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Funeral Mass for Archbishop; The Long Journey Back; The Power of One; Biden in Iraq; 360 View of Haiti
Aired January 23, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HOLMES: Hello everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM for this Saturday, January the 23rd. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. Thanks for being with us today. I'm Betty Nguyen. It's 11:00 a.m. in the east, 8:00 a.m. on the west coast.
And sadly, we knew this would come. Haiti says it is phasing out its search for survivors and shifting resources to recovery and rebuilding.
HOLMES: Well, also, he hasn't even been sworn in yet, but the Senator-Elect from Massachusetts is taking Washington by storm and changing the whole political landscape.
NGUYEN: Speaking of storms, they are sweeping the Southwest. They are wrecking the landscape, even lives in Arizona and California. Just look at these pictures -- mudslides, we're talking about here, lots of rain, evacuees not sure what to expect when they go home.
HOLMES: And this has to happen in every disaster. There's a time when you have to shift from rescue to recovery, and it seems that time has come for Haiti, the government now phasing out its search and rescue effort. While the United Nations continues its search, it's also moving in heavier equipment to also clear the rubble.
Over the past 11 days, international teams have pulled more than 130 people out alive from that rubble, including two just yesterday. The official death toll, more than 111,000. The government put that number out, the first time we've seen an official death toll. Also six times that number now, homeless and in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Well, hundreds of them gathered outside the capital's cathedral this morning as well.
NGUYEN: Here's why. They came to pay their respects to the Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince. The monsignor died in the earthquake. His body was found in the church across the street.
CNN's Ivan Watson is there. Actually, Brian Todd is there for us now, and he joins us live. Brian, I know that people were gathering a lot earlier, and this funeral today is not actually in any cathedral. It's just out there in the open air, correct? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's a very emotional day here, Betty, because they are saying goodbye to this beloved Archbishop Miot who died in the earthquake.
There are just a lot of emotion and spiritual connections surrounding this day in a lot of ways here in Haiti. This is a man who could have helped so many people through the recovery process, and he, sadly, was lost on the day of the earthquake, as well as the -- one of the vicars of -- of that diocese also perished that day.
One of the stories at the archbishop's funeral was the appearance of President Rene Preval. He had not been seen very much, if at all, really, in public since the earthquake, and when he showed up, one of our CNN crews off camera asked him about the criticism of him not making any public appearances after the earthquake and his only answer was this is not the day for politics.
So, a little bit of controversy surrounding him as he attended that funeral, but, again, a very, very emotional day for Haitians as they say goodbye to Archbishop Miot, who perished in the earthquake.
And as you all mentioned, just at the very top, about the search- and-rescue efforts, again, kind of adding to the -- to the watershed of emotions today. People are wondering whether there's a chance to -- to pull anybody out alive after 11-plus days following the earthquake.
There's a bit of a nuance in what officials are saying about the search and rescue. Haitian government had earlier said that the search and rescue operation was essentially being called off. Well, the United Nations has told us that's not quite true. They are shifting the focus from search gradually toward trying to recover and repair some damage.
But, they are not giving up the search yet. They have pulled about 132 victims from the rubble, and they are still continuing to try to do that, but shifting more and more towards recovery and -- and damage repair.
NGUYEN: Well, that's good news that -- especially, we heard from the UN, just clarifying that the rescue effort is not over. It is just shifting gears a little to the recovery effort. But are you seeing today still those rescue efforts taking place?
TODD: We are. We're seeing rescue crews kind of combing through the city, trying to see what can be done, but, you know, they have to kind of pick their spots carefully.
This is still, Betty, a very, very dangerous city. We actually came upon a large fire last night in downtown Port-au-Prince. A large factory was completely lit up. And one of the UN fire crews got there when we were there and the fire marshal was brutally honest with me. He said, look, I don't have the resources to put this fire out. All I've got to do is just make sure that it's contained and not skipping over to the next block. The resources here for containing things like that and for recovering bodies is -- is limited, and they've just got to try to pick their spots very well.
NGUYEN: Yes, not to mention the resources are limited for food, medication, all those sorts of things that people need at this hour, too.
All right, Brian Todd joining us live. Brian, thank you.
HOLMES: And in the middle of all this destruction and heartbreak, there are signs things are actually returning to normal. Slowly, yes, but surely.
CNN's Jason Carroll with a snapshot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Haitian people are incredibly resilient. As we've traveled through the city, we've seen small signs of people taking steps to try to move on with their lives, but, as you can imagine, each step is not an easy one.
(voice-over): Tense moments at a UniBank just outside the city of Carrefour, people who lined up and waited for hours to receive wire transfers for the first time since the earthquake pushed back by armed guards.
CARROLL (on camera): We don't want Astrid Napoleon to lose her spot in line, so we're just going to do our interview with her here because she'd been waiting here since 7:00 AM for this bank to open.
