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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Religious Gap; Tony Blair in Baghdad; America's Voice; 'Today's Talker'
Aired December 21, 2004 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy holidays. That's a safe, politically-correct way to greet someone at this time of year. All morning we've been talking about Christmas and how PC it's become. Pope John Paul is so concerned that he's giving kind of a special service this year on Christmas. So are numerous Christian groups. They're concerned too. They're suing to put the nativity back into school plays and onto the lawns of city halls.
With us this morning, author Kerry Egan, who has written a book on prayer and finding God, called "Fumbling."
Carrie, welcome.
KERRY EGAN, RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR, AUTHOR: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the pope is really concerned that we are taking the spirituality out of Christmas, and we're only concerned about buy, buy, buy. But we hear that every year. Why this year, do you think, the pope is concentrating on the spirituality of Christmas?
EGAN: You know, I think we're living in a time where people are uncertain. There are all of these sorts of forces that are coming together, and the war on terrorism and in Iraq and these massive changes that are going on socially. And I think it makes people feel -- it can make people feel not at east and unsure in the world.
And I think religion has always been a way for people to focus. And I think that maybe people even are feeling that Christmas itself somehow has lost its focus, too.
COSTELLO: But...
EGAN: And I think it's a sense of, you know, really being moral- less, I think.
COSTELLO: Some people feel that because we've become so politically-correct in this country -- in fact, you know, nativity scenes usually aren't allowed in school plays. They're not allowed to be displayed on the lawns of city hall. Some Christian groups are really outraged by that and say, you know, by not doing this, you're not really showing the spirituality of Christmas by, you know, kind of homogenizing the holiday.
EGAN: You know, I have a couple of thoughts on that. My first thought is, should the government really be in the business of spreading the spirituality of Christmas? Is that really what our government should be doing? Or is that something that people need to be doing individually in their families, in their churches. Is it really the role for government to be debating, you know, is it a plastic Frosty the Snowman or a plastic baby Jesus on the lawn?
And if that's where your spirituality is, if saying "happy holidays" versus "merry Christmas" is really that much of a threat to your ability to celebrate Christmas, then I think there's a much deeper problem. I think maybe you need to look below the surface and say, well this is a symptom that my spiritual life needs some help, needs some work.
COSTELLO: Yes. But, see, Christian groups don't believe that. Because there is a Christian group in Texas, a little boy wanted to bring a candy cane in, and it had the story of Jesus on the candy cane. And he wanted to pass it out to his fourth grade class.
EGAN: Right, right.
COSTELLO: For years he was able to do that. The Christian group sued, and now the little boy can do that, and that's fine. So, they say, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with celebrating Christmas and putting the Christ back in Christmas and actually talking about it?
EGAN: You know, I think we should put the Christ back in Christmas. But is saying "merry Christmas" versus "happy holidays" really the way to do that? Or is it maybe to take a step back and ask yourself, why do I feel the need to go out -- you know, we're celebrating the incarnation, the idea that, you know, God is coming into the world. It's an amazing idea that human beings need so much help, like God is going to come into the world and help us out.
And we're going to celebrate that by buying a lot of stuff, you know, and handing out candy canes and -- you know, you have to ask yourself -- I don't know -- if you can't hand out candy canes. I understand certainly for children, I think children -- it's a little bit different. I think the way children celebrate Christmas is different from -- hopefully different from the way an adult does, because hopefully an adult has an adult faith.
I actually talk about that quite a bit in my book, but I think a lot of us somehow sort of get stuck. We grow up, except our faith doesn't. And it stays sort of as a child does. And I think the story of Santa Claus is great for children. I think handing out candy canes. But I think as an adult, if you're feeling threatened that the cashier at Wal-Mart is saying "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" and you're feeling like I can't celebrate Christmas, then maybe you need to take a step back and ask yourself, why is that such a threat to me?
COSTELLO: Such interesting thoughts. "Fumbling" is the book. Kerry Egan, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
EGAN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: A surprise visit to Baghdad by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair was greeted by Iraq's interim leader, Ayad Allawi. We will bring you the latest.
Plus, all of those passwords to remember. Want to give up? You know, those passwords that you have to put into everything? We'll tell you how to remember them and why passwords may actually be a bad idea.
You are watching DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. Welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
We are following a developing story out of Baghdad this morning, British Prime Minister Tony Blair on a surprise visit to Iraq's capital city.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Karl Penhaul.
Good morning.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
This is, in fact, Prime Minister Blair's first visit to Baghdad, and it was very clear that he had a very different experience than previous visits when he visited the south of the country in Basra, where British troops are based. He said that as he flew in from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone that he could sense the danger here in Baghdad; that he could feel and sense the challenges and difficulties facing Iraq in the run-up to the January 30 elections.
He also characterized the climate of insurgent violence as a fight between democracy and terror. And he said that both Britain and the U.S. would stand firm with Iraqi forces, because if they could deal a blow to terrorism here in Iraq, then that would effectively be a blow to terrorism worldwide.
Now, of course, he did say that the main challenge is to get ahead and get those January 30 elections held on time. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi also supported that and said that the insurgents would not break their will to hold those elections on time.
But Mr. Blair said, when recognizing the difficulties, he praised the election officials trying to make those elections happen as the heroes of new Iraq. As we know, over the weekend, the latest violence against election officials in which three members of the Independent Electoral Commission were dragged out of their cars and killed by insurgents, just a few blocks away, in fact, from where Mr. Blair was meeting Prime Minister Allawi today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad this morning, thank you.
