Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

More Help for Haiti; Critical Care in Haiti; Republican Scott Brown Replaces Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat

Aired January 20, 2010 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here are some other stories that are on our radar right now.

You remember that Virginia couple who crashed the Obama's first White House state dinner last November? Who could forget that? Well, the house homeland security committee wants some answers from them so Tareq and Michaele Salahi have been subpoenaed to testify this hour. Wouldn't you know it, there are reports that they plan to stay mum by invoking the fifth.

On the Senate side of Capitol Hill, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is on the hot seat. And you're watching live pictures of that as well. Lawmakers expected to grill the secretary about that attempted terror attack Christmas day.

The panel wants to know how the would be attacker was allegedly able to sneak explosives aboard a northwest airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. We're following that hearing. We'll also dip back in live as warranted.

The deadly Fort Hood massacre also front and center on Capitol Hill this morning: the House Armed Services Committee questioning the authors of an independent Pentagon review. That review looks at the safety of Department of Defense employees in the wake of the shooting. 13 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Texas army post November 5th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BROWN (R), SENATOR-ELECT, MASSACHUSETTS: If anyone doubts that in this next election season that's about to begin, well, let them take a look at what happened in Massachusetts, because what happened here, what happened here in Massachusetts can happen all over America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So is it a sign of things to come, a road map to the midterms? Here's the tally. Scott Brown easily beat Martha Coakley to become junior senator from Massachusetts but it wasn't just Republican vs. Democrat in this race.

CNN's Jim Acosta live in Boston this morning with all the talk.

Hey, Jim. JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. There is plenty of talk this morning. It's the Republicans, as you can hear in that last clip, who are fired up and ready to go this morning. And just like an episode of CSI Boston, Democrats are doing some post mortems this morning on how Martha Coakley could have lost this race, the race to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy.

Coakley was up by some 30 points in this race according to some local polls just a few weeks ago, but slowly but surely Scott Brown, a little known state senator, started chipping away at that lead, making appeals to disgruntled, independent voters who were very upset about the direction of the country and the economy right now.

He vowed to go after health care reform if elected to the Senate and voters gave him that chance. A lot of it boiled down to a really lousy campaign that was run by Martha Coakley and that assessment came from Democrats. For a long time she really neglected this race and in the very end ran a nasty campaign that turned off a lot of voters.

As you know, she made that very ill-advised sports reference talking about Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling as a Yankee fan. That sort of drove the point home to a lot of voters that she was out of touch. And she used another sports reference last night in talking about her loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA COAKLEY (D), FORMER SENATE CANDIDATE: I am heartbroken at the result and I know that you are also, but I know that we will get up together tomorrow and continue this fight even with this result tonight because there will be plenty of Wednesday morning quarterbacking about what happened and what went right, what went wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And, yes, that Wednesday morning quarterbacking has already begun. Democrats are trying to figure out how they got to this point after President Obama had 65 percent approval ratings at his inauguration one year ago today. He is marking that anniversary along with White House advisers, trying to figure out how to stem the bleeding, how to stop this from becoming just a disastrous midterm season.

And the more immediate and pressing concern right now is health care reform. Scott Brown is now, as his supporters were chanting last night, the 41st Senator, referring to the fact that the Republicans as soon as he is confirmed and seated in the Senate will have 41 votes in the Senate.

That is enough to filibuster the health care reform legislation that has been approved by the Senate and right now you have liberals like Barney Frank and Anthony Weiner, two strong advocates for healthcare reform, saying that that legislation is all but dead this morning. So a lot of going back to the drawing board this morning. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Acosta, thanks so much.

Let's talk more about what this Senate Republican victory means for the president and for Congress. Joining me from Washington, Maria Cardona, a democratic strategist, also Doug Heye, a Republican strategist. Doug, what a message. Change, change, change. I mean the mood in Massachusetts, I'm curious what you have to say about this. I mean this, you know, adds a lot of fuel for the GOP party.

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Absolutely. And it's not just Massachusetts. Earlier this week Chris Christie was sworn in as governor of New Jersey. As a Frank Sinatra fan I think of the great song "New York, New York" and really for Republicans right now we think if we can make it there in Massachusetts and New Jersey, we can make it anywhere.

There's no state in the union right now that Republicans don't feel that they can be competitive in. And if you're a Democrat who's vulnerable, say Blanch Lincoln in Arkansas, Michael Bennett in Colorado, this really sent a strong signal that your re-election is vulnerable.