So, Astrid, tell me what it's been like for you. This has been the first time you've been able to get access and getting here and get money, yes?
ASTRID NAPOLEON, WAITING TO ENTER BANK (through translator): She says she's hopeless because she has nothing at home, no money, and nothing to eat.
CARROLL (voice-over): Later, Astrid gets out of line and gives up.
Here at UniBank, just one sign of how some are trying to get Port-au-Prince back on its feet. The trouble there is showing just how difficult it's going to be to do that.
ANDERSON BELLEGARDE, WAITING TO RECEIVE WIRED MONEY: It's hard for me to get in and it's crazy out here. The line is very -- a lot of people here. The thing is -- there's no law and order.
CARROLL: Larger established stores hiring private security guards to watch properties damaged in the quake, but most business taking place here is happening on a smaller level out on the streets.
CARROLL (on camera): As you can see here, this building has been destroyed like so many here in Port-au-Prince, but right next to it, they've set up a -- a makeshift market. And we're seeing markets like this pop up all over the city where people are coming out, starting to sell basic goods like vegetables, bread and sugarcane.
CARROLL (voice-over): The problem? Some goods being sold are being done at inflated post earthquake prices. That goes for gas, too. It has tripled in price, $26 a gallon. But a haircut at this barbershop we found still only $2. Now, if the owner could only find customers with money to pay and gas to run his generator.
CARROLL (on camera): Does it make you feel better opening up your doors?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because it's -- this is the only way we can preoccupy to regular life, and without it, we cannot do anything more.
CARROLL (voice-over): The streets, a contrast of commerce. Someone gets a shoe shine, these men earning more money than ever trying to keep up demand for coffins.
CARROLL (on camera): Business leaders tell us that the banks that can reopen should reopen fully on Saturday. That's going to be a great help to the Haitian people who need to get money and need to pay for the food and goods and for the businesses that say that, at this point, they have no choice but to try and reopen.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So getting out of Haiti and into the US, a Haitian woman and her three children were able to do just that. They had an emotional reunion with family members in New Hampshire yesterday. Here's the video of that. I just love seeing those smiles and hugs.
Well, a twist of fate allowed Marie Angie Borgella (ph) and her kids to leave Haiti. One of Borgella's (ph) daughters was born in the US, and because of that American citizenship, the family was eligible to come to the US. Borgella's two sisters, who live in New Hampshire, say they are just overjoyed to see her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULETTE DUCLAIR, SISTER: Now, until I see her -- when I see her coming and I was jumping, I said, she's alive!
ROSETTE ESPERANCE, SISTER: All I was thinking, my sister, my sister. I tried to call. There was no answer. So I was thinking I don't have a sister anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, Borgella's husband stayed in Haiti to help with relief efforts there. HOLMES: Well, organizers of last night's Hope for Haiti telethon haven't yet announced how much money was raised for that event. But, did you catch any of it?
The two-hour fundraiser attracted a whole lot of star power, more than 100 celebrities taking part, including -- did you see that? Mary J. Blige. They answered phone calls, they took pledges and, just like Mary J., they performed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY J. BLIGE, SINGER: (SINGING "HARD TIMES COME AGAIN NO MORE").
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And that's Stephen Foster's song she's performing there, "Hard Times Come Again No More." The telethon was carried simultaneously on 25 networks, one of them including CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, he is the GOP's savior, for Democrats, a one-man wrecking crew. Massachusetts replaces Ted Kennedy with a Republican, and Washington gets all shook up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The power of one. The new Republican senator from Massachusetts is forcing the White House to retool the president's playbook just a bit. Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser here for us now.
one guy. A lot of people saying what can Brown do for you? Well, Brown is really changing things up in DC and he haven't even moved to the place yet.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. As Betty just said in that teaser, it's got us all shook up here. It really has. T.J., one person, I guess, can truly make a difference.
Why? Because Brown, when he gets sworn in, he's going to become the 41st Republican in the US Senate. That means, bingo, the Democrats just lost their 60-seat super majority, that filibuster- proof majority. Remember, a filibuster, a move by the minority party to kind of bring legislation or nominations to a standstill.
Well, the Democrats just lost that 60-seat super majority with Brown in the Senate. That's going to make passing health care a heck of a lot harder, passing any part of their agenda a heck of a lot harder, right now, T.J..
HOLMES: So, does this now, the -- and we're talking about playbooks there and the president's changing, but does the Senator- Elect Brown now, has he now handed the Republicans a playbook? How are they going to take what he has done up there in Massachusetts and use that for the midterm elections? STEINHAUSER: I tell you, you know, that's a great point because, if anything, if nothing else, this was a huge, loud -- very loud wake- up call for the Democrats for those midterm elections.
