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Brewing Up Politics; Coffee VS Tea; Slow Vote Count in Iraq; Building Up America: Giving People Second Chances; Marijuana Moms and Dads

Aired March 13, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody. From the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM for this Saturday, March 13th. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Happy Saturday to you. It's 11:00 a.m. in the east, 8:00 a.m. out west. Thanks for hanging out with us this morning.

HOLMES: A lot of people having a cup of coffee to get going this Saturday morning, some people prefer tea, maybe, but it's coffee this morning we're talking about across the country. People are getting together for some coffee with a side of politics.

And our own Deputy Political Director, Paul Steinhauser, is in the middle of one of these coffee parties. We are talking about the Coffee Party that was created here, Paul, to counter the Tea Party. So what are they about?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: T.J., this is their big national kickoff. Activists from the Coffee Party say they're holding about 350 to 400 of these events today. They've been meeting only in smaller groups over the last two months, but today is kind of their national kickoff.

We're at Busboys & Poets. It's a popular coffee establishment here in Washington, D.C. They've been meeting here for about an hour.

There are maybe 40 to 50 people, and as you can see, T.J., right now they're gathering in smaller groups. They were in a large group first. Right now they're in smaller groups, talking amongst themselves about what are the important issues that they want to see worked on.

Some of the things they've talked about, health care and jobs. You heard that right off the bat.

As you mentioned, T.J., the big question here is, is the Coffee Party a liberal or progressive alternative to the Tea Party movement? Well, I asked some of the people attending. Here's what some of these activists had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SHALLAL, OWNER, BUSBOYS & POETS: A version or an alternative version per se. I think it is a people's version. It's something that I think that's been missing in the dialogue as the voice of the people.

Oftentimes, the media takes the -- a certain sound bite, and they explode it and makes it sound like the whole world is thinking this way. I think most people in the United States want to see a more progressive agenda.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First of all, we'd like to counter the Tea Party. They get a lot of coverage, and -- and we're more about showing everyone that the progressive movement and the Democratic movements are, in fact, organized, and we're loud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not an alternative to anything. This is sort of a nascent place for people like me who believe that things need to get done without labels. You know, I'm just so upset by how nothing's moving in Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: You know, T.J., it's interesting. Some of the grievances are the same among the Tea Party movement and this new -- brand-new Coffee Party movement, they're a little upset with Washington that is not working for the average American citizens.

But unlike the Tea Party, which is a conservative movement that calls for smaller big government, Coffee Party members, it seems, they want to work with government to reform it and improve it -- T.J.

HOLMES: Reform it and improve it. You're right. They say they have some of the same things in common with the Tea Party. However, they think -- or they say at least, they want to go about it a different way.

I keep hearing the word "civility" and them -- them talking about moving forward with their movement.

STEINHAUSER: Yes. You've heard a lot of that and you've heard that here today as well. The word "civility" comes up.

What does the Tea Party think about the Coffee Party?

This is interesting. We talked to some Tea Party organizers and they say that, well, they call their group -- their movement grassroots, from the ground up. They criticized the Coffee Party for being not organic and more from the top down.

And they also point to Annabel Park. She is the D.C. area woman who founded this Coffee Party movement, and they point out that she was a volunteer with the Barack Obama Campaign back in 2007 and '08. She says that it's really not a problem and she says the Coffee Party movement is not aligned with either the Democrats or the Republicans -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser, having a bit of coffee this morning. Good to see you this morning, as always. We'll talk to you again soon.

That's not the only gathering happening across the country today. Another one is happening right here in Atlanta, and the coordinator for that particular Atlanta Coffee Party was in our studio a little earlier.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Is it fair to call the Coffee Party a left-leaning movement?

STACEY HOPKINS, COFFEE PARTY COORDINATOR, ATLANTA CHAPTER: Some people may want to portray it that way because we do seem to attract Democratic and progressive minds.

HOLMES: You say some people. Would you portray it that way, left-leaning?

