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American Morning

Air Terror Alert in India; The Plight of the Orphans; Haiti Rescue Workers Start Leaving; Obama Faces Off With Wall Street

Aired January 22, 2010 - 08:15   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good Friday morning to you. It's January 22nd. Glad you are with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.

Here are the big stories that we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.

We begin this morning with breaking news: a terror alert in India. Aviation officials issuing a warning for the country's airports after intelligence agencies uncover reports that al Qaeda was plotting to hijack a plane. According to India media, the plot targeted an Air India or Indian Airlines flight destined for a neighboring south Asian country.

CHETRY: Well, hundreds of Haiti's orphans in jeopardy this morning. Food and medical supplies are dwindling and so is hope for the people trying to save them. Our Anderson Cooper is live in Port- au-Prince where time is running out for some of the most helpless victims of last week's earthquake.

ROBERTS: A year after President Obama promised to reach across the aisle, it's uglier than ever. Carol Costello sat down with someone from the left and someone of the right to find out why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. So, a Republican and a Democrat sitting together. You don't see that very often, like close together, and you actually like each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The new arrival of the Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown makes a difference. Carol's live report is coming up just ahead.

We begin, though, this morning with breaking news. A terror alert -- a hijacking threat in India. Airports are on high alert after Indian intelligence warned that al Qaeda-linked militants want to take over a plane. Our Paula Newton is watching this for us, live from London this morning.

And, Paula, what are we learning today?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And good morning, John.

We're learning that enhanced security procedures will be used across India. Now, what's interesting here is the specific threat from chatter derived from intelligence information that they were actually trying to hijack an airplane. And you might ask yourself, is that still possible?

Well, I think we've listed some of the countries at risk, talking flights in and out of India from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Burma. And for those reason, Air India is now confirming that there are enhanced security procedures. The civil aviation ministry telling us, you're talking about more sky marshals, more pat-downs, John, and certainly, enhanced security at every single point through those India airports.

Again, John, this really is a (INAUDIBLE) of what happened after the attempted bombing at Christmastime, everybody taking any piece of chatter very seriously and having those enhanced security procedures in place right away.

ROBERTS: Paula, in situations like this, where we often talk about the quality, the credibility of the so-called chatter. Do we have any idea of what kind of credibility there is to this - this intelligence?

NEWTON: Credible enough that they felt that when they look at these countries, again, countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh that they could, perhaps, either on Air India, the national carrier, one of the larger private airlines, actually succeed in taking over that airplane. And that is they have these enhanced security procedures.

But, you know, John, we saw a similar -- not in particular, hijacking, but we saw security alerts through Canada, couple of week ago. Again, authorities being very careful and really not wanting to go judge that chatter by the same basis they would have before the attempted bombing at Christmastime.

ROBERTS: And reports this morning, Paula, that 120 al Qaeda suspects have been arrested in raids early this morning in Turkey. Is there any possible connection?

NEWTON: So far, no information about that. But interesting here as well because security authorities in Turkey, simultaneously, 16 provinces, 120 suspects. Interesting, they are still going through documents and computers, trying to look for any kinds of seeds of a plot. Also, some high-ranking academics, according to Turkey's officials have been taken into custody. They are charged for trying to recruit terrorists to go to Afghanistan to attack troops there -- John.

ROBERTS: Paula Newton for us this morning in London -- Paula, thanks.

CHETRY: And there are some new developments out of Haiti this morning. A brief aftershock sending hundreds fleeing to the streets that happened just hours ago. But there was little damage, just some badly frayed nerves when it happened.

And a monumental challenge for the Haitian government -- they are preparing to bus 400,000 homeless earthquake victims out of Port-au- Prince, and into newly built resettlement camps on the outskirts of the capital.

Also, the U.S. military gearing up for a possible influx of Haitian immigrants by setting up beds and tents at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

So, there is a lot happening in Haiti this morning. The most heartbreaking is the plight of these orphans. There were 380,000 of them before the earthquake struck, and there's no telling how many more there are now.

Our Anderson Cooper is live in Port-au-Prince this morning.

A lot of these children, Anderson, who made it through the disaster, now there are concerns they may not survive the aftermath. What's going on?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we were at the pediatric ward at general hospital yesterday and saw this little boy Johnny, who, his parents have died. He had no clothes. He had a broken leg. And the nurses, the Haitian-American nurses and doctors who are there, who had come from the New York area, to do what they could, you know, they didn't have any place to send him. And they had treated his leg.

Normally, he would have been discharged and his parents would have taken him home. But, you know, the nurse -- the doctor I spoke with was saying, you know, I'm not -- I can't send him out into the streets.

