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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Suicide Bomber Explodes Fuel Tanker in Baghdad Neighborhood; Pilgrims Celebrate Christmas Eve in Bethlehem

Aired December 24, 2004 - 17:00   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, GUEST HOST: Happening now in Baghdad, an apparent suicide bomber explodes a fuel tanker in a residential neighborhood. There are many casualties.
And in Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims celebrate Christmas Eve at the traditional birthplace of Jesus. We'll take you there live.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Holiday traveler, just days after the mess tent bombing, the defense secretary dines with the troops on a surprise visit to Iraq.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The reason I'm here is to have a chance to look you in the eye. I hope to have a chance to shake your hands and tell you how much I appreciate what you do for our country, how much your country appreciates what you do.

WHITFIELD: Powell Doctrine? Did the secretary of state press the president to send more troops?

Holiday headaches: Digging out and delays.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were still on the tarmac with 23 planes ahead of them. And they weren't moving.

WHITFIELD: Harm's way: Their teenage twins just left for Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will be hard, but they'll be good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're fine. They'll be all right.

WHITFIELD: Waiting and worrying on the home front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, December 24, 2004.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Wolf Blitzer.

Even as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was on a Christmas Eve visit to Iraq today telling troops they're in a test of wills with terrorists, the insurgents answered back. Baghdad was rocked by a powerful explosion, apparently the work of a suicide bomber aboard a fuel tanker.

A hospital spokesman says eight people were killed and 20 more wounded, many of them critically. The blast was in an affluent area of the capital. Embassies are located nearby, and guards from the Sudanese mission are among the wounded.

It was a surprise visit kept secret for obvious reasons. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld took a whirlwind tour of hot spots in Iraq today, beginning in Mosul where he pinned a purple heart on one of those wounded in this week's mess hall bombing.

CNN's Karl Penhaul reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was still an hour until dawn when he touched down in Mosul.

RUMSFELD: Wow, what a crowd.

PENHAUL: A morale booster for troops still reeling from Tuesday's lethal suicide bombing and recognition for the wounded.

RUMSFELD: When you see an attack like we saw here so recently, and we think it's tough and difficult. And one has to ask the question: What's going to happen here in this country of Iraq?

PENHAUL: While Tuesday's attack was further evidence Iraq's insurgency is growing, Rumsfeld said he believed the war was winnable, even if others didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we win a war in the media? It seems like that is the place where we're getting beaten up more than anybody else.

PENHAUL: Rumsfeld knows the feeling. Though his Christmas Eve trip to Iraq's top trouble spots may counter recent criticism of him for not personally signing letters of condolence to bereaved families and brushing off a soldier's worries about armored trucks.

RUMSFELD: Thanks for what you're doing. Appreciate it.

PENHAUL: Most smiles and handshakes in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birthplace.

RUMSFELD: You are on the side of freedom, and that's the side to be on.

PENHAUL: And a warning even the U.S. war machine has weak spots.

RUMSFELD: Terrorists can attack at any time, any place, using any technique.

PENHAUL: U.S. troop numbers now stand at 151,000, record levels to safeguard scheduled January elections.

RUMSFELD: The elections don't have to be delayed. The elections can go forward.

PENHAUL: That's part of the longer term U.S. exit strategy that also hinders on getting Iraqi forces to fight for themselves.

RUMSFELD: The task is to help to organize and train and equip Iraqis so that they can provide for their own security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas to you.

PENHAUL: In Fallujah, scene last month of one of the biggest U.S. marine offensives since Vietnam, one of the troops shared some of the spoils of war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is for you, sir. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) You take that back to Washington D.C., sir. That came out of Saddam Hussein's stash, and this came off of an insurgent in Fallujah. He's not going to be smoking any more for a while.

RUMSFELD: I love it.

PENHAUL: And as Rumsfeld wished the troops happy holidays, some were probably wondering, just as they were last year, how many more Christmases will U.S. troops be stationed in Iraq? Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Bush was also in touch with the troops today, albeit by long distance, as a bit of controversy arose over how many troops are needed in Iraq. Let's go live to the White House where correspondent Dana Bash is -- Dana?

DANA BASH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the president is at Camp David for Christmas with his family, but as is the tradition for commanders in chief around the holiday time, he did place some phone calls to men and women serving around the world to thank them for their service and to wish them happy holidays.

The president called ten in all, six serving in Iraq. And, as you mentioned, troop levels in Iraq and whether the U.S. has enough, has been a controversial topic for some time, particularly during the campaign. It still is right now.

And today, "The Washington Post" reported that, ten days after the election when British Prime Minister Tony Blair was here at the White House, Secretary of State Colin Powell advised adding more troops in Iraq to help quell the insurgency there.

You see the November 12th press conference with the two leaders. Now, at that time, a senior state department official tells CNN that the secretary was asked, as he frequently is, by the president, because, of course, Secretary Powell has military experience, his opinion on how to get things under control in Iraq. And the senior official tells CNN that he answered, "It's with more troops." And he said it's important to, quote, "dominate the terrain." Now this official stressed to CNN it was not a meeting about action-taking, that Powell also stressed the need for more Iraqi troops and that, of course, has been the U.S. policy, the Bush policy, for months, getting the Iraqi military up and running.

Now, the White House has been mum about the story, except to say that the president has said for some time he listens to his commanders on the ground and that he noted earlier this week in a press conference, of course, that the military will have an additional 12,000 troops or so during the Iraqi elections to help with security then.

But this does shine a light on the fact that, first of all, the president and his counterpart in Iraq, his great ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, do talk frequently. We knew that. But, perhaps, that they were talking very frequently and very intensively about how to deal with the insurgency and also about the fact that the White House was concerned about the Iraqi army and the fact that they are not getting up and running as quickly as the White House had hoped. They had been concerned about that for some time.

But, Fredricka, as you know, we only heard that publicly from the president just this past week.

WHITFIELD: Dana Bash at the White House, thanks so much.

Overseas in the west bank town of Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, the traditional midnight Christmas mass is under way. But following last month's death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, there are some noticeable differences in Bethlehem this Christmas.

CNN's John Vause is there and joins us live -- John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka.

Those noticeable differences, from the very moment you enter Bethlehem, the moment you cross the Israeli checkpoint, the Israelis have put up signs wishing visitors and pilgrims here happy holidays and welcome to the holy land. There were people handing out candy, that kind of thing.

And also noticeably different this year as well, the Bethlehem municipality says there are a few thousand pilgrims here to celebrate Christmas in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. Right now, many of them are inside the Church of the Nativity -- St. Catherine's, in fact -- listening to a sermon delivered by the Latin Patriarch, the pope's envoy to the holy land, Michel Sabbah.

Now, in the past, this sermon that he delivers has been critical of both the Israelis and the Palestinians, but especially of the Israelis, and this year is expected to be no different.

Now on the numbers of the pilgrims who are here, a few thousand. That's good news for the people who live in Bethlehem. Their economy has taken quite a hit over the last few years, but certainly nowhere here near the tens of thousands who once packed Manger Square before the outbreak of violence four years ago.

But there are signs of hope, some signs of optimism that things are changing. And one of those signs, for the last three years at midnight mass, there has been an empty chair in the front row, a chair reserved for Yasser Arafat while he was confined to his West Bank compound. This year, there is no empty chair. In fact, that place is being taken by Mahmoud Abbas. He arrived at the church a short time ago. He is the man whom many expect to be the next president of the Palestinian Authority -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And John, Mahmoud Abbas's presence is very significant, isn't it?

VAUSE: Yes, very much so, Fredricka. He seems to really be taking the place of Yasser Arafat, even before that election is being held on January 9th.

When he did arrive in Bethlehem earlier tonight, he arrived in a convoy of cars. And when he got out of his vehicle, he was mobbed by Palestinians. They cheered and whistled. He went to the balcony and waived.

This is not a man who likes politics. This is a man who does not like public speaking or crowds in any way. He's almost like the anti- politician, if you like, but he seems at the moment, at least, to be reveling in the attention.

And it could have something to do with the fact that his official campaign kicks off tomorrow, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And that election scheduled for less than a month from now. All right. John Vause in Bethlehem, thanks so much.