PHILLIPS: Maria, what do you do if you're Coakley? How do you wake up in the morning and digest all this and where do you go from here?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think for her, who has been I think a very good public servant in Massachusetts and people recognize that, she had actually very high approval ratings, she'll continue to fight for the people of Massachusetts and for the working families of Massachusetts to make sure that the people understand where Democrats stand. She might have been doing it a little bit late, but I think that it's an important message not just for the Massachusetts party but for the party nationally.

We need to make a distinction that Republicans have historically stood on the side of the insurance companies, the fat cats on Wall Street and the special interests and Democrats are the ones who have been fighting for working class families, middle class families and the values of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Mr. and Mrs. Lopez on main street and that's what we need to continue to do.

PHILLIPS: So, Doug, what's your take on the fact that the president went there, pushed for Coakley, made that trip. What kind of reflection does this have on President Barack Obama, his administration, where he's going, how he's dealing with health care?

HEYE: It's again very similar to New Jersey where he reversed course and went up and campaigned for Jon Corzine unsuccessfully at the very end. It sends a very clear signal that independents are not happy with Obamagenda. They don't like the health care reform bill. They don't like the back room deals that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have negotiated.

Harry Reid is another one who has got a really tough Senate race against Danny Tarkanian, the leading Republican in that race. It means that Barack Obama probably needs to sit back and as he does the autopsy or the post mortem, as Jim Acosta said earlier, try and figure out how to make the bipartisan rhetoric, that was really a strong part of what President Obama was saying back in March and April of last year, as Kevin Madden noted today in the "Wall Street Journal" to make that a reality because it really has not been a reality in months and months.

PHILLIPS: Maria, I can just imagine what the Irish pubs were like last night in Boston, thinking about just the Kennedy legacy and, wow, you know, 40 years he was in that seat.

CARDONA: Sure. I think that it was a big shock for Democrats not just in Massachusetts but all over the country. I don't think it's going to do anything to diminish the Kennedy legacy, but I do think it's going to give Democrats a shot in the arm in terms of, again, focusing like a laser on what it is that we really stand for and making sure that our message is communicated throughout the country on the fact that what has each party done?

Which party was one who actually was fiscally responsible, created 22 million jobs and left office with record surpluses? Which party was the one who left office with $1.3 trillion deficit, losing jobs at the rate of 700,000 jobs a month and which party handed his successor, President Obama, a dismal economy. We cannot turn this around in 12 months.

Clearly we have to make sure that we understand this anger and this anxiety and continue to communicate the message of change, which is frankly what brought us into power in '06 and '08 and we need to continue to focus on that message and that Republicans are just the party of obstruction, the party of no, the party of no solutions and wanting this president to fail.

PHILLIPS: Well, you talk about focus and clarity. No doubt, Doug, the state of the union address is coming up in a week. President Obama is going to have to really think about that speech and Americans are going to be sitting back wanting to know, OK, what about health care.

HEYE: Yes. The president can sit back and look and a lot of Democrats can look at pointing fingers and who's to blame. But the president, he needs to embrace this as an opportunity. The state of the union is no better vehicle for him to do that, to say this is where we want to go and this is how I want to accomplish these goals.

And again, he needs to do so and demonstrate that he's substantively doing so in a bipartisan fashion. We saw last year a lot of talk, a lot of Super Bowl parties and so forth that the president was doing which was really nice window dressing but there was no substance behind it.

If the president put substance behind this, Republicans will respond. Health care is such a big crisis in this country right now. There's no Republican who doesn't want any kind of health care reform and that's something that can, again, be an opportunity for the president. It's really up to him and other Democrats to see if they'll embrace it in that case because independent voters clearly do not want more of the same.

PHILLIPS: Final thought, Maria.

CARDONA: You know, it's interesting, because now with 41 votes in the Senate the Republicans really are going to have to step up and help us govern and help us solve these incredible problems. And I think that it's going to be a big wake-up call for Republicans as well. Because if they continue to be seen as the party of obstruction, you know, this is going to come back and haunt them. And Democrats are going to again be able to focus on the message that we're the ones who are fighting for working class families.

PHILLIPS: Maria Cardona and Doug Heye. Thanks, guys.

CARDONA: Thank you very much.

