people. >> larry: james cameron and the cast of "avatar" tomorrow night. now anderson cooper and "ac 360." american missionaries behind bars in haiti. are they well-meaning folks or child traffickers. we have striking new information from inside haiti from the jail where the missionaries are being held right now and also from the small town in idaho where we get a picture of who these people are. also, i visited one of the largest haitian communities outside haiti in new york. tonight i show you how haitian-americans are working to help loved ones in need. joel osteen is here live. i'll ask him about haiti and

faith. how can something so unfair be reconciled wi reconciled faith? the alleged christmas bomber is talking again and we have the inside details of how authorities may have won his cooperation to prevent any attacks on the country. first up wi start with haiti, child trafficking or good intentions gone wrong? that's the question tonight. that and 33 kids. they are now in limbo and so are the parent that is gave up some of them to a group of american missionaries from idaho caught to bring the kids across the board entire the dominican republic. they're in a haitian jail. that's them right there a judge is weighing charges. the state department said it's up to haiti what happens next. there are a lot of moving parts to the story, though. there's a he lot of raw emotions, of course, and in a moment a closer look at the church group in question. first, the latest from haiti. karl penhaul joins us now. you've been tracking this for days now. what have you just learned? >> reporter: well, of course, we know that the americans from

their own mouths had no documents for these kids. they had no official permission from the patian authorities to get the kids out of haiti. weapon spent the afternoon with three young men, the interpreters for the group of ten american baptists. those three interpreters spent from tuesday through friday with the americans going everywhere that the americans went. those interpreters have told us today that the americans had a meeting with the haitian policeman on two occasions. the haitian policeman or what appeared to be a haitian policeman boarded the bus on the first indication on tuesday. according to the conversation that the interpreters heard, they said that the haitian policeman told laura, it is team leader of that american baptist group, that she should not gather haitian children together like this. what then followed was an offer to help from the man who

appeared to be a haitian policeman. tla there was a second meeting with that same man on thursday. that meeting on thur, the interpreters say, took place in the vicinity of the doe man can embassy in port-au-prince. after that meeting the american baptists came away with a document from the doe minimum canal embassy. we know from the americans that the only official piece of paper they say they had was a permit from the dominican authorities to allow the kid induce haiti. on friday only one of the interpreters traveled with that bus to the haitian board. the haitian police stopped the bus and said the kids could go no further and launched ant vefgts. at that point one of the interpreters tells us that lawyer ya put a phone call in to a man he overheard her calling jose. april man called jose appeared in a uniform coming from the dominican side into haiti a few

moments later. he believed that man was a dominican police officer who tried to smooth things over with a haitian police, a tactic that didn't work. from then tonight we once ge talked to the the 10 americans. we were allowed access to the jail cells where they're being held. laura, when i put to her that there were two men who appeared to be policemen, one a dominican and haitian, first of all the group sung hooims and praying to drown out of questions. eventually they conceded they did know a man who was a haitian police officer and another man that they say was a dominican coast guard. anderson. >> so, this clearly raises a lot more he confess. we don't know if he was a policemen or someone posing as a policeman. whoever he was seemed to have

gotten some document that they may have thought allowed them to bring the kids into the dominican republic. clearly, anyone who is operating in hate it interested in kids and helping kids at this point or last week would have known or should have known that there are a very strict rule for how you you go ba helping kids in haiti, right? >> the order had already gone out from the haitian prime minister that no haitian kids were to leave the country without proper domination or whoever adoption procedures being formerly signed off bits about. we know they put a strong watch in place at the airports. because there were a lot of planes coming in and relief sites and such. the haitian police were watching the airports with oigle eyes. it seems when this group of americans try to cross the haitian dominican border, that therl picked up. so the police there was alort

always well when the dominican man who appeared to be a coast guard according to the american baptists came across to smooth things over. that didn't work as well. there was no bending the haitian police at that stage. of course, this is very frech information to piece together in the last foouf minutes. we can't connect any dots or run the risk of trying to connect it to lead to conclusions. we have to try and get at the real truth of what went on here. >> were these kids actually orphans, or did some have parents and were given to this group? do we know how all the kids ended up with this group. >> that aspect we've been working on heavily today, and i have explanations from the three interpreters, which backs up information that we got from parents themselves yesterday. what we understand now from a number of sources, interprets, parents and the sos children's

