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Sunni Mosques Attacked in Baghdad; Attention Shoppers
Aired November 24, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris from the second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning. Stay informed. Here's what's on the rundown.
Reports of Sunni mosques attacked today in Baghdad a day after Shi'ites were targeted in a deadly, deadly day of war.
COLLINS: Followers of a powerful hardline cleric make a threat, but will it impact President Bush's upcoming trip to the Middle East?
HARRIS: And attention shoppers, our Ali Velshi's in the mall with the feel good gifts of the season. You have to buy one, get one this Friday, November 24th. You are in the NEWSROOM.
Sectarian violence on the rise in Iraq. News just in that a Sunni neighborhood is attacked on the heels of a horrific Shi'ite bloodbath. For details, let's go live now to CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad.
And Arwa, so much to talk about. You get us started with the latest on the Sunni neighborhood being attacked and we'll go from there.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, what we do now know is that a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad was attacked. In fact, a rocket propelled grenade, an RPG, was launched into a Sunni mosque. Details still coming in as that situation develops.
At the same time in another neighborhood, a Shi'ia mosque was attacked. What we are hearing from residents is that mortars were fired at the mosque. As they tried to respond to put the flames out, gunmen stopped them.
We have had a series of both Sunni and Shi'ia mosques come under attack. We have also had a series of mortar attacks on both Sunni and Shi'ia neighborhoods. This, of course, all stemming from that deadly devastating attack that happened in Sadr City yesterday, where five simultaneous car bombs detonated. The death toll there increasing. Right now, we know that at least 200 Iraqis were killed. Another 250 were wounded.
Now the government has imposed a lockdown on the entire capitol in an effort to curb sectarian violence, to try to cut down on these retaliatory attacks that we are seeing. It is effective to a certain degree, but as you can tell, the violence does continue here, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. And Arwa, let's talk a bit about Muqtada al Sadr's threat, an Iraqi member of the al Sadr block of the parliament, saying that the group will suspend its participation in Iraq's government if the prime minister meets with the president next week.
DAMON: That's right. A spokesman for the group made that announcement on national television, blatantly stating that if Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki goes ahead with his scheduled meeting with U.S. President Bush, set to take place in - some time next week, that the group will suspend its activities within the government.
Now this puts the prime minister in a very tricky position. On one hand, he largely owes his prime ministership to the support of Muqtada al Sadr's block. On the other hand, he cannot afford to alienate the United States right now.
So how this all plays out, what the prime minister's next step will be, how he handled this situation will really be a likely clear indication of who the real power brokers in this country are at this point. Tony?
HARRIS: And Arwa, we're just getting news that Muqtada al Sadr also is challenging a top Sunni leader to take steps to stop the violence. What can you add to this?
DAMON: Well, that announcement came during Friday prayers in the holy Shi'ia city of Najaf. Muqtada al Sadr addressed a crowd there, stating that Habuk al Gadi (ph), who is the leading Sunni scholar here, should issue a number of fatwahs, a number of religious edicts to encourage his people to try to bring down the sectarian violence, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. CNN's Arwa's Damon for us in Baghdad. Arwa, thank you.
COLLINS: The White House, of course, keeping a close eye on a deteriorating situation in Iraq. Live now to CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Of course, that deadliest day for Iraqis yesterday. And attacks today. The White House - clearly there is a lot at stake for this government as well as the Iraqi government. It only underscores and really renews a sense of urgency to these talks that are going to be happening here.
Vice President Cheney heading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this afternoon to talk with King Abdullah. And then of course, Wednesday and Thursday, President Bush will head to Jordan. That is where he'll be meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. Now reaction ready from the White House on that deadly day yesterday. Scott Stansil, deputy White House spokesman, telling me earlier this morning, "We condemn such acts of violence that are clearly aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's hopes for a peaceful and stable Iraq. The U.S. is committed to helping the Iraqis. And President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki will meet next week to discuss the security situation in Iraq. And it's a top priority in those discussions."
Also Scott Stansil saying and reaction to the Sadr threat that he would pull his support if Maliki met with President Bush. He said that those meetings will continue, that their schedule will not change in any way, that these discussions are very, very important for the Iraqi government and the administration.