A popular painkiller is causing concern among health officials this morning, but this time the drug is available over the counter. We are talking about naproxen, which is sold under the brand name Aleve. The FDA has issued a warning about the drug, saying it's been linked to an increased risk for heart attacks and strokes.
Celebrex is under increased scrutiny as well. The FDA announced last week that a study showed a 240 percent increase in heart attack risk for Celebrex users.
That news followed the news that Vioxx increased the same risk by 100 percent. The makers of Vioxx pulled their product off the shelves in September.
And finally, there is Bextra. Bextra is another of the popular Cox-2 inhibitors causing concern. That drug showed increased risk of heart attack in cardiac surgery patients.
On to politics now. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is under fire. We'll find out what you have to say about his handling of the troops and the war in Iraq. That comes your way in about five minutes from now.
Plus, how secure are your Internet passwords? You can't be too safe on the World Wide Web. We'll have some important tips for you at about 52 minutes past.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Donald Rumsfeld is under fire, but he's praised by the president, criticized by Congress. What do you think about the defense secretary? Should he stay or should he go?
Let's get some answers from the man who always keeps up with your opinions, Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, President Bush gave Rumsfeld a vote of confidence in his press conference yesterday. But if it were up to then American public, Rumsfeld would resign. Fifty-two percent of Americans say Rumsfeld should resign, 36 percent said, no, he should not. That leaves the rest to say they're undecided.
One of the reasons is Americans have, to some degree, lost confidence in the way Rumsfeld is handling his job as secretary of defense. Here are the numbers. Notice back in April, 2003, after the initial movement of U.S. troops into Baghdad in Iraq, 74 percent approval. That has come straight down since to now. Just 41 percent job approval for Rumsfeld. That's about 8 points below the job approval rating being given to President Bush at this point in time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. How about support for the war in Iraq in general?
NEWPORT: Well, interesting. We need to separate, in my opinion, looking at these data, support for the war and interest in how it's going, or at least an assessment of how it's going. This hasn't changed a lot. Americans are split. How many times have I told you that here on CNN no matter how we ask the question? Look at this: 48 say they approve of the initial decision to go into Iraq, 51 percent say they don't. The numbers changed a little bit. Basically, Americans are split down the middle.
However, just as I mentioned, when we say "assess how things are going," a less positive reaction. For example: "Do you approve of how the U.S. is handling the war in Iraq now?" That's only 39 percent approval. And then we say, "Well, are things compared to a year ago in Iraq better than they were, the same, or worse," Carol, look at the numbers here: 47 percent of Americans say they are worse.
So, Americans are pretty dour and sour on how things are going there now. But still, it's split down the middle on whether it was a good decision to begin with.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey.
So, despite the polls, President Bush is standing by his man. The White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, has high praise for Rumsfeld. Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him. He's helping to lead our troops as they meet an awesome responsibility to protect us and to bring freedom to others. He's also transforming the military, and any time you do that there are controversies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And as for President Bush, he calls Rumsfeld a caring fellow with a good heart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I asked the secretary to stay on as secretary of defense, I was very pleased when he said yes. And I asked him to stay on, because I understand the nature of the job of the secretary of defense, and I believe he's doing a really fine job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Donald Rumsfeld. We'd like to discuss his job stability this morning, even after those kudos from the president. Look, he's accused of not planning for postwar Iraq, not adequately equipping troops, not sending enough troops, and then there is Abu Ghraib. Remember how he left his boss out of the loop when the accusations of abuse started to fly?
From the right, syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams, and from the left, syndicated talker Nancy Skinner.
Welcome to you both this morning.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Carol.
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Good morning.
SKINNER: Armstrong.
COSTELLO: Armstrong, let's start with you. How has Rumsfeld beaten the three strikes you're out rule?
WILLIAMS: Because from where the president and this administration sit, they must look at the overall picture from the beginning to where we are now. And if you look at the overall picture, he has done a pretty good job. There have been some mistakes and some miscalculations along the way. Certainly what happened over the weekend when it was found that he did not sign those letters personally because in the interest of time trying to get the letters to family members that lost loved ones.
But, listen, this is a tough war. This is a war that's turned out to be somewhat catastrophic for this administration. And the president already has changes that are being made in his administration from the attorney general to homeland security. He needs some stability.
And despite what anybody has said about Rumsfeld, he's a very caring person. He's very decent. He cares about this war. He cares about these troops. And he's willing to regroup and correct the wrongs of the past.
COSTELLO: Nancy, jump in.
SKINNER: Well, Carol, it's oxymoronic, but failure is a winning recipe with this administration. Just look at the Medal of Freedom winners last week, where you had George Tenet and Paul Bremer being awarded. They had more body armor on them than many of the soldiers have over in Iraq.
And it seems here with Rumsfeld the same thing is happening. You went through the whole list of all his mistakes. President Bush pays a high price to loyalty, but it's misplaced. His loyalty should be to those ground troops who are really having a tough time, because of Rumsfeld's miscalculations and mistakes.
And you know what? In a football game, you change quarterbacks when your quarterback is losing time and time again.
COSTELLO: So...
SKINNER: But I can't believe that he's praising him. He should get the right man in the job to protect our troops, so they're not dying.
COSTELLO: And, Armstrong, you know, these miscalculations -- and there have been miscalculations. I mean, doesn't there come a point when even the troops overseas lose faith in the people leading the war?