HEYE: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's a race against nature in southern California. More heavy rain expected to pound already saturated areas and mandatory evacuation orders in effect for communities prone to mudslides. In just the past two days heavy rains have caused floods and already left thousands of people without power. One person was actually crushed to death by a fallen tree. Authorities say that another drenching could actually send mud, rocks, boulders, debris, flowing into a number of neighborhoods.

Jacqui Jeras, tough time for southern California. They can't catch a break.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I know. The hundreds of people literally evacuated as of this morning and we're just kind of on that brink right now, on the threshold. We've had more than what we can take and unfortunately the strongest storm is now just arriving. We're going to start to look at the worst conditions by this afternoon across parts of southern California.

You can see northern California already getting hit hard with some heavy showers and thundershowers. We've got delays at San Francisco because of the heavy rain and you might even hear a few rumbles of thunder in with this as well. We've got just a little bit starting to move into the Los Angeles area but you can see how things are filling up now and we're going to watch this start to steadily increase. So maybe just mist at this hour but we could be talking another three to four inches of rain on top of what we already have.

So all that's going to be sliding down some of those hill sides and those mountains and that will continue to be a concern. And then we'll have yet another storm, which is going to be moving in probably Thursday and into Friday, So we're not looking until the end of the weekend before we think we can guarantee you a dry day and that will probably be Sunday.

Here you can see some of those forecast rain totals. When you start to see these reds and these purples, you know, that's between four and eight inches of rainfall. On the plus side of it, this is great news for those of you that like to ski as we're looking at a good five feet likely of fresh powder by the end of the week.

Now, we do have some other weather woes we need to mention to you and that's what's happening across the nation's midsection. This was the storm that started out in the west and we do expect to see some severe thunderstorms across the Gulf Coast states this afternoon. Large hail, damaging winds and, yes, even tornados are going to be possible here.

And then on the flip side of this is that moisture goes over the cold air here, some freezing rain. We're starting to get some accumulations, Kyra, in central Iowa near the Ames area between a quarter of an inch to half an inch of ice. So that's going to accumulate on trees, power lines and cause a lot of travel problems in the Midwest.

PHILLIPS: OK, we'll keep watching. Thanks, Jacqui.

Grab some water.

Well, all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hundreds of homes already being evacuated. Several people had to be rescued from the rushing floodwaters. Let's get straight to L.A. now. Rachel Kim from CNN affiliate, KCAL and KCBS, joining me. Give me a little show and tell there, Rachel.

RACHEL JIM, KCAL REPORTER: Yes, good morning, Kyra. We're talking about some heavy rain expected this afternoon and that is why city officials, L.A. city officials have ordered the evacuations of the foothill area here in southern Tahunga. We're talking about 262 homes that need to be evacuated in two hours.

Now, this is the Blanchard debris basin. This is what we're talking about. You can see all the mud and debris, all the sediment that has built up. This is the problem, this thing is filling up really fast. We had two previous storms over the past two days and this thing is just fast and furious.

Crews are working to do their best to clear as much of this out as possible. So with all of the rain expected this afternoon they are afraid that this mud and debris will overflow, and head out, roll down onto Blanchard Canyon Road, straight into these homes, threatening homes in these area. So that is the challenge.

These residents are asked to be out of here in two hours. I talked to one lady this morning. She said she really doesn't want to go until she has to, but authorities are urging everyone, they are telling everyone to get out in two hours because what is expected here this afternoon is going to prove to be very dangerous here in this area. So we'll see if everyone complies. Hopefully so. That's the latest here in Tahunga. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Rachel Kim, appreciate it. The help, the heart, the might and the generosity. They're all there. So what's the problem? Why is getting relief to the Haitians who need it still such an ordeal?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Straight to the president of the United States.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... the commissioner of the IRS and Jeffrey Zients, our chief performance officer of the United States.

Here in our nation's capital, there are a number of ways to advance the ideals and interests of the American people. Often it's done through Congress, but it can also be done through what's called a presidential memorandum. A directive that I give to cabinet secretaries and to federal government employees to change how our government works.

In a few moments I will issue one of these directives to help stop government contracts from going to companies that are seriously delinquent in their taxes. This is not simply a matter of signing a piece of paper or taking a bureaucratic act, by issuing this directive, all of us in Washington will be required to be more responsible stewards of your tax dollars.

All across this country there are people who meet their obligations each and every day. You do your jobs, you support your families, you pay the taxes you owe because it's a fundamental responsibility of citizenship. And yet somehow it's become standard practice in Washington to give contracts to companies that don't pay their taxes.

