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Cheney Heads Home; Facelifts for Christmas

Aired December 20, 2005 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate's upcoming vote on the bill to cut the deficit appears so tight that it's changing Vice President Dick Cheney's travel plans. He's cutting short his trip abroad, and rushing home in case the vote on the budget ends in tie.
Before he stopped in Pakistan today, the vice president had already visited Iraq and Afghanistan. Before the change in travel plans, Cheney held talks with Pakistani Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror. Cheney will not visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt as he had planned.

For more details on that, we turn to CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's with us from the White House.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

And Vice President Dick Cheney will be returning to Washington at a time when there are ongoing questions about President Bush's authorization of a secret domestic-spying program. Now president Bush and other administration officials insist that the program is highly targeted, and that only the international communications of Americans in the U.S. suspected of having terror ties are fair game. Yet some, mostly Democratic members of Congress, but also the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have expressed concerns.

Earlier today, my colleague, Dana Bash, who's traveling with Vice President Cheney, asked him about the NSA program. He called it good, sound policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We made the decision that when we have somebody inside the United States who's in touch, not just overseas, but who's in touch with a terrorist, or a terrorist suspect or an al Qaeda affiliate, that in fact that's proper and the president has authorized the NSA to be involved in looking at that transaction.

If we had been able to do that before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on the two hijackers that were in San Diego in touch overseas with Al Qaeda individuals or organizations. So the activity we've undertaken is absolutely consistent with the Constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP) QUIJANO: And as you mentioned, Vice President Cheney headed back here to Washington to be on hand just in case his vote is needed to break a tie on that budget bill. But certainly, Daryn, this debate on the NSA program will likely continue. But the Bush administration maintains members of Congress have been briefed about this numerous times.

KAGAN: And, Elaine, stay with me for a moment. We're going to listen in, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley making comments, and apparently answering questions about this eavesdropping scandal.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATL. SECURITY ADVISER: There's been a lot of backgrounding on it. I'd really like to talk about Iraq. It's so important that we try and come together on the way forward in Iraq. There's so much at stake.

So, David, you know, we'll do that on the side. But I'd love, John, if we could focus on Iraq today.

KAGAN: It sounds like Stephen Hadley has chosen not to answer that question about what has had so much attention in recent days.

Elaine, this does come out of the -- this would be his department, this is why he would be asked about this question.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And of course, a great deal of focus has been on what members of Congress were told, as I was explaining before we dipped into Stephen Hadley's comments there.

The Bush administration says very steadfastly, that all along the way, officials here have been in contact with some members of Congress, that they deemed key to keep informed, if you will, on this issue.

Now, there, of course, have been some members -- in fact, just yesterday, Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia coming out and releasing a letter that he secretly sent to Vice President Cheney in 2003, in July of 2003, which he kept, basically to put himself on record as raising objections, having raised objections in 2003.

What's interesting, though, administration officials continue to say after that, not only Senator Rockefeller was briefed, but other members of Congress continued to be briefed on this as well. The administration says the reason they can't tell the American people more about this program, specifically what type of attacks perhaps might have been prevented, the number of times an attack might have been thwarted, is because all of that is classified information.

So it's an awkward position, certainly for some administration officials having to come out, now that the story has gone public, if you will, out Friday in "The New York Times."

But that is why, perhaps, we have seen not only the president, the vice president answering questions, but other administration officials coming out and defending this policy.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano, live at the White House. Elaine, thank you.

(NEWSBREAK)

KAGAN: Still to come, extreme nature shots and the photographers brave enough to take them. We'll talk to the man who took these pictures about what it's like to get these spectacular shots.

Plus, the not-so-natural Christmas gift idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people get a diamond ring, some people get a car and some people get a face lift.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Yes, it's true. Some people are giving the gift of the lift this holiday season. That story still ahead.

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KAGAN: These are just a few of the amazing photographs we're going to look at over the next few minutes. From the North Pole to the South Pole, oceans in between, Bill Curtsinger has been to places most of us will never even lay eyes on. Fortunately, he takes his camera and his art along. His new book is called "Extreme Nature: Images from the World's Edge." It's a collection of more than 300 of his remarkable photographs.

Veteran "National Geographic" photographer Bill Curtsinger joins me from New York this morning.