village is that probably 20 of the 33 children have a mother or a father or in some cases both. the status of the other 13 is still being looked into, but we do know that inform those 13, while they mantd have a murder or father, certainly have a very close relative which could be an aunts or ungle or adult sibling. in no way were all this group nor even the majority orphans. now a-cording to the interpreter who translated the kefrgs between the american boston and the people they were collecting children from. the interpreters say they believe the americans knew very well that a lot of these kids have parents because they interpreted their words. what they were prpted for them was explaining that these parents could noo longer care for their children. ment they couldn't afford to, andzson. >> finally, was there an orphanage in the dominican republic that they run or that they have experience running or

we know they were taking the kids, too? >> we know that this group doesn't yet have a website running. they are registered in idaho. not as a nonprofit organization, i understand, but they are outrage to see if it was a legal entity. >> farce the accommodation in the deminimum can republic, i understand from the americas. plant was over the next six months. meanwhile they were going to convert a 45-bedroom hotel to serve the purpose of housing for those children. >> all right. karl penhaul has been working this for a long time. i appreciate you rushing this on air. more on the church group in question. we want to figure out who these folks are. did they come to haiti to help kids and something that got messed up and something they didn't expect? the government needs to be meridian, ohio where the group is based. what do you know about this

church. >> picking up on what carl said, this woman is truly the leader in all this. she and another member, they're members of the churn, the central back tast chaurch. we can tell tu the plan is to build a pool but it was in its infant see all of sudden they wanted to go down there and do something right away. as we look into the group and plan, i think it's fair to say, anderson, that some questions have arisen about the capabilities. we can go through them one by one. first of all, they have no experience running an orphanage. no experience. they're also not registered as a nonprofit. it's not clear over a period of time how they would have the financial wherewithal to staeng this orphanage. finally, they're not registered as an international adoption agency, so we've been trying to probe the members here today,

ask them about all this, and i want you to hear from a woman named samantha. she just appeared on laurie king live. her sister and mother are part of that group in haiti. take a look. >> it's my mother and my sister. i know that their heart was to help these people, and it very much hurts me that they are being accused of this. i know that they are working very hard to take care of these children even where they are right now. they are concerned about them. >> i mean -- go ahead, dan. >> i was going to say, irng what you have here, andzson, is a situation where these people really have the best of intentions where they wanted to help. that's what we've been able to ascertain thus far. that said, clearly they didn't jump through all the hops next.

they thought about it a couple of years ago. they put together a manifesto in terms of their goals and sort of sat on it. then the earthquake happens and you want my center card and they get to an airplane and went to haiti. then they sort of felt their way through it, and clearly they hadn't dotted all the i's and crossed the ts to get this done. >> one of the things we emphasize in our coverage is there's many ways to help haitian kid there is thousand. they don't all have to be taken out of the country. in fact, that's just not possibly. a lot of the groups, unicef, save the children, a locality of groups look at way to have orphanages in haiti that really help these and there's a lot of support that can be done for that and there are very strict rules in play about what kids can be taken out. those ared rules that are a legitimate group who works with children knows those rules. gen, we're trying to figure out

what happened with this group of americans. they're in custody tonight, and certainly they're not the image of trafgers that the haitian government is paints. then again, still a lot of details to be uncovered. next tonight, how do you fill out who is an orphan and who isn't? it may sound easy, butd in haiti it is hundreds of kids. you will meet the people looking out. >> the top general says it's time to let openly gay members stay in the service. we'll hear from lawmakers that have to make the monumental change tonight. i knew i had to get my cholesterol under control. but exercise and eating healthy weren't enough for me. now i @%ust my heart to lipitor. (announcer) when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39 to 60%. lipitor is backed by over 17 years of research.

