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CNN Saturday Morning News

Haitian Search and Rescue Operations Ending; Supreme Court Makes a Decision on Campaign Finances; Impact of GOP Win in Massachusetts Senate Race

Aired January 23, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody, from the CNN Center. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's January 23rd. Thanks for being with us. I'm Betty Nguyen.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 8:00 a.m. here in Atlanta where we sit, 7:00 a.m. in San Antonio, Texas and 6:00 a.m. in Flagstaff, Arizona, where it's snowing.

NGUYEN: What?

HOLMES: Hard this morning. Also, we got some pretty severe weather expected in the southeast today. Reynolds Wolf of course is all over that. We're going to talk to him in about 10 minutes.

NGUYEN: He's going to explain what exactly is going on with this weather.

Meantime, though, it has been 11 days since the deadly earthquake in Haiti. We have several new updates for you this morning so let's get right to that.

HOLMES: First here, new news we got overnight. It's certainly not welcome news for those who are still missing loved ones. That is that the search and rescue operations in Haiti have officially come to an end. The government says it wants to now concentrate on helping the injured and those who are left homeless. International teams, however, have pulled 132 people out alive from the rubble since that January 12th quake.

NGUYEN: That's Cold Play there, one of many performers on the "Help Haiti Now" telethon that we saw last night. Donations coming in by phone, by the website and in fact, if you didn't donate last night but you still want to, you have time today.

The phone lines still open. There's the number right there on your screen. You can also go to the web. Here's the deal. If you donate before March 1st to any credited organization, you can deduct that from your 2009 taxes so a lot of benefits especially to help those in Haiti.

HOLMES: As she mentioned there the more details on that. Again, you've got until March 1st and it doesn't matter how your donations came in. A lot of people did texts. We heard our Clive Anderson say just a short time ago that in fact if you even text something in, your proof of your donation is actually going to be in your cell phone bill.

Still, no matter how you sent it in, you can get credit for it. The president actually did sign a bill just the other day, in fact, allowing you to file those taxes 2009, you can deduct for whatever donations you make to Haiti right now.

NGUYEN: A funeral this hour for the Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince. The monsignor died at his home on the cathedral grounds when that crumbled during the earthquake.

CNN's Ivan Watson joins me now live from Haiti's capital. All right, Ivan, the cathedral is ruins. That is obviously where the monsignor died, unfortunately. Where is the funeral taking place?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Betty, this is taking place in the what was the cathedral here (INAUDIBLE). There's a brass band playing in the back. The archbishop from New York, Timothy Dolan is here. For the first times out in public, we've also seen the Haitian President Rene Preval who really has not been out on the streets of the city since the catastrophe struck.

I direct you to take a look. We're going to pan the camera around at the national cathedral here because it really was a stunning ...

NGUYEN: You can see the picture there but unfortunately we lost the audio with our Ivan Watson. But as you can tell from that video, the funeral is taking place just really on the courtyard in front of the cathedral which you can see the rubble there. Ivan do we have you back? Can we hear you?

HOLMES: Lost the audio.

NGUYEN: All right, we're still having some technical difficulties, but ...

WATSON: Betty, can you hear me all right?

NGUYEN: Yes, I can hear you now, Ivan. You got us?

WATSON: Yes, Betty, if you can hear me all right. Sorry about the complications here.

We were at this location when rescue operations were under way earlier this week. And the monsignor's body was actually pulled out from the rubble here by a Mexican search and rescue crew. It was a very touching moment because a nun was on the scene and the Mexican rescue workers, they all gathered around the body of the monsignor. They dropped to their knees and they conducted a prayer.

And I believe we have video from that night of that very sad and tragic moment. Now, the archbishop has been described by friends as a humble man who is very close to the poor. And he had only been in this position as the archbishop of Port-au-Prince for just two years -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Yeah, just 63 years old. He took over the arch diocese in 2008 and ministered there to some two million Roman Catholics. Are you feeling, though, Ivan, as you see the people gather not only for these funerals but we saw church services last weekend that the healing process has begun?

WATSON: Well, again, we're having a little bit of technical difficulties here, Betty. What is remarkable is to see Haitians now have gathered in their finest clothes in the midst of all of this destruction and rubble here, in the midst of right in the shadow of the symbol really of Port-au-Prince, this shattered symbol which still is so striking here with the light coming through the stained glass window here to say farewell to one of their highest-ranked religious leaders.

Roman Catholics, 90 percent of this country is Roman Catholic. This was the leader of the faith in this country and struck down just like so many others when the earth shook here in Port-au-Prince, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Ivan Watson joining us live from Port-au- Prince. Apologize for the audio difficulties, but we do appreciate that report. Thank you, Ivan.

So rebuilding Haiti, it's going to be a slow process. And listen to this. Just restoring electricity to Port-au-Prince we're told is likely going to take three to four months.

HOLMES: So much of this is down the road, but today right now, this moment, there are other basic needs that are far more pressing. Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore oversaw the relief efforts of course in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina and the general joins us now. He's been helping us out with a lot of our coverage of Haiti.

General, good to see you as always. I'll start with kind of how I started with you last weekend, which is, from the last time we spoke to now, which has been a week, what changes have you seen take place there on the ground for the better or for the worse, even?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, (RET.): Seeing more through put supplies arriving. Now we have to approve the distribution of them. You're seeing the "USS Comfort" on scene. You now have the baton (INAUDIBLE) group there providing more capability to open that port. And in the next day or so you will see some navy ships arriving that really has the capacity to restructure that port.

And you will also start seeing what we call a roll on, roll off ship starting to arrive as soon as they can get that pier solid enough where we can actually drive heavy equipment off of those ships directly in. That will give you your road opening capability, T.J..

NGUYEN: Well, general, let me ask you this. We've been talking agent this since right after the earthquake. And we've seen video of pallets of supplies just sitting there. Now, what, it's 11 days following that quake. Are you surprised to see them still sitting there at the airport and not as much being channeled to the people in need? HONORE: Yeah, we need to get -- there's about one more enabler and that's a logistic enabler need to be at the airfield to sort those supplies out. We're used to operating with computers and bar charts. All we got to do is take all those medical supplies, put them in a tent and allow the doctors to come in and shop.

We've got to throw away the rules as we know them in America where people are writing subscriptions. Much like Sanjay did the other day. It's a hasty supply system that needs to be established. And some of those medicines need to be kept cool. They need to put the air conditioning on the medicines need to be kept cool and you need to put the air conditioning on the medicine and not on the tents where people are working.

