they were put in jail on charges of illegally trying to take 33 children out of the country. we'll hear from all sides, the pastor, the parents, who say they gave their kids away so they wouldn't suffer, and the haitian prime minister who calls this is a case of kidnapping. and police and intelligence agency here in the united states are bracing for the start of the olympic games in vancouver. land, sea and air, we're looking at the reserve on this side of the border. top story of this hour, ending don't ask, don't tell. that ban now in the crosshairs of capitol hill lawmakers. the president pledged to end the policy and defense secretary robert gates appears before the armed services committee to begin the process. he's expected to say he needs a year or more to figure out just how to do it, and as barbara starr tells us there, are plenty of challenges ahead.

>> defense secretary robert gates is the point man to tell congress that the president wants a big change. but the question now is how much support there will be from the troops. the president made his intentions clear. >> this year, i will work with congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. >> reporter: but the stone-faced joint chiefs of staff didn't react to the sensitive matter. we now know more about what they were thinking. the chiefs are expected to support the president, but they will tell him to what extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and readiness of the force. the official says, of the chiefs, all they want is a little bit of time to come up with their ideas on how to implement a change in the law, if it's approved by congress. as a first step, defense secretary robert gates is

expected to call for no longer discharging people who are outed by others. over the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have been discharged from the military for being gay. defense officials privately say the appetite to enforce the law is declining. many say the debate now is how 20 live wi to live with the change. >> school of thought says just do it. >> there may be enough to alie concerns about close quarters. it may not work for everybody. >> we can talk about this delicately or be fairly direct. there are a lot of 18-year-old, old-fashioned testosterone-laden men in the military. they are often politically old fashioned or conservative. they are not on the vaqnguard in many cases of accepting

alternative forms of life-style. >> reporter: many believe the troops on the front lines are more concerned about staying alive in war time than the sexual orientation of their bodies, and the real challenge is convincing older troops that the change for time has come. john, kiran. >> barbara starr, thanks. in 20 minutes, carol costello talks about the dollars and cents. what it's been costing you, the taxpayer, to keep the policy in place. and what it might cost all of us if we do away with it. >> the world's largest auto pla maker say the parts to fix the sticky gas pedals will be arriving as early today. a small steel shim, about the size of a post stamp, all that's needed to fix the defect. they deny there are any underlying electronic problems.

toyota faces a dozen lawsuits in the u.s. and canada seeking class action lawsuits. the suits were filed on behalf of the owners of toyota and lexus models. if you own a toyota, what do you think of the brand, the recall, and why you decided to buy one. send us an ireport, go to c nnch nn cnn.com. new developments in the case of ten americans arrested in haiti. they are expected to get a hearing at 10:00 eastern this morning. the government says they were trying to take 33 children out of the country without permission. haiti says the baptist missionary should be sent back to the u.s. since the court system was devastated, just like almost everything else in the quake. some parents are admitting to cnn that they gave their young children away, hoping a brighter future was waiting for them. >> translator: i put them on the bus with the americans with my own hands. i played with them up until the last minute, and i kissed them

both good-bye and told them don't forget daddy. >> the haitian prime minister say it's not up to the parents, the kids, or the missionaries. he said the ten should be tried in court, not in haiti, then the u.s. he says they are kidnappers who didn't obey the law. >> for what they are doing now, it's a kidnapping case. if we have some related parents involved in the operation, the children certainly were not fully willing to go, because in some case, for what i heard, that they were asking for their parents, they wanted to return to their parents. so, in any case, really just -- it's not acceptable. >> the pastor says the church members, five of whom were behind bars in haiti, were not trying to steal the kids. there was a plan to build an orphanage in the dominican republic long before the

earthquake hit. when the quake struck, they improvised. >> the goal was to go into haiti, rescue children that might otherwise be victims of human trafficking, bring them to the dominican republic, give them medical and physical aid that they might not otherwise have. >> and the goal was to keep them in the dominican republic, not bring them to the united states? >> there's no telling. maybe adoptions would be at some point in the future. but that certainly wasn't the point of this trip at all. >> and the goal -- they were going to acquire some land -- long term, they were going to acquire land, build a church, an orphanage and school, and then the quake happened. >> yes, sir. january 12th brought a lot of emotion for a lot of folks and great desire for folks who had need in haiti, until these people in particular had a desire to go and help those who might have needs there. >> and how did they get these children? the 33 children who were with

them? >> we don't have a lot of knowledge of how exactly that took place. communication has been very limited with our team. we haven't had any communication with them since friday, and so our understanding, at least our directives were -- and we asked them to work directly with founded orphanages so you avoid the problem of a child that might be on the side of the road and may appear in need but whose parents may simply be a matter of blocks away. >> what happens now? >> dan, now we're making a passionate plea to get our people home. get these americans home where they belong. >> i spoke to one man whose wife is in haiti. he says that the american government isn't doing enough. and another says if the haitian government would realize what preparation went into place,

they would realize that they had the best intentions in mind. we'll talk to dr. jaynene aronson and georg willet. >> for every child leaving haiti there, are thousands left behind. join us for an "ac 360" series, the children of haiti at 10:00 p.m. toronto. a top federal prosecutor has recused himself from the case of four conservative senators. the justice department isn't saying why attorney jim letten asked to be taken off the case. they include james o'keefe, the man who in an unrelated incident posed as a pimp and used a hidden camera to target the community organizing group a.c.o.r.n. the machine for a high-speed

rail network could be derailed due to lack of money. $8 million in stimulus funds was awarded to build 13 high-speed rail corridors across the country. that's just a drop in the bucket and state and local governments are dealing with huge deficits. the bill could top $100 billion. happy groundhog day. we should know in an hour if it will be an early spring or six more weeks of winter. punxsutawney phil will make his appearance and gosh knows how many other groundhogs this morning. phil, if you're watching, do the right thing. meanwhile, 9 minutes past the hour. we have a check of the weather. who needs punxsutawney phil. we have rob marciano. you're far more accurate. >> there was a study done with punxsutawney, and he was like

37% accurate. you might as well flip a coin. leave it to a rodent, that's the kind of accuracy you'll get. but for fun, we'll be talking about phil, no doubt. all eyes on punxsutawney this morning. not a whole lot of precip, not touching the ground. but snow on the radar near western pennsylvania, and clouds will be thickening, which would mean no shadow, which would mean early spring if he's right this year. rain across the south. some could cause flooding. minor flooding across parts of central florida. and some of this will be stretching up towards the northeast. i don't think a whole lot of it will get towards the new york area. in about 30 minutes, for all of those who love your rodents. >> thanks so much. still ahead in the most news in the morning. the winter olympics may be in vancouver, canada, but security officials in the united states

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13 minutes after the hour. a quick check of other stories new this morning. a federal judge dismissing a suitory a federal blockade that kept people leaving new orleans. a couple claimed that it violated their constitutional right to travel. the judge thought otherwise, ruling there was no unreasonable restraint of liberty. u.s. homeland security janet napolitano says the feds are well prepared to tackle any kind

of super bowl threat. she made the comments after a personal tour of sun life stadium. that's a first for a sitting cabinet secretary. about 1,000 federal, local and state enforcement personnel are all going to be involved in the security operation. u.s. and canadian police and intelligence agencies are ready to launch a critical joint operation to keep things safe during the vancouver olympics. a huge point of focus in the u.s., security at the border. >> more means planes in the air boats on the water, and plenty of extra eyes at border crossings. the security plan is five years in the making. >> reporter: john and karen, the olympics 30 miles north of here and there will be olympic security on both sides of the border. during the olympic games, as many as 90,000 people a day may cross into the u.s., returning

from events. there is one overarching worry. >> no secret, we're always concerned about tr ed aboued ab terrorist threats. >> reporter: the so-called millennium bomber was arrested coming into the united states with a car full of explosives to blow up l.a.x.. since the for the olympics there, is even more security. customs border protection has increased personnel 20% over the last 18 months and is building new travel lanes. >> we have contingency plans to adjust to a natural or man-made disaster, up and to including a mass migration of persons. >> reporter: every car goes through a gauntlet of technology. radiation detection portals, cameras that capture still individual pictures and videos.

audio and video is stored for 90 days. the canadian teenagers tested the system in a memorial way, by mooning the cameras. and public service announcements are alerting people of new documentation requirements. do you think you might see a decrease of certain kinds of illegal traffic while the olympics are going on? >> i believe some of i think we'll see an increase shortly afterward. >> reporter: there will be a ramped up coast guard and military presence on the water. >> smaller boats like this one, and larger vessels like this high-endurance cutter. >> reporter: the restricted flight zones dip into u.s. territory. and norad will move into a new command center to coordinate with canadian security. >> they are our neighbors. if it happens to one it will

affect the other immediately. >> reporter: officials hope plans and preparations never get used that the games go off without any security glitch. john and kiran, back to you. >> jeanne meserve, thank you. and we'll take a look at the president president's budget. is a second stimulus coming?