And Heidi, what we are seeing here is certainly public statements of confidence in Maliki's government. But clearly, behind the scenes quietly, a great deal of frustration, a great deal of concern whether or not Maliki will actually be able to pull this off.
Heidi?
COLLINS: Oh, yes, it will be very interesting to watch. All right, Suzanne Malveaux from the White House today. Thanks.
23 hours after it began, a hostage drama in Chicago comes to a violent end. Police storm the apartment building after hearing single gunshot. Inside, they found the gunman and his lone female hostage gravely wounded. They both later died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIRST DEP. SUPT. DANA STARKS, CHICAGO POLICE: As we went in, we do know that we used what we call a flash bang. And it was a lot of noise going on. So another round may have been fired and we just didn't hear it based on all the noise that was going on.
And again, to answer your second question, at no time did the Chicago police department fire a weapon. At no time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Police say the gunman and his hostage were neighbors. They also say despite earlier reports of a second hostage, no one else was inside the apartment.
HARRIS: Well, the FBI is now offering a reward in the search for two young brothers missing in Minnesota. There has been no sign of the boys since they disappeared from the Red Lake Indian Reservation Wednesday. They are 2 and 4 years old.
Today, the FBI posted a $20,000 reward for information that leads to their safe return. Right now, authorities say they have very little to go on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL MCCABE, FBI: We do not know any more information than we knew yesterday. We don't know if there's foul play or whether the children just wandered off into the woods. There's no evidence at this time that leads us that there's foul play. We just want to make sure that we're not being narrow-minded and that we are pursuing that angle, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Police and volunteers are scouring the area where the boys were last seen. They're using horses, bloodhounds and four wheelers to search the woods and woodlands.
COLLINS: Rob Marciano is joining us now to talk more about the weather situation. I don't know. I mean, seems like everybody's going to be inside shopping. Do we care about the weather today?
HARRIS: Yes.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Heck, yes. Not everybody's...
COLLINS: Not that we don't care about you.
MARCIANO: Heidi, please.
COLLINS: Well, there are like 20 gabillion people. I mean, we don't even have a number for how many are out there today.
MARCIANO: You know, with the risk of getting in trouble from the higher ups, I think we make it a little bit bigger of a deal than this shopping craze than really it's out to be. I think there are people...
COLLINS: There's TVs in the malls.
MARCIANO: ...doing other things besides going shopping today.
HARRIS: There's a phone call waiting for you, Rob.
MARCIANO: I know. I don't think my key's going to work tomorrow. Hey, we've got wind, but not too cold as far as the weather's concerned across the New York area.
Here's that storm finally heading out to sea. Breezy conditions in behind it. There were record rainfall amounts in parts of New York Metropolitan area and up towards Bridgeport, Connecticut yesterday. And we have winds gusting over 50 miles an hour in Plymouth, Massachusetts. That's all going to be history, especially later on today.
Back side of this high is just beautiful weather. I mean, if you are heading to the mall or maybe just doing some window shopping outside, it's great stuff, or even, you know, do some exercise. Maybe go for a run and jog off some of that bird, you're going to have great weather across the South, especially. Slightly cooler weather across the -- the inner mountain west after temperatures yesterday in Denver in the 60s. You get up to about 50 degrees. So that's good temperatures especially the higher elevations that'll be right around freezing.
So good snow conditions for the ski resorts out there that are in full force now for this holiday weekend.
Expected weather delays, maybe a little bit of wind delays in New York and Boston today. We've had reports of fog across parts of Detroit and Cleveland. And if you're doing some traveling today, the day after Christmas -- day after Thanksgiving, getting ahead of myself here, you might run into some issues there.
Another batch of rain and mountain snow across the Pacific Northwest tomorrow. Snow levels down about 2,000 feet. So it will be an issue traveling up and over the Cascades, and later on, maybe up and over the Siskus (ph). Change may be required in some of these mountain passes, but this is standard fare this time of year.
The only issue is that Seattle has had a record breaking month of November for rain already. And we're not even close to being done yet.
Tomorrow's highs, 43 in Portland, 59 in New York, 68 degrees in Atlanta.
Now if you're stuck in a mall in Atlanta at 68 degrees and sunshine, I mean, I can think a lot better things to do now.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. 68 degrees here in November, come on now.