HOPKINS: No, I wouldn't ...

HOLMES: You would not?

HOPKINS: ... because we are open to everyone and we want to hear those Conservative and Republican voices so that we can -- because we do share a lot of commonality. We do not like big government. We want to see that done (ph). We want to see the taxes reduced and -- and spent more frugally.

So we do have some areas where we have a general consensus, and we can build upon that because there's strength in numbers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, this movement started out on the internet on -- where else? -- Facebook. And at last count, there are about 123,000 fans signed up for the Coffee Party Facebook page.

BALDWIN: Well, one issue that has been percolating a little bit longer than the Coffee Party movement, that is of course health care reform. It is getting close to those final votes, and it appears Democrats will be going this one alone.

The Republican's newest senator speaking out today on their behalf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, I haven't been here very long, but I can tell you this much already, nothing has distracted the attention and energy of the nation's capital more than this disastrous detour. And the surest way to return to the people's business is to listen to the people themselves.

We need to drop this whole scheme of federally controlled health care, start over, and work together on real reforms at the state level that will contain costs and wouldn't leave America trillions of dollars deeper in debt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, President Obama, he's looking beyond health care. In fact, in his weekly address, he vows to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act.

That essentially is an education law. It's a keystone of the George W. Bush administration. And Mr. Obama says his plan will better prepare students for life after high school and put better teachers in the classroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: As a nation, we are engaged in many important endeavors -- improving the economy, reforming the health care system, encouraging innovation and energy and other growth industries in the 21st century, all while still in the midst of two wars.

But our success in these efforts and our success in the future as a people will ultimately depend on what happens long before an entrepreneur opens his doors or a nurse walks the rounds or a scientist steps into her laboratory.

Our future is determined each and every day when our children enter the classroom ready to learn and brimming with promise. It's that promise we must help them fulfill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The No Child Left Behind Act is passed back in 2001. Its focus, accountability in the classroom, but critics say it's really fallen short of its goals.

HOLMES: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is in the hospital in South Korea today. A doctor in Seoul tells CNN that Kissinger is recovering from a stomach virus and, however, that all signs are normal.

Kissinger is 86 now and he still keeps a pretty active travel schedule. Hospital officials believe he will be released tomorrow.

BALDWIN: Heavy rains causing some serious flood concerns, especially in the Northeastern Pennsylvania.

HOLMES: Yes. We got issues out there right now. They've got some warnings already in place across (ph) the region. Reynolds Wolf has been tracking it all morning for us.

Good morning to you again, sir.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. We're taking a look at this area of low pressure which has really been just a -- the heavy hitter, and the northeast has been the punching bag just over the last day or so. Florida got hit especially hard, but today the focus is going to be in the northeast.

We're looking at strong winds but also the heavy rainfall, heavy rain that could cause some flooding. And the reason why we -- we have that flooding potentials, because much of the snowfall, the snow pack that we have in the northeast, is gone. Temperatures in the 40s, the 50s, pretty much caused that to come to a screeching halt. A lot of that is now in the ground. It's -- the ground is completely saturated.

So with the 2 to 5 inches of rainfall that we may see scattered throughout the region is definitely the possibility, the true worry of some flooding.

We've seen some heavy rainfall forming right along the coast from Washington, D.C., northward to the Jersey shoreline, even back over towards Long Island. But I'll tell you one thing we're really concerned with, especially throughout the key eastern (ph) state of Pennsylvania, is that a good part of that state is obscured by the dark greens, of course, the lime-colored greens you see on the screen. That indicates to you those are areas where you have the watches and warnings that are in effect.

And again, 2 to 5 inches of rainfall possible. We could see some major, major issues in many spots. We've already had issues with some flooding in parts of West Virginia, not too far from Wheeling, we had some water rescues. Certainly some dangerous times, to say the very least.