♪ ♪ ymca >> they got things started pretty early for punxsutawney. they are awaiting phil's prediction. will there be six more weeks of winter? as rob said, he is only correct 37% of the time. that's what happens when you trust weather forecasting to a rodent. time for "minding your business." if you wanted to get an ad on during the super bowl, it's too late. six days before the colts and saints face off, cbs says commercial space for the big game is sold out and 30-second

spots went for more than $3 million. due to the recession last year, it wasn't until the day before the super bowl that all ads sold out. >> and we're talking about how about the estimate you slus making its way into the 2010 budget. >> it may be groundhog day as far as the budge set concerned. some of the original things we saw in the american investment and recovery act, the obama administration wants to make sure it lives a little longer. the $862 billion that was put into the plan, a lot are expected to run out this year. the obama administration saying that they want to see them last and they are going into the fiscal 2011 budget. some of the things we're talking about here, how about extending tax breaks longer? making work pay, which is a tack credit and it would boost the deficit by another $62 billion, but it would give credit up to $400 per person or $800 per

couple and extend the deadline for cobra benefits by another ten months, and that's for people who are out there without a job and add $250 to social security recipients and the other big push we're hearing about is education reform, and infrastructure projects. two of the big ones there. if you take a look here, you can see that medicaid assistance to states, a big one for states. they have to cut back because budgets are tight and this would give states an added $25.5 billion for that. and also, subsidizing capital construction projects, infrastructure things, getting broadband to rural areas of the country, things that would help add jobs. if you build infrastructure, you build jobs. obviously, i mentioned that this is what they would like to do, because congress would still have to agree to have them in the budget. they are trying to avoid having to pass them as separate measures. which is les than a battle.

>> certainly no shortage of infrastructure that needs repaired either. >> i think a lot of people agree with that one. but those who seem too stimulus like, those are where the battles will be. >> the jobs bill, that's what people want to focus on. stephanie has good news to share with everybody. we want to congratulate you on a new addition. >> yeah. there's a baby in there. i've not been hitting the doughnuts. for the record, i'm having a baby girl in june. my husband and i are really excited. >> congratulations. >> thank you. coming up next, the military set to throw out don't ask, don't tell policy when it comes to gays serving in the military. carol cost ello takes a look at the price tag that could come with changing the rule. seven passenger toyota highlander. this is a little seat, i'm a big girl. well this is the eight- passenger chevy traverse.

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♪ 26 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. today may mark the beginning of the end for the military's don't ask, don't tell policy that bans gays from openly serving. today, we're looking at what the policy cost taxpayers and the price of repealing it. carol costello has that part of the story live from washington. good to see you, carol. >> good to see you too. we're going to get practical on the issue. plenty of plaeople in high plac say now is not the time. government has bigger problems, but others say this is precisely why this is the time.

they say don't ask, don't tell is costing taxpayers in dollars. hundreds of millions of dollars. >> economic crisis. >> reporter: with the country gripped by economic anxiety, republicans say it's not exactly prime time to visit such a divisive issue. >> at a time when americans are asking where are the jobs, why do we want to get in this debate? >> reporter: but those who support repealing it, say now is the time if americans want fiscal responsibility, then -- >> repealing the ban would save money in the long run, absolutely. >> reporter: since 1994, the pentagon has discharged about 13,000 troops for don't ask, don't tell. and that's cost taxpayers more than $190 million. the university of california put the price tag closer to $363 million, if you factor in the cost to recruit, train and then discharge gay troops. but critics say none of this

justifies repealing don't ask, don't tell. $363 million is a drop in the bucket. >> a discharge of 13,000 people is miniscule in comparison to the overall administration burden that military pays every year. discharging 230,000 people a year. >> reporter: others say repealing the policy could end up costing taxpayers more. a 2008 "military times" survey show 24% military personnel would eventually leave the service if gay troops served openly, and what about the cost of sensitivity training and the possibility of creating separate barracks for gay and straight troops. gay hall served six years in the air force before he was outed bay fellow cadet. he says talk of a mass exodus is ridiculous. 71% said they would continue to

serve if don't ask, don't tell was repealed. as for separate barracks? >> that makes no sense. gay people are already serving in the military. >> reporter: at what cost? critics hope tuesday's hearing will answer that question. the only clear thing about the upcoming hearings is that the pentagon would soften the policy, making harder for gays to be discharged. as if congress will vote to repeal the policy, they are hopeful, but not holding their breath. kiran. >> we'll have to see what happens on capitol hill. thank you so much. crossing the half hour. time for the top stories. toyota dealers should get replacement parts starting today for the sticky gas pedals. company executives say there are no electronic problems in the earlier recalls, and the floor mat recall is totally unrelated

to the gas pedal problem. nearly a year after 50 people died in an air crash outside buffalo, the national transportation safety board is set to reveal the cause this morning. inadequate pilot training and fatigue are being looked into. key safety issues have been raised by the accident. ten american missionaries arrested in haiti are expected to get a hearing today at 10:00 a.m. eastern. they were put in jail on charges of illegally trying to take 33 children out of country. the missionaries say they were just trying to help children leave the tragedy behind and start a new life. >> so who are we to believe, and how are the children now? joining me now is international adoption expert dr. jane aronson and in port-au-prince, the spokesperson for sos childrens village. are you caring for these children at your facility there.

what do you make of what happened? the haitian government is calling this child trafficking, the people involved say that's not the case. are they traffickers? were they misguided in what they were doing? what do you think? >> i don't -- i don't really know. i can't judge about the intentions. i know that these children in three days are now in sos children's village. they are getting the care they need and the attention they need and psychological treatment. they are very confused, very scared about the situation, because some of them did not even know what was going to happen to them and it can't be in the best interest of a child to separate families. because many of them still have lived with their parents. >> that's what we heard. that, in fact, we went to the village where many of these children were from, and most of them were not orphans. they did have parents. parents, who we should say, willingly gave up their

children, saying we can't care for them, can you help? what do you make of all this? >> i think people are very misinformed and ignorant about the importance of children being allowed to be as close as they can to family and to remove children physically from a local area where they might have an opportunity to be reunited with their family is just really misdirected. >> georg, how much of that have you seen in haiti? where people are in such dire straits, that if a relief organization comes along, they say i can't take care of my child, can you take care of him or her for me? >> well, the situation is really terrible and we are trying as i said at sos children's villages, we are trying to build up safe setting for hundreds of children. to me, it's still surprising. how can you bring children out of the country? the situation is quite clear. sos children's villages and all

other organizations stated ten days ago, please stop the pressure for international adoption, because this opens the doors not only for adoption, but also for crime. the u.n. and haitian government in the same line as the government of haiti stopped to bring out children eight days ago. we have to keep the children in here. we have to try to reunion families. we have to trace these families and in the meanwhile give children safe shelter, and not separating children from their existing families there are thousands of unaccounted children there will be many orphans remaining. why take children away from an existing family? >> what do you think about the rush to adopt haitian children? one of the big stories in the aftermath of the hurricane are all of the orphaned childrens. some of the facilities have collapsed and people are rushing in to try and adopt these children or push forward adoptions in the works. we saw the governor of

pennsylvania come back with 50-some odd kids. >> i don't think that's really what happened. i think the united states government, the state department, put together very reasonable provisos if you will. parole and also the followup of all visas that had already been in the works for adopted children. there are approximately 800 children being adopted by american families and probably another 6,000, to 7,000 for other countries. all of those childrens have been assigned to families this is not a rush for adoption. these are families that already were connected. the childrens were assigned, the papers were done, so i think the expediting of those adoptions was perfectly reasonable. the attention paid to that is the issue. people are not rushing to adopt. i think people want to adopt. that's nice, but we're trying to tell people that children need to be taken care of if their country if they've not be been assigned, they need to stay in their local communities.

>> what about what georg says, he doesn't like the idea of somebody coming in to adopt? >> there is no adoption that hasn't already been in the works. the queue was set. that's not correct. i think that's definitely a very confusing idea that we don't want to give to people. those adoptions were all set up. when people come to us now and say i want to adopt a haitian orphan, we need to say that's not the direction we want to be in. the direction at this point is the focus on children that need our services and that's in country. >> and we went to a village where many children were from, and found destitute parents that weren't able to care for children. what can you do to try and reunite these children with their parents? >> we are an international aid organization. we are working for 60 years in child care, and what we are now going to do, as i mentioned

before, we want to give few hundreds of children a safe haven, a safe place in our village and then tracing the families. from these regions, we already know a lot of the families. we're in contact with the existing families, but this is the part of -- this is the duty of the social welfare system now in haiti to decide at what time we can reunite these children with their families, because it must be a real issue of why have they been on this bus? what are the real reasons? we need to make sure we are getting them back and tomorrow they are sitting on another bus. what i mentioned before, taking a child out now of haiti, not only these 33, but talking about taking children out, there is always running the risk of separating children from their families. there is a lot of reunion work to do in the next months to come. >> obviously a lot of work to do. thank you for being with us.

still to come on the most news in the morning, ed lavendera has done a lot of work and is digging on some of the steps taken to get the word out about the census. some of the most remote little towns on the u.s./mexico border. a very interesting piece. we'll bring it to you in a few minutes. ahhh. time to get the latte budget under control. [ female announcer ] trying to be smart with the family budget? here goes the good old steam. [ pfffft! ] whooa!!!! [ female announcer ] let bounty help... because it cleans the mess with less than the bargain brands.