COLLINS: It's terrific. Isn't it?
HARRIS: Yes, it's great.
COLLINS: In the past, never experienced anything like it.
MARCIANO: Take me and Tony out to your golf club.
HARRIS: Palatial estate, yes.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: We're lounge around...
COLLINS: I can't even get a tee time. It's - you know, wait until 3:00.
HARRIS: Works for us.
COLLINS: Yes, right.
MARCIANO: Nine holes in.
COLLINS: We'll check in with you a little bit later, Rob. Thank you.
MARCIANO: Thank you.
COLLINS: We do have football this weekend.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
COLLINS: So let's hear it for the band. All right?
HARRIS: From Georgia to Africa, these kids rock. The director of one of the most dynamic and famous high school bands in the country joins us, along with some of the players ahead. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
And Ali Velshi making sure the malls are safe for shoppers. And oh -- Ali, good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm at Bath and Body Works. I'm at the front of the line. I got two gifts. You guys are going to decide which one you want. This is the robe. It's the sweetest, softest robe on earth, pre-bought. And this is the wickedly hot chocolate three-in-one body wash, bubble bath, and shampoo.
You guys think about that. We got to take a quick break. I'll be back with more of this in the NEWSROOM coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The latest vaccines make headlines, helping protect against shingles and cervical cancer. So what other vaccines can we expect to see in the future? Miles O'Brien has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sure I was strung out. I've conquered a lot of stuff in my life. This is just tough. I've been smoking for 35 years. I've tried the patch, gum, support groups, medication. But it's hard. We found out I was going to be a grandma. And now I baby sit for this little darling. I wouldn't want to do anything that would cause her any suffering. This is something that I've just got to do.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Putting a stop to addictive behavior is no easy task. But with 47 million smokers in the U.S., and no sure fire method to kick the habit, what help can smokers expect in the future?
(voice-over): Dr. Gary Naval, director of the Vaccine Research Center at National Institute of Health says vaccines may play a role in eliminating habitual behavior.
GARY NAVAL, NIH: Those addictions are caused by small molecules, by drugs, that circulate in the blood. One of the approaches taken now is to see if you can essentially neutralize those drugs as they circulate in the body. So the vaccine acts like a sponge to soak up the drug that would otherwise go to the brain. O'BRIEN: Leading the pack is nic vacs, a vaccine showing the most promise in clinical trials, but Naval is quick to say that it will take more just than a vaccine to stop smoking or drug use.
NAVAL: It will involve the willingness of that person to want to leave it behind.
O'BRIEN: Naval is also optimistic vaccines may be the answer to other widespread health problems.
NAVAL: With the new technology, we will see the applications of vaccine technology grow. The numbers of people afflicted with Alzheimer's or the addiction problems, or heart disease, are very great. And even if we help a small fraction, those will be a lot of individuals who can benefit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A former Russian spy dies in London. And just a short time ago, British authorities said Alexander Litvinenko was apparently poisoned by radiation. His friends and family accuse Moscow. Russian authorities deny any involvement. A Kremlin spokesman says the allegations are nothing but nonsense. Russia's president commented on the case today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (through translator): A death is always a tragedy. And I -- and I would extend my condolences to the family of Mr. Litvinenko.
But as far as I understand, the medical statements of British physicians, it doesn't say that this was a result of violence or this is not a violent death. So there is no grounds for speculation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And as we give you this news, we want to go straight to London. We were listening to Pat Troop. She is with the British Health Organization, commenting on Alexander Litvinenko. Let's listen in.
PAT TROOP: ...anybody else is at risk.
And so, my colleague will answer about whether or not the general environment is sufficient to cause a risk.
ROGER COX: Just to clarify the situation, as far as the calculation that the dose that Mr. Litvinenko is likely to have received, this is the subject of the computer modeling that we are currently undertaking. And we will do that for as best of our abilities for a series of organs using computer models.
As far as the question as to whether such a dose could arise from natural sources, it's -- it's very difficult but I could not exclude the possibility, could not exclude it at present. It's unlikely that I think this is from natural causes.
(INAUDIBLE)
COX: Computer modeling on the basis of the alpha activity that has been - that was being detected in the urine sample from Mr. Litvinenko.