But for the rest of the nation, when you make your way back across the nation's midsection, things will improve fairly quickly. Central Plains beautiful but very breezy today. Some winds topping 30, 40 mile per hour gusts. Then when you get down into parts of the Red River Valley in Texas, a beautiful day for you, that drive by I- 35, going from Dallas, down to Austin, then all the way down to the Coast. It should be just fantastic for you.

On to the west, the ski season seems like it's never going to end. If you're a skier, you've got to be happy. Same with the snowboarders. You could see a foot of snowfall in parts of the Wasatch Range, to the Central Rockies, and then back up to the West Coast, up toward Seattle, and down to Portland.

You could see some rain, possibly a few snow showers up in the Cascades, then into the Sierra Nevada. You might see some snow there, fairly light for the most part, but those mountain passes could get breezy and could see some heavier snowfall.

Meanwhile, the temperatures, very quickly, 48 degrees the high in New York, 69 in Tampa. For Miami, 75 degrees, 67 in Dallas, 62 in Las Vegas and 54 in San Francisco.

That is a wrap on your forecast. Let's pitch it back to you guys.

BALDWIN: Thanks, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet.

HOLMES: So, what exactly is taking so long?

A lot of people asking that question right now. Iraqis are anxious for election results. We'll be live to Baghdad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Insurgents in Afghanistan set off not just any kind of bomb, a remote-controlled bomb today. They're -- in fact, take a look at the map with me. We can show you the explosion happened in the Uruzgan Province. This is in East Central Afghanistan. Killed six civilians.

Taliban fighters use roadside bombs to target NATO and U.S. troops. A United Nations tally finds 70 percent of civilian deaths last year resulted from these militant attacks.

And just next door in Pakistan, a suicide attack in the Swat Valley killed 13 people there today. Authorities say a bomber drove up to a security checkpoint on a motorized rickshaw.

Security forces then just opened fire, but the man managed to detonate his explosive. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility in a call to CNN.

You may remember, Pakistan sent its army into Swat last year to reverse the Taliban's grip on that region.

HOLMES: Now, the vote counting in Iraq going much slower than expected. Iraqi officials insist no problem here, though, but almost a week after the election, delays making many Iraqis suspicious. Still, a U.N. official says he's seen no evidence of widespread fraud.

CNN correspondent Arwa Damon in Baghdad for us.

Arwa, remind people, this isn't exactly like we're used to elections here in the U.S. where we can call them even before some of the -- the polling stations close. Explain why the -- the vote counting process there goes so slowly and the results we've seen so far. Who's ahead?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, .T.J., look, it's not an electronic system here. The ballot is about the size of a newspaper, and a voter is able to choose a political block or they're also able to vote for a candidate within that block.

Basically, in tabulating the votes, it is all done by people. It's not computerized at the initial stages. And then, once they have the tally sheets from every single polling center, and there were thousands and thousands throughout the entire country, each of those tally sheets is entered into a computer twice so that if there's any discrepancy it will get flagged up at that state, and there are a number of other checks and balances in place to prevent anything from -- fraud from taking place.

What we were expecting was to receive the initial partial results that would be based on 30 percent of the vote. However, that has not quite been the case. What we're beginning to see trickling out, by and large because of political pressure, is that results after some lower percentages have actually been calculated.

So it's difficult to realize and be able to predict exactly what kind of an outcome we're going to be seeing at the end of these elections, but all indicators are that Iraqi prime minister Nouri al- Maliki's State of Law Coalition faring very well, as is the Iraqi List, and that is headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, and it is a secular lineup.

We're seeing them faring especially well in provinces that have a large Sunni population, which just goes to show you the power of the Sunni vote, because remember, they boycotted back in 2005.

But this has been a very frustrating process. Iraqis very eager to see these results, still kept waiting, and all of this, of course, amidst an environment of anxiety and fear that an attack is imminent, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Arwa Damon keeping an eye on things there in Baghdad for us. Thank you so much, Arwa.

BALDWIN: North Korea may be signaling it's ready to come back to the table. A report in a South Korea newspaper today says the North wants to return to six-party talks in early April.

