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CNN Live Sunday
American Troops in Iraq are Finding Ways to Celebrate the Holidays; Today Marks the One Year Anniversary of the Tsunami in South Asia; This was a Grueling and Brutal Year for the President; American Soldiers in Iraq are Working to Save A Young Life;
Aired December 25, 2005 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: It is Christmas around the world. In spite of where they are and what they are doing American troops in Iraq are finding ways to celebrate the holidays.
Still homeless one year after the tsunami disaster. But some hope remains for the survivors. We will take you back to Indonesia to see some of the anniversary ceremonies.
And 2005, what kind of year has it been for the president? We will go over his ups and downs. From CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN LIVE SUNDAY. It is noon in Atlanta, 6:00 p.m. in Rome, 7:00 in Bethlehem and 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. Merry Christmas and thanks for joining us. I am Randi Kaye.
We will have a complete wrap of the global celebrations, but first, a look at some of the other stories now in the news.
This may be Christmas, but war doesn't take a holiday. The U.S. military says a road side bomb killed another U.S. soldier today in Baghdad. That brings the total number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq to 2,165.
Also in Baghdad today, police report two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other, wounding more than a dozen Iraqis.
An early Christmas gift to Compton, California. Dozens of people there turned in more than 400 weapons yesterday in exchange for gift cards. It is part of the local sheriff's guns for gifts program aimed at reducing crime. Compton has now collected nearly 700 weapons in the past three Saturdays.
Scientists are adding the first leap second in seven years to New Year's Eve, making 2005 a second longer than 2004. They are aligning atomic clocks to match the earth's rotational time. In this case, the leap second reflects the earth's general slowing trend.
From the Mid-East to the Vatican to American's capital in Washington, Christmas is being celebrated around the world. In Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, worshippers packed church services. About 30,000 pilgrims are in the city this year. About twice as many as last year.
Meanwhile, from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI delivered his first Christmas message. He asked people to unite against violence and poverty. Then, at the National Cathedral in Washington, a message to remember the first meaning of Christmas. The bishop of Washington reminded parishioners that the focus should not be on gifts and parties.
Now Christmas in Afghanistan. This year, a group of U.S. troops is getting a bounty of holiday cheer, all because of one extraordinary mom who we meet in Virginia. Now we introduce her to you. Here is Gary Nurenberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAT JACOBS, MILITARY MOM: This is Company A, Scott's company. And it starts at company headquarters, and first platoon, second platoon, third platoon. You've also got the weapons and the mortar section.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Army mom Pat Jacobs knows about military sacrifice.
JACOBS: My father, my oldest brother, next brother, we have been most in the conflicts since way back when. There has a Jacobs in some branch of the family in there.
NURENBERG: Her parents wanted that picture taken, said it would never happen again that everybody would be home at the same time.
JACOBS: And it never did, because this one was killed.
NURENBERG: So she knows the risks fades by her 29 year-old son Scott, serving in Taskforce Fury and has been sending him care packages stuffed with things like the soap and socks and treats you can't find in the caves of Afghanistan.
JACOBS: I felt like he had buddies that maybe aren't getting what they need.
NURENBERG: Scott would email his mother, passing on requests from his friends.
JACOBS: So and so needs some, so and so needs eye drops, so and so needs gummy bears. So we started doing this. And it was more and more. The care packages were going out every week. And then it dawned on me. Hey, these guys aren't going to be at Christmas.
NURENBERG: So Pat left donation jars at businesses in her hometown of Culpeper, Virginia, and turned Scott's bedroom into something of a Santa's workshop, stuffing Christmas packages for more than a thousand troops.
JACOBS: And this is from me. This is from momma. Every box has got a stocking. And then you top it off for an American flag pin that they can put on something else later. Each shoebox has a Christmas card to one of our heroes. And that's what they all say.
We decided the smaller the pay, the bigger the box. So, this is a captain's box, OK? But this is a private's box. Because he gets a whole lot less money.
NURENBERG: Big box or little box.
JACOBS: I hope they feel real happy. I hope they realize people love them. And I hope they realize that we care about them. They are going to have a Christmas. They are going to have a Christmas. They may have to eat MREs but they are going have Christmas.