And there's not really a system in place yet to deal with this new influx of kids who don't have parents. There are no actual numbers at this point of how many there are. But, you know, we have seen -- I personally met many kids whose parents are gone. A lot of times, they are being cared for by a distant relative or even a family friend or just somebody who kind of takes them in. There is a tradition in Haiti of large extended families and, you know, people taking one another in, people really look after one another here.

But it's going to be a real -- kind of in the next wave of the relief effort, they're going to have to figure out a way to kind of build new orphanages, or just develop some sort of a system for this new generation of orphans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Outside the crumbling pediatric ward at general hospital, a nurse sings of God and grace.

(SINGING)

COOPER: You can't hear the singing inside the pediatric tent...

WANDA SMILEY (ph), 11 YEARS OLD: Mama!

COOPER: ... because Wanda Smiley can't stop screaming.

She's 11 years old. Her legs are broken. No one sure exactly what else is wrong.

Nearby, a little boy with a broken leg sits silently, watching it all. His name is Johnny. He doesn't know his last name. His parents are dead. He has no clothes and nowhere else to go.

DR. MARIE FRANCE CONDE: Right now, he has a broken leg, a broken foot (ph), a femur, as well as a broken -- he has several fractures on that leg. But no one is here for him.

COOPER (on camera): What will happen to him?

CONDE: Last night, I did not sleep thinking about Johnny because I got up. I said, maybe I should take Johnny home. And I said, I know it's not going to be possible.

COOPER (voice-over): For kids whose parents are dead, there is no clear system. That's part of the planning that needs to be done.

CONDE: We don't have much. That's all we have.

COOPER: Dominique Toussaint, a Haitian-American nurse from Harlem doesn't cry in front of the children. But outside the tent, she's overcome by it all.

DOMINIQUE TOUSSAINT, HAITIAN-AMERICAN NURSE: Everybody has infections. It seems as though to me like they're going to eventually die. I don't even have someplace to wash my hands. I have one bottle of hand sanitizer.

We can't do anything under sterile technique. It's impossible not to have, you know, horrible infections. You know, the medications we're giving them, we could use some stronger medications. We don't have them.

COOPER (on camera): It also seems like a lot of the medication, the supplies you do have are not built for children. They're not geared for children.

TOUSSAINT: They're not. Like I just went to get an oxygen tank, it took forever to get the tank. It took forever to get a mask. The mask we have is probably too big to even put on my face, it looks big (ph). We have no -- the needles on our syringes are too long. We have nothing for the kids. It's like the kids are forgotten almost.

COOPER: It's like the kids are forgotten.

TOUSSAINT: Yes. So, we're just doing the best we can. I mean, it's frustrating, I just -- I'm overwhelmed.

COOPER (voice-over): It is overwhelming for nurses and children. The injured keep coming. There's no space to be had.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: One of the big frustrations for the doctors and nurses who are working with these kids, is that a lot of the medical supplies that they are getting, and they don't have enough, but even what they are getting are not designed for children, it's not the right doses for children. The needles are too big to put in their little arms.

I should also point out, Kiran, that we actually had an aftershock while you guys were playing that report, and we had another one in probably about 10 minutes ago when Chris Lawrence was on. So, it's kind of unsettling morning.

CHETRY: Well, I can only imagine. Anderson, you know, we spoke to one of the captains of the USNS Comfort. You know, they're there. They're tending the patients. They said they've already seen 250, that these patients are being flown to them.

They have the beds. They have the doctors. They have all of the supplies. Why can't some of these children go there?

COOPER: Well, they are. There's no doubt. In fact, while I was there, there was a great U.S. medic, and I wish I knew his name, but he was working so much, I didn't want to interrupt him to ask.

But he identified one kid who had severe facial injuries, his whole head had swollen up, clearly needed surgery and pretty advanced kind of surgery, this medic, you know, got this -- got some other Army guys, guys from the 82nd Airborne, they put him on a stretcher, they took him to (INAUDIBLE), to the Comfort. He said they were going to try to get him surgery maybe in Miami Children's Hospital or somewhere else.

So, that is happening. You know, the Army, the 82nd Airborne has sort of helped out a lot in the last day or so at general hospital, and hopefully, you know, once the organization is established even better, we're going to see more of a pipeline of kids going in that ship.

CHETRY: So, we see your stories where the kids there are suffering, screaming and they have nothing to give them. We saw Sanjay make his way by himself to the airport where he'd seen tons and tons of medical supplies that need to be out there to the people that are still standing at the airport.

I mean, have you -- have you gotten any word or seen whether or not that is starting to free up?