Well, the situation on the ground in Iraq now. Coming up, I'll talk with CNN military analyst Ken Robinson.

Plus, no dream. A record snowfall snarled holiday travel in the nation's midsection.

And shipping blues: Why your prized package may not make it under the tree in time for Christmas.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... hoped that it wouldn't happen. At the time that they joined, there was no war, no talk of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Off to Iraq: One family says good-bye to their 19- year-old twin daughters. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Much of the Midwest remains locked in the bitter-cold embrace of a fierce winter storm. Crews in Indiana are reopening a 25-mile section of Interstate 64 near Evansville. The state called in the National Guard to rescue more than a hundred people who were stranded on the highway Wednesday.

In Ohio, hundreds of thousands of people remain without power. A deadly mix of heavy snow and ice is being blamed for at least six deaths.

The storm also dumped up to ten inches of snow in Michigan. At least five people died while shoveling snow and digging out cars.

The storm is not only causing havoc for travelers, but it's also threatening to delay gift giving for many. CNN's Chris Huntington reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The nearly three feet of snow and sheets of icy rain that blanketed parts of the Midwest not only stranded passengers, but also stalled the shipment of tens of thousands of special-delivery packages.

All of the nation's major overnight delivery companies say the bad weather means packages scheduled to arrive yesterday or today probably won't make it until Monday.

As of Friday afternoon, UPS said its network was still, quote, "disrupted" by weather in many parts of the country. And even with extra workers on round-the-clock shifts, many next-day and second-day air packages may not make it on Christmas Eve. UPS says it regrets the inconvenience, but has no plans to offer any refunds, saying its service guarantee is suspended by acts of God such as severe weather.

FedEx, which routes 40 percent of its express shipments through Memphis, Tennessee, has asked workers to volunteer at several stations around the country on Christmas Day so that customers who don't get packages today can pick them up tomorrow.

DHL warns on its Web site that some shipments may be delayed by 24 to 48 hours. The tough weather hits the overnight delivery specialists at a time of peak demand, driven in large part by a 28 percent jump in online shopping from last year.

Amazon.com, for instance, offers what it calls "guaranteed accelerated delivery." On the U.S. Postal Service homepage, word that through the weekend package delivery will be dependent on local road conditions. Still, no sign that snow nor rain were keeping letter carriers from completing their appointed rounds.

Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: And now for the latest Christmas weekend forecast, here's CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, first off, let's take a look at some of the snow totals that we saw over the storm that hit us the past three days. The storm, of course, way gone, but it's left behind quite a bit of snowfall, causing still road problems in especially places like Indiana.

Look at Liberty, Indiana, 31 inches of snow. That's their storm total from the beginning to the end. Salem, Indiana, 30 inches, Buena Vista at 28. Even parts of Ohio and down into Illinois saw 15, 18, 16 inches. Dayton, Ohio with 16 inches in a 24-hour period.

That's out of the picture. We're not going to have to worry about that again. The thing we'll worry about for Christmas will be this area of low pressure which will kick off a little bit of snow showers back into the Dakotas and the flow through the Great Lakes will continue to see some lake effect snows there, but the amounts won't be anything like what we've seen, obviously.

You'll probably see somewhere in the area of 4 to 6 inches in most locations. We have a new Pacific storm, too, that's going to be working on to the West Coast. Still cold there, snowing, of course, in the mountains, with rain on the coast.

And speaking of rain, could get heavy across parts of Florida and Southern Georgia on Sunday, little bit windy, too. You could see some pretty good areas of rainfall up an inch, maybe an inch and a half.

Here comes that area of low pressure, again, through the Great Lakes. There will be some lighter snow back through the plains, continuing even into New England. So you'll get some snow the day after Christmas.

And it's going to be windy with, of course, mountain snows out to the west and through the Cascades, which will mainly see rainfall, of course, along the coast.

Temperature highs on Christmas Day in the teens around the Great Lakes, 40 southward down to the Gulf Coast. Moderating temperatures slightly the day after, so a pretty good travel day to get back to where you came from on Sunday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Orelon.

A deadly explosion in Iraq just hours after Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld -- his surprise visit, rather, Secretary of Defense. CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson weighs in on the surge in violence, coming up next.

And identifying the fallen from the attack in Mosul. New information released today. We are live from Fort Lewis, Washington.

Plus, dangerous religion: Why the Christmas season is a particularly difficult time for one community in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some of the names there, the U.S. Defense Department today released, out of the 13 American soldiers killed in this week's attack at the U.S. military base in Mosul, Iraq. Six of those victims were based at Fort Lewis, Washington.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is standing by at Fort Lewis with the very latest -- Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, that news was certainly expected here, and for many people around the Fort Lewis area, it has certainly increased their resolve about the United States being in Iraq. But at least for one family of one of those soldiers who died, the father is questioning why couldn't this have been avoided.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER JOHNSON, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: My only son goes over there, and this happens. And I believe that it could have been avoided.

MARQUEZ: Twenty-three-year-old Robert Johnson was one of the 22 people killed when a suicide bomber set off his explosives in a mess hall in Mosul, Iraq.

Peter Johnson, his father, feels that something more should have been done to protect the soldiers in a place where they should have been able to put their guard down.

JOHNSON: If they say it's safe, then they need to make it safe.

MARQUEZ: Johnson was one of six from Fort Lewis, Washington, who died that day. Just outside the gates of Fort Lewis, Exit 122 with an overpass called "The Bridge," a rallying point where support for the troops is always evident.

Joe Williams, a veteran of the Korean War, says he was thanked by the family of a fallen soldier.

JOE WILLIAMS, KOREAN WAR VETERAN: And they came out and thanked us for coming out here on the bridge. I tell you, that is worth a million words.

MARQUEZ: And at Galloping Gertie's just across the bridge, the loss of six Fort Lewis soldiers brings home the risks for the Long family. Their son, Army Private Thor Long, may be headed to Iraq soon. His father's feelings?

JOHN LONG, FATHER OF U.S. SOLDIER: To put it bluntly: Raw, naked fear. You know, they're yours. You don't want to see them go, but they're doing what has to be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MARQUEZ: And tomorrow night, Christmas night here at the gates of Fort Lewis, a candlelight vigil will be held on the bridge just on the other side of us here to remember the dead and to pray that the living complete their job and make it back alive -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Miguel Marquez, thanks so much, from Fort Lewis.

And a late update now. Fourteen now in all U.S. military personnel were killed in that bomb blast in Mosul.

Now, just days after that bloody bombing in Mosul, and on the same day as terrorists striking in Baghdad, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was in Iraq telling troops that the war can be won.

Joining me now from Washington is CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson.

Good to see you, Ken.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, the insurgency attacks certainly seem to be escalating, especially as we approach the scheduled January elections. You heard Donald Rumsfeld say today that the elections will not be delayed. We also heard reportedly from Colin Powell that a request of more U.S. troops should be put on the ground to help quell the violence. Is that the answer, more U.S. troops on the ground?

ROBINSON: More troops, absolutely. It's self-evident. It was self-evident after the collapse of Baghdad, and then with the escalating insurgency that's gone on over the last year and a half, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: How about the notion of more Iraqi soldiers to be trained to be put on the ground?

ROBINSON: Well, the issue there -- that's also very imperative. The challenge has been not necessarily in the number of Iraqi soldiers, but the number of Iraqi soldiers willing to fight and die for Iraq.

The Sunni insurgents have been able to set the conditions of fear that have prevented a lot of the Sunni soldiers who have joined the army and joined the police force to actually get out there aggressively and route them out and fight because they fear for their own lives and those of their own families.

WHITFIELD: And reportedly a month ago -- more on Colin Powell's comments -- that, in his discussions with Tony Blair, that he said the way to deal with the insurgency is to, quote, "dominate the terrain," and to, quote, "get more troops up and running."

With no knowledge of how many insurgents there are and how they're able to continue to be a sophisticated force, how might that be the answer? ROBINSON: Well, it's the answer in that you can't do it with less. The problem is to be able to dominate and show a force across the entire country. One the challenges that we've had since the beginning of this war has been the fact that, even though we're at war, we don't seem to be in this country on a war footing.