Government - studies by the Government Accountability Office have identified tens of thousands of such deadbeat companies that are being awarded government contracts. One company owner who owed over $1 million in taxes was paid over $1 million as a defense contractor. And instead of using that money to pay his back taxes, he chose to buy a boat, some cars and a home abroad with his earnings. The total amount owed in unpaid taxes by companies like that is estimated at more than $5 billion.

Now, in Washington, $5 billion might not seem like a lot of money. But if we were to invest that money in education, it would be enough to cover the cost of annual college tuition for more than half a million students. If we were to invest in health care, it would be enough to cover two and a half million children. If we were to invest it in energy, it would be enough to weatherize more than half a million homes.

In a time of great need when our families and our nation are finding it necessary to tighten our belts and be more responsible with how we spend our money, we can't afford to waste taxpayer dollars, and we especially can't afford to let companies game the system. We need to make sure every tax dollar we spend is going to address our nation's urgent needs and to make a difference in the lives of our people.

The status quo, then, is inefficient and it's wasteful. But the larger and more fundamental point is that it's wrong. It is simply wrong for companies to take taxpayer dollars and not be taxpayers themselves. So we need to insist on the same sense of responsibility in Washington that so many of you strive to uphold in your own lives, in your own families and in your own businesses.

And that's exactly what the memorandum I'm issuing today is meant to do. I'm directing my budget office together with the Treasury Department and other federal agencies to take steps to block contractors who are seriously delinquent in their taxes from receiving new government contracts. I'm also directing the IRS to conduct a review of the overall accuracy of companies' claims about tax delinquencies.

We need to be sure that when a company says it is paying taxes, that company is in fact paying taxes. Beyond these steps, I'm also calling on Congress to build on the kind of legislation that Senator McCaskill, Congressman Ellsworth and Chairman Towns have introduced and that I introduced when I was senator. Legislation that will crack down on tax sheets by allowing the IRS to share information about tax delinquency with contracting officials.

By the way, when I introduced that Senate bill, Claire stood by me and Brad led the way in the House. Further, my budget from last year proposed that if a company with lots of unpaid taxes receives a federal contract, the government ought to be able to pay taxpayers back in full before it's required to pay the contractors themselves. It also proposed the tax collection on behalf of American taxpayers should not be subject to long, bureaucratic delays. It should be done swiftly.

Since Congress did not act last year on this proposal, I am introducing it in this year's budget and I once again urge Congress to act on it. The steps I'm directing today and the steps I'm calling on Congress to take are just basic common sense steps. They're not going to eliminate all the waste or all the abuse in government contracting in one fell swoop.

In going forward, we'll also have to do more to hold contractors more accountable not just for paying taxes, but for following other laws as well, including employment and environmental laws. But the efforts I'm outlining today will scale back waste and abuse and they will help bring the values of American government and the values of America's companies in line with the values of the American people.

So with that I'm going to sign this memorandum and I'm expecting our team to implement it as quickly and as effectively as we can. All right.

PHILLIPS: President Barack Obama there saying "I'm cracking down on contractor tax cheats." He just signed the executive order right there. What it says, well, it's going to tell federal agency chiefs to take steps to bar companies from receiving new government contracts. Also you heard the president there saying he's going to direct the IRS to review contractor filings to ensure the companies are not lying about the taxes that they have paid. He also said that he took a look at the GAO report that estimated that the U.S. is owed more than $5 billion in unpaid taxes by thousands of companies that are being awarded government contracts. So bottom line from the president today, companies better pay your taxes.

We're holding on the line right now is Commander Tim Donahue. He is the director of surgical services aboard the "USNS Comfort." Basically, it's a floating hospital that's come in to Haiti, ready to go into action. We're going to talk to the commander right after a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we got word now that the massive medical aid is arriving in Haiti right now. Let me describe it for you. It's a state-of-the-art hospital ship called the "USNS Comfort." It has 550 medical staff members, six operating rooms, can hold up to a thousand patients. Listen to this, this just broke my heart when we heard about Haitians that could actually be seen praying this morning as the ground shook again.

A 6.1 aftershock hit about four hours ago. It was the strongest aftershock since last Tuesday's 7.0 quake. The U.N. is saying that three million Haitians are still in need of food, water, shelter and medical assistance. A lot of that coming from the "USNS Comfort" now, it will come from there.