Remember -- let's go back to last November. The Republicans won those two gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey, stealing back or winning back two seats the Democrats controlled. They just did it again right here. They took a seat that was in Democrats' hands in Massachusetts and they took it away.
How did they do it? Well, Independents are a -- a key part of it. A new poll just came out this morning. It suggested that a lot of Independents -- that Brown won the majority of the Independents, big time. That's the same thing that also, it seems, happened back in November in those gubernatorial contests.
T.J., Independents are crucial here. They are becoming a larger and larger force in American politics. They were responsible, partially, for helping Barack Obama win the White House. If they're going to the Republicans now and stay that way in November, the Democrats are -- they're going to have a tough time defending those large majorities in the Senate and the House, T.J.
HOLMES: OK. And it seemed that health care was hanging on by a thread anyway before the special election in Massachusetts. So now that they've lost the majority in the Senate, where in the world is health care going to go now?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, there are not a lot of good options. There were three things that are really kind of off the table now. One was for the Democrats to try to pass something through the Senate real quick before Brown got sworn in. That's not happening. Now, the president and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, said that wouldn't happen.
Another idea, have the House pass the exact same bill the Senate already did so you don't have to have another vote in the Senate. Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, said not going to happen.
But we saw Barack Obama out there yesterday at a town hall in Ohio and he said he's going to continue to fight for health care. He is not giving up, not waving the white flag. So, the White House, Democrats in Congress, talking, trying to figure something out. Stay tuned on this one, T.J..
HOLMES: Yes. Of course we'll stay tuned. And we'll turn to you every weekend, as we always do. Paul Steinhauser, good to see you as always, buddy. Thanks so much.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, House Minority Leader John Boehner says Democrats should heed the message from Massachusetts. The Republican congressman says voters don't like the direction the Democrats are taking the country. Boehner says Congress needs to focus on jobs and not what he calls a government takeover of health care. Well, the White House wanted a health care reform law to be a centerpiece of the president's State of the Union Address, but now, that may not be the case. You can watch the president's speech to Congress and the nation Wednesday evening. CNN and the best political team on television brings you State of the Union coverage at 8:00 PM Eastern.
HOLMES: Now, we've got a -- a bit of a break, we expect, for Southern California. The region has a few days to dry out before the next Pacific storm.
NGUYEN: They need it.
HOLMES: Yes. Moves (ph) and getting -- been getting pounded, really, all week, six counties under a state of emergency. But good news in Los Angeles County, the mandatory evacuation orders now lifted for hundreds of people who left their homes because of a mudslide threat.
NGUYEN: Next door in Arizona, the biggest storm to hit the state in nearly two decades has flooded small towns, caused a train derailment, even closed major highways and collapsed roofs.
HOLMES: All right, west getting a break, but other parts of the country are about to get some bad news and some bad weather.
NGUYEN: It's moving on, folks.
So Reynolds Wolf has been tracking this for us in the CNN Weather Center. So who's going to be hit next?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it looks like California -- Southern California is going to get a little bit of a respite from the heavy rainfall and from the snow, but still, the Northern and Central part of the state is going to have some rough times.
Something that is (ph) -- is also going to be kind of rough is the weather in parts of Arizona, where they've had widespread flooding in many locations and the erosion, especially in rivers, has been just mind-boggling.
Take a look at this video that we have for you. You're going to see this house that's sitting up right along the river. This is certainly some -- this is actually near Cave Creek, Arizona in the North Valley near 48 Street and Carefree Highway. You see it there just hanging just by a little bit, and as that water continues to rush by, it's going to enhance the erosion and there's a chance that that house, what's left of it, could fall -- fall right into the water. So certainly some rough times.
And the thing that caused that, that area of low pressure that brought all that rough weather to parts of the desert southwest and of course the Golden State of California, that low is going to continue to make its way off towards the east.
As it does so, we're going to see that low coupled with that frontal boundary bringing some scattered showers to parts of the Southern Plains, and as we follow it a bit more to the north, up in Minneapolis, rain for you for the time being, but then, later on, you're going to see that switch over to snowfall.
But this entire area of low pressure and that frontal boundary, over 1,000 miles in length, is going to be driving off toward the east. And, as it does so, what we can anticipate is the chance of more rain, possibly some thunderstorms, some may be severe, especially in the mid-Mississippi Valley. We're talking about places like Memphis, perhaps even Little Rock may have some rough weather to deal with.
And if you happen to be in Atlanta, gloomy conditions this morning, a mix of sun and clouds, more clouds than anything else. And then, later on tonight, you're going to see that enhance even more, more rainfall, maybe some thunderstorms here in Atlanta, but very nice for you in parts of the northeast where high temperatures today in New York and Boston, mainly 30s and 40s, but still plenty of sunshine. Nation's capital with 47 degrees, 68 in Dallas, 51 in Vegas and 57 in Phoenix.
