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American Morning
New Bin Laden Tape Threatens More Attacks on the U.S.; Obama State of the Union Address to Focus on the Economy; Haitian Town Tries to Revive Marketplace; Haiti's Orphans: Home at Last; Searching For Life; The Stimulus Project; Vitamin Bust; Salami Recall; Teen Cholesterol
Aired January 25, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this Monday, the 25th of January. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the top stories this morning.
U.S. counterterrorism officials are now analyzing a new audio message. It's said to be from Osama bin Laden and in it he praises the attempted Christmas Day bombing of an airliner and also threatens more attacks on the United States. What the administration is saying about the audiotape and its possible significance. We'll be live with Barbara Starr at the Pentagon in just a moment.
At least 150,000 people confirmed dead in Haiti 13 days after the earthquake. The government is expected to release an official death toll today. But as one official puts it, nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble. With most search and rescues efforts coming to an end now, over the weekend, a stunning rescue that crews are calling a miracle. We'll have more details on that.
CHETRY: And starting every morning this week, CNN will take on the $787 billion stimulus project. After all, it's your money and you should know how it's being spent. Who is it helping and who may have abused the program? This morning, Christine Romans and our CNN Money Team break down where a big chunk of your tax dollars went.
ROBERTS: OK, let's get you started on your day and caught up on the news. There is no official confirmation that it's him but a new audiotape said to be from Osama bin Laden claims that he played a major roll in the attempted bombing of a U.S. jetliner Christmas Day. And in the message, he threatens new attacks against the United States.
Barbara Starr is following developments for us live from the Pentagon. And, Barbara, is bin Laden really behind this attack, this attempted bombing of the airliner on Christmas day or is he just claiming responsibility?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well, that is the question, John, that nobody knows the answer to. Bin Laden indirectly on this tape claiming responsibility for the Christmas Day attack, promising more attacks against the United States because of U.S. support for Israel on the Palestinian issue.
Now, a U.S. counterterrorism official tells CNN, quote, "A message like this, no matter whose voice it may be should come as no surprise. Al Qaeda has, from time to time, tried to build support for its program of murder by talking about the Palestinian issue."
Here's the bottom line, John, Al Qaeda in Yemen by all accounts was behind the training and equipping of Farouk Abdulmutallab in that Christmas Day attack. These are now Al Qaeda affiliates, Al Qaeda groups around the world inspired by bin Laden, not necessarily waiting direct orders from him. That, of course, has been going on for some time. A very dangerous development.
The bottom line on that Christmas Day attack is it now demonstrates that one of these Al Qaeda affiliate organizations does have the ability to reach out and touch American citizens. That's what the U.S. administration is focused on. That's what has them so concerned about this growing Al Qaeda threat around the world -- John.
ROBERTS: So, Barbara, what's the real motivation for these audiotapes? Is he just trying to stay relevant? Does he perhaps try to use these as a recruiting tool?
STARR: You know, I think most analysts would tell you that's exactly it. By all accounts, bin Laden remains fairly isolated. He may be able to communicate, we are told, in some respects, but perhaps not day to day operationally. These statements on audio give him the ability to engage in propaganda, recruiting, try and stay relevant with his own jihad followers. That's something that the U.S. says they believe remains unchanged.
I have to tell you, many officials say the real concern that they have may not be so much bin Laden but his number two, Ayman al- Zawahiri (ph). He may be the man now directly in operational control day to day, ordering new plans for new attacks against America -- John.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr for us this morning at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, the Obama administration is refocusing on what has been issue number one all along, the economy. The White House says that the president's first State of the Union address on Wednesday night will be all about putting the middle class back to work. And many critics are saying that the president took his eye off the ball for too long, and last week's election in Massachusetts may have been a wake-up call.
Suzanne Malveaux live for us this morning at the White House. Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kiran. Well, obviously, the president as well as the administration is really trying to regroup after last week, which was arguably the worse week for the Obama presidency. We saw top advisers of the weekend hitting the political shows essentially saying that the president now is going to be focusing on what Americans say is the number one priority that is creating jobs. They say that the president is going to focus on that. It is going to be the centerpiece of his State of the Union address on Wednesday.
And, Kiran, they're also trying to make the argument here that the president has not been lackluster when it comes to looking at the economic conditions and the crisis. The one thing they continually point to is that $787 billion economic stimulus package, which we are focusing on this week. They say it's helped save or create jobs.
But I want you to take a listen, a close listen to what his advisers said about this, because it's very clear, there is not a consistent way to either measure or get the message out about the success of creating jobs. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE JARRETT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: The Recovery Act saved thousands and thousands of jobs.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We finally saw the first positive economic job growth in more than a year, largely as a result of the recovery plan that's put money back into our economy, that saved or created a million and a half jobs.
DAVID AXELROD, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: The recovery act the president passed has created more than -- or saved more than two million jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Kiran, you can see with all those different numbers it can be quite confusing. We're going to be pressing the administration, the advisers on what do they mean. What has this administration really done over the last year when it comes to either saving or creating jobs?
