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Thousands of Haitian Refugees With No Place to Go; Obama Speaks to Nation's Mayors

Aired January 21, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is go time. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi!

ALI VELSHI, HOST: Tony, you have a good one.

Hello, everybody, I'm Ali Velshi, on the beat every day from 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern. We're going to be taking the issues that matter to you, the ones that you need to know about and understand, and we're going to break them down so you can do something about it. You can save money. You can stay out of danger. You can make a decision about who to support and who to oppose. We'll bring you the facts, and we'll get into the details.

But, first, always, and foremost, we'll bring you the news.

If you thought there was money in politics before, wait until November. In a blockbuster 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court says corporations, businesses can buy ads that directly support or attack candidates running for office. It's overturning two of its own precedent -- precedents and a law that dates back -- that dates back generations.

What it says is it's a free-speech issue. That's what the Supreme Court has said, that they cannot prevent corporations from spending money directly on campaign ads.

Now, what hasn't changed? Corporations may not contribute directly to candidates. They can contribute directly to campaign ads.

Let's find out exactly what this means and the influence that it's going to have. We're going to have our -- we're bringing in our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, and CNN's political editor, Mark Preston.

Jeff, let's start with you. The legality of this. This is something the Supreme Court has ruled on before, and they have -- they've ruled differently on it.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right. And this is an issue that the court in particular is struggling with in recent years, and the conservative movement on the court is really reflected here. Because, you know, the government, the Congress, has tried to regulate corporate involvement in politics for more than 100 years, going back to 1907. And the Supreme Court, until recently, had basically stayed out of that, said, you know, corporations can be regulated in terms of how much they can participate in the political process.

But Chief Justice Roberts and others have said, no, this is a free-speech issue, and this was their biggest victory so far. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion. And he said, as you pointed out, that if a company wants to buy an ad, put out a documentary, do anything, supporting or opposing a single candidate, they can do it, on their own.

VELSHI: All right, Mark, let's talk about this. We've seen some people say this is a blow to the little guy, this is a victory for big business over -- over the little guy, but the reality is that this also allows unions, for instance, to do the same thing that major corporations do. Who actually wins or loses here?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: You know, a couple wins -- winners and losers now, Ali. You're absolutely right: unions are a part of this ruling. They will be allowed to spend as freely as corporations. The problem is -- is that a lot of people are losing their jobs. You know, union rolls are not as robust as they were, say, back in the '60s.

So, you have corporations, which has a bigger kitty to dip into their general funds to run these type of ads.

Unions already run ads anyway. They're already part of the Democratic establishment. They're able to run these issue ads, these get-out-the-vote efforts on the part of Democrats. So I'll tell you right now: the unions, while privately, they're probably happy, Democrats are not very happy.

VELSHI: Jeff, if this is just a free-speech victory, is there likely to be more legislation that comes in that can stand up to a Supreme Court challenge, or is the word from the Supreme Court that "don't legislate this"?

TOOBIN: I think it's very much the latter. I think the Supreme Court is saying to Congress, "Get the heck out of this line of work."

Now you mentioned earlier, you said this ruling does not mean that corporations can contribute directly to candidates. That's true. That was not the issue in front of the courts.

But don't kid yourself. That's the next step in the logic here, that camp -- that if individuals can't be barred from contributing to campaigns, why can you bar a corporation from giving to campaigns? That would put corporations, and the labor unions and other organizations even more directly in the political process. And if you follow the logic of this opinion, I think that looks like a very real possibility.

VELSHI: Let me -- let's talk a little bit about the opinion, particularly from Justice Anthony Kennedy. He said, quote, "Our nation's speech dynamic is changing, and informative voices should not have to circumvent onerous restrictions to exercise their First Amendment rights." Mark, there's something to be said for the fact that they've been able to get around this. I mean, the reality is it's not that companies haven't been able to put their money -- haven't been able to put their money toward a political cause or candidate. They just had to do it in a roundabout fashion. Does this change anything?

PRESTON: Well, Ali, you're right. Nothing is necessarily ironclad, and certainly here in Washington, they know how to get around laws when they are passed.

But what this does allows, it allows a corporation to come out, and let's say that you're Congressman Velshi, they're allowed to go out now and actually run ads, name you in the ad, and either advocate to support or to defeat you. And that's a big deal, especially if you have a lot of money when you're coming into the closing days of an election.

Let's say it's October. It's a close race. You know, a Corporation "X" can come in and dump as much money as possible on the airwaves to try to defeat you, and that's what Democrats are concerned about.