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. no running water, questionable sanitation, ab dekt poverty. it's not haiti, it's a town on the mexico border called colinas. >> the u.s. census bureau is trying to reach out. and as we found out, many in colonias would rather be counted out than in. >> reporter: i'll take you on a journey into one of the poorest neighborhoods in america this is the san carlos colonia.

along the u.s./mexican border. a colonia is a tract of homes on the most undesired home. it's on the u.s./mexican border. >> three of you live in here? >> reporter: wow. >> i slept on the floor. >> reporter: she and her family are moving into a new house, for $200 a month, it's not much better. this is the house they are moving into. 264 square feet. five people living here. three brothers and sisters, two small children, and they are working on the house as we speak. painting. this is the area that's most concern. a big area in the ceiling that's leaking water since we've been here. this is what passes as a bathroom. the owners aren't sure if the sewage system even works.

the roads aren't paved. no air conditioning or heat and finding water is a daily quest. so this is life in the colonia. we jumped in the back of the pickup truck, and the man will take us to the water pump to fill up this tank and start driving the neighborhood streets and fill up water barrels. most people live here make under $10,000 a year. the farthest thing from their minds is the 2010 census count. but the census sparks fear. >> i think they are scared, like going out. >> reporter: you think they are scared? >> i think so, yeah. >> reporter: why? >> i don't know. i don't know. because most of the people are immigrants here, so, yeah. >> reporter: they don't trust them. >> i don't think they do. >> what can we do a better job to make sure we count everybody. >> reporter: the census director and congressmen are trying to build trust.

many have relatives living here illegally and they assure them it's not about deporting them. >> the benefits of participating are quite large. we return as a country over 4$40 billion a year to local areas, neighborhoods like this, cities and states, dependent on census counts. if you get counted, you get your fair share of that money. >> reporter: this is ana bench mom. she said after listening to that, she feels confident to answer those questions, and it's something she wants to do. cnn, laredo. >> thank you. 43 minutes past the hour and time to check in with rob for his travel forecast, right after the break. >> and in ten minutes' time, jeanne moos takes a look at the

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welcome back. 46 minutes past the hour. it's time for "a.m. house call." a new study finds teaching adolescents abstinence may help delay sexual activity. only one-third in abstinence classes say they had sex in the next two years. we'll break down more details about that study.

fish oil supplements may prevent young people showing signs of mental illness from developing schizophrenia. they took fish oil for three months and 40 other patients given placebos. only two of the fish oil patients became psychotic, compared to 11 taking the dummy pills. the omega 3 fatty acids could help repair and stabilize brain cells. if you're over 70, overweight adults between 70 and 75 were 13% less likely to die over a ten-year period than normal weight peers. there is a limit of how much weight you can carry. those who were obese did not have the same long life benefits. interesting stuff. it's same old story. everything in moderation, you know. >> exactly. >> a little overweight and happy. maybe you're thin and stressed and that's why you're so thin. who knows. research changes all the time.

it's really interesting. 48 minutes after the hour. let's get a quick check of the weather headlines with rob marciano. >> a couple of things going on. low across the southeast, bringing rainfall. check out video coming to us from florida. broward county seeing flooding from this rain. coming down in buckets yesterday. rainfall totals, anywhere from 2.5 to 4 inches from miami to hollywood. at times coming down sideways. moisture beginning to roll northward into northern parts of florida, georgia and into the carolinas as well. some of it heavy at times, and some of it getting into an area that's subfreezing. winter weather advisories out for some of the higher country of western north carolina. where there's pockets of cold air. might see icing in the morning and western parts of virginia. maybe 1 to 3 inches of rain, snow and ice mixes throughout the day. snow from chicago through new

york city. western pennsylvania, punxsutawney area, that's where the clouds are beginning increase. and if you're -- if you want to look at the last few years, punxsutawney's forecast, he saw his shadow in 2006. that means winter held on. no shadow in 2007. shadow in 2008, 2009. today, he will probably see his shadow see his shadow runs back, that means -- that means an early spring which would be nice. guys, that's not necessarily good forecasting skills over the years. a study recently done, 37% accuracy rating. more of the pomp and circumstance. the celebration that maybe -- maybe, especially after the dire winter we've had that spring will come early. >> back up. because i'm a little confused. i thought if he saw his shadow, doesn't he get scared, run back in the hole and there are six more weeks of winter? >> that's right. >> okay. >> so last year he saw his

shadow, which theoretically sees more winter. today i don't think he will see his shadow. i say that before, and they get the lights out and he sees his shadow anyway. it's a long night and some of those people aren't necessarily seeing straight. >> he is seeing his shadow in the klieg lights, poor guy. top stories. what's in store for don't ask, don't tell. the secretary of defense will testify on lifting the ban on openly gay soldiers serving in the military. two issues, money and morale would cloud the issue. hope for haiti raking in $30 million from texting alone. we are wondering if that money is in good hands. and tensions on the rise between the house and tehran. does washington need to reconsider what it's doing about tehran. a memo to the president this

morning. those stories, and more, at the top of the hour.

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every second of every day. if there is a hell, you might want to go there for some r & r, after a tour on pandora. >> looking back to the most news of the morning, the cast and crew of the top-grossing movie in history has been spending a little bit of time with our -- with the troops and with other folks as well. >> sigourney weaver and others spent time with troops in bahrain. >> you don't have to be overseas to get up close and personal with the crew of "avatar." just tune in to larry king live tomorrow night, right here on cnn. >> "avatar" expected to be a major player in this year's oscar awards. we'll find out in just about an hour. live, 8:00 this morning, eastern time. the year's oscar nominations

will be announced. we'll play it live here. but you can check out the full list on cnn.com or on your iphone app. the most news in the morning. a lot said about transparency in washington these days. >> one thing, senator-elect scott brown can't be accused of covering things up, at least in his younger days. >> reporter: technically, he's still senator-elect, but he's been anointed hunk daddy, sexy hunk. >> first of all, scott brown is a hunk. >> reporter: sally quinn is just saying what others are thinking. the hunk factor, anatomy is destiny. scott brown's anatomy has been the subject of "saturday night live." seducing democrats like house speaker nancy pelosi. >> i want to introduce some go

to the floor. it's called your panties. >> reporter: but senator-elect brown didn't get his panties in a twist over "snl." it was great. i think he's a little better dancer than i am. that cosmo centerfold from his law school days is what turned him into a hunk of burning senator-elect. >> are you worried this could make you a little bit of a joke. >> no. i was 22 years old. if i hadn't done that, i would never be sitting here with you. >> would he be sitting on jay leno's show, impersonating the guy in one of his favorite movies? >> adrian, adrian, we did it, i did it. >> reporter: he did it all right. made it into congressman barney frank's imagination on "snl." >> are you worried about a filibuster, because i'm about to filli-bust out of these jean

shorts. >> reporter: and he has put his image to music. ♪ i believe in miracles you sexy thing sent in. >> what's next, a nude action figure of the guy? well, actually, yes. herobuilders.com has rushed out the anatomically correct cosmo man. the real scott brown will be able to hear with $34.95, it comes with fig leaf included and the website arlesque found an uncanny resemblance between the senator-elect and a come-hither kangaroo. jeanne moos, cnn. >> oh, boy. >> welcome to the senate. there you go. coming up on 2 1/2 minutes to the top of the hour. top stories will be along in just about 90 seconds. living with foot pain?

get gold bond pain relieving foot cream. maximum strength medicine stops pain fast. gold bond pain relieving foot cream. finally, fast relief for painful feet. don't ask, don't tell. the president pledged to dismant dismantle it, but lifting the ban on openly gay soldiers in the military could be very costly, not to mention complicated. thank you for being with us, on this tuesday, february 2nd. groundhog day. >> here are the big stories we'll be telling you about. first, the dismantling of don't ask, don't tell gets under way

today. the secretary of defense set to appear before senators to discuss lifting the ban on openly gay soldiers in the military. but it could take a year or even more, money and morale, two topics causing a lot of concern for members of congress and the pentagon. sex-ed classes that encourage no sex may, in fact, work. that's the verdict of a new study that will have parents, teachers, and political activists talking today. elizabeth cohen will be answering questions you may already be asking yourself. and president obama pledged to engage america's enemies, but face-to-face talks with iran have failed to stop its nuclear ambitions. what is plan b? we're live with a memo to the president. our top story this morning, the pentagon preparing to lift its ban on openly gay soldiers serving in the military. later on today, defense secretary robert gates will appear before the senate armed services committee. is he expected to begin outlining how don't ask, don't

tell, could be dismantled. but there are big questions to clear up first. here they are. should gay soldiers face restrictions when it comes to how open they can be about their life-style? will the pentagon pay for benefits of partners? and will straight soldiers be required to bunk with gay soldiers or can they request separate quarters? ba barbara starr is outside the pentagon. >> reporter: when robert gates sits right here at the witness table at high noon to talk to senators about lifting don't ask, don't tell, he is going to tell them it may take a year, because he's appointing a panel of experts to study the whole issue. gates knows that he still has to convince congress and his own troops and commanders that it's time for change. the president made his intentions clear. >> this year, i will work with

congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay americans the right to serve the country they love, because of who they are. >> reporter: but the stone-faced joint chiefs of staff didn't react to the sensitive matter. we now know more about what they are thinking. a senior pentagon official tells cnn the chiefs are expected to support the president, but they will tell him to what extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and readiness of the force. the official says of the chiefs, all they want is a little bit of time to come up with their ideas on how to implement a change in the law, if it's approved by congress. as a first step, defense secretary robert gates is expected to call for no longer discharging people who are outed by others. over the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have been discharged from the military for being gay. defense officials privately say

the appetite to enforce the law is declining. many say the debate now is how to live with the change. >> one school of thought says just do it. it won't be that big a deal. >> reporter: existing regulations governing sexual behavior may be enough to allay concerns about living in close quarters. that may not work for everybody. >> we can talk about this delicately or be fairly direct. there are a lot of 18-year-old, old-fashioned, testosterone laden men in the military who are tough guys. they are often politically old fashioned or conservative. they are not necessarily at the vaqnguard vanguard in many cases of accepting alternative forms of life-sty life-style. >> reporter: the whole effort here on the hearing room on capitol hill is to avoid fireworks. is that really realistic? what do troops think about this? i have to tell you, many young

troops just don't care anymore. they are more concerned with practical matters, staying alive in the war zone, and many say it's the older, officers and troops that still need to be convinced that the time for change has come. but it's going to be a very slow change. the pentagon is determined to take its time in the year ahead. john. >> barbara, when you look at the number of people that have been discharged since don't ask, don't tell has been put into effect. it's around 10,000 soldiers, marines, other personnel. that's a couple of regiment's worth. that's a lot of man power. >> reporter: that's one of the key reasons that some very senior officers say the time for change has come. it's tough to recruit, and that they shouldn't be turning away anybody who is capable of serving in the military and has something to offer. an awful lot of people feel that way. a lot of troops feeling very sensitive about it. the real change here is for congress to repeal the law.

that's what has to happen. and the commanders, the joint chiefs of staff and secretary of defense have to be the ones to urge them to do it. >> barbara starr, thank you so much. the pentagon is expected to announce today that don't ask, don't tell discharges were down almost 30% last year. and we'll be joined by alex nicholson, a former army intelligence officer who was involuntarily discharged in 200 2 when members of his unit found out he was gay and told his commanding officer. a new study out this morning about the best way to stop teens from having sex what is the best way to teach sex education? elizabeth cohen joins us with more details. a lot of talk about whether abstinence-only education when it comes to sex education is the way to go. what's the verdict? >> i think the conventional wisdom has been, kiran, you can tell kids not to have sex, but they just won't listen. the study turns that on its head

a bit. what researchers did, they took a group of sixth and seventh graders, african-americans living in urban areas and gave them sort of more traditional safe-sex messages. gave one group safe-sex messages and gave the other group a more abstinence message and they followed up for two years to see who had sex. take a look at the numbers. these are pretty stunning. the group is told here is how to have safe sex, 52% ended up having sex in the two-year followup period. only 33% of the abstinence only group ended up having sex. i want to say that the abstinence only education is not what you might think. they didn't tell the kids don't have sex. they let the kids sort of come to that conclusion on their own. they let the kids talk about their life goals, about how pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease would get in the way of achieving those life goals and then if the kids did bring up condoms or other forms

of birth control, the instructors didn't tell them to be quiet, the instructors gave out accurate information. it was abstinence education with a twist. >> it's very interesting. and it is important to say this is one study. it doesn't mean it will change everything. when you look at those numbers, no sex ed, 48% had sex. safe sex education, 52%. why would it be higher if you got schooled about having safe sex? >> who knows? some people would say if you tell kids here is how to have sex and here is how to have sex safely, maybe that would encourage kids to have sex. some would say the differences between the groups is too small to mean anything? >> does this mean changes on how sex ed classes will be taught? >> i think over the past couple of years, there has already been a change of thinking about how sex ed classes should be done that maybe it's okay to give out the hey, you really ought to

wait message. an abstinence message is a good thing, but if kids ask questions about birth control, it's okay to answer those questions as well. maybe what we'll see in the future is a hybrid of two -- what used to be two very distinct schools of sex education. >> very interesting stuff. thank you. eight minutes after the hour. other stories new this morning, parts on the way to toyota dealers nationwide to fix the problem with acceleration pedals that can cause them to stick. toyota says that the repair work can be ddone in about 30 minute time. they found no electronic problems. toyota faces dozens of class action lawsuits related to the problem. federal prosecutors have recused themselves in the case of four conservative activists. the suspects charged with entering mary landrieu's office.

one includes a man who possessed as a pimp in a look into a.c.o.r.n. gilbert arenas promises to be a better role model after carrying a gun into the washington wizards locker room in a dispute with jarius crittend crittendon. arenas now says he understand that guns and violence are serious problems and not a joke. if you wanted to get an ad on during the super bowl, it's too late. six days before the colts and saints face off, commercial space for the big game is sold out already. some 30-second spots went for more than $3 million. a check of this morning's weather headlines. rob marciano tracking it across the country. >> miami, 3 inches of rain

yesterday. today, not quite as much in south florida. rain moving up to the carolinas, where it's meeting colder air. let's show where you the moisture is heading. right up the eastern seaboard, expecting most of the action. with that, maybe an inch or two of snow and ice expected across western parts of virginia and north carolina. a little light snow from chicago and stretching into new york. we don't expect much. notice western pennsylvania, where punxsutawney will be putting his head out of his hole or luxurious cabin. probably clouds, which would mean no shadow, which in theory would mean an early spring. we'll give you video as we get it. always fun stuff. we'll talk again in about 30 minutes. 10 minutes after the hour. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one.

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. a lot of new developments in the case of ten american

missionaries arrested in haiti. they say they went there to save children to do god's work and ended up in jail. the group is expected to finally get a hearing today at about 10:00 eastern. the haitian prime minister has called them kidnappers who knew they had no business removing 33 children from the country. he says the americans could be prosecuted in the united states since the haitian court system was crippled by the earthquake. this morning, some parents are admitting to us that they gave their young children away. hoping a brighter future was waiting for them. >> translator: i put them on the bus with the americans with my own hands. i played with them up until the last minute, and i kissed them both good-bye and told them don't forget daddy. >> translator: i told them to call me once in a while so i would know how she was doing. >> for every orphan leaving the chaos, thousands are left

behind. who will be there to help them? join us as we look for answers on an "ac 360" special series at 10:00 p.m. tonight. the biggest recipient for haiti, the red cross. texting the word haiti has raised $31 million. america clearly trusts the red acro cross, but should we? al around chernoff investigated. what is happening to the donations? >> they go to food, shelter, all of the important things. they are being watched extremely, extremely careful, because in the past the red cross has had some big missteps. 9/11. donations came poring into the red cross liberty disaster fund. when the public learned that the red cross planned to divert victim funds for other purposes, there was outrage, forcing a change of plans.

>> regrettably, it took us some time, somewhat longer than i think it probably should have, to address that credibility gap. >> reporter: hurricane katrina the american red cross was blamed for poor coordination of relief efforts. >> the red cross is not coming through like they are supposed to. >> reporter: at local red cross chapters, cases of embezzlement. two years ago they needed a $10 0 million infusion after their emergency fund was depleted. >> american philanthropy is built on trust and if you jeopardize that trust, you don't just jeopardize the red cross, you jeopardize the whole infrastructure of charity in the united states. >> reporter: the red cross has raised more than $203 million for haiti and spent or committed $67. $53 million for food and water. $12 million for shelt every, $2 million for health and human services. this includes the cost of

coordination, transportation, and distribution. you can assure us every dollar raised for haiti will go to haiti. >> 91 cents of every dollar that we raise. we have a bit of overhead. 91 cents of every dollar we raise will go to haiti. >> that nine cents is for what? >> general operations, overhead, pays salaries, keeps the lights on, et cetera. >> reporter: that efficiency measure does rank with top relief groups. to get there, the red cross is cutting expenses. the government has imposed a salary freeze, and employees no longer get a 401(k) match from the red cross. no matter how efficient the operation, getting aid to haiti is expensive. as we saw from somen nonprofit's accounting. >> in gibraltar, you purchased ten toyota land cruisers at a cost of $215,000.

they are $41,000 each. >> an suv, that's what they cost. in haiti, it's a very tough countryside. you have to be loaded, very heavy extra tires. i actually think that's not so bad. >> reporter: expensive as the operation may be, the red cross is making sure the money goes exactly where it should. placing auditors on the ground in haiti. there are desperate people there. isn't there a great opportunity for fraud? >> fraud is certainly at the top of our minds. it's not just the obligation i have to my donors, it's the obligation i have to the people of haiti. i don't want our dollars of assistance ending up in sticky fingers, if you will. i want it to get to people who need it. >> the red cross is filled with very hard-working, committed people, doing their best to make sure that your donations indeed, go to the people of haiti. for all its efforts, the red

skros sti cross is still not rated four stars. charity navigator says it's because it doesn't have a big financial cushion. they have a debt of $60 0 million, $100 million due this year. >> have their finances been improving, though? >> they have. a few of the steps where the red cross is cutting expenses, laying off people, no 401(k) match. all of the steps have been improving their finances. >> when you think of the red cross, you think of disaster relief. any chance for the red cross to assist in reconstruction? >> they will be there for the long term, and they are setting aside much of the donations for longer-term reconstruction, assuming that the donations continue to flow in at the current rate. but they are machiplanning to w with organizations on the ground to get people out of tents and into permanent shelter.