I had a chance to talk to two of those three advisers we saw on camera there last week, who said they are trying to hone the president's message to give a very clear message to the American people they obviously have some more work to do on that. And they have brought in a key player, David Plouffe, as you know, throughout the campaign. We got to know him very well. He was the centerpiece of the campaign, really at the heart of it, of that successful Obama campaign. He's brought in to help clear up that message and make sure that the Democratic Party is not going to suffer from some very big losses here in the mid-term elections because of some of this fuzziness over the economy and the economic situation -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It seems like campaign mode all over again. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning. Thanks so much.
And here at CNN, we're also digging deeper all week long. We're asking the hard questions and holding Washington accountable for passing the biggest spending bill in history. What are you getting for something that cost more than the Louisiana purchase, the Marshall plan, and the race to the moon combined? Christine Romans is going to break it all down for you. She joins us in just seven minutes.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning. Search teams are looking for survivors after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed into the Mediterranean Sea overnight. It was a Boeing 737. It reportedly went down in flames minutes after taking off from Lebanon. Ninety passengers and crew were on board. Twenty-three bodies have so far been recovered. The crash is believed to be weather related.
CHETRY: And crews near Port Arthur, Texas are working to clean up an oil spill this morning. The Coast Guard says an 800-foot tanker headed for an Exxon refinery collided with two barges. It happened on Saturday, leaking about 460,000 gallons of crude. So far 46,000 gallons have been removed. It is the largest spill in Texas since 1994.
ROBERTS: And the Saints are marching to the Super Bowl for the first time in the franchise's 42-year history. New Orleans beat the Minnesota Vikings in overtime last time, 31 to 28. Just five years ago, Hurricane Katrina badly damaged the superdome. There was no power, no plumbing, major damage, seats, walls and wires, but the Saints are back. They'll face the Indianapolis Colts who beat the Jets, 30 to 17. Super Bowl XLIV takes place on February the 7th in Miami.
CHETRY: All right. There you have it. Well, it's seven minutes past the hour right now. We get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras in the extreme weather center this morning.
I can do a double-take, Jacqui. We're in the 50s in some parts of the East Coast for a high today. What's going on?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know, but it's raining.
CHETRY: That's true.
JERAS: Unfortunately, but, you know, liquid or frozen, whatever you want, but weather conditions pretty nasty for the most part. In fact, it's been rough last night in some parts of the Southeast.
Take a look at the radar picture. We're watching for the potential of severe thunderstorms yet at this hour across the Eastern Carolinas. Just a sliver of the watch left, but we could see more reissued later on today. Wet weather in the northeast, but yes, you will be warm. And one tornado warning to mention for Lake and (INAUDIBLE) counties there. We'll be watching that cell as well. We'll have more coming up in a minute -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Jacqui, thanks. We'll see you soon.
Still ahead on the Most News in the Morning, you can't call it normal but some familiar sights are beginning to return to the streets of Haiti. Gary Tuchman shows us how people are trying to put their lives back together. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it's 10 minutes past the hour right now. A quick check of the other stories new this morning.
Government officials in Haiti say more than 150,000 people have been buried in mass graves. The number of dead, though, from the earthquake is expected to eventually be much higher. Haiti's communication minister says, quote, "Nobody knows how many bodies have been buried under the rubble." An official death toll is said to be released a little bit later today.
ROBERTS: And while doctors have answered the call for medical help in Haiti, nurses are suddenly in short supply. A nursing school on the grounds of the general hospital in Port-au-Prince collapsed in the earthquake. Medical volunteers say physical therapists are also needed because of the many amputees who need specialized help in their recovery.
CHETRY: Well, they made it through the earthquake alive but now many of the people of Haiti have quite a long road to recovery. And many of them are trying to make a living. As Gary Tuchman found out, commerce is making a slow comeback.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tomas Street (ph) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Like so many streets in the city, the destruction is everywhere you look. But the residents need to figure out how to make a living. So they're trying to make money in the streets. Here they're using sewing machines from another era to make t-shirts. Here they've reopened a mini restaurant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, HAITIAN (through translator): I have spaghetti.
TUCHMAN: And here...
(on camera): What are you selling here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, HAITIAN (through translator): I sell moonshine hard liquor.
TUCHMAN: On this block that has been devastated, capitalism is alive and well. You can buy clothes, you can buy hot dogs, you can buy spaghetti. You can buy candy and gum. You can buy liquor. When I say capitalism is alive and well, I probably should have said the concept of capitalism is alive and well, because while there are plenty of sellers and products, there are very few buyers.
(voice-over): The family that is sewing together doesn't really have anyone who is ready to buy their t-shirts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, HAITIAN (through translator): We need someone to help us. TUCHMAN: The spaghetti guy also says nobody has money, and he's paid twice as much as he used to for his inventory. Like so many here, he is personally suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, HAITIAN (through translator): My house is gone. My mother died. And my brother died.