COOPER: Well, you know, there are a lot of good people on all -- on all ends of the supply chain who, you know, want to get the stuff out. I mean, all the folks working at the airport, they want it to get out.

You know, there has been a big reliance -- a big fear about security. And I think that's maybe kind of colored the way. Some aid organizations have operated, some places are obviously unsafe and you need security; some place is less so. But there's sort of this blanket rule about security. That may be slowing things up.

But I think -- I think all the relief workers are hoping now that, you know, it's been this long at least, and the systems seem to be established and there's more people spread out on the ground that it's going to start flowing fast enough, but it's incredibly frustrating for everyone.

CHETRY: All right. Anderson Cooper for us this morning. As he said, two aftershocks just in a few minutes, last 20 minutes. Thanks, Anderson.

Well, at 8:30, we're going to be joined by Mark Stuart. He is the co-founder of the Hands and Feet Project in Haiti, currently caring for dozens of orphans. And wait until you hear the hoops that he has been jumping through to try to get more help to the most desperate victims.

ROBERTS: Ten days have passed since that Tuesday of the earthquake and the window of survivability rapidly beginning to close. One of the teams that's been out there working, oh, so hard to try to save people from the rubble is the urban search and rescue team from Miami-Dade County. We'll be talking to members of that team coming right up. You do want to hear what they have to say.

It's 12 1/2 minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Many search and rescue teams in Haiti are packing up their dogs and their gear, getting ready to pull out. Now, day 10, fewer earthquake victims are being found alive. But there are still some unbelievable stories of survival.

I'm joined by the members of the Miami-Dade Urban Search and Rescue Team, working in Port-au-Prince. Captain Louie Fernandez, Steve Driscoll seated there beside him, Dr. Danny Whu up there behind him, and as well Jay Rodriguez in the back there.

Gentlemen, thanks to all for being with us this morning.

Captain Fernandez, let's start with you. Where are you today in terms of search and rescue operations?

CAPT. LOUIE FERNANDEZ, MIAMI-DADE URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM: Well, we continue looking. We continue searching. It's what we do. We were brought here almost within 24 to 48 hours of the earthquake by US AID.

We are FEMA trained. There are many teams working here. And we come in on the ground. We are basically all firefighters on our normal jobs, so we have that experience of disaster operations, but we're specialized urban search and rescue.

We have been here since, as I mentioned, and we continue to do what we do best, and what we were trained to do. We are just looking for survivors in the rubble.

ROBERTS: We should also mention to you, and I neglected to mention this at the beginning. We have Blaze, the dog there, and Blaze has helped to effect some spectacular rescues. One of which, we are going to talk about in just a second.

But, first of all, Doctor Whu, you are the medical expect here. We're beginning to, you know, ten days now after the day of the earthquake and we are getting to, I guess, the outer limits of survivability here. I think the longest that anyone has managed to survive in the aftermath of an earthquake was in the Philippines, in 1990. Fourteen days, that person though, was able to drink water every day.

So, just in terms of being able to find people alive and medically and physically, where are we?

DR. DANNY WHU, HAITI RESCUE WORKER: Well, as you have mentioned, the window is rapidly closing. These people, the ones that are trapped, without the ability of receiving food or water, they have to withstand heat indexes at or near triple digits. And it's, as I have said, the window closes quickly because the body may survive a lot of days without food, but definitely, they need water.

ROBERTS: Right. But as we mentioned, there are still some amazing rescues that are being affected. And, we should point out here, that Jay Rodriguez and Steve Driscoll can't hear what I am saying so I'm going to have to get to Captain Fernandez to relay the question to them.

Captain Fernandez, can you get Jay to tell us about what happened on Monday when you were going through an area and he heard a faint noise.

JAIRO RODRIGUEZ, HAITI RESCUE WORKER: Basically, the rescue that we had on Monday, to start off, we have had many rescues which have been technically very highly technically.

And this one, which was probably one of the least technical ones that we have performed, however was one of the most rewarding just because of the simple fact that it was towards the final moments where we were basically looking for a needle in the hay stack. And it was, quite honestly, just instinct and reaction to be at the right place at the right time.

And a group of people in my squad that performed their duties to the fullest in every aspect of the rescue, which put us in a position that we are in now. And just, I am privileged to be a part of what we were able to accomplish. But honestly, it was just instinct and the training we have done over the years.

ROBERTS: And I may say, it's an amazing team. Again, Captain Fernandez, maybe you could relay the question to Steve Driscoll. So, Jay heard a noise there way in the back of this pile of rubble, and then Steve Driscoll and Blaze, I guess known as Blaze the wonder dog sort of jumped in there. Tell me that part of the operation when you actually found this little boy.