So the modeling allows you to work backwards in time to predict what the -- the accumulated doses to different organs are. OK?
(INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: Now we want to go back just for a moment to make sure that we get clarification on this story that we've been telling you about for a few days here on CNN. The death of Alexander Litvinenko. And this is a press conference with more information about that suspected death.
Let's go ahead and as to what may have caused it, I should say. Roger Cox, a radiation expert, that man on the screen. Yes, let's listen to what he said a moment ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROGER COX: Now, with regards to the incident, as Pat has said, at around 6:00 p.m. yesterday, HPA, (INAUDIBLE) Radiation Protection Division received information via the police that a large quantity of alpha radiation, probably from a substance called polonium tutane, which I'll say something about a little later on, for this last quantity of alpha radiation had been detected in the urine of Mr. Litvinenko.
The links between Mr. Litvinenko's symptoms and this alpha radiation exposure is a matter for the police. And I cannot comment further on this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So there you have it, an interesting press conference there. That was Roger Cox, who's a radiation expert in the case of the British -- Russian spy, I should say. British authorities saying that Alexander Litvinenko was apparently poisoned by radiation. We'll continue to follow this story and the fallout from it here on CNN.
HARRIS: And when we come back, we will visit with Ali Velshi, who will tell us whether or not those -- Ali, are those door buster deals as good as advertised, sir?
VELSHI: I don't know if the deals are as good as advertised, but the stores are packed. There's line-ups. People all over the place. It's kind of unbelievable. A lot of great people watching here.
I'm going to have a lot more on this and my gift selections for you guys when we come back.
HARRIS: There you go. VELSHI: We're taking a quick break, but we will be back in the NEWSROOM in a minute. And I'll be here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We're checking the big board now on this very busy shopping day, where lots of money is likely being exchanged. The Dow Jones industrial average is down about 36 points there, resting around 12290 or so. Nasdaq also down about 10. But we'll see what happens come Monday after all this activity, I think.
HARRIS: Yes. So the day after Thanksgiving, you can expect two things -- leftovers and long lines at the mall. Today is the official start of the holiday shopping season. Our Ali Velshi is at a mall in Garden City, New York.
Hey, Ali, my wife heard you talking about this three-in-one- chocolate body -- let's put that aside for a moment.
VELSHI: Body shampoos. No, Tony, that's old news, man.
HARRIS: Yes, what is going on there?
VELSHI: I got the perfect - look at this. I got the perfect gift for you guys. You're sitting -- thank you very much for that, by the way. So you guys are sitting next to each other. You're not always on TV together. So if I give you each one of these, you and Heidi, while one of you's reading the news, the other one can be, you know, doing this little massage thing on the back.
HARRIS: Oh, send that up here right away.
VELSHI: I'll definitely get them for you. It's totally the television anchors' friend.
So I'm here at Bath and Body Works at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, Long Island. It's packed. People have been here since 5:00 in the morning.
And when I got here, I saw people coming out with shopping bags already. It's unbelievable. Look at all these people around. I don't know if it's got anything to do with deals or it's got anything to do with the fact that the shopping season for Christmas has started. You got 30 days to go. And you got to start today if you want to get it all done.
So some of these stores have these deals that ended at noon. Some of them have big, splashy deals. This place has got fantastic layouts. The idea is you don't - you know, you're looking for stuff. You have your specifics in mind. And then you come in here and you say, oh, that looks nice. And you grab them.
But I've heard people asking for specific things. I've seen people look at the displays. There's all sorts of staff all over the place. I have seen people start to turn away because of the lineups. And that's the biggest fear for retailers. But fundamentally, Heidi and Tony, we are expecting this to be a really good retail shopping season. And all indications we've had from across the country so far is that it's off to a really good start.
HARRIS: And this isn't even the biggest shopping day of the holiday shopping season. There are a couple of bigger days down the road. Is that correct?
VELSHI: Yes, sometimes the day before - the Saturday before Christmas. Sometimes December 23rd. They alternate. This has at some points been the busiest day. Traditionally Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving...
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: ...was the day that companies went for being in the red to being in the black, to being profitable. So it's definitely the kickoff of the most important month in retailing in America.
And once again, it looks like Americans are going to answer the call and do their job.