TUCHMAN: While we were on Tomas (ph) Street, aid came in the way of a water truck. But it's for bathing, not drinking.
This is Isla (ph) and her extended family.
(on camera): And where do you live?
(voice-over): Right across the street is her house, or was her house. Now, she says, she and her family sit outside hungry and thirsty.
(on camera): Right next door they're selling spaghetti.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, HAITIAN (through translator): I have no money.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The only businessman we found making some money on Tomas (ph) Street --
(on camera): Do you drink that?
(voice-over): Is the moonshine man. He says it's because people need to put their minds at ease.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Some pretty incredible scenes there.
CHETRY: Yes. And, you know, people picking themselves up out of nothing, really. I mean, the t-shirt makers, you know, hoping someday somebody's going to be able to buy this.
ROBERTS: Hope that the aid that's going in there goes to the right places because I guess, you know, Bill Clinton, the former president says we've got a chance to build this place back much better than it was. Fingers crossed on that point.
Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, we begin a week- long look at the federal stimulus plan. $200 billion to kick start the economy. Christine Romans will be here to tell us whether Americans feel if that was money well spent or not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning where we're starting a special week here on CNN, the most trusted name in news. It's stimulus week, where we're tracking all of the dollars that the United States government has pumped into the economy to try to get it kick started again. And -- and here's a government Web site that's a really great resource for you if you want to follow the dollar. It's www.recovery.gov.
Look at the main page here, in -- we've got -- we've got maps on it here that are clickable, and I'll show you that in just a second. If you come down, more information here, the government claiming that 640,000 jobs have been created as a result of the stimulus package. And if you want to see how it breaks down state by state, you come up with this interactive map. Say you want to know what happened in California, we have the number of funds that were awarded here.
Here's the map. Sorry. I'll just bring this up a little bit. It's kind of being a little finicky this morning, unfortunately. Yes. OK, well, let me go to another state. I guess we don't -- you know, this whole thing seems to have crashed, unfortunately, so I guess that means that a little bit of stimulus money toward the Magic Wall would probably be a good idea. So we'll try to show you that a little bit later on. It's Monday morning and it's still trying to get the cobwebs out.
So how many stimulus dollars do you think we can get to fix our Magic Wall?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I know there were $13 million stimulus dollars to make the recovery.gov website, so there's a lot of really interesting things...
CHETRY: There you go.
ROMANS: ... you can do in there, and that was a actually a big stimulus project for a -- a tech company to come up with that...
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) was that embarrassing or what?
ROMANS: No, no -- listen. Do you think everybody getting ready for work hasn't had -- had their computer crash and they're trying to (INAUDIBLE)?
CHETRY: Of course. And -- and just the whole issue of being able to track the stimulus dollars -- I mean, early on you showed us first hand just how difficult it is, how difficult it is to say what jobs were saved and what jobs were created.
ROMANS: Well, look, it's a huge, diverse -- diverse outlay of money that comes in a lot of different ways. And it's -- it's interesting because, the new poll, the CNN/Opinion Research Poll in showing that Americans have a less popular view of the stimulus than when it was passed almost a year ago. Today, only 42 percent favor the economic stimulus. Back in February last year, 60 percent did, 56 now oppose it.
Most people think the stimulus money went to political projects, frankly, and not to benefit the economy, and 74 percent of people think -- that we polled think that half or more of the stimulus has been wasted.
Now, remember, this is a big, expansive program. We've never seen anything like it. I wanted to show you how it fits in some of the other things America has done and spent money on to try to make a big impact. Look, the Iraq war, over years, about $600 billion. The new deal, about half a billion dollars. That was also over the years (ph). The marshal plan to rebuild Europe -- think of that. This is inflation (ph) of just in dollars, $115 billion.
So, would you look at the stimulus and -- and Christina Romer was one of the president's big point people on this, and others have said, this -- we've never done anything like this before. Very -- very arrayed bunch of things, tax cuts, checks in the mail for senior citizens and then a lot of different stimulus projects.
But what is for sure is that when this was passed, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, now it's 10 percent. Is there any wonder that people are saying, huh, this was supposed to create jobs, but the unemployment rate is going up.
CHETRY: And so, is there any -- I mean, when you say people feel in that poll, 74 percent of people feel that the money was wasted in some way, shape or form, is that true? Was it wasted? Or is there no way to find out?
ROMANS: Well, you -- you can't say yes or no for a whole $787 billion. I mean, we -- all week, we're going to look at each different section of this. We've gone to job sites. We started investigating job sites a year ago. What has happened -- you know, we've interviewed people who -- they are a stimulus job. They're on unemployment check. They're getting unemployment check right now, and, you know, that stimulus job didn't last too long.
So it's -- it's an incredibly complicated and -- as I keep saying -- diverse. All week we're going to just sort of peel back the onion and show you what your money is buying.
ROBERTS: Monday morning, have you got a Romans Numeral to kick us off?
