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American Morning
Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq Today; Conversation With Senator Barack Obama
Aired December 24, 2004 - 09:30 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: 9:30 on Christmas Eve. Good morning, everybody. Kelly Wallace working with us today. Soledad is out for the holidays.
Nice to see you.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you.
HEMMER: You going to get some time off this weekend?
WALLACE: Yes, the weekend, yes, Saturday, Sunday.
HEMMER: Excellent. And that's it?
WALLACE: And that's it.
HEMMER: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld back in Iraq with the troops today. A surprise visit there, answering questions much as he did earlier this month in Kuwait, but certainly taking those questions and sometimes with a different tone. We'll have a look at that in a moment from Iraq.
WALLACE: Also, Bill, a story of twin sisters from New Jersey. They joined the National Guard back before there was any talk of war. And now they are going to Iraq. Still teenagers, not long out of high school, their parents torn by many different emotions right now. We'll check in with them and hear their story.
HEMMER: All right, 9:31, back to Daryn Kagan watching the headlines there at the CNN Center.
Good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, good morning.
Now in the news, AAA calling this holiday travel season -- quote -- "an exodus of biblical proportions." The weather, though, is not cooperating. Major highways in the middle of the country are blocked by more than two feet of snow. Crews working to move abandoned cars and clear the roads,. Chad's going to have more on what you can expect today in just a little bit.
Navy divers in Alaska say they are zeroing in on a black box believed to be from a crash of a rescue helicopter. The chopper plunged into the Bering Sea earlier this month, while evacuating the crew of a grounded oil freighter. Six people were killed. Meanwhile officials say the crippled freighter is sinking faster than expected.
To Connecticut now, a chapter in the corruption scandal that has consumed state politics for nearly two years may be near an end. Former Governor John Rowland pleading guilty to a single felony charge of corruption, involving mail and tax fraud. The one charge, part of a plea bargain Rowland worked out with prosecutors. Sentencing is scheduled for March. And the holiday greetings from the heavens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEROY CHAID, INTL. SPACE STATION COMMANDER: From the International Space Station orbiting high over you, we wish you a merry, merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Got to love how those Santa hats sticks right up in the air with no gravity. That's from the crew of the international space station.
Meanwhile, Merry Christmas, a Russian cargo ship blasted off today carrying two tons of much-needed supplies and food to the crew. It's expected to arrive on Sunday.
Bill, you have a great holiday.
HEMMER: Yes, you do the same. Look like elves, though, with the hats going the other way.
Hey, what's coming up at 10:00, Daryn?
KAGAN: I got one word for you, Santa, not a Santa, the Santa, making his annual stop right here on CNN live today, along with a zillion kids. It's going to be a little nutty.
HEMMER: Put a good word in for me, will you.
KAGAN: Oh, yes. No coal for you this year.
HEMMER: Hey, thank you, Daryn.
KAGAN: You have a great holiday.
HEMMER: You the same. Thank you much.
Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq today paying a surprise visit at a church, the secretary's first stop, a visit to wounded troops from Tuesday's suicide bomb attack at a base in Mosul. From there it was Tikrit. It was Falluja. It was Baghdad. And now to Washington with David Ensor with more on this.
Good morning there, David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, As you say, Rumsfeld flew in to Iraq at dawn on Christmas Eve on a visit to boost troop morale. Despite recent revelations that until recently he was not personally signing condolence letters to dead soldiers families, he was warmly received in Mosul, scene of the recent large attack against a mess hall tent, and also in Tikrit and in Falluja. He told the soldiers that he believes their sacrifice will be worth it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: The thought of turning over this country to the people who behead people on television and videos, to the people who consciously, purposefully kill innocent men, women and children would turn this part of the world and this country back to darkness. And we simply can't let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: The questions from the soldiers this time were friendly. One asked, how do we win the war in the media? Another asked why there's not more coverage of reconstruction efforts around Iraq.
Rumsfeld said he guessed that -- quote -- "What's news has to be bad news to get on the press," adding that the question did not sound to him as if it was planted by the media. That was a reference to a tough question he got last time in Iraq, a question about why not all U.S. forces have the best armor available for their vehicles and some were reduced to scavenging for scrap metal. A reporter later claimed to have planted that question with the soldier, though the soldier has insisted the question was his own and one that the troops wanted asked.
This time, though, friendly questions from the troops, from Rumsfeld the nation's thanks, and a Purple Heart for one injured soldier, a chance for this defense secretary to show Americans he does care about the troops at a time when some critics, including some Republicans, have suggested otherwise -- Bill.