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tonight, the children of haiti is our focus. nearly 400,000 of them were orphans before the earthquake.

and now, as you know, there's no telling how many more orphans have been created. it is confusing, though, to figure out exactly who is an orphan. some fall into the same category as many of the 33 kids who were taken by the ten american missionaries now in jail. they have a parent, or two parents, even, who for a variety of reasons are willing to give them up, sometimes to total strangers. it is a chaotic, frequently heartbreaking mess. you see it everywhere in port-au-prince. joe johns discovered you also see people working to clear things up and help. >> reporter: one little boy we talked to said he lost his dad, but his mom's still alive. another lost a cousin. figuring out what happened in these kids' lives can be tricky. a flatbed truck cruising back streets and tent cities, carrying dozens of kids back from a day on the soccer field. most people here don't know this is organized by one of the many groups here on a difficult mission, to identify and help children orphaned by the quake.

the day camp is more than just play time, it is a safe place for the children outside of what is a really harsh environment right now. but it also gives the group a chance to try to figure out which of these kids are the so-called new orphans, the ones that don't have any parents, don't have any family as a result of the quake. but it's really tough trying to figure that out. there's something like 85 kids here right now. almost a toss-up as to who's who. father rick frechette is a priest from connecticut who spent 22 years here rescuing haiti's children. he says the critical thing is separating the longtime street orphans who have already figured out how to survive in port-au-prince from the kids who have just lost their parents in the earthquake. >> the kids that are used to the street, they have scars, the way they stand, the way -- you know them immediately. and the kids that are trembling and scared to death and can hardly speak, you know that they're new to the street. >> reporter: second problem is, not all of the orphans are

orphans. parents abandon them sometimes, hoping they'll have a better life. alphonso leone was once an orphan himself. now he also goes out searching for kids left without family by the quake. but they don't take all the kids offered to them. >> like, they would hope that i would take the children, and actually, they do that almost any time, but we don't work that way. like, you know, even the mother, with a child, would beg us to take the children, but we can't do that, because we don't operate that way. we help them. in that case, i would help the mother and the kids to have a meal and to do something, you know, if we could help in the community, maybe we would do that. but i wouldn't take the children from her. >> reporter: there's another challenge too. some here simply distrust anyone who says they're looking to help orphans. they're wary of motives, so the groups have to work to gain trust, which is not always easy.

just last week, alphonso and his team brought in these two little brothers who left their house before the quake and now can't find their mother. the goal is to try to determine if the boys have any other family they can stay with. that orphanage is already anticipating that it will have to expand. however, as a whole, it's really hard to see how haiti is simply going to be able to accommodate what appears to be this growing need tonight. anderson? >> you know, joe, some people listening to that man say that, you know, if a parent wants to give up his kid, they won't take them. why not? i mean, if -- why don't the orphanage just take kids if their parents don't want them? if the kid is unwanted by his own parents, wouldn't he be better off in an orphanage? >> reporter: sure. well, yeah, absolutely. and i think they would very much like to be able to take over the kid, but it's a matter of priorities. and when you have so many kids out there, potentially, who have neither mother nor father nor

any family that you can reach at all and those kids have nothing, they take priority over kids who at least have one parent, even that one parent is saying, i can't take care of this child. it's a really tough situation. >> joe, appreciate you being down there. joe's reporting is part of our continuing dedication to haiti and the children of haiti. you can look for stories on the subject all week here on "360." breaking news when we come back. exclusive details about how the alleged christmas bomber may have been persuaded to give up the goods on other terrorists plotting to attack the country. is he talking again? that's the story tonight. and later, pastor joel osteen joins us to talk about haiti and what he's doing to help. along with how people can make it through the hard times here at home. we'll be right back. i've been growing algae for 35 years. most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green.