HOLMES: You still think it's a plausible idea to start evacuating folks out? You talked to us about that a little bit. You still think that's coming and should be coming soon?

HONORE: I think it's an option that has to be on the table for discussion, particularly the seriously injured and the people with -- the elderly and the pregnant women. They have to be moved to a place where they can be sustained. Otherwise it will continue to get worse on the ground as people, as Sanjay adequately described earlier, people will start dying from their injuries.

We need to be able to displace them where they can get in a place where they can be taken care of and some displacement of the population while you build some of the infrastructure. We're faced with a short-term, near-term and mid-term recovery that's got to be worked out quickly T.J..

NGUYEN: General, as we look at this time line I want to ask you if you agree with the Haitian government calling off search and rescue efforts.

HONORE: That comes with every disaster. It's always heartbreaking to those on the ground as it was in New Orleans. But you have to move on and take care of the -- put the majority emphasis. It's not like people are going to stop looking for people. It's the priority change.

Now we are focused on keeping people alive that we have, which adjust logistics and adjust priorities. Then the Haitian government has to decide, as we did in New Orleans, when do you go for the secondary search and if they're going to do secondary search. Secondary search is you go in and you recover the remains inside the buildings, as opposed to having life saving dogs, you have cadaver finding dogs.

That's something the Haitian government has to decide. It's a totally separate operation that you do not start destroying that building until -- but you destroy the building with the intent of recovering the remains, if they're going to do that.

HOLMES: General Honore one last thing before we let you go, you certainly talked about the bureaucracy, the red tape you always run into when you have a major disaster like this, trying to coordinate it all. You said the U.S. military was there, just need to cut them loose. Have you seen that cutting loose of the military yet to just do their thing or do you still see a lot of red tape?

HONORE: I still see, look like the effects of community decision making. We have a great team on the ground, need to let them go, let them execute this thing. Then after you get to the hospitals are established on the ground and distribution points are in. We've got some communication so people can talk. The military needs to help.

The government of Haiti stand up a communications system so the government, the president can talk to his people. If he can talk to his people, he can communicate and be back in command in control of what's going on on the ground.

NGUYEN: General Honore, as always, we appreciate your insight, very good information for us today. Once again, thank you so much.

HOLMES: Thanks, general.

NGUYEN: You know the big weather story has been the heavy rain that has just been coming down day after day in California. But now the southeast has a reason to worry as well.

HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf here with a preview coming up. You've got a lot -- it's always a busy weekend.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We do. It always seems to work out this way, this weekend no exception as you guys mentioned. And we can see the (INAUDIBLE) in parts of the southeast, rain, possibly some severe thunderstorms, maybe some tornadoes before all is said and done. I'll give you the full details coming up in just a few moments.

HOLMES: Thanks Renny, we'll see you in a second.

Didn't seem like it was too long ago that he was saying hello to the "Tonight Show." He's already saying good night. You know about the saga now with Conan O'Brien. His last "Tonight Show" was last night. We have the highlights and it wasn't all funny. We're back in one minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, where do you want to start buddy?

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. We do appreciate it. We'll be checking in with you shortly.

HOLMES: Today in his weekly online address, President Obama making it clear he doesn't necessarily agree with what the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled. Had a ruling this week to ease campaign spending laws on corporations and labor unions. The president says he can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest than allowing big money more say in future elections. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This ruling strikes at our democracy itself. By a five-four vote, the court overturned more than a century of law, including a bipartisan campaign finance law written by Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold that had barred corporations from using their financial clout to directly interfere with elections by running advertisements for or against candidates in the crucial closing weeks.

This ruling opens the flood gates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy. It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way or to punish those who don't. We don't need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans.

We don't intend to. When this ruling came down, I instructed my administration to get to work immediately with members of Congress willing to fight for the American people to develop a forceful, bipartisan response to this decision. We've begun that work and it will be a priority for us until we repair the damage that has been done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The Supreme Court's decision comes at a time when a number of mid-term election campaigns are getting under way.

NGUYEN: A big win for the GOP in Massachusetts, Scott Brown won the Senate seat that Ted Kennedy held for almost half a century. So what is all of this going to mean to the Democrats?

Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is here to sort it all out for us. And the big question Paul (INAUDIBLE) does this derail health care reform efforts now that the Dems have lost that 60 vote majority?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: The super majority they had, getting health care reform done Betty was not easy. Remember they started this back in June and July as health care reform in Congress and they're still working on it.

So, yes, it makes it a lot tougher now that they don't have those 60 votes in their chamber anymore. Not just for health care reform but for a lot of the other things, Betty that the president and the Democrats want to pass this year like maybe a new jobs bill and raising the Federal deficit, the debt load and climate change.

There's so much more, there's so much on the agenda this year it's going to be so tough now for them to do this because they don't have the 60 votes. They're going to have to look for Republican votes now if they want to get things passed in the Senate. And Betty, the question is will the Republicans want to work with the president and the Democrats or is maybe smarter for them politically to just keeping saying no. NGUYEN: Very interesting. Let's look at this in a wider perspective, too, because losing that super majority, what does that mean for Democrats and those midterm elections?

STEINHAUSER: This if nothing else, this was a big wake-up call for the Democrats. First you have those two gubernatorial elections in November remember in Virginia and New Jersey where the Republicans won back Democratic-controlled seats and now just what happened this past week in Massachusetts.

A new poll came out this morning Betty. It that suggests that you know what, people in Massachusetts, they voted against the Democrats because they were upset with the way things are going in the country right now. They're upset with the size of the Federal government and the Democrat's health care plan.

Remember, voters were upset in 2008. They took their anger out on the Republicans. But now, the Democrats, they run everything. They run the White Huse and they run Congress. So It seems voters who are upset are taking their anger out at the Democrats.

Another thing this poll indicated, independents, they went for Scott Brown of Massachusetts as they did for the Republicans in those gubernatorial contests as well. Betty, that is troubling for the Democrats because independents helped elect Barack Obama president. Democrats need the independents with them if they want to defend their large majorities this November in Congress.

NGUYEN: No doubt, all right, Paul, we always appreciate your insight with us today. Thank you. Check in with you later a little bit later as well.

So, you know, up next, Haiti like you have probably never seen it before.