HEMMER: It will be headlines throughout the day today, we know that. David, thanks. David Ensor in D.C. -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Thanks, Bill. This time of year, particularly hard for families with loved ones overseas, playing a role in the war in Iraq. And for one New Jersey family it is twice as difficult.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice-over): It's hard to tell Darlene and Stephanie Pabon apart, but they say there are differences. Darlene's the one who loves cheerleading, Stephanie has the serious boyfriend. But now, the 19-year-old identical twins are living identical lives. They left last week for Iraq as members of the New Jersey National Guard. Asked how their parents were taking it?
STEPHANIE AND DARLENE PABON, DEPLOYED TO IRAQ: It will be hard, but they'll be good. They're fine. They'll be all right.
WALLACE: Well, mom and dad told us it is tough. DAVE PABON, FATHER: You can't help think like, they're my girls. You know, this is like you never want them over there. In the back of my mind, you know, anything's possible, anything could happen.
WALLACE: Dave and Donna Pabon say the girls, their only children, joined the National Guard in 2002, mainly to get money for college, never imagining they would one day head to a war zone.
DONNA PABON, MOTHER: We really just kind of hoped that it wouldn't happen. At the time that they joined there was no war, no talk of war.
WALLACE: The Pabons adjusted to their girls being away for basic training, but an overseas deployment they say is so much harder.
DONNA PABON: It's a different feeling having them out of the country, versus knowing that they're just going to be, you know, a phone call away.
We'll venture in to the dark room of Stephanie first.
WALLACE: The girls are strong, mom and dad say. Their rooms filled with karate trophies. Darlene's a black belt, Stephanie a brown belt. Still, signs everywhere they are teenage girls. And now, mom and dad prepare for their first Christmas ever without them.
DAVE PABON: The spirit isn't really there right now, the fact they're not around. You know, we do miss not hearing the music coming out of their rooms and stuff like that, and the phones ringing like crazy, which could be, you know, hectic at times, but now that they're gone,you kind of miss that.
WALLACE: But they say they've been blessed by the support from friends and total strangers.
DONNA PABON: We just are grateful for everyone's prayers that are praying for them, and we pray for them every night. They know that. They're grateful for that.
WALLACE: Praying for their girls and waiting for that day when they and all the other soldiers make it home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And I spoke with Donna Pabon yesterday. She tells me her girls will make it to Iraq tomorrow. Of course that's Christmas Day -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Kelly. About 22 minutes before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
This morning in our series "They've Got the Goods," we're profiling Barack Obama. He's about to become the only African- American currently in the U.S. Senate. Recently Soledad talked with the Democrat's rising star out of Illinois. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATOR-ELECT: There is not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America. There is not a black America, and a white America, and Latino America, and Asian America, there's the United States of America.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): That was Barack Obama when he first leapt to national prominence at the Democratic National Convention in July. I had an opportunity to talk with the 43-year-old Harvard educated lawyer in mid-October.
(on camera): Well, why do you think Senator Kerry picked you to deliver keynote speech? Why you?
OBAMA: Well, you know, he had come into town about two weeks, I think, after the primary election and we had gotten a lot of attention as a consequence of that primary victory. I was selected to speak with him. Teresa was there, his staff were there. I think they were favorably impressed by the speech that I gave when he was visiting here and we campaigned together.
And so some of it was, I think, their belief that I could do a good job. Partly, I think, the way that we won, I think, created a sense of hopefulness about how we can create a working majority for Democrats nationally. And some of it was, I think, just luck.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Obama was the underdog in his Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, but won when his Republican opponent Jack Ryan pulled out. Obama beat the last-minute Republican replacement Alan Keyes by more than 40 percentage points. But even before that victory, there was a buzz about him.
(on camera): You've gone from being an underdog candidate for the Senate to being a rising star in the Democratic party, to being the future of the Democratic party, to being, some people say maybe one day the president of the United States. How does that feel? Pretty good, I got to imagine.
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think it's a little over the top.
O'BRIEN: The president part?
OBAMA: You know, all of it, I think. You enjoy the hype, but I tend to be suspicious of hype, partly because I know how hard it is to actually get stuff done in politics.
O'BRIEN: I've read somewhere that your first press conference when you announced you were going to be running for Senate, two print organizations showed up, that was it.
OBAMA: Yes, I mean, it wasn't...
O'BRIEN: Well-attended.
OBAMA: ... that well-attended.
O'BRIEN: Do you feel vindicated now? Because you know it will be people pushing and shoving to kind of get in there now, right?
OBAMA: You know, there's no doubt that we started off as an underdog. I mean, I think the general estimation in Illinois was, among those insiders who knew state politics, was that I'd be a very good U.S. senator, that I'd shown myself to be a good legislator. But, I had no money, I had no organization and nobody could pronounce my name. And I think...
O'BRIEN: Three strikes against.
OBAMA: Yes, exactly.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): When we met in October, I asked him to rate the following issues: terrorism, Iraq and the economy.