In that regard, you know, the Congress of the United States declares war and the reason they put that in the Constitution was so that every aspect of national power would be employed. That means as many people as possible, as many assembly lines moving as possible, as much equipment as possible to get the job done. And that really hasn't happened here.

Now, there were a small number of forces that were required to take the country down, but to own the country and to be able to stabilize it and to be able to route out the insurgency, they've not increased the numbers as are needed.

And, even with today's example of these bombings, the insurgents are going to bleed the United States and they're going to bleed the new Iraqi government until we leave, unless there's a way to get a tipping point for the Iraqis to start going after Iraqis themselves and routing the south.

And to do that, there must be security. And to have security, we've got to have more troops on the ground.

WHITFIELD: This attack in Mosul, taking place this week, perhaps underscores the level of sophistication that the insurgency has now approached, if, indeed, the suicide bomber was wearing an Iraqi uniform. How do you analyze what took place and what the U.S. next move might be, or the coalition's next move should be?

ROBINSON: Well, the first thing that I analyze is that something that was also self-evident. We've seen Iraqi uniforms, police uniforms, used in the past in Iraq at checkpoints, at roadblocks, where they've done targeted assassinations. This was not new.

The problem that we need to find out is whether this individual was actually a member of the Iraqi armed forces or whether it was just a stolen uniform. I'm not clear that that's been settled yet.

In terms of force protection, they've got to draw a line at zero. The leadership there must almost take on the role of being a bastard in terms of how hard they are with the troops in terms of separation, segregation, force protection, the use of armor, the use of flak vests, because there is no safe place in Iraq.

From the minute you land there on a plane to the minute you leave a year later, there is no inch of terrain there that's safe. And therefore they must act at all times like they are totally 100 percent at war, not relaxed.

WHITFIELD: Then were you taken aback or even surprised to see that, during the meeting with Rumsfeld and his face-to-face encounters with other troops, that very few flak jackets were being worn, and this was an unannounced visit.

ROBINSON: I was really surprised by that, and it also happened in Afghanistan today in the televised conferences that you saw there with troops in mess halls, the same thing.

This is one of the -- dining facilities are one of the places where you want to let your hair down and relax and talk to your fellow soldiers. But this is war, and it's global war, and everywhere is a threat, and they must increase the force protection.

WHITFIELD: Military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson, thanks so much.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: A call to duty in Iraq for two teenage sisters. A lonely Christmas for the parents left behind. One family's major sacrifice this holiday season.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In two years, we'll celebrate the church's 50-year anniversary, if they haven't blown it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Perhaps the most dangerous place to celebrate Christmas this year. What's it like for the thousands of Christians living in Iraq?

Plus, Walter Cronkite on the war in Iraq and the future of America's space program, as we look back at the best of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, I want to say a very happy holidays and a big I love you to my wife Kelly, my three kids, Sam, Alexa and Delaney. I miss you guys with all my heart. I want you guys to be safe for the winter and I'll be safe myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's a frightening holiday for Iraq's Christians. Lately every day is difficult for a community which numbers 800,000 and has become a key target of insurgents. CNN's Chris Lawrence reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE):

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time ever Christmas services in Iraq are being cut back or canceled. And Iraqis say some Christians are being persecuted for going public.

FATHER ARKAN HAKEEM, IRAQI CHRISTIAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It is a catastrophe.

LAWRENCE: Father Hakeem has 12 years in the priesthood but never seen it this bad. There are fewer than a million Christians in Iraq. Numbers so small they were never seen as a threat to Saddam Hussein. But now, insurgents associate any Christian with the military coalition. Extremists killed or wounded dozens, attacking churches with rockets and bombs.

For this priest and his parish, it's been a true test of faith.

HAKEEM: We came to an understanding that if I'm going to die anyway, I would rather die in a church.

LAWRENCE: But church leaders say about 50,000 Christians have left the country and even this church keeps its celebrations simple.

(on camera): They used to have these lavish productions outside here in the courtyard and celebrate midnight mass at midnight.

(voice-over): Now the decorations are kept indoors. The faithful sent home early.

Despite the danger, Father Hakeem can still joke about his future.

HAKEEM: In two years we'll celebrate the church's 50 year anniversary if they haven't blown it up.

LAWRENCE: So his only wish this Christmas is for a truly silent night.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's also a difficult holiday for the thousands of American families with loved ones serving in Iraq. CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace met one family making twice the sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to tell Darlene and Stefanie 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will be hard, but they'll be good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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, but think they're my girls. This is -- you get mad knowing they're going over there and in the back of my mind, you know, anything's possible. Anything can 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 imaging 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 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 knowing they're just going to be a phone call away.

We'll venture into the darkroom of Stefanie, first.

WALLACE: The girls are strong, mom and dad say, their rooms filled with karate trophies. Darlene's a black belt, Stefanie 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 because the fact they're not around. 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. Kelly Wallace, CNN, Manchester, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now a quick look at some holiday celebrations happening around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACH IRWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Holiday celebrations around the world. In this aquarium near Tokyo, even the animals celebrate the season. Take penguins Aikita (ph) and Matsun (ph) delighting guests with their holiday fashions. Outside dolphin keeper Nori Matsura dons a Santa suit, giving her dolphins an icy Christmas present. .

In Jerusalem standing 20 meters high and 20 meters wide, the world's largest menorah. The display weighs 50 tons and boasts 1800 lights.

Taking time out of his busy schedule, St. Nicolas two of his s assistants visit a school in Belgium on Sinterklaas Day. Greeted with songs and drawings, St. Nicholas and his assistants hand out gifts and treats to the excited children.

In Guatemala, the Christmas season is ushered in with the burning of the devil ceremony. Fireworks and effigies of the devil are sold by street vendors to be burned on the eve of the Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception. For Guatemalans the Immaculate Conception was a victory over the devil and the burning symbolizes this victory.

In Naples, the nativity scene made entirely of chocolate. More than 30 pastry chefs along with an expert cabinetmaker, sculptor and painter constructed the treat. It took more than 4500 hours and nearly 3300 kilos of chocolate to create the confectionary masterpiece, but die-hard chocaholics need not worry that this chocolate will go to waste. Once it's removed from display, organizers hope to display the creation in one of the city squares where residents can sample a piece of chocolate history.

Zach Irwin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That looks too good to eat. There are Christmas celebrations happening right now. You are looking at live pictures right now of midnight mass in Bethlehem's manger square. We'll have live pictures from the Vatican straight ahead.

Plus, naughty or nice? Find out which newsmakers top our list this year. And later, the voice behind several historical moments. Wolf's interview with veteran journalist, Walter Cronkite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time now for the inside edge with CNN political analyst Carlos Watson. This week he spoke to Wolf Blitzer about several key issues including electoral reform and the impact of Internet bloggers on this year's presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Carlos Watson, once again, thanks very much as usual for joining us. Let's talk a little bit about 2004, the legacies. Some of the lessons learned. To what degree, for example is electoral reform likely to emerge as a key issue of this past year?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think, Wolf, when you look ahead four years, eight years from now there will be certain things that we talk about, not as much George Bush and John Kerry but things like electoral reform, how people register to vote, new technologies, namely the electronic voting machines and even longer, if you will, pre-Election Day periods where you can file an absentee ballot or even vote early. So one of the big legacies of this 2004 election year, I think will be electoral reform. We'll see a lot of it over the next four to eight years.

BLITZER: There was some speculation "Time Magazine" could name the bloggers the person of the year, they didn't. They named Bush. But bloggers critically important. They came out in full force this past year.

WATSON: They did. Wolf, once again, another major political change that happened in 2004 was the way in which the media influences politics and presidential campaigns, at least since 1960 we've mainly thought about network television, but beginning in 2004 we saw cable TV including CNN play a major role. We certainly saw the bloggers, but make no mistake, we also saw radio return, particularly evangelical Christian radio and going forward, we're more likely to see a pluralistic situation in terms of which parts of the media actually affect campaigns, not just ABC, NBC and CBS.

BLITZER: What about foreign policy this past year? It was a huge issue in the presidential election?

