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Ethiopian Airlines Jet Crash; Spending the Stimulus: Where Did All the Money Go?; Holding Out Hope For More Rescues in Haiti

Aired January 25, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're keeping a close eye on a developing story off the coast of Lebanon right now. That's where an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed just hours ago after taking off from the Beirut Airport. They've actually found remnants of the plane but nothing to suggest that any of the 90 people on board survived.

CNN's Cal Perry has the latest for us now.

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it was 2:37 a.m. local time when flight 409 bound for Islamabad lost contact with the control tower here in Beirut. 90 people on board, at least 54 of them Lebanese, 22 of them Ethiopian. Search and rescue operations have been going on now for over 12 hours.

And we heard from the prime minister who's declared this a national day of mourning. He says search and rescue operations will continue for at least the next 72 hours. Now, the search and rescue operations not only being carried out by the Lebanese Navy, but also by German warships as well as unifil (ph). This was a Boeing 737-800.

As I said, carrying at least 90 people on board. They believe it went down about 15 kilometers to the south of Beirut. They believe the wreckage is somewhere between 1.5 kilometers to three kilometers out in the Mediterranean. Officials telling us here that at least 20 bodies have been recovered as the search continues. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And it's no surprise that Osama Bin Laden is now taking credit for the Christmas day attack in Detroit. A new audio tape allegedly from the Al Qaeda leader is out. In it he says that Al Qaeda's message was sent with the hero fighter Umar Farouk confirming the same message from 9/11. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is charged in that attack. Neither CNN nor the U.S. government, by the way, has been able to prove that that tape that aired on Al Jazeera is authentic.

Now, to your money where billions of it have gone. Most Americans feel a lot of the stimulus funds have been wasted. Just check out the numbers in the latest CNN Opinion Research poll. One in five say nearly all the money has been wasted. One in four believe most of it has been wasted. And 29 percent think that half the money has gone to waste. Most Americans also believe that the projects in the stimulus bill were just put in for political reasons.

All this week, CNN will be looking at where the $158 billion in stimulus funds have gone. And where all the money is going. Let's go ahead and start with Christine Romans. She's in New York.

Christine, nearly 57,000 projects. So how much money are we talking about right there?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about $158 billion just for those projects that we're tracking right here. But $158 billion is just a chunk of the overall $787 billion stimulus. I mean, this is more money than we have ever spent as a country in such a short amount of time, ever. This was a massive economic rescue plan. You can see how it stacks up, Kyra.

I mean, it's much more than the war in Iraq to date. If you add in, interestingly, Iraq and Afghanistan, though, those two are bigger than the stimulus. The new deal, $500 billion if you inflation adjust the dollars. The marshal plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. This was something that defined basically global powers and the way middle classes across two continents live and that was smaller than the stimulus.

Let's break it down for you quickly. Tax relief so far is the biggest thing that you've seen. That means this is what you got in your paycheck. Millions of Americans are making (INAUDIBLE) to pay tax credits, other tax benefits, loans and grants, for example, to states to plug their budget holes and entitlements. These are things like food stamps, unemployment benefits, these one-time benefits for social security. These are direct payments to individuals.

You add it all up, it's that $787 billion. But not all of it has been spent yet. Tax relief has gone out the door. But $265 billion overall paid out. We still have a lot of money to go. More than $500 billion. And there's a reason for that, Kyra. It's because the economists and the gurus in Washington decided that this needed to be time-released over a couple of years so they could keep the money kind of plugging into the economy over time.

And so that's why you will hear critics say, well, how come it's taking so long? Well, we've never pushed out this much money ever in history so quickly. And, you know, there's still more to be done. But it was definitely designed that way, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll be talking some more. Christine, thanks so much. And the CNN stimulus desk is working long hours right along with Christine, there, poring over reports on nearly 57,000 projects. They're looking at the projects that showed definite economic stimulus and those that may have you wondering, just what were they thinking?

At the half hour we're going to check in with the staff to see which project they're reviewing right now.