VELSHI: Jeff, how does this play out...

TOOBIN: Ali, you know, just think about the numbers here. You know, the political world, $1 million is still a lot of money.

VELSHI: Yes.

TOOBIN: In a congressional race, if you raise $1 million, you're a serious candidate. If you are Exxon, $1 million is nothing. A million dollars falls out of Exxon's pocket on the way to lunch. They can put that into a congressional race and completely turn it upside down, supporting or opposing an individual candidate.

So, I think that the scale is really the potential issue here, and we'll see how much corporations really want to exercise it. A lot of corporations don't want to be involved in this anyway, but when you have corporations like the energy industry, which has very specific interests in very specific legislation and legislators, you're going to see them get very involved.

VELSHI: As we head into November, we're probably going to see this play out, and we'll watch it. We'll see more ads. And we'll all be back to talk about it.

I guess it makes it a little more transparent for us, and we'll have to say these ads are being paid for by -- by this corporation, or this corporation has stepped, as Jeff says, at the last minute, or as Mark says, to shore up a candidate or a cause.

We'll stay on top of this, guys. Thanks very much, Jeff Toobin and Mark Preston.

All right. Well, from campaign finances to your family's finances, President Obama meeting in just a few minutes with U.S. mayors. He'll be doing that at 2 p.m. Eastern. He's talking about job creation and the economic crunch that so many cities are facing.

We'll be talking to Philadelphia mayor, Michael Nutter, in a moment. We -- he knows a lot about the ups and downs of running a city that has been trying to -- to get back on its feet, to become prosperous, and has been hit by this economic downturn.

We've also got some breaking news from Haiti. We'll have that right on the other side of this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. Let's go straight to Haiti. Jonathan Mann is in Port-au-Prince. He's with the search and rescue for a possible survivor.

Jonathan, what have you got?

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here, I'm here. Yes, I can.

VELSHI: Jonathan, go ahead. Tell us what you have.

MANN: I'm hearing you.

Well, have a look, Ali, because what you can see is an effort by emergency workers from Puerto Rico and Costa Rica to cut through the mound of broken cement and twisted, reinforced steel that used to be the University of the Caribbean, the University of the Carib. It was a multi-story building, and the extraordinary thing is, is they have both heard tapping that seems to respond so to their own tapping. They have used two independent sets of dogs from two emergency teams, and in all three cases, indications that to them signify someone is still alive inside.

What's even more extraordinary is how they found out about it: the same way we found out about it. I got an e-mail from a viewer in Sri Lanka, saying that she had, in turn, received an e-mail that had, in turn, been sent by someone who claimed to be named Martine Pierre, inside that building pleading for help for herself and, as I recall, for others still trapped inside.

We spoke with an official of the Puerto Rican emergency team. He said that's the clue that brought them here. They've been here since about 9 a.m. this morning. That would be about four hours ago.

But on the ninth day since the earthquake that ravaged Haiti, an indication that has two teams working and that has four different indications -- two sets of dogs, tapping, an e-mail-- that someone has survived against all odds for nine days -- Ali.

VELSHI: That is remarkable. So -- so this is how people are getting information. These rescue crews are getting information. Jonathan, who decided? You said it's Puerto Rico and Costa Rica rescue crews there. Who decides who responds to these things? Are they coordinated centrally? MANN: That's a good question, Ali. I'll be very honest with you: coordination has been one of the big questions at the very highest levels surrounding this effort. Who brought those two teams there today? I cannot tell you. The truth is we're following this basically case (AUDIO GAP).

VELSHI: OK. We've lost that connection. We will, of course, stay on that story. We will come back to you as soon as we get anything from Jonathan Mann.

Let's stay in Port-au-Prince right now and go over to Gary Tuchman, who's there. He's outside an orphanage in Port-au-Prince, where they're trying to find survivors -- Gary Tuchman.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, this was an orphanage that collapsed, and unfortunately, it appears that our experts here -- and our experts are just four guys from the neighborhood, nobody else -- is here with crude tools, with pick axes, with hammers, with saws, that there are no survivors.

But this is what they know, because the orphanage director has told them. There are 36 bodies of children under these tons of rubble right here. They've already found 20 of the bodies. Two are just behind us right now. It's believed that 56 children, and we have confirmed that today. We got an e-mail about it yesterday. We were just talking about e-mails. We weren't sure if it was true or a rumor. Unfortunately, it's a sad truth: 56 children perished when this four-story orphanage collapsed.