WATSON: Boy, Wolf. There was a time when foreign policy was everything in American elections. Certainly in 1980 and certainly throughout much of the Cold War, but as you know, at least since 1992 that hasn't dominated but 2004 brought it back and we're likely to hear only more about foreign countries and about foreign policy issues including things like loose nukes as we head toward 2008 and 2012. So a major legacy of 2004 will be changing the nature of the presidential conversation.

BLITZER: Don't see any change, at least not yet heading into the new year. What did we learn about the Hispanic vote this past year?

WATSON: You know, wolf, that's my fourth big legacy, I think, of 2004. The Hispanic vote really emerged as a key swing vote and we're likely to hear about this block of voters, which, by the way is formed from many, many blocks, if you will, Cuban Americans in Florida, Mexican Americans in the Southwest, Puerto Ricans in states like New Jersey and New York, but clearly George W. Bush figured thou do well with Hispanics getting almost one out of every two and that will be a big conversation in 2008 and it may, in fact, influence both who the Republicans and the Democrats nominate to head out their tickets in 2008.

BLITZER: Carlos Watson with the inside edge. Thanks very much.

WATSON: Not at all. Have a good holiday.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's usually Santa's job to keep track of who's naughty or nice. But this year the host of CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES, Howard Kurtz decided to help out.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN HOST: There are many worthy candidates who was naughtiest or nicest in 2004, but someone has to make the tough decisions in handing out these coveted honors and in the holiday spirit I have volunteered.

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Washington and Michigan!

KURTZ: Howard Dean did sort of a naughty thing the night he lost the Iowa caucuses, and boy, did he get spanked for it. Far too often, in fact, by the media. John Edwards was nice. His whole persona was built around being nice.

SEN JOHN EDWARDS, (D) NC: Yeah, 30 seconds yes.

KURTZ: But sometimes nice guys sometimes finish last. Edwards couldn't even help the Democratic ticket carry his home state of North Carolina. Teresa Heinz Kerry was a tad naughty when she spoke her mind to a journalist who had criticized her.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: You said something I didn't say, now shove it.

KURTZ: Laura Bush brushed aside her comment that the First Lady had never held down a real job expect and the hired guns who made all those attack ads in the Bush and Kerry campaigns, very naughty stuff, highly negative and sometimes exaggerated but this is one political arena where naughty is effective.

And Bernard Kerik didn't do president bush any favors by failing to tell him about all of the past investigations and allegations, not to mention multiple girlfriends that were bound to sink his nomination as homeland security secretary. On the media front, CBS did something very naughty by rushing to air a story on the president's National Guard service based on apparently bogus documents. Although it was nice that Dan Rather finally got around to apologizing.

DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS: I made a mistake. We made a mistake and I'm sorry for it.

KURTZ: But a handful of Internet bloggers did nicely but exposing the suspect guard documents in a matter of hours. "USA Today" correspondent Jack Kelly was extremely naughty, that may be too mild a word, in fabricating stories from Israel, Cuba the Balkans and elsewhere. But an outside panel did a nice job in documenting the extent of the fraud which prompted the newspaper's top editors to resign. And Jason Blair, the disgraced "New York Times" reporter was out peddling a group about how naughty he had been. It was a flop.

Janet Jackson did a very naughty thing, exposing her right breast in the infamous Super Bowl half-time show. Howard Stern is often naught e but now he's taking his act to satellite radio where being naughty is okay or beyond the reach of the FCC. In sports Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds insisted they were nice home run hitters who didn't use steroids. Until the league of grand jury testimony showed Giambi admitting that he had and bonds admitting that he'd used an unknown substance from an indicted steroids peddler.

The hockey season got canceled, not nice and when baseball finally agreed to give Washington a team after 33 years some local politicians weren't very nice and almost killed the deal by insisting on better terms, but now it appears that the Washington Nationals will play ball next April. For long suffering DC fans, that's nice. Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Looking back at the best of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Wolf's interview with the veteran journalist Walter Cronkite coming up next.

Plus, more live pictures of midnight mass in Bethlehem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD:: Here at the end of the year we're looking back at some of the fascinating people we've interviewed in 2004 in a series the best of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Today the dean of American broadcast journalists Walter Cronkite. Wolf spoke with him in January shortly before President Bush announced his goal of a manned mission to Mars.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BLITZER: Walter Cronkite, as always, an honor, a pleasure to have you on our program. Thanks so much for joining us. As you well know and as so many of our viewers remember you were the voice of when the space program really got going in the '60s and man landed on the moon. What's going through your mind now as the prospect of President Bush announcing yet another effort to send a man to the moon and maybe beyond to Mars?

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER NEWS ANCHOR: Well, obviously we should all be excited about that possibility. Although I think quite honestly the possibility is much dimmer than it sounds as the president looks forward to it. It's very expensive. We know that our budget is badly stretched right now to handle just the necessities here on earth and the expenditures necessary to get to the moon, perhaps establish a permanent station on the moon which we have to do some day, but whether that's around the corner, I think is somewhat doubtful.

BLITZER: Would you recommend that the president go forward and the Congress appropriate the significant sums that would be required to do precisely that?

CRONKITE: Well, of course, if Congress believes that we can afford to do it, let's go ahead and try, but it seems just doubtful to me. We've got so much that needs to be done on earth here where our budget is so limited today. I don't see how we can put on top of that the vast expenditure expenditures of putting a man back on the moon, of setting up a colony on the moon and jumping from there, we hope, out to Mars. That is a vast expenditure, probably just as much as the entire space program has taken up to now and we know that that has not been cheap.

BLITZER: Let's talk about some of the expenditures required on issues involving what's happening right here on earth, like Iraq, for example. Is this money well spent to maintain the U.S. military presence there and to try to get the job done?

CRONKITE: Well, I don't know. You have to judge whether it's well spent by how necessary it is to finish the job that we have started fortunately or unfortunately in Iraq. And the general feeling is among the American people you don't cut and run, but on the other hand the continuing expense, it gets larger all of the time and the cost of what is more important, the blood of the American soldiers who are having to try to keep the peace there and establish the peace there is just monumental.

BLITZER: When President Johnson heard you say on CBS News, you raised some questions about Vietnam he began to suspect it was all over as far as U.S. policy in Vietnam was concerned. Do you see any similarities between Vietnam and Iraq?

CRONKITE: I see quite a lot of similarities to the two. They're both different sorts of war that we were used to or planned for. In the case of Vietnam it was guerrilla warfare in the jungles of Vietnam. In this case it's guerrilla warfare in the deserts of Iraq. And they are both vastly different than the kind of war we had prepared for in advance of those experiences.

BLITZER: Do you have confidence in the American news media right now in the way we covered the war? The lead-up to the war, the actual war and the aftermath?

CRONKITE: I think the way we have covered the war and the aftermath is satisfactory. I think we're doing the best we can under the circumstance in a very awkward situation and I think that we are doing that job. Whether we did enough in preparing the American people for this war and even covering the Senate debate which led us to this war, I think is highly doubtful. I think that could have been covered with a great deal more urgency. A sense of urgency that we were voting in the Senate to give the president this blanket power to go to war as he chose. That was almost a violation, it seems to me, of the need for the American people to know or the need for the American people to be polled on the situation. The Senate did not, it seems to me, do that job well.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And on Monday, we'll revisit Wolf's interview with one of the most successful and controversial filmmakers of the year, Michael more.

Christmas Eve around the world. Just beginning at the Vatican in Rome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A live look and listen from the Vatican where Pope John Paul II is presiding over midnight mass. Thousands of pilgrims are on hand to hear tonight's homily and tomorrow the pope will issue his traditional Christmas Day greeting to the world in dozens of languages. The 84-year-old pontiff tries to keep up with a grueling schedule made more difficult by his frail health which he referred to in a speech this week, saying the passing years make him feel an increasing need for help from God and from other people.

And Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity where the traditional midnight Christmas mass was just celebrated. An estimated 5,000 visitors are in the West Bank town, the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Notable this year, signs of warming relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

And on behalf of the entire WOLF BLITZER REPORTS staff and CNN crews around the world, we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. LOU DOBBS TONIGHT begins right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired December 24, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, GUEST HOST: Happening now in Baghdad, an apparent suicide bomber explodes a fuel tanker in a residential neighborhood. There are many casualties.
And in Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims celebrate Christmas Eve at the traditional birthplace of Jesus. We'll take you there live.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Holiday traveler, just days after the mess tent bombing, the defense secretary dines with the troops on a surprise visit to Iraq.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The reason I'm here is to have a chance to look you in the eye. I hope to have a chance to shake your hands and tell you how much I appreciate what you do for our country, how much your country appreciates what you do.

WHITFIELD: Powell Doctrine? Did the secretary of state press the president to send more troops?

Holiday headaches: Digging out and delays.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were still on the tarmac with 23 planes ahead of them. And they weren't moving.

WHITFIELD: Harm's way: Their teenage twins just left for Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will be hard, but they'll be good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're fine. They'll be all right.

WHITFIELD: Waiting and worrying on the home front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, December 24, 2004.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Wolf Blitzer.

Even as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was on a Christmas Eve visit to Iraq today telling troops they're in a test of wills with terrorists, the insurgents answered back. Baghdad was rocked by a powerful explosion, apparently the work of a suicide bomber aboard a fuel tanker.

A hospital spokesman says eight people were killed and 20 more wounded, many of them critically. The blast was in an affluent area of the capital. Embassies are located nearby, and guards from the Sudanese mission are among the wounded.

It was a surprise visit kept secret for obvious reasons. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld took a whirlwind tour of hot spots in Iraq today, beginning in Mosul where he pinned a purple heart on one of those wounded in this week's mess hall bombing.

CNN's Karl Penhaul reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was still an hour until dawn when he touched down in Mosul.

RUMSFELD: Wow, what a crowd.

PENHAUL: A morale booster for troops still reeling from Tuesday's lethal suicide bombing and recognition for the wounded.

RUMSFELD: When you see an attack like we saw here so recently, and we think it's tough and difficult. And one has to ask the question: What's going to happen here in this country of Iraq?

PENHAUL: While Tuesday's attack was further evidence Iraq's insurgency is growing, Rumsfeld said he believed the war was winnable, even if others didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we win a war in the media? It seems like that is the place where we're getting beaten up more than anybody else.

PENHAUL: Rumsfeld knows the feeling. Though his Christmas Eve trip to Iraq's top trouble spots may counter recent criticism of him for not personally signing letters of condolence to bereaved families and brushing off a soldier's worries about armored trucks.

RUMSFELD: Thanks for what you're doing. Appreciate it.

PENHAUL: Most smiles and handshakes in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birthplace.

RUMSFELD: You are on the side of freedom, and that's the side to be on.

PENHAUL: And a warning even the U.S. war machine has weak spots.

RUMSFELD: Terrorists can attack at any time, any place, using any technique.

PENHAUL: U.S. troop numbers now stand at 151,000, record levels to safeguard scheduled January elections.

RUMSFELD: The elections don't have to be delayed. The elections can go forward.

PENHAUL: That's part of the longer term U.S. exit strategy that also hinders on getting Iraqi forces to fight for themselves.

RUMSFELD: The task is to help to organize and train and equip Iraqis so that they can provide for their own security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas to you.

PENHAUL: In Fallujah, scene last month of one of the biggest U.S. marine offensives since Vietnam, one of the troops shared some of the spoils of war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is for you, sir. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) You take that back to Washington D.C., sir. That came out of Saddam Hussein's stash, and this came off of an insurgent in Fallujah. He's not going to be smoking any more for a while.

RUMSFELD: I love it.

PENHAUL: And as Rumsfeld wished the troops happy holidays, some were probably wondering, just as they were last year, how many more Christmases will U.S. troops be stationed in Iraq? Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Bush was also in touch with the troops today, albeit by long distance, as a bit of controversy arose over how many troops are needed in Iraq. Let's go live to the White House where correspondent Dana Bash is -- Dana?

DANA BASH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the president is at Camp David for Christmas with his family, but as is the tradition for commanders in chief around the holiday time, he did place some phone calls to men and women serving around the world to thank them for their service and to wish them happy holidays.

The president called ten in all, six serving in Iraq. And, as you mentioned, troop levels in Iraq and whether the U.S. has enough, has been a controversial topic for some time, particularly during the campaign. It still is right now.

And today, "The Washington Post" reported that, ten days after the election when British Prime Minister Tony Blair was here at the White House, Secretary of State Colin Powell advised adding more troops in Iraq to help quell the insurgency there.

You see the November 12th press conference with the two leaders. Now, at that time, a senior state department official tells CNN that the secretary was asked, as he frequently is, by the president, because, of course, Secretary Powell has military experience, his opinion on how to get things under control in Iraq. And the senior official tells CNN that he answered, "It's with more troops." And he said it's important to, quote, "dominate the terrain." Now this official stressed to CNN it was not a meeting about action-taking, that Powell also stressed the need for more Iraqi troops and that, of course, has been the U.S. policy, the Bush policy, for months, getting the Iraqi military up and running.

Now, the White House has been mum about the story, except to say that the president has said for some time he listens to his commanders on the ground and that he noted earlier this week in a press conference, of course, that the military will have an additional 12,000 troops or so during the Iraqi elections to help with security then.

But this does shine a light on the fact that, first of all, the president and his counterpart in Iraq, his great ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, do talk frequently. We knew that. But, perhaps, that they were talking very frequently and very intensively about how to deal with the insurgency and also about the fact that the White House was concerned about the Iraqi army and the fact that they are not getting up and running as quickly as the White House had hoped. They had been concerned about that for some time.

But, Fredricka, as you know, we only heard that publicly from the president just this past week.

WHITFIELD: Dana Bash at the White House, thanks so much.

Overseas in the west bank town of Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, the traditional midnight Christmas mass is under way. But following last month's death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, there are some noticeable differences in Bethlehem this Christmas.

CNN's John Vause is there and joins us live -- John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka.

Those noticeable differences, from the very moment you enter Bethlehem, the moment you cross the Israeli checkpoint, the Israelis have put up signs wishing visitors and pilgrims here happy holidays and welcome to the holy land. There were people handing out candy, that kind of thing.

And also noticeably different this year as well, the Bethlehem municipality says there are a few thousand pilgrims here to celebrate Christmas in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. Right now, many of them are inside the Church of the Nativity -- St. Catherine's, in fact -- listening to a sermon delivered by the Latin Patriarch, the pope's envoy to the holy land, Michel Sabbah.

Now, in the past, this sermon that he delivers has been critical of both the Israelis and the Palestinians, but especially of the Israelis, and this year is expected to be no different.

Now on the numbers of the pilgrims who are here, a few thousand. That's good news for the people who live in Bethlehem. Their economy has taken quite a hit over the last few years, but certainly nowhere here near the tens of thousands who once packed Manger Square before the outbreak of violence four years ago.

But there are signs of hope, some signs of optimism that things are changing. And one of those signs, for the last three years at midnight mass, there has been an empty chair in the front row, a chair reserved for Yasser Arafat while he was confined to his West Bank compound. This year, there is no empty chair. In fact, that place is being taken by Mahmoud Abbas. He arrived at the church a short time ago. He is the man whom many expect to be the next president of the Palestinian Authority -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And John, Mahmoud Abbas's presence is very significant, isn't it?

VAUSE: Yes, very much so, Fredricka. He seems to really be taking the place of Yasser Arafat, even before that election is being held on January 9th.

When he did arrive in Bethlehem earlier tonight, he arrived in a convoy of cars. And when he got out of his vehicle, he was mobbed by Palestinians. They cheered and whistled. He went to the balcony and waived.

This is not a man who likes politics. This is a man who does not like public speaking or crowds in any way. He's almost like the anti- politician, if you like, but he seems at the moment, at least, to be reveling in the attention.

And it could have something to do with the fact that his official campaign kicks off tomorrow, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And that election scheduled for less than a month from now. All right. John Vause in Bethlehem, thanks so much.

Well, the situation on the ground in Iraq now. Coming up, I'll talk with CNN military analyst Ken Robinson.