ROMANS: I do. I have a big one, 56,986.
ROBERTS: The amount of money that it's going to take to fix the Magic Wall?
ROMANS: It might take more than that.
This is the number of stimulus projects. Our brainiacs here at CNN actually counted every single one of them using recovery.gov and using these resources that we have.
ROBERTS: No wonder the Wall wouldn't work. It overloaded.
ROMANS: You got it! Right, 56,986 projects. We haven't been to every one of them, but we've been to a lot of them, and all week we'll be bringing you the different tales of -- of success and woe, depending on the -- depending on the project, across the country.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure!
CHETRY: By the way, you can track the money yourself, where did it go, who is it helping and who has abused the program. You can head to cnn.com/stimulus.
ROBERTS: Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING we'll show you some of the good news from the stimulus money. One family has food on their table because of it.
CHETRY: Also later tonight on "CAMPBELL BROWN", 8:00 PM Eastern, find out why some residents, Montana in particular, thinks their state has made a double fault with their tax dollars.
ROBERTS: Then at 10:00 PM Eastern, "AC 360" investigates why stimulus money is going to so many companies that have a history of law breaking.
The stimulus project, all this week, starting right here in the morning, on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: All right. And still ahead on the Most News in the Morning, we're going to continue our series following astronaut Cady Coleman. She's preparing for her mission to space. John Zarrella has tracked her every step of the way, and he shows us how luck struck twice for her.
It's now 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- four minutes past the hour, top stories just five minutes away.
First, though, an "AM Original". It's something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING. It's our exclusive all-access pass into astronaut Cady Coleman's journey to space. Today we get an inside look at this part supermom, part astronaut's role model status at work.
Our John Zarrella is following Cady's year-long journey, and he is live in Miami today. Wow! The countdown's on. It's December, right, when they finally head into space?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Kiran, less than a year. And the last time we talked to Cady, she was saying she can really feel it now. It feels like it's real and that it's going to happen.
I was kidding with her the last time I talked to her. I said, you know what? You really are a type "A" personality. And I just talked to her a little while ago. She just landed in Japan for two -- for about two weeks of training and getting prepped -- prepped for the International Space Station trip.
And, you know, even when she's not on schedule, working, she stays busy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Flying twice on space shuttle missions.
CADT COLEMAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: The plants that we've had on board here, we've kind of -- we're going to test them two different ways.
ZARRELLA: Training for a six-month stay on the International Space Station.
It's not lost on astronaut Cady Coleman that good fortune has smiled nicely upon her.
COLEMAN: It probably seems terrible to -- I mean, so many people would like to go to space, and to think -- but I want to go, again.
ZARRELLA: There's perhaps just a touch of guilt in her voice. It's quickly engulfed by a wave of passion that transcends the flying -- a desire to give back, to make time to share the experience.
JOSH SIMPSON, COLEMAN'S HUSBAND: It's incredible how she's able to explain complicated stuff to people in a way that they can understand. But it's not just kids, it's also -- it's college people and adults.
ZARRELLA: A little weightless levity never hurts, like eating Gummy Bears in space -- purely for science. And, if you believe that...
COLEMAN: Who was going to be the best, the Gummy Bears, the Gummy Worms, the Gummy Fish, the Gummy Dinosaurs? I did not know, and so we brought them all. We had auditions, and the Bears were the best.
ZARRELLA: Sandwiched between training in Russia and Houston, a lecture at her alma mater, the University of Massachusetts, autograph signing, an interview with a local reporter and demonstrating what doesn't work in weightlessness.
COLEMAN: And so, swimming doesn't really help, and moving your legs doesn't really help very much either.
ZARRELLA: Somersaults are cake. The U Mass visit came at the end of a day when Cady had already spent time at her son's Jamie's (ph) elementary school.
COLEMAN: Here is two robotic arms, because sometimes we have things we want to pass from robotic arm to robotic arm.
ZARRELLA (on camera): You were paying attention, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. ZARRELLA: So when she asked -- when she told you how many robotic arms are on the space station, do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Two.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Coleman, like many of NASA's women astronauts, believes their visibility can be an inspiration, in particular to young girls. Like one in Jamie's (ph) class. She drew a picture of a girl astronaut with a pink rocketship.
COLEMAN: There are still a lot of mixed messages that girls growing up get, and that not all of them who are 6 and 7 years old even think that they might be able to do this or that whatever their dream job is, that they could choose and do.
ZARRELLA: Cady's experience was similar, never thinking becoming an astronaut was possible until after attending a talk by America's first woman in space, Sally Ride.
COLEMAN: To me, it was a very pivotal moment where I just thought, I want that job.
Just like gravity...
ZARRELLA: And she got it.
COLEMAN: ... that forces the heavier objects to go to the outside of the bag.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: You know, it's funny, in that class that she was teaching, Kiran, to her son's school, the question her son asked when he raised his hand? Mom, when are you going to retire? Her response was, probably after this next mission. Probably, not definitely -- Kiran.