Good morning. Glad to see you could survive the transit strike, given everything else that you have faced in difficult climbs around the world.

BILL CURTSINGER, PHOTOGRAPHER: Good morning. No problem.

KAGAN: This is something that you've known you wanted to do since you were a kid? .

CURTSINGER: I did. When I was a young man, I read Jacques Cousteau's "Silent World," the book and sort of had the idea from the beginning to do this kind of work.

KAGAN: Let's go right to your work. First I want to look at the diving emperor penguins. You not only want to take us to places, in terms of places on the globe, you take us under the water, to places that a lot of people would not even dare to go.

CURTSINGER: Well, this is what I specialize in. And this is really what the book is all about. You know, just exposing to get on to the printed page, images like this from distant places that most of us will never get to.

KAGAN: And you don't just snap and shoot, you study these animals. Part biologist, part artist is how you see yourself.

CURTSINGER: It's a pretty good description. I really do have to learn a lot about any animal that I want to photograph, its habits, where it is, what time of year, who does research, who can I talk to that knows a little about this particular species. So it's a lot of research.

KAGAN: And you also have to research the environment you're going to. Let's go to some of the ice pictures, some of the diving under the ice that you do. This looks really dangerous to me. This is -- by the way, this is one of my favorites. This -- is this a seal?

CURTSINGER: It's a Weddell seal.

KAGAN: Yes. He looks like he's posing for his senior class picture.

CURTSINGER: Marine mammals, seals especially, often are curious about a diver, often will come right up to you. And sort of when they do, they don't look at your toes, they look you right in the eye, kind of wondering what's going on, who you are. What are you doing, why are you here, are you a threat?

KAGAN: Now some of the ice diving you and your partners do.

CURTSINGER: It's not as crazy as it looks.

KAGAN: You're kidding.

CURTSINGER: First of all -- first of all, there's no boat that's going to drift away. You don't have to worry about wind or current. The hole is -- it stays in the same place. You just have to keep track of the dive hole you came through and that's pretty much it. I mean, if you don't mind the temperature, the rest is pretty easy.

KAGAN: You've never gotten stuck out of the ice and forgotten how to get out?

CURTSINGER: Never. You don't want to do that.

KAGAN: No, that would be a bad idea. But you have had some scary situations. You do photograph sharks.

CURTSINGER: I've done a lot of work with sharks. Had a little encounter myself with a shark years ago.

KAGAN: You say that so calmly. A little encounter with a shark. You know, like a little hang nail, perhaps.

CURTSINGER: Well, you know, the problem with sharks is to really actually get to see one. They're really not as common as people think.

KAGAN: OK, this is a great white right here.

CURTSINGER: Yes. And I did what many underwater photographers do, went to a cage in Australia and did that picture.

KAGAN: So do you almost feel like that's cheating? Yes, I was in a cage, big deal.

CURTSINGER: You just, you know, when the shark swims by, you just make sure everything is inside the cage except the camera, that's all. Pretty easy deal.

KAGAN: OK, now, but there are shark pictures where you weren't in a cage.

CURTSINGER: Well, I've been attacked by a great reef shark years ago and had to deal with that. But, you know, I got right back in the water. And great reef sharks have an attitude and have to be really careful around them at all times.

KAGAN: Show a little respect.

CURTSINGER: A little respect and a little -- read the tea leaves. That's what I say.

KAGAN: One of the -- you know, it's so neat to hear about somebody who had a dream when he was a kid and grew up and got to be what he wanted to be. One of the pitfalls of your job is that, of course, you can't just go to the office and come home at 8:00. It takes you away from your family for a long time. So I think a little nice thing in the book is you include a journal that you wrote to one of your sons to help bring him along when he was a kid.

CURTSINGER: Well, I did. And Owen actually made this little journal, the first one, when I was off an assignment, and handed it to me said, Dad, you know, tell me about the trip to Alaska you're going to be on. So I sort of took that to the next level. And it was Owens' idea, but it really was a great way to stay in touch and stay in contact.

KAGAN: And you inspired him. He now is a writer himself?

CURTSINGER: He's in a creative writing department at a university right now.

KAGAN: Very good for him. Well, Bill Curtsinger, thank you so much for sharing your photos and...

