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American Morning
Winter Travel; President Bush's Agenda; Politics of Christmas
Aired December 21, 2004 - 07:29 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is warming today in New York City. I think it's like 8 degrees outside today.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What? It's warmer?
HEMMER: Yes. Well, warmer than yesterday, of course.
COSTELLO: Anything was warmed than yesterday.
HEMMER: I'm telling you. Good morning, everybody. Soledad is out today. Carol Costello is here to help us out.
Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
HEMMER: Staying warm?
COSTELLO: No.
HEMMER: I took a walk last night for about 30 seconds.
COSTELLO: Why?
HEMMER: I just froze like that.
COSTELLO: For 30 seconds?
HEMMER: Yes. I was ready to go back inside. It is that time of the year, so...
COSTELLO: It's like your lips freeze together.
HEMMER: Yes, but it's warming up.
In a moment here, is President Bush's confidence in Iraq starting to slip? More on the news conference from yesterday in Washington and comments he made about insurgents there and the impact they're having. Suzanne Malveaux is standing by at the White House. We'll check in with Suzanne in a moment.
COSTELLO: Also, our series, "They've Got the Goods," continues with Sirius Satellite Radio chairman Mel Karmazin. In his case, the goods consists of one Howard Stern. We'll find out if the new chairman plans to let Stern do whatever the heck he wants to in his brand-new gig.
HEMMER: I like that.
Kelly Wallace is back with us, too, looking at the headlines.
Good morning -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Great to see both of you. Good morning again, everyone.
"Now in the News."
Tens of millions of people will be on the road this week. With much of the country already in a deep freeze, they face some wicked weather.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice over): From the Midwest to the Northeast, signs of autumn's bitter end. Arctic conditions made for treacherous travel. In Pennsylvania, more than 70 cars piled up on an icy Interstate 80 over the weekend. Dozens of people were injured, and traffic was backed up for 20 miles.
Icy roads and dense fog are blamed for at least two deaths on New Jersey roads. The South getting its share of cold weather, too. Record lows reported in several North Carolina cities. And a rare sight: snow along North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Weather watchers, meanwhile, are keeping an eye out for another big storm system as Old Man Winter hits the ground running.
And with more than 50 million people on the road this Christmas week, there could be more misery in store for holiday travelers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Lots of weather in the news this morning. We'll get an updated forecast with Chad in a few minutes.
To Iraq now, where a massive pipeline fire is burning north of Baghdad. Iraqi sources tell CNN the fire is close to some pipelines sabotaged two days ago. It is not clear what sparked that blaze you see there, or if the fire will have much impact on oil export.
Back here in the U.S. a search for a missing 9-year-old boy resumes this morning in northern Pennsylvania. Logan Mitcheltree (ph) is said to have the mental state of a 3-year-old and cannot speak. Hundreds of volunteers have been combing the area since his disappearance Saturday. Mitcheltree's (ph) family is expected to make a statement later this morning.
And new hope for Major League Baseball in Washington D.C. The City Council is set to vote on a revised proposal to bring the Montreal Expos to the nation's capital. Debate over stadium funding caused the plans to fall apart last week.
I can tell you, I was in D.C. this weekend. Front-page news, big concerns, a debate over public or private financing, and worry that the whole deal could be blown away.
HEMMER: They can't figure this thing out, can they?
COSTELLO: But they have: $100,000 will come from private funds now, they say. The City Council still has to pass it.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: But it should make Linda Crop (ph) happy.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: That's the City Council chair. I love that story.
HEMMER: I'm still (UNINTELLIGIBLE). By the way, happy birthday.
WALLACE: Oh, my goodness!
HEMMER: How come you were burying the lead?
WALLACE: How did you know? Twenty-five feels so good.
HEMMER: We had e-mail to tell us. Happy birthday, Kelly.
WALLACE: Yes, yes. Well, thank you so very much.
COSTELLO: Feliz (ph) kukliano (ph).
WALLACE: I always laugh because it's the shortest day of the year, you know, the beginning of winter. Anyway, I try to be optimistic about it, Carol.
HEMMER: We'll make it (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
WALLACE: Exactly. Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: President Bush has outlined his second-term agenda. His end of the year news conference yesterday covered everything from Iraq to immigration.
Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House with more.
Good morning -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, President Bush was very candid about the challenges Americans and Iraqi soldiers face in dealing with the insurgency there. He also, again, defended his embattled secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. And the president, of course, saying despite some of these challenges, he tried to portray a sense of optimism to the American people about completing his second-term agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're nearing the end of a year of substantial progress at home here and abroad. In 2004, the United States grew in prosperity, enhanced our security and served the cause of freedom and peace. Our duties continue in the New Year. I'm optimistic about achieving results.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And the highlights of his second-term agenda on the domestic front to reform Social Security by allowing young people to invest portions of their contributions in the stock market, to update and simplify the tax code, to make tax cuts permanent, to cut the budget deficit in half over five years, and to establish a guest worker program for illegal immigrants.