Commander Tim Donahue, director of surgical services on board that floating hospital on the phone with me now. Commander, great to have you. Tell me what you have prepared for as you arrive there in Haiti.

CMDR. TIM DONAHUE, DIRECTOR OF SURGICAL SERVICES (via telephone): Yes. Thanks for having us.

We arrived here last night around - we got onto station and actually had patients arriving before we dropped anchor. When I came out of the ship this morning I looked out and I saw the familiar, you know, Port-au-Prince area. We had been receiving patients in, received nine in, in about the first half hour that we were here after flight operations began. We've been receiving them in a constant stream since then.

PHILLIPS: So, commander, this has been one of the big cries from the ground is that people are getting rescued and they're getting into these makeshift hospitals, in these tents and clinics that have been put together through various resources, but they're dying because they're not getting the treatment that they need right away.

What's your feeling about this? Are you going to be able to bring in - how many people do you think you'll be able to bring in. And how many people would you be able to bring in and hopefully save their lives after the rescues have taken place? DONAHUE: Right. Yes, the folks that we've seen today have been remarkably resilient. They have got horrendous crush wounds, infected limbs. We just saw a young boy with 30 percent of his body burned over his face, neck and arms and he's survived that, you know, in these austere conditions ashore. We've got a thousand bed facility here.

We have currently looking out in the hallway, I've got six operating rooms running. We've got the capacity to double that. We've got 350 more medical staff arriving today and tomorrow that have come in from the states. So we have the capacity for about 1,000 patients. 80 of those or more can be intensive care patients. And we are ramping up to receive folks.

One of our challenges is going to be bringing them in, giving them resuscitative care, getting them stabilized and then being able to forward them on to another facility so that we can continue to receive more and more.

PHILLIPS: Well, tell you what, I had the honor of going aboard your ship during the war. I know how quickly you go into action. I have watched you guys and your doctors save lives. You do a remarkable job and we want to stay in touch with you, commander, and hear about the lives that you're saving because, boy, do the Haitians need you. I really appreciate you calling in.

DONAHUE: Great. Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: You bet. Commander Tim Donahue there, director of Surgical Services aboard the "USNS Comfort." Boy, where they are needed in that area.

Well, we're not done with those alleged White House party crashers. Guess what, the Salahis have the floor all to themselves today. This is actually a live picture of the House Homeland Security committee where so far, I'm sure you probably knew this, Mr. Salahi has pleaded the fifth on every question that he has been asked. Mrs. Salahi also there, to his left, she will probably do the same. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: If democrats didn't think so before, well they should realize it now -- 2008 is long gone, ancient history. The GOP is probably still pinching itself over Brown Tuesday in Massachusetts. Scott Brown, republican Scott Brown, by the way, the commonwealth's senator-elect. He won 52 percent of the vote, democrat Martha Coakley, 47 percent. It's an outcome that's 100 percent shocking.

Brown making it clear what's in his scopes once he gets to Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: This bill is not being debated openly and fairly. It will raise taxes, it will raise taxes, it will hurt Medicare, it will destroy jobs and run our nation deeper into debt.

COAKLEY: We will always remember our terrific Senator Ted Kennedy and his words, the work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Senator John McCain talking about the big win for republicans right now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: ... Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Michigan, Connecticut -- twice in Connecticut -- Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, the list goes on of special deals that were carved for special reasons. And the latest, of course, is the incredible, incredible action concerning unions being exempt from taxes that non-union members will now have to pay in greater numbers.

How do you justify favoring one group of Americans -- this is union members -- for any reason other than you owe them political favors and they have political influence? And so the negotiating went from the back rooms here to the back rooms in the White House. The same, the same president that said that C-Span -- and completely transparent process would prevail here so that the American people would know who's on the side of the pharmaceutical companies, who probably got the best sweetheart deal of anybody in this whole process.

So, Mr. President, I believe that the majority of the American people had said, according to polling data, 48 percent of Massachusetts voters said that health care was the single issue driving their vote and 39 percent said they voted for Brown specifically because of his vocal opposition to the measure. I congratulate Scott Brown. I congratulate our new colleague, not only for standing up for what's right, but also articulating the frustration that the American people have about this process we have been through.

So, Mr. President, here we are. Now the rumors are that they'll jam this proposal through the House of Representatives and then bypass what has always been the normal legislative process. They should not do that. The American people have spoken. The people of Massachusetts have spoken for the rest of America. Stop this process. Sit down in open and transparent negotiations.

