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Will Wall Street Rebound Today?; President Obama Talks Economy; India Beefs up Air Security after Alert; Smile a Mile Wide

Aired January 22, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The news continues including our special coverage of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake now with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

Hi, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys. Thanks so much.

Good morning, everyone. Thanks so much for getting your day going with us. Here's what you may have missed overnight and what we're working on right now for you.

Backyards become beach fronts. California cliffs giving way after relentless rains. If the heavy snow doesn't get you, the mudslides, flooding, and high winds sure will.

In Haiti, back to business but not back to normal. Gas going for 26 bucks a gallon. And the price for stealing rice? Your life.

Wall Street worries rippling the -- to main street. We're following the market's open. And the latest hit to your 401(k).

And here's a whopper of a story but true. Fast-food giant adding beer to a menu.

For whom the bell tolls. The answer, you, me and our retirement savings. Later this hour Wall Street reopens after its worse day of losses since late October.

And the economy becomes job one for President Obama, at least for today. Later this hour, he heads to hard-hit Ohio to talk about putting more Americans back to work.

Well, we have team coverage on these stories that affect your wallet today. White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux looks at the president's trip and his message.

Christine Romans of the CNN Money team focuses on Wall Street.

Let's go ahead and begin with you, Christine. Stocks took a beating yesterday after the president's announcement?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. And that's because the president said that he wasn't going to take it anymore, and if these guys wanted to fight he was going to give it to them. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we've seen so far in the recent week is an army of industry lobbyists from Wall Street descending on Capitol Hill to try and block basic and common sense rules of the road that would protect our economy and the American people.

So, if these folks want a fight, it's a fight I'm ready to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president essentially resetting his agenda here now on how to regulate Wall Street to make sure that this doesn't happen again, that these banks don't get so big and so risky that they can bring down the entire financial system.

The stock market took the president at his word. Take a look at his word.

Take a look at this, Kyra. The stock market tumbling yesterday 213 points. The worst two-day performance now for stocks since late June.

Here's the proposal. Limit the bank size, in particular, separate commercial and investment banks. This is something that Congress allowed to happen 10 years ago. Now some of the very people, Kyra, in Congress who voted to let them be put together now want to separate them. Restrict the scope of trading and curb risk-taking of the big banks.

Critics say, and many people on Wall Street say, it doesn't address the core problem with what got us here, and that is a lack of regulatory -- strong and common sense regulatory regime in the first place.

And also, quite frankly, the fact that people were writing loans that were just pretty ridiculous, and this is a problem with bad loans and the feeling that the housing market feeling was going to go up forever.

So there's a real pushback among people on Wall Street who are saying this is a president whose waging war against business and job creation as much as he's waging war against banks -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We're seeing that war raging out there in the numbers.

ROMANS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Christine, thanks so much.

Well, no doubt you at least know someone who's lost a job. That someone may even be you. So today President Obama tries to reconnect with Americans by focusing on the creation of new jobs.

Let's get to Suzanne Malveaux. She's at the White House.

Suzanne, what's the president hoping to accomplish on his trip today? What can he really accomplish?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, he can't really accomplish anything unless he goes to the American people and shows that he is in touch with what they are talking about and their concerns.

So the president needs to show if he wants to get anything done with this year with his agenda, whether it's immigration reform, financial regulatory reform, whether it's not -- creating jobs or salvaging his health care plan, he's got to get out there and show that this matters to him and that he is connected.

The one thing that the Massachusetts race showed the president, and he acknowledged, was that he was so focused on policy he said that there's this perception that he doesn't understand, that he's aloof or detached from what Americans are talking about and expect from this administration, and that is dealing with the economic crisis.

Now this administration before the Massachusetts loss and losing their super majority wanted to turn the corner and pivot here and focus on the economy in the beginning of the year, but since that Massachusetts loss, now it's even more urgent and expedient.

Here's what the president said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I called for the extension of emergency relief to help hurting Americans who'd lost their jobs. And you can expect a continued, sustained and relentless effort to create good jobs for the Americans people. I will not rest until we have gotten there. But...

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Kyra, he hasn't given up on the health care reform legislation, on pushing some sort of change through, trying to salvage that. We learned that yesterday he was working the phones with the Democratic leadership, Speaker Pelosi, as well as Senate majority leader, Harry Reid.