FERNANDEZ: Steve, John would like to know about your part of the operation and the work of Blaze as well in that rescue.

STEVE DRISCOLL, HAITI RESCUE WORKER: Blaze is an 8-year-old Border Collie. We were focusing on areas of high probability of survivability. We had been up on top of a mountain searching the village. It's basically all rubble.

And we went down the mountain and one of our teammates thought he had heard something, which we found out later it was probably not the case. But we went ahead and searched that area. I sent Blaze and it was a quick alert. He was down below us where we could not see him, he was out of sight. And he had a very strong alert, strong bark.

At that point I knew we had a live find. It was difficult to gain access to that area. But eventually I made it down there and then I called Jay Rod, our team leader down, and told him where the dog was alerting, which was into a concrete wall. And where we breached the hole in the wall was where the baby was. So, Blaze did a great job.

ROBERTS: Just unbelievable. I should point out that it was a baby girl who I guess was in remarkably good shape for being buried so long. But Captain Fernandez, as we said with Doctor Whu, sort of, you know, entering sort of the outer limits of survivability here, how does the mission shift in the next few days. Steve Shin from the LA County USAR Team said it's like searching for a needle in a hay stack, and each day the needles are disappearing?

FERNANDEZ: Well, John, it does become more difficult. You know, these are some of the harshest conditions I have seen in a disaster environment. And it takes its toll on rescuers. We have our training, but to be brutally honest, nothing has ever prepared for what we have seen here this week. It is to the extreme. Every time we find a live victim, that's the energy that keeps us going to the next day. And as we don't find any more live victims, not only does it affect the families around the world that have relatives here, and of course the residents, but it also really, really affects emotionally the rescuers.

And so, we are getting into those days, as you said. We are also having less and less residents here come up to us with tips. The first couple of days we were inundated with bystanders pointing us in the right direction, and many times those were good, good rescues. But we are still searching, we are still out there. We are getting information from US AID, and the organizers here that are sending us on missions, and we will continue to do that until the Haitian government and the local government here decide that we are going to be going into a transition.

ROBERTS: Wow, it is just amazing work that you have been doing down there. So critical as well. Out hats are off to you, gentlemen. Thanks for joining us this morning, we really appreciate it. Good luck to you.

FERNANDEZ: Thank you.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well still ahead, we are going to be joined by Christine Romans. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning. More on what the president had to say about cracking down on banks and Wall Street with the worst day in months. Investors now looking for a rebound. 22 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning. She joins us now with more on yesterday's sour day on Wall Street, I guess you could say.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The president stood up in front of the cameras and said if the banks want to fight, I will give them a fight, bring it on. And here we are. Wall Street reacted. The president is going to put some tough new rules, wants to put some tough new rules on how the banks do business that will change a lot of things on Wall Street. And that's why the Dow is down 213 points.

He will limit bank size. He wants to separate commercial and investment banks. Something, by the way, that congress allowed 10 years ago. Some of the very people who now are saying we should do this, they were the ones who said we should not do that before. I guess so. Ten years, everything can change. They want to restrict the scope of trading, these big proprietary trading debts put some of the banks and curb risk taking.

But there is a feeling among many people who worked on Wall Street, many people who analyze and study Wall Street that this might be going a little bit too far. And remember, it might not do anything to help the banks start lending more, which is the whole problem.

Listen to Diane Swonk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE SWONK, MESIROW FINANCIAL: I think at the end of the day it's really important to understand that it's easy to scapegoat the banks and many people are angry at the banks, but without them it's cutting off our nose despite our face. They are the only game in town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: They are the ones who lend money to business so that business can grow. Lend money to you and I and the likes. So, this is the delicate balance that the president has to walk this, now turned into a big, a big fight.

Also, a lot of people are telling me that none of this addresses bad mortgage loans. Bad mortgage -- a lot of people had a hand in this. Congress, the banks, some consumers, bad mortgage loans. These firms, these fly-by-night firms, no income, no job, no assets, you could get a loan for a mortgage. Remember there are a lot of moving parts to the crisis.

ROBERTS: It does come under the heading though of trying to reduce the risk that they are taking.

ROMANS: And the systemic risks that one big bank is enough to take down the whole economy.

ROBERTS: Have you got a Romans numeral for us this morning?

ROMANS: I do. 77 percent is this number. And this has to do with kind of a feeling -- it's the Bloomberg survey of investors. 77 percent of them say the president is too anti-business.

ROBERTS: I don't know why I did not get that one I don't know?