HOLMES: Josh Levs checking into that for us. Hello to you again, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi again to you guys. We've got a brand new 360 degree view that you're hearing and you're going to be seeing it. What it's like to drive down the streets of Port-au-Prince today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: So you want to get an idea of what it's really like on the ground in Haiti right now? There is a brand new way this morning for you to take a look at that devastation.

HOLMES: That 360 degree view that shows you what it's like to walk or drive down those streets right now. Josh Levs here to show it to us. Hello again there, Josh.

LEVS: Hi again to you guys. We're also going to take you on walking tour, a 360 degree walking tour of a plaza inside Port-au- Prince that has turned into a tent city. Let's zoom into this screen right behind me. I'm going to show you this. This is up on our web page, cnn.com/haiti360 and what we have here is an interactive view. I'm going to press play on it and you'll see what happens. This is a view taken from a vehicle that's driving through one of the major roads in Port-au-Prince. Now you're looking at what it looks like.

But look what I can do. I can manipulate the picture to get you a full 360 view of any part of the street at all. This goes pretty far. So you're able to go way down the road. You're able to see people on the way. You can see a bit of the camera there. You can see signs people have set up along the way. You can see destroyed buildings. You can look back as you go.

You want to say what was that? You just turn it farther around, you look behind you. This is just one of just three videos that we have set up today. It takes a few seconds to load.

Let's go to it here, cnn.com/haiti360. This is right outside the presidential palace and what you're seeing here is what I was talking about. It's a makeshift camp basically that's been set up where once was just a plaza. You can see it's become a tent city here and again I'm taking you on a 360 degree view.

You got the palace there in the background which as we know has been damaged. You can see people at all times, you can scroll all the way around. You can look upwards, you can look downwards, see how this is operating. I'll show you guys one more and then I'm going to show you how we did this.

I have the camera right here that's just like it that shows you. You can see here this is another road and this is one that has not been as cleared out as the other one. Look at that. You can just see one of the flattened buildings right here before you, cnn.com/haiti360.

I'm going to ask Donna to hand me the camera here. Here's what I have. I have an image. This is a mock-up. Basically the same kind of camera that was used when they actually use it on the ground. They're wearing a big backpack that this goes inside. This has 11 different cameras on it. It marries all the images together.

So every one of these holes right here takes a different image where you are. Then the computer system basically that operate this knows how to match them all together so you get one continuous 360- degree view. As you can tell, it's picking up the sound as well. All of that for you right there on your screen, cnn.com/haiti360.

We put it up late yesterday. Since then, it's getting more and more and more traffic, guys, because one thing we haven't seen through all this is that kind of virtual reality experience, where you get on the ground in Haiti. You're able to see what it looks like in all those different areas.

And all the ones that I'm showing you there, major sites that you've been seeing on the news here. Thanks. I'm going to give that back to you. Major sites you've been seeing on the news. But right now with nothing else obstructing your view, what it would be like to walk down those streets right now all up on our website guys.

NGUYEN: That is some really good information, Josh. Thank you for that.

LEVS: You got it.

NGUYEN: Here are some stories that we're following for you, some top stories overnight and actually something that's happening right now. A funeral is being held for the Catholic archbishop of Port-au- Prince. Crews pulled his body from the rubble of the cathedral on Tuesday. He had apparently been in his church office when the quake hit more than a week ago. Today services are being held in the courtyard just outside where the cathedral stood.

HOLMES: And if you're one of the many who are making charitable donations right now for that earthquake, you can write off those donations on your 2009 taxes. Yes, the taxes you are going to be filing right now in the next coming months, Congress rushed a bill through this week. The president signed it last night. Those donations, however, must be made before March 1st.

NGUYEN: So do you want to keep tabs on the White House? If you do, there is a new app for that.

HOLMES: There is an app for everything. Mario Armstrong, our tech guy, has all of them. He's going to give us the test drive coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, another historic move for the Obama administration. The president and his team, they are going high tech. Yes. Joining us now to tell us more about this. This is interesting stuff, here, is Mario Armstrong, our tech guru. He's in Washington this morning. When we talk high tech, we're talking the president is going to be speaking to you via your phone, right? How does that work?

MARIO ARMSTRONG, TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: That's right, Betty. Believe it or not, the White House now has an application on the iPhone. It's called the White House app. So you can download this application on to your iPhone.

And you can do everything from reading their blogs to news. You can also look at photos, photos from the first lady's birthday party all of the way over to a worker that's vacuuming the oval office. And you can also watch video on demand looking at press briefings or other key speeches, as well as the highlight feature or the feature I think has the most impact, is being able to watch live video like next week's state of the union address.

NGUYEN: So you can watch that literally wherever you are right there on your phone. You don't have to get in front of a TV to see the State of the Union address? ARMSTRONG: No, absolutely not and in fact, I'm playing a little video right now. And I'm going to let you hear some of the audio. And this is right from the press briefing. So this is video-on-demand that's taking place that's happening on an iPhone.

So this is really giving more people accessibility to -- and some transparency, if you will, to the information coming out of the White House.

And look the interesting thing is this was developed by the staff internally. It took them a couple of weeks to do it. And now it's ranked as the number two most popular news application on the iPhone app store right now, of course, behind CNN.

NGUYEN: It gives more people accessibility to the president but it's also a way for the president to really streamline how he wants his message sent out to the populace. And I have to ask you that, if he's sending out press briefings and all these other things, does that impede the media's ability to cover the White House?

ARMSTRONG: You know that's a great question. That's an angle -- you know, I haven't really thought of. And it's not going to impede the press ability. What -- because really, Betty, what's happening is this is content that already exists on the WhiteHouse.gov Web site, so you can get this content just like anybody else.

It's just that now it's being more accessible because I can have it with me if I'm not in front of a computer at that given time or not in front of a television at that given time. So it just makes it easier for me to access the already pre-existing content. So I don't think it's going to impede the media.

NGUYEN: So he's not going to scratching any press briefings just because he going to say, look, you can get it on your phone. Why do you have to come here?

ARMSTRONG: Right no, not yet.

NGUYEN: All right, now yet. Let's hope that never happens. But if you don't have an iPhone, can you still get this?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, this is a major concern of mine because obviously the iPhone is really something that, you know, it's a luxury item for a lot of people. And it's not something that a lot of folks can afford. And so the plan is that they are going to roll this out to other phones, but the big thing that I'm really impressed with, because I pushed them hard on this.

My concern was well, how are you going to make sure that people that don't even own a cell phone or not a Smartphone...

NGUYEN: Right.