CHETRY: That's interesting. So he's -- he's excited about it or nervous? How does he feel about his mom taking on all of this?
ZARRELLA: Yes, you know, he's 9 years old. It's kind of starting to absorb it all. He gets it, but it's like hey, you know? No big deal.
CHETRY: Pretty neat.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
CHETRY: How many kids can say hey, my mom's an astronaut and she's coming to class today?
ZARRELLA: Exactly. Exactly.
CHETRY: John Zarrella, thanks so much.
Well, you can follow Cady as she documents the behind the scenes life of an astronaut. You can go to her blog. It's linked to our show page, cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Coming up on the half hour, and that means it's time for this morning's top stories.
U.S. intelligence officials are analyzing a new audiotape said to be from Osama Bin Laden for possible clues about new terror attacks in the United States. In the message, he claims responsibility for the attempted bombing of an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day and warns of more attacks on American soil.
CHETRY: China defending itself in a cyber war against Google. China's government is denying it had anything to do with cyber attacks that targeted some human rights activists.
Google threatened to completely pull out of China after it threat -- after it accused Chinese hackers of breaking into some e-mail accounts. They were able to trace the attacks on the computers to hackers in China but not directly tie them to the Chinese government.
ROBERTS: It's a big week here at CNN, Stimulus Week. Every hour we're holding Washington accountable for passing the biggest spending bill in history. So many people still have no clue what they're actually getting out of it.
In 15 minutes' time, we're going to check in with TJ Holmes. He's at our special Stimulus Desk in Atlanta, for a look at some of the 57,000 projects underway and who they're benefiting.
The littlest victims of the earthquake in Haiti were hoping to find new hope and a new home in the United States, but after arriving in Orlando this weekend, bureaucracy and red tape was keeping some orphans from actually leaving the airport with their adoptive families.
Here's CNN's Martin Savidge with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's the best time to start a family? About 1:00 on a Monday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels great.
SAVIDGE: At least according to nearly two dozen adoptive parents who spent two days at the Sanford Airport near Orlando waiting for this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all worth it in the end, all worth it. Wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excited. Complete.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Complete now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely complete.
SAVIDGE: The joy was in stark contrast to earlier when we found Katy Hansley at the end of her emotional rope.
KATY HANSLEY, ADOPTIVE PARENTS: This has been a nightmare today.
SAVIDGE: She's had less than four hours sleep in three days and she's terrified she's losing the little girl she thought she saved from Haiti.
HANSLEY: Why are you holding on to our children when their lives are at risk and they just need their parents?
SAVIDGE: Three-year-old Gracie arrived Saturday afternoon on board a military transport from Port-au-Prince with 79 other orphans. More than 24 hours later, Katy and nearly two dozen other adoptive parents are still waiting to be united with their children. Federal officials say the children and their would-be parents have to go through a thorough documentation check.
As the process moves slowly forward at the Orlando Sanford Airport, the children sleep and play on blankets on the floor in the customs area, cared for by Red Cross, TSA and customs officers, as well as medical personnel. Their waiting parents sleep on the floor in baggage claim.
But late Sunday afternoon, the bureaucratic logjam broke, apparently after mounting political pressure as news of the orphan stalemate at the airport spread.
As one parent put it, it was the worst of times that became the best of times. Something new mom Katy Hansley would agree with.
HANSLEY: I haven't slept in about 36 hours. But -- she's here. So, I have to say it was still worth it.
SAVIDGE (on camera): Federal officials admit there have been lessons learned in this long, drawn out ordeal -- which is probably a good thing, because the next relief flight bound from Haiti with orphans on board is expected here later today -- John and Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Martin Savidge this morning -- Martin, thanks so much.
The Haitian government officially calling an end to search and rescue operations in the wake of the devastating earthquake, but rescue teams are still out there searching for miracles. In fact, Saturday, 11 days after the quake, a 25-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble of a hotel.
So, what are the chances that more rescues will be made?
Joining me live from Port-au-Prince this morning is Dennis Cross. He is the fire captain of the L.A. County Search and Rescue team, and Larry Collins, L.A. County Fire Department search team manager. Both men have been leading some of the rescues in Haiti.
It's great to see you, again, Dennis. And welcome, Larry. I appreciate having you on the program.
Dennis, start this up here. Tell us about that unbelievable rescue at the Hotel Napoli over the weekend.
DENNIS CROSS, FIRE CAPTAIN, L.A. COUNTY SEARCH & RESCUE TEAM: Well, from the reports we've heard, the call came in that there was possibly a live person still in this rubble. We deployed our search and rescue team. They arrived on-site. There was an international team already there. They assisted them with equipment and some technology, and they affected this rescue.
It was a vertical breach. The person was apparently down six to eight feet in the concrete, and due to the good fortune and combined effort of the international search and rescue teams, this individual was able to be pulled out to safety. It's remarkable and it what reminds us that any time that a call could come in and we could be deploying and finding the person that's done a way to stay alive for 14-plus days.