And our special project on tracking the stimulus money goes far into the night. Campbell Brown, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Find out why some people in Montana think that their state has made a double fault with their tax dollars. Then "AC 360" investigates why stimulus money is going to so many companies that have a shady legal history. Stimulus project, all this week, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

The economy is job number one for President Obama. And later this morning he's unveiling new initiatives for struggling Americans in the middle class.

Here's a preview of some of the president's proposals.

He wants to nearly double the child care tax credit and limit student loan payments to 10 percent of income above a basic living allowance. The White House also wants all employers to offer retirement savings plan in the workplace and expand tax credits to match retirement savings. The president also wants to expand and support families taking care of elderly relatives.

Still on the topic of your money, President Obama says the nation's top bankers should keep his job. And that's despite of the objections of fellow Democrats. Ben Bernanke's term is said to expire on Sunday. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell predicts that lawmakers will give Bernanke a second term as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Some Senate Democrats say that they'll vote against him because the economy is still struggling.

PHILLIPS: On Wednesday night you can watch President Obama deliver his "State of the Union" address right here on CNN. Our primetime coverage begins 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

Buried in the rubble. But not losing hope. A shred of light and a brother's voice. Enough to keep this man going 11 days after the quake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. We're talking about the spring-like conditions on the coast of the country. Well, winter there in full force across the Midwest with cold temperatures, windy conditions and, yes, some snow. Take a look at Chicago. There you can see it coming down as we speak. We'll tell you how cold it's going to go coming up with your forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Some of the headlines out of Haiti right now. Haiti's government is actually saying they've buried a 150,000 bodies. But that's just going to be a portion of the death toll. They aren't counting bodies still in the rubble buried by family members or any deaths outside the capital.

And there's now a desperate need for tents. The plan is to move the homeless out of Port-au-Prince and into new tent cities. But there aren't enough tents or places to put them. The U.N. says there are about one million homeless in Haiti right now.

Aid coordination or the lack of it is being discussed in Montreal, Canada, right now. That's where representatives from the major donor nations are meeting. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is there for the Friends of Haiti conference. And it's been nearly two weeks since the quake hit. Some people are still holding out hope that their loved ones will be found alive in the rubble. Why? Well, CNN's Hala Gorani shows us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the survival story they call a miracle. Wismond Jon Pierre (ph) pulled out alive from the rubble of a building after being trapped for almost 12 days.

And this is Wismond today, in a French hospital. Were you afraid that nobody would find you, I asked?

WISMOND JON PIERRE, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: No.

GORANI: No, never, he replies. Still weak, but overall, healthy. This is a family story. Wismond's brother, Ensu, visits him in the hospital. He never lost hope. He got the attention of rescuers when he heard his brother cry out for help.

From the hospital, we offer Ensu a ride back to his house. An underground shack. He moved here with his wife and four children when the quake destroyed their home. They share this space with cousins and other family members. There's no electricity. We use flashlights in the tiny living area.

In the hallway, we show the family tape of Wismond's rescue. Ensu is seeing this for the first time. His wife cries. I thought he was dead, she says. But after the dramatic rescue, the good news story of Wismond's survival against the odds, comes the grim reality of what lies next. What the future holds.

I have no hope, Ensu says. You want to leave? Where to, I ask. To anywhere but here. But Wismond will come to live here after he's discharged from the hospital in a few days. He flirted with death underground for 12 days. And when he comes out, it's in an underground shack that he and his family will try to rebuild their lives.

Hala Gorani, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about rescues of another kin. Adoptions. So many of you are asking how you can help. Coming up in about 30 minutes we're going to talk to an expert on international adoptions to find out more about how you can reach out to the most vulnerable victims.

Severe weather of various forms made its mark this weekend that many of us are still dealing with. Here in Atlanta, a lot of rain, sporadic flooding, nowhere near as bad as September's flood of the century. But trouble enough for those who found themselves in deeper water than they'd like. Maybe not as bad as what Knox County, Kentucky's Wayne Farmer videotaped for us here in Barberville. Wayne says that the rising water level was really fast and actually caught a lot of people by surprise. Wayne, thanks for being prepared and sending us your iReport.