NURENBERG: Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: With the year almost behind him, President Bush and the first family are planning on a Christmas Day lunch at Camp David in Maryland. Here is what's on the menu. Herb-roasted free range Turkey. Corn bread dressing. Mash potatoes and green beans. And let's not forget dessert. Sweet potato souffle, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and red velvet cake.
And we understand that the president gave the First Lady some jewelry for Christmas and a CD/DVD player. And Laura Bush gave her husband biking gear, clothes and a new book.
The president is like a lot of us at this time of year. He is looking back on 2005, taking stock of the highs and lows. But his take on the year's events doesn't always match with what some political experts think.
Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While President Bush summed up the year this way.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: This has been a year of strong progress toward a freer, more peaceful world and a prosperous America.
MALVEAUX: Some political analysts have a dramatically different take.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a grueling and brutal year for the president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look at the year in toto, it has been a bad one for him.
BUSH: I do solemnly swear ...
MALVEAUX: Last November, when President Bush seized the White House for a second term, he declared his 51 percent win a mandate and projected an air of invincibility.
BUSH: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital and now I intend to spend it.
MALVEAUX: Early on, he did have a series of legislative successes. With agreements on free trade, energy and transportation. But by mid year, the centerpiece of his domestic agenda, Social Security reform, failed. As gas prices rose, Mr. Bush's approval fell. And during this normally quiet summer vacation, Mr. Bush didn't get a break. As protest mom Cindy Sheehan kept the heat on outside his Texas ranch, calling for U.S. troops to come home.
Hurricane Katrina roared through the gulf coast, and overwhelmed the administration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That really was, I think, a moment of extreme disappointment for a lot of Americans.
MALVEAUX: In September the president pushed through his new Supreme Court chief justice, but October more bad news. From Iraq, a grim milestone of 2000 Americans dead. In Washington, the indictment and resignation of one of his top advisers, Scooter Libby, stemming from the CIA leak investigation and at the White House, the Supreme Court pick, Harriet Miers forced to withdraw after conservatives pulled their support.
ROB BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The president suffered an almost uninterrupted series of reversals and missteps in 2005.
MALVEAUX: Even overseas. In November, Mr. Bush was bombarded in South America and Asia with questions over his administrations positions on secret detention sites and torture.
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: A pattern of secrecy and a pattern of perceived or alleged abuse that has really troubled an awful lot of Americans.
BUSH: Millions of people voted.
MALVEAUX: December landmark elections in Iraq are now overshadowed by the controversy as to whether or not Mr. Bush over-stepped his bounds in authorizing a secret domestic spy program.
Heading for the holidays, Mr. Bush seemed to acknowledge the challenges ahead.
BUSH: We have got a lot of work to do.
MALVEAUX: Political analysts say Mr. Bush is poised for a comeback.
GERGEN: We have a weakened president. But a president who is not on the ropes. There is plenty of fight left in this fellow.
BROWNSTEIN: Bloody and unbowed, they feel that they are in a position to begin to recover in 2006.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Part of that recovery will be to win modest legislative victories and to also get a Supreme Court pick confirmed. But both Bush aides and political analysts agree, the wild card will be Iraq. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: Coming up later in the show, we will head back to Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where they are rebuilding after last year's devastating tsunami and commemorating this solemn anniversary. And stay tuned for LARRY KING LIVE all day today. CNN will be airing some of Larry's best interviews, featuring celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Barbara Walters and many more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Official one year commemoration services for tsunami victims in Indonesia will take place Monday. That country lost more than 160,000 people either dead or still missing. Today, victims' families and many tourists gathered in Banda Aceh to remember loved ones lost in that disaster. CNN's Atika Shubert examines the destruction and hopes for recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A year ago, Aceh's great mosque behind me was standing in a sea of debris and destruction. Now that has all been cleared away, and the city around it is finally being rebuilt. This area was hardest hit in the disaster. More than 160,000 people were killed here. More than half a million people made homeless. Now Aceh has slowly been rebuilding, about 20,000 new homes have either been built or are under construction.