ARMSTRONG: ...can access this information? And so they're changing the WhiteHouse.gov Web site to be what's called mobile enabled, meaning that any type of cell phone, be it a flip phone all the way to a high-end Smartphone will be able to access the WhiteHouse.gov Web site or in their mobile device that's coming in a few weeks.

NGUYEN: All right, but that's separate from this app.

ARMSTRONG: That's correct, that's separate from this app, absolutely.

NGUYEN: Gotcha. All right, new technology, I tell you, it's taking us into a new direction. Mario Armstrong, thank you so much. It's good talking to you.

ARMSTRONG: Hey, it's been my pleasure. Yes, I'll let you know how this "State of the Union" address looks on an iPhone next week.

NGUYEN: On an iPhone?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, I'll let you know what's the impact then...

NGUYEN: All right, well, if you'll watch CNN at the same time, that will be great for us, too.

ARMSTRONG: Oh, yes, that's a great idea. Will do.

NGUYEN: Yes, oh yes, you sound surprised by that. You better be in front of the TV. All right. See you, Mario.

ARMSTRONG: I will. Ok, take care.

NGUYEN: Well, President Obama's "State of the Union" address happens next Wednesday night. And you want to be here starting at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific for CNN's coverage and analysis of the address.

HOLMES: All right. Comedian Conan O'Brien did one of the hardest things he said he ever had to do, that is say good night to the "Tonight Show". Last night already after just seven months he's walking away, however, I don't want to cry for him here, he's got a severance package worth $45 million. $12 million of that he negotiated for his staff, of about 200. He wants to make sure they were taken care of.

Now, he has for the past couple of weeks been making some jokes about the situation, the feud between him and Jay Leno and also the NBC execs. But last night he had a very serious message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": A lot of people have been asking me about my state of mind. And I'll be honest with you. Walking away from the "Tonight Show" is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult.

This is the best job in the world. I absolutely love doing it. And I have the best staff and crew in the history of the media. I will fight anybody who says I don't. But no one would.

But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian, every comedian dreams of hosting "The Tonight Show" and for seven months I got to do it. And I did it my way with people I love. I do not regret one second of anything that we've done here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, he's gone now. So what happens? Well, the guy who was essentially fired from the show, Jay Leno, to take another show at 10:00 p.m. now got fired from that essentially is going back to "The Tonight Show." Yes, Jay Leno going to return for a second stint as the host that's going to happen after the Winter Olympics.

So maybe they'll put that whole ugly episode behind them.

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: And move on.

NGUYEN: ...and something Conan also said was to his followers, team Conan and all those folks, is you know, don't be cynical about it, don't be bitter about this. He's walking away with $45 million, $12 million for his team...

HOLMES: For his staff, yes.

NGUYEN: ...and then he's getting something $30 plus million to sit out for eight months. So I'm sure we'll see him surface on TV once again.

HOLMES: Yes, probably he's going to come out just fine.

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: ...for sure.

Well, could you imagine right now taking a vacation to Haiti? Yes, a cruise to Haiti possibly is just what the country needs right now. We'll tell you who is making that controversial statement.

NGUYEN: Yes and this woman spent five days -- get this, trapped on her knees in the rubble of a collapsed building; on her knees for five days. It is unbelievable how she beat the odds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Now, Republicans are taking Tuesday's win by Massachusetts Senator-Elect Scott Brown as repudiation of President Obama's proposed health care form. Listen now to the House Minority Leader, John Boehner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: For months now a political rebellion has been brewing; one born from the American people's opposition to greater government control over our economy and their lives. That rebellion propelled Republican Scott Brown to victory in this week's Massachusetts special election.

Scott's win in the bluest of blue states gives us new hope that common sense will prevail, that maybe now the hard work and entrepreneurship of the American people will no longer be stifled by Washington Democrats' costly job killing and agenda, an agenda Republicans have stood on principle and fought tooth and nail against.

But we know better. We know that Washington Democrats will pull out all the stops to try and shove this government takeover of health care with its Medicare cuts and tax hikes. Now, there is a sweetheart deal that needs to be cut, Democrats will cut it. Now, if there's a vote that needs to be bought, they'll buy it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, Boehner went on to add the Republicans will continue to challenge the status quo and offer better solutions.

NGUYEN: Film director Roman Polanski's request to be sentenced in absentia has been denied. A Los Angeles judge ruled yesterday that Polanski must return to the U.S. to find out if he'll go to prison. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old, but left the country before he was sentenced. He is currently under house arrest in Switzerland where he was arrested in September on a fugitive warrant.

HOLMES: Well, just about 60 miles away from the earthquake destruction in Port-au-Prince, tourists are enjoying the beaches of Haiti. Can you imagine that scene? Those two different scenes: people enjoying the beach versus people literally fighting for a place to live and survive in Port-au-Prince.

Well, Royal Caribbean has come under some fire for continuing its cruise line tours to that area. However, officials in Haiti welcome the revenue.

NGUYEN: You know, the port in Haiti's capital today was just heavily damaged by the quake but that has not stopped many from trying to get away from Port-au-Prince by sea. But there are dangers as well.

Our Ivan Watson filed this report for us late yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): Chaotic crowds in the port of Port-au- Prince. Thousands of Haiti's new hoards of homeless have been gathering here within sight of American ships anchored far offshore.

Nearly all these people have seen their houses destroyed. Some lost loved ones. They have all been sleeping for days on this filthy quake-damaged wharf waiting for a ship to take them out of the city.

This is where we meet Annette Clement (ph) and her daughter Anika.

(on camera): And they've spent several days sleeping out here. They say they moved up to this hill and they're just sitting here waiting desperate for a ship to take them to another part of Haiti. And she says she doesn't know how many days they're going to stay here.

(voice-over): When a rusting blue ferry finally does pull into sight, families jump on wooden row boats. An armada of dangerously overloaded dinghies set out for the ferry, launching a chaotic scramble aboard the ship, parents passing babies up a floating assembly line.

The Haitian government gave away fuel to provide free transport to the port of Jeremie (ph) but officials left out one crucial detail.

(on camera): Has anybody offered you any help with crowd control of these thousands of desperate people?

ROGER ROUZIER, SHIPOWNER: No. We have no, no crowd control whatsoever. We are trying ourselves to control the crowd. But it's impossible.

WATSON: The ferry is licensed to carry 600 passengers, but onboard, there must be thousands, with few life boats, this could be another disaster waiting to happen.