>> a lot of hard work on the ground in haiti. >> reporter: overwhelming no, doubt about it. yesterday, more than 70 mega stars gathered in hollywood to re-record the song "we are the world" for haiti relief. >> quincy jones and barbara streisand, tony bennett to name a few. take a listen. we'll be back after a quick break. ♪ we'll make a better day just you and me sent in had

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♪ 22 minutes after the hour. it's time for "minding your business." have y you have $30 billion burning a hole in your pocket, what do you do with it? >> let's see if we can help some

community banks get lending to small businesses again. president obama is heading to new hampshire to have a town hall, talk about what he would like to see happen. banks have repaid a lot of the t.a.r.p. money and they want to take $30 billion of it and put it into a new program. it would target community banks. we mean banks with less than $10 billion in assets. the white house pointing out that small businesses do more than half of the small business lending in this country. so, therefore, if they don't have the resources to do the lending, they are hurting small businesses and small businesses cannot hire. that is really important as well. because small businesses actually employ half of americans. small business, not the big, huge behemoths. they want to make sure this is the number one priority. they heard that in the state of the union address. in 2010, the plan will be all about jobs here. the banks will borrow money at

very low rates from treasury. but part of the problem, this plan was mentioned in october, but the banks were not really feeling it simply because the idea it has the t.a.r.p. tape on it. the treasury has been working to remove the tape, some of the restrictions, but they have to work out with congress to figure out how it-to-make this happen. >> thank you so much. still ahead, we are going to be featuring another memo to the president. this time areza seyo, weighing in on what the president should or should not do in engaging iran and getting the country to give up its nuclear ambitions. 24 minutes after the hour. what's around the corner is one of life's great questions.

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only on "american morning." the united states and iran, sworn enemies for decades. when president obama was elect, he said he was all for trying to solve the two nation's differences. with tensions on the rise in the middle east, can the president still deliver? here is today's "memo to the president." >> mr. president, you said iran's nuclear program poses a threat to the world. >> iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow. threatening the stability and security of the region and the world. >> reporter: you said years of saber rattling never worked. you pledged to rein in iran's nuclear program by reaching out and talking to hardline leaders. >> there are many issues to discuss and we're willing to move forward without preconceived conditions. >> reporter: but critics say have you little to show on the

policy of engagement. washington's first face-to-face talks failed to reach an agreement. instead, iran announced plans to expand what it calls its peaceful nuclear program. it's clear, iran is not interested in a deal. >> administration is increasingly realizing that iran hasn't shown any willingness to curtail its nuclear ambitions. >> reporter: in your safety union address, you suggested plan b. pressuring iran with economic sanctions. >> as iran's leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt, they too should face growing consequences. >> reporter: mr. president, three rounds of prior sanctions have only hurt iran's people, not its leaders. a fourth round could do the same, says columbia university professor of iranian studies, hamid dabashi. >> sanctions don't work. we know it from dealings with

iraq. sanctions hurt precisely the wrong people. >> reporter: further complicating matters in iran, the post-election arrest. last june, cnn was in tehran when hundreds of thousands protested what they called president ahmadinejad's sham re-election. eight months later, iran's opposition movement hasn't backed down, posing the biggest challenge to iran's regime in its 30-year history. the answer to the iran puzzle could be supporting its people's call for political change. >> the only thing that he has not done so far is precisely the question of engaging iran. you engage with the iranian people, with the civil society. >> reporter: but, mr. president, supporting an opposition movement risks further isolating a hostile regime. it also takes time. and with iran moving forward with its nuclear program, time

is precious. february 11th is another big day in iran/u.s. relations. the anniversary of the islam rev institution. they have called for widespread protests, and iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad with another one of his menacing messages, saying on february 11th, iran will deliver a harsh blow to the global arrogance. now, the global arrogance is a reference to the u.s., but it's not clear what the harsh blow is. oftentimes, iran has used this anniversary to talk about its nuclear advancements. not sure if that will happen again, but you can be sure president obama will be watching closely on february 11th. >> reza, thank you so much. tomorrow's memo to the president focusing on the fight against terror. to stopping places like yemen and somalia from becoming the next afghanistan, our report

from bar bra starr. ten americans charged with child trafficking in haiti are expected to get a hearing this morning. the haitian government says they were trying to ferry 33 children out of the government. toyota denying any underlying electronic problems with the millions of cars recalled, claiming an investigation revealed no issues. the fix may arrive as early as today. toyota shipping a metal shim the size of a postage stamp that will fix the faulty acceleration problem. secretary robert gates will unveil the machine before congress for the don't ask, don't tell policy. the first step on rolling back the halt of military outed by others. nearly 11,000 people have been

discharged from military service for being gay. defense secretary robert gates is set to ask for up to a year to study the best way to repeal don't ask, don't tell this comes on the heels of a key sentence in the president's state of the union address. >> this year, i had work with congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. it's the right thing to do. >> joining us live from washington now is alex nicholson, executive director of service members united, an advocacy group that opposes the don't ask, don't tell policy. >> thanks for having me. >> your history, you are a former army intelligence officer. honorably discharged, but involuntarily. you were dismissed for being gay. what was your reaction when the president called for an end to don't ask, don't tell?

>> we were very pleased with what the president said. it sent a clear message he intend to proactively work with us and he intend to do it this year. that was very important. he didn't have to do it in the state of the union. didn't have to do it that forcefully, but de. and we're pleased it was included. >> how did the don't ask, don't tell policy affect you personally in the military? >> don't ask, don't tell to many people, seemed so reasonable. i knew i was gay when i was going in. but don't ask, don't tell as a sound bite sounds very reasonable. no one will inquire as to your sexual orientation as long as you don't throw it in anyone's face. after i got in, i realized it was much more all inclusive. it was more like don't ask, don't tell, don't happen to be found out any time, any place, in any way. after about a year, i was outed within my unit. a couple people started finding out. that information spread and the command was forced into a corner in which they had to discharge me, because the information that i was gay had leaked out to the

rest of the unit. >> this is interesting. you said it's more than just don't ask, don't tell there are all types of other situations you have to deal with and live in fear in many cases of somebody outing you. your reaction to this. pentagon leaders expected to announce something separate today that is separate from any congressional action on repealing don't ask, don't tell. their own steps to relax enforcement. no third party can out someone and also only an admiral or general should decide who should be discharged. a unit commander cannot what do you think of that? is that going to go some measure toward making things better for gays serving in the military? >> you know, i think it will. this sort of solution falls within a category of interim steps. definitely going to work to stop a lot of the abuses and a lot of the ar temporabitrary and capri enforcement of this policy.

i think this will be an interim step and won't replace the abolition of the law. >> they need up to a year to study the best way to actually implement the repeal? what are some of the challenges that people are pointing to, just practically on the ground for repealing don't ask, don't tell, and the way it would affect members in the military? >> there are two categories of opposition that come up with respect to this. i think there are some honest and thlegitimate concerns about management, and another is a set of facades put up to help delay the issue, and some of the challenges would include, you know, looking at more technical things. what do you do about the people who have been kicked out? are they eligible to come back in? some of the other things we hear talked about like whether or not there would have to be separated showers and living arrangements and essentially segregation, i

think these fall into that category nah are facades that are delay tactics and are really covers for, you know, other reasons that people don't want to see this happen. they want to see it delayed. >> you don't think there will be a practical problem to some of the living arrangements if people are allowed to be openly gay? >> you know, kiran, there are hundreds if not thousands of people currently serving on active duty that are openly gay, believe it or not. they have an acknowledgment of their peers and sometimes their commands, and it's not a problem. we know because many of the people we work with, we know, are on active duty right now and they are gay and serving openly and no one cares. we know there won't be these problems, but the locker the chairman and secretary say they want to draw this out, i think that the worse off it will be for them in sort of managing the implementation of the repeal and getting this over quickly. we know it will be a nonissue

already. >> if it's repealed, would you go back to the military? >> absolutely. it's something i have wanted to do since 2002. i speak five languages including aria bi arabic and there is nothing more i would love than to go back. >> thank you for joining us this morning. >> you're very welcome. thank you. ten days until the olympics. massive security operation being undertaken in vancouver and up at whistler, where alpine events will take place and across the border here in the united states. jeanne meserve looking at what is being done to keep the olympics safe. a full report, coming up. 37 minutes past the hour. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan. one of car & driver's 10 best for the third year in a row. ♪

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40 minutes past the hour. if you aplanning to head to the olympic games, you should expect the same type of security you would see at international airports. simple things will make it shoother, though. arrive several hours early, have your tickets on you and travel as light as you can.