But unfortunately, it is just not enough. Less than 20 percent of those displaced in the disaster have been able to find new, permanent homes, and about 60,000 people are still living in tents. A situation that aide workers here say is unacceptable and the last few days we have been able to talk to survivors, we talked to one man who was still living in a tent who lost his wife and two daughters.
But he is trying to built a house out of tsunami scrap wood for the family members that remain. We also talked to people who were lucky enough to find permanent housing, and every one of these people is eager to rebuild Aceh and rebuild it not just to the way it was but actually to make Aceh a better place than it was before the tsunami. So clearly, one year later, still, a lot of resilience and hope here in Aceh.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Another country still struggling to recovery from the tsunami is Sri Lanka. At least 31,000 people died there, and more than 4,000 are still missing. The disaster affected millions of people. Our Satinder Bindra has the story of one survivor who many call a hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All aboard and time to roll. Wanigarathne Karunathilaka has been a guard on trains that run along Sri Lanka's south coast for 22 years. On December 26, 2004, Wanigarathne was onboard a train like this, when the sea roared on to land, slammed into the train, and killed more than a thousand people.
"It was like a big monster," he says. "It had a black mouth, and white head, and trying to eat us. It was so big, it was coming right at the train."
The tsunami smacked into train with the intensity of a thunder slap. But rather than panic, Wanigarathne opens several emergency passageways, leading people on to the roof of the train. Later, as the waters subsided, he lead them to higher ground.
"I don't think I am a hero," he says. "I failed to save hundreds of people. I think I am the world's most unfortunate and unlucky man."
These rail cars have still not been removed from the scene of the tragedy. Passengers traveling by train in southern Sri Lanka can see them as they whiz by. And every day, tourists arrive to remember.
(on camera): For many visitors, these mangle rail cars serve as an eternal reminder of nature's fury. Others say, as long as the memorial remains, it will continue to remind them of their loved ones who perished here, and make it difficult to rebuild their lives.
(voice-over): Guard Wanigarathne crosses this spot every day on his train, says it is more appropriate to construct a museum away from the tragedy.
But Mangila Janika (ph) says the rail cars should stay. His air conditioner repair shop was destroyed during the tsunami and he now sells handmade artifacts and boats to visiting tourists. Without the rail cars, Mangila said his business would suffer, and he would never save enough to reopen his shop. As the debate over these rail cars continues, Wanigarathne returns to the scene of the tragedy. Moments later we witness an emotional reunion. Seventeen-year-old Jayanti Nilmini said 12 months ago, the train guard saved her life.
"I was hanging on a coconut tree," she says, "because the water had pushed me up there. And that is when he put out a stick and helped me to come on to the train."
Many others here also recall Wanigarathne's composure and professionalism. But for all of that others think of him, and after year after the disaster, Wanigarathne said he is still consumed by loss, and even if he lives for a thousand years, he says, he can never forget all those who didn't make it home on December 26th last year.
Satinder Bindra, CNN, Perilya (ph), southern Sri Lanka.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Up next, an incredible story of hope for one Iraqi family. We'll tell you how U.S. troops want to give this baby Nour (ph) the gift of life this holiday season. And tune into CNN throughout the day for a "King-sized Christmas" as we air some of the best interviews from LARRY KING LIVE. Featuring celebrities such a Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Barbara Walters and many more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the Gulf Coast, thousands of families remain displaced on this Christmas day, their old homes are gone. Many are still living in temporary housing. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff introduces us to several New Orleans residents ready to call New York their new home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four hotel walls near New York's Kennedy Airport, home for the holidays, it is not. But Sharon Carew and her five year old son Divante formerly of New Orleans find themselves here on this post-Katrina Christmas.
(on camera): What are your plans for Christmas?
CAREW: Hang out in the hotel. I am going to hang around the lobby, probably, I am not sure. Take my son. I have no plans, honestly. We were invited a couple of places, but I didn't want to go. It is not home. At Christmas, you need to be home.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): This is Sharon's home in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. Ruined. As was her business, a cleaning service.
What you would normally be doing?
