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CNN Live Saturday
Reports Surface of Muslims in America Monitored by Government. Donald Rumsfeld Visits Troops in Iraq. Plastic surgery is becoming a popular holiday gift. White House Uses Dubious Reasoning to Explain Domestic Spying. Many Churches Will be Closed on Christmas. U.S. Troops Bring Christmas to Orphans in Aghanistan.
Aired December 24, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really kind of shocked and surprise that here in the United States with all the intelligence that we have, that we're not acting very intelligent as it relates to the Muslim community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Monitoring Muslims in America. A new development in the controversy surrounding domestic surveillance programs. I'll speak with the reporter who broke the story.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld takes on catering duties for troops on the front lines. We'll tell you where.
And why some Christian groups think Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus.
Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Randi Kaye in for Fredricka Whitfield. Those stories in a moment. First, other headlines now in the news.
The White House says it's deeply troubled by the conviction of an Egyptian opposition leader. Ayman Nour was sentenced to five years on a forgery charge connected to signatures needed to register his opposition party. He was the runner-up in the recent presidential elections. His supporters call it a case of political persecution.
In Iraq, the U.S. military says an American soldier died earlier today from wounds suffered from a rocket propelled grenade attack. The military says the incident happened during a routine patrol in northern Iraq.
The sights and sounds of Christmas are again filling the streets of Bethlehem. The town revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus. Since before the turn of century, violence has put a damper on the celebration. But a sharp drop in violence has brought thousands of pilgrims back to Bethlehem.
Some people in Arizona are spending this holiday weekend with a case of the flu. Doctors in the Phoenix area say they are seeing an increase in the virus as people with flu-like symptoms are flooding emergency rooms across the region.
We begin now with new twists and turns in the domestic spying controversy now swirling around the Bush administration. Several government officials are confirming a monitoring program that targets mostly Muslim sites in the United States. One official tells CNN the monitoring began in 2002 and looked for suspicious radiation levels, mosques, businesses and homes are the primary targets. The official says the monitoring is done without warrant in areas that are considered public property. Among the cities where it is taking place, Washington, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Las Vegas and Seattle. Muslims are condemning the program and calling it a complete shock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYDI BRAY, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY: It would be much better to come through the front door, how our imams, through our Muslim leaders. They're welcome. We want to be just as safe as any other Americans. This is our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: An FBI official says there is no program that specifically targets any segment of the population. An agency spokesman says all investigations and operations conducted by the FBI are quote, "intelligence driven and predicated on specific information about potential criminal acts or terrorist threats and are conducted in strict conformance with federal law."
"U.S. News & World Report" broke the story on this monitoring program. With us now from Washington, the magazine's chief investigative correspondent, David Kaplan. David, good to see you. Excellent work on this story. Tell us first what type of monitoring did you discover was taking place?
DAVID KAPLAN, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT:" Well, what we found was early in 2002, the federal government, alarmed about the prospects of al Qaeda having a dirty bomb or even a genuine nuclear device, started a pretty massive program. In Washington, DC alone, they had three different vehicles that visited something like 120 different sites every day, and night. Constantly searching, monitoring for radiation levels.
KAYE: So they're testing the air, from what I understand, searching for these air particles that would give them a sense that there might be some work being done that would lead to a dirty bomb?
KAPLAN: That's right. It was the FBI working with the Department of Energy's NEST team, the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, which is kind of this -- It's right out of science fiction. You've got some of the country's top nuclear scientists and technicians fitted with backpacks, with vehicles, with aircraft that can detect all kinds of levels of radiation.
Where we found this of news interest wasn't in exposing the program. I think all Americans are glad that the government is looking out for this stuff. The controversy is that they were going on to private property. They were going onto individual's driveways, they were going on to mosque parking lots, they were going into private offices and monitoring there. And it's not clear at all whether they need a search warrant to do it. There's a real debate about this.
KAYE: So they're searching in parking lots. What other types of places? Any private homes?
KAPLAN: Well, we didn't hear of any evidence at all of them actually going inside of a dwelling. But we talked to people who were very close to the program who had raised doubts about the legality of this, and some of them were threatened with loss of their jobs. In other cases, you know, there was debate within the government about how far they can go. There was a 2001 Supreme Court case where drug agents used infrared imaging gear, from the street, not on private property. The Supreme Court ruled that you need a search warrant for that kind of thing. The government says, well, we're just sampling the air in this case.