ROMANS: There is this concern that anti-business may mean anti- jobs. You know, you are trying to hit the banks at the same time you need the money flowing, so that companies can keep hiring people.

ROBERTS: Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Thank you so much. Coming up on 26 and half minutes after the hour, a new effort to forge bipartisanship in Washington. Will it work? Our Carol Costello has got an "A.M." Original coming up.

CHETRY: Also, we have been showing you all morning, from Haiti, the urgent need aid for orphans. Mark Store, is the cofounder of the Hands and Feet project helping out some of the most helpless in Haiti. He is going to join us to update us on the situation. It's 27 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We are crossing the half hour now and that means it's time for our top stories.

We are watching breaking news as well. Airports in India on alert right now. Aviation officials issuing a terror warning after intelligence agencies uncovered reports that al Qaeda was planning to hijack a plane. Now, according to Indian media, this plot targeted an Air India or Indian Airlines flight that was destined for a neighboring South Asian country.

ROBERTS: But now know why a flight from New York to Kentucky was diverted shortly after we went off the air yesterday. Police say a 17-year-old Orthodox Jewish teenager caused a scare when he took out boxes of Holy Scriptures and began to pray. Passengers were panicked, because during the ritual, one box is strapped to the arm and another box is placed on the head. U.S. Airways Express flight landed in Philadelphia, and obviously there was no threat.

CHETRY: And House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi throwing in the towel on health care reform at least where it stands now. After democrats lost their 60 vote majority in the Senate, Pelosi ruling out a last-ditch option that was talked about to get some form of the overhaul passed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: The present form without any change, I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the house. There is some part of the caucus that would say, let's take these pieces. We recognize health care has to be done. Health care must be done. Let's take some pieces of it and go forward and others who are saying let's just get it done and move on, but everybody recognizes that something needs to be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Democratic plans were derailed by the election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to the Senate, stripping them of the filibuster proof majority.

ROBERTS: There is a lot of anger on both the left and the right, and Washington may be more divided than ever. Now, Democrats losing that magic 60th vote in the Senate. They really have to work together.

CHETRY: But can they? That's the big question. Carol Costello is live in Washington this morning, so how did it manage to get even worse over the past year, Carol?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, can you say health care, Kiran? One year and two days ago, on the inauguration day, President Obama urged lawmakers to put aside petty grievances and false promises that has strangled our politics. That did not happen, but it just might now. Some say that Republican win in Massachusetts was not a complete defeat for President Obama and the Democrats because it may stop what many Americans have grown tired of, partisan bickering.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): A victorious Republican in traditional blue Massachusetts. Yes, Scott Brown resinated by vowing to vote no on the current health care reform bills, but he also resinated for something else, he said. As former McCain adviser Nicole Wallace writes, he allowed voters to like Obama.

SENATOR-ELECT SCOTT BROWN, (R) MASSACHUSETTS: And then I said Mr. President, I know you like basketball, so I tell you what, why don't you pick your best player, and I'll take Ayla, and we'll take you on two on two.

COSTELLO: He may sound silly, but some in Washington say the idea of a politician suggesting he and his daughter take on the President in a bipartisan game of round ball is refreshing after a year of ranker.

For two longtime lawmakers, Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican Tim Johnson rounds victory enforces what can be.

So, the Republican and the Democrat sitting together, like close together, and you actually like each other.

REP. TIM JOHNSON (R) ILLINOIS: Dennis is one of my good friends in the process. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dennis. We actually agree on some number of issues, and we don't agree on others.

COSTELLO: How is that possible?

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) OHIO: You can't be trapped by labels.

COSTELLO: Both men say some lawmakers have become so wrapped up in party labels. Washington is in a state of ideological warfare.

Congressional quarterly says partisan voting in Congress is the worst it has been in 50 years.

KUCINICH: I am a Democrat, but I am not here so that the Democratic party trumps everything in America. It got to do what is right for America.

COSTELLO: He was a Republican would say the same?

JOHNSON: The same, precisely the same.

COSTELLO: Both men say Senator-Elect Brown's win in Massachusetts proves their right. Brown like Kucinich and Johnson has an independent streak.

What do you hope President Obama will say in his State of the Union?

JOHNSON: I hope he says that we want to reach out to all people in the process, and come up with a product not only in health care but on foreign policy and others if they'll work from here.

COSTELLO: Then actually do it.

KUCINICH: I hope he smiles and says I hear you loud and clear, and that we're going to direct our policies accordingly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO : No one is saying partisanship will completely die, but maybe some civility will return in open minds.