Now, on the foreign side, he would like to facilitate Iraq's January elections. That is a key goal. Also to promote the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state, to continue diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear programs, and to secure nuclear materials from Russia.
And, Carol, I should also say a more immediate goal, of course, is to round out his cabinet appointments, those nominations. It's expected perhaps as early as today he may name the nominee for Homeland Security Department or the director of national intelligence -- Carol.
COSTELLO: But no change in the Defense Department category?
MALVEAUX: No, no change. President Bush was very clear on that.
COSTELLO: Yes, he was. Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House this morning.
HEMMER: Carol, Soledad is out this today, but our series continues with Soledad. It's called "They've Got the Goods." And here's Soledad now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Now time for our "They've Got the Goods" segment. Mel Karmazin, the former head of Viacom, headed to Sirius Satellite Radio last month just after his pal, Howard Stern, inked a deal with them. Together, the two media heavyweights gives enormous heft to the new satellite radio industry. How much heft? How big a deal is it in the scheme of things?
HOWARD STERN, SHOCK JOCK: I want you to experience radio the way I think it should be. The future of radio, it is the death of FMA radio, the death of the FCC interference!
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning is Mel Karmazin.
Nice to see you. Thanks for coming in to talk us to.
Give me a sense of perspective. How big of a deal is it that Howard Stern and you also are at Sirius Satellite Radio, not necessarily just to that particular place, but also the industry as a whole?
MEL KARMAZIN, CEO, SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: The Howard Stern thing was very big. I don't know about me going, how big that is. But Howard was huge.
And probably had Sirius not hired Howard, I would not have been as interested. And the reason I got interested was they made a major statement in hiring the No. 1 radio personality of the last 20 years. And it's all about content. You know, people first listened to AM radio, and then things went over to FM radio.
And now, with the kind of content -- be it the NFL or be it Howard Stern or our competitor of having Major League Baseball -- it is a huge boom for satellite radio. And you're going to see over the next few years the next generation of radio. And you're going to see satellite radio being this huge, huge business.
O'BRIEN: Can they really compete with the traditional radio?
KARMAZIN: Well, let's compete, I'm not sure what that word is. I mean, did radio -- did television came along...
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and steal away listeners from.
KARMAZIN: Yes. There's no question, you know, that the programming is going to take audience away. Now maybe it will get people to come back to radio that may have left and went to their iPod. But, you know, we have 65 commercial-free music channels. And that's an important selling point.
So, if you're a consumer and you're able to now get 120 channels in your car in CD quality, and 65 of them are without commercial, and you have the strongest personalities and the strongest talent, why would you not be listening to satellite radio as compared to FM radio?
O'BRIEN: You're paying Howard Stern $500 million over five years. Is that right, five or six years?
KARMAZIN: That deal was done before I got there, and it...
O'BRIEN: But now you're in charge, so you're paying it.
KARMAZIN: But one of the things that I haven't done yet is to read that contract.
O'BRIEN: You might want to go and read it. Because whatever I know, it's a lot of money, and you're not profitable yet.
KARMAZIN: Less than he's worth, in my opinion.
O'BRIEN: Really?
KARMAZIN: Less than he's worth. I think that...
O'BRIEN: How are you going to do the math on that?
KARMAZIN: The math works on Howard is if we can take his huge audience -- and the audience is estimated by various people to be anywhere from 10 to 12 million people. And if we can get a million of those customers to subscribe to satellite radio, that more than pays for Howard.
O'BRIEN: He now says he can do anything he wants. He can say anything he wants. He won't be fined as he has been on traditional radio. As his boss, does that worry you at all?
KARMAZIN: Well..
O'BRIEN: Do you want to have some kind of limitation on that?
KARMAZIN: Howard is a brilliant broadcaster. Howard knows that he's not looking to go over the line to where he's going to offend people or not please them. He talks sex. It's very difficult in -- you know, in terrestrial radio to have a discussion of sex that's not going to get people worried that you're getting dangerously close to what the FCC is going to find indecent.
So, I think what you'll see is "The Howard Stern Show," as he's doing it today, without the edits and without the bleeps that are being done, and definitely, in our opinion, very decent, not indecent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Mel Karmazin with Soledad. Our series continues tomorrow. It's called "They've Got the Goods." Soledad profiles the "Jeopardy" champ, Ken Jennings and his winnings from this past year. And what a year it was for him, too -- Carol.
COSTELLO: He's like the second-most clicked on person on the Web.
HEMMER: He made a lot of cash.
COSTELLO: Yes, he did, and a lot more to come, I'm sure.
New details are emerging this morning in the largest arson case in Maryland's history. So far, six people have been charged. But an unnamed source in today's "Washington Post" says as many as 16 people might have been involved.
Alisa Parenti from our affiliate, WJLA, files this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISA PARENTI, CNN AFFILIATE WJLA REPORTER (voice over): Two more men will appear in court today on arson charges, bringing the total number now arrested in the case to six. As many as 10 more may follow. So far, none of the suspects, their families or their attorneys have commented publicly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no comment. This is ridiculous. I have no comment.