And that's what these guys are doing. There's no aid, no international aid, no local aid, no nothing. It's these guys with their tools, who had no water when we got here. And the least we could do was give them some water. So they have bottles of water from us, looking for the bodies of these children.

Seventy-four children, Ali, did survive. They're a couple of blocks away with the woman who runs the orphanage. All these children were destined for plants (ph). They were in the middle of application processes with parents in France, but the sad news is that 56 of them died, and 36 are still under tons of rubble.

VELSHI: That's the same question I was just talking to with Jonathan Mann. It does seem that, in some cases, people have teams that are able to respond to things, particularly if, on the ninth day, there are still possible survivors.

But the reality is that, in this case, these -- these guys over your right shoulder know that there's nobody -- anybody in there. They know that they're not looking for somebody who's alive. They're not looking for survivors.

TUCHMAN: That's -- that's right, Ali. It's important to tell you. The children, the 74 children, who did survive, just a short time ago, members of the U.S. Navy showed up to help them, give them medical care, give them food, give them water. It appears those 74 children are in good condition, because part of the orphanage, which is behind us, is still standing.

But the part that is not still standing, the part where it's not believed there are any survivors, there's no U.S. Navy. There's nobody, except five gentlemen from this neighborhood.

VELSHI: From the neighborhood. All right. Gary, there is a lot of despair, and in and amongst the despair, we're still hearing of some miracles. We'll, of course, continue to cover both of those stories. We'll get back to you when you have something new for us. Gary, thanks very much.

And we'll stay on top of the situation with Jonathan Mann, where they are -- they think there might be a woman trapped under the rubble, maybe with others, at the University of the Caribbean.

When we come back, I'll be joined by Christine Romans. Also, President Obama announcing tougher restrictions on big banks. What difference is it going to make? And is it going to stop another financial collapse like we've seen? Goldman Sachs recording some big- time profits. We'll have both of those stories.

Also, the president is standing by to talk to the nation's big mayors. We'll keep you up to date on that, as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: President Obama's challenge to the nation's big banks today. He's calling for curbs on the risks that they take.

Joining me now is my good friend, fellow anchor on our weekend show, "YOUR $$$$$," Christine Romans in New York.

Christine, the challenge -- the challenge we have every day, and we're going to deliver for our viewers between 1 and 3 every day, is to take complicated matters and break them down. And there perhaps isn't one more complicated than the way the banks, the way the country's financial systems run.

And the president is taking a look at that complexity. He is doing something. He's made a move today, that Congress is going to have to pass, that is going to somehow, he says, make the financial system safer. Tell me, like you often tell me before we do our show together, what this is supposed to mean?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, well, two new things here, because the president has already been talking about reigning in the banks, right? The big banks, the too-big-to-fail, these banks that can take down the whole global economy.

So, what's new here? What's new here are two points. One, no longer would banks be allowed to stray too far from their core duty of serving their customers. That is No. 1. Basically, that's the complexity, the trading, the risk-taking of these banks.

No. 2, he's calling it the Volcker Rule. Banks will no longer be able to operate as hedge funds, proprietary trading desks that have nothing to do with -- with their core -- their core obligations of taking deposits for you and me.

VELSHI: This is the way it used to be.

ROMANS: No more running these private equity funds.

VELSHI: This is the way it used to be.

ROMANS: The way it used to be, a long, long time ago.

VELSHI: There were two different kinds of banks.

ROMANS: A big rewind.

VELSHI: There were banks that took people's deposits and loaned people money.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: And there were banks that did other, more complicated financial things. And that line has blurred, certainly since 1993, the repeal -- a lot of our viewers will have heard of it -- the Glass/Steagall Act. That was repealed, and banks basically got to do anything they wanted to do that could make them money.

ROMANS: Repealed under a Democratic president, by the way.

VELSHI: That's right.

ROMANS: And now under the next Democratic president, trying to figure out how to get some of those depressionary curbs back in.

A couple of points, though, the Wall Streeters are pointing out, Ali. What the president is proposing here today would not have done anything to change AIG. AIG was an insurance company, and it is, of course, where we have most of our taxpayer exposure.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: So AIG, a whole different ball game together.

VELSHI: Or the mortgages, the mortgage foreclosure situation.

ROMANS: It wouldn't have done anything to prevent -- that's right. Or Lehman and Bear Stearns, for example. Those were purely investment banks. Those weren't banks that took, you know, my deposits and your deposits.

