: The Avatar is expected to be a major player in this year's Oscar Awards, so we're going to find out in just about an hour. Live, 8:00 this morning, Eastern Time, the year's Oscar nominations will be announced. We're going to play it for you live here, but you can also check out the full list of nominees on cnn.com or on your CNN iPhone app.
ROBERTS: It's time now for the Moost News in the Morning, and there's a lot said about transparency in Washington these days.
CHETRY: You know, one thing, Senator-Elect Scott Brown can't be accused of covering anything up, at least in his younger days. Jeanne Moos has more on the man who's bringing sexy back to the beltway.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Technically, he's still only a senator-elect, but already he's been anointed senator hunk daddy, sexy hunk.
SALLY QUINN, JOURNALIST: First of all, Scott Brown is a hunk.
MOOS: Washington Post writer, Sally Quinn is just saying what others are thinking. The hunk factor; anatomy is destiny; and Scott Brown's anatomy has already fodder (ph) from Saturday Night Live with Brown played by the star of "Mad Men."
JON HAMM, ACTOR: I'm looking forward to working closely with you.
MOOS: Seducing Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
HAMM: I want to introduce something to the floor. It's called your panties.
MOOS: But Senator-Elect Brown didn't get his panties in a twist over SNL. "It was great," he told "The Boston Herald." "I think he's a little bit better dancer than I am." That Cosmo centerfold from his law school days is what turned him into a hunk of burning senator- elect.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Are you worried that this could make you a little bit of a joke?
SCOTT BROWN, SENATOR-ELECT: No. I was 22 years old. Do I regret doing that, no, because if I hadn't done that, I never would have been sitting here with you.
MOOS: Would he have been sitting on Jay Leno's Show, impersonating the guy in one of his favorite movies?
UNKNOWN MALE: I did it!
UNKNOWN MALE: Adrian, Adrian, we did it. I did it.
MOOS: He did it all right. Made it into Congressman Barney Frank's imagination on SNL.
HAMM: Are you worried about a filibuster. Because I'm about to filli-bust out of these jean shorts.
MOOS: He even gotten to the head of the senate's oldest member. Admirers have put his image to music.
MOOS (on-camera): What's next, a nude action figure of the guy?
MOOS (voice-over): Actually, yes. Herobuilders.com has rushed out the anatomically correct Cosmo man, and the real Scott Brown will be happy to hear that for $34.95, it comes with fig leaf included.
MOOS (on-camera): And talk about a politician with animal magnetism.
MOOS (voice-over): The Web site urlesque found an uncanny resemblance between the senator-elect and a come-hither kangaroo.
Jeanne Moos, CNN. New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Oh, boy.
CHETRY: Welcome to the Senate. There you go.
ROBERTS: Coming up on two-and-a-half minutes to the top of the hour, and your top stories will be along in just about 90 seconds.
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