WILLIAM BRENNAN, EVERHART'S ATTORNEY: My policy is not to comment publicly on any cases that are pending.
WILLIAM PURPURA, WALSH'S LAWYER: We hope to present enough information to the court to convince the court this young man should not be detained pending the trial.
PARENTI: According to court documents, the men met at a Wendy's, where they loaded a car with gasoline, matches, flares, and butane torches. Then they allegedly went to the Hunters Brooke, community, kicking down doors and setting pools of the accelerant on fire, ultimately causing $10 million in damage.
In court yesterday, Michael Everhart, Patrick Walsh and volunteer firefighter Jeremy Parady, all 20 years old. Detention hearings for them will be held Thursday. But later today, the first person arrested, 21-year-old Aaron Speed, will also appear in court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
He's scheduled to appear here in Greenbelt at 2:00 this afternoon.
Now reporting live, we have new some new information. The U.S. attorney's office is looking into the possibility that more than a dozen people, maybe as many as 16, conspired on the Internet, talking on chat lines, before this massive arson.
Reporting live in Greenbelt, Alisa Parenti.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: Alisa, a question for you. What's the motive here? You get 16 people together. You just set fires, what, for fun? Was there some other reason?
PARENTI: Well, apparently revenge is something that investigators are looking at. You'll remember the first person who was charged said he was disgruntled and unhappy the way the company treated him. He was a former employee of that subdivision working security, unhappy about the way the company treated him after the death of his infant son.
How all of these other people came into play, that, I guess, we'll have to find out as it plays out in court.
COSTELLO: Alisa Parenti, live from Greenbelt, Maryland, thank you.
HEMMER: Today is the winter solstice, and in just one moment it begins. One minute to be exact. Winter's official start time is 7:42 a.m. Eastern. Right now, it's 7:41 a.m. Eastern. It's the shortest day of the year. Only 9 hours and 15 minutes of daylight. And for most folks in the eastern part for the U.S., it's going to be a chilly 8 hours and 15 minutes, too. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, some stories -- stores, rather, are considering offering a different kind of holiday spirit to get your money. Andy is "Minding Your Business."
HEMMER: Also, when it comes to the separation of church and state at Christmastime, Jeff Toobin explains the all-important reindeer rule. Honest. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The best topic of the morning now. Public nativity scenes have often been the subject of court challenges. Now some conservative groups are getting involved, trying to put more Christ into Christmas in 2004.
Jeff Toobin has been looking into this, the legal side of all of it. And there are a lot of legal angles on this, as a matter of fact.
JEFFERY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's amazing. This has been a huge subject.
HEMMER: How do we define what is accepted or defined by law, and what is not accepted?
TOOBIN: OK. Let's start with -- one principle to start with is these rules apply only to the government, not to private parties. If a store wants to say "merry Christmas," if a church wants to put up a creche, if a synagogue wants to put a menorah, there is absolutely nothing stopping them. It's totally appropriate under all circumstances.
The issue is when the government gets involved. What can the government do? And what the courts have tried to say, although they've said it with a lot of confusion, is the government, any government, can't endorse one religion over another, or the idea of religion over non-religion. The issue is: Is the government, by allowing a creche or a menorah or some sort of religious...
HEMMER: Creche is like a nativity scene.
TOOBIN: Right. Endorsing one religion.
HEMMER: So, if it's a public place, if it's a sidewalk, if it's a public square, if it's a school, then the government becomes involved.
TOOBIN: It becomes involved, but that's where things start to be complicated, because the courts have said, well, if it's, say, a park, where there are lots of different statutes and symbols, then there will be more flexibility. You can have more religious symbols.
HEMMER: All right.
TOOBIN: But if it's in the middle of city hall, you know, right outside the mayor's office, they might be more restrictive in what of religious symbols they can use.
HEMMER: So, then it could become an issue at that point.
TOOBIN: Exactly.
HEMMER: A couple of cases out there, and I think there may be lawsuits pending, too. In Texas, a 9-year-old boy was handing out candy canes. A religious message was attached to it. What, a law firm sued on his behalf, because the kid was told he can't do this anymore?
TOOBIN: See, this is where people get paranoid and silly. There's nothing wrong with a kid giving out candy canes. It's his right to expression. He can express his religious sentiment. There's no sense of the school endorsing his message.
HEMMER: So he could continue to pass...
(CROSSTALK)
TOOBIN: Certainly that would be...
HEMMER: Here's another. In New Jersey, there's a school district, there's a policy, you can sing, I understand, "Jingle Bell Rock."
TOOBIN: Right.
HEMMER: You can't sing "Silent Night."
TOOBIN: Again, it seems crazy to me that you draw a line that way. People are allowed to express their own individual views.
HEMMER: Yes.
TOOBIN: But it's the school that can't have an official religion.
HEMMER: Too many lawyers?
TOOBIN: Too many lawyers. Remember the reindeer rule. You mentioned the reindeer rule.
HEMMER: What is the reindeer rule, by the way?