KAYE: Now, David, the FBI is saying - first of all, they're not confirms that this program even exists, but they are saying that they certainly don't target any groups based on ethnicity. They're certainly rejecting the notion they're targeting Muslim groups specifically. Is that what you found in your reporting?
KAPLAN: Well, there's no doubt that they were targeting largely Muslim sites. The FBI is kind of in a bind on this, because they are after Islamic terrorists, and I believe them when they say their targets are intelligence-driven. The bureau's been burned too badly in the past by political spying. But we've seen so many revelations, on the other hand, in just the last week about domestic surveillance. About possibly a return to domestic spying, that, well, we thought this story really needed to be out there for public debate.
KAYE: And David, before we let you go, tell me in all of this monitoring possibly going on now for a few years, has it turned up anything?
KAPLAN: Well, here's the good news. They didn't find anything. They didn't even find a hint of a dirty bomb, or a nuclear device. That doesn't mean it was a bad idea, it doesn't mean they should stop. You know, again, all we wanted to do was raise the issue of the legality of this.
KAYE: Well, you certainly have raised it loud and clear. David Kaplan, chief investigative correspondent for "U.S. News & World Report." Thanks so much for your time today.
KAPLAN: Thank you.
KAYE: Also today, some new twists and turns in the domestic eavesdropping controversy now swirling around the Bush White House. The "New York Times" reports that the National Security Agency has conducted much broader warrantless surveillance of email, phone calls than the Bush administration has acknowledged. The "Times" says telecommunications companies helped the NSA gain access to streams of domestic and international communications without court orders. CNN has not been able to independently confirm the information in the "New York Times," but we are continuing to work all of our sources.
The administration once secret domestic eavesdropping program was made public just days ago. Earlier this week, President Bush defended the program as a vital component in the war on terror and he said it does not violate the law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: I swore to uphold the laws. Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Coming up at bottom of the hour, we will focus more on this spying controversy in our legal roundtable.
A judge in Toronto has denied bail to a Canadian man wanted in the United States. Abdullah Khadr is charged in the U.S. with supplying weapons to the al Qaeda terror network. He's also charged with conspiracy to murder Americans abroad and with possession of a destructive device. Khadr is being held in Canada on an extradition warrant and the Canadian judge said his alleged link to terrorists make him a flight risk if granted bail.
Security officials in Indonesia are being extra cautious this holiday season. Police are warning that al Qaeda-linked militants could be plotting Christmas terror attacks. Police dressed in Santa outfits checked cars for potential bombs at key hotels and at a Catholic cathedral in Jakarta. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Officials say some 47,000 troops and police have been deployed across the country. The are guarding houses of worship, hotels, restaurants and shopping centers over the holidays.
Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
New strikes by insurgents in Baghdad. Eleven people are dead including Iraqi police, soldiers and government workers. In all, police say there were five scattered attacks in the Iraqi capital and one in Baquba. Authorities are also reporting the discovery in Iraq of six bodies, all dead from gunshot wounds.
U.S. troops in Iraq get a pep talk from Donald Rumsfeld. The defense secretary also donned a chef's hat and served an early Christmas dinner to troops. CNN's Aneesh Raman has more now on Rumsfeld's morale boosting tour of the war zone
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ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrapping up a three-day trip to Iraq that included one night in Amman, Jordan. This morning the secretary serving an early Christmas Eve dinner to troops in the northern city of Mosul and he also spoke to the troops there saying that victory and winning this war is within the grasp of the U.S. troops and that Iraqis stand on the side, he said, of freedom. Also in a rare moment of public emotion, Donald Rumsfeld speaking about his own impressions of these U.S. troops.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I've lived a long life, and as I think about it, it's hard to think of anything I've ever done that is as important or as, gives me as much pleasure as working with each of you, doing what you're doing. You do it so well.
RAMAN: The secretary spent last night in the capital. Here he met with U.S. troops and he also dined with Iraq's political leadership as they seek to form a government by early next year. Secretary Rumsfeld also had a briefing on improvised explosive devices. Those IEDs remain the biggest killer of U.S. forces in Iraq and he also spoke with top intelligence officers about how to gather better intel on Iraq's insurgency.