And today, many Californians get a break of sorts. With the past week of bad weather but tomorrow another Pacific storm is expected, bringing more precipitation. We knew that more snow possibly in those higher elevations. So keep the tire chains handy. (WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: OK. Thanks, Jacqui. Doctors flooding into Haiti right now, eager to help the injured and the sick. But are there too many now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's one of the top stories THAT we're working for you right now. Chemical Ali is dead. He was executed this morning in Iraq. You remember this guy? He was the king of spades in the U.S. military's deck of cards. Outlaw Iraqi leader and later he was sentenced to death in four separate trials. He killed around 5,000 Kurds in one of his poison gas attacks. That's how he got his nickname. He's also Saddam Hussein's cousin.

Crews still working to contain a big oil spill in Texas. It happened two days ago near Port Arthur, Texas, not far from Houston. More than 460,000 gallons spilled when an Exxon Mobil tanker collided with a barge. Two wildlife preserve areas are now threatened.

The Super Bowl matchup is set. The Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning headed back to the big game. They beat the New York Jets, 30- 17.

Oh, yes. The celebrations are probably still going pretty good or pretty ugly on Bourbon Street this morning. That's because the New Orleans saints are also headed to, get this, their first Super Bowl ever. They beat Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. So let the good times roll. They already are.

Aid is getting where it's needed in Haiti. We're now seeing some hospitals stocked with the essentials. But there's another problem. Too many doctors, if you can really call that a problem. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live from Port-au- Prince now.

Wow, Sanjay. At first there weren't enough. And now too many. That's sort of hard to believe.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The organization in the aftermath of something like this is tough, there's no question, Kyra. There may be too many in certain places, not enough in others. We wanted to go back to some of these hospitals to get an idea of how they're doing overall and see what new problems if any are developing. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (on camera): We're in the lobby here at general hospital. One of the things that you'll notice right away, I noticed, is that things are definitely better here than they were even just a couple of days ago. Lots of different equipment here. Gloves. They didn't even have gloves to perform some of these operations here just a couple of days ago. All kinds of suture.

One thing that's worth pointing out though, even in the midst of all this, we still have instruments like this. That's a Black and Decker drill. That's what they have to use to be able to perform these operations. To actually put the pins into the legs. So it's by no means perfect.

But if you look around here, take a look at all the operations that are going on, this is better than it was three days ago. But here's something I didn't expect. They actually think there are too many doctors. Doctors stepping over one another. Lack of organization. People watching what's happening, and come flooding down into an area like this. We're about to come into this meeting. Getting all the chiefs of the various departments together to try and coordinate this so they can try and be as efficient as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think all of the groups are well staffed. The issue is coordinating the staff so they're not repeating or overlapping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, and coordinating...

GUPTA (voice-over): So that means some of these doctors may be sent to other hospitals where they are short surgeons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First in the area where we think all the sick patients are. And then have a way to go through, then sweep the campus once a day (INAUDIBLE).

GUPTA (on camera): Never been curious on how they set up an operating theater. A whole system in the middle of an earthquake. We are looking at it over here. Writing on the wall. Here's the OR 1, OR 2. Triage areas. They got post op out there, over here and here. Pre op areas over here. They actually separated this by Haitian doctors, the native doctors, controlling the operating room. Mount Sinai over here. The Swiss operating will be here. That's how it works.

Lots of maps. Lots of coordination going on. But one thing I want to point out, I think this is really important. We are still talking about Port-au-Prince, which is over here. We now know that so much - there's been a lot of impact in other areas as well (INAUDIBLE). The plan now is to start taking some of those medical capabilities and moving them to some of the outlying areas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: One of the other things that can help with the organization is giving some of these doctors a rest. You know, a lot of them have been working pretty continuously. Actually setting up shift work. Some doctors get to sleep. Other doctors come take over just like any other hospital. But again, Kyra, just trying to organize this, I don't see a central organizing body or a person for all these doctors that are coming into town.

PHILLIPS: All right. So too many surgeons, but there's still a lot of areas that are lacking, right?