OBAMA: Terrorism has to be at the top of our list. Because, we are facing a climate in which if weapons of mass destruction were ever set off here in the United States, they could change the fabric of our country in fundamental ways. I just think that the Bush administration's strategy has been completely wrong-headed. And I think the war in Iraq has been an enormous distraction from what we have to do.
What we should be spending our time focused on is securing nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, improving our intelligence capacity, creating better enforcement networks across borders. Those are the kinds of things that we should have been focused on, we haven't been focused on, and I hope to help move forward.
Thank you Illinois!
O'BRIEN: When Obama heads to the Senate next month, he'll be a famous freshman with a lot of pressure on him. "Newsweek" just dubbed him a rising star.
(on camera): What concerns you about making the step from state senator to national stage?
OBAMA: My family. You know, I've got a wonderful...
` O'BRIEN: Skeletons in the closet coming out?
OBAMA: No, no, I've got...
O'BRIEN: Anything you want to share with us?
OBAMA: I think at this point it would have been out. You know, I've got a wonderful wife and two daughters that I adore, and it's always been difficult to balance family life with the profession that I've chosen. I think it starts getting more difficult when you go to Washington. The demands on my time are already accelerating, I can just see from the campaign and so, trying to figure out how to manage those things is, I think, going to be the single greatest challenge and it's something that my wife and I have already started thinking a lot about.
(END VIDEOTAPE):
HEMMER: Something else Barack Obama is thinking about, his memoirs. He just signed a three-book deal to tell the story of his life. The first deals with his childhood, to be written with his wife and their two daughters. Barack Obama, huge year in 2004.
WALLACE: Huge year. His book likely to be a huge success. Well, coming up here, which celebrity was so naughty this year one gossip hound refuses to mention her name? "90 Second Pop" coming up.
HEMMER: Also, a close call for Santa. Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING. It's Christmas Eve.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. ""90-Second Pop" on Christmas Eve. They have come to be our panel here. Toure, CNN pop culture correspondent.
Good morning.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: How are you?
HEMMER: Good. Are you all right?
TOURE: I'm all right.
HEMMER: Are you bringing, like, incense, myrrh? What do you got over there?
TOURE: Well, you know, some kind of gift that, you know, I'll open it up and figure it out and give it away.
HEMMER: I bet the box is empty.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: Comedian Jessi Klein, a contributor to VH1.
Jessi, welcome back. Nice to see you.
JESSI KLEIN, COMEDIAN: Thank you.
HEMMER: And a virgin popper, Lloyd Grove columnist for "The New York Daily News." Hello there.
LLOYD GROVE, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": That's embarrassing.
HEMMER: It's not.
TOURE: Now (UNINTELLIGIBLE) gets it. Don't worry. Don't worry. KLEIN: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you.
KLEIN: It gets easier and easier. Just relax.
HEMMER: Toure, basketball court this weekend.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: This is must-see TV. You've got Kobe and Shaq. You've got, what, Pistons, Pacers in a rematch?
TOURE: Yes. I mean, there's so much animosity in the NBA right now. It, like, mirrors America. I mean, David Stern has got to get a handle on this Kobe and Shaq. They're talking about, you know, I'm going to be the brick wall and he's the Corvette.
Look, hockey is white guys. They can fight and hate each other.
HEMMER: And they're not even playing.
TOURE: Yes. Black man animosity, fighting, this does not work in America.
KLEIN: I think...
TOURE: We've got to calm it down.
KLEIN: I think the NBA just needs to take advantage of the situation and make these games pay-per-view. These are pay-per-view games. Make a little extra dollar.
HEMMER: Because it's Saturday night in the ring sometimes?
KLEIN: That's exactly, boom, boom, boom, Thunder Dome.
HEMMER: I think Christmas Day is going to turn huge numbers for that Detroit-Indiana game.
TOURE: Oh, yes. Well, that game, I imagine, nothing will happen. Something will happen...
HEMMER: Correct.
TOURE: ... in the Kobe/Shaq game.
KLEIN: Yes.
TOURE: Kobe will drive, and Shaq will put him on his back. It will be just basketball, and we'll make much ado about it.
HEMMER: Well, explain the context for that. He was asked the question in an interview, I think Al Michaels (ph) did the interview on ABC.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: He said, do you know what happens when a nice Corvette hits a brick wall?
TOURE: Yes. Yes. And you've seen the tape when they ask Shaq in the locker room, are you going to forgive him? And he just stares at the reporter, "next question." Like, I mean, this is real animosity.
HEMMER: Drama, and only in L.A.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: Lloyd, tell us about who was naughty in 2004. Tell us about the woman who will not appear in your column ever again. We won't mention her name here.
GROVE: Well, yesterday in my column I sort of declared a fatwa (ph) against the person I'm calling redactive (ph) from here on out. And basically, there are some people who are so pointless, witless party girls, even with if they are witless party girls with television shows, who I just can't bring myself to mention anymore. It's just bad for my soul and bad for America's soul.