Obviously trying to see if there is still anything that is worth it, that they can do from Congress's side, to push this thing through. But he has very strategically chosen Ohio, next to Cleveland or near Cleveland, this Lorraine County area, where he can focus on, look, people are unemployed there, 10.6 unemployment.

Steel mills are down. These are folks who want to talk about what their lives are like and that he is going to be there to listen to them -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Real quickly, back to the president's speech yesterday if you don't mind. The person by his side -- you saw him -- economic adviser, Paul Volcker. Why is that drawing so much attention right now?

MALVEAUX: Well, there's definitely a shift here. And they're for two reasons. They call it the Volcker rule. And essentially what Paul Volcker, the former Fed chair, is saying, look, you have to limit the banks size and scope, their investment activities.

Paul Volcker has been an adviser to the president since the transition and the campaign. So this is nothing new. He's been talking about this for more than a year or so.

What is significant here is that his treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, definitely advocated a closer relationship with those big banks. That is something the administration had embraced over this last year.

What you're seeing now is a switch, a transition to distancing himself from these big banks, the president, for two reasons. One, because they don't think it's worked out so well, bailing out these big banks. They have not been as cooperative as the administration had hoped.

And secondly, Kyra, it's politics here, because the American people, many of them, believe that this administration is too cozy with these big banks, and that the administration hasn't really addressed the needs of the ordinary -- the little people, if you will, those who are unemployed and who are struggling.

So that's why you see Paul Volcker over the president's shoulder there.

PHILLIPS: Cozy with the banks? Really? You don't say?

(LAUGHTER)

Suzanne, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

PHILLIPS: That's the sound you don't want to hear. It's scary in Huntsville, Alabama. Those warning sirens pierced the night, and then it happened. A tornado touched down. It actually tossed a truck into a home. Two teens were taken to the hospital. The twister also toppled trees and ripped off rooftops.

Then there's snow in northern California. Miraculous there, that's what one witness said. This multi-car accident on I-80 looks bad, but luckily nobody got hurt.

The ground literally falling away beneath them. Thirty feet of a bluff broke off in Pacifica, California. Rain-driven erosion actually forced from residents of an apartment complex to evacuate. And it's not the first erosion evacuations there. People had to leave the apartment building next door just before Christmas as well. And those storms out west are also wreaking havoc in the skies. Southwest Airlines cancelled more than 400 flights from Arizona to southern California yesterday. The carrier suspended operations at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.

The airline blames heavy rains and strong winds for all of those cancellations.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf in the CNN Severe Weather Center. He's got more on those flight delays. Also the rest of the day's weather.

Good morning, Reynolds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Reynolds.

India is dramatically beefing up their airline security after uncovering an apparent terror plot by al Qaeda-linked militants.

Let's get live now to CNN international security correspondent, Paula Newton.

What more can you tell us, Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Interesting here that they specifically point out that the threat came from a possible hijack. And so given some chatter, and Kyra, as you can imagine, after what happened at Christmastime with that attempted bombing of that Detroit flight, chatter is taken very serious in -- within India on those flights.

And also with flights specifically coming and going to places like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan -- you will see more pat downs, certainly anti-hijacking measures, just an overall security alert specifically from civil aviation authorities coming from there.

They say that they do feel that the threats were credible enough, that they should put in these enhanced security procedures -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Turkey's state-run news agency has actually reported the police there rounded up about 120 people believed to have ties to al Qaeda. Do you know anything about these arrests?

NEWTON: What's interesting here is that they say that these raids were simultaneous, obviously from intelligence tips, simultaneous in 16 provinces. As you said, 120 people in custody. They are right now looking over documents and computers to see if they can uncover any seeds in terms of a plot or any other intelligence information.

Troubling for the Turkish authorities here, Kyra, is that they alleged that there was high-ranking professor who was trying to recruit students to then launch attacks on forces in Afghanistan. We expect to hear more on that as soon as, they say, they get more from those documents and those computers. Right now all those people being detained, not sure how many will be charged.

Kyra, it's going to continue to be busy this way. There are a lot more tip-offs coming into the intelligence community since that September attack. And you do see throughout the intelligence community just more of these alerts being taken much more seriously every step of the way.