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kiran chetry is taking some no-doze, and joined us and stayed up all day so she could be on the program for us tonight, which we appreciate. she joins us with the "360" news bulletin. >> these are the evenings when red bull is your friend, for sure. we start with a sobering prediction tonight from national security officials. heads of u.s. major intelligences agencies telling today to a senate committee that another attempted terror attack on the united states in the next three to six months is, quote, certain. they also say al qaeda remains the top security threat to the united states. president obama taking his jobs message on the road today. he was in new hampshire, promoting his plan to direct repaid bailout money towards

small business loans. the president calling for $30 billion to go to investment in a new small business lending program. and new hampshire with more than 40% of its registered voters independents last november, is considered a politically critical state. and it is groundhog day once again, and the best-known rodent prognosticator, punxsutawney phil, did indeed see his shadow. that means six more weeks of winter, if you're to believe phil. but our own meteorologist, chad myers, points out that phil gets it right just 39% of the time. noaa, by the way, says that phil has, quote, no predictive skill at all. they're all picking on the groundhog. >> i find this confusing, i know it's the news kicker every year, but i don't understand, how do they know that it's seen his shadow? >> he and his handlers have some sort of understanding, i guess. they're able to actually -- >> his pr handlers. >> and we were joking this morning is that the only reason that he sees his shadows is the only lights from the tv cameras.

that's the only thing shocking there in punxsutawney. >> i gave you $5. you said it was $2. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> ready? >> this is a guy who gets lifts from perfect strangers, part of his very unique journey. it's our shot. we'll bring you the story and the person behind it ahead. something sure to make you smile before you go to bed. but the serious stuff, breaking news out of washington. new information about the alleged christmas day plane bomber. getting it from the white house, who tonight is telling us about the secret cooperation the suspect's family is providing authorities. we'll bring that to you. also try to look at why the white house is trying get that information out there. that's right after the break.

in the raw politics tonight, breaking news out of washington on two major terror fronts. we have new information on the president's push to hold the 9/11 terror trials here on american soil. we also have new details on the

obama administration's secret communications with the family of the alleged christmas airline bomber. senior congressional we begin with ed hundredary at the white house heat. ed, what do you know? >> really remarkable. late tonight some senior officials called us back to the white house. it's extremely rare to do and they want new information they've been working with. baskally last week he started to talk to the family again, and it's because of senior ofishes say back on january 31st. a custom of worked for a gain the trust of relatives of him. then on january 17th, they're revealing for the first time, two relatives of the suspect flew back to the united states, again, all in secret, so that they could convince the suspect, look, you can trust the u.s. government. nothing to be afraid of.

they're trying to get information, they're trying to get your cooperation. why is the white house doing this now? why did they call us back late tonight? this is a case where we don't have to do any guessing. they were very blunt behind the scenes. one of the senior officials, i was struck, i put in my notebook, he was sort of getting a little red and angry and talking about how republicans have been attacking the white house, saying that they've botched this terror investigation. this one official saying, quote, it's frustrated the hell out of me, because the charge has been, basically, by reading this suspect's his miranda rights on christmas night, that got him to clam up and they sort of screwed up the case. these officials tonight are asserting no, by very carefully going through this, they've now gained his cooperation by working with his family, anderson. >> ed, do we know how much he is talking or how significant the discussions are? >> reporter: we're told last week he started talking again on a daily basis. the president himself has been getting frequent updates about what he's being told. they're obviously being tight-lipped about the details, but we're told by these top officials that it's what they call actionable intelligence. information that they believe they can use to prevent future

attacks on u.s. soil. republicans tonight are insisting, look, they missed five or six weeks of information that they could have gotten if they had not read the miranda rights, but again, they're pushing back hard and the significance is this white house has been beat around on the economy and the health care, they started pushing back on that last week. this week they're pushing back hard on these terror allegations. >> dana, in terms of the timing, the administration is leaking this after a day of criticism on capitol hill about the president's handling of terror suspects. >> reporter: that's right. and when you walk the halls here in congress, like i have, you definitely hear an increase in criticism about the way the president is handling terror suspects, and also the whole idea about bringing guantanamo detainees to be tried in civilian courts. and what is most fascinating, anderson, is that more and more it's coming from democrats. number one, democrats who say, it's just not the right policy. and number two, remember, this is an election year, democrats who think they are way wrong on the politics of this. for example, blanche lincoln, she is a democrat who is facing a brutal re-election battle this year. she said, look, she can't sell