X: Man oh man, what a day. Look at all those folks behind you. All those bags.
VELSHI: It's unbelievable.
HARRIS: Retailers love it.
VELSHI: Santa. I'm telling you, this is fun.
HARRIS: Yes, OK, Ali. Appreciate it. Thank you.
VELSHI: All right. See you.
COLLINS: Oh, I think that's a pretty darn good idea he has there.
HARRIS: You like that? He knows what you like, Heidi.
COLLINS: And you.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Hey, we do want to hear from you, though. What's on your holiday shopping list? You can e-mail us at cnnnewsroom...
HARRIS: What was that?
COLLINS: I'm not quite sure.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Is Miles O'Brien back there? That's an inside joke from yesterday - the golfing, the day before yesterday. Anyway, newsroom@cnn.com. We will share some of your shopping lists on the air. It's ahead in the NEWSROOM. So don't miss that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A former Russian spy dies in London. And just a short time ago, British authorities said Alexander Litvinenko was apparently poisoned by radiation. His friends and family accused Moscow. Russian authorities deny any involvement.
A Kremlin spokesman says the allegations are nothing but nonsense. Russia's president commented on the case today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (through translator): Death is always a tragedy. And I abhor this. And I would extend my condolences to the family of Mr. Litvinenko.
But as far as I understand the medical statement of British physicians, it doesn't say that this was a result of violence. This is not a violent death. So there is no grounds for speculation of this kind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: In the interest of providing more context, we also want to bring you a bit of a sound bite from a gentleman by the name of Roger Cox; he's a radiation expert who commented just a short minute ago on this case, as well. Listen in.
ROGER COX, RADIATION EXPERT: As regards to the incident, at around 6:00 p.m. yesterday, HPA, that is the radiation protection division, received information, via the police, that a large quantity of alpha radiation, probably from a substance called polonium 210, which I'll say something about a little later on, this last quantity of alpha radiation had been detected in urine of Mr. Litvinenko. The links between Mr. Litvinenko's symptoms and this alpha radiation exposure is a matter for the police and I cannot comment further on this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Once again, Roger Cox, a radiation expert. HPA, he's referring to the British health protection agency. Our Jim Boulden is live in London now, he's been covering this story for the last several days.
Jim, it was interesting to me because we heard Roger Cox say that -- the piece he just explained, he was not going to comment. And then a few minutes later, in that press conference, we were able to air live here, that he said it is unlikely to think that this is from natural causes, the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: Yeah. Absolutely, Heidi.
I think this really is the bomb shell. The family of the ex- Russian spy said they wanted a smoking gun, and indeed I think they got the smoking gun. Roger Cox and the other health experts said they believe he was poisoned by polonium 210, this is a radiation isotope. And they said the only way he could have gotten it, he would have had to have eaten it, ingested it, he would have had to inhaled it, or he would have to absorb it through the skin into the blood.
And, of course, it had a large dose -- as you heard there -- a large dose of this uranium-type radiation poisoning. And so we are now getting the confirmation -- actually they had the confirmation last night, and did not reveal it to us until today, that in fact, he was exposed to a large amount of radiation.
They won't say it killed him, because technically you have to have a coroner in this country actually say what the cause of death is, but they're telling us that this is unlikely that he would have had it naturally. They're not telling us what the police are doing at this moment.
They are saying they want to look at some of the health staff here, at this hospital, where the former spy died yesterday. They want to see if anybody else is exposed to this radiation. That's what these people are doing at this moment.
We wait to hear from the police of where their investigation is going and whether there are any -- is any way to link it back to the Kremlin -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So, Jim, if indeed the coroner does come up with the same sort of conclusion, or at least suspected conclusion that we heard from Roger Cox, about the radiation, what could happen next? You mentioned the family waiting for a bomb shell. Would they then go to sue the government? Sue the agency? I'm not sure what could happen next for them?
BOULDEN: Well, the family has said all along they believe he was poisoned by members of the Kremlin, just somebody, an enemy of this man. Because he in turn became and enemy of the state. He defected from Russia, he became a British citizen, just a few weeks ago, in fact. We have to wait to see what happens now.