ROBERTS: You know, we're looking at these pictures as you're describing. And you can see, he's just got barely enough height for his head and shoulders to get through. And he's kind of wriggling through on his belly.
But, you know, Larry, the last time we had Dennis and his team on, they were talking to us about the rule of fours here when it comes to rescues. Say, four minutes without oxygen, four days without water, 40 days without food -- a lot of these survivors seem to have thrown out the rulebook.
LARRY COLLINS, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT. SEARCH TEAM MANAGER: I think this earthquake event is going to -- it's a game-changer in a lot of ways. We plan to do round-the-clock search and rescue operations for up to 16 days in some cases anyway, because people have survived that long. So, we're nearing that record scenario, and there's such vast devastation here. There's so many buildings collapsed, and you simply can't completely search every one of them.
So, there may be some surprises popping up as they start de- layering the buildings. We're not going to know until we actually dig them all out. And that's why you see these continued efforts.
ROBERTS: You know, we're in day 13 right now, Dennis. And the longest, you know -- at least reported person to have survived an earthquake was in the Philippines back in 1990, 14 days. He apparently was able to drink rain water every day. And this fellow who was pulled out of the Hotel Napoli apparently had access to some either cans or bottles of Coca-Cola.
But, you know, you say you plan to be there for 16 days but are you really starting to approach the upper limit of survivability here?
CROSS: Yes, that's what we're seeing. You know, it's -- again, the conditions where the person might be trapped, they might have been in a large void space, they might have had access to any bit of food or water and can increase their odds. Unfortunately, the most part we found that people that have been pulled to safety have been in incredibly small spaces or void places. A lot of times, they're pinned or they're trapped. Either something is on their chest.
One of the saves that we made where the victim was trapped with their hands between a piece of pipe and concrete. By a heroic rescuer, went in with a saw and was able to cut this pipe free and allow this victim to escape. So, it all depends on their circumstance, what kind of hole they're in, what kind of void. And if they're able to assist themselves until, hopefully, rescuers arrive.
ROBERTS: It's just so impressive the way that you guys go in there and putting yourself at such risk to try to cut people out of the rubble. We want to tell you, our hats are off to all of you.
Larry, the Haitian government over the weekend called an end -- an official end to the search and rescue operation, and said it's time to move into recovery mode.
What about you folks? What about L.A. County? What are you doing? Are you moving into recovery road -- moving into recovery mode, or are you still out there trying to rescue people?
COLLINS: Well, we're still working for USAID. And USAID still has us in country. So, at any given time, if some sign of life is found there, we're ready to deploy straight out, just as we did several times yesterday, and go straight to the scene and quickly assess it with our search dogs, search cameras and other assets and determine if, in fact, there's someone possibly alive, and if they are (AUDIO GAP) go in after them.
So that capability remains in place until we leave country. And then there are other plans beyond that to have some capability for the surprise pop-up live survivor.
And again, this is an event that's a game changer in a lot of ways. It's definitely going to rewrite the way we do some of our search operations, some of our rescue. And we're going to reassess -- there's never been a disaster where you've had this many deeply entombed victims rescued. I think 133 at this point.
ROBERTS: Pretty amazing.
COLLINS: And by deeply entombed, some of these rescues have gone -- they've gone on 26 hours.
ROBERTS: Dennis...
COLLINS: So, again, a game changer.
ROBERTS: Yes. Dennis, you guys have been there for the better part of two weeks. What kind of an effect has this had on you personally, emotionally?
CROSS: It can be taxing. You know, as firefighters in the U.S., we see devastation, we see people's lives at their lowest. And our job is to use our training, use our experience and professionalism to go in and help them in the situation they find themselves.
Here, we truly had to set aside some of the grim sights we've seen and realize that they need our help. And what we do is we set -- we try and set emotions aside, we try and set feelings, we do the task at hand. Hopefully, if we're successful, when we exit a building or a void space, and a life has been saved...
ROBERTS: Yes.
CROSS: ... we talk about the success, we realize the fortune. And then later on, when we're back in our camp in the evening, we all talk and discuss it and relieve some of the pressure. We know it's -- that it doesn't end there, but it's an avenue of escape and the camaraderie on the teams -- not only ours -- but other U.S. teams that are here have been remarkable.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, I'll tell you, gentleman, you've been doing amazing work there and we've been following it along on the ground, and the, you know, opportunities we've had to talk to you here, and it's an -- it's an honor to talk to you. You make us all proud. Thanks so much.
CROSS: It's been a pleasure. Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: All right.
Coming up now on 39 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Forty-one minutes after the hour now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The start of something big here at CNN, beginning this morning and continuing all week long. We're breaking down the president's $787 billion stimulus plan piece-by-piece. Where did the money, your money, go? Who is it helping, and who abused it?
T.J. Holmes is manning our stimulus desk. He is live in Atlanta for us this morning.
This is a big project and a lot of money to follow. How is following the dollar -- is it easy or difficult?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, it's -- no problem at all. It's very easy.
