American Morning
Haitians wait for daylight for full look at quake devastation
(CNN) - After the earth shook more violently in Haiti than it has in two centuries, its citizens hunkered down for the night, awaiting daylight Wednesday to ascertain the full scope of death and devastation.
The United States and global humanitarian agencies said they would to begin administering aid on Wednesday amid fears that impoverished Haiti, already afflicted with human misery, was facing nothing short of a catastrophe.
No estimate of the dead and wounded was given Tuesday evening, but the U.S. State Department had been told to expect "serious loss of life," spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.
"The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best," the Haitian ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, told CNN.
The grim list of Tuesday's destruction included the U.N. peacekeeper compound, a five-story building where about 250 people work every day.
Three Jordanian peacekeepers died and an additional 21 were injured, according to the state-run Petra News Agency.
Limited communications hampered reports of casualties and destruction. But the quake had reportedly brought down The Hotel Montana, popular with foreigners visiting Port-au-Prince. French Minister of Cooperation Alain Joyandet expressed concern Wednesday for the approximately 200 French tourists staying there.
Read the full story here
Big Stars, Big Giving: Elton John on AIDS awareness
Editor's Note: In an American Morning original series, “Big Stars, Big Giving,” Alina Cho looks at celebrity philanthropy and how these big stars can make a big impact. Through one-on-one interviews with Elton John, Ben Stiller, Madonna, Martha Stewart and Richard Branson, she shares what causes have become their passion, and how you can get involved. Originally posted December 21, 2009.
By Alina Cho, CNN
When you talk about celebrity philanthropy, there’s no denying Elton John is an original.
In 17 years, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised millions of dollars. So what keeps him going? He says, just like writing music, philanthropy is part of his life.
The 62-year-old music legend says he wasn't moved until he met 14-year old Ryan White in 1986. The Indiana teen was expelled from his school because he had AIDS.
John became so close to the White family he gave them financial assistance and was at Ryan's bedside when he died.
“I never heard Ryan complain about having AIDS. I never heard him whine or be miserable. He carried everything with such dignity. It just taught me about humility, how my life was completely out of whack. About six months after Ryan died, I began to change my life.
"I'd lived a charmed life, you know, taking drugs, drinking, having unsafe sex at a time when I should have been so much more well-behaved. After Ryan died, I thought I can give something back. I've come out of this HIV negative, I've got to do something positive.”
That something positive was the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In 17 years it has started programs in 55 countries and has raised more than $150 million.
“People are so grateful for even the smallest thing. It doesn't take a lot of money to run a project in Africa. $15,000, $20,000. This is something that's never going to go away in my lifetime, so I've got to try and each year step up and try and do a little bit more.
Even when it means supporting other causes, like Andy Roddick's foundation to help needy children.
Watch John's moves on the tennis court 
“He doesn't just want to come and play. He wants to know exactly where the money we're raising is going. How it's going. He always calls two or three days later and asks what's the total tally? How much did we raise?” says Roddick. “He's just really involved in the whole process.”
Why? John says, why not?
“Once you've seen people suffer like this you just don't ever think of stopping. I'll be doing this 'til the day that they put me in the ground because I love doing it, and I just want to try and make a difference.”
To learn more about the organizations these stars have created to make a difference,
and how you can get involved, visit Impact Your World.
We Listen – Your comments 1/12/10
Editor's Note: American Morning's Tuesday audience commented on Mark McGwire publicly acknowledging and apologizing for his past use of steroids. While the majority viewed McGwire as a “cheater,” others defended his use of the performance-enhancing drugs as nothing more than another method of “improving his heath.”
JC: Maybe people also should think about all the high school and college kids that have died taking steroids trying to emulate their athletic hero's.
Carl: You ask what we think of McGuire and steroids. I think he is a very dishonesty person and should not be given the job as hitting coach for St Louis. He lied to Congress I think but do not remember for sure.
Michael: I just wanted to say how many hypocrites are out there who are calling Mark McGwire a "cheater" for trying to improve his health in order to play via unnatural methods. No one cries cheater when athletes use cortizone shots to be able to play through an injury or what about lasik surgery in order to improve ones vision? It's unfair to Mark to discount all his accomplishments because he was injecting testosterone instead of cortizone.
Now that Mark McGwire has revealed his use of steroids, what is your opinion of him? Were the drugs just a way to “improve his health” as one viewer contends, or was he “cheating”? Continue the conversation below.
Explorer raises awareness – Tries to keep carbon footprint in-check
Editor’s note: Arctic explorer Eric Larsen is trying to make it to the North and South Poles and the summit of Mount Everest in 365 days as part of an effort to raise awareness about climate change. Larsen joined us on American Morning before he set out on his Save the Poles expedition – and completed the first leg of his journey when he reached the South Pole earlier this month. Below is an excerpt from his online journal.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://www.x-journal.com/member/ericlars/images/b158_713847.jpg caption="Larsen’s crew trekking through Antarctica. Courtesy: Eric Larsen"]
By Eric Larsen, From EricLarsenExplore.com
One of the things that people always ask me is about the impact of air travel on the environment. I for one, travel a lot by air for sponsorship meetings and presentations. It is important to point out the paradoxes in one's own behavior (and then change them)…
There is no question that my expeditions (vacations and every day actions) have an effect on the amount of carbon that enters the atmosphere. However, I like everyone else, can do my part to reduce travel, save energy, buy carbon offsets and all the other little steps that can add up to make big change.
Expert: CIA missed glaring red flags on double-agent bomber
From Nic Robertson, CNN Senior International Correspondent
Amman, Jordan (CNN) - In the murky world of spying, where choices are generally among shades of gray, success, by definition, goes unnoticed.
Failure, however, is catastrophic.
So how did a Jordanian doctor play double agent, outsmart his CIA handlers, and end up killing seven Americans and a Jordanian military officer at a remote base in Afghanistan?
"This is the biggest deception ever of intelligence agencies, whether CIA or Jordanian intelligence," said Hassan Hanieh, a former Islamic extremist who now studies jihadist movements. "From the beginning, he was deceiving them."
In a videotape released after the December 30 attack, the double agent, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, said his suicide bombing was retaliation for the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Mehsud was killed in a missile strike in August, an attack thought to have been carried out by an American drone aircraft.
Obama sticking up for Reid
In an interview with CNN Political Analyst Roland Martin, President Obama brushed off the controversy over racially insensitive comments by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
But some leaders in the black community say the president is missing a chance to kick-start a real national discussion about race. Our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has the report.
Read more: Will Reid survive 'Negro' comment?
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