PHILLIPS: That's good to hear. Paula, appreciate it.

Well, talk about capturing all of our hearts. Look at that smile. It says everything, doesn't it? Seven days in the rubble. Didn't seem to bother Kiki is his name. He's happy to see everyone, and boy, everybody was pretty happy to see him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Much of the west is getting hammered by heavy rain, snow and fierce winds. It's part of a dangerous storm system that's on the move.

CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf tracking it for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, a prayer ritual putting airline passengers on the edge of their seats. The crew is pretty confused, forcing the plane to make a major detour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Other top stories right now that we're following for you. A teenager's prayer is the reason for an emergency landing in Philadelphia. We took you live to the airport when this first happened yesterday. Now we know why the crew got a little jumpy when they saw a 17-year-old take out a couple of small black boxes. Well, it turns out they are just part of a Jewish prayer ritual.

The Roman Polanski sex case could be settled after a hearing in L.A. Attorneys for the legendary director want him sentenced to time serve so he doesn't have to come back to the U.S. Polanski served 42 days in prison in 1977 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13- year-old.

Raising the stakes in the Google dispute. China today saying the U.S. is damaging ties by harping on alleged cyber attacks. Google claims that it's been hit by Chinese hackers and is now threatening to pull out of the country. The State Department is planning to file a formal protest for the Chinese over Google's complaints.

Give me a burger, fries and a beer. At Burger King, you got to hear about the new BK Whopper bar on tap in Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Some of the headlines out of Haiti this morning. The base at Gitmo is becoming a hub of the aid efforts right now. The U.S. is actually planning to shuttle pallets of supplies from the base by helicopter to Haiti. They could also start treating more of the injured.

Canada's military opening a new airport in southern Haiti now. Around 130 flights are coming in to Port-au-Prince every day so this should ease some of the congestion.

Also the U.S. military is putting the port back in Port-au- Prince. One lane is open now. A couple of ships have already come in with aid. We're going to take you there in just a couple of minutes as that port opens finally for the first time.

Haiti's government wants to get everyone out of makeshift tents in Port-au-Prince. The plan is to put them in newer tents outside the cities. Buses could start moving the estimated 400,000 homeless Haitians sometime next week.

This story is absolutely remarkable. It's pretty much a bright light breaking out of the rubble. It's one child's smile that's now affecting so many other people across the world.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We usually go for laughs, but with this story we'll settle for a smile. What a smile.

MATTHEW MCDERMOTT, AMERICARES/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER: We're amazed. I mean -- afterwards we just kind of all sat there like, did that just happen? We had to go back and look at the back of our cameras to check.

MOOS: A 7-year-old kid named Kiki dug out alive and well after being buried for 7 1/2 days. A crew from NBC shot video of the rescue. When they finally reached the boy, he was scared and wouldn't come out until rescue workers brought a relative in the yellow tank top to coax him.

His pants may be lost, but he was found.

MCDERMOTT: He was like a rabbit out of the hat. He popped out, arms went straight up in the air and just turned and smiled.

MOOS: A tattooed freelance photographer from New York City named Matthew McDermott captured the image while shooting for the humanitarian group, AmeriCares.

(On camera): Do you think -- I mean this is kind of craft, but do you think of things like Pulitzer Prize-winning when you take a photo like that?

MCDERMOTT: No, no, not at all. That would be a little arrogant. You know, I don't sit around, patting ourselves in the back. Around every corner there's photograph there that needs to be taken.

MOOS (voice-over): The rescue workers were from units based in New York City and Virginia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling right now?

JOE DOWNEY, NEW YORK TASK FORCE ONE: Unbelievable. I just want to hug my compadre, Dario Gomez. This is unbelievable feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gonzales.

DOWNEY: Gonzales. Who knows?

MOOS: They also rescued Kiki's older sister. The image McDermott shot will likely be used by AmeriCares to inspire donations.

(On camera): From photos in an earthquake to photos from another earth-shaking event, previously McDermott's most famous photos were from 9/11.

(Voice-over): After shooting so much death in Haiti...

(On camera): Was that the biggest smile you ever saw on the littlest kid?

MCDERMOTT: It was amazing. I'm sorry, my lungs are a little messed. I mean nine days of breathing death and dust.