WILLIAMS: But, Carol, that is certainly not the case thus far. Obviously, Mr. Rumsfeld has been somewhat diminished over the last several months and especially over the last couple of weeks. But still, you have to look at this war. You have the elections that are upon us. I mean, it could turn into an Armageddon in Iraq. These insurgents have already shown they're willing to destroy wreak havoc on that region to make sure that America and its allies do not succeed.
Yes, Mr. Rumsfeld has his problems. But as president of the United States, you cannot necessarily make the emotional decisions, especially when you have the kind of situations that you have in Iraq. He must give Mr. Rumsfeld another chance, as the American people gave the president, to finish what he started in Iraq. At least he deserves another chance.
And I think there is a lot of pressure on him. All eyes are upon him. And if he doesn't get it right, then the president will have no choice but to replace him with someone else. But I don't think...
SKINNER: So how many...
WILLIAMS: ... that time is now.
SKINNER: So, Armstrong, how many more soldiers should die? And how many more mistakes should be made before you decide to get a competent person in that position?
WILLIAMS: Well, Nancy, I don't think -- and I don't know if you would agree with me on this -- I don't think it's an issue whether Mr. Rumsfeld is secretary of defense or someone else. I don't think you can control these insurgents when they detonate these car bombs, when they shoot innocent people. There is not much you can do about that.
People are going to die. War is sad. It's heartbreaking to see these young men and women coming home in body bags, draping American flags over their coffins. That's going to happen.
SKINNER: But the soldiers themselves are screaming for more armor.
WILLIAMS: Getting rid of Mr. Rumsfeld is not going to resolve that problem...
COSTELLO: Wait a second. Stop, Armstrong. Nancy, you get the last word.
SKINNER: I'm saying...
COSTELLO: But I wanted to ask you this: Both Republicans and Democrats are now criticizing Donald Rumsfeld. If he is to be replaced, doesn't someone need to come forward and make more of a stink about this?
SKINNER: Yes, because President Bush, again, with his famed loyalty. Listen, these soldiers stood up to Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq and chastised him and said, we have to scrap through the ground to find body armor. That is Rumsfeld's fault when we're spending all of this money on high-tech weapons that aren't used, and this is a relatively low-cost measure.
So, yes, we need to hear from more Republicans, because President Bush will not listen to the Democrats right now.
WILLIAMS: I think Senator Hatch...
SKINNER: We need to get someone new in there.
WILLIAMS: I think Senator Hatch said it best. Rumsfeld has done a phenomenal job. It would be the worst mistake to replace him at this point. I admit mistakes have been made, but there are not enough mistakes and miscalculations to warrant having another secretary of defense in the middle of this catastrophic situation.
COSTELLO: All right...
SKINNER: You would feel different if your kid was over there, Armstrong.
COSTELLO: ... we're going to have to leave it there. We're going to have to leave it there. We could debate this all day, I know. Nancy Skinner, Armstrong Williams, thank you for joining...
WILLIAMS: Merry Christmas.
COSTELLO: You too, to both of you.
WILLIAMS: Merry Christmas.
SKINNER: Thanks a lot.
WILLIAMS: Not happy holidays, but merry Christmas.
COSTELLO: Merry Christmas. I knew Armstrong would like that last conversation we had with Kerry Egan.
Are you sick of making up new passwords for different accounts online? I am too. But taking the time may be worth it, really. (AUDIO GAP) for you next on DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Passwords, oh, they're a pain, aren't they? But the safety of your money could depend on the security of that Internet password.
So, here to help you with that is DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi.
Especially at this time of year.
ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I got to tell you, with all of the shopping that's going on, there is a lot more. We talked about identity theft yesterday. You kind of do have to be careful. But there's no particular protocol for passwords.
So, I try and use the same one all over the place, and that's apparently not a very good idea. And then sometimes they want six letters and sometimes they want eight characters, mix them up. So that's the first piece of advice I got.
Do you know about the Geek Squad?
COSTELLO: No.
VELSHI: These are the guys I call up whenever I need help. They're a bunch of guys who call themselves the Geek Squad.
COSTELLO: Four geeks.
VELSHI: There you go. Like special agent such and such. They're associated with Best Buy, but they go out and help you with these questions.
So, I called up my Geek Squad guys, and I said what do you -- you guys are smart about this. What do you actually tell people to do about passwords? The No. 1 piece of advice is mix it up. Use characters -- use letters and numbers in the passwords. And they don't have to be complicated.
So, I'll give you an example. This is a really good one, because, let's say, I want to use my name. Now, you should all know out here these are not my passwords, so don't try and hack my stuff. And if you do try and hack my stuff, you're not going to find much of interest.
So, here's one example. Instead of using "alivelshi" as a password, nine characters, that would be easy to sort of figure out if someone were trying to hack me. I'd replace the "I's" -- the first "i" with a "1." So, I've got my number in there, and I've replaced the "s" with a "5."
COSTELLO: Oh, because they look similar to the letters.
VELSHI: They look similar, so I can figure that out. I'm not likely to forget that. So that's one way to mix it up where you can - do that.
Now, the other thing is combine things. So, let's say DAYBREAK would be a logical password to use. We'll stick the number in there. You want a number, because they all seem to want numbers now. And I've said instead of DAYBREAK, I've got "Day1tvshow." So, you've got a number. It's a little less obvious than DAYBREAK, because if I were trying to hack your stuff, I might think, oh, let's try DAYBREAK. Also don't use pet's names...
COSTELLO: Interesting.