TOURE: Wait, wait, wait. This is gossip columnist crack. Can you really stay away, Lloyd?
GROVE: You're right. It is crack. And I have to get off the crack pipe.
TOURE: Good for you.
GROVE: Thank you.
HEMMER: If the woman who will not be mentioned on this program, Paris Hilton, was naughty, who was nice in your column?
GROVE: I have to say that Nia Vardalos of "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding" is my heroine of the year, because she was at a party. The party gets spontaneously combusted, literally burst into flames, leaned into a coffee urn and got on fire. And Nia tackled her, put out her hair, put out her scarf.
HEMMER: True story?
GROVE: It is a true story. It happened at the Spider Club two weeks ago.
HEMMER: You're kidding me?
KLEIN: Don't forget also another person I think was very nice this year, Britney Spears, who kind of retired, which was very nice of her.
TOURE: Sort of, you know.
KLEIN: That also means that we don't have to listen to her anymore.
GROVE: Oh, I think you're far too hopeful.
TOURE: Can I give out a naughty...
KLEIN: Really?
TOURE: A naughty to Martin Scorsese, who kept me in the theater for more than three hours with the crappy "Aviator?"
GROVE: No, no, no, that was a great movie.
TOURE: Oh, it was so naughty. It's so...
KLEIN: I can't believe you even fell for it.
TOURE: Leo is so far beyond Leo. And, like, just why the three hours?
GROVE: What is wrong with you, man?
TOURE: I have wasted six hours of my life now between "Gangster in New York" and this one. Martin...
HEMMER: And how long did Howard Hughes spend in that Las Vegas hotel, by the way, anyway? We'll leave it there. Have a great holiday and a good weekend, OK. Good to see all three of you -- Kelly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Thanks, Bill.
What would Christmas be without Santa? Thanks to quick-acting doctors, the world won't have to know. That's just ahead here on Christmas Eve on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In our "Extra Effort" segment today, from Birmingham, England, it could have been a Christmas calamity. Instead a surgeon is now being hailed as I a hero for saving Santa's life.
Paula Hancocks has the story today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A face and a wave instantly recognized around the world. As Father Christmas finds out who's been good and who's been bad this year. But one Christmas tale that could have ended in tragedy ended with Santa Claus proving his immortality. Santa impersonator Brian Newland collapsed during an appearance at a school in Birmingham, England.
BRIAN NEWLAND, SANTA IMPERSONATOR: I walked into the hall, raised my arms and said ho, ho, ho. And that was it, next I was looking up at the school ceiling and surrounded by three doctors.
HANCOCKS: Mark Woodward (ph), whose children were at the Christmas fate (ph), ran forward with his wife and another medic, and fought for 2 1/2 minutes to restart Santa's heart.
MARK WOODWARD, SURGEON: We really didn't want to be the couple who failed to save Santa. So we were, you know, we were very, very worried about this. We didn't really hold that much hope. And obviously we were absolutely delighted when his heart restarted.
HANCOCKS: Seventy-three-year-old Brian has been Santa for 30 years, taking his role of entertaining children very seriously. He even tried to get up and talk to the children again just 60 seconds after his heart restarted. Brian knows how lucky he's been, being given the ultimate gift this Christmas.
NEWLAND: I think I owe them a very deep debt of gratitude.
HANCOCKS: Paula Hancocks, CNN, Birmingham, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Sweet Santa there.
WALLACE: And time to check in with Jack. The last time for 2004, e-mails of the day.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Try to hold yourself together. The Question of the Day is what's your favorite Christmas memory. But we've actually gotten some pretty interesting stuff. This letter comes from Kailua Kona (ph), Hawaii.
Barbara rights in Wisconsin, "Visiting my sister at Christmas, she lived in a farmhouse near a seminary along the Niagara escarpment, which we called the ledge. It was a vision of rolling hills covered in snow with Christmas carols played by church bells echoing over a blue shadowy countryside." That's kind of pretty.
Did you drop a diamond out of your watch over there or something?
Darlene in Raleigh, North Carolina, "My funniest memory is of our neighbor in California who climbed on his roof to string lights spelling Noel. When he climbed down from the roof and plugged them in, they spelled Leon." That would be Noel, you see.
And this is serious stuff, my best Christmas ever will be 2004, "I just got home Monday afternoon from having quadruple bypass surgery. Seeing my two little girls, ages 14 and 7 open their gifts will be priceless. It's good to be alive." Indeed it is.
WALLACE: Wonderful to end on. Thank you so much, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Merry Christmas to you.
WALLACE: All the best for 2005. Call the neighbors, wake the kids, Santa's on his way to the CNN Center in Atlanta. That's just ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.