GUPTA: There's no question about it. You know, a lot of people focused on Port-au-Prince, but there are other areas outside the capital city, Leogane, (INAUDIBLE). These are areas that really haven't seen a lot of aid, at least not the kind of aid that we're talking about here.

Also, you know, nurses. Nursing care, both acute and chronic nursing care, nurses are the real workhorses of any hospital. And they're really going to be in high demand for weeks and months to come. Rehabilitation, Kyra. We've talked about the fact that so many crush injuries here as part of this earthquake, getting people rehabbed, getting them prosthetics later on down the road.

There's going to be a lot of needs. And again we're just talking about one hospital here. As time goes on, those needs need to continue to be met.

PHILLIPS: So people still want to help. But can't get in. What should they do? Specifically, doctors.

GUPTA: Well, what's interesting is that for specialty surgeons, for example, you probably do need some sort of infrastructure to be able to do the sort of work that you do. So just simply showing up without a hospital or an operating theater for yourself is probably not the best use of your time.

Having said that, what often happens in these situations is that for the first few weeks there's a huge influx of people. Then people start to disappear. Kyra, you've seen this before as well. Maybe coming in a few weeks from now or even a couple of months may be a better use of your time. Planning it out, talking to one of the aid organizations on the ground and setting up something specific.

PHILLIPS: Good advice. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you. Doing a great job.

And we're looking to the stimulus spending all this week on CNN as well. One we'll tell you about, well more than $1 million to study plant fossils in Argentina. It's raising a few eyebrows and a lot of questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN is reviewing the books, looking into how $787 billion of your money is spent. Already $158 billion has been spent or earmarked. Stephanie Elam from New York following that for us.

Also, T.J. Holmes working the stimulus desk right here in the NEWSROOM. You've gone through every single one of these books, right?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every single one. I've got about six pages left on this one.

PHILLIPS: Excellent.

HOLMES: But after that, I'm going though them all. But when you say books, this is what we mean. Literally books. The $158 billion you just talked about, these projects here represent that $158 billion. So this is what we're going through. And one in particular here got you (INAUDIBLE) eyes.

PHILLIPS: Argentina.

HOLMES: Yes. Argentina.

PHILLIPS: I think about wine. I think about, you know...

HOLMES: You don't think about plant fossils? Plant fossils.

PHILLIPS: That's a big negative.

HOLMES: Let me show what I'm talking about.

PHILLIPS: Please explain.

HOLMES: I'm going to head over and explain this. And for our folks here, this is kind of a representation of a few of the projects we're looking at. Again, these are the ones that we are investigating. And the plant fossil one I'm telling you about, I mean, this $787 billion, everybody's wondering where are the jobs we were promised? Where is this money going? So that's what we're doing. We're investigating where this money is.

Now in particular, Argentina plant fossils. What does that have to do with the stimulus bill? Let's go over to Pennsylvania. In particular, Penn State. They are getting over $1 million to send their researchers down to Argentina to look into plant fossils. Now, what does it have to do with creating jobs? I have no idea.

But that's the point. We are looking into it. We have calls out to them. We're going to hear back. We're going to let them respond. Not to say this isn't good science. But is that what the stimulus money is meant for?

Another project we're checking out, we can take you over to Chicago. We're talking about plant fossils. Now in Chicago, University of Chicago, they're talking about shark fossils. We are checking into that as well. They are getting money to research that. Now, I can give you a little more detail about this one. Because like I said, over here at the stimulus desk, Kyra, we are making some calls. You just hang tight right there.

PHILLIPS: (INAUDIBLE) maybe?

HOLMES: No, no, no. PHILLIPS: Argentina, tango.

HOLMES: No, no, we're not there yet. No, you're not thinking about the right Argentina here, Kyra.