Back to Senator-Elect Brown for just a minute, he told the Senate leadership when he was in town yesterday here in D.C., he is no rubber stamp, and "The Washington Post" reports this morning, Brown expressed reluctance to be associated with the groups that helped elect him, saying he had wide support and wants to be inclusive. He also said, you know, name calling and all that stuff, I am way past that -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: So were you fed up with the anger? That's what we want to know from our viewers this morning. We want you to sound off on Carol's story, cnn.com/amfix. Good one, Carol. Thanks.

ROBERTS: Yes. We got that big telethon tonight in concert for Haiti relief. A lot of people of will be giving money tonight, and there's a new side of Congress that may make it possible to really increase those donations for Haiti. Our Gerri Willis got that news coming right up for you. Thirty-five minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Some good news from Congress concerning your contributions to the relief effort in Haiti.

CHETRY: It is a new Senate bill that allows you to deduct those donations during this tax year instead of having to wait to do it until next year. Our Gerri Willis is watching your money, and she's here with details this morning. Another reason to give.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. Good morning, guys. Good to see you. This bill just passed the Senate last night. President Obama is expected to sign it into law soon, maybe as early as next week. Now, to take the deduction this year, you must have contributed to the crisis in Haiti from January 11th to March 1st. This year a lot of folks donated via text messaging as we're so familiar with. Taxpayers will also be allowed to substantiate those deductions made by cell phone with a phone bill that shows the date and not in the charity that receives the contribution - John.

ROBERTS: It seems that they're really making this as easy as possible which is great, and there are any other tax benefits that we could see in the coming days?

WILLIS: Yes, you know. It's interesting because after hurricane Katrina, there were a number of tax benefits, and some of those benefits could be reinstated, for example, a maybe easier for individuals of corporations to deduct the value of food donations, and it's important to know just what you cannot deduct to. Let's take a look. Here is what you cannot deduct; aid to an individual; aid to a foreign government; donations to foreign organizations.

So, John, even if you're donating to a foreign organization that's delivering aid and doing a great job above it, you cannot deduct that contribution.

ROBERTS: All right. There are a lot of international organizations, so which were is the line there. Did they have to have a headquarters that have sent (ph) toward the United States.

WILLIS: They have to be here. It has to be a U.S. They have to be a U.S.-based organization.

ROBERTS: Okay. It's interesting. All right.

So, what do you do to make sure that you get the appropriate deductions?

Make sure you collect all of your receipts from these charities. If you want a list of charities, go to cnn.com/impact.

CHETRY: Oh, I'm just going to say another thing to keep in mind is that employers are matching donations.

WILLIS: Which is critical (ph).

CHETRY: And it's also something to just check in on, that whether or not what you are giving to, whether your company will match it.

WILLIS: Yes, you can double your contribution like that, nothing out of your wallet by making sure you get the contribution from your company.

ROBERTS: It is particularly significant that the Senate passed this bill because tonight, at 8:00 Easter, don't miss Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta. They're going to be live from Haiti.

And Wyclef Jean and George Clooney host "Hope for Haiti Now." It also features Bono, Sting, Shakira, Keith Urban, John Legend, and lots of others. The global telethon airs right here at 8:00 eastern. Of course, it's very easy for you to make a donation to that.

CHETRY: All right. We'll be watching for sure.

Meanwhile, we are checking in on some troubles, especially in the Los Angeles area and other parts of the Southern California. They had rain, and they had a lot of it over the past several days. Plus, we're tracking a snowstorm in the northeast, and heavy snow in some parts of the west. We got it all for you in your extreme weather forecast. Forty minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: All right. A shot of Columbus Circle this morning on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that is not snow, even though at times, it looks like it's just the concrete, and you know, it's going down there especially want to feel dreary in the winter. It's partly cloudy right now, 35 degrees, and it's going to be mostly cloudy today, but at least it's getting warming, 43 for a high.

And our Rob Marciano is live this morning in a rain-soaked Southern California. He is in the mountains just outside of Los Angeles. I know they've declared a state of emergency in about five counties down there as they are watching the skies yet again. Hey, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kiran. It was another long and anxious night for folks across Southern California, and here comes the rain again, and there will be pockets of heavy rain again today much like yesterday, and hopefully most of the hills will hold. There are hundreds so of small mudslides like the one I am standing on. This is a side yard of a resident who has been evacuated, but before leaving, he put up this makeshift chute, and it did, for the most part, helped protect the home over there.

Most of the precautions have protected homes like this K-rail concrete. They are usually used in traffic situations. This is hold back at least this mudflow, and for the most part, homes are okay, but roads obviously it can't protect all the roads, so a number of them blocked across Southern California. This one up at Victor Hanya Cania (ph) where during the fires in late August, they just scorched this area. I tried to get through a friend of mine out there that we profiled in August and could not get through the road. He said he was okay but trapped because he did not evacuate, and the road is blocked.