That is a look at your forecast. And as always, full plate here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We've got more coming up straight ahead.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. We'll be talking to you soon. Thanks.
WOLF: All right (ph), guys.
HOLMES: With no regrets. That is how Conan O'Brien described his final night as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Top stories now.
A final farewell from Conan O'Brien. Yes, he wrapped up his last "Tonight Show" on NBC last night. O'Brien said walking away, hardest thing he's ever had to do.
But he will be replaced by the man who he took over from, that being Jay Leno. And in his good-bye, O'Brien said if his next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, well, he'll find a way to make that fun, too.
HOLMES: Well, a bill allowing same sex civil unions cleared a big hurdle in the nation's 50th state. Hawaii, the Senate out there gave its OK yesterday. It now moves to the House where Democratic leaders say they'll take up the bill if it had a veto-proof majority. Right now, they say it's pretty close.
Hawaii's Republican governor has urged lawmakers to drop the issue.
NGUYEN: Teddy Pendergrass remembered today in his hometown. Fans have been paying their final respects to the rhythm and blues singer at a public viewing in Philadelphia. A private funeral service will be held today. Pendergrass died 10 days ago after a battle with colon cancer. He was 59.
More top stories in 20 minutes.
HOLMES: Well, the Justice Department plans to appeal the dismissal of charges against five former Blackwater security guards accused of killing 17 Iraqis back in 2007.
The security contractors were guarding US diplomats in Baghdad when they opened fire in a crowded intersection. They claimed they were ambushed, but prosecutors said the shooting was unprovoked and charged them with manslaughter. A federal judge, however, threw out the charges last month, saying prosecutors mishandled evidence and violated the guards' constitutional rights.
Well, Vice President Joe Biden announced the government's plan to appeal the judge's decision during a trip to Iraq. Biden is meeting with major players there, including Iraq's prime minister and US military leaders. Talks are focusing on Iraq's critical national elections that are just six weeks away.
CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian reports for us from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ahead of the March 7th parliamentary elections, Vice President Biden made his third visit to Baghdad since taking office.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): And while his advisors say that this trip was planned weeks ago, he lands in the middle of an election crisis. A government vetting panel is trying to block more than 500 politicians from running, essentially blacklisting them for suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's Baathist Party.
There are concerns that this dispute could delay the elections, further complicating things for the US, but US officials say that progress is being made and this is one of the big issues that the vice president is dealing with during his visit here. He will be meeting with a number of officials, including Iraq's prime minister and president.
LOTHIAN (on camera): I'm Dan Lothian in Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, in other news, two American service members were killed in Afghanistan today. US military officials say they were hit by a roadside bomb. Insurgent attacks also claimed the lives of civilians.
Officials say three Afghan women were killed when gunmen ambushed their taxi, and, in another part of Afghanistan, a 16-year-old boy died when he stepped on an improvised explosive device. Militants in Pakistan go on the offensive, launching attacks today on two military checkpoints near the Afghan border. Pakistani soldiers fired back, killing at least a dozen insurgents. Two soldiers were also killed in a separate attack in a suicide -- a suicide bomber rammed his car into a police station, killing a police officer and three civilians.
All right, so, starting over with little more than your lives. Survivors of Haiti's earthquake leave their homes and many say they will not look back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The focus in Haiti is shifting from rescue now to recovery. The government has officially called off its search and rescue effort. The United Nations is starting to bring in heavier equipment to clear the rubble.
Over the past 11 days international teams have pulled more than 130 people alive from the rubble, including two we saw just yesterday. The official death toll now, over 111,000 people dead, almost six times that number now homeless and in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
NGUEYN: Well, we have a brand new way this morning for you to look at the devastation in Haiti.
HOMES: This is a 360-degree view that shows you what it looks like, really, to walk or drive down some of those streets.
Josh Levs here to show it to us. Hello to you, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you guys.
Yes, it's really striking. It's virtual reality. It also shows you a plaza that's turned into a tent city.
Let's get right to the screen behind me. I want you to see this. It's up right now at cnn.com/haiti360. And, at first, you're seeing this still shot, but what we're going to do is we're going to start the video. And so, let it roll a little bit. So what you're seeing is a vehicle driving down the street. Now, that's interesting enough, but if you grab the mouse you can start to manipulate the picture.
You can look around. You can behind you. You can see the buildings on all sides, you can see the signs that people are putting up. You can see individuals along the way. You can see the trash and other debris that are still in the road. All of that, as well as some -- how the camera operates, all this right here. And that's just one of three videos we have.
Let me forward you to the next video. It sometimes takes a few seconds to arrive there, but we we'll see here is one of these outside shots where you'll see some people who have set up themselves -- there you go, in this basically now a tent city. And you'll be able to see the palace in the background. And -- there you go. I'm going to click this a little bit. We're going to look over here. You can see the palace in the background. You can see more of the key sites. Anyone who's been to Haiti is familiar with this area. There you go. That's the palace in the background. You can see the damage there. You can see people who are living in tents.