Now, this report quotes an unidentified North Korean diplomat who says his country will present a way forward and see how the U.S. responds to that.

North Korea, as you know, has been demanding the U.S. lift sanctions and formally end the Korean War before resuming negotiations on its nuclear program.

HOLMES: Well, suburban moms turning to weed to relieve the stress? My goodness. What will the neighbors think?

We have a CNN investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is in a South Korean hospital with a stomach virus, a doctor telling CNN that all signs are normal. He could be released tomorrow.

The 86-year-old statesman is in Seoul for a security forum.

BALDWIN: More bank news for you, two more banks have closed. Our latest tally brings that to 30 bank failures so far this year. But the FDIC is telling customers of Statewide Bank of Louisiana and Florida's Old Southern Bank they can still use their checks, their bank cards because other banks are taking over the deposits.

HOLMES: Then, in Ireland, three people arrested for allegedly plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist have been released, four others still in custody. They were all arrested on Tuesday hours before U.S. authorities indicted Colleen LaRose, AKA Jihad Jane.

She's accused of plotting with other to kill the cartoonist for drawing the head of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad on a dog's body.

Another check of the top stories coming your way in 20 minutes.

BALDWIN: Here is some new hope for troubled 20-somethings now able to move way beyond those past transgressions, perhaps, into the workforce, all thanks to a new program helping to build up America.

CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Out on the east edge of Austin ...

SYLVESTRE VILLARREAL, SKILLPOINT ALLIANCE: What we got here is an eyewear for five people.

FOREMAN: ... rebuilding America starts with rebuilding lives.

Meet the latest class of the Skillpoint Alliance Construction Gateway. Funded by city and county tax dollars, this is an innovative five-week training program to turn the unemployable into the employed.

(on camera): This is a big deal to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. A very big deal. This is the beginning of the rest of my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm excited, even though it's really intense.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The target is individuals over the age of 18 who ought to be entering the workforce but who have little hope of doing so because they dropped out of school or wound up in jail or had some other problem.

Sean Gamez, for example, had been in and out of prison for robbery by the time he was 25.

SEAN GAMEZ, GATEWAY CONSTRUCTION: There was no work. It was nonexistent. I mean, to me, for people like myself.

VILLARREAL: You got to follow the basic and always do the basics right, everything else falls in place. FOREMAN: But then, he ran into Sylvestre Villarreal, who recruits students for the Construction Gateway program, scouring homeless shelters, unemployment lines ...

VILLARREAL: I look for two things -- a student that I feel that will benefit from this. And the second one, which is just as important, is an individual that is going to be a good employee.

FOREMAN: Once in, they are taught the boot camp basics of construction work -- showing up on time, doing what you're told, the language of tools and rules of building -- all with the goal of helping not just them but the broader community, too.

TOM SERAFIN, SKILLPOINT ALLIANCE: We need new people coming in the pipeline, and one of the things that Construction Gateway does is that, fills the pipeline with entry-level construction workers.

FOREMAN (on camera): People who we absolutely -- we absolutely need to -- to economically and physically rebuild America.

SERAFIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The result? Close to 90 percent of Construction Gateway graduates who had little hope of a job before entering the program are employed within days of graduation, and they stay that way.

(on camera): How confident are you that you'll get employment once you leave here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred percent.

FOREMAN (voice-over): It certainly worked for Sean. He has been on the job for seven years and is now a foreman on an electrical crew.

GAMEZ: This right here is the sole reason why I'm employed today.

FOREMAN: The program takes only 100 students a year, but that's 100 doing good work. Good for them and good for their communities, too.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Austin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, being a mom can be a stressful job, but apparently, now, some moms turning to medical marijuana to help them deal with the stress.

We have a special investigation next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It has been described as one of the hottest new trends sweeping the 'burbs. Not talking botox, not pilates. We're talking about pot.