Let's begin from the beginning. We can agree on certain principles and certain measures that need to be taken like malpractice reform, like going across state lines so that people can have insurance of their choice and many other ways, including perhaps, perhaps refundable tax credit for those who need health insurance, risk pools for those who have pre-existing conditions. There are many of those things we could agree on if for the first time in this administration and in this Senate we sit down across the table from one another with honest and open negotiations and discussions.

We know health care in America's costs are out of control, we know they need to be fixed, we want to be part of that process. So I urge, I urge the president of the United States, I urge my colleagues, now 59 of them, to say stop. Start from the beginning, sit down and work for America. Do what's been done in the past time after time after time where we sit down and negotiate in good faith efforts. So far that has not happened, despite the promises that the president made during his campaign.

So I urge my colleagues together to say we've got to stop this process, we've got to stop this unsavory sausage-making Chicago-style that's been going on and we have to sit down in open and honest negotiations with the American people and fix the health care problem which we can do together, and that's what the American people want us to do.

Again, I thank my colleague from North Dakota. I yield the floor.

PHILLIPS: Senator John McCain clearly excited about Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts. Of course on everybody's minds right now, health care, including the senator there.

Well, the GOP win is reverberating far outside Massachusetts. It means the republicans may now be able to block health care reform. But you heard McCain, McCain said let's get it done. So what can President Obama do to salvage his top domestic priority?

I don't know, Suzanne Malveaux. There's a lot of work to be done, a lot of scrambling going on. You've got the president's State of the Union speech coming up, you're hearing from John McCain there, he's saying, OK, let's get it done. Well, now the question remains, how quickly can it go?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, they really are trying to salvage whatever they can out of the health care reform bill. I had a chance to speak with the president's top adviser, David Axlerod this morning, who said while he doesn't necessarily think it's a referendum on a health care plan of the president, he did acknowledge in some way saying that he felt it was certainly an element of people's frustrations.

I pressed him a little bit. Did he think that the president bore any responsibility in the Massachusetts loss because he was pushing forward health care or perhaps people just didn't feel that Washington was listening to their own agenda? And he said, you know, any president has a responsibility that sets the political environment, so that they are acknowledging in some way that the president -- at least they have to acknowledge that the president is hearing the people, that he gets this in some way.

Now the other thing is the big question, whether or not this is completely dead. His health care reform plan, his top priority in his domestic agenda, and here's how David Axlerod put.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: He's not going to walk away from that fight for the American people, but there also -- obviously people are speaking on this issue. There's a frustration with the pace of this and congressional debate always distorts the substance of what's in these bills and that's hurt this enterprise. So we have to consider how to move forward now.

MALVEAUX: How do you move forward? Does the president consider pushing House democrats to pass the Senate version? What is the best alternative option here?

AXELROD: I'm not going to discuss tactics here. Obviously everybody is sifting through this and reading these results and interpreting them. While this wasn't, I think, the referendum on health care that some have portrayed it to be, that's obviously an element of people's frustration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Kyra, what was notable about the interview too, I asked him if he thought health care reform was dead. He said he didn't think it was dead and he said that the president would continue to push forward on this particular aspect. He said the kind of power the insurance industry has over people, to deny care or raise rates.

What this suggests, Kyra, is that certainly there's going to be a much more minimal, a scaled-back version, if you will, if they're going to continue to push forward health care reform. It is the kind of thing that we had heard from the very beginning of this debate when they talked about reforming the insurance companies and not something that was so much broader and more ambitious that the White House was trying to get passed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.

Well, there's still plenty of unanswered questions about that failed Christmas Day terror attack aboard Northwest Airlines 253. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano being grilled right now by members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. The panel wants to know how a 23-year-old Nigerian man could allegedly sneak onto the U.S.-bound plane with explosives hidden in his pants. Well, the secretary admits there were failures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We're also focused on improving aviation screening and expanding international partnerships to guard against a similar type of attack. I've submitted a longer statement describing the various DHS programs that are at work to keep terrorists from boarding airplanes.

But in terms of the DHS role in this case, the bottom line is this, he was not on the no-fly list, which would have flagged him to be prevented from boarding, nor was he on the selectee list which would have flagged him for secondary screening. Furthermore, the physical screening performed by foreign authorities at airports in Nigeria and the Netherlands did not detect the explosives on his body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And we are going to continue to follow this hearing live and bring you updates as warranted.