All of this, 360, at cnn.com/haiti360.
And one more video I want to show you here too. It's the same idea. We set -- we took these cameras. I'm going to actually show you the camera itself in just a moment, but I want you to see the third video. Then I'll show you how we went about doing it.
This is another road, but this road is a lot more destroyed than the one you were seeing before. In fact, if we zoom to the right a little bit, you can see a flattened building right there. You can check it out as though you are there. Nothing obstructing your view. All of this 360 degrees.
This went up last night. It's getting a ton of traffic. It brings you a sense of the reality like you've never seen before. Nothing between you and the destruction.
Now, Nana (ph), who's here -- right her. She has the camera for me. Let me take this from you, Nana (ph). Here, she has the camera. And this is the basic idea here. You see all these holes? Eleven different holes. Each of this is its own camera.
This is from a company called Immersive Media, and what this does is it takes all different videos at once, and then it marries them together through a computer program that sees exactly and where they overlap and matches them into one continuous image.
So, that's how you end up with this 360-degree of view. All of it right there and again, just one of three videos. And this is just the beginning. We can expect to see a lot more of this in the coming days.
And guys, I'll tell you, we showed this once earlier. We've already been getting a lot of responses here in the NEWSROOM from people saying to us that this brings them kind of to the scene in a way that they've never seen before.
And Betty and T.J. just the latest example of technology and a new kind of technology, helping people understand the devastation in a way that years ago it never happened.
NGUYEN: It is really amazing, I mean, to be able to see it in that way. All right, Josh, thank you so much for that.
LEVS: All right, thanks.
HOLMES: Of course, right now, thousands of survivors are saying a final good-bye to their ruined home, Port-au-Prince. Karl Penhaul with their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cheerful-colored busses with passengers fleeing tragedy. Destination -- anywhere but here. The mass exodus is under way. Thousands of survivors are abandoning the ruins of Port-au-Prince, not so much searching for new life, just looking for any old way to survive. For many it may be a one-way ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No come back in Port-au-Prince. Port-au- Prince is finished.
PENHAUL: Outside, the temperature hits the mid-90s Fahrenheit. Inside this rust bucket bus, it's boiling over. They're headed for a southern town of Jirami (ph).
(on camera) As they leave, these people take the only possessions they have left with them. They know it should take about ten hours to their destination, but they have no idea when they may be back.
(voice-over) If you've ever wondered what it really means to lose everything, look at the thousand-yard stare in Rosie Nelson's eyes. She was working at a kindergarten. Her 5-year-old son Sansung (ph) and 18-month-old daughter Dashni (ph) were crushed to death at home.
"It's best not to cry because everybody's dead. It's over with now. I only cried the first day," she says. She doesn't even have photos of her children. I asked her if at least she had a chance to bury them.
"There was no burial. I just threw them away. I tossed them away," she says. Nelson shows me the only treasures left in her world -- a kid's memo pad, an old slip for a $90 money transfer from Canada, and her bible.
"Psalms 46, the Lord is my refuge and my strength," she recites. Others draw comfort from the small things they carry -- a plastic water jug, a grubby Winnie the Pooh. Right behind them, more people fight for a seat on a bus to an uncertain future.
Karl Penhaul, CNN Port-au-Prince.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: What a story.
HOLMES: Yes, one Haitian teenager mean while does have a new home, has a new family in the U.S. His name is Junior Miller. He touched down in Kansas City a week ago, and we showed that to you right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Yes, it caps an epic six-year journey for his adoptive American parents. Six years to finally get him here. And I talked to the Miller family a little bit earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MILLER, ADOPTED SON FROM HAITI: We started back in 2003, and about a year and a half into the first work all of our papers, they called it a dossier, his files were downtown and there was an uprising in Haiti and we lost all of our papers. About two years later, they took me to the building. It was full of bullet holes so I realized nobody was going to go downtown and get the papers. So, we had to start over again.
NGUYEN: Oh, goodness. But Wanda, give us a little bit of a back story if you would. Tell us how Junior, in fact, became a child without parents and was in need of adoption.
WANDA MILLER, ADOPTED SON FROM HAITI: Well, Scott went down on the first missionary trip with our church, which has taken missionary trips ever since. And he met Junior then and fell in love with him and he felt like the Lord told him this boy, you need to take care of. And that's when we started.
I went down later on another trip when my sister was getting two children from Haiti, and from the same orphanage, from Lifeline. And I met Junior also. And then we started the process, and as he said, we had a hurdle and then we started again.
NGUYEN: Yes, but what happened to Junior's parents?