So this is, I think, also a political move. This is a president rebooting his commitment to reigning in the excess speculation and the risk-taking by the banks, for quick profits and quick bonuses. That's what he said. Reigning that in, at a time to prove to the American people that he's serious about this.

But another big question, Ali, and you and I have talked about this a lot, how many leverage has been lost? I mean, the crisis was a year ago now. VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: Some of the banks are coming back to health. Can the president and Congress get what they want and get it through now?

VELSHI: Well, let me ask you about this.

ROMANS: And are other people still behind it? Or has too much time passed?

VELSHI: Look at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. The Dow is down 215 points right now, and most analysis are saying this is the investor reaction, this is the Wall Street reaction to the president's proposal to curb the activities of the big banks.

ROMANS: Right. Because the fear is that, just limiting the scope and the size, the complexity of the banks isn't necessarily going to make them lend more. In fact, it might make them lend less, because they are having to scale back here.

But you'll notice the community banks, the regional community banks are all doing well today.

VELSHI: These are the ones that just...

ROMANS: So that shows the changes in the...

VELSHI: Right, they just do banking the way we're used to banking being done.

ROMANS; That's right. I think we're going to see a lot of changes. Congress has to pass this. There will be lobbying and horse-trading, I'm sure. But this is a president, I think, who's trying to reset -- reset the button on this and get some more momentum behind this.

He said, "If these guys want a fight, it's a fight I'm ready to have." Sounds like the "fat cats" commentary from December, right? So, the president trying to get out in front on this once again.

VELSHI: Christine, great to see you, as always. It's a real treat to see you seven days a week with me now. We'll do this every day. Christine Romans, my co-anchor on "YOUR $$$$$," which airs Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. on CNN.

Let's take a look at the headlines right now.

Mr. Brown goes to Washington. Senator-elect Scott Brown is visiting Capitol Hill today for a round of courtesy calls, including one to John McCain. The Massachusetts Republican, as you know, beat Democrat Martha Coakley for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, the one he held for 46 years.

Now, Brown's win means the Senate Democrats no longer have a filibuster-proof majority. It's 49 to 51 after he gets signed in. Brown will meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. To Haiti now, another aftershock. This one was a magnitude 4.9. No immediate word of damage or industry -- injuries. We've spoken to our reporters on the ground. They all seem to be safe with their crews and say that they don't know of new injuries around them.

Meantime, one of two piers has been reopened at the capital's port, and a gravel road has been laid off of that pier. That clears a major route for aid going in to Port-au-Prince. We'll keep you up to date with that and any other news coming out of Haiti through the afternoon.

Now, let's go to Pakistan, where Defense Secretary Gates is huddling with top officials. But he's not getting the signals that he'd like. The U.S. wants the Pakistanis to target militants who are staging cross-border attacks into Afghanistan. But the Pakistanis say they can't launch new offensives from six months to a year because they have their hands full with the Pakistani Taliban.

And the rain keeps falling outside. The mudslides -- the threat of mudslides keeps on growing. Now Los Angeles rescuers are telling hundreds of families to flee their homes now. We're live there right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY GRADY, LAPD SPOKESWOMAN: I don't think I'd play around with Mother Nature. And we're asking people -- no, we're not asking, we're telling them, get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right. We're looking at Southern California. Another big storm is threatening. It's -- it's sending people away from their homes. Flooding is widespread. A fourth winter storm rolling in, and it is threatening to send drenched hillsides tumbling down.

Let's take a closer look at this with Karen Maginnis. What's the situation?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We've got another round of wet weather that's moving on in across this area.

Want to point out something right across California, all the way in towards San Diego. This area is socked in with this wet weather. One round moves in, and it pushes on across the desert southwest. Another round moves in.

You may remember in the last 24 hours, some of the wind gusts associated with these rounds of rain produced wind gusts as high as 93 miles an hour. Generally speaking, we were looking at 35-, 45-mile- an-hour wind gusts across this region.

Well, we've got an area of low pressure sitting just about right here, and that's sending this moisture inwards. As it does, what we're looking at is essentially another round of rainfall that's going to carry this further towards the Great Basin.

Now, let's move on and tell you what's going to happen perhaps within the next 24 hours. Essentially, as we close in across this region, we're still going to see the rainfall into this afternoon. So, no break coming up just yet.

VELSHI: Wow.