On the coastline, a couple of rare tornadoes in Ventura and Santa Barbara doing some damage out there; luckily nobody is hurt but certainly a rare event for Southern California.

And all of this energy moving into Arizona; they are getting hammered right now with big-time snow in the mountains. And Sedona is getting crushed with a lot of rains. Tucson for over 10 inches of rain and a little creek in Sedona usually runs at about two feet could very well crest at 20 feet later on today.

All right, here's a look at the radar. The rain hopefully will be a little bit more spotty and not as intense today. But it's still coming in from San Francisco down to San Diego. We will see two days of dry weather tomorrow and Sunday and hopefully these hillsides will hold.

A couple of points, record breaking low pressure and I know that doesn't mean a lot for many people, but it was a historic event with this storm coming through yesterday. And that's just one more surprising tidbit when you look at these mountainsides. And in effect that we haven't seen a major slide; residents certainly keeping their fingers crossed that we can make it through this weekend.

John and Kiran back over to you.

ROBERTS: Rob thanks so much.

Now, let's check in with Kyra Phillips -- she's in the "CNN NEWSROOM" -- for a look at what's ahead in the next hour. She's just about 14 minutes away. You've got a big exclusive interview this morning -- Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We did, we are finally going to hear from Mr. Erroll Southers, you guys. We've been wanting to talk to him for a long time obviously. Who is he, you might asked? This is the man that was supposed to get the job heading the TSA. And as you know, when the failed Christmas day bombing happened, a lot of questions were being asked about our security, how did that happen? How did he get through? How did he get on the aircraft?

Well, the talk started about why we don't even have a head of the TSA, what's going up, what's holding up the nomination? There were a lot of people that came forward that says, let's push it through, let's get it done, we need somebody.

Well, why did he withdraw his nomination? We're going to talk to him about that today and see how he feels about the White House's decision and if indeed he'd want to take the job if he were offered it tomorrow? It's going to be a pretty interesting discussion, you guys.

ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) certainly, you know, these are painted as if it was his decision but you have to think that the White House did have hand in all this.

PHILLIPS: Yes and that's what we're going to talk to him about. I mean, to put of bluntly, he feels that he was thrown under the bus by the White House. But there was some discrepancies within his testimony back when he was with the FBI. You may remember the controversy when he said one thing, and then said another, and when it came to the question about researching his ex-wife's boyfriend and using tools within the FBI to do that.

Well, he says there is another side to the story and we're going to ask him about that.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to all that, well, see you soon. Thanks.

Lifesaving supplies are still on the holding pattern. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes to the airport to find out what's going on to see if he can get some supplies.

Stay with us and we'll have that coming right up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Ten minutes to the top of the hour and we're back with The Most News in the Morning.

There's anger in Haiti over what some doctors are calling "stupid deaths"; deaths that could have been prevented if aid actually got to the people who needed it time. The most frustrating thing is the supplies are there but they're not getting out to the streets where they're really needed.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta just got tired of waiting yesterday. He went to the airport to see what the holdup was all about. He joins us now live from Port-au-Prince this morning to tell us what he found. Hey, doc.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. It was relatively easy, in fact we didn't know what to expect but relatively easy to get over to the airport, get inside, and talk specifically about what was needed and walk out with the several days of supply and medication, including antibiotics, pain medications, all sorts of different things for a hospital.

We have visited this hospital and they told us what they needed and we were able provide that for them. And we are just trying to make a case in point; obviously what we did doesn't solve the problem.

When we were the one to get it how this is being handled (AUDIO GAP). We talked to the colonel who is sort of in charge of bringing a lot of the supplies into Port-au-Prince, into that airport. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. BEN MCMULLEN, U.S. AIR FORCE: There is stuff here waiting to be taken out; that's a true statement. Is it a lot? I can't speak to it. I will tell you the reason you probably got it is because everybody on this field, specifically the U.S. government side is dedicated to getting as much stuff outside as they can.

Does it totally surprise me that some are doing without? No, it doesn't. Not totally. Do I hope it gets better? Without a doubt. We are doing our part to get things out there and certainly get things into the airport.

And it is -- it's a shame, because you would hope that everything could get out there within seconds. But that kind of infrastructure just isn't in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You know you could sense the frustration with him, John. He's obviously coordinating and trying to get these supplies into the airstrip.

But as far as we could tell, there is no central distribution point after that. People show up at the airport, they are supposed to know the lot number of where their supplies are and show their identification and then have those supplies packed into their truck and go to hospital or first aid tents or wherever they are supposed to take it.