MOOS (voice-over): Which makes this a breath of fresh air. Touchdown.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We want to let you know about a special event tonight. "THE HOPE FOR HAITI" telethon, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Our Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be live from Port-au-Prince. And yes, and a couple of other people will also be on the show, some guys names Bruce Springsteen and George Clooney, so tune in and take part, please.

Well, it's not safe. People in rain-soaked California ordered to get out of their homes. But some are staying put taking their chances. And we'll hear from them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: Well, the president said yesterday that he wants to overhaul the banking system, and the mere possibility of that actually sent stocks tumbling. And as a result, the Dow is riding its worse two-day slide since last summer.

Susan Lisovicz also watching it for us. Boy, rough time, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a recovery mode, hopefully, Kyra, that selloff was enough to put stocks down or flat for this year. So let's wipe the slate clean and start all over.

We are expecting a lower open, but as of now the loss won't be anywhere near the 200-point drop we saw yesterday. Still, even strong earnings from some corporate heavyweights aren't lifting spirits right now.

General Electric, Google, McDonald's, American Express, all posted quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates. GE's profit fell. But it says it's seeing an increased in orders for some of its equipment. And that's encouraging because GE is considered a bellwether for the economy because it's involved in so many businesses.

Over at American Express, the credit card issuer, set aside less money for soured loans. That's obviously good.

And Google's CFO says we're clearly not in a recession right now. Google's quarterly sales soared by double-digits for the first time in a year. Google says it plans to hire about 2,000 workers this year. Mostly in engineering and ad sales.

Different story at liberal talk radio network, Air America. It's planning to file for bankruptcy and will go off the air on Monday. Launched in 2004 with personalities like the now Senator Al Franken. Air America says its debts piled up and its credit lines shrank.

And we're expecting the opening bell in just a few seconds. But, Kyra, before that, we have to tell you about having it your own way.

Did you hear this, Kyra?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Of course. Burgers. Hey, look, a whopper already tastes good without the beer, now after a brews, I'll probably have three whoppers.

LISOVICZ: A burger and a beer. Have it your way. Burger King is going to start selling brewskies. It will open a whopper bar in South Beach next month where you can pick up a beer and a burger. Whopper Bars, Kyra, won't be everywhere. We're not sure about Atlanta, but there is a possibility there will be more places that you do visit frequently, like, here, New York, Vegas and L.A.

PHILLIPS: That's right.

LISOVICZ: And they are going to call the burger makers, because having it your own way, they're going to have these toppings theaters, and they are called -- the people who do put your own unique toppings on, Whopper-estas. And then you wash it down with an ice-cold beer.

PHILLIPS: And it's a pretty good price, too. They're saying a burger and a beer probably about $4.25.

LISOVICZ: Right. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Well, I guess depending on what you add to it, right? The combo meal.

LISOVICZ: Yes, exactly.

PHILLIPS: I guess a shot of tequila goes with that.

LISOVICZ: Could be just what the doctor ordered.

PHILLIPS: There we go. Happy Friday, Susan.

LISOVICZ: To you, too.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, President Obama is putting his mouth where your money is. This morning, he is on his way to Ohio to talk about rebuilding the economy and creating more jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Listen, I have got --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And the hard-hit state is the second stop of the so- called "White House to Main Street Tour." In December, he visited the area of Allentown, Pennsylvania. And today, the president will tour a wind turbine plant and hold a town hall meeting at Lorraine County Community College. The economy likely to be one of the main themes at President Obama's "STATE OF THE UNION" address next week, too, by the way. And you can tune in to CNN for extensive primetime coverage and analysis. That will be Wednesday, 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

Right it off right now. New bill could give you an immediate tax break if you are helping Haiti. It's now just waiting for the president's signature. CNN Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar on the Hill.

So this bill -- tell us what's it's all about, and what are the guidelines for making sure that you get the tax break?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, bottom line, you're not going to have to wait until you file your 2010 taxes to claim -- really to write off any charitable contribution that you've made for Haiti relief.

You've made that contribution. It's been in 2010, but what the government would allow you to do under this bill, which has passed the House and now the Senate, is go ahead and write it off on the taxes that you are going to be filing this tax season. Your 2009 taxes. And here is a couple of things that you need to do just to make sure that you can get this benefit.