CURTSINGER: My pleasure.

KAGAN: And the next place you're off to? CURTSINGER: I'm not sure. I'm going to sell the book right now. But we'll see.

KAGAN: We'll see. It depends how well the book does. That will depend on how great the next trip is. Well, it's called "Extreme Nature: Images From the World's Edge." And there really are some fantastic photos in them. As I mentioned earlier, we have a lot of animal lovers who watch this program so...

CURTSINGER: That's great. Thank you.

KAGAN: So I'm sure they will be interested, indeed.

Bill, thank you and happy holidays.

CURTSINGER: Pleasure to be here. Same to you.

KAGAN: Topping our "Daily Dose" of health news, if you suffer from pain in your lower back, you might want to try yoga. A new study finds that gentle yoga shows quicker results of easing the pain than either general exercise or a self-help book. That study involved more than 100 adults who have chronic lower back aches.

Doctors say a less invasive medical procedure appears to be fueling a boom in weight loss surgeries in the U.S. The technique involves several small incisions in the patient's abdomen and the use of a tiny camera to guide the surgery. It's said to be less painful than other procedures and it makes for a quicker recovery.

Well, believe it or not, cosmetic surgery is a popular gift for the holidays, so popular this time of year that some surgeons are adding extra hours to their schedules just to keep up with the demand.

CNN's Jonathan Freed has that story.

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JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can't box him or wrap him or tie him with a bow, but that isn't stopping people from giving this Chicago doctor and his Botox as a gift this season.

DR. STEVE DAYAN, PLASTIC SURGEON: Some people get a diamond ring, some people get a car and some people get a facelift.

FREED: It's the busiest time of the year for the Dr. Steven Dayan, a time when good friends tell each other, well, you could use a little work.

DAYAN: I'll put some Botox in here, I'll put some around here and a little around here and what it's going to do, it's going to raise your eyebrows a little bit to make your eyes look more open. You're going to love it.

FREED: When Rita Conway decided to perk herself up a bit, she decided it would be the perfect present for her friend Michelle Goodeve. RITA CONWAY, PLASTIC SURGERY CANDIDATE: What am I going to -- I'm going to get another sweater, you know? She has enough sweaters.

FREED: Seems a lot of people have enough sweaters. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons tells us just about every one of their doctors experiences a big boost in business between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

DAYAN: Many people are coming in now, asking to look good for the holidays. And I can make them look great, which is a few procedures today.

FREED: The doctor says minimally-invasive procedures like Botox or some laser treatments are the most popular because they heal so quickly, in time for those holiday parties. Nose jobs take a week to heal. And if you want a facelift, it could be a month before you can unwrap the new you. Now, was Michelle offended when Rita popped the Botox idea?

MICHELLE GOODEVE, SURGERY GIFT RECIPIENT: Oh, God no! She's said a lot worse things to me to offend me as I have to her. No. It was a nice Christmas present.

FREED: And for Rita, it's a secret gift for her husband. She hopes not too secret, though.

CONWAY: Because I didn't tell my husband I was coming, so I'm going to probably not tell him to see if he can notice and then if he doesn't notice then I'll, you know, yell at him.

GOODEVE: That's awesome. Thank you.

DAYAN: Sure.

GOODEVE: I would walk by a mirror and I would see my constant frown and it would just irritate me. I always looked angry and now I can look a little bit more refreshed and friendly, maybe approachable.

FREED: The cost for a Botox session? Dr. Dayan charges between $300 and $600, depending on the case.

GOODEVE: I don't think I've gotten very many Christmas presents that would be better than this, in all honesty. So I'm happy with it. Thank you, Rita!

CONWAY: Merry Christmas!

FREED: Call it the gift that keeps on lifting.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And to get your daily dose of health news online, logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

We're going to check in on weather and business news. That's coming up in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Not only cold, but bold, a bold adventure, and a cold adventure for some climbers in Oregon. They managed to make their way up a frozen waterfall. That was as the storm moved through on Sunday. Caution was the watchword for the slow, chilly climb up the icy slope. Do not try this at home if you happen to have a frozen waterfall in your backyard.

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KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is coming up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY with Jonathan Mann and Zain Verjee, coming to you after a quick break.

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