That -- somewhere along that process things seem to break down. And that's why there are so many little boxes of supplies simply sitting at the airport -- John.

ROBERTS: And we should point out Sanjay, this part of your trip to the airport, you did manage to get some medical supplies, some antibiotics, broad spectrum antibiotics, some pain killers. You brought those back to the hospital and they were very thankful for it.

There is no question that you are, my friend, an army of one, but more broadly is there any improvement in the way that the aid is being distributed?

GUPTA: I think so. You know, to be fair I think there are some improvements just even over the last couple of days, certainly when it comes to basic supplies. For example, in Port-au-Prince and specifically in some of the areas behind me, four days ago there was a dozen or so food and water stations, and now we are hearing there are about 300 of these food and water stations. So that's obviously improvement. And the military also tells us they dropped off close to 600,000 of what are known as meals ready to eat or MREs -- dropped them off as well trying to get people fed. So that's certainly improving. And I think the morale has improved a bit as a result.

But when it comes to medical supplies, and when it comes to determining what people need to be able to stave off some of these problems after the earthquake, it's still just not happening fast enough.

ROBERTS: You have the injured who are in hospitals or other makeshift medical facilities? Another issue is all these thousands of people who are living in tent cities around Port-au-Prince, in the parks or even on the street, the government is encouraging people to leave the city and go find relatives elsewhere in the country.

What are the public health issues associated with those massive tent cities?

GUPTA: You know people always talk about this concern of second wave of quote, unquote, "of disease". And the reality after covering a lot of these types of stories -- including tsunami, Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan -- a second wave of the disease maybe overstating it a bit. There's no question that people who live in these sort of tight clusters are at higher risk for things that you'd expect; certain respiratory infections that can spread through the air, and also water-borne diseases like typhoid, for example.

We haven't seen a huge number of those cases as of yet. And as long as they can control the water supply, hopefully they'll be able to stave them off. One thing I'll point out is that aid workers who come in here, journalists as will are going to really need to make sure they are immunized as well so they don't create a disease outbreak among this population -- John.

ROBERTS: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Doc, good to see you this morning, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, we are going to be getting a special CNN heroes; an amazing rescue in Haiti, you just have to see it.

It's 55 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. And today instead of honoring just one CNN hero doing extraordinary things, we wanted to salute a group of heroes, lifesavers in Haiti.

ROBERTS: They pulled a boy out of the rubble, after a week and a day -- after surviving a week and a day without food and water. He popped out of a hole with a smile that will live on forever in a photograph. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

MATTHEW MCDERMOTT, FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER, AMERICARES: We were amazed. I mean we lit up afterwards, just kind of sat there like did that just happen. We had to go back and look at the back of our cameras to check.

MOOS: A 7-year-old boy Kiki (ph) dug out alive and well after being buried for 7 1/2 days. The crew from NBC shot video of the rescue.

When they finally reached the boy, he was scared and wouldn't come out until rescuers brought a relative in the yellow tank top for coaxing.

His pants may be lost but he was found.

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

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

(on camera): Do you think -- I mean this is kind of crass -- but do you think of things like Pulitzer prize winning when you take a photo like that.?

MCDERMOTT: No, no, not at all. That would be a little arrogant. We don't sit around and patting ourselves on the back. Around every corner there is a photograph here that needs to be taken.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable. I just want to hug my compadre, Dario Gomez. This is an unbelievable feeling.

MOOS: They also rescued Kiki's older sister. The image McDermott shot will likely be used by AmeriCares to inspire donations. From photos at an earthquake to photos from another earth-shaking event, previously McDermott's most famous photos were from 9/11.

After shooting so much death in Haiti, was that the biggest smile you ever saw on the littlest kid?

MCDERMOTT: It was amazing.

I'm sorry, lungs are a little messed up. I mean nine days of breathing death and dust.

MOOS: Which makes this a breath of fresh air.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: There he is. We'll remember that picture forever.

ROBERTS: What a reaction.

If you'd like more information on how to help survivors of the Haiti earthquake, you can visit cnn.com/heroes. We've got all the information for you there.

CHETRY: Also don't forget tonight, 8:00 Eastern, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from Haiti along with Wyclef Jean, George Clooney. They're hosting "Hope for Haiti Now". And it also features Bono, Sting, Shakira, Keith Urban, John Legend, many, many others. The global telethon will be airing right here, 8:00 Eastern tonight.

And that's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for being with us on this Friday morning. We'll see you back here on Monday.

ROBERTS: All right. See you then. The news continues including our special coverage of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake now with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Hi, Kyra.