Now, the headline of this trip, of course, came yesterday when Secretary Rumsfeld announced president's decision to downsize a number of battalions in Iraq going into next year from 17 to 15, which means some 7,000 U.S. troops will not be coming to Iraq in early 2006. Half of them staying in the U.S., half of them in Kuwait. It also brings to below 138,000 the number of U.S. troops by early next year. That number had been the baseline of troops throughout 2005. The secretary said any further reductions in U.S. troops would be dependent on the situation on the ground, that being the success of Iraq's security forces to take over more control of the country, and, also, how quickly and effectively Iraq's government forms early next year. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And President Bush is wishing a Merry Christmas to U.S. troops serving overseas. A White House official saying the president called American servicemen and women in Iraq and Japan and sailors and coast guard personnel aboard ship.
Mr. Bush made the calls from his presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Makes me feel like, yeah. It's kind of Christmas. Now I feel it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Still to come, how some U.S. troops found the spirit of Christmas in the smiles of afghan orphans.
And up next, it was a natural disaster of biblical proportion. What has changed in a year? We'll bring you an update on tsunami recovery in Indonesia. You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: A grim anniversary being commemorate all over Asia. On Monday, it will be one year since the devastating tsunami struck. On Thailand, survivors lit candles and incense to remember those who died. Some 177,000 people were killed in total. Nearly 35,000 are still listed missing.
Indonesia's Aceh province was especially hard hit that day. In the year that followed, recovery efforts move forward. But as CNN's Atika Shubert discovered, the rebuilding process has been extremely slow going.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aceh is a broken land. More than 130,000 dead, more than 30,000 still missing and half a million homeless. More than $7 billion has been pledged to rebuild its shores. One year on, is the Indonesian province finally on the road to recovery?
SHUBERT (on camera): This is Aceh's biggest reconstruction project, rebuilding more than 250 kilometers or 155 miles of road washed out to sea by the tsunami. It will become the link between rural areas and markets in the city, but it could take years to complete. We traveled down here to talk to communities alongside the road and ask them how the reconstruction process is really going.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Construction has yet to start. For the moment, the two lane road is sometimes paved. Sometimes not. More than 100 bridges need to be replaced. Building crews struggle to get through in the monsoon season. Ships deposited inland by the tsunami rust on the roadside. Tent villages are common. As are homes cobbled together from tsunami scrap wood.
In one such village, we find Zakarias. The tsunami swept away his home, his parents, his wife and two young daughters. He calls them his pocket family. "I only have photos left," he says. "I keep them in my pocket and carry them wherever I go."
This has been his home for a year now. Sleeping in a bed salvaged from the wood of destroyed homes. He says new houses will be built nearby, but he doesn't know when.
"If you ask me, I think it's taking far too long," he says. "I'd like to say I'll be moving into a new house this month, like they told me, but I'd be lying. I also can't say that they are not building us homes, because they say they are."
There are many houses under construction. Just not enough. More than 100,000 are needed. Only 20,000 have been built. Fewer than 20 percent of those displace are in permanent homes. The rest remain in flimsy temporary shelters. Aid officials say the situation is improving, but more work needs to be done.
ERIC MORRIS, UNITED NATIONS: Maybe a few months ago, the common question from the tsunami survivors is where is my home? That is still the basic question. But now you are getting the same question. What can I do to take care of my family?
SHUBERT: This road was also an economic lifeline for communities here. In this village, more than half were killed. Mostly women and children. The husbands and older brothers left behind are eager to work and forget their losses, but the broken road cannot provide jobs anymore.
"It takes all afternoon just to get in to the city to look for work now. Not including the money for transportation," Zakarias says. "With a home and some start-up money, I'd be just as happy to learn to become a fisherman."
Even fishermen have newly donated boats, but only rusty, salvaged engines to work with. Life in Aceh seems to consist of living off the scraps the tsunami left behind.
"I look for tsunami scrap all day because I can't sit still," Zakarias says. "I have no family. So I go into the fields looking for wood to build a house and try to remember my wife and children." For Zakarias, like so many others, the road to recovery is far too long.
Atika Shubert, CNN, on Aceh's west coast road.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And be sure to watch a special PAULA ZAHN NOW, the tsunami a year later, that's at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Monday right here on CNN.