The British government, other European governments, are going to be with the Russians later in an EU/Russia summit. And we'll have to see if this comes up. It could turn into a very messy diplomatic incident -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Boy, it sounds like it could, indeed. Jim Boulden, live in London, on this one. Thank you very much, Jim.
HARRIS: And new developments out of Iraq today. There is word that gunmen have attacked a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. Mosques and some houses have been burned. Our Arwa Damon reports that Shiite mosques also have come under attack. In this just in to CNN, police are saying that Shiite militiamen have grabbed six Sunnis, as they left a worship service today. Doused them with kerosene and then burned them alive, this according to the Associated Press.
So all of this new violence after yesterday's blood bath in Sadr City targeting Shiites. Look at these pictures. More than 200 people were killed and 250 others injured. In a string of coordinated explosions. It was the worst single attack in Iraq since the war began.
Radical Shiite Cleric Muqtada al Sadr is now challenging a top Sunni leader to take steps to stop the violence. This comes amid concerns that the cycle of sectarian violence will lead to an all-out civil war. Meanwhile, al Sadr's followers are threatening to boycott the government if Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki meets with President Bush. That meeting scheduled next week in Amman, Jordan.
The escalating violence between Sunnis and Shiites, calls for a -- well, a quick review of the two schools of Islam and how all of this tension came to be. Here are the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About one in every five people on the planet consider themselves Muslim. That's about 1.2 billion. But there are many divisions in the Muslim community, the largest being between Shiites and Sunnis.
The majority of the world's Muslim population follows the Sunni branch; only about 15 percent follow the Shiite branch. But in some countries, the concentration of Shiites is larger. These nations are Bahrain, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Iran and Iraq.
Shiites historically believe that religious authority has been handed down from Prophet Mohammad through blood lines. When you hear the terms imams and ayatollah, these refer to Shiite religious leaders. Sunnis attach much less importance to their leaders and much more importance on Muslim traditions.
There can be extremists in both branches of Islam. But Sunni extremists like Osama bin Laden have focused predominantly on the corruption of the religion. And specifically, the negative influence of Western culture. In Iraq, both Shiite and Sunni insurgent groups have carried out attacks against coalition forces, but most Shiite groups have dropped violent opposition to pursue political activism.
As the majority, Shiites have been successful in dominating the leadership of Iraq's new government. Needless to say, many Sunni insurgent groups have not been satisfied by these results of the democratic elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Ready, set, shop. And so they did. The race for holiday sales begins. We are live and a look at what's selling and who's buying. You are in NEWSROOM.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.
Sony says it has a problem with another one of it's products. I'll tell you which one, when NEWSROOM returns. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Electronics are high on the wish list for many people this holiday season, but one big electronics company has some bad news about the digital camera. Suzanne Lisovicz has the details now from the New York Stock Exchange.
Bad news? We don't any bad news.
LISOVICZ: I know it. And especially Sony, doesn't want bad news. This is another blow on what has been a terrible year for this electronics giant. It says it's found a defect in some of the popular Cybershot digital cameras. The problem, the LCD screens may not display correctly and worse, the cameras might not take pictures at all.
The defective cameras include eight models that were sold between '03 and '05. Sony is offering to repair the affected cameras for free. This is not the first time Sony has had problems with its digital cameras. The company reported similar problems in some of the other models last October -- Heidi.
COLLINS: As you say, we have been hearing about Sony recently. Most of it not very good. What's going to happen with them?
LISOVICZ: Well, it is a huge company. The good news is that it had the James Bond -- also the company that has the James Bond franchise and that picture's been doing really well. But bad news has really plagued the company.
Of course, we talked about the global recall of millions of its laptop batteries. Also, numerous delays with PlayStation3 just came out. And, shortages on that. Sony's also fallen behind rivals in areas such as flat panel TVs, portable music players, DVD recorders.
And today's announce about the digital camera, not sitting well with investors. Shares that trade here in New York, are down 1 percent. Sony not the only one with glitches today. Wal-Mart's website was down earlier this morning. According to Alexa.com (ph), a web traffic monitoring service, Wal-Mart.com, the seventh most popular shopping site on the Internet. Since today is the basically the kickoff to the holiday shopping season, the site could expect a lot of eyeballs today, so not good timing there.