I'm hanging out here with Jessie. Jessie is the one who's looked into these two fossil projects, if you will. We've gotten a call back from the University of Chicago, at least. We're all wondering, this money going toward this research, how many jobs does that create? You got a call back. What is the answer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, CNN RESEARCHER : Exactly. We reached out to media contacts at Penn State University and the University of Chicago. What they said at the University of Chicago is the shark research project, they're not exactly sure how many jobs it's going to create right now, but they're going to look into that and get back with us. He did send me a summary or statement that says, "The project will deliver training and employment opportunities for young scientists at various levels."

So...

HOLMES: That's fairly generic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the impact for now. We'll get back with you when we know how many jobs are going to be created.

HOLMES: But we're trying to get more specifics. Jessie, thank you so much.

But again, Kyra, there you go. The number you see behind me here, they told me not to move around too much. But hey, what do you do? This is the number we're all looking at. All the projects. Some 58,000 right now. The ones we're looking at account for $1.7 billion of that money, Kyra.

That number as we continue to check out more and more, that number will continue to grow. But it's a lot going on. It's a lot to look into to figure out exactly where this money is.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep talking. Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: Wrong Argentina now.

PHILLIPS: All right, I'm sorry. Not thinking about wine country there in Mendoza. Thank you.

Five billion dollars . That's how much money the stimulus bill set aside to make low-income homes more energy efficient. But the program has gotten off to a pretty slow start.

That's where we bring in Stephanie Elam. She's in the CNNmoney.com NEWSROOM in New York. And Stephanie, this was supposed to be a win/win for everyone involved, right?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is. I was trying to find a way to work wine in there. But I can't think of a way to do it, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, well, we can talk about our favorite Harlem vintage wines.

ELAM: We can talk about Harlem vintage, Harlem vintage. We can talk about them again. That's true. But not this time.

All right. Let's talk about weatherization a bit. The Obama administration said weatherizing homes would save people money by cutting their utility bills while at the same time create thousands of jobs for people doing the work. We're talking about energy audits, caulking, insulation and other improvements.

But here's the thing. It's slow going. Let's give you a couple of examples right now. Texas is eligible for about $327 million with a goal of weatherizing 56,000 homes by March of 2012. Yet, as of December 31st, 47 homes have been completed. If you go to Georgia, the number is a little bit better there. It's eligible for about $125 million with a goal of weatherizing 13,000 homes by March of 2012. So far, 633 have been completed. Kyra, this is pretty much the story across the country even though we just took a look at those two states.

PHILLIPS: All right. So what's the problem? Why is it taking so long to get the work done, Steph?

ELAM: Well, you know, one issue is just the sheer amount of money the states are dealing with. This is new to them. Before the stimulus weatherization programs were just a small piece of the budget. It used to be $6 million in Texas. Now, it's 50 times as much. That's a huge increase. States say they've had to take a step back and create a plan for how to handle all that money.

Also, the stimulus funds had some very specific requirements. Take, for example, how to pay workers. State officials say they had to set up training academies to make sure everyone knew the rules.

Needless to say, all of this is fodder for critics. We talked to Citizens Against Government Waste, which is a nonprofit watchdog group. It called the weatherization program "the perfect storm of wasteful spending," calling it complicated, inefficient, and lacking enough oversight. So, clearly they're not happy with this, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Clearly. All right. It's definitely a big debate. Stephanie Elam, thanks so much.

Tonight on "CAMPBELL BROWN" at 8:00 p.m., you can actually find out why some residents in Montana think that their state has made a double fault with their tax dollars. And then "AC360" investigates why stimulus money is going to so many companies that have a history of law breaking. The stimulus project special is tomorrow, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, also 8:00 p.m. Eastern and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

We've got some breaking news out of the housing sector right now. Existing home sales plunged by double-digits last month. It all goes back to that stimulus money. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. So, Susan, we thought the housing market was getting better. What happened?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, what happened is that this very popular first-time home buyer tax credit was extended. It sort of took away the urgency to get it done. You know, this report, obviously this housing market report, has a direct tie to stimulus.

Let's give you the numbers. Existing home sales, the broadest part of the housing market, plunged nearly 17 percent in December. We were expecting a decline, but less than half that. It's the biggest monthly drop in more than 40 years.