These are not bleary-eyed teens we're talking about here. Increasingly they are women, they're middle-class moms apparently choosing marijuana over booze or even prescription pills to relax, you know, cut stress or maybe to treat much more serious medical conditions.

Abbie Boudreau from CNN's Special Investigation Unit reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

"MARIA", MARIJUANA MOM: I try to do it in the room because it's the furthest from the house, and then, being upstairs, I'm hoping the -- the air would go up.

Just put a little bit in there.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a mother, this image may seem all wrong. But for "Maria", she says she needs it to get through the day.

She's a marijuana mom, and she's part of a growing number of women who smoke pot, either for fun or for medical reasons.

"MARIA": Before the medical marijuana, even for him, I couldn't even really work that well because I was just constantly nauseous and then I would -- I wasn't able to eat and sometimes I would vomit all the time, so then I end up in the hospital dehydrated.

What do you want?

BOUDREAU: "Maria" has a 2-year-old son. We agreed not to show his face. She says pot makes her a better mom.

For years, she suffered with severe intestinal problems. Still, even the smell of food makes her feel sick. She says she tried prescription painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet and Fentanyl patches.

"MARIA": In regards to the prescriptions I -- I was on, I -- there's a couple years I don't even really remember.

BOUDREAU: But in Colorado, there was one other option she could try.

"MARIA": I keep, you know, just maybe an ounce.

BOUDREAU: "Maria", who asked that we not use her real name, says her doctor recommended marijuana to treat her condition. And it's perfectly legal.

(on camera): There are 14 states in the U.S. that legally allow medical marijuana use.

But despite changing attitudes, there's still a stigma, and that's why some parents fear their children may be taken away. And so, many of them keep it a secret. "MARIA": That's why I -- I don't want to show my son's face and I'm worried about somebody just being out there and maybe they work for Social Services around here and they think, oh, you know what? I really have an issue with that. And maybe they'll go out and they decide I'm going to and try to find who this person is and I'm going to investigate them.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Denver's Child Welfare Division says it does not remove children from homes of medical marijuana users without reason.

However, officials add, "We are concerned with how the use of any substance impacts parenting, how the children are supervised while the parent is using, and if the child has access to the substance."

David Lyman is living "Maria's" worst fear.

HANNA (ph), FATHER USES MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Come on.

BOUDREAU: His 7-year-old daughter, Hanna (ph), was taken away from him in a custody battle in 2007.

(on camera): Are you OK?

(voice-over): Lyman says using pot helps him deal with chronic back and neck pain, as well as injuries sustained in two motorcycle accidents. He says his wife knew he was using marijuana while they were married but that it became the central issue in their visitation fight. The judge decided Lyman could no longer visit Hanna on his own, just father and daughter, unless he stopped using pot all together. He's now appealing two court decisions.

Why not just stop using the medical marijuana and you'll get your daughter back?

DAVID LYMAN, MARIJUANA DAD: Oh, that's what they're trying to force me to do. And you know what, I'd do it, too, if I didn't really need medical marijuana. But because I do, I have no choice but to fight this fight.

BOUDREAU: Lyman admits he used marijuana well before it was legal, he says to self-medicate. In 2006, he was convicted of growing pot at his home. Now he legally uses the drug and showed us his medical marijuana card. He says he doesn't understand how his child can be taken away just by following Colorado law and his doctor's orders.

LYMAN: What more proof do you want? No harm or accident came to my daughter, nor will it ever.

BOUDREAU: But Lori Moriarty, a former police officer in Colorado, says she's heard stories like this before.

LORI MORIARTY, NATL. ALLIANCE FOR DRUG-ENDANGERED CHILDREN: When I was the undercover drug commander, I had four-year-olds drawing meth labs, drawing smoke, pot pipes, drawing bongs. They knew exactly what their parents were doing.

BOUDREAU: Moriarty is now vice president of the National Alliance for Drug-Endangered Children. She concedes there are some parents who use pot for legitimate health reasons, but is convinced many more moms and dads are simply abusing the law.