TOOBIN: It's what the Supreme Court said in a famous case from Rhode Island. They said, well, if there are reindeer, that makes it not religious, because reindeer are not a religious symbol. But if there is a nativity scene, that is religious. But if you put reindeer with the nativity scene, it's probably OK.
HEMMER: But if we were in Germany, then it would be -- it's a line from a movie, "Stripes."
TOOBIN: Happy solstice, Bill.
HEMMER: You got it, buddy. Good to see you.
TOOBIN: All right.
HEMMER: Jack has got a lot of thoughts on this too -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, you stumped Jeff Toobin. I like that.
TOOBIN: I just didn't know the "Stripes" reference, I have to say.
COSTELLO: Happy holidays, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: As we continue now to beat this subject into the ground, "merry Christmas" versus "happy holidays." Every December, do I wish somebody "merry Christmas" at the risk of offending their religious sensibilities?
The conflict seems to have reached a fevered pitch this year. Schools are censoring Christmas carols. Towns are insisting their Christmas tree be called a "holiday tree."
This year there is also a large public outcry, though, against secularizing Christmas. Many Christian activists are lobbying businesses, schools and towns to include Christian symbols and messages in holiday displays.
In a country that is 75 percent Christian, are we slowly losing Christmas to political correctness? That was the question. I think it's on a full screen there somewhere.
Mike in Santa Cruz, California: "Nobody's religious beliefs should trump another's. That's why we say 'happy holidays.' I think religion should be a personal thing, not a public thing."
Oh, the full screen is not working? There we are.
Greg in Colorado Springs: "I think we lost Christmas long ago to those who hyped their wares for sale beginning at Halloween with expensive, irritating and ceaseless ad campaigns. Political correctness cannot hold a candle to the American quest for profits."
Johnny in New Orleans writes: "Where is it written that common sense and political correctness cannot go hand in hand?" Well, they just don't usually. "I believe political correctness in this case is actually a sign of growth on our part as a nation."
Ed in Frederick, Maryland: "I find it sad that consideration and respect for others who might not hold my same religious beliefs is misinterpreted into the idea that I'm negating the true meaning of Christmas. Why is this even a topic for discussion?"
Hey, we've got to do something to fill the three hours. You know what I'm saying, Ed?
And John in Oklahoma: "People can wish me a merry Christmas, happy holidays, have a wonderful New Year or peace on earth, as long as their underlying wish is for the world represented by the birth of the Christ child all these centuries ago and the ideals he represents."
COSTELLO: Wow! Wow! That was eloquently written.
CAFFERTY: We have a very bright group here, much smarter than the ones that watched your show earlier.
HEMMER: Oh!
COSTELLO: I knew there would be a DAYBREAK slam somewhere in there, Jack.
CAFFERTY: We try.
COSTELLO: Someday we're going to do like...
CAFFERTY: Did you bring any of those cheesy cups with you over here today?
COSTELLO: No. People steal them. I brought some to New York, they were stolen.
CAFFERTY: Believe me, there's no risk from me doing that.
COSTELLO: Oh, save me, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm trying, actually. I'm over here for you, Carol.
In a moment here, holiday sales. Are they not enough to get you in the store? Retailers are finding a new way to loosen you up and get into your wallet, too. Andy is back in a moment with that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're talking about shopping and bar hopping. They may not be distinct activities this holiday season. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." I love this story.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, I do too. Well, they've never been distinct events for me anyway. I mean, I've managed to combine these two elements for years. But now it's coming to head, it seems.
Let's talk a little bit about the markets, though, first of all, Carol. A mixed session yesterday on Wall Street. The Dow up. Well, that's not -- is that -- that's not right. I don't think that's right. I think the Dow is -- the Nasdaq was down 7 points. That screen was incorrect. But we're the most trusted name in news, so I decided to correct it live.
What's happening? Pfizer was down 5 percent yesterday. It's down 5 percent in pre-market trading. Exxon was up nicely yesterday. Futures are up this morning. We're looking for a Santa Claus rally. That's when stocks go up at the end of the year and the beginning of the following year.
As far as shopping and drinking, or maybe doing television and drinking it seems like this morning a little bit, this is a new phenomenon apparently, whereby stores and malls are plying us with liquor. Basically, they're serving or swerving. They're serving drinks. And you go into these stores and malls, and you have a couple cocktails. And all of a sudden everything is looking good. And that actually happened to me at Brooks Brothers the other day.
Anyway, a great story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning about it. A month ago, Melissa Daniel, a 28-year-old technology consultant in Chicago, tossing back a couple glasses of champagne. And suddenly everything started looking good. She said she ended up with two sweaters costing 100 bucks each. Then she went to another one and bought a $200 discounted Gucci duffel bag...
COSTELLO: Wow!
SERWER: ... that hadn't seemed necessary when she was sober. I like that line. Isn't that great?
COSTELLO: Sometimes you just need that added shot of courage, so to speak.
SERWER: Stores are doing anything they can.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: And it's working.
SERWER: It is.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: A break here. In a moment, top stories, also another day and another drug warning. How concerned should you be? We'll have a look at that at the top of the hour right after this.