So, the home buyer tax credit was extended in November. Typically, the winter is a very slow period for real estate anyway. So, a lot of economists expect there to be a surge in the spring because it's been extended now until April.

But, Kyra, even with the big fall, the number of units sold in December of 2009 was well above the same period a year earlier. Prices inched higher as well. But distressed home sales still a big part of the transaction. They're about a third of all sales.

So, you know, that's definitely keeping some pressure on home prices. But, still, home prices and units sold still higher than a year ago. And that's encouraging, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Good. We like to hear something that's encouraging. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: New homes, new lives for some of Haiti's orphans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just happy that they're home. And that they're safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: For some adoptive parents, prayers are answered and families are now made whole. We're going to share some happy endings with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No rest for the weary out West as another storm pounds California. We've got heavy rain in the valleys and snow in the Sierras. Take a look at these pictures that we have for you from yesterday. Another 1 to 2 feet of snow can be expected.

When will it ever end? Your forecast is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, snow. It's beautiful unless you're behind the wheel and you've got to drive through it. Many northern Californian motorists had to break out the tire chains this weekend if they hadn't already.

Well, the repeat meteorological performance continues. The rain soaked South can relate, as well. Another week, another weather watch, and another bout of sporadic flooding. Nowhere near as bad as September's flood of the century. But tell these motorists that. So, can we blame all this on El Nino?

JERAS: Kind of.

PHILLIPS: Maybe?

JERAS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Okay. Jacqui Jeras?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Jacqui.

Here's a look at other stories that we're telling you about this morning. This morning, rescue crews scouring the Mediterranean Sea right now off the coast of Lebanon. So far, no survivors have been found from the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight. It had 90 people on board. About two dozen bodies have been found so far. The president of Lebanon says terrorism is not suspected at this point.

Air America radio going silent tonight. The left-leaning network says it has filed for bankruptcy and will end its programming just about ten hours from now. Parent company says the tough economy and poor ad sales led to its demise. Conservatives say the network's failure shows that liberal beliefs are fading in popularity among Americans.

The U.S. Supreme Court nixed the latest legal maneuvering from former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. So, it appears the 73- year-old former (INAUDIBLE) will be extradited to France where he faces drug laundering charges. Noriega was convicted in 1992 on drug trafficking charges here in the United States.

Let's take a look now at the latest on Haiti. Aid coordination, or the lack of it, is being discussed in Montreal, Canada, right now. That's where representatives from the major donor nations are meeting. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is there for the Friends of Haiti conference.

There's also a desperate need for tents. That plan is to move the homeless out of Port-au-Prince and into new tent cities. But there aren't enough tents or places to put them. The U.N. says that there are about 1 million homeless in Haiti. That also includes Leiegon (ph), southwest of the capital. About 85 percent of the people there lost their homes. They're just now receiving their first mattresses and blankets. Adoptions from the disaster zone. We have a couple of happy endings to share with you. In Grand Junction, Colorado, a family returns home with a pair of 10-month-old twins. The homecoming was a long time in the making. In fact, it began long before the boy and girl were even born. Their new parents say amid the joy is a bittersweet reality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're excited as a family to welcome some orphans into our family and help in that way. At the same time, our hearts are really hurting. In this instance, there's just been so much suffering and tragedy in Haiti and a lot of new orphans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: An excited new sister right there. Meanwhile, a Colorado Springs couple that went to Haiti to check on their adoptive sons returned home with dozens of orphans. All were waiting to be connected with their adoptive parents when the tragedy struck and threw their worlds into limbo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN MILLER, ADOPTIVE PARENT: This has been an amazing journey. A long, long, very difficult journey. And the waiting for the last two weeks since we first heard the earthquake happened has been just excruciating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Officials in Haiti have tried to fast track the process for adoptions that have already been approved. Many of those children are being given emergency visas so they can be united with adoptive parents in the U.S.

They are the lasting images from the earthquake. The kids, their faces and fates tugging at our heart strings. Their stories and smiles ignite our desire to help, especially the orphans. We've seen a bunch of them come to the U.S. to begin their new lives with their new families.