Plus, no dream. A record snowfall snarled holiday travel in the nation's midsection.

And shipping blues: Why your prized package may not make it under the tree in time for Christmas.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... hoped that it wouldn't happen. At the time that they joined, there was no war, no talk of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Off to Iraq: One family says good-bye to their 19- year-old twin daughters. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Much of the Midwest remains locked in the bitter-cold embrace of a fierce winter storm. Crews in Indiana are reopening a 25-mile section of Interstate 64 near Evansville. The state called in the National Guard to rescue more than a hundred people who were stranded on the highway Wednesday.

In Ohio, hundreds of thousands of people remain without power. A deadly mix of heavy snow and ice is being blamed for at least six deaths.

The storm also dumped up to ten inches of snow in Michigan. At least five people died while shoveling snow and digging out cars.

The storm is not only causing havoc for travelers, but it's also threatening to delay gift giving for many. CNN's Chris Huntington reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The nearly three feet of snow and sheets of icy rain that blanketed parts of the Midwest not only stranded passengers, but also stalled the shipment of tens of thousands of special-delivery packages.

All of the nation's major overnight delivery companies say the bad weather means packages scheduled to arrive yesterday or today probably won't make it until Monday.

As of Friday afternoon, UPS said its network was still, quote, "disrupted" by weather in many parts of the country. And even with extra workers on round-the-clock shifts, many next-day and second-day air packages may not make it on Christmas Eve. UPS says it regrets the inconvenience, but has no plans to offer any refunds, saying its service guarantee is suspended by acts of God such as severe weather.

FedEx, which routes 40 percent of its express shipments through Memphis, Tennessee, has asked workers to volunteer at several stations around the country on Christmas Day so that customers who don't get packages today can pick them up tomorrow.

DHL warns on its Web site that some shipments may be delayed by 24 to 48 hours. The tough weather hits the overnight delivery specialists at a time of peak demand, driven in large part by a 28 percent jump in online shopping from last year.

Amazon.com, for instance, offers what it calls "guaranteed accelerated delivery." On the U.S. Postal Service homepage, word that through the weekend package delivery will be dependent on local road conditions. Still, no sign that snow nor rain were keeping letter carriers from completing their appointed rounds.

Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: And now for the latest Christmas weekend forecast, here's CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, first off, let's take a look at some of the snow totals that we saw over the storm that hit us the past three days. The storm, of course, way gone, but it's left behind quite a bit of snowfall, causing still road problems in especially places like Indiana.

Look at Liberty, Indiana, 31 inches of snow. That's their storm total from the beginning to the end. Salem, Indiana, 30 inches, Buena Vista at 28. Even parts of Ohio and down into Illinois saw 15, 18, 16 inches. Dayton, Ohio with 16 inches in a 24-hour period.

That's out of the picture. We're not going to have to worry about that again. The thing we'll worry about for Christmas will be this area of low pressure which will kick off a little bit of snow showers back into the Dakotas and the flow through the Great Lakes will continue to see some lake effect snows there, but the amounts won't be anything like what we've seen, obviously.

You'll probably see somewhere in the area of 4 to 6 inches in most locations. We have a new Pacific storm, too, that's going to be working on to the West Coast. Still cold there, snowing, of course, in the mountains, with rain on the coast.

And speaking of rain, could get heavy across parts of Florida and Southern Georgia on Sunday, little bit windy, too. You could see some pretty good areas of rainfall up an inch, maybe an inch and a half.

Here comes that area of low pressure, again, through the Great Lakes. There will be some lighter snow back through the plains, continuing even into New England. So you'll get some snow the day after Christmas.

And it's going to be windy with, of course, mountain snows out to the west and through the Cascades, which will mainly see rainfall, of course, along the coast.

Temperature highs on Christmas Day in the teens around the Great Lakes, 40 southward down to the Gulf Coast. Moderating temperatures slightly the day after, so a pretty good travel day to get back to where you came from on Sunday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Orelon.

A deadly explosion in Iraq just hours after Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld -- his surprise visit, rather, Secretary of Defense. CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson weighs in on the surge in violence, coming up next.

And identifying the fallen from the attack in Mosul. New information released today. We are live from Fort Lewis, Washington.

Plus, dangerous religion: Why the Christmas season is a particularly difficult time for one community in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some of the names there, the U.S. Defense Department today released, out of the 13 American soldiers killed in this week's attack at the U.S. military base in Mosul, Iraq. Six of those victims were based at Fort Lewis, Washington.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is standing by at Fort Lewis with the very latest -- Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, that news was certainly expected here, and for many people around the Fort Lewis area, it has certainly increased their resolve about the United States being in Iraq. But at least for one family of one of those soldiers who died, the father is questioning why couldn't this have been avoided.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER JOHNSON, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: My only son goes over there, and this happens. And I believe that it could have been avoided.

MARQUEZ: Twenty-three-year-old Robert Johnson was one of the 22 people killed when a suicide bomber set off his explosives in a mess hall in Mosul, Iraq.

Peter Johnson, his father, feels that something more should have been done to protect the soldiers in a place where they should have been able to put their guard down.

JOHNSON: If they say it's safe, then they need to make it safe.

MARQUEZ: Johnson was one of six from Fort Lewis, Washington, who died that day. Just outside the gates of Fort Lewis, Exit 122 with an overpass called "The Bridge," a rallying point where support for the troops is always evident.

Joe Williams, a veteran of the Korean War, says he was thanked by the family of a fallen soldier.

JOE WILLIAMS, KOREAN WAR VETERAN: And they came out and thanked us for coming out here on the bridge. I tell you, that is worth a million words.

MARQUEZ: And at Galloping Gertie's just across the bridge, the loss of six Fort Lewis soldiers brings home the risks for the Long family. Their son, Army Private Thor Long, may be headed to Iraq soon. His father's feelings?

JOHN LONG, FATHER OF U.S. SOLDIER: To put it bluntly: Raw, naked fear. You know, they're yours. You don't want to see them go, but they're doing what has to be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MARQUEZ: And tomorrow night, Christmas night here at the gates of Fort Lewis, a candlelight vigil will be held on the bridge just on the other side of us here to remember the dead and to pray that the living complete their job and make it back alive -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Miguel Marquez, thanks so much, from Fort Lewis.

And a late update now. Fourteen now in all U.S. military personnel were killed in that bomb blast in Mosul.

Now, just days after that bloody bombing in Mosul, and on the same day as terrorists striking in Baghdad, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was in Iraq telling troops that the war can be won.

Joining me now from Washington is CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson.

Good to see you, Ken.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, the insurgency attacks certainly seem to be escalating, especially as we approach the scheduled January elections. You heard Donald Rumsfeld say today that the elections will not be delayed. We also heard reportedly from Colin Powell that a request of more U.S. troops should be put on the ground to help quell the violence. Is that the answer, more U.S. troops on the ground?

ROBINSON: More troops, absolutely. It's self-evident. It was self-evident after the collapse of Baghdad, and then with the escalating insurgency that's gone on over the last year and a half, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: How about the notion of more Iraqi soldiers to be trained to be put on the ground?

ROBINSON: Well, the issue there -- that's also very imperative. The challenge has been not necessarily in the number of Iraqi soldiers, but the number of Iraqi soldiers willing to fight and die for Iraq.

The Sunni insurgents have been able to set the conditions of fear that have prevented a lot of the Sunni soldiers who have joined the army and joined the police force to actually get out there aggressively and route them out and fight because they fear for their own lives and those of their own families.

WHITFIELD: And reportedly a month ago -- more on Colin Powell's comments -- that, in his discussions with Tony Blair, that he said the way to deal with the insurgency is to, quote, "dominate the terrain," and to, quote, "get more troops up and running."

With no knowledge of how many insurgents there are and how they're able to continue to be a sophisticated force, how might that be the answer? ROBINSON: Well, it's the answer in that you can't do it with less. The problem is to be able to dominate and show a force across the entire country. One the challenges that we've had since the beginning of this war has been the fact that, even though we're at war, we don't seem to be in this country on a war footing.