WANDA MILLER: Junior has a mother. His father died when he was a child. He has a mother, but he was raised by his godmother until he was about five or six. And she had older siblings and couldn't take care of him as his mother couldn't earlier. And so he came to Lifeline. He's been there ever since.
NGUYEN: All right. So, six years in the making, and he is finally in your home, a member of your family.
WANDA MILLER: Yes.
NGUYEN: Junior, I want to talk to you now. You made it after all this time. You are finally here. What does it feel like to be with your new family?
JUNIOR MILLER, ADOPTED BOY FROM HAITI: I don't know.
NGUYEN: Well, you look like you're fitting in quite well. And I got to ask you, Scott, how is Junior adjusting?
SCOTT MILLER: Well, we think pretty good. When he first got here, you know, we asked lots of questions like how you feeling, how you doing and he just seemed like, I'm OK, I'm OK. And he wanted to go to school is what he told some of the other interviewers. And so, he's started school on Thursday. And we were -- I felt like a kindergartner going to school again. We were kind of sad to see him go. But he's adjusting real well, we feel so, far.
NGUYEN: Already in school and I understand he loves pizza.
JUNIOR MILLER: Yes. Of course, I love pizza, yes.
NGUYEN: That's great. Well, congratulations to you. I'm so glad that your family is all together and Junior was able not only to survive the earthquake but make it to the U.S. and becoming a member of your family. Thanks for sharing this with us, guys. We really appreciate it.
SCOTT MILLER: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, the Millers say, Junior got emotional when we saw his new bedroom for the first time. With his homeland in ruins, he was just thankful to have a home.
HOLMES: We're going to turn to weather here in a moment now. And our Reynolds Wolf been talking about nothing but storms the past, I guess, week not only in California but it's going to be other places, we'll be talking about storms.
WOLF: Absolutely. I mean, California is going to get a little bit of a break today, especially the southern half of the state. But still plenty of snowfall in the northern half and of course some rain up in this San Francisco Bay area. And of course at the same time you still have that threat of mud slides.
However, back to the center of the U.S., we have a long -- it's going to move on through possibly some severe weather for parts of the nation coming up. We'll touch on that on a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, some of the top stories we're keeping an eye on now, discouraging employment numbers. The labor department says 43 states and the District of Columbia reported higher jobless rates last month, reversing signs of improvement in November. Jobless rates were unchanged in three other states and down in the remaining four.
Two banks have failed making them the fifth and sixth banks to close so far this year. Premier American in South Florida and the Bank of Wheaton in Wheaton, Missouri, the latest one to shut down. Customers of both banks can still access their accounts by writing checks or by using their ATM cards. Their funds are protected by the FDIC.
And Film Director Roman Polanski's request to be sentenced in absentia is rejected. A Los Angeles judge ruled yesterday that Polanski must return to the U.S. to find out if he'll go to prison. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old but left the country before he was sentenced. He's under house arrest now in Switzerland where he was arrested in September on a fugitive warrant.
NGUYEN: All right. So, while the west coast gets a few days to dry out, stormy skies and other parts of the country, well, they are headed your way.
HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on it all, and there is a lot to keep an eye on right now. WOLF: There truly is, I mean, with both eyes. I'll tell you, the most basic sense of forecasting the weather in most -- is watching weather systems move from west to east. One thing we've seen so many go from California and move into the four corners when they've been doing so, keeping from producing quite of mud slide activity in parts of California but in Arizona, some flooding there also, plenty of snow.
Check out this video, you see the snowplows out there simply doing a great deal of work and a lot of the snowfall has been especially heavy in places like show low, Arizona, but also an areas like Flagstaff. Now, for several viewers at home, maybe, you think of Arizona, you think of the cactus, you think of the desert, you don't think of snow, but believe it or not, Flagstaff, Arizona averages 99.9 inches of snow fall per year. So, certainly not the normal snow.
What we are going to be seeing is more of this snowfall develops as we make our way back into parts of New Mexico but then across the central and southern plains, what we're seeing is almost like a line developing in terms of rainfall. Well, that line happens to be a frontal boundary and that frontal boundary is going to veer off to the east.
As it does so, there are going to be places like Memphis back into Louisville, perhaps even into Little Rock, Arkansas, that are going to see more cloud cover as the day goes on and with that the possibility of getting some strong storms and maybe even some severe thunderstorms by late afternoon, strong winds, small hail, possibly some tornadic activity by late afternoon also. And in spots we you have poor drainage and we have low-lying areas.
Water can really stack up real quickly. So, there is a potential of a flooding in there also. Now, in spots like Atlanta, today, cloudy day for you, scattered showers, light precipitation but as this storm system drags eastward, we may see more of that, more heavy rainfall later on tonight. Same can be said for the Carolinas.
New England now a beautiful day, same story for New York where high temperatures, they will warm up to 42 degrees, 52 in Atlanta, 77 in Tampa, Miami with 76, Denver with 42, 35 Minneapolis with snow today, 27 in Billings, and 52 in San Francisco, Los Angeles with 59.