MAGINNIS: But we're expecting the winds between 25 and 30 miles an hour, so we may see a little bit of a break for right now. But then we've got this next batch that moves on for this evening.

Now, the folks here are weather weary. They're tired of seeing this. Even up into the mountains, they've seen, 1, 2, 3, 7 feet of rainfall.

VELSHI: Wow!

MAGINNIS: Take a look at some of the rain in some of these locations. Long Beach, more than 5 inches of rainfall. Now, you know, along the East Coast, that doesn't mean a whole lot.

VELSHI: Right.

MAGINNIS: You know, we see 5 inches, no big deal. Out here, some of those burn areas -- La Canada, Flintridge, Altadena -- they can't handle it. There's nothing for it to soak into the ground.

VELSHI: Let's take a look at this. This is just in. Pacifica, California, an apartment building on the edge of a cliff. And this is the kind of stuff that we're watching out for. The apartment building remains where it's supposed to be for now.

But, you're right, these are places where, particularly because of these forest fires, we've seen the vegetation's gone. Chad's has been talking about that a lot, the danger of mudslides occurred.

But take a look at the video from there. You're looking off the ledge of that apartment building, right into the water.

MAGINNIS: Ali, a lot of these areas have been what they call denuded.

VELSHI: Yes.

MAGINNIS: Meaning they've been laid barren. If they had trees, if they had vegetation, and that would...

VELSHI: There'd be something to stop the land from just going into the water.

MAGINNIS: They call it impervious. It would be like putting concrete on top of it. It just kind of rolls over it and doesn't allow this it soak in. I know this personally. My house got flooded. When there are things when the areas are built up or when there's a lot of concrete when things develop, the land just can't grab it anymore, and that's why these folks are especially concerned in these particular burn areas.

VELSHI: Is this snow totals? Wow.

MAGINNIS: This is snow. This is not rainfall. But look at this.

VELSHI: Wow.

MAGINNIS: Some of these higher peaks, 73 inches of rain.

VELSHI: Hope someone's enjoying it.

MAGINNIS: If you're going up the grapevine, you're going to have trouble getting through some of this, but they -- they do a real good job of taking care of some of these roads through these regions.

VELSHI: All right. Well, we'll keep a close eye on it.

MAGINNIS: Good working with you, Ali.

VELSHI: My pleasure. Good to see you, Karen. Thank you.

We're going to go back to Haiti right after this and find out what's going on there. We have developments. One of the things that we do want to talk about, though, is the number of people who are trying desperately -- look at them all -- trying desperately to get out of Port-au-Prince. Where are they going? Well, we're going to tell you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right, for thousands of earthquake victims in Haiti, the wharf in Port-au-Prince is the only home have right now.

Let's take a look at pictures from that wharf. Some of them have to stay there for a while. The government is paying to ferry them to the western tip of the island. So, if you -- when we show you a map of Haiti, we'll show you what we mean. They're getting away from the earthquake zone. The earthquake zone is where Port-au-Prince is on the north, all the way down to the south, the southern tip of the island. But there's a long, skinny part on the left and that's where they're going to.

Some of these refugees are just trying to get away from Port-au- Prince, from the havoc that is being wreaked on that city. The seating on these ferries is limited. You have to get a ticket first in order to get on one of these ferries to get out of Port-au-Prince.

Where else can these survivors go? What do they have to look forward to when they get there? The United States and some other countries have been generous with aid, but as far as taking refugees in, that's an entirely different story. The U.S. has said that any Haitians who are in the U.S. as of January 12, when this earthquake occurred, can apply to remain here for 18 months. But that doesn't address the number of people in Haiti who have nothing to do while they're there. No income, no home, where do they go?

Mark Hetfield joins us now, he's in New York. He is with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which helps resettle refugees.

Mark, let's talk about this. What are the options for the masses, and we're talking of possibly of hundreds thousands of Haitians, who at this point don't have a home, don't have a livelihood.

What can happen to them?

MARK HETFIELD, HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY: Well, there are essentially no options for those who are simply trying to escape the natural disaster. The U.S. is exercising humanitarian parole to bring those who need medical treatment. They're bringing in orphans. But there is no right to flee natural disasters.

So my understanding is the strategy is to find places in Haiti -- safe places in Haiti -- for them to stay essentially as IDPs or Internally Displaced Persons. And they'll be setting up IDP camps for that purpose.

VELSHI: Is there any push underway to get these refugees out of Haiti? To somewhere else? Is there going to be enough in Haiti to sustain and to bring these people back to a way of living that is at least sustainable?