VELSHI: ... last names, spouse's first names. Just obvious stuff like that.
But you did make a point in the commercial break in that why do I even want passwords for newspaper subscriptions or things where nobody's really likely to hack? And if you did want to hack it, knock yourself out.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
VELSHI: So stick with basic things like that. I would say for something like that, I would say "day1break" again, just because you're getting yourself used to having that number in there, and it's easy to remember. So maybe if it's for basic security for Web sites that you don't share information with it, just something like you're subscribing to a paper, maybe use something like "day1break."
But let's talk about moderate security, online shopping, sites with which you're sharing some information. It may be encrypted information, but you're still -- you're giving them something, not just getting something back. Then you mix it up a little. I used the example of "day1tvshow."
COSTELLO: Wow!
VELSHI: Something that somebody wouldn't just intuitively figure out, but you're not going to find it too hard to remember.
COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Ali!
VELSHI: No, come on!
COSTELLO: I would never remember that.
VELSHI: Well, you're not going to remember the next one. And this is the problem. It really all comes down to the really tough high-security stuff: your bank accounts, financial transactions. How do you remember this? How do you mix it up? I know you're staring at it. Let's put it up on the screen.
This is the password tip for strong security. You're never going to understand how this showed up. It's capital letters. It's lower case letters and numbers all mixed in. I've got "DBiof527ET." Now, you're saying why would you remember that?
COSTELLO: Exactly.
VELSHI: Because it's the first initials of DAYBREAK is on from 5:00 to 7:00 Eastern Time.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's good. VELSHI: And DAYBREAK is capitalized, because that's the name of the show. And Eastern Time you usually write in capitals. So that's -- I mean, it's ridiculous and no one would guess it, except that I told you all about it. But beyond that, that's an interesting way to come up with a strong encryption password.
COSTELLO: That's great. I like that. Thank you, Ali, for all of the tips.
VELSHI: And if you're really sophisticated, you've got these little things. Have you seen these? These are the ones that...
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: ... generate -- we use these here at work. They generate a number every 60 seconds, so when you're checking your stuff at work.
COSTELLO: You can just type in a number, whatever number happens to be on there.
VELSHI: Yes, it gives you this. Just don't lose this, because then you're in trouble.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Ali. We appreciate it.
VELSHI: All right.
COSTELLO: We've been telling you about a popular painkiller, Aleve, that is now causing concern among health officials. You're going to hear much more about that drug, Aleve, this morning.
Let's go now to "AMERICAN MORNING's" Bill Hemmer.
Good morning -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning. You're the one trying to crack my password, right?
COSTELLO: I've already done it.
HEMMER: It was you! Hey, much more on naproxen, another drug out there, the warning out there about the heart attacks, stroke risk, too, known over the counter under the brand name, Aleve. You're most familiar by that name. We'll talk to Dr. John Abramson, the author of the book, "Overdosed America," to find out whether or not how concerned you should be or how concerned he thinks we should be at this time. You put that with Vioxx and Celebrex, and the news continues on that front, too. So, we'll have that for you at the top of the hour here in a matter of moments -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: See you later. All right.
COSTELLO: We want to take a look at today's headlines next. Plus, this is DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning. We'll have the mug winner, too. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning, Chad. I'm just taking a look at the morning headlines. There is no mug winner today, by the way. We'll have that tomorrow.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Because we didn't ask a question yesterday. You have to have a question to get an answer.
COSTELLO: I spaced out there for a second.
MYERS: That's all right.
COSTELLO: Anyway, on the sports page in "The Washington Post," they show all of these teams with a 5-9 record, still have a chance to make the playoffs, Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Including the Detroit Lions.
MYERS: You know, you can't go to the playoffs if you've lost more games than you've won. I'm sorry.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: It's a real possibility. Detroit, the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay, the Cardinals, all have 5-9 records. St. Louis Rams 6-8. New York Giants 5-9. Dallas 5-9. Washington Redskins 5-9. All of those teams have a chance to make the wildcard playoffs.
MYERS: I hear you knocking. It's just isn't right.
COSTELLO: I know. The other interesting story in "The Wall Street Journal," it says "Christmas spirits to loosen wallets, stores mall wine." Apparently, a lot of stores are serving wine now to get the customers kind of tipsy and more in the mood to buy.
MYERS: I think that's illegal, isn't it?
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: Like, they can't serve you alcohol when you do your house closing either. Here, here, have some scotch.
COSTELLO: No, no. Inside of a store, they don't charge you for it.
MYERS: I know. I know.
COSTELLO: They give it to you free.
MYERS: Here, have some more diamonds. Here.
COSTELLO: Apparently it works quite well.
MYERS: I suppose it does.
COSTELLO: It increases shopping.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And they cite a store in Decatur, Georgia, so you'll have to take Sally there now that she can have a little glass of wine, now that she's not pregnant anymore.
MYERS: That's right.
COSTELLO: That does it for us on DAYBREAK. Tomorrow on DAYBREAK, we'll tackle the violence in video games. The violence isn't real, but can it still be harmful? Daniel Sieberg will have more on that.
And we'll talk a lot about the first big cold snap of the season, bringing an early white Christmas. In fact, some areas of the country are going to get up to six to seven inches of snow.
MYERS: Yes, even more than that, Carol. Anywhere from, like, Arkansas right through Paducah, into Louisville, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, a major snow event tomorrow and Thursday.