MORIARTY: For the first seven years we had 1,600 people who actually registered to receive their marijuana cards or medicinal marijuana. And in the last year alone we're up to 60,000 with more than 1,200 applying daily.

BOUDREAU: In 2008, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than four million women ages 18 to 64 use marijuana nationwide. That's up from the year before.

Back at home with Maria and her son, they're making lunch. It's Maria's toughest part of the day. Being around food makes her feel nauseous. She does what she can to ease the pain herself but then she's off for a hit and another, six, maybe more on her bad days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Wow. Abbie Boudreau with that. Abbie also found out that four state lawmakers trying to regulate dispensaries in Colorado are asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to halt raids on medical marijuana operations. The lawmakers say the raids are discouraging dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients and growers from working with them on proposed regulations.

HOLMES: We've got another question that's popped up in the wake of legalized medical marijuana. A former Wal-Mart employee, you see him there, he says he was fired after testing for the drug during a routine screening. His name is Joe Casias. He said the doctor prescribed him pot for pain management associated with his sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

But he says Wal-Mart managers wouldn't honor his medical marijuana card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH CASIAS, FIRED FOR USING MEDICAL MARIJUANA: It's not fair. I have a medical condition. I can't provide for my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Wal-Mart says in states like Michigan where medical marijuana is legal, an employer can still enforce a policy requiring termination after testing positive for drugs.

BALDWIN: In the world of weather today, flood warnings are popping up in parts of the northeast as heavy rain is falling this weekend.

HOLMES: Snow melting adding to the threat here. Reynolds, we were talking about this a little earlier. That's the bigger issue. It's been raining with all this snow that was piled up melting away, we wouldn't have such a big problem.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Well, Haiti, two months after the big earthquake, half a million people still living in tents, setting up the potential for another disaster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: No freedom after all for a convicted child molester in California who had been counting on getting out of prison yesterday. George England is his name. He was supposed to be released on parole after serving three years, but he's still behind bars after last- minute Federal charges. He's now accused in a separate case involving child sexual abuse and pornography in Florida.

BALDWIN: Nice way to welcome spring a week early. An extra hour of daylight for most Americans starting tomorrow. We all need to remember, especially us on the early shift, time to set your clocks ahead one hour. Daylight saving time begins 2:00 a.m. Eastern. It's back to standard time in early November.

HOLMES: An about-face by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He's now agreeing to allow two foreigners on a commission that will monitor upcoming parliamentary elections. That word as the UN's new top envoy to Afghanistan arrived in Kabul. Karzi is under pressure to avoid a repeat of last year's fraud-tainted presidential election.

BALDWIN: Two months now after Haiti's deadly earthquake, there are new health concerns for the hundreds of thousands that are just living in camps in those tents around the capital city of Port-au- Prince. Humanitarian groups say the nation's upcoming rainy season will pose even greater sanitation issues. Imagine. More than half a million people living in these makeshift tent cities. Aid agencies say they're ready to build transitional housing but a lack of land agreements has stifled construction.

HOLMES: CNN's Sara Sidner is in Port-au-Prince digging deeper on what happened to all the aid money and what Haiti's government is doing to prevent a second disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seventy-year-old Anoise Pierre says he feels like he's living in a prison, and he wants out. He lives among roughly 40,000 earthquake survivors in one of Haiti's largest ten cities. No one has told us what they will do for us. We are here like children in a prison who they feed a little bit every day, he says.

Nearly two months after the quake, all of these people simply don't know what to do or where to go. Most shocking, neither Pierre nor his neighbors have heard one word from their government. The government should know what to quickly do for us, he says. And then there's Dr. Luiggi Lerco, a psychologist volunteering in the camps. What do you think of the response so far from the government? DR. LUIGGI LERCO, CAMP PSYCHOLOGIST: There's no response from the government. (INAUDIBLE)

SIDNER: No response at all?

LERCO: I see the American government here, not the Haitian government.