But there are still tens of thousands left behind. Not to mention kids who just lost their parents in the quake, the new orphans.

Tom DiFilipo is president and CEO of the Joint Council on International Children Services. He joins us from Washington to talk about adopting those kids from Haiti.

You know, Tom, the reason why we wanted to do this is we've been flooded with e-mails. Our correspondents on the ground in Haiti, all of us here at the CNN Center in Atlanta, and there's a lot of misconceptions about the ability to adopt. So, what can you tell us at this point? Is there more red tape? Less red tape as we see all these kids without parents and coming to the U.S.? TOM DIFILIPO, JOINT COUNCIL ON INTL. CHILDREN'S SERVICES: Actually, there isn't more red tape or less red tape. There's no tape at all for the orphans that were newly created as a result of the earthquake. The children we see on TV, on CNN, they were children who had adoptions started prior to the earthquake where we clearly knew that they were, in fact, orphaned children. Certified by the Haitian government.

PHILLIPS: And we're hearing, though, that there are kids getting over here, Tom, that were not going to go to a specific family. So, what happens to those kids?

DIFILIPO: Those children will go into temporary foster care here in the United States. We have a lot of concerns about children who did not start the process coming into the United States.

That's one of the reasons why the Haitian government is now requiring that all cases where children are leaving the country be approved by the Haitian government. Each individual case specifically. So, we do have concerns about that. And it's one of the reasons why no new adoptions should be started at this point.

PHILLIPS: Really? So you think no new -- explain to me why no new adoptions should start at this point. Be specific with me. Because a lot of -- there are so many people that really want to jump in and take one of these kids home. And they don't want them to end up in the foster care system.

DIFILIPO: Well, we certainly don't want them to end up in the foster care system either, whether that's in Haiti or in the United States.

But let's take a look at this quick example. Let's say a child is in school in Haiti. The father is at work or maybe the other side of the island. The earthquake hits, and the child is left alone for three weeks and we all assume the child is an orphan. The child is brought to the United States, put in foster care, eventually adopted. And then we learn that the father is actually injured, had an amputation, was in the hospital for three or four months and just simply didn't have the ability to get to his son or daughter.

So, instead of creating a family in that case, what we've done is torn a family apart. I think that's the last thing that we want to do.

But there is a second page to this. While we're saying that no new adoptions should be started, we also as a community, the NGOs, the governments, must be providing safety, shelter, and as best we can, getting those kids into a family in Haiti immediately. Not two or three years from now, but immediately.

PHILLIPS: That's the point. Immediately. Yes. We want to see it happen, too. Tom DeFilipo, president, CEO of Joint Council International Children's Services, I'm sure we'll be talking again. Thanks so much, Tom.

DIFILIPO: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And because of Hurricane Katrina they are bound to be the sentimental favorites.

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PHILLIPS: That's last night's celebration in the French Quarter. New Orleans is headed to the Super Bowl.

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PHILLIPS: Let the good times roll. Actually, they've always rolled in New Orleans. But the Saints are headed to the Super Bowl. An even bigger reason to party. You heard me right. New Orleans Saints going to the first ever Super Bowl, ever. Really. We saw some of the celebrations earlier in the newscast.

Joining me now to talk more about this momentous occasion, Christian Gerig (ph), sideline reporter for WWL Radio. So, Christian, were you there for the big moment?

CHRISTIAN GERIG (ph), SIDELINE REPORTER, WWL RADIO (via telephone): Oh, yes, I was there. Front and center. Live and in person. Absolutely. It was a great day in New Orleans Saints history and the city of New Orleans.

PHILLIPS: So -- and it is. This is the first time ever. I mean, tell me what people have been saying, how everybody reacted. This has got to just fuel that city. Not that they really need any fuel. They know how to party there in New Orleans. But, you know, just give me a feel for the reaction.

GERIG: You know, the emotions have kind of run the gamut. Right after the Garrett Hartley field goal kick that sent the Saints to the Super Bowl, you looked in the stands, and there were tears flowing like crazy. After that, it was are you kidding me? Really? Seriously? Are the Saints in the super bowl? I mean, people were calling in on talk shows all morning long, all night last...