Now, this is -- this is our issue right here, let me show you this. This is just a fraction of the stimulus bill and the stimulus projects we're talking about. We're talking about $787 billion.
What you're seeing back here, these binders you're looking at, these only represent about $158 billion of those dollars. These are projects all around the country, we're talking about some 58,000 projects. And just in the binders you're seeing right here. And these are all of the things at our stimulus desk, by the way, that we are taking a look at.
This is our team here. We've turned this into our stimulus desk. So, we got a group that's going to be working nonstop this week on -- some of them gave me a little look there -- nonstop? We didn't sign up for that. Yes, you did. We're doing this nonstop this week.
But these are the binders are the projects that we are going through.
All around the country, they claim to have -- these projects alone -- to have created or saved, at this point, some 640,000 jobs. We're going to be looking into that and see if that money is being put to good use.
But walk on over here, let me show you a little something else we're looking at. This map here, this represents some of the -- some of where we sent our reporters around the country. This represents some of those projects that we are looking at. And we're going to look more in depth this week at some of these very projects around the country.
One of them, in particular, we can tell about is out in California. Sunset Boulevard -- a lot of people are familiar with this very famous street out there in California. Well, would you believe that some of your stimulus dollars are going out there?
Now, some people have criticized this project, scratched their head about it a little bit, saying, "Wait a minute, should my money be going to the Sunset Strip, the Sunset Boulevard?" Well, yes, some $1.1 million did go to this project to help beautify the place. You know, it's California. You might think it's beautiful already, but they say it has created or saved some 20 jobs.
So, is that a good use of your money? My money? Stimulus money? That is the big question.
So, these are the projects. We're going to be showing you those stories, pulling those out. Again, this is just a fraction of those projects we're overall looking into. But these are the ones we're going to go in depth with you this week.
So far -- but this, so far, I can tell you is the number. That's the worth of the projects that you see represented. And this will change during the week.
So, now, the projects that we're going to be showing you in depth on that map I just show you, this $1.2 billion is what it represents. Again, that's just a fraction, John, of the $787 billion. But we are going to attack this thing, attack it hard, and make sure this money is being put to good use, I guess you could say.
But no doubt, in a project this big, people say there's no question, some of it is going to get used and abused and not used in a way that a lot of people think it should.
But we're trying to track (ph) this major project this week, John. So, we'll be checking in with you again plenty.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. T.J. Holmes this morning -- T.J., thanks so much.
HOLMES: All right.
CHETRY: All right. Well, you can also track the money yourself, find out where it went, who is it helping and who has maybe abused the program. You can check it out at CNN.com/stimulus.
ROBERTS: Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to show you some of the good news from the stimulus money. One family has food on their table because of it.
CHETRY: Also later tonight, "CAMPBELL BROWN," 8:00 p.m. Eastern, find out why some residents of Montana think that their state has actually made a double fault with their tax dollars.
ROBERTS: Then at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, "AC 360" investigates why stimulus money is going to so many companies that have a history of breaking the law. "The Stimulus Project" -- all this week, starting right here every day, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: It's 45 minutes past the hour right now. Our Jacqui Jeras is going to join us after a quick break with the morning's travel forecast.
ROBERTS: And at 10 minutes time, Jeanne Moos and the television cameraman who found himself face-to-face with an angry woman and her hoe.
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CHETRY: It's 45 minutes past the hour right now. Jacqui Jeras is going to join us after a quick break with the morning's travel forecast.
ROBERTS: And at 10 minute's time, Jeanne Moos and the television cameraman who found himself face-to-face with an angry woman and her hoe.
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CHETRY: That's a pretty shot in New York City this morning. It's 49 degrees right now. It's a little rainy out there, and that will continue throughout the day, even though we're seeing highs of 54 degrees in January, but still, bring your umbrella.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 48 minutes past the hour right now, that means it's time for your "AM House Call" stories about your health. Vitamin boosted smoothies, fortified juices, and those emergency pockets, they could just be a waste of you're time. Nutrition experts say that adults can easily taken more 1600 percent of their daily vitamin needs with some of these self- proclaimed immunity enhancing products, and doctors say that eventually the supplements efficiency disappears plus you can get side effects like too much vitamin C can cause stomach cramps and nausea.
Rhode Island companies were calling nearly a quarter million pounds of lunch mate after health experts used shopping receipts to trace a massive salmonella outbreak. Daniele International has recalled pepper-coated salami that's already sickened 184 people in 34 states since July. The question now is whether the meat or the pepper is the culprit. Daniele says there is no evidence that it is the source. Studying tested two of the company's three plants which found no bacteria.
And a new study finds that one in five teenagers has cholesterol troubles. The report also says more 40 percent of obese teens have abnormal levels, and this backs up calls for aggressive testing and intervention by pediatricians. Despite the figures though, many parents say they're unclear when to test and also what to do if they find problems.