SIDNER: Most troubling of all, the fast-approaching rainy season. There's a UN-backed plan to help move some 150,000 people who need to get to higher ground, but no one has started to move. And most people we talked to know nothing about it. The UN says it has already distributed tarps or tents to more than 700,000 people. A looking at them, though, doesn't bring much confidence.

It is scorching hot in here right now, but they are extremely worried about the rain, and here's why. There are lots of gaps in the tarp where the water can come in and wash out everything that they have. And these are the lucky ones. You don't have a tarp.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What?

SIDNER: You have no tarp.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No.

SIDNER: Only this. So, after all the attention paid to Haiti, how is this possible? We went to talk to the Haitian government to find out. It admits the country is not yet prepared for the next potential disaster.

ABY BRUN, HAITIAN COMMISSION FOR RECONSTRUCTION: There's a high risk of loss of life. We have some mudslide risk because of the weight (ph) has been built on the other side. And thirdly a lot of camps are overcrowded, so we have epidemics. And with the wet soil, with the concentrated feces, et cetera, we have to move out 150,000 people very quickly. That's going to require about $126 million.

SIDNER: Do you have that money right now?

BRUN: No. No.

SIDNER: Where is it?

BRUN: The money is in the hands of the donor countries.

SIDNER: But the UN says much has been accomplished.

NIELS SCOTT, UN OFFICE FOR COORD. OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: I don't think any of us should underestimate the amount which has been achieved in terms of getting 4.3 million people with food, 2.3 million people who've received water.

SIDNER: Haiti will make a final push for the pledge money at the end of the month, but nothing is guaranteed. In the meantime, all of these people wait. They wait for word from their government and they wait for the usual torrential rains.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, from Haiti to Chile, amid the aftershocks still rumbling in earthquake-ravaged Chile, the nation's new president says the country is ready to rebuild. President Sebastian Pinera, who was just sworn into office two days ago, says his country faces massive recovery costs estimated at roughly $30 billion, but Pinera says he expects his country to be able to fund its own reconstruction with minimal foreign credit necessary.

HOLMES: Well, it's a boys' club. Not anymore. A woman taking charge of a high school football team. She says, yeah so, what?

BALDWIN: And they are some of the biggest hits in the music world right now. Here's a look at Billboard's top 10.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. NEWSROOM continues in a moment with Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. Newlyweds.

HOLMES: Good to be back.

WHITFIELD: We're glad you're back.

HOLMES: Good to be back.

WHITFIELD: Got all the pleasantries out of the way, big group hug. We got a lot coming up in the noon Eastern hour beginning with, of course, our legal guys who are going to be joining us all week long. You've heard about this prom that was cancelled in Mississippi. A lesbian couple wanted to attend and the prom organizers, the school said no.

A hotel owner in New Orleans has reached out making an offer saying, get on the bus. Come to New Orleans. We will host the prom for you. We're going to tell you more about the owner, Sean Cummings, of that hotel right there, the International House, coming up in New Orleans and the connection that's being made now with a Mississippi school and whether or not there will be a prom after all, just in another city away.

And then in your lifetime, Brooke and T.J., have you guys worked the night shift?

BALDWIN: Of course.

WHITFIELD: Who hasn't in this business? Surprisingly, half of Americans at some point in their working lifetime will work the night shift. So we start a series today on what it means for your mind, body and soul, what it means for your family, your sleep. How does the night shift, working the night shift kind of enhance your life or maybe even turn it upside down? We have a series of reports kind of shedding light on the night shift. You're looking at me like, wait a minute. I love the night shift. In fact I want to do it for the rest of my life.

HOLMES: We still on this shift are getting up at 2:00, 3:00 in the morning ...

WHITFIELD: Can be considered night shift. The night shift is different these days. It could be going in at 3:00 p.m., off at midnight. It could be going in at midnight, off at 6:00 a.m. So yeah, a lot under that umbrella. Which is why you need to tune in then on our special series beginning at noon Eastern throughout the day. You're going to see a lot of different looks at what it is to work the night shift and what it does to you.