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Aired December 21, 2004 - 07:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is warming today in New York City. I think it's like 8 degrees outside today.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What? It's warmer?
HEMMER: Yes. Well, warmer than yesterday, of course.
COSTELLO: Anything was warmed than yesterday.
HEMMER: I'm telling you. Good morning, everybody. Soledad is out today. Carol Costello is here to help us out.
Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
HEMMER: Staying warm?
COSTELLO: No.
HEMMER: I took a walk last night for about 30 seconds.
COSTELLO: Why?
HEMMER: I just froze like that.
COSTELLO: For 30 seconds?
HEMMER: Yes. I was ready to go back inside. It is that time of the year, so...
COSTELLO: It's like your lips freeze together.
HEMMER: Yes, but it's warming up.
In a moment here, is President Bush's confidence in Iraq starting to slip? More on the news conference from yesterday in Washington and comments he made about insurgents there and the impact they're having. Suzanne Malveaux is standing by at the White House. We'll check in with Suzanne in a moment.
COSTELLO: Also, our series, "They've Got the Goods," continues with Sirius Satellite Radio chairman Mel Karmazin. In his case, the goods consists of one Howard Stern. We'll find out if the new chairman plans to let Stern do whatever the heck he wants to in his brand-new gig.
HEMMER: I like that.
Kelly Wallace is back with us, too, looking at the headlines.
Good morning -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Great to see both of you. Good morning again, everyone.
"Now in the News."
Tens of millions of people will be on the road this week. With much of the country already in a deep freeze, they face some wicked weather.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice over): From the Midwest to the Northeast, signs of autumn's bitter end. Arctic conditions made for treacherous travel. In Pennsylvania, more than 70 cars piled up on an icy Interstate 80 over the weekend. Dozens of people were injured, and traffic was backed up for 20 miles.
Icy roads and dense fog are blamed for at least two deaths on New Jersey roads. The South getting its share of cold weather, too. Record lows reported in several North Carolina cities. And a rare sight: snow along North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Weather watchers, meanwhile, are keeping an eye out for another big storm system as Old Man Winter hits the ground running.
And with more than 50 million people on the road this Christmas week, there could be more misery in store for holiday travelers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Lots of weather in the news this morning. We'll get an updated forecast with Chad in a few minutes.
To Iraq now, where a massive pipeline fire is burning north of Baghdad. Iraqi sources tell CNN the fire is close to some pipelines sabotaged two days ago. It is not clear what sparked that blaze you see there, or if the fire will have much impact on oil export.
Back here in the U.S. a search for a missing 9-year-old boy resumes this morning in northern Pennsylvania. Logan Mitcheltree (ph) is said to have the mental state of a 3-year-old and cannot speak. Hundreds of volunteers have been combing the area since his disappearance Saturday. Mitcheltree's (ph) family is expected to make a statement later this morning.
And new hope for Major League Baseball in Washington D.C. The City Council is set to vote on a revised proposal to bring the Montreal Expos to the nation's capital. Debate over stadium funding caused the plans to fall apart last week.
I can tell you, I was in D.C. this weekend. Front-page news, big concerns, a debate over public or private financing, and worry that the whole deal could be blown away.
HEMMER: They can't figure this thing out, can they?
COSTELLO: But they have: $100,000 will come from private funds now, they say. The City Council still has to pass it.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: But it should make Linda Crop (ph) happy.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: That's the City Council chair. I love that story.
HEMMER: I'm still (UNINTELLIGIBLE). By the way, happy birthday.
WALLACE: Oh, my goodness!
HEMMER: How come you were burying the lead?
WALLACE: How did you know? Twenty-five feels so good.
HEMMER: We had e-mail to tell us. Happy birthday, Kelly.
WALLACE: Yes, yes. Well, thank you so very much.
COSTELLO: Feliz (ph) kukliano (ph).
WALLACE: I always laugh because it's the shortest day of the year, you know, the beginning of winter. Anyway, I try to be optimistic about it, Carol.
HEMMER: We'll make it (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
WALLACE: Exactly. Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: President Bush has outlined his second-term agenda. His end of the year news conference yesterday covered everything from Iraq to immigration.
Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House with more.
Good morning -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, President Bush was very candid about the challenges Americans and Iraqi soldiers face in dealing with the insurgency there. He also, again, defended his embattled secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. And the president, of course, saying despite some of these challenges, he tried to portray a sense of optimism to the American people about completing his second-term agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're nearing the end of a year of substantial progress at home here and abroad. In 2004, the United States grew in prosperity, enhanced our security and served the cause of freedom and peace. Our duties continue in the New Year. I'm optimistic about achieving results.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And the highlights of his second-term agenda on the domestic front to reform Social Security by allowing young people to invest portions of their contributions in the stock market, to update and simplify the tax code, to make tax cuts permanent, to cut the budget deficit in half over five years, and to establish a guest worker program for illegal immigrants.
Now, on the foreign side, he would like to facilitate Iraq's January elections. That is a key goal. Also to promote the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state, to continue diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear programs, and to secure nuclear materials from Russia.