HETFIELD: Well, in a matter of years, hopefully. But Haiti has a wonderful history, but it's got a long history of natural disasters, political repression and people trying to flee to the United States by boat. And it's clear that the U.S. government is afraid that that's going to happen yet again. So they're taking every measure they possibly can to make sure that people stay within Haiti.

VELSHI: How would this -- I mean, what happens if people come to the U.S. from Haiti and claim that they are refugees? I mean, would they -- do they qualify as refugees after this earthquake?

HETFIELD: Yes, there's no right to flee natural disaster. That's not a ground for refugee status. To apply for refugee status you have to who that you have a well-founded fear or persecution due to your political opinion, your race, your membership in a social group. So there really is no legal recourse for them to come here.

But that being said, Haiti is becoming an increasingly lawless country. There are many serious problems that people may want to flee from. Some people may have a refugee claim and the U.S., unfortunately, has a long history of discriminating against Haitian asylum seekers and returning them, whether they have a claim or not.

That was a policy that's been in effect for several decades. It was started by -- VELSHI: Why is that?

HETFIELD: -- George H. -- Well, there's a big fear about thousands and thousands of them getting in boats and coming to the U.S. There was a fear under the Duvalier regime. There was a fear of that when Aristide fell from power. And there was a fear of that during the last political crisis in 2005.

So, the unfortunate thing that the United States has done, has taken a position, starting in the George H.W. Bush administration, that there is no right to refugee status on the high seas. That the United States can return people, they interdict on the high seas, to a country, even if they have a claim of persecution there. And sadly, that policy remains in effect.

It's particularly offensive to my organization because we have memories of the St. Louis, which you may remember, fled Nazi Germany in 1939, and was not allowed to disembark in Cuba, or in the United States. So the boatload had to return in Europe. It's our opinion that the refugee convention definitely applies to the high seas --

VELSHI: So, let's just be clear about what you're saying.

You're saying, applies on the high seas, which means there's a different standard for people who've set foot in the United States, than there is if you leave your country and are en route to the United States and claim refugee status.

So, in other words, to claim refugee status here, they've got to be here?

HETFIELD: That's exactly right. Once they're here, they can apply for refugee status. But that's why so much energy and resources has been poured over the years to keeping Haitians from getting to Florida.

VELSHI: All right. And what is happening right now? There are some efforts, obviously, to get some aid to Haiti as much as possible, even do it offshore if necessary. We've reported on the USS Comfort, the hospital ship that has pulled up along shore. That's it right there. You're looking at it. To try and give people treatment.

But the bottom line here is that there's not an effort under way to send in big ships to get people out of Haiti, and get them somewhere else for the meantime.

HETFIELD: Absolutely not. All resources are focused on keeping them there.

VELSHI: And that's -- that looks like the way it's going to go for a little while.

Mark Hetfield, thanks for joining me. It's a pleasure talking to you.