Historically, doctors have been divided on whether to prescribe statins to kids due to possible long-term side effects. It's something that Sanjay has talked about before as well. In many cases, losing weight can make the difference, and the cholesterol levels can go back to normal, but in some cases, the kids do need to take these statin drugs at such a young age.
ROBERTS: I can't imagine them being on statin drugs for an entire lifetime.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: But why did prescribe them on people at my age, but you know, teenagers, I don't know about that.
It's coming up on ten minutes down to the top of the hour. Let's get a quick check on this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning, and I finally got home from Atlanta last night, Jacqui, but it wasn't until very early this morning.
JERAS: My delays were like 4-5 hours,
ROBERTS: Yes, yes. Oh, were they really?
JERAS: They really were, yes. You know, It probably would have been worse if you're going the other way around, though, because that would be arrival delays that were a little bit longer for you. Lots of airport delays expected today as well across particularly the mid Atlantic and the northeastern states. Our system that caused all the tie-ups yesterday now really approaching the coast. You can see our tornado watches expired, but we'll still watch, you know, the Eastern Carolinas for isolated severe weather as well as central parts of Florida.
Now, the system caused a lot of rainfall, 1 to 3 inches, across much of the southeast and a lot of flooding as a result. Take a look at these pictures that we have from our I-reporter, out of Kentucky from yesterday. This is from Wayne Farmer (ph). He lives in Barbourville, Kentucky, and he said that there was a lot of water all over the place. The car is having trouble trying to get through it which you shouldn't do, by the way and a lot of roads were closed off as well as the church and parking lots, so thanks to Wayne for sending us that video.
We'll see more pictures like this likely throughout the day today, especially into the Virginias and into the Atlantic states. You can see that rain pulling into the northeast now, and this is continue throughout much of the day today. The temperatures are warm.
This is our Pacific system that was in California last week. Winds are going to be kicking up this afternoon as well, so we could see some gusts, 40-50 miles and that could cause some damage. So yes, winds, clouds, rain, you bet your bottom dollar we'll have lots of problems at the northeast airports and a few in the Midwest too due to some wind and a little bit of snow -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Jacqui, thanks so much. We'll see you again soon.
CHETRY: This morning's top stories are just minutes away, including at the top of the hour. There are 150,000 people now confirmed dead in haiti, and that number could go up. And meantime, there's a mass exodus, people trying to get out of Port-au-Prince any way they can. Christiane Amanpour and Sanjay Gupta live on the ground for us.
ROBERTS: At 7:10 eastern, Peter Bergen and Fran Townsend breaking down a new message and a new warning said to be from Osama Bin Laden. Why would the man who pulled up 9/11 take credit for an attempted bombing that essentially was a bust?
CHETRY: Also 7:18 Eastern, $787 billion buys what? It's stimulus week here on CNN, and Christine Romans is going to be joining us to show us just where a lot of that money went. Those stories and much more coming your way at the top of the hour. It's 52 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's now 55 minutes past the hour. It means it's time for the "Moost" News in the Morning, and it's normally used to tend a garden.
ROBERTS: But when news crews sprouted on this woman's front porch, a Florida grandmother used her gardening tool to attack. Jeanne Moos shows us what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The press could have it worse. You could get hit by a tear gas canister.
Or smacked with a plastic bottle. UNKNOWN MALE: That's not appropriate.
MOOS: Or have a loaded gun pointed at you.
So relatively speaking, what's a little garden variety hoe?
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Hey, don't put that camera in my (EXPLETIVE WORD) face, man. Get out of (EXPLETIVE WORD) porch right now.
MOOS: It's the grandma hoe attack that cameraman from WESH TV in Orlando, Florida took the brunt of it.
While a shooter from another station, WOFL videotaped the guy getting attacked.
The two news crews came looking for a mother who reported to police that her 15-year-old daughter had been working in this strip club, but neighbors said it was the grandmother who came to the door.
Aside from the obvious question, why does she have the hoe with her when she answers the door. The online debate centered on whether the press deserved it. Leaches. Sub human media pukes you got what you deserve. You go, granny. You go, girl. She went, all right. The reporter from WOFL told Fox News what the hoe-down was like.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Just the look in her eye and seeing the way she was swinging that hoe, first thing going through my mind was I need to get out of striking distance.
MOOS: The other reporter stood her ground.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
MOOS (on-camera): The question is, does grandma have a second amendment right to bear hoes?
MOOS (voice-over): Some thought she should be arrested. The hoe hit the camera, not the man, and the cameraman did file a police report but hasn't decided whether to press charges. He might want to brush up on his tools.
UNKNOWN MALE: This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker.
UNKNOWN MALE: What's a hoe?
UNKNOWN MALE: No. Whoa.
UNKNOWN MALE: What's a rake?
UNKNOWN MALE: A rake is right.
MOOS: Forget jeopardy the game. This is a hoe that puts your life in jeopardy.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Wow. Given the choice, I'll take the plastic bottle across the face. Top stories coming your way in 60 seconds. Stay with us.
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