And, Carol, I should also say a more immediate goal, of course, is to round out his cabinet appointments, those nominations. It's expected perhaps as early as today he may name the nominee for Homeland Security Department or the director of national intelligence -- Carol.
COSTELLO: But no change in the Defense Department category?
MALVEAUX: No, no change. President Bush was very clear on that.
COSTELLO: Yes, he was. Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House this morning.
HEMMER: Carol, Soledad is out this today, but our series continues with Soledad. It's called "They've Got the Goods." And here's Soledad now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Now time for our "They've Got the Goods" segment. Mel Karmazin, the former head of Viacom, headed to Sirius Satellite Radio last month just after his pal, Howard Stern, inked a deal with them. Together, the two media heavyweights gives enormous heft to the new satellite radio industry. How much heft? How big a deal is it in the scheme of things?
HOWARD STERN, SHOCK JOCK: I want you to experience radio the way I think it should be. The future of radio, it is the death of FMA radio, the death of the FCC interference!
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning is Mel Karmazin.
Nice to see you. Thanks for coming in to talk us to.
Give me a sense of perspective. How big of a deal is it that Howard Stern and you also are at Sirius Satellite Radio, not necessarily just to that particular place, but also the industry as a whole?
MEL KARMAZIN, CEO, SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: The Howard Stern thing was very big. I don't know about me going, how big that is. But Howard was huge.
And probably had Sirius not hired Howard, I would not have been as interested. And the reason I got interested was they made a major statement in hiring the No. 1 radio personality of the last 20 years. And it's all about content. You know, people first listened to AM radio, and then things went over to FM radio.
And now, with the kind of content -- be it the NFL or be it Howard Stern or our competitor of having Major League Baseball -- it is a huge boom for satellite radio. And you're going to see over the next few years the next generation of radio. And you're going to see satellite radio being this huge, huge business.
O'BRIEN: Can they really compete with the traditional radio?
KARMAZIN: Well, let's compete, I'm not sure what that word is. I mean, did radio -- did television came along...
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and steal away listeners from.
KARMAZIN: Yes. There's no question, you know, that the programming is going to take audience away. Now maybe it will get people to come back to radio that may have left and went to their iPod. But, you know, we have 65 commercial-free music channels. And that's an important selling point.
So, if you're a consumer and you're able to now get 120 channels in your car in CD quality, and 65 of them are without commercial, and you have the strongest personalities and the strongest talent, why would you not be listening to satellite radio as compared to FM radio?
O'BRIEN: You're paying Howard Stern $500 million over five years. Is that right, five or six years?
KARMAZIN: That deal was done before I got there, and it...
O'BRIEN: But now you're in charge, so you're paying it.
KARMAZIN: But one of the things that I haven't done yet is to read that contract.
O'BRIEN: You might want to go and read it. Because whatever I know, it's a lot of money, and you're not profitable yet.
KARMAZIN: Less than he's worth, in my opinion.
O'BRIEN: Really?
KARMAZIN: Less than he's worth. I think that...
O'BRIEN: How are you going to do the math on that?
KARMAZIN: The math works on Howard is if we can take his huge audience -- and the audience is estimated by various people to be anywhere from 10 to 12 million people. And if we can get a million of those customers to subscribe to satellite radio, that more than pays for Howard.
O'BRIEN: He now says he can do anything he wants. He can say anything he wants. He won't be fined as he has been on traditional radio. As his boss, does that worry you at all?
KARMAZIN: Well..
O'BRIEN: Do you want to have some kind of limitation on that?
KARMAZIN: Howard is a brilliant broadcaster. Howard knows that he's not looking to go over the line to where he's going to offend people or not please them. He talks sex. It's very difficult in -- you know, in terrestrial radio to have a discussion of sex that's not going to get people worried that you're getting dangerously close to what the FCC is going to find indecent.
So, I think what you'll see is "The Howard Stern Show," as he's doing it today, without the edits and without the bleeps that are being done, and definitely, in our opinion, very decent, not indecent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Mel Karmazin with Soledad. Our series continues tomorrow. It's called "They've Got the Goods." Soledad profiles the "Jeopardy" champ, Ken Jennings and his winnings from this past year. And what a year it was for him, too -- Carol.
COSTELLO: He's like the second-most clicked on person on the Web.
HEMMER: He made a lot of cash.
COSTELLO: Yes, he did, and a lot more to come, I'm sure.
New details are emerging this morning in the largest arson case in Maryland's history. So far, six people have been charged. But an unnamed source in today's "Washington Post" says as many as 16 people might have been involved.
Alisa Parenti from our affiliate, WJLA, files this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISA PARENTI, CNN AFFILIATE WJLA REPORTER (voice over): Two more men will appear in court today on arson charges, bringing the total number now arrested in the case to six. As many as 10 more may follow. So far, none of the suspects, their families or their attorneys have commented publicly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no comment. This is ridiculous. I have no comment.