His sled is packed, and his reindeer are ready to go. Will a white Christmas be greeting Santa Claus when he hits American homes? Your holiday forecast is straight ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The customs surrounding Christmas are not based on scripture.
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KAYE: And why some Christians are turning their backs on Christmas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. My name is Dani Lev (ph) and I'm here in Ossa (ph) Iraq and just want to say hi to Andrew and my mom and dad and all the gang in Cameron, Texas. Happy holidays. I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Specialist Wan Grim (ph) out here in Olasi (ph) Iraq, I just want to say hi to my wife Whitney and my kids, and say happy holidays, and can't wait to get home.
(END VIDEI CLIP) KAYE: Many Roman Catholic and Protestant churches likely will see huge crowds tomorrow, but other churches will be closed Christmas day. Their pastors said they expected most of their members to stay home anyway. Chris Lawrence looks at this Christmas controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Closed on Christmas. Pastors have canceled Sunday services at megachurches in Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas. They say the last time Christmas fell on a Sunday, only a few people showed up to pray. Critics say they're bowing to secular culture, making church convenient, but Jehovah's Witnesses believe God never intended Christ's birth to eclipse his life as a mature man and other churches like this one in Los Angeles won't celebrate at all. The pastor says there's nothing biblical about celebrating Christ's birth.
MICHAEL MORRISON, WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD: Many of the customs surrounding Christmas are not based on scripture.
LAWRENCE: Michael Morrison's church did not celebrate Christmas until ten years ago.
MORRISON: We were forbidding more than we should have.
LAWRENCE: The Worldwide Church of God still preaches that pretty lights and expensive gifts have nothing to do with Christmas but even a small, reverent celebration drove some parishioners away.
MORRISON: They accused us of being liberal. You are doing something that is not biblical and we don't like that and some of them left.
LAWRENCE (on camera): They ended up affiliating with other churches that continued to ignore the holiday. So while some department stores have been accused of taking Christ out of Christmas, some churches seem to be saying, it's time to take Christmas out of Christ. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: They are among the most influential women in the Christian tradition. Coming up at the top of the hour CNN PRESENTS an intriguing look at the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. That's at 3:00 Eastern.
But first, did President Bush break the law in his quest to protect Americans from potential terrorists? Our legal eagles will help us sort through the legal dos and don'ts next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Here's what's making news now -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells U.S. troops in Mosul that America will prevail but the war against terrorists will be a long one. Rumsfeld spoke on the same day when nearly a dozen people including a U.S. soldier were killed in separate attacks in Iraq.
A top official in Japan's government says his country will join the U.S. in developing a ballistic missile defense program. According the Associated Press. Officials say the system would intercept and destroy incoming missiles. Analysts believe North Korea is making long-range missiles capable of hitting Alaska, Hawaii and possibly the U.S. west coast.
For the first time since Hurricane Katrina, bars and other businesses along New Orleans' famed Bourbon Street west of the Industrial Canal can stay open all night. Mayor Ray Nagin announced Wednesday he was lifting a curfew. He is also allowing residents to stay overnight in areas of the city deemed safe for rebuilding.
As we reported earlier, government officials confirmed mosques, homes and businesses are being secretly monitored for radioactivity. That comes amid the controversy over revelations the National Security Administration has been spying on American citizens.
The White House and its opponents are at odds over the legality of those wiretaps. CNN's Andrea Koppel reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With the nation still reeling, just days after the 9/11 attacks, Congress authorized President Bush to use all necessary and appropriate force to go after those responsible. Authority Mr. Bush claimed just this week gave him the power to sign off on secret wiretaps of American citizens.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely. As I mentioned in my remarks, legal authority is derived from the constitution, as well as the authorization of force by the United States Congress.
KOPPEL: But in an op-ed in Friday's Washington Post, Tom Daschle, the former Democratic leader of the Senate, challenged Mr. Bush's claim writing, quote, "I did not and never would have supporting giving authority to the president for such wiretaps. The president should explain the specific legal justification for his authorization of these actions."
KOPPEL: It appears that that's exactly what the Bush Administration is trying to do.
Just hours after Mr. Bush left the White House Thursday to start his Christmas Vacation, the Department of Justice fired off a five- page letter to the leaders of Congressional intelligence committees, asserting, the wiretapping is crucial to our national security. The letter argues that the nation's security trumps privacy concerns of individual targeted for eavesdropping by the government. Critics say the Bush White House had other tools it could have relied on.