That is a wrap on your forecast. Let's go back to you guys.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. Thank you so much for that.
REYNOLDS: OK. You bet.
HOLMES: Coming up, an exclusive investigation into why the government was interested in another passenger on Christmas Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The NEWSROOM does continue at the top of the hour with the lovely Fredricka Whitfield joining us now.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Nice. How you guys doing?
HOLMES: Hello. Good morning.
WHITFIELD: Good morning.
NGUYEN: So far so good.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: OK, very good. We're going to have a good day, a long one, too, beginning in the noon eastern time, we are going to have our league eagles will be joining us because we're going to talk about the former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, for one, his legal woes just beginning.
First, the rumors and the mea culpa, now in print. Are these building blocks for a criminal case? Our legal guys will be weighing in on all things John Edwards and other legal cases, as well. And, also heading out to part of the city Utah, one of my favorite places in the world. There, we will find snow-capped movie stars and movies. Our Brooke Anderson is lucky enough to get this killer gig of an assignment.
NGUYEN: I know. How does she do that?
WHITFIELD: I wonder if she gets to go skiing in between.
HOLMES: Of course, she is.
NGUYEN: No. She's working feverishly.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, join us for the new eastern hour and beyond.
HOLMES: I'm curious, I want to hear what the legal guys have to say about John Edwards.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Then tune in at noon.
HOLMES: Yes, we will.
WHITFIELD: You know, we have them twice in an hour because there are so many great legal cases that, you know, they share their knowledge with us times two.
NGUYEN: And they're good. Great insight, as well.
HOLMES: They're great. WHITFIELD: Yes.
NGUYEN: All right, Fred. We're looking forward to it.
HOLMES: We'll see you later.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HOLMES: The world's airlines are pledging to work together to keep terrorists off planes. That's good to hear. At a summit Friday in Geneva, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, industry leaders and airline CEOs agreed to step up security and passenger screening.
Napolitano stressed the need to stay a step ahead of terrorists who are looking for gaps in the system to use liquids, powders, and gels to kill people. President Obama appealed for new security measures for all U.S. bound flights soon after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day. Compliance up to this point has been spotty.
NGUYEN: Well, the man accused of trying to blow up flight 253 on Christmas Day was actually one of two Nigerian-born passengers on that plane.
HOLMES: Now, we know this suspect. You recognize that face we had it for a second and also the name, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, he's a Muslim extremist. But now we're hearing a second Nigerian-born passenger who's a Christian was also on the government's radar that day.
NGUYEN: Yes, Special Investigations Unit and Correspondent Abbie Boudreau has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMMANUEL CHUKWU, NIGERIAN-BORN FLIGHT 253 PASSENGER: I was coming home to the U.S. to see my family, to celebrate Christmas Day with them.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emmanuel Chukwu, born in Nigeria on Christmas Day, a former mechanical engineer at Ford, now a U.S. citizen and the father of four.
(on camera): You have a Nigerian passport and a U.S. passport?
CHUKWU: Yes.
BOUDREAU: And you've made this trip between the United States and Nigeria many, many times?
CHUKWU: Yes, probably, you know, about 20 times or more.
BOUDREAU: Really?
CHUKWU: Yes.
BOUDREAU: Dating back how far?
CHUKWU: 1995 -- here in the United States.
BOUDREAU: OK. And this is Emmanuel's boarding pass from the flight on Christmas Day, flight 253.
CHUKWU: As the pilot announced that we're entering the Detroit area, now this sound, you know.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Five rows directly in front of Emmanuel Chukwu, an explosive device ignites.
CHUKWU: Then people started screaming, there's smoke, there's smoke.
BOUDREAU (on camera): The plane lands and what goes through your mind?
CHUKWU: Oh, I just was praising God, thank you. I'm alive.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Alive but soon under scrutiny. His name and travel record flash red flags to government officials on the ground. CNN learned Emmanuel Chukwu was tracked in a massive database called tacks.
CHUKWU: And they were picking some people at random for questioning.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Did they ever say, if you were part of any sort of government database that tracks, people when they fly?
CHUKWU: No. Not at all. Not at all.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): The government database houses everything from immigration violations and criminal records to watch lists and flight manifests. Kathy Kraninger, a Former Homeland Security Official and now a Security Consultant explains.
KATHY KRANINGER, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: Tacks really is the backbone or the mainframe that the real operating system for customs and border protections. It has the information from other law enforcement agencies so that it can be accessed by law enforcement, generally speaking.
BOUDREAU: A hit on tacks, would be an immediate plug for additional screening.
(on camera) They patted you down?
CHUKWU: Yes, they patted me down. Took all my documents, my wallet, you know, went through my wallet, went through everything and my wife is pregnant.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Nine months pregnant, his wife Janefrances waits at home for word.