First, you have to donate before March 1st. A lot of people, as you know, are texting in their donations. That doesn't mean that you have to have paid your phone bill by March 1st at that charitable contribution on. It means you have to text before March 1st that contribution you want to make. And also, how do you prove that you have made this contribution. A phone bill can serve as a receipt if you are going ahead and texting it. And, of course, if you have gone ahead and donated in some other way, Kyra, a credit card receipt, a paper receipt, all of that is going to work.

And the whole point here is, Congress is saying, look, we want you to donate, and we want you to donate more, and we want you to see the benefit quickly to encourage people to do this. They did something like this after the tsunami, Kyra. It was pretty successful they say. And they are hoping that is going to happen again here.

PHILLIPS: So how soon could the president sign this into law then?

KEILAR: It's really just a matter of getting this over to the White House. I don't know if it's going to happen today. I have heard from Hill sources it could happen as soon as today. I am told by the White House it will happen very soon.

PHILLIPS: OK, good. That's good news. Thanks, Brianna.

We'll just going to take the chance. Flooding, mudslides, still a huge threat in southern California. Hundreds of Hillside residents have been ordered to evacuate, but some say they are staying put. Two reports now from our affiliate stations KTLA. First, Lynette Romero reports from Tujunga, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNETTE ROMERO, KTLA REPORTER (voice-over): Officials tell us only about 50 percent of the residents up here in Blanchard Canyon have heeded the warning and evacuated.

(on camera): Are you staying or are you going?

KEVIN SCOTT, TUJUNGA RESIDENT: I'm going to stay. I'm going to stick it out. The reason I say that is because this creek that you see here is running the way it should be running. My house is up, elevated at least 50 feet from here. So I'm pretty comfortable and confident that it won't hit it.

ROMERO: Scott watch as Mayor Villaraigosa came to his neighborhood. City officials are keeping a close eye on all 29 debris basins in the Burn area here. The Blanchard Canyon Basin could be in trouble in just a matter of minutes with a heavy downpour. And the mayor says residents who don't leave are taking a potentially deadly risk.

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: This is a whole new ball game, particularly that the rains have been constant over most of this week. What you have here -- what the station fire, which was a historic fire and unprecedented is the possibility of mudslides and flash floods.

SCOTT: I don't want to say anything that's disrespectful to them. I think they're doing their job, and they should do their job. But at the same time, we don't have an obligation to leave if we feel comfortable and safe.

UNIDENTIFIED KTLA REPORTER (voice-over): One day blurring into the next, welcome to the foothills of L.A. Right there, a specialized search and rescue team. Firefighters as well. All of it just one moment captured as this barren backdrop to the city of angels takes on yet another storm and a parade of them.

JOHN LENIHAN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: That's a lot of waiting and anticipating and guessing what might happen and being prepared for what comes our way.

UNIDENTIFIED KTLA REPORTER (on camera): Even though in so many communities, we've been talking no real widespread damage. If this was your backyard, and we will give you the full look here, and that way. And that was your house. You may be feeling a little differently.

About 75 percent of those asked to pack and prepared to be out through the weekend are doing so. Others like Eldon Horse (ph) signed a waiver saying he knows the risk, but no, thank you. Same goes for this two, staying put for now.

RICH MYERS, STAYING IN HIS HOME: It's channeled out through the concrete and then out into the streets. So I'm fine. It's my neighbors that I'm concerned about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Reynolds Wolf, watching all of the weather there in southern California.

What are you seeing?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: So is your car on the list? List of vehicles with gas pedals that might not let up when your foot does? Not a quality you want in an accelerator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories we're watching for you.

Time may be running out for the crew of a Russian fish processing ship. It's actually stranded in icy waters off Russia's eastern cost. It could be close to sinking, we're told. The crew right now is chipping ice off the ship. Fishing boats are trying to get there to help out. An air rescue was ruled out because of the bad weather. Crime scene at Capitol Hill. Police say a gunman fired shots into the air from the steps of the Texas State Capital. No one was hurt. The suspect was arrested and now the state legislature is not in session, by the way, at the time.