this back home. and she wants the administration to hear what she's hearing from her constituents, which is, people don't support giving terror suspects the same rights they have. another example, evan bayh, he also is up for re-election. he told me today, anderson, he thinks at a time of deficits, why would you spend hundreds of millions of dollars to try these suspects on u.s. soil in civilian courts? this is also the subject of the democratic lunch today, i'm told there was a feisty debate inside those walls. and the bottom line is this, anderson, the president must get money from congress to follow through on this policy. and more and more, talking to democrats, they are saying, sorry, mr. president, we don't think we can do this for you right now. >> interesting. dana, ed, appreciate the reporting. thanks on the breaking news. also tonight, new developments in president obama's bid to end don't ask, don't tell. testifying before the senate armed services committee, defense secretary robert gates says congress should consider repealing the 16-year-old policy that lets gay and lesbians serve in the military, only if their don't disclose their sexual

orientation. and admiral mike mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff made it clear that he personally believes the law is dishonest. listen. >> speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> the service members' legal defense network says more than 13,000 people have been discharged because of don't ask, don't tell. the policy, of course, began back with former president bill clinton, who back then had actually asked his inner circle to vote for or against it in private meetings. senior political analyst, david gergen, who at the time was an adviser to clinton was in the room when the votes were cast. david joins us now for an "360" insider briefing. that must have been a fascinating moment. the president was, what, basically polling his inner circle?

>> yes, he was, anderson. he had -- president clinton, as a candidate, had said he would like to end the prohibition against gays in the military. it wasn't an issue, really, in the 1992 campaign, and shortly after he was elected back in november of 1992, he said he planned to move ahead in response to a question at a press conference and all hell broke loose. so when he became president, he met with the joint chiefs, the top military people and they said, don't do this, mr. president, don't get rid of this prohibition, and then leaders of congress came in to see him from the various armed services committees and said, don't do this, mr. president, you've got to keep this prohibition. so that's when he decided to go for the compromise of don't ask, don't tell, which allowed you to stay in as a gay, as long as you didn't talk about it. that was a compromise that was very carefully worked out. george stephanopoulos representing the white house to try to work out this compromise. and then the president called -- i joined his administration in june of 1993. and he called about a dozen of us together for a late evening talk, a late evening,

uncharacteristic of bill clinton to say, look, i've got to make a decision now. i need to know about how you feel about don't ask, don't tell as a compromise, should i do this? and he went around and asked each of us in the group, do we want to do this compromise or not. and each of us, i was included, said, yes, mr. president, you have to do this. you can't get further than this. there was one exception, anderson, that was al gore. he argued vigorously and eloquently that the president ought to move all the way to removing the prohibition and letting gays serve openly in the military. the president himself embraced that compromise, announced it then, and we've been living with it since. i must tell you, at that time, the public was against it, the congress was against it, the joint chiefs. times have changed, and i would have to tell you, i think everybody in that room, the vast majority of people in that room, including colin powell, then head of the joint chiefs, certainly i would, would now view, let's get rid of don't ask, don't tell. let's get moved to letting gays serve openly. i very much believe that. i'm biased on the subject now.

>> let's talk about the politics of this. i want to show our viewers something that senator john mccain said today after secretary gates and admiral mullen made their comments. >> he says it's not the right time to do that. i want to play that for our viewers as well. >> the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, senator, we ought to change the policy, then i think we ought to consider seriously changing it, because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to. >> so a lot of liberal groups, david, were saying, look, you had mike mullen, you know, i think highest ranking guy in uniform, saying that he

personally believes this. dana bash spoke to the former spokeswoman for mccain who said, and i quote, that he is still strongly opposed to changing the policy, but he will defer to military leaders when the time comes. he also -- the spokeswoman also pointed out that mullen was giving his personal opinion, not an opinion on behalf of the entire military. >> i understand what liberal groups are saying about the discrepancy. i think the one thing we ought to understand about john mccain, whatever else you think about where he stands politically, he has been very, very consistent in his loyalty to what he thinks the best interest of the military are. i think his life is a story of dedication to the united states military. so i think he's speaking from a place of conviction. and where we find on this now, anderson, is that the head of the joint chiefs, mike mullen, pointed by george w. bush, let's remember and secretary gates also appointed by george w. bush and soekt gates also up appointed by george w. bush,