WILLIAM BRENNAN, EVERHART'S ATTORNEY: My policy is not to comment publicly on any cases that are pending.
WILLIAM PURPURA, WALSH'S LAWYER: We hope to present enough information to the court to convince the court this young man should not be detained pending the trial.
PARENTI: According to court documents, the men met at a Wendy's, where they loaded a car with gasoline, matches, flares, and butane torches. Then they allegedly went to the Hunters Brooke, community, kicking down doors and setting pools of the accelerant on fire, ultimately causing $10 million in damage.
In court yesterday, Michael Everhart, Patrick Walsh and volunteer firefighter Jeremy Parady, all 20 years old. Detention hearings for them will be held Thursday. But later today, the first person arrested, 21-year-old Aaron Speed, will also appear in court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
He's scheduled to appear here in Greenbelt at 2:00 this afternoon.
Now reporting live, we have new some new information. The U.S. attorney's office is looking into the possibility that more than a dozen people, maybe as many as 16, conspired on the Internet, talking on chat lines, before this massive arson.
Reporting live in Greenbelt, Alisa Parenti.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: Alisa, a question for you. What's the motive here? You get 16 people together. You just set fires, what, for fun? Was there some other reason?
PARENTI: Well, apparently revenge is something that investigators are looking at. You'll remember the first person who was charged said he was disgruntled and unhappy the way the company treated him. He was a former employee of that subdivision working security, unhappy about the way the company treated him after the death of his infant son.
How all of these other people came into play, that, I guess, we'll have to find out as it plays out in court.
COSTELLO: Alisa Parenti, live from Greenbelt, Maryland, thank you.
HEMMER: Today is the winter solstice, and in just one moment it begins. One minute to be exact. Winter's official start time is 7:42 a.m. Eastern. Right now, it's 7:41 a.m. Eastern. It's the shortest day of the year. Only 9 hours and 15 minutes of daylight. And for most folks in the eastern part for the U.S., it's going to be a chilly 8 hours and 15 minutes, too. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, some stories -- stores, rather, are considering offering a different kind of holiday spirit to get your money. Andy is "Minding Your Business."
HEMMER: Also, when it comes to the separation of church and state at Christmastime, Jeff Toobin explains the all-important reindeer rule. Honest. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The best topic of the morning now. Public nativity scenes have often been the subject of court challenges. Now some conservative groups are getting involved, trying to put more Christ into Christmas in 2004.
Jeff Toobin has been looking into this, the legal side of all of it. And there are a lot of legal angles on this, as a matter of fact.
JEFFERY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's amazing. This has been a huge subject.
HEMMER: How do we define what is accepted or defined by law, and what is not accepted?
TOOBIN: OK. Let's start with -- one principle to start with is these rules apply only to the government, not to private parties. If a store wants to say "merry Christmas," if a church wants to put up a creche, if a synagogue wants to put a menorah, there is absolutely nothing stopping them. It's totally appropriate under all circumstances.
The issue is when the government gets involved. What can the government do? And what the courts have tried to say, although they've said it with a lot of confusion, is the government, any government, can't endorse one religion over another, or the idea of religion over non-religion. The issue is: Is the government, by allowing a creche or a menorah or some sort of religious...
HEMMER: Creche is like a nativity scene.
TOOBIN: Right. Endorsing one religion.
HEMMER: So, if it's a public place, if it's a sidewalk, if it's a public square, if it's a school, then the government becomes involved.
TOOBIN: It becomes involved, but that's where things start to be complicated, because the courts have said, well, if it's, say, a park, where there are lots of different statutes and symbols, then there will be more flexibility. You can have more religious symbols.
HEMMER: All right.
TOOBIN: But if it's in the middle of city hall, you know, right outside the mayor's office, they might be more restrictive in what of religious symbols they can use.
HEMMER: So, then it could become an issue at that point.
TOOBIN: Exactly.
HEMMER: A couple of cases out there, and I think there may be lawsuits pending, too. In Texas, a 9-year-old boy was handing out candy canes. A religious message was attached to it. What, a law firm sued on his behalf, because the kid was told he can't do this anymore?
TOOBIN: See, this is where people get paranoid and silly. There's nothing wrong with a kid giving out candy canes. It's his right to expression. He can express his religious sentiment. There's no sense of the school endorsing his message.
HEMMER: So he could continue to pass...
(CROSSTALK)
TOOBIN: Certainly that would be...
HEMMER: Here's another. In New Jersey, there's a school district, there's a policy, you can sing, I understand, "Jingle Bell Rock."
TOOBIN: Right.
HEMMER: You can't sing "Silent Night."
TOOBIN: Again, it seems crazy to me that you draw a line that way. People are allowed to express their own individual views.
HEMMER: Yes.
TOOBIN: But it's the school that can't have an official religion.
HEMMER: Too many lawyers?
TOOBIN: Too many lawyers. Remember the reindeer rule. You mentioned the reindeer rule.
HEMMER: What is the reindeer rule, by the way?