CAREW: Dropping present it is off to family, nursing homes, my position at this time of the year was to give to the need. Being a receiver in life, it is so hard for me to accept things to people, because I have always been a giver. So it seems, it makes me feel less than who I am.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Sharon Carew arrived here at the Radisson Hotel on September 8th for three and a half months, these hallways have been home. FEMA has been paying the hotel bill but it is committed to only until January 7th. Meanwhile, Sharon and 58 other families in the hotel have been waiting for FEMA rental assistance checks to get a place of their own in New York. The check just arrived for Esther Clarke she also has been living since September at the hotel with her four children and two nieces.
ESTHER CLARKE, FORMER NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Ready to go. I am ready to go. It has been a long, stressful, it is very stressful.
CHERNOFF: With the assistance of Help USA, a nonprofit group that coordinates housing for the needy, Esther has found a home nearby and plans to move the family in a next week. While Sharon hopes that she, too, will have a home in New York where she and her son can celebrate next Christmas.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Here is what is going on around the world today, the duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles's wife Camilla has spent her first Christmas as a full-fledged member of Britain's royal family. Hundreds of people lined the way this morning as the royals walked to St. Mary Magdalene Church, about a quarter mile from the family's Sanderham (ph) estate. Seventy-nine-year-old Queen Elizabeth II took a car.
In Libya, six hospital workers are to receive new trials after six years in prison for allegedly infecting some 400 children with HIV. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor all had been sentenced to death after the state charged they infected the children on purpose. International investigators suspected charges were concocted by the Libyan government to cover up problems at the hospitals.
At least two people have died in a passenger train derailment in northern Japan and rescue officials are searching for people who may be trapped in that wreckage. The cause is not yet known, but investigators think strong winter winds may have played a role.
This isn't a Christmas story. But it seems appropriate for a season that focuses on giving, caring and children. American soldiers in Iraq have taken on a precious cause. A young life. Here's CNN's Aneesh Raman from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It could be any night for these U.S. troops loading up to go to war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Give me 360, gentlemen!
RAMAN: Rapidly securing each location. But this night is unlike the others. This night they are here to save a little girl's life.
Her name is Noor, just 3 months old, born with a debilitating illness, spina bifida. Iraqi doctors in this poor Baghdad neighborhood gave Noor just 45 days to live. But then hope came from an unexpected source at an unexpected time.
CAPT. ANTHONY FOURNIER, U.S. ARMY: We originally came across the baby actually in a -- in a raid. We actually detained her uncle for a few days. But while we were in the house doing the raid, we saw the baby, and that's how it all kind of started.
RAMAN: Told of Noor's condition, told she needed emergency care as soon as possible to have any hope of surviving, care just not available in Iraq, Captain Anthony Fournier and his troops took on Noor's cause. They quickly arranged free flights to the U.S. for her and her family and the free medical care Noor so desperately needs in the soldier's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
In a war riddled with complexities, for Captain Fournier and his men this is blissfully basic. FOURNIER: We can definitely see, hey, we're making a difference here, you know, at least in this one child's life, where a lot of times when you're -- when we're -- when we're out there patrolling, doing raids, arresting people, probably the more violent times of it, we -- I think we just needed an outlet like this.
STAFF SGT. ARCHER FORD IV, U.S. ARMY: We do our jobs here as infantry soldiers because we have to. That's our job and that's what we're asked to do, and we're happy to do it. But this is something that we want do. This is something that we feel that we can give back to the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are passports difficult for you to get?
RAMAN: Noor and her family still need visas and passports. But Georgia's senator, Saxby Chambliss, says that should happen in a day or two. There is an urgency to all this, and it's not Noor's fragile health. Her family fears the revenge of insurgents.
Off camera, Noor's grandfather draws his finger across his throat asking us not to reveal their identities. He and the soldiers know the dangers for his granddaughter are real, but so is the hope for everyone.
CAPT. THOMAS JARRETT, MENTAL HEALTH OFFICER: Because a lot of these guys have been after us a long time and been shot at, blown up, been out here. And to actually directly intervene and help a young child, especially you see the family, to know how much it means to them I think it's probably a great definition of hearts and minds.
RAMAN: In the corner, a family member with prayer beads. Their faith now in these U.S. troops, who in this holiday season are doing all they can to save a little girl named Noor.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: A soldier's story you won't want to miss. It's bittersweet, as a family waits to hear from their son in Iraq.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back this Christmas Day. Here is what's happening "Now in the News."