both supported this today. what we haven't heard from the other chiefs that what you're going to find is the u.s. army and the air force and the november november are comfortable with moving ahead with getting rid of this don't ask don't tell as moving on. >> the u.s. marine corps is a dirch stoert. back whether bill clinton was president, the u.s. marine corps and general mundy as a con dot are se resistant. mike's testimony today wassed u.s. marines were arguing back in the early 90s. being game is immobile. tomorrow my mike mullen seems back that high ground and says no, no, no. to serve in effect and playboy with a situation where you're next lying to your life. that is a lack of integrity, and he put it back on the high

groind and gave more information to the idea of getting rid of this policy. >> appreciate it. thank you. join the live chings at 360? just ahead, but not giving up hope. i'll show you what i found there today on the streets. when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! [ female announcer ] the new classroom. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco.

it's been exactly three weeks since the catastrophe in haiti. haiti's government, such as it is, says at least 200,000 were killed in the quake, though,

frankly, their numbers, they don't have any idea. while aid is pouring in, rebuild from the rubble is going to take years. the quake has shattered lives in the united states as well. the east flat bush section here in new york is one of the largest hatian populations in the united states. i went there today, just to see how the community is holding up. in this hatian-american community in [ lin, new york, the aftershocks of the earthquake are still being felt. there continue to be vigils for the dead, and at businesses like the caribbean market, money and supplies are still raised for the living. at radio soleil, a local hatian-american station, the earthquake and its aftermath are all they talk about. in terms of the impact, i think a lot of americans don't understand, everybody who is hatian-american knows somebody who was lost. >> everybody's impacted in a very immediate way. everybody is impacted. just yesterday, i learned that a good friend of mine, we went to school together, he was a very bright student. i just learned this morning that my friend got killed. every day you hear stories of this stuff.

>> reporter: do you worry that media attention is going to drift away and that things will just be as they always have been? >> that is the biggest challenge. that is our biggest fear. >> reporter: outside this popular hatian restaurant, everyone we met had lost someone. >> i still have friends that are missing. they don't know if they're presumed dead or if they've been shipped on a boat or anything to that effect, but, you know, we're just praying and seeing what happens. >> reporter: you lost nine people? >> yeah. my sister. >> reporter: you lost your sister? >> my sister. five people dead. she has six children, four dead. >> reporter: the owner of the restaurant had lost his son and pasted his picture on the wall. i mean, how do you go on, when you've lost a child? >> well, we have no choice, you know, no choice. >> reporter: at the evangelical crusade of fishers of men church, the younger members of

the congregation feel lucky to be american. >> we're blessed, because we're here, same background. these are our people, these are our families. it's us. exactly, and we have the opportunity and we're here, living, but we have my little cousins who are out sleeping on the street. >> reporter: does it change the way you look at your own life? >> yes! >> oh, yes. >> we're all blessed. >> grateful and blessed. >> could have hit america, could have hit jamaica, could have hit any country, but it happened to haiti. >> there's no difference between me and then, the only difference is that i live in america. both of my parents were born in haiti, and i'm hatian, just like them. that's my blood spread across the floor in haiti. >> reporter: they gather here and pray for haiti and sing the country's national anthem. a song of strength and hope, a song they hope their hatian relatives can hear. well, my producers and i witnessed the same unshakable faith when we were in haiti. earthquake survivors, many who had lost loved ones, who had lost everything, would break into prayer and song. seeking and finding comfort. this is literally a parade that

just spontaneously occurred on the street. people singing songs of faith. tonight i want to dig deeper in our big "360" interview with joel osteen, senior pastor of the lakewood church in houston. his congregation funds two missions in haiti and his brother, paul, a surgeon, has just returned from haiti. pastor osteen joins me now. thanks for being with us. >> thanks, anderson. >> how can you explain -- how can god allow something like this to happen. i know it's a simple and obvious question, but it's the question that always comes up in something like this. >> i don't think any of us have the answer. i mean, god is a sovereign god, but, you know, we live in a world that's not a perfect place. i mean, the scripture talks about even jesus himself said, in this world you'll have difficulty, challenges, one part even specifically says famines, earthquakes, trouble like that. we don't know. but i do know this, like you witnessed down there, in these times of need, in times of crisis, when you turn to your faith, you can feel a strength and a peace that only god can give. and really, it's the difficult times when you need your faith. >> it was remarkable. we would drive down a street and