It could have requested warrants from a secret intelligence court located in the Justice Department. Or it could have turned to The Patriot Act.
LISA GRAVES, ACLU: No president has taken such an expansive use of presidential power since President Nixon. We should not return to those dark days. Congress needs to conduct thorough probing investigations into this matter.
KOPPEL: But it's unclear if and when that will happen. Before adjourning for the year, House Democrats called for an independent panel to investigate, while in the Senate, some Democrats are accusing Bush of violating the law.
Senator Russ Feingold, for one, says the president is playing, in his words, fast and loose with the law. But the Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter, has cautioned his colleagues not to rush to judgment.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: So, does the president have the legal authority to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without getting court approval? Let's bring in the experts. Michelle Suskauer is a criminal defense attorney in Florida, and Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law school professor in Ohio.
Good to see you both.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER: Nice to see you, Randi.
Avery, let's start with you. This has ignited quite a debate. The idea that the NSA has intercepted hundreds of communications within the U.S. borders. Is the president out of line here? Has he abused his legal authority?
FRIEDMAN: The short answer is yes, and let me explain why. Put the politics aside. If you zero in on the constitution of the United States. If you want to do eavesdropping, that is considered a search. If you want to search, you got to get a warrant.
In 1978, Congress passed the law Randi, that permitted an expedited, quick, warrant opportunity. The president is actually working backwards by saying, I don't have a declaration of war resolution, which would have given him authority. I have necessary force. And that resolution doesn't provide for the power of the president, the executive branch, to do searches without warrants.
KAYE: Michelle, is the administration on solid legal ground here?
MICHELLE SUSKAUER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, they're not. I have to agree with the professor. They really aren't.
What they did here was, they just went beyond any president really has done probably since Nixon. They probably were not on solid legal ground, because they didn't have the necessary background to get the -- to get these affidavits by these officers.
What's interesting is that all they really needed was to go to square with the FBI agents from the Department of Justice, that they had this information, who, where, what, who was the target and they probably did not have what they needed to have this court approve it. This secret court. So they went backwards.
FRIEDMAN: You know what? They may have had it, but I think in the aftermath of 9/11, let's give the president due deference. I think what really happened is that nobody really thought about it. They went out there when the nation was in shock, they went ahead and I think after the fact they realized you really can't use that use of force resolution by congress to justify it.
You'll see when we there are hearings which take place before the Senate Judiciary Committee when Arlen Specter presides over these questions. I think what you're going to find is that there's a determination that The Constitution has been violated.
KAYE: The president and his supporters, though, they argue they're doing the right thing. That they won't be able to fight this war on tear.
FRIEDMAN: It sort of begs the question, because there's no question here that, of course, that's what they're supposed to be doing. You got to fight terrorism, but you fight terrorism within the law. The law is not complicated. Use the special court set up in 1978. Get the warrant. You're not going to have a problem.
KAYE: Michelle, you want to add something there?
SUSKAUER: Well, I completely agree. What they just did not have -- what they were trying to do here is, just go absolutely outside of the law, and that's why we have the Fourth Amendment -- to protect the citizens against these warrantless searches and seizures, and they did not want this information to come out.
KAYE: All right. Let's move from Washington, D.C. to Dover, Pennsylvania. We're talking about intelligent design.
Just this week a federal judge struck down the policy in Dover, the school system required biology students to hear statements supporting alternatives to evolution. As you know intelligent design challenges the Theory of Darwinism.
What do you think about this and does this set a precedent here, Avery?
FRIEDMAN: I think it's a ripsnorter.
And let me tell you why. This is a First Amendment decision written by a church going, conservative federal judge, appointed by George Bush, in 139 pages and six weeks of trial, Randi, the court considered the argument about intelligence design. I.D. now means intelligent dysfunction.
What the court found -- I'll use the language of the federal judge. This is breathtaking inanity. The court found that the people who supported I.D., lied. It was really a religious-based paint over of creationism.
The fact is that it is a rock-solid opinion. The first analysis in 80 years analyzing these sorts of arguments. A powerful First Amendment decision
KAYE: Michelle, the judge in this case, Judge Jones, he says that intelligent design is nothing more than creationism relabeled. Do you agree with that and what do you think he means by that?