COSTELLO: We'll be waiting for more word on that.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
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Aired December 21, 2004 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy holidays. That's a safe, politically-correct way to greet someone at this time of year. All morning we've been talking about Christmas and how PC it's become. Pope John Paul is so concerned that he's giving kind of a special service this year on Christmas. So are numerous Christian groups. They're concerned too. They're suing to put the nativity back into school plays and onto the lawns of city halls.
With us this morning, author Kerry Egan, who has written a book on prayer and finding God, called "Fumbling."
Carrie, welcome.
KERRY EGAN, RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR, AUTHOR: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, the pope is really concerned that we are taking the spirituality out of Christmas, and we're only concerned about buy, buy, buy. But we hear that every year. Why this year, do you think, the pope is concentrating on the spirituality of Christmas?
EGAN: You know, I think we're living in a time where people are uncertain. There are all of these sorts of forces that are coming together, and the war on terrorism and in Iraq and these massive changes that are going on socially. And I think it makes people feel -- it can make people feel not at east and unsure in the world.
And I think religion has always been a way for people to focus. And I think that maybe people even are feeling that Christmas itself somehow has lost its focus, too.
COSTELLO: But...
EGAN: And I think it's a sense of, you know, really being moral- less, I think.
COSTELLO: Some people feel that because we've become so politically-correct in this country -- in fact, you know, nativity scenes usually aren't allowed in school plays. They're not allowed to be displayed on the lawns of city hall. Some Christian groups are really outraged by that and say, you know, by not doing this, you're not really showing the spirituality of Christmas by, you know, kind of homogenizing the holiday.
EGAN: You know, I have a couple of thoughts on that. My first thought is, should the government really be in the business of spreading the spirituality of Christmas? Is that really what our government should be doing? Or is that something that people need to be doing individually in their families, in their churches. Is it really the role for government to be debating, you know, is it a plastic Frosty the Snowman or a plastic baby Jesus on the lawn?
And if that's where your spirituality is, if saying "happy holidays" versus "merry Christmas" is really that much of a threat to your ability to celebrate Christmas, then I think there's a much deeper problem. I think maybe you need to look below the surface and say, well this is a symptom that my spiritual life needs some help, needs some work.
COSTELLO: Yes. But, see, Christian groups don't believe that. Because there is a Christian group in Texas, a little boy wanted to bring a candy cane in, and it had the story of Jesus on the candy cane. And he wanted to pass it out to his fourth grade class.
EGAN: Right, right.
COSTELLO: For years he was able to do that. The Christian group sued, and now the little boy can do that, and that's fine. So, they say, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with celebrating Christmas and putting the Christ back in Christmas and actually talking about it?
EGAN: You know, I think we should put the Christ back in Christmas. But is saying "merry Christmas" versus "happy holidays" really the way to do that? Or is it maybe to take a step back and ask yourself, why do I feel the need to go out -- you know, we're celebrating the incarnation, the idea that, you know, God is coming into the world. It's an amazing idea that human beings need so much help, like God is going to come into the world and help us out.
And we're going to celebrate that by buying a lot of stuff, you know, and handing out candy canes and -- you know, you have to ask yourself -- I don't know -- if you can't hand out candy canes. I understand certainly for children, I think children -- it's a little bit different. I think the way children celebrate Christmas is different from -- hopefully different from the way an adult does, because hopefully an adult has an adult faith.
I actually talk about that quite a bit in my book, but I think a lot of us somehow sort of get stuck. We grow up, except our faith doesn't. And it stays sort of as a child does. And I think the story of Santa Claus is great for children. I think handing out candy canes. But I think as an adult, if you're feeling threatened that the cashier at Wal-Mart is saying "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" and you're feeling like I can't celebrate Christmas, then maybe you need to take a step back and ask yourself, why is that such a threat to me?
COSTELLO: Such interesting thoughts. "Fumbling" is the book. Kerry Egan, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
EGAN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: A surprise visit to Baghdad by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair was greeted by Iraq's interim leader, Ayad Allawi. We will bring you the latest.
Plus, all of those passwords to remember. Want to give up? You know, those passwords that you have to put into everything? We'll tell you how to remember them and why passwords may actually be a bad idea.
You are watching DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. Welcome to the last half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
We are following a developing story out of Baghdad this morning, British Prime Minister Tony Blair on a surprise visit to Iraq's capital city.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Karl Penhaul.
Good morning.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
This is, in fact, Prime Minister Blair's first visit to Baghdad, and it was very clear that he had a very different experience than previous visits when he visited the south of the country in Basra, where British troops are based. He said that as he flew in from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone that he could sense the danger here in Baghdad; that he could feel and sense the challenges and difficulties facing Iraq in the run-up to the January 30 elections.
He also characterized the climate of insurgent violence as a fight between democracy and terror. And he said that both Britain and the U.S. would stand firm with Iraqi forces, because if they could deal a blow to terrorism here in Iraq, then that would effectively be a blow to terrorism worldwide.
Now, of course, he did say that the main challenge is to get ahead and get those January 30 elections held on time. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi also supported that and said that the insurgents would not break their will to hold those elections on time.
But Mr. Blair said, when recognizing the difficulties, he praised the election officials trying to make those elections happen as the heroes of new Iraq. As we know, over the weekend, the latest violence against election officials in which three members of the Independent Electoral Commission were dragged out of their cars and killed by insurgents, just a few blocks away, in fact, from where Mr. Blair was meeting Prime Minister Allawi today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad this morning, thank you.