JANEFRANCES CHUKWU, WIFE OF EMMANUEL CHUKWU: The children are all asking where their father was. The plane was supposed to land by 11:40.
BOUDREAU: Meanwhile, the FBI's questions get tough.
CHUKWU: And they ask me if I was ready to take, you know, take a polygraph. Of course, why not.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Did you take a polygraph?
CHUKWU: No.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Then Emmanuel Chukwu says, he may know why his name is in the government database.
CHUKWU: In 2008, somewhere in 2008, I was going back to Nigeria, I have here, with my gun, how can I transport from the U.S., official purchased.
BOUDREAU: A gun?
CHUKWU: Yes. I have this gun. I want to take it with me. What is the procedure for taking this gun?
BOUDREAU: So, you're calling customer service from the airline to try to get information how do I transport a gun from the U.S. to Nigeria.
CHUKWU: Yes.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Emmanuel Chukwu says, he packed the unloaded shotgun as instructed in his checked luggage. But when his connecting flight landed in the Netherlands, Dutch authorities stopped him.
CHUKWU: They said, oh, you have a gun in your bag. I said, yes, I know I have a gun in my bag.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Why did you buy a gun to go to Nigeria?
CHUKWU: I just need it, for protection, for my own personal protection.
BOUDREAU: Personal protection?
CHUKWU: Yes.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): It's illegal for ordinary citizens to carry firearms without permission in both the Netherlands and Nigeria. Dutch authorities confirmed the incident and that Emmanuel Chukwu was arrested and charged with carrying a gun. He was let go within days, and given 2-year probation.
(on camera) Did they ask you those questions about the gun on Christmas?
CHUKWU: Oh, yes, they did.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): It's unclear whether a record of the gun incident or other risk factors, like Emmanuel Chukwu travel patterns, and personal profile triggered his secondary screening in Detroit. The Department of Homeland Security will not comment. Emanuel Chukwu's wife says, her husband is no terrorist.
JANEFRANCES CHUKWU: What I know is that my husband is not going to harm anybody, has never harmed anybody. I hope that they put the right people in the database so that, you know, they will be able to catch the people that will cause harm to the United States.
BOUDREAU: Abbie Boudreau, CNN, Livonia, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, just to be clear, he was not the only person on the plane to get a secondary screening after flight 253. There were a handful of others who were questioned. Most of them were men, they were in their 20s and 30s and he says just about all of them had dark skin. So, at first, he thought he was just getting a secondary screening because of the color of his skin, and because he fit a certain profile.
HOLMES: They're turning back the clock on medical care in Haiti saving lives in a new stone age.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, the London based medical charity, MERLIN moved quickly to help victims in Haiti. Doctors arrived in Port-au-Prince to find that their operating room was actually a tennis court.
HOLMES: Yes, MERLIN since move up to a tent now. Now the group is looking for a real building, you know, with balls, we follow one doctor on his search.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: This is our ultrasound machine, that we just imported and we haven't plugged it in here in Haiti yet but it was working when they unplugged it in the U.S.
DR. RICHARD VILLAR, MERLIN MEDICAL CENTER: Excellent. Are you familiar with (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: Well, I'm just doing the -- I think (INAUDIBLE).
VILLAR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: This is a pharmacy.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: We have contact people that can bring any medications that we can buy in Dominican Republic here if we need them here tomorrow. Of course, today, Sunday, everybody's closed.
VILLAR: Today everybody's closed. Now, this is certainly what we have. Do you have (INAUDIBLE) in here as well?
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: We do.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: It's been a while since we used it. So, we had to double check that it works.
VILLAR: And the wall what do you (INAUDIBLE) what's the little while?
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: A little while, maybe six months.
VILLAR: Six months.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: Yes.
VILLAR: OK. So, that hasn't been delivered in six months? You have none? OK.
So, my initial view is actually the facility would be absolutely perfect (INAUDIBLE), the issue I've got is the location. And it's, we are quite somewhere away from the scene of the action.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: Yes.
VILLAR: And if somehow I could take this and magic it.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: That would be a perfect idea.
VILLAR: It will be a perfect situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, that's so much need over there even now. Pallets of supplies, medical supplies, food supplies, sitting at the airport in some places because they just cannot get it out to the people in need.
HOLMES: Still a struggle to get that stuff out but like some of our reporters say, some sense of normalcy in some places, amazingly as that sounds. But we are going to continue that coverage and more from Haiti right now.
NGUYEN: Yes, CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Fredricka Whitfield. Hi Fred.
WHITFIELD: Hi. Good to see both of you. It really is a test of resiliency on all parts. Those victimized by this earthquake and the thousands who have descended upon Haiti to try to help out in best ways they can. You guys have a great day.
NGUYEN: You too.