SUSKAUER: Oh, absolutely. What they did was repackaged creationism, and they've tried to just package this in a scientific term, intelligent design. That's all they've done.
I agree with Avery, this is a wonderful decision. I think it went further than I thought it was, because he really railed against the school board and how they lied and how they really had religious motivation. I was very surprised that he actually went that far.
I thought it was very, very well done and I think it's really going to be a wonderful decision for a lot of other cases that are out there brewing right now.
FRIEDMAN: Maybe. Maybe not. If that case won't be appealed because of a new school board. You know what, Randi? Where you are right now in Atlanta, there's a three-judge federal panel that heard arguments this month, and the Dover, Pennsylvania, opinion is powerful but it is of no precedential effect.
We are going to see something even more definitive coming in from the Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
KAYE: Always enlightening to speak to both of you. Michelle, go, we'll let you have one last word.
SUSKAUER: I was just going to say, it's only binding in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. I really do think it will have such an impact all around the country.
FRIEDMAN: Maybe.
KAYE: Avery, just had to get that last word in. Maybe. Thank you both very much.
FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you, Randi.
SUSKAUER: Thank you.
KAYE: Department stores and Internet shopping sites aren't the only businesses benefiting from the holiday season. Up next, giving the gift of youth, why it's more popular than ever.
And, at the top of the hour, unraveling the mystery of the two Marys. "CNN PRESENTS" looks at two women at the heart of Christianity.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most historians trace Santa Claus's roots back to St. Nicholas. He was a 4th century Catholic bishop in the area that is today known as Turkey. St. Nick was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, and later became the patron saint of children.
Santa Claus also owes some of this traits to the British Father Christmas, dating back to at least the 1600s. He's certainly got a white beard and he looks pretty jolly, but he's wearing green. Most historians stay it was the Dutch who first brought the tradition to America.
They call him Sinterklaas, based on the figure of St. Nicholas. He leaves gifts in children's shoes on December 5th, the night before the saint's birthday. Believe it or not, it wasn't until the late 19th century when Santa Claus started appearing as we know him today, a plump, jolly old elf in a red suit, visiting on Christmas Eve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Well, whatever the history of Santa, the kids just want to make sure he gets to their homes, and it could be threatened right now. Rain in parts of the Southeast, some precipitation in the Midwest. How bad is it going to get, Monica, for Santa?
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: Checking stories from across America, a thief may have stolen Christmas gifts but he couldn't steal Christmas. Toys and presents were stolen from a West Philadelphia day care, but now generous folks have come forward with a mountain of gifts and goodwill for the little boys and girls.
Santa Claus may be a state of mind, but he has the willies in Pennsylvania. Willy's jeep that is. Santa rides around town in an alternate sleigh, a 1946 Army Jeep all decked out with six shiny reindeer and of course Rudolph out front.
It is the most wonderful time of the year. For many plastic surgeons, instead of a new outfit or new watch, more and more Americans are opting for a new look for the holiday season. Jonathan Freed has the story from Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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. STEVEN DAYAN, PLASTIC SURGEON: Some people get a diamond ring, some people get a car and some people get a face lift.
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 a little more open. You're going to love it.
FREED: When Rita Conway decided to perk herself up a bit, she decided it would also 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 face lift, 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)
KAYE: Until the next appointment, of course.
Santa knows if you've been bad or good, and guess what? So do we. In a Gallup poll, 72 percent put Paris Hilton at the top of the naughtiest celebrities list. No surprise there. Last year's naughty celebrity, Britney Spears, comes in second. Respondents were split on Martha Stewart and Tom Cruise.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's home-wrecking relationship grabbed headlines, but people don't seem to hold that against them. But way up there on the nice list are Pitt's ex, Jennifer Aniston and Oprah Winfrey. Anyone who gives away cars on her talk show -- Oprah, yes, can't be that bad.
Are you going into debt this holiday season? Help is on the way. Coming up at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, find out how you can get those bills under control in the new year.