A popular painkiller is causing concern among health officials this morning, but this time the drug is available over the counter. We are talking about naproxen, which is sold under the brand name Aleve. The FDA has issued a warning about the drug, saying it's been linked to an increased risk for heart attacks and strokes.
Celebrex is under increased scrutiny as well. The FDA announced last week that a study showed a 240 percent increase in heart attack risk for Celebrex users.
That news followed the news that Vioxx increased the same risk by 100 percent. The makers of Vioxx pulled their product off the shelves in September.
And finally, there is Bextra. Bextra is another of the popular Cox-2 inhibitors causing concern. That drug showed increased risk of heart attack in cardiac surgery patients.
On to politics now. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is under fire. We'll find out what you have to say about his handling of the troops and the war in Iraq. That comes your way in about five minutes from now.
Plus, how secure are your Internet passwords? You can't be too safe on the World Wide Web. We'll have some important tips for you at about 52 minutes past.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Donald Rumsfeld is under fire, but he's praised by the president, criticized by Congress. What do you think about the defense secretary? Should he stay or should he go?
Let's get some answers from the man who always keeps up with your opinions, Gallup Poll editor-in-chief Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, President Bush gave Rumsfeld a vote of confidence in his press conference yesterday. But if it were up to then American public, Rumsfeld would resign. Fifty-two percent of Americans say Rumsfeld should resign, 36 percent said, no, he should not. That leaves the rest to say they're undecided.
One of the reasons is Americans have, to some degree, lost confidence in the way Rumsfeld is handling his job as secretary of defense. Here are the numbers. Notice back in April, 2003, after the initial movement of U.S. troops into Baghdad in Iraq, 74 percent approval. That has come straight down since to now. Just 41 percent job approval for Rumsfeld. That's about 8 points below the job approval rating being given to President Bush at this point in time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. How about support for the war in Iraq in general?
NEWPORT: Well, interesting. We need to separate, in my opinion, looking at these data, support for the war and interest in how it's going, or at least an assessment of how it's going. This hasn't changed a lot. Americans are split. How many times have I told you that here on CNN no matter how we ask the question? Look at this: 48 say they approve of the initial decision to go into Iraq, 51 percent say they don't. The numbers changed a little bit. Basically, Americans are split down the middle.
However, just as I mentioned, when we say "assess how things are going," a less positive reaction. For example: "Do you approve of how the U.S. is handling the war in Iraq now?" That's only 39 percent approval. And then we say, "Well, are things compared to a year ago in Iraq better than they were, the same, or worse," Carol, look at the numbers here: 47 percent of Americans say they are worse.
So, Americans are pretty dour and sour on how things are going there now. But still, it's split down the middle on whether it was a good decision to begin with.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey.
So, despite the polls, President Bush is standing by his man. The White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, has high praise for Rumsfeld. Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him. He's helping to lead our troops as they meet an awesome responsibility to protect us and to bring freedom to others. He's also transforming the military, and any time you do that there are controversies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And as for President Bush, he calls Rumsfeld a caring fellow with a good heart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I asked the secretary to stay on as secretary of defense, I was very pleased when he said yes. And I asked him to stay on, because I understand the nature of the job of the secretary of defense, and I believe he's doing a really fine job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Donald Rumsfeld. We'd like to discuss his job stability this morning, even after those kudos from the president. Look, he's accused of not planning for postwar Iraq, not adequately equipping troops, not sending enough troops, and then there is Abu Ghraib. Remember how he left his boss out of the loop when the accusations of abuse started to fly?
From the right, syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams, and from the left, syndicated talker Nancy Skinner.
Welcome to you both this morning.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Carol.
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Good morning.
SKINNER: Armstrong.
COSTELLO: Armstrong, let's start with you. How has Rumsfeld beaten the three strikes you're out rule?
WILLIAMS: Because from where the president and this administration sit, they must look at the overall picture from the beginning to where we are now. And if you look at the overall picture, he has done a pretty good job. There have been some mistakes and some miscalculations along the way. Certainly what happened over the weekend when it was found that he did not sign those letters personally because in the interest of time trying to get the letters to family members that lost loved ones.
But, listen, this is a tough war. This is a war that's turned out to be somewhat catastrophic for this administration. And the president already has changes that are being made in his administration from the attorney general to homeland security. He needs some stability.
And despite what anybody has said about Rumsfeld, he's a very caring person. He's very decent. He cares about this war. He cares about these troops. And he's willing to regroup and correct the wrongs of the past.
COSTELLO: Nancy, jump in.
SKINNER: Well, Carol, it's oxymoronic, but failure is a winning recipe with this administration. Just look at the Medal of Freedom winners last week, where you had George Tenet and Paul Bremer being awarded. They had more body armor on them than many of the soldiers have over in Iraq.
And it seems here with Rumsfeld the same thing is happening. You went through the whole list of all his mistakes. President Bush pays a high price to loyalty, but it's misplaced. His loyalty should be to those ground troops who are really having a tough time, because of Rumsfeld's miscalculations and mistakes.
And you know what? In a football game, you change quarterbacks when your quarterback is losing time and time again.
COSTELLO: So...
SKINNER: But I can't believe that he's praising him. He should get the right man in the job to protect our troops, so they're not dying.
COSTELLO: And, Armstrong, you know, these miscalculations -- and there have been miscalculations. I mean, doesn't there come a point when even the troops overseas lose faith in the people leading the war?