PHILLIPS: Are you still there? Oh, I think we lost you. Christian, you still with me?

We had Christian Gerig with us by phone but unfortunately lost the connection. He's actually the sideline reporter for WWL Radio there in New Orleans. As you can just imagine, it's a nonstop party in the Crescent City as, you know, they're getting ready to head to the Super Bowl and take on the Indianapolis colts. Big moment for those in New Orleans.

We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: Gerri Willis, you've got some developing news on what the president's going to do for the struggling middle class? What do you know?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. We've got some more details on this plan to help the middle class.

First off, child care assistance. The president proposes nearly doubling the child care tax credit for families earning less than $85,000. And even for families who are earning up to $115,000, they will see some kind of increase. Now, the president notes two-thirds of families with children are headed by working parents or a single working parent.

There's also big news here for college students. People graduating maybe without a job. Improvements to college affordability. They would limit loan payments to 10 percent of discretionary income. So, Kyra, think about that for just a second. If you're a college student out there, maybe you don't have a job, maybe you have a job that's paying less than you would like. This will help you make up the difference.

Estimated cost to the government, this is from our own reporting, would be $400 million to $500 million over ten years. Now, this is really just expanding an existing program called the Income-Based Repayment Plan. That was only for people working for nonprofits or the government in jobs really that were low pay. Big expansion to that program.

Finally, retirement security here. This is interesting. It would expand the savers tax credit matching 50 percent of the first $1,000 of contributions. That's an improvement in expansion of that savers tax credit. Remember, it would promote annuities and other forms of lifetime guarantees.

This could be somewhat controversial with personal finance experts because annuities often are sold aggressively. The fees can be high. So, anybody telling you they have guaranteed income, you might want to look at it twice, obviously. It would also expand tax credit to match retirement savings, as we said.

And finally, elder care assistance. Some increased funding for caregivers' support programs. More funds for adult day care, in-home services and transportation.

The big thing here is a lot of tax credits. Remember, tax credits are more valuable to folks than just simple deductions because it reduces your taxes dollar for dollar. Some of these tax credits will become refundable. So, even if you don't owe the government money, you will get money back.

There's some details. We'll hear more this afternoon as the president, the White House details each of these plans. But, again, lots of benefits out there. If you're in college, you're headed towards retirement, if you have children, some assistance with providing services and simply making each and every month.

PHILLIPS: OK. Sounds good. Gerris Willis, thanks so much. We'll be following it throughout the day. Tony Harris, I know you'll be following it along with me. Would you like to borrow some of my light reading here on the stimulus?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it makes you -- who would read that? You hire teams to go ahead and sort through that...

PHILLIPS: This is just one book.

HARRIS: Exactly. There are five or six other books back there?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

HARRIS: You hear all of complaining about read the bill. Who's going to read the bill? Who's going to read this? Who is going to read this. There's health care, stimulus, this, that and the other.

PHILLIPS: Well, there's that and there's a lot of controversy over, OK, where's the money going? How is it being spent? There's money that's still there that's not being spent. The White House is saying, hey, we've got all these great stories of how it's working. Then you have other people saying, hold on just a second. You know, we're building bridges to nowhere.

HARRIS: But no one seems to rember that a year or so ago at this time, and you couldn't find an economist around who would say, no, we don't need a stimulus. We don't need a stimulus. All right?

Now it's a matter -- OK. Just a second. Now, it's a situation of what's in the stimulus that's not working. But everyone agreed. You couldn't find an economist who said you don't need a stimulus. The discussion was what size. How long and for what size. So, we're going to drill down on it.

PHILLIPS: OK. We have to.

HARRIS: Honestly. Because it's easy in hindsight to say this is a lot of heft and it means nothing. But that was not the discussion we were having in this country a year, a year and a half ago. I promise you, we're going to remind you of that, America. Should we blast away here?

PHILLIPS: Take it away, Tony?

HARRIS: All right, let's do this.

(LAUGHTER)