First, though, another holiday tune from Rockapella, we'll be right back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired December 24, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: 9:30 on Christmas Eve. Good morning, everybody. Kelly Wallace working with us today. Soledad is out for the holidays.
Nice to see you.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you.
HEMMER: You going to get some time off this weekend?
WALLACE: Yes, the weekend, yes, Saturday, Sunday.
HEMMER: Excellent. And that's it?
WALLACE: And that's it.
HEMMER: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld back in Iraq with the troops today. A surprise visit there, answering questions much as he did earlier this month in Kuwait, but certainly taking those questions and sometimes with a different tone. We'll have a look at that in a moment from Iraq.
WALLACE: Also, Bill, a story of twin sisters from New Jersey. They joined the National Guard back before there was any talk of war. And now they are going to Iraq. Still teenagers, not long out of high school, their parents torn by many different emotions right now. We'll check in with them and hear their story.
HEMMER: All right, 9:31, back to Daryn Kagan watching the headlines there at the CNN Center.
Good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, good morning.
Now in the news, AAA calling this holiday travel season -- quote -- "an exodus of biblical proportions." The weather, though, is not cooperating. Major highways in the middle of the country are blocked by more than two feet of snow. Crews working to move abandoned cars and clear the roads,. Chad's going to have more on what you can expect today in just a little bit.
Navy divers in Alaska say they are zeroing in on a black box believed to be from a crash of a rescue helicopter. The chopper plunged into the Bering Sea earlier this month, while evacuating the crew of a grounded oil freighter. Six people were killed. Meanwhile officials say the crippled freighter is sinking faster than expected.
To Connecticut now, a chapter in the corruption scandal that has consumed state politics for nearly two years may be near an end. Former Governor John Rowland pleading guilty to a single felony charge of corruption, involving mail and tax fraud. The one charge, part of a plea bargain Rowland worked out with prosecutors. Sentencing is scheduled for March. And the holiday greetings from the heavens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEROY CHAID, INTL. SPACE STATION COMMANDER: From the International Space Station orbiting high over you, we wish you a merry, merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Got to love how those Santa hats sticks right up in the air with no gravity. That's from the crew of the international space station.
Meanwhile, Merry Christmas, a Russian cargo ship blasted off today carrying two tons of much-needed supplies and food to the crew. It's expected to arrive on Sunday.
Bill, you have a great holiday.
HEMMER: Yes, you do the same. Look like elves, though, with the hats going the other way.
Hey, what's coming up at 10:00, Daryn?
KAGAN: I got one word for you, Santa, not a Santa, the Santa, making his annual stop right here on CNN live today, along with a zillion kids. It's going to be a little nutty.
HEMMER: Put a good word in for me, will you.
KAGAN: Oh, yes. No coal for you this year.
HEMMER: Hey, thank you, Daryn.
KAGAN: You have a great holiday.
HEMMER: You the same. Thank you much.
Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq today paying a surprise visit at a church, the secretary's first stop, a visit to wounded troops from Tuesday's suicide bomb attack at a base in Mosul. From there it was Tikrit. It was Falluja. It was Baghdad. And now to Washington with David Ensor with more on this.
Good morning there, David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, As you say, Rumsfeld flew in to Iraq at dawn on Christmas Eve on a visit to boost troop morale. Despite recent revelations that until recently he was not personally signing condolence letters to dead soldiers families, he was warmly received in Mosul, scene of the recent large attack against a mess hall tent, and also in Tikrit and in Falluja. He told the soldiers that he believes their sacrifice will be worth it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: The thought of turning over this country to the people who behead people on television and videos, to the people who consciously, purposefully kill innocent men, women and children would turn this part of the world and this country back to darkness. And we simply can't let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: The questions from the soldiers this time were friendly. One asked, how do we win the war in the media? Another asked why there's not more coverage of reconstruction efforts around Iraq.
Rumsfeld said he guessed that -- quote -- "What's news has to be bad news to get on the press," adding that the question did not sound to him as if it was planted by the media. That was a reference to a tough question he got last time in Iraq, a question about why not all U.S. forces have the best armor available for their vehicles and some were reduced to scavenging for scrap metal. A reporter later claimed to have planted that question with the soldier, though the soldier has insisted the question was his own and one that the troops wanted asked.
This time, though, friendly questions from the troops, from Rumsfeld the nation's thanks, and a Purple Heart for one injured soldier, a chance for this defense secretary to show Americans he does care about the troops at a time when some critics, including some Republicans, have suggested otherwise -- Bill.
HEMMER: It will be headlines throughout the day today, we know that. David, thanks. David Ensor in D.C. -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Thanks, Bill. This time of year, particularly hard for families with loved ones overseas, playing a role in the war in Iraq. And for one New Jersey family it is twice as difficult.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice-over): It's hard to tell Darlene and Stephanie Pabon apart, but they say there are differences. Darlene's the one who loves cheerleading, Stephanie has the serious boyfriend. But now, the 19-year-old identical twins are living identical lives. They left last week for Iraq as members of the New Jersey National Guard. Asked how their parents were taking it?