WILLIAMS: But, Carol, that is certainly not the case thus far. Obviously, Mr. Rumsfeld has been somewhat diminished over the last several months and especially over the last couple of weeks. But still, you have to look at this war. You have the elections that are upon us. I mean, it could turn into an Armageddon in Iraq. These insurgents have already shown they're willing to destroy wreak havoc on that region to make sure that America and its allies do not succeed.
Yes, Mr. Rumsfeld has his problems. But as president of the United States, you cannot necessarily make the emotional decisions, especially when you have the kind of situations that you have in Iraq. He must give Mr. Rumsfeld another chance, as the American people gave the president, to finish what he started in Iraq. At least he deserves another chance.
And I think there is a lot of pressure on him. All eyes are upon him. And if he doesn't get it right, then the president will have no choice but to replace him with someone else. But I don't think...
SKINNER: So how many...
WILLIAMS: ... that time is now.
SKINNER: So, Armstrong, how many more soldiers should die? And how many more mistakes should be made before you decide to get a competent person in that position?
WILLIAMS: Well, Nancy, I don't think -- and I don't know if you would agree with me on this -- I don't think it's an issue whether Mr. Rumsfeld is secretary of defense or someone else. I don't think you can control these insurgents when they detonate these car bombs, when they shoot innocent people. There is not much you can do about that.
People are going to die. War is sad. It's heartbreaking to see these young men and women coming home in body bags, draping American flags over their coffins. That's going to happen.
SKINNER: But the soldiers themselves are screaming for more armor.
WILLIAMS: Getting rid of Mr. Rumsfeld is not going to resolve that problem...
COSTELLO: Wait a second. Stop, Armstrong. Nancy, you get the last word.
SKINNER: I'm saying...
COSTELLO: But I wanted to ask you this: Both Republicans and Democrats are now criticizing Donald Rumsfeld. If he is to be replaced, doesn't someone need to come forward and make more of a stink about this?
SKINNER: Yes, because President Bush, again, with his famed loyalty. Listen, these soldiers stood up to Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq and chastised him and said, we have to scrap through the ground to find body armor. That is Rumsfeld's fault when we're spending all of this money on high-tech weapons that aren't used, and this is a relatively low-cost measure.
So, yes, we need to hear from more Republicans, because President Bush will not listen to the Democrats right now.
WILLIAMS: I think Senator Hatch...
SKINNER: We need to get someone new in there.
WILLIAMS: I think Senator Hatch said it best. Rumsfeld has done a phenomenal job. It would be the worst mistake to replace him at this point. I admit mistakes have been made, but there are not enough mistakes and miscalculations to warrant having another secretary of defense in the middle of this catastrophic situation.
COSTELLO: All right...
SKINNER: You would feel different if your kid was over there, Armstrong.
COSTELLO: ... we're going to have to leave it there. We're going to have to leave it there. We could debate this all day, I know. Nancy Skinner, Armstrong Williams, thank you for joining...
WILLIAMS: Merry Christmas.
COSTELLO: You too, to both of you.
WILLIAMS: Merry Christmas.
SKINNER: Thanks a lot.
WILLIAMS: Not happy holidays, but merry Christmas.
COSTELLO: Merry Christmas. I knew Armstrong would like that last conversation we had with Kerry Egan.
Are you sick of making up new passwords for different accounts online? I am too. But taking the time may be worth it, really. (AUDIO GAP) for you next on DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Passwords, oh, they're a pain, aren't they? But the safety of your money could depend on the security of that Internet password.
So, here to help you with that is DAYBREAK contributor Ali Velshi.
Especially at this time of year.
ALI VELSHI, CNN DAYBREAK CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I got to tell you, with all of the shopping that's going on, there is a lot more. We talked about identity theft yesterday. You kind of do have to be careful. But there's no particular protocol for passwords.
So, I try and use the same one all over the place, and that's apparently not a very good idea. And then sometimes they want six letters and sometimes they want eight characters, mix them up. So that's the first piece of advice I got.
Do you know about the Geek Squad?
COSTELLO: No.
VELSHI: These are the guys I call up whenever I need help. They're a bunch of guys who call themselves the Geek Squad.
COSTELLO: Four geeks.
VELSHI: There you go. Like special agent such and such. They're associated with Best Buy, but they go out and help you with these questions.
So, I called up my Geek Squad guys, and I said what do you -- you guys are smart about this. What do you actually tell people to do about passwords? The No. 1 piece of advice is mix it up. Use characters -- use letters and numbers in the passwords. And they don't have to be complicated.
So, I'll give you an example. This is a really good one, because, let's say, I want to use my name. Now, you should all know out here these are not my passwords, so don't try and hack my stuff. And if you do try and hack my stuff, you're not going to find much of interest.
So, here's one example. Instead of using "alivelshi" as a password, nine characters, that would be easy to sort of figure out if someone were trying to hack me. I'd replace the "I's" -- the first "i" with a "1." So, I've got my number in there, and I've replaced the "s" with a "5."
COSTELLO: Oh, because they look similar to the letters.
VELSHI: They look similar, so I can figure that out. I'm not likely to forget that. So that's one way to mix it up where you can - do that.
Now, the other thing is combine things. So, let's say DAYBREAK would be a logical password to use. We'll stick the number in there. You want a number, because they all seem to want numbers now. And I've said instead of DAYBREAK, I've got "Day1tvshow." So, you've got a number. It's a little less obvious than DAYBREAK, because if I were trying to hack your stuff, I might think, oh, let's try DAYBREAK. Also don't use pet's names...
COSTELLO: Interesting.
VELSHI: ... last names, spouse's first names. Just obvious stuff like that.