But while Wal-Mart's site maybe getting a lot of traffic, when it is up to speed, there's not a lot of action today here on Wall Street. Today is a shortened trading day. Many investors are making it a very long weekend. Volume will be light. Stocks, right now, on the negative side, currency to blame there. The U.S. dollar taking a big fall against other major currencies. The Dow right now down 26, the Nasdaq down 4. We're about a fifth of 1 percent.
And that is the latest from Wall Street. Tony and Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: All right. Susan Lisovicz, thank you.
HARRIS: How about this? A high school band, more famous than the football team? Well, that is the story right here in Georgia. From Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to the Rose Bowl Hollywood and the Olympics, the Southwest DeKalb High School Marching Band has been there, done that, and now it is headed now to Africa. Joining me here, Band Director James Seda, also junior band member Ayana Bracero, and Rashad Davis, a senior with the band, a senior in high school as well.
Good to see you all.
JAMES SEDA, BAND DIRECTOR, SOUTHWEST DEKALB HIGH SCHOOL: Good to see you.
HARRIS: James, how did you get this invitation? It has to be a tremendous honor, but how did it come your way?
SEDA: Big-time honor. Maybe just three weeks ago, the time line is very quick. We got a call, as well as a letter from Eddie Robinson Foundation. Of course, Eddie Robinson being the legendary coach --
HARRIS: Legendary coach of the Brambling University, absolutely.
SEDA: His grandson is running the foundation in his name, based here in Atlanta. And last couple of years or so, they've been organizing this event in Abuja, and everything is in place, and now they needed a band.
HARRIS: Wow.
SEDA: And just by chance, we got contacted. He's aware of our program. He's had Mr. Watkins, that is Michael Watkins, who is the chairman of the foundation, seen our band. He recognized the movie and --
HARRIS: Well, well, tell everyone about, well, the credits, the honors -- I mean, this is -- this is a pretty well-known established almost, dare I say, famous band featured in "Drum Line" the movie, of what, three, four years ago?
SEDA: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: What other honors has this band won?
SEDA: Well, we were honored here in Atlanta to be the featured band in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. The band has traveled abroad once, went to Nice, France, in '97. We've done the Macy's parade. Most recently, the tournament of roses parade in California, so we get a lot of exposure for the band. HARRIS: Rashad, Rashad, you're going to Nigeria?
RASHAD DAVIS, TUBA PLAYER, S.W. DEKALB H.S. MARCHING BAND: Yes, I am.
HARRIS: How do you feel about that?
DAVIS: This is wonderful. Like, last year I did the Rose Bowl Parade and thought that would be the biggest event of my time in the band.
HARRIS: Yes.
DAVIS: But this came up. And this is exciting to be able to go on so many trips and just do all of these great things in the band. It is really wonderful.
HARRIS: Ayana, Abuja, Nigeria? Do you know where it is on the map? Do you know where Abuja is? I know you know where Nigeria is. Do you know where Abuja is?
AYANA BRACERO, BAND MEMBER, S.W. DEKALB H.S. MARCHING BAND: Not exactly, but --
HARRIS: That's why I here to help you. So James, this is about a, what, 10, 12, 14-hour flight?
SEDA: Yeah. They're telling us between 10 and 12 hours.
HARRIS: I sort of mapped out your itinerary, your flight itinerary, and the route here. Why don't we -- you leave from Atlanta, of course. Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, the busiest airport in the nation. Look out, O'Hare.
And then here's what you're going to do. Let me tele-strate here. From Atlanta, you are probably my guess is not knowing the itinerary, you are probably going to land somewhere in Europe. Say Amsterdam, maybe London Heathrow, maybe Frankfurt. Maybe you'll end up in Germany and then fly down to Abuja. How about that? Have it just about right there?
SEDA: Just about. What they're telling us, actually, we're doing a charter.
HARRIS: You what?
SEDA: We're doing a charter plane.
HARRIS: How fancy is this? You're getting a charter?
SEDA: The entire foundation, everybody involved in the production of the game, the events, the athletes, themselves, the foundation members, they've chartered a plane.
HARRIS: That's fine. You take the charter from Atlanta over to Europe somewhere and then down to -- right, right Abuja? SEDA: The fortunate thing that I'm hearing is that we have an opportunity to fly directly into Abuja out of Atlanta.