Pope Benedict XVI is urging the world to unite against terrorism, poverty, environmental degradation. Today was his first Christmas address since ascending to the papacy last April, and he continued the condition of Pope John Paul II by devoting the address to the state of the world and condemning inequality and violence.
People in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia are remembering the victims of last year's Indian Ocean tsunami this weekend. Tomorrow, for the first anniversary, a minute silence will be observed at 10:10 Indonesian time. That's the moment the tsunami struck the region's beaches.
And the boys choir of Harlem is being evicted. The cultural institution is beset by debt and abuse allegations. The city of New York reportedly told the choir to vacate by the end of next month a public school building where it practices cost-free.
In Iraq, Christmas goes to war. Soldiers gather in song and prayer at a candlelight vigil at the Warrior Chapel. Just for fun, U.S. Army officers dressed a Humvee with lights and pull it with soldier reindeer. This is very Christmas (INAUDIBLE) style.
Far from home many soldiers celebrate the holidays apart from their families. Today on CNN SUNDAY MORNING with Tony Harris we had hoped to bring one family a little closer for a special reunion with a satellite hookup. Well, moments before the interview, we learned that Sergeant Lloyd Swain in Baghdad was sent on a special mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Merry Christmas.
BONITA SWAIN, MOTHER: Merry Christmas to you.
LLOYD SWAIN, FATHER: Merry Christmas to you, too.
HARRIS: You know, and I know this is a bit of a shock. It's not how we wanted this to work out this morning. So -- but it does point out how difficult this life is for this family right now when you don't really know from moment to moment when you'll get an opportunity to communicate.
Is that about right, Lloyd?
L. SWAIN: That is absolutely accurate.
HARRIS: When do you get an opportunity? And what do you do? How do you prepare?
I know you leave every phone that you have on, cell phones, everything else. But is that a way of life for you now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty much, yes.
HARRIS: Pretty much?
Well, when is the last time, Bonita, that you talked to your son?
B. SWAIN: Actually yesterday.
HARRIS: You just talked to him yesterday.
B. SWAIN: Yesterday. It was just a wonderful sound just to hear him. And all I could say, just that "I miss you, I love you, and hope to see you soon."
HARRIS: Lloyd, when was -- when was your son deployed? L. SWAIN: I think he actually went to Iraq around May. But he was activated, I believe, around February.
HARRIS: Reservist, correct?
L. SWAIN: Reservist, yes. He's with the 40th, and was about to transfer to another unit. I don't know that that has actually taken place yet. But he's -- had requested some transfers into another unit.
HARRIS: Yes.
L. SWAIN: So I don't know how that -- where that stands right now.
HARRIS: And Benita, you have heard of other missions, he's been on other missions. This isn't his first mission. Does it always make you a little nervous when you hear news like this?
B. SWAIN: Always. It is very frightening. And I just pray, daily.
HARRIS: Lloyd, I have to ask you, what did you think of your son joining the reserves? And what do you think about this mission?
I know he's going to serve his country.
L. SWAIN: Right. And to make it real simple, we don't necessarily deal with the politics of it.
HARRIS: Yes.
L. SWAIN: I have always encouraged my children, whatever decision you make, live with it, execute it, do it well. And we'll talk about it when it's over.
HARRIS: How has he fared, Bonita? You've had an opportunity to talk to him, and there's something that a mom can hear that maybe dads don't even hear in a son's voice. What have you -- what have you heard? How is he doing, really?
B. SWAIN: He really doesn't tell me much. He tries to sound excited.
HARRIS: Yes.
B. SWAIN: Yesterday he sounded excited. But there have been a number of times when he has been a little down. And I've always sent him e- mails just to say, you know, "You pray. And you pray for the soldiers. And you do the best that you can."
HARRIS: Yes.
Travis (ph), good to see you.
What do you miss most about your dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going places with him.
HARRIS: Yes. What kind of places -- what did you guys do together?
Mostly spend father and son time alone.