STEPHANIE AND DARLENE PABON, DEPLOYED TO IRAQ: It will be hard, but they'll be good. They're fine. They'll be all right.
WALLACE: Well, mom and dad told us it is tough. DAVE PABON, FATHER: You can't help think like, they're my girls. You know, this is like you never want them over there. In the back of my mind, you know, anything's possible, anything could happen.
WALLACE: Dave and Donna Pabon say the girls, their only children, joined the National Guard in 2002, mainly to get money for college, never imagining they would one day head to a war zone.
DONNA PABON, MOTHER: We really just kind of hoped that it wouldn't happen. At the time that they joined there was no war, no talk of war.
WALLACE: The Pabons adjusted to their girls being away for basic training, but an overseas deployment they say is so much harder.
DONNA PABON: It's a different feeling having them out of the country, versus knowing that they're just going to be, you know, a phone call away.
We'll venture in to the dark room of Stephanie first.
WALLACE: The girls are strong, mom and dad say. Their rooms filled with karate trophies. Darlene's a black belt, Stephanie a brown belt. Still, signs everywhere they are teenage girls. And now, mom and dad prepare for their first Christmas ever without them.
DAVE PABON: The spirit isn't really there right now, the fact they're not around. You know, we do miss not hearing the music coming out of their rooms and stuff like that, and the phones ringing like crazy, which could be, you know, hectic at times, but now that they're gone,you kind of miss that.
WALLACE: But they say they've been blessed by the support from friends and total strangers.
DONNA PABON: We just are grateful for everyone's prayers that are praying for them, and we pray for them every night. They know that. They're grateful for that.
WALLACE: Praying for their girls and waiting for that day when they and all the other soldiers make it home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And I spoke with Donna Pabon yesterday. She tells me her girls will make it to Iraq tomorrow. Of course that's Christmas Day -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Kelly. About 22 minutes before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
This morning in our series "They've Got the Goods," we're profiling Barack Obama. He's about to become the only African- American currently in the U.S. Senate. Recently Soledad talked with the Democrat's rising star out of Illinois. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATOR-ELECT: There is not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America. There is not a black America, and a white America, and Latino America, and Asian America, there's the United States of America.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): That was Barack Obama when he first leapt to national prominence at the Democratic National Convention in July. I had an opportunity to talk with the 43-year-old Harvard educated lawyer in mid-October.
(on camera): Well, why do you think Senator Kerry picked you to deliver keynote speech? Why you?
OBAMA: Well, you know, he had come into town about two weeks, I think, after the primary election and we had gotten a lot of attention as a consequence of that primary victory. I was selected to speak with him. Teresa was there, his staff were there. I think they were favorably impressed by the speech that I gave when he was visiting here and we campaigned together.
And so some of it was, I think, their belief that I could do a good job. Partly, I think, the way that we won, I think, created a sense of hopefulness about how we can create a working majority for Democrats nationally. And some of it was, I think, just luck.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Obama was the underdog in his Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, but won when his Republican opponent Jack Ryan pulled out. Obama beat the last-minute Republican replacement Alan Keyes by more than 40 percentage points. But even before that victory, there was a buzz about him.
(on camera): You've gone from being an underdog candidate for the Senate to being a rising star in the Democratic party, to being the future of the Democratic party, to being, some people say maybe one day the president of the United States. How does that feel? Pretty good, I got to imagine.
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think it's a little over the top.
O'BRIEN: The president part?
OBAMA: You know, all of it, I think. You enjoy the hype, but I tend to be suspicious of hype, partly because I know how hard it is to actually get stuff done in politics.
O'BRIEN: I've read somewhere that your first press conference when you announced you were going to be running for Senate, two print organizations showed up, that was it.
OBAMA: Yes, I mean, it wasn't...
O'BRIEN: Well-attended.
OBAMA: ... that well-attended.
O'BRIEN: Do you feel vindicated now? Because you know it will be people pushing and shoving to kind of get in there now, right?
OBAMA: You know, there's no doubt that we started off as an underdog. I mean, I think the general estimation in Illinois was, among those insiders who knew state politics, was that I'd be a very good U.S. senator, that I'd shown myself to be a good legislator. But, I had no money, I had no organization and nobody could pronounce my name. And I think...
O'BRIEN: Three strikes against.
OBAMA: Yes, exactly.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): When we met in October, I asked him to rate the following issues: terrorism, Iraq and the economy.