no big bags. they won't be allowed. one thing still missing in vancouver and that is snow. olympic officials are trucking it in. using straw and wood chips in some cases. a sign says olympic athletes, welcome. bring your own snow. intelligence officials here in the united states during the olympics will be at the border. more planes in the air, boats on the water. we are breaking down the security plan in this a.m. original. >> reporter: john and kiran, vancouver 30 miles north of here which means there will be olympic security on both sides of this border. during the olympic games, as many as 90,000 people a day may cross into the u.s., returning from events. there is one overarching worry. >> no secret as we're always concerned about terrorism, and

terrorist threats. >> reporter: in 1999, the so-called millennium bomber was arrested crossing into washington state with a car full of explosives to blow up los angeles international airport. since then there, has been a big boost in intelligence sharing, technology, and staffing on the bord border. but for the olympics, even more. customs and border protection has increased personnel 20% over the past 18 months and is building new travel lanes. >> we have contingency plans to adjust to a natural or man-made disaster, up to and including a mass migration of persons. >> reporter: any car coming to the border goes through a gauntlet of technology. first, the radiation detection portals and then those that capture videos of the car's license plates. audio and video activity stored for 90 days. this group of canadian teenagers tested the system in a memorable

way by mooning the cameras. olympic athletes are helping to let travelers know about new documentation requirements. cameras and motion sensors along open stretches of the border are monitored by additional personnel. do you think, in fact, you might see a decrease in certain kinds of illegal traffic while the olympics are going on? >> i believe so. i think we'll probably see an increase shortly afterward. >> reporter: the water as long the border will see a ramped up coast guard and military presence. >> smaller boats like this one right here and then boats like this high-endurance cutter right here. >> reporter: norad will monitor the no flight zones, and a new command center will coordinate with canadian security. >> they are our neighbors. they are right next door. >> reporter: officials on this side the border hope plans and preparations never get used that

the games go off without any major security glitch. john and kiran, back to you. >> thank you. coming up on 44 minutes past the hour. rob has the travel forecast, right after the break. stay with us. fancy feast appeti. [dinner bell chimes] high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon in a delicate broth, without by-products or fillers. fancy feast appetizers. celebrate the moment.

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>> there we go. the proclamation right now. there he, punxsutawney phil. is he saying that spring is, unfortunately, not right around the corner. punxsutawney phil, the world's most famous rodent forecaster you could say, rousted from his burrow and saw his shadow. thanks, phil. >> the handler on the right, spitten image of bill murray. six more weeks of winter. and it was cloudy there, and yet punxsutawney phil saw his shadow. not quite sure how that happened. >> he said it's the cameras and lights. >> new york staten island. chuck seeing things differently. i guess the lights aren't as operating bright. according to chuck, spring in six weeks' time. it will start to get mild fairly soon. spring still comes at the same time every year, right?

march 21st. mayor michael bloomberg escaped without injury this groundhog day. last year, chuck bit the mayor on the finger. >> just saying hi in rodent speak. let's get a check of weather headlines. good morning, rob. >> a look at the satellite picture, a little perspective to what rodents were seeing. staten island, cloudy skies in spots. and then also breaks in the clouds in parts of western pennsylvania. so i guess that's where he managed to see his shadow the accuracy of such forecasts have not been great. but a fun tradition. the colors here, radar, white being snow, the pink being a mix of sleet and snow and freezing rain in spots. and the blue being all rain. along the carolinas in through virginia. we have a weather advisory posted in northern parts,

virginia, 1 to 3 inches of wet snow expected. icy conditions, especially in the morning of parts of western north carolina. on top of the snow you saw over the weekend. down south of there, all rain from south carolina in through parts of florida, where yesterday, they got hammered with a lot of rain, hollywood seeing 3.57. miami, 2.9, and key wasest, 1.6. i don't think there is a groundhog in key west, but happy groundhog day nonetheless. coming up in a few hours, new york's empire state building will be transformed to a vet call track for runners. >> last year, it took the winner just over ten minutes to dash up 83 flights of stairs. 1,770 steps. >> one flight will wind you. top stories just minutes away, including americans in jail in haiti accused of

kidnapping. they were trying to help. parents who gave their kids to them have to say. at 8:38 eastern, oscar nominations. twice oscar nominations this morning. twice as many contenders this year. "avatar" likely one of the ten. and how thin bad. what your size and weight may be hiding on the inside. those stories and much more coming up at the top of the hour. [ announcer ] if you think about it, this is a lot like most job search sites. - they let everyone in, - [ crowd groans ] so the best people can't stand out. join theladders.com. the premium job site for only $100k+ jobs... and only $100k+ talent. but it takes less than 15 seconds to tell you this.

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52 minutes past the hour. amid the death and the destruction in the earthquake zone in haiti, there have been people surviving. dr. sanjay gupta is just back from haiti and he tells us what it's like to see the survivors up close. >> reporter: this 5-year-old boy was pulled out after eight days. he was severely dehydrated. this clerk was found after 11 days, and survived on food and

drinks left in the wreckage. this man was rationing water from a two-gallon water jug. and then this girl, rescued after 15 days, and they thought she had access to water in the bathroom that collapsed. the first requirement to survive would be air. imagine being entrapped without oxygen, you probably have hours. they bring the carbon dioxide monitors. if they find a pocket, it's

possible that somebody is alive in there and quietly breathing. water is the next critical element. there is no consensus on how long a person can survive without it. the study to find out would be unethical. 72 to 96 hours, that seems to be the window. anybody found after three to four days most likely had access to water, even if it's only licking the dew off surrounding services. the accounts by earthquake survivors talk about eating rotten apples and food that had been next to them. this woman, the longest survivor after an earthquake in pakistan, 35s. i met her myself. how much weight did she lose in

her legs? there is no muscle mass or fat, just skin and bones. there is no large study of all of the survivors, and maybe there should not be. they are all extraordinary, each and every one of them, all by themselves. i can tell you some of the survivors left the hospitals where they were treated. that's good news and bad news. obviously, doctors and nurses felt they could leave. the bad news is care after they leave the hospital, still very hard to come by. they will need care chronically. hopefully there is some plan to get it. >> is that the biggest medical challenge they will face in haiti over the next few months. >> people talk about what is known as a heroic period after a

natural disaster. rescue workers trying to help out and a lot of media coverage. was know with time that starts to fade away. what goes with it is what the survival offers. over 100,000 new amputees, and i can tell you it's an impossible country to get around and harder if you have a wheelchair or prosthetic leg. will they fit the prosthetics long term? that's a challenge going forward as well. >> thank you so much. >> good to be home. tough to leave, but good to be home. >> yeah, i understand. top stories coming your way. upbeat rock ♪ singer:wanted to get myself a new cell phone ♪

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good morning to you. it it'stuesday, february second. groundhog day. welcome to "american morning." i am kiran chetry. >> and i am john roberts. the future of don't ask don't tell, a very hot topic on capitol hill today. a pentagon correspondent, barbara starr reports it could be a year or more before they get anything done.

and americans were put in jail in haiti in trying to take children out of haiti. both sides of the story and get the latest on the children caught in the middle. president obama, selling his $3.8 trillion budget to the people who will pay for it, saying it's not what he wanted to send to congress but the one that he had to send. >> we won't be able to bring down the deficit overnight given that the recovery is still taking hold and families across the country still need help. >> he is at a town hall meeting in new hampshire, talking about creating jobs, but will american buy it? defense secretary will discuss lifting the ban on ga soldiers serving openly in the military. our pentagon correspondent,

barbara starr, has more. you are inside, not outside. >> reporter: yeah, john, you are right. it will be high noon when defense secretary robert gates takes the chair here to talk to the armed services committee in the room about lifting the ban about don't ask don't tell. it's clearly aimed at avoiding political fire points. gates will appoint experts to study the issue for another year. why? because he knows convincing congress and his own troops may be the biggest hurdle ahead. >> the president made his intentions clear. >> this year, i will work with congress and the military to get

rid of don't ask don't tell. >> a senior pentagon official tells cnn the chiefs are expected to support the president, but they will tell him to what extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and readiness of the force. the official says of the chiefs, all they want is time to come up with their ideas on how to implement a change in the law if it's approved by congress. as a first step, defense secretary robert gates is expected to call for no longer discharging people who are outed by others. over the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have been discharged from the military for being gay. defense officials say the appetite to inform the law is declining, and the debate is now how to live with the change. >> existing regulations

governing sexual behavior may be with concerns about living in close quarters. >> we can be fairly direct. there are a lot of 18-year-old old-fashioned men in the military, tough guys, and they are not at the vanguard in many cases of accepting alternative forms of lifestyle. >> so john, what do the troops really think? they reflect society. a lot of people will tell you that right now young troops are more concerned with practical matters, and that's staying alive in the war zone, rather than the preference of their colleagues.