In that regard, you know, the Congress of the United States declares war and the reason they put that in the Constitution was so that every aspect of national power would be employed. That means as many people as possible, as many assembly lines moving as possible, as much equipment as possible to get the job done. And that really hasn't happened here.

Now, there were a small number of forces that were required to take the country down, but to own the country and to be able to stabilize it and to be able to route out the insurgency, they've not increased the numbers as are needed.

And, even with today's example of these bombings, the insurgents are going to bleed the United States and they're going to bleed the new Iraqi government until we leave, unless there's a way to get a tipping point for the Iraqis to start going after Iraqis themselves and routing the south.

And to do that, there must be security. And to have security, we've got to have more troops on the ground.

WHITFIELD: This attack in Mosul, taking place this week, perhaps underscores the level of sophistication that the insurgency has now approached, if, indeed, the suicide bomber was wearing an Iraqi uniform. How do you analyze what took place and what the U.S. next move might be, or the coalition's next move should be?

ROBINSON: Well, the first thing that I analyze is that something that was also self-evident. We've seen Iraqi uniforms, police uniforms, used in the past in Iraq at checkpoints, at roadblocks, where they've done targeted assassinations. This was not new.

The problem that we need to find out is whether this individual was actually a member of the Iraqi armed forces or whether it was just a stolen uniform. I'm not clear that that's been settled yet.

In terms of force protection, they've got to draw a line at zero. The leadership there must almost take on the role of being a bastard in terms of how hard they are with the troops in terms of separation, segregation, force protection, the use of armor, the use of flak vests, because there is no safe place in Iraq.

From the minute you land there on a plane to the minute you leave a year later, there is no inch of terrain there that's safe. And therefore they must act at all times like they are totally 100 percent at war, not relaxed.

WHITFIELD: Then were you taken aback or even surprised to see that, during the meeting with Rumsfeld and his face-to-face encounters with other troops, that very few flak jackets were being worn, and this was an unannounced visit.

ROBINSON: I was really surprised by that, and it also happened in Afghanistan today in the televised conferences that you saw there with troops in mess halls, the same thing.

This is one of the -- dining facilities are one of the places where you want to let your hair down and relax and talk to your fellow soldiers. But this is war, and it's global war, and everywhere is a threat, and they must increase the force protection.

WHITFIELD: Military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson, thanks so much.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: A call to duty in Iraq for two teenage sisters. A lonely Christmas for the parents left behind. One family's major sacrifice this holiday season.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In two years, we'll celebrate the church's 50-year anniversary, if they haven't blown it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Perhaps the most dangerous place to celebrate Christmas this year. What's it like for the thousands of Christians living in Iraq?

Plus, Walter Cronkite on the war in Iraq and the future of America's space program, as we look back at the best of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, I want to say a very happy holidays and a big I love you to my wife Kelly, my three kids, Sam, Alexa and Delaney. I miss you guys with all my heart. I want you guys to be safe for the winter and I'll be safe myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's a frightening holiday for Iraq's Christians. Lately every day is difficult for a community which numbers 800,000 and has become a key target of insurgents. CNN's Chris Lawrence reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE):

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time ever Christmas services in Iraq are being cut back or canceled. And Iraqis say some Christians are being persecuted for going public.

FATHER ARKAN HAKEEM, IRAQI CHRISTIAN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It is a catastrophe.

LAWRENCE: Father Hakeem has 12 years in the priesthood but never seen it this bad. There are fewer than a million Christians in Iraq. Numbers so small they were never seen as a threat to Saddam Hussein. But now, insurgents associate any Christian with the military coalition. Extremists killed or wounded dozens, attacking churches with rockets and bombs.

For this priest and his parish, it's been a true test of faith.

HAKEEM: We came to an understanding that if I'm going to die anyway, I would rather die in a church.

LAWRENCE: But church leaders say about 50,000 Christians have left the country and even this church keeps its celebrations simple.

(on camera): They used to have these lavish productions outside here in the courtyard and celebrate midnight mass at midnight.

(voice-over): Now the decorations are kept indoors. The faithful sent home early.

Despite the danger, Father Hakeem can still joke about his future.

HAKEEM: In two years we'll celebrate the church's 50 year anniversary if they haven't blown it up.

LAWRENCE: So his only wish this Christmas is for a truly silent night.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's also a difficult holiday for the thousands of American families with loved ones serving in Iraq. CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace met one family making twice the sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to tell Darlene and Stefanie 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will be hard, but they'll be good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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, but think they're my girls. This is -- you get mad knowing they're going over there and in the back of my mind, you know, anything's possible. Anything can 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 imaging 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 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 knowing they're just going to be a phone call away.

We'll venture into the darkroom of Stefanie, first.

WALLACE: The girls are strong, mom and dad say, their rooms filled with karate trophies. Darlene's a black belt, Stefanie 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 because the fact they're not around. 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. Kelly Wallace, CNN, Manchester, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now a quick look at some holiday celebrations happening around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACH IRWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Holiday celebrations around the world. In this aquarium near Tokyo, even the animals celebrate the season. Take penguins Aikita (ph) and Matsun (ph) delighting guests with their holiday fashions. Outside dolphin keeper Nori Matsura dons a Santa suit, giving her dolphins an icy Christmas present. .

In Jerusalem standing 20 meters high and 20 meters wide, the world's largest menorah. The display weighs 50 tons and boasts 1800 lights.

Taking time out of his busy schedule, St. Nicolas two of his s assistants visit a school in Belgium on Sinterklaas Day. Greeted with songs and drawings, St. Nicholas and his assistants hand out gifts and treats to the excited children.

In Guatemala, the Christmas season is ushered in with the burning of the devil ceremony. Fireworks and effigies of the devil are sold by street vendors to be burned on the eve of the Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception. For Guatemalans the Immaculate Conception was a victory over the devil and the burning symbolizes this victory.

In Naples, the nativity scene made entirely of chocolate. More than 30 pastry chefs along with an expert cabinetmaker, sculptor and painter constructed the treat. It took more than 4500 hours and nearly 3300 kilos of chocolate to create the confectionary masterpiece, but die-hard chocaholics need not worry that this chocolate will go to waste. Once it's removed from display, organizers hope to display the creation in one of the city squares where residents can sample a piece of chocolate history.

Zach Irwin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That looks too good to eat. There are Christmas celebrations happening right now. You are looking at live pictures right now of midnight mass in Bethlehem's manger square. We'll have live pictures from the Vatican straight ahead.

Plus, naughty or nice? Find out which newsmakers top our list this year. And later, the voice behind several historical moments. Wolf's interview with veteran journalist, Walter Cronkite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time now for the inside edge with CNN political analyst Carlos Watson. This week he spoke to Wolf Blitzer about several key issues including electoral reform and the impact of Internet bloggers on this year's presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Carlos Watson, once again, thanks very much as usual for joining us. Let's talk a little bit about 2004, the legacies. Some of the lessons learned. To what degree, for example is electoral reform likely to emerge as a key issue of this past year?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think, Wolf, when you look ahead four years, eight years from now there will be certain things that we talk about, not as much George Bush and John Kerry but things like electoral reform, how people register to vote, new technologies, namely the electronic voting machines and even longer, if you will, pre-Election Day periods where you can file an absentee ballot or even vote early. So one of the big legacies of this 2004 election year, I think will be electoral reform. We'll see a lot of it over the next four to eight years.

BLITZER: There was some speculation "Time Magazine" could name the bloggers the person of the year, they didn't. They named Bush. But bloggers critically important. They came out in full force this past year.

WATSON: They did. Wolf, once again, another major political change that happened in 2004 was the way in which the media influences politics and presidential campaigns, at least since 1960 we've mainly thought about network television, but beginning in 2004 we saw cable TV including CNN play a major role. We certainly saw the bloggers, but make no mistake, we also saw radio return, particularly evangelical Christian radio and going forward, we're more likely to see a pluralistic situation in terms of which parts of the media actually affect campaigns, not just ABC, NBC and CBS.

BLITZER: What about foreign policy this past year? It was a huge issue in the presidential election?