HARRIS: Demetrius (ph), it's been a while since you spoke to your dad, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: So you were looking forward to this, this morning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: How disappointed are you? And what had you planned to say to him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, well, I was sad that he wasn't able to come, and I hope that -- I hope that he will be able to come home soon so we can see him.
HARRIS: Lloyd, I have to ask you, you know, we all play different roles in families. Who is your son in this family? Is he the organizer, is he the one that keeps everything sort of light? Is he -- who is he in this family?
L. SWAIN: He is the one that tries the parents' patience. No, he is an interesting kid.
And, you know, he's 35 years old. So to say kid really is not accurate.
It is always exciting in dealing with my oldest child. He's -- there's never a dull moment in his life or in ours.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
Bonita, how proud are you of your son, what he's doing, what he's doing for this country?
B. SWAIN: Very proud. I am just -- I am just so -- I don't know. I am very proud of him, though.
HARRIS: What did you want to say to him this morning?
B. SWAIN: I love you, and just that I will be glad to see you. And can't wait until you get home.
HARRIS: Lloyd, what did you want to say to him this morning?
L. SWAIN: Do your job, do it well, come home alive.
HARRIS: Yes. That's dads, straight forward. That's what we do.
Great to see you. I wish it worked out for all of this morning. This would have been fabulous. But what a great family you are. Thank you for getting up Christmas morning and being with us. We appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: He's a jolly old fellow with a long white beard and a bright red suit. But not every child loves Santa Claus. Many kids are actually afraid of him, as CNN's Jeanne Moos found out in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, sure, 'tis the season to be jolly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
MOOS: But it's hard to be jolly when confronted by a bearded guy with a gut dressed all in red.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we both sit with Santa Claus?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no, c'mon, sweetie, sweetie, sweetie.
SANTA CLAUS: There's a lot of rejection in this job.
MOOS: Hey, kids...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): He knows if you've been bad or good...
MOOS: ... no lying.
(on-screen): Were you ever scared to sit on Santa's lap?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
MOOS: Not at all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, this year was the first year they sat on Santa's lap without screaming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would not go near Santa. She walked as far away as she could.
MOOS: But you avoided Santa why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I was tired. They made you get on his lap? Yes.
(voice-over): Newspapers, like the "Chicago Tribune," ask readers to send in "Scared of Santa" photos, with captions like "Category 5 Scream" or "Unhand Us, You Fiend." One woman sent in, "Like Father Like Son," showing her husband when he was 2 next to her son at about the same ages.
Some kids, like Ethan here, even cry when it's their own dad dressed up like Santa. But Dr. Joyce Brothers says no wonder Santa scares kids.
DR. JOYCE BROTHERS, PSYCHOLOGIST: He is abnormal to a child.
MOOS: He's even more abnormal this year. Consider Bloody Santa, wielding a knife and holding a doll's head. A New Yorker put up the display to protest Christmas commercialism, but the display was itself vandalized by those upset over it.
And then there was Hanging Santa in Miami Beach, bound and blindfolded. His owner took down Jolly Old St. Lynched after much uproar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It frightens me, and it disgusts me.
MOOS: That's pretty much how some kids feel about the real thing. There's even research on the subject. Professor John Trinkaus observed several hundred kids in malls waiting to meet Santa. He rated their facial expressions, exhilarated, happy, indifferent, hesitant, saddened, terrified.
Indifferent won by a landslide, though the faces of the grownups accompanying the kids were overwhelmingly happy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared.
MOOS (on-screen): Yes, I know, but why were you scared? What about Santa was a little scary?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: The beard.
MOOS (voice-over): It makes you wonder if kids who are scared of Santa will progress to being scared of clowns. The two older kids in this photo had to hold on to the coat of the girl in the hood so she wouldn't run away.
(on-screen): Are you scared of Santa or are you cool with Santa?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: I'm cool with Santa.
MOOS (voice-over): That's not what mom says.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he wouldn't go in the room with Santa. He was terrified.
MOOS (on-screen): What was it that so scared you about Santa?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His eyes.
MOOS (voice-over): Hey, at least he wasn't terrified of a plastic Santa.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: All right, Galen. I saw you chuckling during that story. Did that bring back some scary memories for you?