Let's go to the White House now. We told you a while ago that the President is talking, meeting with the country's mayors. He is talking now. Joe Biden, right there. Vice President Joe Biden introducing the President.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know. I know. I know. But -- a constant source of our conversations, Mr. President. (LAUGHTER) BIDEN: Well, look, a great many of the -- the -- the Recovery Act projects can be described in any mayor's favorite six words. I think it's six. I've got to make sure. I've got to count my words these days, Mr. President. Six words: ahead of schedule and under budget. That has been the real news of the Recovery Act. And thank you all. Thank you all for the management you have exercised in seeing to it that happens. And all in all, we're helping working men and women get through some very, very tough times today while building an economy of tomorrow. And the man making this all possible, literally, the single engine, the piston that's driving this whole operation, making sure that we don't walk away from our cities, we don't walk away from this recovery, we don't -- we -- we take the chances we're taking to generate growth here, is a man who came from a big city himself. I see his mayor, Mayor Daley, sitting right here in front. And the president understands. He understands your distinct needs. And he knows that nothing we do around here means anything if men and women don't have jobs, not just any job, but jobs that you can raise a family on, jobs that serve as a foundation for the 21st century economy we're determined to build. He also knows that, as Walt Whitman put it, a great city is that which has the greatest men and women. He knows your cities are full of great men and women. And his leadership is going to help give them the ability to overcome this difficulty, summon their greatness, and put them in a position that they're stronger at the end as we come out of this recession than they were before they went in. So, ladies and gentlemen, it's my great honor to present to you the president of the United States, Barack Obama. (APPLAUSE) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please, sit down. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please, have a seat. Have a seat. Well, welcome to the White House, everybody. And let me, first of all, say what an outstanding job that the vice president has done not just on a whole range of issues in this administration, but in working with the mayors to make sure this Recovery Act works the way it should. So please give Joe Biden a big round of applause. (APPLAUSE) A couple of other acknowledgements I have to make. First of all, I want to say congratulations to Elizabeth Kautz, the new president. Congratulations. Give Elizabeth a big round of applause. (APPLAUSE) I have to acknowledge my own mayor, Mayor Richard Daley, for the outstanding work he's done in Chicago. (APPLAUSE) I want to say thank you to Joe Riley of Charleston, not only for creating one of the greatest -- helping to make one of the greatest cities in -- in the country bloom, but also for giving us David Agnew, so give -- give him a big round of applause. Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver, who also is running for the governor of Colorado, I hope you all talk to him still, even when he becomes governor. (APPLAUSE) And I've got to acknowledge Mufi Hannemann, because he was such a great host for me and my family when we were there in Honolulu, so thank you, Mufi. (APPLAUSE) I have to say, Rich, the weather was a lot better in Honolulu. I just wanted to let you know. Now, I know all of you met the first lady yesterday to begin an important national... (APPLAUSE) ... to begin an important national discussion on our national childhood obesity epidemic. I hate following my wife. (LAUGHTER) She's more charming, smarter, tougher, better looking. But I am looking forward to a productive discussion with all of you on the urgent need to create jobs and move our metropolitan areas forward. I always enjoy meeting with mayors, because it reminds me of where I got my start, working with folks at the local level, doing our best to make a real impact on the lives of ordinary Americans, and that's what each of you does every single day. You're the first interaction citizens have with their government when they step outside every morning. The things that make our cities work and our people go, transit and public safety, safe housing, sanitation, parks, recreation, all these tasks fall to you. It was President Johnson who once said, "When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor." (LAUGHTER) So I -- it's why we organized this meeting today. I look at all of you, and I say, "I'm doing fine." It's just not easy being a mayor. But rarely, if ever, has it been more difficult than it is today. Your constituents are feeling the pain of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, not to mention an economy that wasn't working for a lot of them long before this particular crisis hit. Many have lost jobs. Many have lost their health care. Some have even lost their homes. And they're looking to you, and all of us, to regain some sense of economic security. And just when they need more from you, you're stuck with falling revenues, leaving you with impossible choices that keep mounting up, putting projects on hold or having to furlough key employees. I know some of you had the heartbreak of laying folks off. I also know that each and every one of you is 100 percent resolved to pick your city up and move it forward. And that's why, even as we worked to rescue our broader economy last year, we took some steps to help. We cut taxes, as Joe mentioned, for workers and small businesses. We extended unemployment insurance and health benefits for those who lost their jobs. We provided aid to local governments so you could keep essential services running and keep cops and firefighters and teachers, who make your cities safe places to grow and learn, on your payroll. We invested in proven strategies, like the COPS program and the Byrne grants that you rely on to bring down crime and boost public safety. We funded and awarded more than 1,800 of the energy, efficiency and conservation block grants that you conceived, flexible products that reduce energy usage, put people back to work, and save taxpayers money. We increased funding for the Summer Youth Employment program, helping more than 300,000 young people hit especially hard by the recession. That did more than just give them a chance to earn money; it gave them the critical chance to gain experience and good jobs that build good skills so that they can come out of this crisis in a better position to -- to -- to build a life for themselves. And we're working every day to get our economy back on track and put America back to work, because while Wall Street may be recovering, you and I know your main streets have a long way to go. Unemployment in your cities is still far too high. And because our metropolitan areas account for 90 percent of our economic output, they are the engines that we need to get started again. Now, last month I announced some additional, targeted steps to spur private-sector hiring and boost small businesses by building on the tax cuts in the Recovery Act and increasing access to the loans they desperately need to grow. I said we'd rebuild and modernize even more of our transportation and communications networks across the country, in addition to the infrastructure projects that are already scheduled to come online this year. I called for the extension of emergency relief to help hurting Americans who've lost their jobs. And you can expect a continued, sustained and relentless effort to create good jobs for the American people. I will not rest until we've gotten there.

But...