But you did make a point in the commercial break in that why do I even want passwords for newspaper subscriptions or things where nobody's really likely to hack? And if you did want to hack it, knock yourself out.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
VELSHI: So stick with basic things like that. I would say for something like that, I would say "day1break" again, just because you're getting yourself used to having that number in there, and it's easy to remember. So maybe if it's for basic security for Web sites that you don't share information with it, just something like you're subscribing to a paper, maybe use something like "day1break."
But let's talk about moderate security, online shopping, sites with which you're sharing some information. It may be encrypted information, but you're still -- you're giving them something, not just getting something back. Then you mix it up a little. I used the example of "day1tvshow."
COSTELLO: Wow!
VELSHI: Something that somebody wouldn't just intuitively figure out, but you're not going to find it too hard to remember.
COSTELLO: Oh, come on, Ali!
VELSHI: No, come on!
COSTELLO: I would never remember that.
VELSHI: Well, you're not going to remember the next one. And this is the problem. It really all comes down to the really tough high-security stuff: your bank accounts, financial transactions. How do you remember this? How do you mix it up? I know you're staring at it. Let's put it up on the screen.
This is the password tip for strong security. You're never going to understand how this showed up. It's capital letters. It's lower case letters and numbers all mixed in. I've got "DBiof527ET." Now, you're saying why would you remember that?
COSTELLO: Exactly.
VELSHI: Because it's the first initials of DAYBREAK is on from 5:00 to 7:00 Eastern Time.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's good. VELSHI: And DAYBREAK is capitalized, because that's the name of the show. And Eastern Time you usually write in capitals. So that's -- I mean, it's ridiculous and no one would guess it, except that I told you all about it. But beyond that, that's an interesting way to come up with a strong encryption password.
COSTELLO: That's great. I like that. Thank you, Ali, for all of the tips.
VELSHI: And if you're really sophisticated, you've got these little things. Have you seen these? These are the ones that...
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: ... generate -- we use these here at work. They generate a number every 60 seconds, so when you're checking your stuff at work.
COSTELLO: You can just type in a number, whatever number happens to be on there.
VELSHI: Yes, it gives you this. Just don't lose this, because then you're in trouble.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Ali. We appreciate it.
VELSHI: All right.
COSTELLO: We've been telling you about a popular painkiller, Aleve, that is now causing concern among health officials. You're going to hear much more about that drug, Aleve, this morning.
Let's go now to "AMERICAN MORNING's" Bill Hemmer.
Good morning -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol, good morning. You're the one trying to crack my password, right?
COSTELLO: I've already done it.
HEMMER: It was you! Hey, much more on naproxen, another drug out there, the warning out there about the heart attacks, stroke risk, too, known over the counter under the brand name, Aleve. You're most familiar by that name. We'll talk to Dr. John Abramson, the author of the book, "Overdosed America," to find out whether or not how concerned you should be or how concerned he thinks we should be at this time. You put that with Vioxx and Celebrex, and the news continues on that front, too. So, we'll have that for you at the top of the hour here in a matter of moments -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: See you later. All right.
COSTELLO: We want to take a look at today's headlines next. Plus, this is DAYBREAK for a Tuesday morning. We'll have the mug winner, too. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning, Chad. I'm just taking a look at the morning headlines. There is no mug winner today, by the way. We'll have that tomorrow.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Because we didn't ask a question yesterday. You have to have a question to get an answer.
COSTELLO: I spaced out there for a second.
MYERS: That's all right.
COSTELLO: Anyway, on the sports page in "The Washington Post," they show all of these teams with a 5-9 record, still have a chance to make the playoffs, Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Including the Detroit Lions.
MYERS: You know, you can't go to the playoffs if you've lost more games than you've won. I'm sorry.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: It's a real possibility. Detroit, the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay, the Cardinals, all have 5-9 records. St. Louis Rams 6-8. New York Giants 5-9. Dallas 5-9. Washington Redskins 5-9. All of those teams have a chance to make the wildcard playoffs.
MYERS: I hear you knocking. It's just isn't right.
COSTELLO: I know. The other interesting story in "The Wall Street Journal," it says "Christmas spirits to loosen wallets, stores mall wine." Apparently, a lot of stores are serving wine now to get the customers kind of tipsy and more in the mood to buy.
MYERS: I think that's illegal, isn't it?
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: Like, they can't serve you alcohol when you do your house closing either. Here, here, have some scotch.
COSTELLO: No, no. Inside of a store, they don't charge you for it.
MYERS: I know. I know.
COSTELLO: They give it to you free.
MYERS: Here, have some more diamonds. Here.
COSTELLO: Apparently it works quite well.
MYERS: I suppose it does.
COSTELLO: It increases shopping.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And they cite a store in Decatur, Georgia, so you'll have to take Sally there now that she can have a little glass of wine, now that she's not pregnant anymore.
MYERS: That's right.
COSTELLO: That does it for us on DAYBREAK. Tomorrow on DAYBREAK, we'll tackle the violence in video games. The violence isn't real, but can it still be harmful? Daniel Sieberg will have more on that.
And we'll talk a lot about the first big cold snap of the season, bringing an early white Christmas. In fact, some areas of the country are going to get up to six to seven inches of snow.
MYERS: Yes, even more than that, Carol. Anywhere from, like, Arkansas right through Paducah, into Louisville, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, a major snow event tomorrow and Thursday.
COSTELLO: We'll be waiting for more word on that.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
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