GALEN CRADER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I wasn't really all that scared of Santa himself, but I was afraid that he had in fact been watching me that whole year and knew that I was probably more or less on the naughty side.
KAYE: That is -- that is definitely scarier than sitting on his lap.
CRADER: He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake.
KAYE: Yes, scary.
CRADER: It sounds like a stalker, really, doesn't it?
KAYE: It sure does.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: One of the joys of the holiday season is the decorations people adorn their businesses, homes, and sometimes entire neighborhoods with. In Torrance, California, one community has constructed a virtual Christmas wonderland that attracts visitors from all around the region.
CNN's Kareen Wynter takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Holiday magic comes to life from elaborate light displays to decked-out santas. Take your pick. The winter wonderland draws thousands of curious spectators each year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Park the car and just take a walk with the guys. So -- and it's, like I said, something I want them to remember, and probably do, hopefully, with their kids, too.
WYNTER: Bumper-to-bumper traffic on every block. You won't believe where it's all taking place: right on the streets of a suburban neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Easily over 90 percent. There's very few that don't do it.
WYNTER: A 20-year-old tradition that began with one family's festive idea to decorate their home for the holidays.
Decades later, homeowners like the Granstrums say their Christmas creation is one of many on display.
SHERRY GRANSTRUM, RESIDENT: In the beginning, we put too many together and you'd blow a fuse.
WYNTER: The tradition is even mentioned in the purchase agreement when residents buy homes here.
GRANSTRUM: There's not that many places around like that anymore that people can walk and I think feel safe. You hear everybody singing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names...
WYNTER: Oh, the Christmas carols. Santa's little helpers are hard at work.
Cookies and candies, anyone?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) and I don't know what they're doing for it. But I am going to put it to charity.
WYNTER: You can also grab a hot cup of cocoa while taking in the view. Many eye-catching fixtures took months to create, like this mesmerizing merry-go-round. It costs more than $2000, fully equipped with a motor.
ANNIE ENGLERT, RESIDENT: What you get out of it is just -- it far out weighs the extra money that you paid.
WYNTER: The Englerts say their electric bill has also doubled. But you won't hear any complaints.
ENGLERT: Just to contribute to the -- to the awe, and just the magic of the holidays is just -- it's just too much fun. It's great.
WYNTER: Light a tree for visitors, but residents also have a sense of pride, knowing generations have shared in these famous South Bay (ph) fixtures.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Torrance, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Up next, he is the most famous Christmas reindeer around. Where he and the red nose got their start, that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Santa Claus has delivered presents to children all over the world this Christmas, but it wouldn't have been possible without his magical sleigh and a team of reindeer, one of whom is made legendary in song.
Kyra Phillips has the story of how Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was made immortal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: (voice over): Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer may live at the North Pole, but he was born in a department store. Robert May wrote copy for the catalog of the Montgomery Ward chain. He created Rudolph in 1939 for a storybook that Wards gave to shoppers. May's boss worried at first about the red nose, saying it was a trait associated with drunks. But May's story about a reindeer who was first taunted, then celebrated for being different, struck a chord with the public. And by 1946, six million copies had been distributed.
In 1948, May enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks. The result was the song we know today. But we might not know it if it weren't for a singing cowboy.
Gene Autry, the movie and radio star, was better known for horses than reindeer. But his recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" sold six million copies the very first year. Autry's recording became the second biggest Christmas single of all time, right behind Bing Crosby's "White Christmas."
As the years went by, many other performers recorded the song, everyone from Dolly Parton to the Beatles to Lynard Skynard, and a 1964 television cartoon that became a holiday classic.
Robert May died in 1976. Johnny Marks died in 1985. And Gene Autry passed in 1998.
Even Montgomery Wards is gone. But Rudolph lives on every Christmas, guiding Santa's sleigh...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?
PHILLIPS: ... and reminding each new generation of children that there's nothing wrong with being a little bit different.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Keep watching CNN.
Next up, Larry King's "King Size Christmas." All day here on CNN we're airing the best interviews from "LARRY KING LIVE," featuring the likes of Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Barbara Walters and many more. Up next, Larry interviews actor Christopher Kennedy Lawford.
I'm Randi Kaye. Enjoy your Christmas Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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