But it's here that we spot a familiar face. A nice little surprise here; we came across little Anika and her mother who made it onboard.

Against all odds, they got onboard and plan to travel to an aunt's house in a safer part of the country. Amid this anarchy and a moment of joy and relief, a little girl and her mother are about to escape their shattered city.

Ivan Watson, CNN, in the harbor of Port-au-Prince.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN PERFORMS FOR "HOPE FOR HAITI NOW")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: "The Boss" from last night, one of many celebrities and musicians lending a hand in the global benefit "Hope for Haiti Now." They're still tallying up the proceeds that you came in. As you can imagine, it's going to be a pretty big number but -- donations as well. We've been repeating this, this morning, very important for you all making donations -- a lot of you are. You can write those off.

Those are tax deductible on your 2009 tax returns. You don't have to wait until next year for 2010. You can do it right now. President signed a bill that went through Congress to allow you to do just that.

Like I said, a lot of people want to help out and a lot of people are helping out including pro sports players. The teams, the leagues, everybody is really stepping up right now. One place you're going to hear a lot about it, certainly this weekend's NFL playoffs.

I just want I'm going to bring in our business and sports analyst, Rick Horrow, also visiting expert at Harvard Law School.

Rick good morning to you sir. Always good to see you here and it's always good to see this when things happen. These leagues and these players actually have a history of helping out when big disasters take place.

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: My friend, it is an incredible outpouring of emotion and more important at this point, dollars. Because the NFL has some major public service announcements planned. Remember, 22 first or second generation Haitians are in the NFL. Pierre Garcon the Colts, for example, and others. And don't forget in New Orleans we remember five years ago the Superdome was used as a home for Katrina relief, the stadium in Haiti the same way.

But the Saints and NFL are doing it up big with the Drew Brees Foundation this week. And of course, it's going to be a huge effort not only now but segueing as we will see later into the Super Bowl in south Florida over the next couple of weeks.

HOLMES: Now, you talked about the players there; a couple -- there are a couple more high-profile, I guess, sort of like Pierre Garcon who's playing over for the Indianapolis Colts. But I guess, how are the individual players versus the league as a whole and some of the leagues as a whole, how are they finding a way to give back and interact and raise money?

HORROW: Well, we all understand Major League Baseball raising a million dollars, the NBA, football all helping. But it is the player Samuel Dalembert, the Haitian who engineered $100,000 through UNICEF and gave that to the Philadelphia 76ers; Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns using social networking -- tweeting, Facebook to raise substantial dollars.

Let's remember, the first four days after the quake, $150 million raised. First four days after Katrina, $103 million. It's not because we care more, it's because we're learning how to raise money better and that is a silver lining in a very dark cloud.

HOLMES: And we're talking about the ways and sort of -- these are high-profile guys. High-profile -- sort of these are in the play offs right now. But there's nothing more high profile than the Super Bowl which is coming up in a couple of weekends when everybody of course is going to be watching that game, essentially. So certainly we're going to see another big push then?

HORROW: Yes. And I'll be on that case. We're going to spend a lot of time on the next couple of weeks down here in south Florida talking about how mega events shine the spotlight to raise big money for social causes.

Let's remember five years ago we celebrate the recovery of New Orleans, whether the Saints win tomorrow or not, and are in the Super Bowl, New Orleans is the host of 2013. So we'll cover that angle.

But more important or more immediately, let's say, as it relates to the Haitian relief dollars and the NFL and the 200 million viewers throwing a massive bit of leverage behind Haitian relief, we all know how to raise money. The telethon was amazing. Now we take it to the next level during Super Bowl 44 over the next weeks. I'll be there to cover it.

HOLMES: All right. And I know you'll be there.

Rick, we appreciate you as always buddy. Appreciate you. We've kind of taken a turn, still talking sports this morning but it's good to see the outpouring that we have seen from these guys who certainly have the means and the ability to get a message out like that. So appreciate you, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

HORROW: Thank you. We'll do it next week, man. We'll stay on the case.

HOLMES: All right. Thanks so much buddy -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right.

Well, Conan O'Brien's last laugh, did he let NBC off the hook or did he get in one last parting shot?

And, what can Brown do for you? Scott Brown, that is. The senator-elect has everyone wondering how he'll affect the health care reform bill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It seems like the curtain is coming down as quickly as it went up for Conan O'Brien.

NGUYEN: Yes, it is down. Yes. He ended -- Conan O'Brien -- his seven-month run as "The Tonight Show" host last night with jabs at NBC, of course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: People have been asking me what's going to happen to our studio after we're gone. They just built this thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I know.

O'BRIEN: People are saying what's going to happen to it. There are actually a few possible uses for our studio being kicked around. I thought I would share some of the idea with you right now because I think these are pretty good. Site of Tiger Woods' first annual mistress reunion.

Fitting room for the cast of "The Biggest Loser" -- it's going to be pretty good.

Storage facility for apology notes to NBC stockholders.

Water park more Max Weinberg's illegitimate children.

Hair and chest oil storage for the "Jersey Shore" cast.

Future site of "Cooters" the nation's first pantsless sports bar and restaurant.

Studio preserved as a nice, quiet, peaceful place where the cast of "Chuck" can be alone with their thoughts.

Magician David Blaine will attempt the impossible by trying to remain in the studio for longer than seven months.

Leave the studio cold and empty and rename it "The World's Largest Metaphor NBC Programming".

Panic Room for Gary Busey after the Rise of the Fire Hydrants.

Studio will be air-lifted to a location with better luck, like on top of a Native American burial ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Oh my goodness. Well, let's just say he got in a few jabs. But Jay Leno does return to "The Tonight Show" in March. O'Brien walks away with a $45 million severance package; that includes $12 million for his staff. I understand he was also going to supplement that as well, the money that was going to his staff.

HOLMES: He made sure they were taken care of. That was very nice to see.

NGUYEN: So, what, he's done for eight months before he can come back on TV?

HOLMES: He'd come back and he will come back, I'm sure.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes he will.

HOLMES: The Fox rumors are out there.

NGUYEN: They're all -- yes. Those have been flying for a while now. We'll see.

HOLMES: We've been sharing a lot of the stories, painful stories coming out of Haiti. But up next, we've got one of those that will make you smile; one of those of the miracle survivors.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: You know, the good news is we do keep hearing stories of survivors from the Haiti earthquake.