>> what is your sense of this, barbara? will it pass congress? >> right now it seems doubtful. there is a lot of opposition to it. it will depend on what constituents tell their representatives, whether they are in favor and how far congress is willing to go. >> thank you so much. the u.s. military would not be the first to allow openly gay soldiers to serve. more than half of the 28 nato countries allow gay in the mi milita military. >> in some countries like iran, not much information about gay serving in the military, and that's because mahmoud ahmadinejad does not recognize homosexually. >> what it's costing you to keep

the plan in place. the feds can tackle any super bowl terror threat. january net napolitano took a tour in preparation for the showdown. >> we are, as was mentioned, working hand and hand to insure that super bowl xliv goes off smoothly and safely. >> 1,000 federal state and local law enforcement personnel will be on hand for the massive security situation. there are also new developments this morning. the case of ten americans arrested in haiti. the government says they were trying to take 33 children out of the country without permission. haiti's prime minister, who called them kidnappers, is

saying the courts could show them leniency if they were acting in good faith. this group could be headed back to the united states, because the court system was crippled in the earthquake. some parents gave their children away because they lost everything and felt they were too poor to care for them and would have a better life with somebody else. >> i put them on the bus with my own hands, and played with them up until the last minute and kissed them both good-bye and told them don't forget daddy. i promised i would go and see her, and after she left i was very sad. >> an orphanage is now taking care of the kids caught in the middle of it. for every orphan leaving the

chaos, there are thousands left behind. there is a special series, "children of haiti, on ac 360 tonight. toyota says the mechanical problem can be fixed in 30 minutes. voters head to the polls in illinois primaries today. they will pick republican and democratic nominees for president obama's old senate seat. the groundhog has spoken, and chances are you are not going to like what he had to say. the handlers delivered the bad news. >> phil proclaims, if you want to know next, you must read my

text. as the sky shines bright above me, my shadow i see beside me, six more weeks of winter it will be. >> so phil is the famous guy, but we are liking staten island chuck more, because he did not see his shadow. according to chuck, it will not last that long. >> a couple people ask on twitter a twitter, isn't winter the same? >> well -- >> who do you believe? >> neither.

we have not mentioned lee. let's show you the snow making its way to the north and east. you have a hole near pennsylvania. that may be why phil saw his shadow. what we are going to see throughout the day today is rain moving up the atlantic seaboard. some of that could mix with snow. a little bit of light snow across the great lakes. 41 for the high in d.c., and 36 degrees in new york, about where you should be for the time of year. february 5th, a few days away. national weather man's day. let's get our priorities in check here, and stop paying

attention to phil. >> i have two presents to buy now for national weather day, for you and for my husband. sir rich yard branson is at it again. an under water plane. it can dive up to 100 feet. he plans to rent it for $25,000 a week -- is that a typo? >> okay. that sounds better. for $25,000 a week, it costs roughly $88,000 for a week's stay, and once the cockpit is open, you will have to wear your

scuba masks. john and jennifer donahue with an independent perspective coming up right after this. somewhere in america... there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city movinagain. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, more than sixty thousand people spend every day

answering them. siemens. answers.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. three hours time, president obama will head to a town hall meeting in new hampshire. some voters are fuming over way too much government spending. jennifer, donahue a political analysts and contributor at the "huffington post." what is the mood up there as president obama prepares to go up there? >> well, a loose coalition of different groups, will turn out

people. they flooded the website on the white house which had a closed time of 5:00 p.m. on saturday, but you could not get a ticket, even for hours leading up to that dead time. i don't think that they will be impolite necessarily, and in new hampshire, people know how to have a town hall meeting, they are disruptive, even if they disagree for the most part. it will be a packed house. the small business message will be well received and obama can look forward to a lot of people liking the meat and potatoes of that part of the $3.6 trillion budget. >> vermont, probably the most independent-minded place in the nation. >> 4 out of 10 voters in new hampshire are registered undeclared. >> we have not had a chance to talk to you since the budget was

unveiled yesterday. what are the independent voters in your circle saying about this and the massive amounts of red ink? >> well, the president is trying to focus on the economy, and trying to reach out to independent voters but the problem is he has two opposing ideas in here. he has deficit spending and then modest steps to control the deficit in the out years. even if he is cutting 126 programs, and freezing spending, and it does not compare over the spending. i think he has to go big down the line. nixon and china moved entitlement reform, and only something like that would get attention. >> did you say entitlement reform after health reform? >> yes. >> he likes to dream big. >> yeah, i think he will say debt reduction next.

>> yeah, and that's what independent voters want. there is a lot of anger. >> and republicans. and bill clinton. >> yeah, they look at the divided government as being a great era for spending. >> newt gingrich was up here talking about reduction and running for president. >> that's what you want to do going into your president in the mid year first election, you want to touch the social security system, the third rail in politics. that's a good idea. >> yeah, a third rail he should touch today, which i don't think will be in the talking points, which there is so much fervor for high-speed rail, new york to

the boston corridor. if they had the political ears open and they went into that high school and announced that that is going to break ground, he would win the super bowl in new hampshire. there would be no stopping democrats in 2010 and 2012 if they announce that here today. >> john, let me turn you to the road ahead. she said the tea party will be there, and scott browners will be there, and you don't see that same wave of anger that we saw over the summer. but the dissatisfaction among the voters, is that a wave republicans might ride to november? >> well that's what they rode to the scott brown seat. it feels like generational theft. president obama campaigned on a

return to physical responsible responsible the. one year ago he was talking about reform at the outset of his term. these are not crazy ideas. you have to get folks' attention. he is already labeled as a big-spending president with a democratic congress. it will take bold action to restore trust. >> always great to catch up with you. thank you so much. still ahead, america's biggest rip offs. guess how much you pay for texting? we are minding your business. 18 minutes past the hour. you have different needs and desires. - i'm reading a book. - what's a book? so we tailor plans for individuals, featuring a range of integrated solutions. you at your usual restaurant? son: maybe. see you tomorrow. stairs? elevator. to see how our multi-faceted approach...

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20 minutes past the hour right now, and that means it's time for minding your business. we are a nation of people getting ripped off? >> yeah, you don't want to know these things to be honest. there are good ones there. let's start off with ones that almost all of us do, and some of us may do it from the set. we are talking about text messaging. how about a markup of 6500%. they cost carriers a third of a cent to deliver, but it usually costs 20 cents going out and 10 cents going in. maybe going to the movie. with the popcorn, 900% markup there. >> that's all. i thought it would have been more. >> 60 cents to make it, and sell

it for $6. they don't make the money off the movies, just everything that you buy in it. and for many of you traveling right now, the hotel minibar, 1300% markup for eating anything out of there. they often put rare products, so you don't know how much you are paying for it. movie, 200% markup there in the hotel. interesting things there. cnn money.com has great write ups on this. >> maybe that's an excuse for

people to buy a whole body. >> yeah, they were giving away a basket, and i said, yeah, it's a chocolate bar and a bag of chips. and during the campaign, can president obama deliver? we have a memo to the president coming up. stay with us. 23 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] when it comes to reaching your big milestones,

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26 minutes after the hour, and that means it's time for an a.m. original, something you will see only on "american mornin morning". when president obama was elected he said he was all for trying to solve the differences between the two nations. >> but with tensions on the rise between the two countries, can the president deliver? reza has a memo to the president. >> reporter: nothing seems to be coming easy to the president these days. there is a lot of complicated issues for president. he made it clear, his number one concern is iran's nuclear program.

mr. president, you said iran's nuclear program poses a threat to the world. >> iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow. threatening the stability and security of the region and the world. >> reporter: you said years of sabre rattling never worked. >> there will be many issues to discuss between our two countries, and we are willing to move forward without preconditions on the basis of mutual respect. >> reporter: but critics say you have little to so for your policy of engagement. washington's first face-to-face talks to iran in decades failed to reach an agreement. instead, iran plans to expand what it calls a peaceful nuclear program. >> the administration is

increasingly realizing iran has not shown willingness to curtail its nuclear ambitions. >> reporter: asuggested plan b, pressuring iran with obligation. >> there should be no doubt they too will face growing consequences. >> but three rounds of prior sanctions hurt its leaders. >> sanctions don't work, particularly crippling sanctions. we know it from experience in iraq that sanctions hurt precisely the wrong people. >> reporter: further complicating matters in iran, the most election unrest. the tens of thousands of people that showed up today. hundreds of thousands protested

what they called the sham re-election. the opposition movement has not backed down, posing the biggest challenge to iran's regime in its 30-year history. analysts say the answer to the iran puzzle could be supporting its people call for political change. >> what they have not done so far is engaging with iran. you engage with the iran people and the civil society. >> reporter: but mr. president, supporting an opposition movement risks further isolating a hostile regime. with iran moving forward with its nuclear program, time is precious. the next big day to keep an eye on when it comes to u.s.-iran relations, the opposition movement has called for more widespread protests. and the iranian president,

mahmoud ahmadinejad, delivered another message saying on february 11th, iran will deliver a harsh blow to the global arrogance. we are not sure what he is talking about. iran has used the anniversary to talk about their advancements. but you can rest assure president obama will be watching closely on february 11th. tomorrow's memo to the president, focusing on the fight against terror, from finishing the job in afghanistan, to stopping places like yemen and somalia from becoming the next afghanistan. toyota dealers should begin to get replacement parts today that can fix gas peddles that stick and cause sudden acceleration. the company executive says there are no electronic problems in the recalled vehicles. he says earlier recalls for

floor mats also totally unrelated to the gas pedal defect. and the safety board is ready to reveal the cause the crash near new york. key safety reforms have not been made despite of regulators and lawmakers to take swift action. and nasa will not stop shooting for the moon despite the president's cut budget. and the president explains it's not all bad for the space agency. >> let me be clear about what is happening at nasa. the constatation program, which is over budget and behind schedule, was intended to do what we have already done, which is return a man or woman to the moon. we believe in the future of human space flight and we believe nasa can inspire

americans and lead to scientific advances. we have a small budget increase for nasa. >> nasa's administrator says the budget will not prevent future exploratio explorations. today defense secretary robert gates will be in the senate hearing room to present an outline on how don't ask don't tell policy can be repe repeal repealed. our carol costello is covering this story. >> plenty of people in high places say now is not the time to talk about the issue. others say those things are precisely why this is the time. they say don't ask don't tell is costing taxpayers in dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars.