It's challenging enough getting help to Port-au-Prince, the big city. People stuck in Haiti's villages, same nightmares, same desperation, harder to reach location.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, some of them are calling her a miracle survivor. Dusty, weak, an elderly Haitian woman was pulled from the rubble of a cathedral in Port-au-Prince yesterday. She was rescued a full weak after the powerful earthquake virtually wiped out Port-au-Prince.

Help is reaching Port-au-Prince but it's not the case in some remote communities on the outskirts of the capital.

CNN's Jason Carroll actually visited one neighborhood in desperate need of help.

And I think there's a lot of those, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You're certainly right, Kyra. Many of them that exist here in Port-au-Prince.

You know, what actually happened was as we've been traveling around doing our pieces, people kept coming up to us and pointing out the communities in the hillside saying, those people need help, those people need help. The problem is the areas are so difficult to get to, we needed a guide to get in there. So we finally got a guide, got in there.

Take a look at what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): We found Jude Pedaton (ph) and his 4-year-old sister Seriah (ph) in one of Port-au-Prince's poorest and most remote neighborhoods -- Le Ville de Bourdon (ph).

(on camera): What happened to her arm here? Did she break her arm?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CARROLL: Yes, she broke her arm.

(voice-over): After days of waiting, Pedaton feared help was not coming for his sister because he knows not many would know how to find where they live.

(on camera): and you live way up there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CARROLL: And so it took you one hour to walk down here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CARROLL: To get help for your little sister.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CARROLL (voice-over): Some 6,000 people live in La Ville du Burdon, and help for them still has not arrived. And there are at least 30 other hillside communities just like it around Port-au- Prince, where the worry is people there too, are still waiting.

(on camera): These steep, narrow pathways are the only way in and out of these kinds of communities here. The homes are built right on top of each other. There are no addresses, so you can imagine it's very difficult to keep track of who survived and who perished in the earthquake.

(voice-over): The path leading in is at times blocked with debris. A maze of homes on either side, most destroyed or badly damaged. Along the way, Thomas Brutus (ph) saying with the assistance of our translator they need help removing bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One house has three, another one has nine.

CARROLL: He leads us to one home where the smell was nearly unbearable.

(on camera): Does anyone know who the deceased are in here?

(voice-over): They tell me a mother and son are buried in the rubble.

The area's section chief, similar to a city councilman, uses a bull horn to get information out. He knows there's one thing standing in the way of getting help.

ROMELLUS PIERRE RONAL, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: Accessibility.

CARROLL ( on camera): Accessibility.

RONAL: Yes.

CARROLL: They can't get down here.

RONAL: They can't get down here. Yes.

CARROLL: Yes.

(voice-over): Four-year-old is Sariah one of the lucky ones. She has an older brother strong enough to get her help. The worry is for the others still suffering in the city's hill sides.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL: And, Kyra, these neighborhoods are so densely populated and so confusing once you get down in there, even some of the locals tell us that they have trouble navigating through there. So imagine how difficult it is for emergency crews that are out here to find them and once they get there, how difficult it will be for them to actually get down in there and get some of the bodies out and get water and food down there to the people who so desperately are waiting for it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll, thank you.

And every life is precious. And now we're getting an idea of how many people have been pulled from the rubble in Haiti.

The United Nations says international teams have rescued 121 people since the quake hit. As for the death toll, there are still no firm numbers. But the Pan-American Health Organization estimates up to 200,000 people may be dead.

Well, are you sitting there wondering how you can help Haiti? Do what some North Carolina kids are doing. Heat up the water and grab some marshmallows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: From the mouths of babes to babies and their parents suffering in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, you've got to hear what some very special eight year-olds are doing to help bring relief. They're selling one hot cocoa cup at a time and sending the money straight to the Red Cross operation in Haiti.

Their customers aren't stingy either. They're digging in their pockets and enjoying this steamy hot chocolate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH CARLSON, CUSTOMER: Well, I think it's just wonderful, you know. This whole thing with Haiti has been such a disaster and everybody's caught on to it. And to see these young people get involved, I think it's just wonderful.

RACHEL MORRIS, HELPING RAISE MONEY FOR HAITI: I think anyone who sees us doing this should definitely do it also and try to get as much money as possible. They really need our help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, two of those entrepreneurs of joining us now live from Raleigh, North Carolina. Meet eight year-old Kitch Joyner, and eight year-old Drew Honeycutt.