HOLMES: Yes and one woman was found after being trapped for five days. And she was in a pretty uncomfortable position, as you will see our Ed Lavandera explain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIREILLE DITTMER, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: It happened so quickly that I just saw the whole, you know, building collapsing.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mireille Dittmer saw the Caribbean Market building collapse around her. She tried to run, but in a split second she was cocooned inside.

DITTMER: There was no way for me to go on, to get out because a lot of rubble started falling and all I had to do is to kneel down to protect myself.

LAVANDERA: She would spend the next five days in that position.

(on camera): And the whole time, do I understand this correctly, you're on your knees?

DITTMER: On my knees, five days.

LAVANDERA: For five days on your knees.

DITTMER: Five days.

LAVANDERA: That had to be excruciatingly painful?

DITTMER: Excruciating pain, yes. All here is bruised. And I have like sores here, sores around here because I was kneeling like this.

LAVANDERA: How did you not go crazy?

DITTMER: My faith in Jesus Christ, my faith in the Lord. I have a very strong faith. I read my bible every day. And I started reciting -- whenever I felt I was, you know, feeling weak, I started reciting Psalms, and that gave me strength again.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Mireille says she didn't eat, drink or sleep and lost track of time.

(on camera): It felt like 12 days.

DITTMER: 12 days.

LAVANDERA: What could you see when you were in there?

DITTMER: Nothing. It was darkness, complete darkness. LAVANDERA: Pitch-black.

DITTMER: Complete silence.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But eventually some voices emerged. A man and a little girl, total strangers instantly bonded.

DITTMER: We were praying. We were talking, giving each other, you know, strength. And then we kept, many times, all together we said we have got to hit, you know, the place, so that they hear a noise, that some people are there.

LAVANDERA: Mirei says she never doubted that she would be rescued, but others around her were feeling weak, dehydrated, scared.

DITTMER: We kept talking and saying we should not lose faith, we will not lose faith. Our faith will save us. Don't give up. That's the only thing we have. We have to hold on because there's nothing else you can do.

LAVANDERA: Mirei Dittmer was rescued five days after the quake. So were those unknown voices in the darkness. She was evacuated to south Florida where she has family and friends. Doctors say she'll soon be walking again, fully healed.

(on camera): I think they said 108 hours basically sitting on your knees. I don't know how people, you know, I don't know many people that can do that. I think I know one.

DITTMER: Nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ed Lavandera, CNN, Boca Raton, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is January 23rd. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for being with us. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: And hello there, I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 9:00 a.m. where we sit here in Atlanta, Georgia, 8:00 a.m. in Little Rock, Arkansas, and in 7:00 a.m. in Flagstaff, Arizona where, yes, in Arizona, it's snowing a lot.

NGUYEN: Can you believe it? Crazy.

HOLMES: Severe weather we're going to be talking about with our Reynolds Wolf this morning expected in the southeast mainly today. Reynolds is coming up in just a few minutes.

NGUYEN: Yes. You know, it's been 11 days since the deadly earthquake in Haiti. And we do have several updates for you this morning. We're going to get right to them now. As part of our top story, because new overnight, the Haitian government has declared an end to the search and rescue efforts for victims of that January 12th earthquake. The government also released the first official number of dead, more than 111,000 people have died so far.

HOLMES: And let me show you what you missed last night. Here's just a little taste.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: That is Ms. Mary J. Blige. She was one of over 100 celebrities, musicians, and others who took part in last night's international concert for Haiti. Former President Bill Clinton among those asking for your help. Again, they were answering calls last night. They were picking up and taking donations themselves last night. You're seeing a few. Shakira, Samuel L. Jackson among them.

The number to donate 1-877-99-HAITI, still up and running and working this morning. You can still make a donation. Now not saying a celebrity is going to answer the phone necessarily this morning but still you are able to make those calls and to give today and, again, remember, you can deduct your donations on your 2009 tax returns.

NGUYEN: Well, the president's point man on the Iraq war is in Baghdad at this hour. But vice president Joe Biden isn't talking combat. He's talking about Iraq's upcoming parliamentary elections and the supposed blacklisting of 500 political candidates for their alleged ties to the regime of former Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein.

Well, the vice president also has plans to meet with U.S. forces who have been deployed there. It is his fourth trip to Iraq since the 2008 presidential election.

HOLMES: Well, maybe not the best week for Democrats this week, and for President Obama. Democrats, of course, lost their Senate super majority and maybe their best shot at comprehensive health care reform. Also the Supreme Court reversed a century of campaign finance doctrine. Corporations can now spend freely to influence elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest. The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to lobbyists in Washington or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections.

All of us, regardless of party, should be worried that it will be that much harder to get fair, common sense financial reforms, or close unwarranted tax loopholes that award corporations for sheltering their income or shipping American jobs offshore. We'll make it more difficult to pass common sense laws to promote energy independence because even foreign entities would be allowed to mix in our elections.

It would give the health insurance industry even more leverage to fend off reforms that would protect patients. We don't need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans. We don't intend to. When this ruling came down I instructed my administration to get to work immediately with members of Congress willing to fight for the American people to develop a forceful, bipartisan response to this decision.

We've begun that work and it will be a priority for us until we repair the damage that has been done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Despite the president's pledge there, a lot of analysts out there and experts say the president and Congress have few if any realistic options to counter the court's ruling.

NGUYEN: You know, over the past 11 days we have seen both heartbreak and hope in Haiti. CNN has more than dozen staff members covering this story for you.

HOLMES: And among them, Susan Candiotti. She was among the first on the ground there in Haiti, giving us some of the first eyewitness reports (INAUDIBLE). Joining us from Port-au-Prince today. She is back in New York. Good to see you back, Susan. I know there was a story that you hated to be a part of in some ways but glad you could cover it in a lot of ways as well and get the story out.

So you made it in Port-au-Prince the night of that earthquake, actually. My goodness, the very night. You were there.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, it feels almost heartbreaking in so many ways to be back because there are so many more stories to do and, of course, our folks down there, our colleagues are still doing them.

But getting in that first night was really an adventure. We got on the first commercial flight that was available out of New York into Santo Domingo. We arrived in the middle of the night. But because it wasn't safe to fly in that night at night via helicopter or any other way, we had to wait just few more hours until the sun came up.

Eventually a helicopter took us in after the pilot got the permission he needed to fly into the airport in Port-au-Prince. And that was first look we got, the aerial view of all the damage. And then after our helicopter put down and we arrived on the ground we started to see the bodies, body after body on the streets. Some of them covered up with sheets, some of them not. And the smell of death everywhere.