And those who support abortion rights and those who don't are already out in force in Washington this morning. They're marking the 37th anniversary of Roe Versus Wade. The Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. The rallies are plan as the trials gets underway in Wichita, Kansas, where an abortion opponent accused of killing Dr. George Tiller. Tiller's Wichita clinics specialized in late-term abortions.

If you have a Toyota in the driveway, you may have a new concern. The Japanese automaker has recalled 2.3 million vehicles because the gas pedal could stick. So see if your car is on the list. The recall will include the 2009-2010 model years of the RAV 4 Corolla and Matrix. Also included 2005 and 2010 Avalon. The 2007-2010 Camry, and this year's model of the Highlander. And then finishing off the list, 2007 to 2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

Freeing up a blocked port. A week of hard work giving hope to Haitians finally waiting for aid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's get back to Haiti now. You know, the heavy damage, clogged up the port there at Port-Au-Prince. And that's the main supply route for quake survivors. But now, part of that port has actually reopened, and so has the supply route. Our Chris Lawrence takes us there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like thousands of others over the past week, the children at Heart for Haiti charity had little food, and its medical staff, no supplies.

DR. SABINE CELIE, HEART FOR HAITI VOLUNTEER: Oh, there was almost nothing here. We had to treat people with what we have.

LAWRENCE: But now, U.S. military dive teams have reopened part of Haiti's main port. Ships held back at sea for a week are now docking. And more importantly, unloading life saving food, water and medical supplies.

LT. CMDR. MARK GIBBS, U.S. COAST GUARD: The very first vessel we had in here was the "Crimson Glory," completely loaded, 124 containers.

LAWRENCE: Lieutenant Commander Mark Gibbs says it took all day to unload a ship they normally finished in six hours. That's because only the left side of the pier is strong enough to support weight.

GIBBS: I'm incredibly sensitive to it because if we lose this pier, that's it. We can't bring anything else in here. LAWRENCE: We saw the port 40 hours after the earthquake when it was completely shut down.

(on camera): The earthquake has buckled the road almost as tall as I am. There's no way you're going to get a truck through there. That was then, this is now. It's not pretty, but the concrete pile's been knocked down and enough gravel put in. They get trucks rolling through here again.

(voice-over): But we wanted to make sure supplies aren't just sitting here, like they did at the airport.

ROBERT DEBRIS, HEART FOR HAITI CHARITY: This is all milk and water.

LAWRENCE: We watched Robert Debris load up with food and medical supplies raked from the Dutch ship and we followed him back to his Heart for Haiti charity.

This mother says her child is running a high fever. That man has an infected head wound, untreatable without the medicine Debris and his team just picked up at the pier.

DR. SABINE CELIE, HEART FOR HAITI VOLUNTEER: Especially antibiotics. Everything to keep cleaning wounds, gauzes and things like that.

LAWRENCE: It's a pattern that needs to be repeated, from ship to shore to survivors.

(on camera): Now the military is expecting the arrival of their underwater construction teams. Their job is going to be to actually try to fix the pier so you can put more than one truck and more than one ship on there at any given time and really push that aid out a lot faster.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The port's partial reopening is a good sign for Haitians waiting for food. But did security concerns over scarce food go too far in one incident? Well, our Karl Penhaul was at the scene yesterday when Haitian police shot and killed the man suspected of stealing rice. Witnesses said he was not looting.

We want to let you know about a special event tonight, the "Hope for Haiti" telethon at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be live from Port-au-Prince, plus a few other well- known folks; Bruce Springsteen and George Clooney. So tune in and take part.

For sale: one passenger jet, slight water damage, probably got a little bit of a mildewy smell so, hey what do you want? It's been on the Hudson River. A bit sullied, if you will.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You know, we've heard about fake cops getting busted, but like this? In Detroit a man sees what he thinks is a hooker in negotiations. Well, he starts getting his vice (ph) on and flashes his badge. It turns out the street corner was real, the hooker wasn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy insisted on telling her that he was a police officer, it's time to get out of here. And she told him, "No, I am a police officer, I'm working undercover." At that point he took off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Awkward. Well, the real police say they found a badge, a loaded gun and clothes with their logo in his truck. That's not creepy or anything, right?