TOOBIN: It's what the Supreme Court said in a famous case from Rhode Island. They said, well, if there are reindeer, that makes it not religious, because reindeer are not a religious symbol. But if there is a nativity scene, that is religious. But if you put reindeer with the nativity scene, it's probably OK.
HEMMER: But if we were in Germany, then it would be -- it's a line from a movie, "Stripes."
TOOBIN: Happy solstice, Bill.
HEMMER: You got it, buddy. Good to see you.
TOOBIN: All right.
HEMMER: Jack has got a lot of thoughts on this too -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, you stumped Jeff Toobin. I like that.
TOOBIN: I just didn't know the "Stripes" reference, I have to say.
COSTELLO: Happy holidays, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: As we continue now to beat this subject into the ground, "merry Christmas" versus "happy holidays." Every December, do I wish somebody "merry Christmas" at the risk of offending their religious sensibilities?
The conflict seems to have reached a fevered pitch this year. Schools are censoring Christmas carols. Towns are insisting their Christmas tree be called a "holiday tree."
This year there is also a large public outcry, though, against secularizing Christmas. Many Christian activists are lobbying businesses, schools and towns to include Christian symbols and messages in holiday displays.
In a country that is 75 percent Christian, are we slowly losing Christmas to political correctness? That was the question. I think it's on a full screen there somewhere.
Mike in Santa Cruz, California: "Nobody's religious beliefs should trump another's. That's why we say 'happy holidays.' I think religion should be a personal thing, not a public thing."
Oh, the full screen is not working? There we are.
Greg in Colorado Springs: "I think we lost Christmas long ago to those who hyped their wares for sale beginning at Halloween with expensive, irritating and ceaseless ad campaigns. Political correctness cannot hold a candle to the American quest for profits."
Johnny in New Orleans writes: "Where is it written that common sense and political correctness cannot go hand in hand?" Well, they just don't usually. "I believe political correctness in this case is actually a sign of growth on our part as a nation."
Ed in Frederick, Maryland: "I find it sad that consideration and respect for others who might not hold my same religious beliefs is misinterpreted into the idea that I'm negating the true meaning of Christmas. Why is this even a topic for discussion?"
Hey, we've got to do something to fill the three hours. You know what I'm saying, Ed?
And John in Oklahoma: "People can wish me a merry Christmas, happy holidays, have a wonderful New Year or peace on earth, as long as their underlying wish is for the world represented by the birth of the Christ child all these centuries ago and the ideals he represents."
COSTELLO: Wow! Wow! That was eloquently written.
CAFFERTY: We have a very bright group here, much smarter than the ones that watched your show earlier.
HEMMER: Oh!
COSTELLO: I knew there would be a DAYBREAK slam somewhere in there, Jack.
CAFFERTY: We try.
COSTELLO: Someday we're going to do like...
CAFFERTY: Did you bring any of those cheesy cups with you over here today?
COSTELLO: No. People steal them. I brought some to New York, they were stolen.
CAFFERTY: Believe me, there's no risk from me doing that.
COSTELLO: Oh, save me, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm trying, actually. I'm over here for you, Carol.
In a moment here, holiday sales. Are they not enough to get you in the store? Retailers are finding a new way to loosen you up and get into your wallet, too. Andy is back in a moment with that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're talking about shopping and bar hopping. They may not be distinct activities this holiday season. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." I love this story.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, I do too. Well, they've never been distinct events for me anyway. I mean, I've managed to combine these two elements for years. But now it's coming to head, it seems.
Let's talk a little bit about the markets, though, first of all, Carol. A mixed session yesterday on Wall Street. The Dow up. Well, that's not -- is that -- that's not right. I don't think that's right. I think the Dow is -- the Nasdaq was down 7 points. That screen was incorrect. But we're the most trusted name in news, so I decided to correct it live.
What's happening? Pfizer was down 5 percent yesterday. It's down 5 percent in pre-market trading. Exxon was up nicely yesterday. Futures are up this morning. We're looking for a Santa Claus rally. That's when stocks go up at the end of the year and the beginning of the following year.
As far as shopping and drinking, or maybe doing television and drinking it seems like this morning a little bit, this is a new phenomenon apparently, whereby stores and malls are plying us with liquor. Basically, they're serving or swerving. They're serving drinks. And you go into these stores and malls, and you have a couple cocktails. And all of a sudden everything is looking good. And that actually happened to me at Brooks Brothers the other day.
Anyway, a great story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning about it. A month ago, Melissa Daniel, a 28-year-old technology consultant in Chicago, tossing back a couple glasses of champagne. And suddenly everything started looking good. She said she ended up with two sweaters costing 100 bucks each. Then she went to another one and bought a $200 discounted Gucci duffel bag...
COSTELLO: Wow!
SERWER: ... that hadn't seemed necessary when she was sober. I like that line. Isn't that great?
COSTELLO: Sometimes you just need that added shot of courage, so to speak.
SERWER: Stores are doing anything they can.
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: And it's working.
SERWER: It is.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: A break here. In a moment, top stories, also another day and another drug warning. How concerned should you be? We'll have a look at that at the top of the hour right after this.
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