We saw pancaked buildings. We saw crushed bodies. And sights that really quite frankly we will never get out of our mind and of course, you saw Haitians in shock with nowhere to turn.

NGUYEN: Yes. And you know, that was the biggest problem and to an extent still is because this is a country where there was, what, no 911 service to call, no police or fire rescue teams around in those initial hours. What was it like being with folks who were just simply, one, in shock, and, two, trying to figure out what do you do next?

CANDIOTTI: Well, imagine. And the infrastructure is a mess to begin with. So, sure, right after it happened, there were no police cars coming out. They didn't know where to turn, either. No ambulances that you could see. So Haitians do what they do every day, they try to do for themselves.

And so we saw what you're still seeing now, families digging for survivors, helping each other out around every corner we would hear voices. And one in particular, we found a man, and you could hear the voices underneath this five-story building, where there was just a little opening on the ground. Yet, people put their own lives at risk, family members and perfect strangers that were going underneath that building.

They were using hammers, chisels, even a little blow torch cutting through the rebarb, burning his skin. And then you found a new term in Creole called (INAUDIBLE), these are people who are working together toward a common goal, a common term in Creole. And they set up an assembly line, passing water in there as they were burning his skin, to try to free him from the wreckage. Bringing out debris by the buckets. Everyone trying to pitch in to help and eventually, that man was brought out alive.

NGUYEN: Oh, good.

HOLMES: You know, we are seeing plenty of those stories. At least it seems. But then the government put out numbers that said, it sounded like a low number to me, Susan, when they said only 132 people have actually been rescued from rubble alive since the quake hit. So for all those stories and we try to highlight them when we see those stories because we're happy to see those happy endings.

But man, for every one we see there had to be a ton more stories of people not getting out alive.

CANDIOTTI: That's true. And now when you get these -- the professionals in there from several countries, the urban search and rescue crews who have done this in many cases before, it was -- it was so inspiring to see them at work helping the Haitian people.

And they would involve them as well in their work. So I think it was last Saturday night we were coming down the mountain and we saw all these lights set up. And word came out that someone from inside a bank building had sent out a text message saying, I can't take it anymore. I need help. Please help me.

And the search and rescue team went in. The dogs picked up a scent of life on more than one occasion. They took drills in there, jackhammers. They allowed us to go to the top of this pancaked building, about 40 feet off the ground, as the building was swaying at times. And they kept looking and looking.

But after several hours and in the middle of the night, after they took a side drill into the side of the building, a small camera could see that there were only bodies there. And they put in audio equipment that could hear a pin drop and they could hear nothing. So in that case, sadly, no one was able to be brought out alive.

NGUYEN: After all that hope and then the effort and not to be able to bring anyone out alive. That is just devastating. Well thank you for joining us today. Thanks for just the remarkable coverage that you've been doing down there. I know it's a tough story. But there are those little stories of hope and survivorship. So we really like to see that. Thanks.

HOLMES: All right. Well, stay with us here. We're certainly going to be talking more about that devastating earthquake in Haiti. May have actually benefited some orphaned children.

NGUYEN: Yes, many of them now are in safe-loving homes here in the U.S.

Coming up, we'll talk with one of those families.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Hey, guys, how are you doing? I'd like to welcome you guys back, too. Let's welcome everybody back. Want to talk about weather?

NGUYEN: Yes. You've been watching all this rain that's moving across the country.

WOLF: Exactly. You know, one of the places where we've had the heaviest precipitation has been in Arizona. We've had up to several feet of snow in the high spots. Some places are going to continue to see heavy snow through a good part of the day. The winter storm warnings in effect for much of northern Arizona is going to expire about noontime, local.

Meanwhile, here's what we have, some scattered snow showers in Arizona. Southern California finally getting a little bit of a break. The heaviest rainfall now up in the northern half of the state, into central California. Some of that in the form of snow. But thankfully at this time as we drift in towards L.A., the conditions that we have for you pretty good for the time being.

Let's zoom in for a second if we can right into Los Angeles. And in terms of your temperatures right now in L.A., you got about 42 degrees in Compton. 44 in Carson. We even have a live image for you out in L.A. this time. We're going to go to that and show you what we have. Dark skies. But I can tell you partly cloudy and they will be mostly sunny later on today. So certainly ending up grand fashion as we make our way later on during the day.

The second big weather story that we have is going to take place right in the center of the U.S., this is going to be this line of showers and storms. Everything in this hour all moving to the east and at a rate of about 35 miles an hour.

All the cities ahead of it, say, Nashville back over to Memphis, even northward to St. Louis, you may have some rough weather to contend with later on today, all due to that frontal boundary. Daytime heating and, of course, the jet stream all coming into play to give you a chance of some severe storms and maybe some isolated tornadoes later on today.

In the southeast, rain a possibility. But all of this is moving eastward. So in Atlanta later on tonight, you might have some heavier rainfall. Pretty nice for you in the northeast with high temperatures warming up to 34 degrees in Boston, 40 in New York, 77 Miami and Tampa. Back to Denver we go with 41 degrees, 32 in Salt Lake City and 60 in Los Angeles for your high.

That is a wrap on the forecast. We've got more coming up straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. See you in a few.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, you think you've watched it happen right here with us. Haitian orphans arriving in the U.S. after surviving that devastating earthquake. We were there at Kansas City International Airport last Saturday when it all happened.

The guy right there -- his name is Junior Miller and he's one of the orphans that made it to the U.S. and his new parents, Wanda and Scott Miller, they've been trying to adopt him for years. And today they are all together as one big happy family. Joining us now live, hello to you.

SCOTT MILLER, ADOPTED SON FROM HAITI: Hello.

WANDA MILLER, ADOPTED SON FROM HAITI: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Yes, indeed, it is a good morning. Let me start with you, Scott. You've waited some six years to see Junior in your home and to have him officially adopted. That's taken so long?

S. MILLER: Well, we started back in 2003. And about a year and a half into the first work, all of our papers, they call it a dossier, his files were downtown and there was an uprising in Haiti, and we lost all of our papers. About two years later, they took me to the building and it was full of bullet holes. So I realized, oh, nobody was going to go downtown and get the papers. So we had to start over again.

NGUYEN: Oh, goodness. But, Wanda, give us a little bit of a back story, if you would. Tell us how Junior, in fact, became a child without parents and was in need of adoption.