(APPLAUSE)

I also know that each of you worries about the longer term effects this economy might have our children, on your families, and on workers. You know, you worry about what shape everything will be in once we emerge from this crisis. So you're focused on addressing the pressing problems we face today, but you've also got a vision for your city. And no matter what party you belong to or where you've traveled here from, that vision is one I share, of vibrant communities that provide our children with every chance to learn and to grow, that allow our businesses and workers the best opportunity to innovate and succeed, that let our older Americans live out their best years in the midst of all that metropolitan life has to offer. All of us have an obligation to make sure that, even as we work to rescue and rebuild our economy, we don't lose sight of that, because job creation and investing in our communities aren't competing priorities. They are complementary. Now, two years ago, I addressed your gathering, and I outlined a new strategy for urban America that changed the way Washington does business with our cities and our metropolitan areas. And since taking office, my administration has taken a hard look at that relationship, from matters of infrastructure to transportation, education to energy, housing to sustainable development. My staff has traveled around the country to see the fresh ideas and successful solutions that you've devised. And we've learned a great deal about what we can do and shouldn't do to help rebuild and revitalize our cities and metropolitan areas for the future. So the budget that I'll present next month will begin to back up this urban vision by putting an end to throwing money after what doesn't work and by investing responsibly in what does, our strategy to build economically competitive, environmentally sustainable, opportunity- rich communities that serve as the backbone for our long- term growth and prosperity. Three items. First, we'll build strong, regional backbones for our economy by coordinating federal investment in economic and workforce development, because today's metropolitan areas don't stop at downtown. What's good for Denver, for example, is usually good for places like Aurora and Boulder, too. Strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America. Second, we'll focus on creating more livable and environmentally sustainable communities, because when it comes to development, it's time to throw out old policies that encourage sprawl and congestion, pollution, and ended up isolating our communities in the process. We need strategies that encourage smart development linked to quality public transportation that bring our communities together. (APPLAUSE) That's why we'll improve our partnership for sustainable communities by working with HUD, EPA, and the Department of Transportation in making sure that, when it comes to development, housing, energy, and transportation policy go hand in hand, and we will build on the successful TIGER Discretionary Grants program to put people to work and help our cities rebuild the roads and their bridges, train stations and water systems. (APPLAUSE) Third, we'll focus on creating neighborhoods of opportunity. Many of our neighborhoods have been economically distressed long before this crisis hit, for as long as many of us can remember. And while the underlying causes may be deeply rooted and complicated, there are some needs that are simple: access to good jobs, affordable housing, convenient transportation that connects both, quality schools and health services, safe streets and parks, and access to a fresh, healthy food supply. So we'll invest in innovative and proven strategies that change the odds for our communities, strategies like Promise Neighborhoods, neighborhood-level interventions that saturate our kids with the services that offer them a better start in life, strategies like Choice Neighborhoods, which focuses on new ideas for housing by recognizing that different communities need different solutions. And, by the way, we're also expanding the successful "Race to the Top" competition to improve our schools and raise the bar for all our students to local school districts that are committed to change. (APPLAUSE) That's what we're doing to bring jobs and opportunity to every corner of our cities and our economy, focusing on what works, and that's what all of you do each and every day. You're not worried about ideology. You know, obviously, all of you are elected, so you think about politics, but it's not in terms of scoring cheap political points. You're going to be judged on whether you deliver the goods or not. You know, you focus on solving problems for people who trusted us with solving them. And that's a commitment that all of us who serve should keep in mind. As long as I'm president, I'm committed to being your partner in that work. We're going to keep on reaching out to you and listening to you and working with you towards our common goals. And I want to start that right now by taking some of your questions, but, first, I think all these cameras are going to move out so you can tell me the truth. (LAUGHTER) All right? Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

(END OF COVERAGE)

VELSHI: That is the President talking to the nation's mayors in Washington, D.C. at the White House.

We're going to take a break. We'll come back with more of today's important news, including updates from Haiti, and from Capitol Hill.

Stay with us.

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VELSHI: OK. We are keeping track of a number of stories underway right now. First of all, look at the bottom right of your screen. See that Dow, 194 points? This is not stuff that we're used to these days. A year ago that was normal.

Let's go to Susan Lisovicz, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to find out what is going on now with the stock market -- Susan.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

VELSHI: We're going to take a bit of a break. When we come back, we just heard the President talking to some of to nation's mayors. The mayors from across the country. We're going to talk about what he said, the implications of that and how that's going to matter to you and the services that you get in the cities in which you live.

Stay with us. We're continuing with that on CNN.

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