Well, it's only January 22nd but I'm thinking Lynn Geter of Warm Springs, Georgia, already blew her chance at mother of the year. The Humane Society probably won't giving her any plaques or trophies either not if the charges stick. Are you ready for this? Police say her 12-year-old son brought home a report card that she didn't like, so to teach him a lesson, what did she do allegedly? Gives him a hammer and makes him kill his hamster. Geter's charged with animal cruelty, child cruelty and battery.

So do you have a lot of space on your mantle? I mean a lot of space. All you have to do is make a bid on Captain Sully's plane, you know the one that landed on the Hudson River about a year ago? It's being sold at auction as-is.

Conan O'Brien signs off tonight from "Tonight", the deal has been finalized putting Jay Leno back in the host chair at 11:35 and putting Conan out to pasture for a few months. O'Brien acknowledged the end last night with an apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC HOST: As you all know by now, this is weird, tomorrow is our last show here. Yes. So I'd like to apologize to the guests that were scheduled for next week: President Barack Obama, the Pope, the Queen of England and our good friend, Elvis Presley was stopping by.

You know, I've been with NBC for a really long time, a really long time. Yes, that's right, remember the Cosby show? I was Rudy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But you don't have to feel too sorry for him. He is getting $33 million bucks by the way just to walk away. His staff gets additional $12 million and he'll have to wait until September before taking another on-air job. Well, it's definitely shaping up to be a busy day in the NEWSROOM. Our correspondents are following lots of developments. Let's go ahead and check in with them to see what they are working on.

Let's begin with Reynolds Wolf.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, no surprise. Big story we have weather wise in all in the Golden State of California where the rain continues to fall. And take a look at some of these numbers, 14.7 inches of rain fall in Los Gatos and more is on the way. We'll bring you the full story coming up in just a few moments.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on Capitol Hill where Democrats are struggling with how to salvage health care legislation. And they welcome the Republican from Massachusetts who changed things for them here overnight. I'll have that coming up.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, guys.

Also ahead next hour, Haitian nationals push to stay in America to avoid unspeakable devastation back home while the U.S. works to head off a mass exodus from Haiti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: If the earthquake were trying to strip Haiti of all signs of civilization, it failed. The quake and its aftershocks missed a radio station. It's still on the air and its FM signal is more vital than ever. Here's CNN's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People fleeing and a government building collapsing on the day the earthquake struck Port-au-Prince. Terrifying moments captured by a photographer working for a small Haitian radio station Signal FM.

The only local radio station to continue broadcasting in the first chaotic hours and days after the quake, filling the information vacuum left by tremors that took out the power grid, shut down the cell phone network and paralyzed the government.

(on camera): The building itself, you didn't have any damage at all.

MARIO VIAU, OWNER, SIGNAL FM: I guess we are blessed because we didn't have no damage here.

WATSON: Just after the earthquake, owner Mario Viau (ph) he arrived at the station to find his staff too terrified to go inside.

VIAU: I saw the building standing. The music was playing. And I told the operator, "Give me the microphone, you can turn it on and go back out if you're afraid. I'm going to start talking to the people to let them know exactly what is going on." WATSON: And what did you say?

VIAU: I just say we have been hit by an earthquake and start talking to the people and saying that the radio station is there, we're going to talk to you.

WATSON (voice-over): And they have been talking around the clock ever since, fielding calls from Haitians in the U.S., who listen over the Internet.

We are helping reunite scattered families and spreading news about victims trapped in rubble.

VIAU: Somebody would call and say if you're alive, come in front of Signal FM I'll be waiting for you at this time.

WATSON: People continue to gather at the entrance with messages to send to the outside world. Mario Viau says Haitians need information now more than ever.

VIAU: To tell them exactly this is going on that way and that's where you can find water and that's where you can find food. If you go in line there, you will find this. This is the hospitals that are open.

WATSON: The U.S. military recognizes radio is the best way to reach the people in this quake-stricken city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wind it. It's also got solar power. You can either wind it and then you put it on any station we put out.

WATSON: Soldiers have begun distributing tens of thousands of hand radios to homeless Haitians. A vital source of information that also provides a welcome musical escape from the misery that surrounds these people.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And we want to let you know about a special event tonight, "THE HOPE FOR HAITI" telethon 8:00 Eastern. Our Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be live from Port-au-Prince and a couple of other people will also be on the show. Some guys named Bruce Springsteen and George Clooney, so tune in. Take part, please.