W. MILLER: Well, Scott went down on a first missionary trip with our church, which has taken missionary trips ever since. And he met Junior then and fell in love with him. And he felt like the lord told him, this boy, you need to take care of.

And that's when we started. I went down later on another trip, when my sister was getting two children from Haiti. And from the same orphanage, from Lifeline. And I met Junior, also. And then we started the process, and, as he said, he had a hurdle and then we started again.

NGUYEN: Yes. But what happened to Junior's parents?

W. MILLER: Junior has a mother. His father died when he was a child. He has a mother but he was raised by his godmother until he was about five or six. And she had older siblings and couldn't take care of him as his mother couldn't earlier. And so he came to Lifeline. He's been there ever since.

NGUYEN: All right. So six years in the making, he is finally in your home, a member of your family. Junior, I want to talk to you now. You made it after all this time. You are finally here. What does it feel like to be with your new family?

JUNIOR MILLER, HAITIAN ORPHAN: I don't know.

NGUYEN: Well, you look like you're fitting in quite well. And I got to ask you, Scott, how is Junior adjusting?

S. MILLER: Well, we think pretty good. When he first got here, you know, we asked lots of questions like how are you feeling, how are you doing? He just seemed like, I'm OK, I'm OK. And he wanted to go to school, is what he told some of the other interviewers. And so he started school on Thursday. We felt like a kindergarten going to school again. We were kind of sad to see him go. But he's adjusting real well, we feel, so far.

NGUYEN: Already in school. We understand he loves pizza.

J. MILLER: Yes.

S. MILLER: First, he loves pizza, yes.

NGUYEN: That's great. Well, congratulations to you. So glad that your family is all together and Junior was able not only to survive the earthquake but make it to the U.S. and become a member of your family. Thanks for sharing this with us, guys. We really appreciate it.

S. MILLER: Thank you.

W. MILLER: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: Loves pizza.

HOLMES: Still a little shy, you know.

NGUYEN: Yes, he is. He's been through a lot, my goodness.

HOLMES: I just got here. On national TV.

NGUYEN: And you want me to answer questions. Can I just get some pizza and go to school?

HOLMES: Look at him. He's smiling a little more now because he can still hear us. There he is. Again, we enjoyed having you guys on. Congratulations, guys. We'll talk to you again. Hopefully check in with you again down the road.

Meanwhile, still in Haiti, the difference between life and death a lot of times can be a matter of which doctors treat you first. NGUYEN: And some of the best in the world come from Israel. We'll take you to one of their field hospitals where miracles are happening almost every day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, if you thought health care reform was complicated before, now throw a new senator in the mix and things got a little more complicated for the president and for Democrats.

Let's bring in our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He's here now. Senator-elect Brown probably going to be sworn in sometime next week. So now what? Do the Democrats even know what they're going to do yet?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, this sure makes it a lot tougher, T.J.. And Brown will happen next week or maybe a little later. He came down to Washington the other day and he said that he would like to get sworn in as soon as possible, maybe as early as this week. But he urgency is gone T.J., because now the Republicans are worried will the Democrats try to slam something through in the Senate? Vote on it before Brown became a senator. That's not happening.

I refer from President Obama, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader. So there is no urgency to get Brown in there as quickly as possible because there won't be any votes on health care until he is seated. T.J.

HOLMES: Yes, now they're saying no urgency to this health care reform. That's all they've been telling us, that we had to get this done -- we had to get it done immediately. But now they're slowing down. What is their next move? What is the best option now?

STEINHAUSER: And no option is very easy right now because, as you said, Brown will become the 41st Republican in the Senate. That means the Democrats lose their 60-seat super majority. Do you think it was easy even with the 60-seat super majority? Remember they've been working on health care since June or July in Congress.

Some of their options, well as we just said, they're not going to try to ram something through the Senate in the next few days. That's out. A couple of other ideas, have the House pass exactly what the Senate has already passed so you don't have to go back and do another Senate vote.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says no. There is no stomach for that and I don't have the votes for that. Another option and President Obama brought this up earlier in the week. Maybe just pass a couple of the more popular, less controversial parts of health care reform like mandating the health insurance companies don't kick you out for pre- existing conditions.

Well, that's probably not going to happen. Now we have the president moving away from that. So Democrats and Congress, the president talking about this, T.J., stay tuned. We don't know what's going to happen. HOLMES: We don't know, the baby steps approach that the president is talking about. A lot of people are saying maybe that is the way they should have gone in the first place. But then a lot of people who passed that, they wouldn't call that true reform.

So Paul, this is going to be an interesting time. Once again, it always is in D.C.. Good to see you, buddy. We'll talk to you plenty.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

HOLMES: All right. Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: You know, there are so many sick and injured people in Haiti. And so few places for them to go and get rest right now. But one place is getting a whole lot of praise. It's where the most severely hurt people are being sent and being saved.

CNN's Paula Hancocks takes us inside the Israeli field hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These operating tables in Israel's Haiti field hospital are proving vital. So much so that Israel is staying at least another month, twice as long as originally planned. Well over 300 patients have been treated here so far. Other medical facilities have been referring more severe injuries here.

Its maternity ward saw its first birth Sunday night. The mother was so thankful she named the baby Israel. This entire hospital took just eight hours to assemble.

LT. COL. DR. BENJAMIN SENDER, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, ISRAELI MILITARY: It's built to be very mobile, agile, to be deployed quickly. It's built on tents, not on a rigid construction. So it's very easy to deploy.

HANCOCKS: And it's been deployed widely, helping Turkey cope with its devastating 1999 earthquake. Israel's military was one of the first on the scene during that disaster on its neighborhood, and not just with medical aid.

(on camera): This is what Israel is well known for, it's search and rescue dogs. These dogs will be able to find any sign of life within the rubble.

(voice-over): And they have in at least 10 disasters around the world, according to the Israeli military. In 2006 they were deployed to Kenya to help locate survivors in the U.S. embassy bombing.

Israel's Haiti effort is drawing praise for its speed and efficiency. Not surprising when you consider Israel's military has frequent search and rescue drills, preparing for any potential attack on its soil. And given its location on the Syrian-African rift fault line, Israel is preparing for its own potentially devastating earthquake in the future.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, (INAUDIBLE) Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Some amazing work there. Well, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with CNN personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is about to begin.

HOLMES: Betty and I, of course, will be back at the top of the hour with more live news. We'll see you soon.