And up next ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christmastime, everyone wants to be home. But I know my country needs me here and I'm glad to be here and I hope we make a difference while we're here. If I have to sacrifice one Christmas away if home, then it's well worth it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: How a U.S. soldier stationed in Afghanistan is making the most of his Christmas away from home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, everyone, this Master Sergeant Jay Shelton from sunny Taji, Iraq. I just want to with a special Happy Holidays to my family, Brooke and Lisa Shelton in San Antonio. God Bless and I'll see you soon. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I'm Religious Study Officer, second class, Liz (ph) Shield, stationed here with Fifth League (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm Yeoman, second class, Ermila (ph) Shield with the NSA (ph) Bahrain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just want to say hi to all our family and friends in Fort Worth, Texas, and happy holidays.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Several U.S. soldiers spending a Christmas away from their families in the states are spreading some holiday cheer at an orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan. CNN's Becky Diamond reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SGT. TIM WATKINS, FLORIDA NATIONAL GUARD: We are going to start a tug-of-war with the boys to keep them occupied until we finish giving gifts to the girls. I mean, they don't share Christmas here, but we know what it means.
BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Afghanistan is 7,600 miles from Tim Watkins' hometown. But for this National Guard soldier, Christmas in Kabul is not that different from Thomasville, Georgia.
WATKINS: At Christmas time, we give to the needy. So I'm doing what I would be doing back there, except I'm doing it over here.
DIAMOND: This deputy sheriff has been here since July, helping to train the of a Afghan Army. He and a small group from the 53rd Brigade, a Florida National Guard unit, collected gifts from American citizens to distribute to Kabul's neediest children.
SGT. PIA DELA CRUZ, FLORIDA NATIONAL GUARD: It just makes me feel like, yes, it's Christmas. And now I feel it. My kids back home tell me Mommy, I can't wait until I open my presents, and this one is like -- the kids are so happy to get -- you know, all of these things!
DIAMOND: The girls are getting items they never received under the Taliban, and the boys are playing games that weren't allowed back then.
The 450 kids at Abdel Hamoun (ph) orphanage certainly appreciate the attention. Their parents either dead or too poor to care for them.
WATKINS: I love the children of Afghanistan.
NAZIR: Thank you.
DIAMOND: Eleven year old Nazir (ph) doesn't know if his father is alive or dead. He disappeared under Taliban rule and his mother died four years ago. He says Sergeant Watkins' visit makes him very happy.
WATKINS: Would you like to come to America?
NAZIR: Yes, yes!
WATKINS: And the sergeant has a son of his own.
DIAMOND: Christmas time, everyone wants to be home, but I know my country needs me here and I'm glad to be here and I hope we make a difference while we're here.
If I have to sacrifice one Christmas away from home, then -- it's well worth it.
DIAMOND: One, two --
DIAMOND: The spirit of American Christmas travels with its soldiers -- however far from home. Becky Diamond, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: They are the women at the heart of Christianity. Up next, "CNN PRESENTS" reveals the history behind the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene.
Are you charging your way through the holiday season? Coming up on 4:00 p.m. eastern, tips on ways to handle credit card debt.
Then at 5:00, how a military raid in Iraq turned into a mission of mercy to save the life of a 3-month-old baby girl. A check of the headlines is next and then "CNN PRESENTS."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Hello. I'm Randi Kaye at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
Checking some stories now in the news.
In its surveillance program in the war on terror, the National Security Agency is getting help from telephone and Internet companies in the United States. A source familiar with the arrangement tells CNN that the NSA collects, traces and analyzes information as part of a program President Bush secretly approved in 2002.
Earlier today, The New York Times reported that the once-secret program is much broader than the Bush administration has acknowledged.
Several U.S. government officials are confirming a monitoring program that targets mostly Muslim sites in the United States. Officials say federal agents are looking for suspicious radiation levels, while Muslim leaders say they are shocked and angered by the revelation. The FBI says it has no program that targets any specific group.
Several doctors around Phoenix Arizona report a big increase in flu cases. The Associated Press reports that more than 300 of the 350 confirmed cases were reported in just the last two weeks. A state official predicts an early flu season peak in either late January or early February.
In Bethlehem, the town revered as the birthplace of Jesus, there is a festive mood for the first time in about six years. Pilgrims from around the world have converged on the West Bank town for Christmas Eve celebrations.
More than 30,000 people were expected today. A sharp drop in violence has helped draw visitors back to Bethlehem.
Those are the headlines. Our Christmas Eve programming continues with "CNN PRESENTS: The Two Marys." I'm Randi Kaye in Atlanta. There's more news coming up in half an hour.
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