see a family or just a group of people who were sleeping on the street just singing songs about jesus and praying on the street and we would stop and sort of take part in it, just because it was so uplifting for everybody. and yet, it still, you know, for people who haven't grown up with faith, it's an extraordinary thing to witness. >> it really is. i mean, in those difficult times, i mean, we've all experienced it, maybe not to that effect, but through loss, through just terrible times, you can feel this peace that's on the inside of you. it doesn't really seem to make sense, but it's what i believe is the presence of god in you, giving you the strength to overcome. the bible talks about, you know, god will give you beauty for your ashes. in those dark times that we believe in, they're going to come out. and that's the hope we try to give people and i think that's the hope that they feel. >> it seems so -- it's so unfair, though. because you happen to be born in a different -- because i was born in the zip code i was born in, my life is monumentally better than someone's life who was there. my life is better than most

people in new york city, but it's just completely random, just because i happened to be born to this zip code. i mean, why -- again, it's a dumb question, but why are things that are so unfair allowed to happen? >> i don't know, but i think god has a plan and purpose for all of our lives. i've thought the same thing. i've been to africa and you watch those people suffering and think, it easily could have been me. i don't know, but you have to come back to that central theme that god has a plan for each person's life. those people down there, they're not here by accident, they're here for a destiny to fulfill. i think when you believe that, no matter where you are, you can rise higher, you have a purpose. >> do you ever question your faith? have you ever had an event that really made you question your faith? >> i really haven't. i don't say that because i'm super spiritual, but i've grown up in this -- >> if you're not super spiritual, i don't no who is. >> well, i don't want to sound super spiritual. we've had difficult times. my mom had cancer. we have a big church, so every week, i pray for little babies that have cancer, or just

i pray for little babies that have cancer, and it makes your heart go out to them. it doesn't question any faith. it pumps hope into it more than any to say god has you in the palm in his hand. doesn't come out the way we like. when it looks out of control god is in control. part two of the "big interview." he arrives advice on how to arrive on the tough economic times. the money is part of the equation. new developments in the case again time more jackson. ms. lawyer says the clients is on the verge of turning himself in. those details ahead. it's the most complete relief you can get in a liquid gel, so you feel better, fast. alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. yeah.

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in tonight's big 360 interview we're talking to joel osteen. before the break we are talking about haiti and the implications for faith.

we switch gears a bit now and talk about the economy here at home. you talk about money in this book. exami . >> i talk about being blessed. people were putting dreams on hold. there was such a doom and gloom with the economy and so many bad things happening. i felt like i needed to lift spirits and say every day is a gift that god has given us. each day we're going to be our best today and rise higher and not let all the fear and the bad nudz push our dreams down and keep us from enjoig this day god gave us. >> someone said a couple years ago that talking to me as a friend saying it's time to stop trying to survive and live. it echoes in something you write in the book which is about surviving but tlooiing. how do you thrive in a time when

just surviving seems to take a miracle. >> it has to do with your attitude. when you get up each day and you expect to do so god work in your life, to have a good day and be a blessing to somebody else. that allows god to do great things in my life. if i can make it through this day and year and it's so bad i may get laid off, that draws in more negative. if you can say jazz things candidate be perfect. i'm be my very best. >> i believe it's a great way to look at it. god doesn't allow anything in your life that he won't use for your good for some way. if you can look at t-you know -- sgroo god won't allow anything. >> to have into his life he can't use in some way. it's good for some ways. urn. the dets of my father was the report thing to happen to me. >> that launched me into doing