WATSON: Boy, Wolf. There was a time when foreign policy was everything in American elections. Certainly in 1980 and certainly throughout much of the Cold War, but as you know, at least since 1992 that hasn't dominated but 2004 brought it back and we're likely to hear only more about foreign countries and about foreign policy issues including things like loose nukes as we head toward 2008 and 2012. So a major legacy of 2004 will be changing the nature of the presidential conversation.

BLITZER: Don't see any change, at least not yet heading into the new year. What did we learn about the Hispanic vote this past year?

WATSON: You know, wolf, that's my fourth big legacy, I think, of 2004. The Hispanic vote really emerged as a key swing vote and we're likely to hear about this block of voters, which, by the way is formed from many, many blocks, if you will, Cuban Americans in Florida, Mexican Americans in the Southwest, Puerto Ricans in states like New Jersey and New York, but clearly George W. Bush figured thou do well with Hispanics getting almost one out of every two and that will be a big conversation in 2008 and it may, in fact, influence both who the Republicans and the Democrats nominate to head out their tickets in 2008.

BLITZER: Carlos Watson with the inside edge. Thanks very much.

WATSON: Not at all. Have a good holiday.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's usually Santa's job to keep track of who's naughty or nice. But this year the host of CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES, Howard Kurtz decided to help out.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN HOST: There are many worthy candidates who was naughtiest or nicest in 2004, but someone has to make the tough decisions in handing out these coveted honors and in the holiday spirit I have volunteered.

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Washington and Michigan!

KURTZ: Howard Dean did sort of a naughty thing the night he lost the Iowa caucuses, and boy, did he get spanked for it. Far too often, in fact, by the media. John Edwards was nice. His whole persona was built around being nice.

SEN JOHN EDWARDS, (D) NC: Yeah, 30 seconds yes.

KURTZ: But sometimes nice guys sometimes finish last. Edwards couldn't even help the Democratic ticket carry his home state of North Carolina. Teresa Heinz Kerry was a tad naughty when she spoke her mind to a journalist who had criticized her.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: You said something I didn't say, now shove it.

KURTZ: Laura Bush brushed aside her comment that the First Lady had never held down a real job expect and the hired guns who made all those attack ads in the Bush and Kerry campaigns, very naughty stuff, highly negative and sometimes exaggerated but this is one political arena where naughty is effective.

And Bernard Kerik didn't do president bush any favors by failing to tell him about all of the past investigations and allegations, not to mention multiple girlfriends that were bound to sink his nomination as homeland security secretary. On the media front, CBS did something very naughty by rushing to air a story on the president's National Guard service based on apparently bogus documents. Although it was nice that Dan Rather finally got around to apologizing.

DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS: I made a mistake. We made a mistake and I'm sorry for it.

KURTZ: But a handful of Internet bloggers did nicely but exposing the suspect guard documents in a matter of hours. "USA Today" correspondent Jack Kelly was extremely naughty, that may be too mild a word, in fabricating stories from Israel, Cuba the Balkans and elsewhere. But an outside panel did a nice job in documenting the extent of the fraud which prompted the newspaper's top editors to resign. And Jason Blair, the disgraced "New York Times" reporter was out peddling a group about how naughty he had been. It was a flop.

Janet Jackson did a very naughty thing, exposing her right breast in the infamous Super Bowl half-time show. Howard Stern is often naught e but now he's taking his act to satellite radio where being naughty is okay or beyond the reach of the FCC. In sports Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds insisted they were nice home run hitters who didn't use steroids. Until the league of grand jury testimony showed Giambi admitting that he had and bonds admitting that he'd used an unknown substance from an indicted steroids peddler.

The hockey season got canceled, not nice and when baseball finally agreed to give Washington a team after 33 years some local politicians weren't very nice and almost killed the deal by insisting on better terms, but now it appears that the Washington Nationals will play ball next April. For long suffering DC fans, that's nice. Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Looking back at the best of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Wolf's interview with the veteran journalist Walter Cronkite coming up next.

Plus, more live pictures of midnight mass in Bethlehem.

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WHITFIELD:: Here at the end of the year we're looking back at some of the fascinating people we've interviewed in 2004 in a series the best of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Today the dean of American broadcast journalists Walter Cronkite. Wolf spoke with him in January shortly before President Bush announced his goal of a manned mission to Mars.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BLITZER: Walter Cronkite, as always, an honor, a pleasure to have you on our program. Thanks so much for joining us. As you well know and as so many of our viewers remember you were the voice of when the space program really got going in the '60s and man landed on the moon. What's going through your mind now as the prospect of President Bush announcing yet another effort to send a man to the moon and maybe beyond to Mars?

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER NEWS ANCHOR: Well, obviously we should all be excited about that possibility. Although I think quite honestly the possibility is much dimmer than it sounds as the president looks forward to it. It's very expensive. We know that our budget is badly stretched right now to handle just the necessities here on earth and the expenditures necessary to get to the moon, perhaps establish a permanent station on the moon which we have to do some day, but whether that's around the corner, I think is somewhat doubtful.

BLITZER: Would you recommend that the president go forward and the Congress appropriate the significant sums that would be required to do precisely that?

CRONKITE: Well, of course, if Congress believes that we can afford to do it, let's go ahead and try, but it seems just doubtful to me. We've got so much that needs to be done on earth here where our budget is so limited today. I don't see how we can put on top of that the vast expenditure expenditures of putting a man back on the moon, of setting up a colony on the moon and jumping from there, we hope, out to Mars. That is a vast expenditure, probably just as much as the entire space program has taken up to now and we know that that has not been cheap.

BLITZER: Let's talk about some of the expenditures required on issues involving what's happening right here on earth, like Iraq, for example. Is this money well spent to maintain the U.S. military presence there and to try to get the job done?

CRONKITE: Well, I don't know. You have to judge whether it's well spent by how necessary it is to finish the job that we have started fortunately or unfortunately in Iraq. And the general feeling is among the American people you don't cut and run, but on the other hand the continuing expense, it gets larger all of the time and the cost of what is more important, the blood of the American soldiers who are having to try to keep the peace there and establish the peace there is just monumental.

BLITZER: When President Johnson heard you say on CBS News, you raised some questions about Vietnam he began to suspect it was all over as far as U.S. policy in Vietnam was concerned. Do you see any similarities between Vietnam and Iraq?

CRONKITE: I see quite a lot of similarities to the two. They're both different sorts of war that we were used to or planned for. In the case of Vietnam it was guerrilla warfare in the jungles of Vietnam. In this case it's guerrilla warfare in the deserts of Iraq. And they are both vastly different than the kind of war we had prepared for in advance of those experiences.

BLITZER: Do you have confidence in the American news media right now in the way we covered the war? The lead-up to the war, the actual war and the aftermath?

CRONKITE: I think the way we have covered the war and the aftermath is satisfactory. I think we're doing the best we can under the circumstance in a very awkward situation and I think that we are doing that job. Whether we did enough in preparing the American people for this war and even covering the Senate debate which led us to this war, I think is highly doubtful. I think that could have been covered with a great deal more urgency. A sense of urgency that we were voting in the Senate to give the president this blanket power to go to war as he chose. That was almost a violation, it seems to me, of the need for the American people to know or the need for the American people to be polled on the situation. The Senate did not, it seems to me, do that job well.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And on Monday, we'll revisit Wolf's interview with one of the most successful and controversial filmmakers of the year, Michael more.

Christmas Eve around the world. Just beginning at the Vatican in Rome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A live look and listen from the Vatican where Pope John Paul II is presiding over midnight mass. Thousands of pilgrims are on hand to hear tonight's homily and tomorrow the pope will issue his traditional Christmas Day greeting to the world in dozens of languages. The 84-year-old pontiff tries to keep up with a grueling schedule made more difficult by his frail health which he referred to in a speech this week, saying the passing years make him feel an increasing need for help from God and from other people.

And Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity where the traditional midnight Christmas mass was just celebrated. An estimated 5,000 visitors are in the West Bank town, the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Notable this year, signs of warming relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

And on behalf of the entire WOLF BLITZER REPORTS staff and CNN crews around the world, we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. LOU DOBBS TONIGHT begins right now.

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