BALDWIN: Interesting.

HOLMES: We will check that out. Wondering what's happening to us right now.

WHITFIELD: Right, the ramifications of.

BALDWIN: Or the enhancement of.

HOLMES: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: It's the latter.

HOLMES: OK. Fredricka, thank you. See you in a second.

Natalie Randolph, y'all may have heard this name by now, she says she can't control it what other people are saying out there. But she's warning, she's up for any trash talk.

BALDWIN: Love this.

HOLMES: Showing you this picture because she is the new head football coach at Coolidge High School in DC. The pictures you were seeing there, those are her as a wide receiver for the DC Divas, professional women's league. Women's group calling the decision to hire Randolph historic, but she is not, however, the very first woman to coach varsity football.

BALDWIN: Wow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATALIE RANDOLPH, COOLIDGE HS HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: Some people will undoubtedly want to focus on my gender, and they'll focus on the historical meaning of this day, but I would much rather focus on something that all dedicated coaches already know.

I'm here to give these young men, these student athletes, these wonderful students, the best opportunity and guidance to succeed in the classroom, make good decisions at home and perform well on the football field. And while I'm proud to be part of what this all means, being female has nothing to do with it. I love football. I love football. I love teaching. I love these kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And here's another action shot of her. She's not new to the athletic game, although she was a standout track star at the University of Virginia, also the people who were on the board here making decisions to hire her, say it wasn't even close. She blew them away when she walked in the room, because as many other people, guys coming in with these resumes, these coaching backgrounds and playing backgrounds, we're talking about Xs and Os.

She came in talking about focusing on students, about academics and blew them away and it wasn't even close. Now we're getting a lot of comments, of course, on cnn.com and they are overwhelmingly in support of Randolph. One person quoting here saying it's kind of sad that this even makes the news in 2010. Sounds like something out of the 1950s. Maybe we'll see more and more of this but a very cool story. Everybody's pulling for her success.

BALDWIN: Just 29.

HOLMES: Very young, very young.

BALDWIN: Here's a question for you. Eating veggies, you ever wonder how the fresh veggies -- T.J.'s like no, I don't eat veggies -- how those fresh veggies get actually from the farm to the store? We are making a midnight run to the market.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, millions of Americans, Fredricka, work while most of us sleep. Even though we rarely see a lot of these people on the job, their work touches our lives every single day. CNN photo journalist Deborah Brunswick went to a New York produce store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERT BIFULCO, HEAD SALESMAN, RUBIN BROS: We sell (INAUDIBLE) bak choy, peppers cumbers, squash, make sure it looks green. When people go Atlantic City, they get a rush. This is a rush. There's always something to do. My name is Bert Bifulco. I've been down in the market over 30 years. (INAUDIBLE) market basically is a receiving area for most of the produce that's distributed up north. It's really a different world than maybe a lot of other night businesses.

We talk different. We sit and argue over prices. We curse out a buyer. He curses us out and five minutes later we start all over again.

Sometimes you hear a lot of words you don't want to hear but it's part of our business and it's meaningless. That's what makes it fun. Makes the night pass and makes our business what it is. Anyone who works late it affects you physically, mentally, your home life everything.

Your health is probably all screwed up. You know what I mean, like sleep apnea. I have high blood pressure, I have it all. So, you know, but a lot of it's from the business, but this is what I chose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trust you?

BIFULCO: Trust me.

The home life, listen. I've been divorced once. You're not home, you're not around, you don't see the kids grow up. You've missed out on a lot of things. You don't give them your time, but listen, you're making a good living, now you can afford to give them what they want. Just they don't have you.

I've been doing this so long, I don't think I could work days. Just in the habit of working backwards. Like a vampire, I don't know how else to explain it. But I enjoy it. I mean, I like the produce business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, now, the queen of the day shift ...

HOLMES: Day shift.

BALDWIN: Fredricka Whitfield, hello.