what's going on today? i believe if you look at it, you know, you go through a loss or lose your jo can be or something bad happens to you. if you keep the right attitude, it mants happen overnight. i believe over time you can see how god can use it. >> it is fans naturing for me and sigh it all the time, how some people survive and others don't. why do two brothers growing up, why does one make it and one does not not. a lot of it seems to be how somebody responds to a situation, how they sbrept a situation. two have the same kind of situation affect them, but it's how you interpret it and take it to heart. >> i think you're rilt. i think you're exactly right. in those difficult times, you know, they say you can get bitter or better. a lot of people let it push them down. other people see it as a challenge and know god's in control directing their steps. they have that attitude of faith. i object that's leads you to new beginning, because we go through

loss. i'm a positive, faith-filled person but we have difficulties too. when you stay in faith and god is in control, somehow he took a bad event and turned it into something good. >> do you ever wake up grouchy? >> sometimes. >> i find that hard to believe. >> every once in a while, and i find something to be grateful for and do something good for smfl else. >> thank you. >> thanks, andz drew. >>. important medical news. a study linking autism and vaccines has been restrakt trakted. we'll tell you why. how nice are noshgers? i think they're very nice. it's the shot of the day. it's kind of funny. stick around. >> i'm being lifted by theater school kids. sticking to a plan matters, especially when it comes

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coming up, why a man is carried around new york city by total strangers. we'll figure it out.

first we have the latest to the important stories. lawyers for michael yackson's daughter are saying that their client could face charges in the next day or two. they say he will turn himself in when xharnlged in connection with with michael jackson's death. the coroner ruling that mike he kel jackson died of an anesthetic pop follow. the lancet contracted a paper that links autism and the mmr vaccine. this is after the lead author was found to have aktsed unethicallily in getting the research. they say he cherry picked patients for that study. in greenville, ohio meet holiday. this is a pretty reindeer that now has a new leg. he got it after losing his real one to infection. that is right. the woman that made the leg thought it was a joke when she got anner e-mail requesting can

you place make a fake leg for my fakt reindeer. it's getting used to it right now. he'll be fine. they just fit it yesterday, so it takes getting used to. for tonight's shot proof that new yorkers are not rude and unfriendly, something i've know all my life. the evidence comes from us who asked complete strangers to carry him from one tip of manhattan to another. he recorded the journey. here's some of it. >> we're in front of the staten iland ferry entrance in manhattan. the world thinks new yorkers are not nice? what do you think? >> new yorkers are nice. are you ever carried somebody you don't know in new york he city. >> once. i feel myself really enjoig the chitchat. >> yes. i left a bad relationship in boston. >> what are you kooblging? it seemed as though people actually wanted to carry me.

i am the emporer of broadway. please don't drop me. new yorkers are nice. >> i am. >> he was carried by 155 people and he's not done yet. mark. here is arthur. there's still carried by our florida view. so why didn't you come up with this idea? >> i was going across america with the form motor company and a lot of people in america were were under the impression that new yorkers are unfriendly. so you go up to random jason and say please carry any? >> is there a hand-off? >> yes. i a total of 155 people put their hands on me and transported me 5.4 miles. have you ever carried

somebody to know. >> it's new york, though. >> it happened to me on the coldest day of area. are tourists nicer than the locals? >> yeah. i think so. you don't know this, but you carry me back to my queens apartment after the show. most surprising were nine musical theater kids that carried me six blocks while singing lady gasga. >> is he hippy by the way? >> no. had a light lunch. >> what do you do to top this. do you have a next plan? >> i honestly don't know. maybe go to space. i don't know. if you go to -- >> >> how much do you weigh? >> 130 pounds. >> you're talking about how nice new yorkers are, if he approached you in the street would you run or carry him. >> i would not carry you, you know. i probably only weigh 30 pounds more than that.

i couldn't. yeah, yeah. mark, appreciate it. thanks very much. >> if you go to my website, you can watch my video. >> a little plus in there. that's right. this actually inspired a lot of folks on our staff. very briefly scene yates made a bet shep that die an ya miller could not carry him. there we go. >> oh, my god. >> we happen to have a camera there, too. a lot more serious stuff at the top of the hour. we'll be right back. it shows. it slides. it tows. it sees. it calls. and it fits. we gave it more ideas per square inch... because more is what we do. introducing the terrain, the all-new smaller suv from gmc. bull market or bear,

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