OBAMA: Terrorism has to be at the top of our list. Because, we are facing a climate in which if weapons of mass destruction were ever set off here in the United States, they could change the fabric of our country in fundamental ways. I just think that the Bush administration's strategy has been completely wrong-headed. And I think the war in Iraq has been an enormous distraction from what we have to do.
What we should be spending our time focused on is securing nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, improving our intelligence capacity, creating better enforcement networks across borders. Those are the kinds of things that we should have been focused on, we haven't been focused on, and I hope to help move forward.
Thank you Illinois!
O'BRIEN: When Obama heads to the Senate next month, he'll be a famous freshman with a lot of pressure on him. "Newsweek" just dubbed him a rising star.
(on camera): What concerns you about making the step from state senator to national stage?
OBAMA: My family. You know, I've got a wonderful...
` O'BRIEN: Skeletons in the closet coming out?
OBAMA: No, no, I've got...
O'BRIEN: Anything you want to share with us?
OBAMA: I think at this point it would have been out. You know, I've got a wonderful wife and two daughters that I adore, and it's always been difficult to balance family life with the profession that I've chosen. I think it starts getting more difficult when you go to Washington. The demands on my time are already accelerating, I can just see from the campaign and so, trying to figure out how to manage those things is, I think, going to be the single greatest challenge and it's something that my wife and I have already started thinking a lot about.
(END VIDEOTAPE):
HEMMER: Something else Barack Obama is thinking about, his memoirs. He just signed a three-book deal to tell the story of his life. The first deals with his childhood, to be written with his wife and their two daughters. Barack Obama, huge year in 2004.
WALLACE: Huge year. His book likely to be a huge success. Well, coming up here, which celebrity was so naughty this year one gossip hound refuses to mention her name? "90 Second Pop" coming up.
HEMMER: Also, a close call for Santa. Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING. It's Christmas Eve.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. ""90-Second Pop" on Christmas Eve. They have come to be our panel here. Toure, CNN pop culture correspondent.
Good morning.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: How are you?
HEMMER: Good. Are you all right?
TOURE: I'm all right.
HEMMER: Are you bringing, like, incense, myrrh? What do you got over there?
TOURE: Well, you know, some kind of gift that, you know, I'll open it up and figure it out and give it away.
HEMMER: I bet the box is empty.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: Comedian Jessi Klein, a contributor to VH1.
Jessi, welcome back. Nice to see you.
JESSI KLEIN, COMEDIAN: Thank you.
HEMMER: And a virgin popper, Lloyd Grove columnist for "The New York Daily News." Hello there.
LLOYD GROVE, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": That's embarrassing.
HEMMER: It's not.
TOURE: Now (UNINTELLIGIBLE) gets it. Don't worry. Don't worry. KLEIN: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you.
KLEIN: It gets easier and easier. Just relax.
HEMMER: Toure, basketball court this weekend.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: This is must-see TV. You've got Kobe and Shaq. You've got, what, Pistons, Pacers in a rematch?
TOURE: Yes. I mean, there's so much animosity in the NBA right now. It, like, mirrors America. I mean, David Stern has got to get a handle on this Kobe and Shaq. They're talking about, you know, I'm going to be the brick wall and he's the Corvette.
Look, hockey is white guys. They can fight and hate each other.
HEMMER: And they're not even playing.
TOURE: Yes. Black man animosity, fighting, this does not work in America.
KLEIN: I think...
TOURE: We've got to calm it down.
KLEIN: I think the NBA just needs to take advantage of the situation and make these games pay-per-view. These are pay-per-view games. Make a little extra dollar.
HEMMER: Because it's Saturday night in the ring sometimes?
KLEIN: That's exactly, boom, boom, boom, Thunder Dome.
HEMMER: I think Christmas Day is going to turn huge numbers for that Detroit-Indiana game.
TOURE: Oh, yes. Well, that game, I imagine, nothing will happen. Something will happen...
HEMMER: Correct.
TOURE: ... in the Kobe/Shaq game.
KLEIN: Yes.
TOURE: Kobe will drive, and Shaq will put him on his back. It will be just basketball, and we'll make much ado about it.
HEMMER: Well, explain the context for that. He was asked the question in an interview, I think Al Michaels (ph) did the interview on ABC.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: He said, do you know what happens when a nice Corvette hits a brick wall?
TOURE: Yes. Yes. And you've seen the tape when they ask Shaq in the locker room, are you going to forgive him? And he just stares at the reporter, "next question." Like, I mean, this is real animosity.
HEMMER: Drama, and only in L.A.
TOURE: Yes.
HEMMER: Lloyd, tell us about who was naughty in 2004. Tell us about the woman who will not appear in your column ever again. We won't mention her name here.
GROVE: Well, yesterday in my column I sort of declared a fatwa (ph) against the person I'm calling redactive (ph) from here on out. And basically, there are some people who are so pointless, witless party girls, even with if they are witless party girls with television shows, who I just can't bring myself to mention anymore. It's just bad for my soul and bad for America's soul.