with the country gripped by economic anxiety, republicans say it's not primetime to revisit such a divisive issue. >> at a time when americans are asking where are the jobs, why get in this debate? >> but those that support repealing don't ask don't tell say it's time. the general accountability office says it costs taxpayers more than $190 million. if you factor in the cost to recruit, train, and then discharge gay troops. critics say none of this justifies repealing don't ask don't tell. $363 million is a drop in the bucket. >> well, the discharge of 13,000

people is small in comparison to what they pay over year. >> others say repealing the policy could end up costing taxpayers more. a 2008 mill tear krae time survey showed 24% of military personnel would eventually leave the service if gay troops served openly. what about the possibility of creating separate barics for gay and straight troops. >> david, who is gay, served six years in the air force before he was outed by a fellow cadet. he says the survey showed 71% said they would continue to serve if don't ask don't tell is repeal repealed. as for separate barics. >> that makes no sense. gay people are serving in the military, and everybody knows that. >> under don't ask don't tell,

at what costs? both sides hope tuesday's congressional hearing will answer that question. those in favor of repealing don't ask don't tell say it's clear the pentagon will at the least soften the policy making it harder for gays to be discharged. but the policy in an election year? they are not holding their breath, kiran. >> thank you. hollywood salutes the top movies. nominations just ahead. 

welcome back to the moegs news in the morning. we are moments away from this year's oscar nominations. >> they are trying something a little different this year. brooke anderson live in beverly hills where the excitement is starting to build this morning. hi, brooke. >> hi, there john and kiran.

one minute to air, meaning they will make the oscar nominations in 60 seconds. you mention a big change this year. the oscars expanded the best picture category from five nominees to ten. some names you will hear this year, "avatar," james cameron's epic blockbuster. if you take into account the ticket price inflation, it would not be at the top, that honor would still be with "gone with the wind." it still is up for best drama and director. james cameron's ex-wife just won something for her movie, "the hurt locker," for producer.

here we go. ceremony is going. this is the academy president. let's listen to him talk. i am tom sherik, president of the academy. we have news to break this morning. but before we do, please welcome the very talented actress, anne hathaway. >> thank you, tom. good morning, every one. >> the 2009 nominees for best performance by an ak strus in a supporting role are, penelope cruz in "nine," and farigar in "up in the air," and anna kendrick in "up in the air," and

mo'nique in "precious." for best performance for actor in a supporting role are, matt damon, and woody harrelson, and stanley tucci in "lovely bones, and waltz. >> for best performing actress in a leading role, the nominees are, sandra bullock in "the blind side," and meryl streep in "julie and julia." the nominees for actor in leading role, jeff bridges in "crazy heart," and george

clooney "up in the air," and morgan free mun, and jeremy renner in "the hurt locker." and best achievement in practice director. ly daniels f for best original screen play, the nominees are mark boal, and tarantino, and camon, and joel cohen and ethan cohen

for "a serious man." >> and the nominees for adopted screen play are as follows: for best foreign language we have, ajami, and ojos, and from peru, "the milk of saur yoe," and "prophleth" that.

and finally, i am pleased to announce that the ten films selected as best picture nominees for 2009 are "avatar," james cameron. "the blind side," nominees to be determined. district nine. "education," and "the hurt locker," nominees to be determined. " "ingloerious bas yards."

"up." and "up in the air," and "precious. please join us in a little more than a month when we find out who goes home with the oscar. it will be a night to remember. see you then. everybody here excited. the culmination of the award season. what stands out to me, john and kiran, "avatar," nine nominations and "the hurt locker," nine nominations. everybody calling this a david and goliath story. "avatar" has made more than $2 billion worldwide. a couple other things. the "blind side" was a surprise for best picture. there was a little cheer here,

450 people here on hand for the announcements. no surprise, meryl streep, and this is her 16th oscar nomination. still the leading oscar nominee of all-time, and sand rmarch 7t academy awards. yeah, they moved the oscars back because of the olympics, so there is more time for people to see them. >> yeah, a little bit more time for them to get prepared and make the votes. i want to make a point quickly about expanding the best-picture category. this is broadening the appeal. they want more mainstream appeal. with movies like the blind side, they may get that this year. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. i know how early that is. that's great.

>> thank you. we have ten movies to watch, and i have seen two out of the ten. >> i have seen most of them. >> most of them? >> yeah, i am surprising myself. >> i think that best director will go to james cameron, sorry, "avatar." >> yeah, or lee daniels for "precious." >> well, he pioneered things. >> best actress, sandra bullock, you know, wow, it's kind of a toss up. jeff bridges, you know, in "crazy heart." how do you make the decision? a lot of good characters and movies to see. >> we will talk about the weather when we come back. >> heavy rain, ice, and stay with us, rob is coming up next.

everybody gathered where phil made his prediction. rob marciano made his broadcast. he is in the weather center in atlanta this morning.

>> tricky forecast for the roadants, you guys. i guess he saw his shadow out there in punxsutawney. chuck did not see the shadow, breaking news coming into the cnn center there. bright lights certainly highlighting him. he certainly saying springs coming. there you go. these clouds will bring in a little moisture, but most of the action is down in parts across the south. and we have a winter weather advisory out for the locations. a coating of ice for western parts of north carolina. and dusting of snow across parts of virginia and rain across florida. quickly, 400 giant squid caught off the coast of california. monsters in some cases up to 60 pounds.

fisherman got out there to snag them up. i would have guessed they would be cuff tough. >> deep fried anything tastes good. even a groundhog. >> almost. well, let's check in with kyra phillips. >> you would eat a groundhog? >> no. they deep fry everything. >> punxsutawney? >> no. no. >> i heard about having a deep fried snickers, but a groundhog? >> let's talk about totally switching gears. this is basically, how low can you go. in liberty, missouri, the deep

is low. i don't know if you have seen this or not. can we roll this. this couple coming in to order food, and they walk away with something, do you know what they are stealing? have you seen this yet? >> the red cross donation for haiti. >> it caught the classy pair there in the restaurant in missouri. we want to help police find these two. i will tell you what, they will not be nominated for cnn hero this year, but we want to do everything we can to track them down. the people that need it most, and they are stealing the relief jar for red car in haiti. >> outrage today. that and deep frying punxsutawney phil. >> please, don't misunderstand.

no, don't understand. punxsutawney phil has many more years ahead of him, nobody is deep frying him up. >> we are talking about normal weight. are you still at risk, even though you are average and right in the guidelines, you may be thin yet obese? how is that possible? we will talk about that coming up. 53 minutes after the hour. [ birds screech ] [ loud rumbling ] [ rifle fires ]

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you may feel like you are in good shape. just because you have a healthy weight, you may still be considered obese. >> welcome back, and great to see you back, dr. sanjay gupta. >> i am back and already giving tough news about health. there is something known as normal weight obesity. a lot of people get on the scale and they are looking for their overall number, which makes sense. but what they found is that people who have too much body fat and too little muscle mass, lean muscle mass, can also have problems. this is a study looking at lots of people over a few years. they found people who fell into the normal weight obesity category had about a four times likelihood of developing something that we talked a lot about on american morning, something known as metabolic syndrome. the likelihood of developing hypertension and the likelihood

of developing diabetes later on. keep in mind, normal body weight but the normal weight obesity. they predict 30 million americans right now have this condition, so potentially a big problem. >> just saying because i guess you are talking about the unhealthy percentages of body fat. how do you tackle that, not lose weight but get rid of the fat? >> yeah, people may be under weight or normal weight that fall into this. there are pretty good tests out there, and even the home scales are good within about 10% or so but your doctor's office can give you a more accurate reading, as gyms or clubs will do this as well. here are numbers to keep in mind. rough numbers. for men, you don't wanted to get over 23% body fat percentage, and women 33%. but kiran, exactly to your point, the goal is not to lose more weight but to add things to

your overall fit team, doing resistance training, and building up lean body mass. that will make a big difference. goes for men and women alike. >> lifting weights in the big thing? >> yeah, i talked to my mom about this all the time who is in her 60s, and she never lifted weights, and she was somebody that tried to do arobic stuff. now she is out there with the dumb bells. and it just let's you burn calories having more muscle mass. >> always great to try and stay in shape regardless how older. stay with us.

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