Welcome, guys. What an amazing thing you've done. Well, Kitch, let's start with you. How did you come up with the idea?

How did all you guys come up with the idea? KITCH JOYNER, SELLING HOT COCOA FOR HAITI RELIEF: Well, first my mom reminded me that -- my Saint Olivia (ph) raised a lot of money for this country that had a bad tsunami. And I said -- and my mom told me about what happened to Haiti. So I told her we should -- since it's winter, we could do hot chocolate and doughnuts and we raised a lot of money for Haiti. We raised $1,378 for Haiti. And I hope Haiti gets better since they have had two earthquakes and it's really sad that what happened.

PHILLIPS: It is. But what you're doing is incredible, no doubt. I mean, Drew, you've been working with Kitch and the other kids.

I mean, Drew, when you saw the news and what was happening in Haiti, how did that make you feel?

DREW HONEYCUTT, SELLING HOT COCOA FOR HAITI RELIEF: It made me feel kind of sad about the people in Haiti.

PHILLIPS: And so why did you want to do this?

Why did you want to join Kitch and the others?

HONEYCUTT: Because I thought it was a really good cause and Kitch is one of my best friends I've ever had.

PHILLIPS: Aww. And Kitch, I'm assuming Drew is one of the best friends you've ever had too, huh?

JOYNER: Yes, he is.

PHILLIPS: Well, why don't you show me the check. You've actually got the money together, you've got a big check to give the Red Cross, right?

Wow.

JOYNER: Yes.

HONEYCUTT: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Wow. So, Kitch, what do you hope that money goes toward? What would you like to see the Haitian people get with that money?

JOYNER: Just shelter, medicine, food and water.

PHILLIPS: Drew, how about you?

HONEYCUTT: Same thing.

PHILLIPS: Aww. All right. Final message, guys. A lot of people from Haiti are able to see CNN around the world.

Kitch, you got a message?

JOYNER: Yes. PHILLIPS: Go for it.

JOYNER: I hope -- hello, Haiti, I hope you get well because you were a really poor country and (INAUDIBLE) and we raised a lot of money for you.

PHILLIPS: Drew, do you have a message?

HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: Go ahead.

HONEYCUTT: I hope this money goes to you guys because -- for your food, water and medicine because I hear about those two big earthquakes.

PHILLIPS: That's right. Drew Honeycutt -- yes, Kitch? You had one more thought.

JOYNER: Yes. Because it was really sad what happened because -- but we raised a lot of money for medicine, food and water. And we hope a lot of people that are sick and hurt and starved and dehydrated, and this will -- the money -- that this will help them.

PHILLIPS: Well, it will.

Kitch Joyner, Drew Honeycutt, congratulations. You guys are just fantastic and I know your parents are proud.

Thanks for joining me live.

HONEYCUTT: You're welcome.

JOYNER: Welcome.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Oh, boy, how do you segue from that, Jacqui Jeras, to the crazy weather on the West Coast? Those are the kind of kids you hope and pray that you have when you give birth.

JERAS: You do, absolutely. Yes. It's a hard thing to talk about with your kids, so a good lesson. I know my kids don't seem to sometimes appreciate some things in life and they don't really get it. And, so yes, I've had them in front of CNN and talking to them about how we need to help other people.

PHILLIPS: Yes, they set an example, don't they?

JERAS: Absolutely. Good stuff.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: We're approaching the top of the hour. We've got more news for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: As we wrap up the hour, a new CNN Poll of Polls shows the majority of Americans approve of how President Obama's handling his job.

So we wanted to know what you thought about the President's first year in office. We asked you to go to our blog and complete the sentence, "President Obama's first year..."

Here's what you said.

"Obama's first year is exactly how I thought it would be, terrible. He has no idea what he's doing. I was hoping he'd prove me wrong."

This coming from Kevin, "Adequate considering the problems that he inherited and a welcome change from the previous eight years of mismanagement."

Lisa says, "It's been a balanced -- he has been balanced, rather. Give and take. He has his goals that are being checked off while maintaining a positive and thick-skinned mind set."

And Sandy says, "I disapprove of President Obama's first year and am hopeful he will change. I like what I see happening in Massachusetts."

Well, we love hearing from you. Just log on to CNN.com/kyra to share your comments and I'll read as many of them as I can on the air.

Thanks for sharing your morning with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Don Lemon.