TOURE: Wait, wait, wait. This is gossip columnist crack. Can you really stay away, Lloyd?
GROVE: You're right. It is crack. And I have to get off the crack pipe.
TOURE: Good for you.
GROVE: Thank you.
HEMMER: If the woman who will not be mentioned on this program, Paris Hilton, was naughty, who was nice in your column?
GROVE: I have to say that Nia Vardalos of "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding" is my heroine of the year, because she was at a party. The party gets spontaneously combusted, literally burst into flames, leaned into a coffee urn and got on fire. And Nia tackled her, put out her hair, put out her scarf.
HEMMER: True story?
GROVE: It is a true story. It happened at the Spider Club two weeks ago.
HEMMER: You're kidding me?
KLEIN: Don't forget also another person I think was very nice this year, Britney Spears, who kind of retired, which was very nice of her.
TOURE: Sort of, you know.
KLEIN: That also means that we don't have to listen to her anymore.
GROVE: Oh, I think you're far too hopeful.
TOURE: Can I give out a naughty...
KLEIN: Really?
TOURE: A naughty to Martin Scorsese, who kept me in the theater for more than three hours with the crappy "Aviator?"
GROVE: No, no, no, that was a great movie.
TOURE: Oh, it was so naughty. It's so...
KLEIN: I can't believe you even fell for it.
TOURE: Leo is so far beyond Leo. And, like, just why the three hours?
GROVE: What is wrong with you, man?
TOURE: I have wasted six hours of my life now between "Gangster in New York" and this one. Martin...
HEMMER: And how long did Howard Hughes spend in that Las Vegas hotel, by the way, anyway? We'll leave it there. Have a great holiday and a good weekend, OK. Good to see all three of you -- Kelly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Thanks, Bill.
What would Christmas be without Santa? Thanks to quick-acting doctors, the world won't have to know. That's just ahead here on Christmas Eve on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In our "Extra Effort" segment today, from Birmingham, England, it could have been a Christmas calamity. Instead a surgeon is now being hailed as I a hero for saving Santa's life.
Paula Hancocks has the story today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A face and a wave instantly recognized around the world. As Father Christmas finds out who's been good and who's been bad this year. But one Christmas tale that could have ended in tragedy ended with Santa Claus proving his immortality. Santa impersonator Brian Newland collapsed during an appearance at a school in Birmingham, England.
BRIAN NEWLAND, SANTA IMPERSONATOR: I walked into the hall, raised my arms and said ho, ho, ho. And that was it, next I was looking up at the school ceiling and surrounded by three doctors.
HANCOCKS: Mark Woodward (ph), whose children were at the Christmas fate (ph), ran forward with his wife and another medic, and fought for 2 1/2 minutes to restart Santa's heart.
MARK WOODWARD, SURGEON: We really didn't want to be the couple who failed to save Santa. So we were, you know, we were very, very worried about this. We didn't really hold that much hope. And obviously we were absolutely delighted when his heart restarted.
HANCOCKS: Seventy-three-year-old Brian has been Santa for 30 years, taking his role of entertaining children very seriously. He even tried to get up and talk to the children again just 60 seconds after his heart restarted. Brian knows how lucky he's been, being given the ultimate gift this Christmas.
NEWLAND: I think I owe them a very deep debt of gratitude.
HANCOCKS: Paula Hancocks, CNN, Birmingham, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Sweet Santa there.
WALLACE: And time to check in with Jack. The last time for 2004, e-mails of the day.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Try to hold yourself together. The Question of the Day is what's your favorite Christmas memory. But we've actually gotten some pretty interesting stuff. This letter comes from Kailua Kona (ph), Hawaii.
Barbara rights in Wisconsin, "Visiting my sister at Christmas, she lived in a farmhouse near a seminary along the Niagara escarpment, which we called the ledge. It was a vision of rolling hills covered in snow with Christmas carols played by church bells echoing over a blue shadowy countryside." That's kind of pretty.
Did you drop a diamond out of your watch over there or something?
Darlene in Raleigh, North Carolina, "My funniest memory is of our neighbor in California who climbed on his roof to string lights spelling Noel. When he climbed down from the roof and plugged them in, they spelled Leon." That would be Noel, you see.
And this is serious stuff, my best Christmas ever will be 2004, "I just got home Monday afternoon from having quadruple bypass surgery. Seeing my two little girls, ages 14 and 7 open their gifts will be priceless. It's good to be alive." Indeed it is.
WALLACE: Wonderful to end on. Thank you so much, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Merry Christmas to you.
WALLACE: All the best for 2005. Call the neighbors, wake the kids, Santa's on his way to the CNN Center in Atlanta. That's just ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.
First, though, another holiday tune from Rockapella, we'll be right back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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