HARRIS: Excuse me?
SEDA: Nonstop.
HARRIS: Nonstop?
SEDA: Nonstop to Abuja.
HARRIS: So, forget all that. From here, there, on the charter?
SEDA: Looks like it. Looks like what we are going to do.
HARRIS: Outstanding. Where are you performing?
SEDA: We are performing at the, of course, the national stadium in Abuja. That's the climax event.
HARRIS: Wow.
SEDA: Just so happened to be a 30-year celebration of the city of Abuja, of course, as the capital of Nigeria. So, there are a lot of events and activities, political and public events. We are doing a parade two days before the actual performance.
HARRIS: Oh, that's great.
Ayana, you know the national stadium there, 60,000 --
BRACEROP: Oh, yes.
HARRIS: People. Nervous yet?
BRACERO: I'm not really. I have performed for a lot of people.
HARRIS: You are confident? You're ready to go?
BRACERO: Yes.
HARRIS: Rashad, tell us what it's like to perform in front of 60,000 people. She will be nervous, correct?
DAVIS: No. She shouldn't be.
HARRIS: Why not? It's 60,000 people in a country you haven't visited before. She will be nervous.
DAVIS: Not at all. This is what we do. Performing is a part of our lives. Just comes naturally to us. So, she shouldn't be nervous at all.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: James, how proud are you of this band? The way they performed through the years. And how much are you looking forward to this opportunity? For them as a learning opportunity? Let's putt aside the playing opportunity, the performing opportunity, but a learning opportunity for these young people.
SEDA: The education is priceless. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we're blessed and unfortunate to get such opportunities. You know, and I say it very humbly, quite frequently. So, for them to get an opportunity to travel to Africa, to experience the culture, to experience what they've only read about until this point, is definitely priceless, and once in a lifetime. I really hope that they cultivate every aspect of it.
HARRIS: When are you leaving?
SEDA: December 12th and return on December 17th.
HARRIS: Ayana, you're going to get a camera?
BRACERO: Oh, yes.
HARRIS: All right, you're going to take plenty of pictures. Maybe -- what do you think, Rashad? Maybe, I don't know, maybe a video camera? Take pictures.
DAVIS: Definitely. I plan to take a few cameras.
HARRIS: OK, let's s do that. Let's get some of those pictures. Have a great time. Bring some of those pictures back. And you know, put a little something together, let's bring you back here into the NEWSROOM and let's talk about the trip and great experience you are about to go have. All right?
DAVIS: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: Enjoy the rest of the holiday season. Enjoy this magnificent trip you are about to take. How many are you taking?
SEDA: We're taking 160 band members and 15 other traveling adults with us.
HARRIS: Have a great time. Come back and see us.
SEDA: Will do. Thanks a lot.
HARRIS: Have lots of pictures all right?
DAVIS: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: Have a great time.
Let's take you now over to Rob Marciano in the Weather Center.
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COLLINS: All right, we want to know what's coming up on the week. We have T.J. Holmes getting ready to tell us all about that, and Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there. Unfortunately sometimes holiday season and stress seem to go hand in hand, but don't worry. We have some help for you. Some tips to help you stay calm, cool and collected this season.
So on Saturday morning, by all means you need to join us and we'll tell you how to welcome and even enjoy your extended family when they come to visit.
Plus this
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And if all else fails, maybe ballroom dancing to bring down your blood pressure. But you'd better bring your checkbook. The price of the Chinese Cha-Cha. Yeah, that's in our "Watercooler". Then Sunday, CNN is your holiday travel headquarters. We'll have up to the minute details and flight delays and weather conditions. Al that, plus the day's to stories starting tomorrow on "CNN Saturday Morning".
HARRIS: We have witnessed an extraordinary 24-hours of violence in Iraq. Hundreds of people dead and wounded. An update on the explosion of sectarian violence in that country just ahead in NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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HARRIS: You're with CNN. You're informed. Good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep come into the NEWSROOM on this Friday, November 24th.
Stop the killing, a popular cleric calls to end the sectarian violence in Iraq. One of his suggestions, a prohibition against joining Al Qaeda.
HARRIS: This as Sunnis and Shiites suffer in savage coordinated attacks. We are live from Baghdad with the new developments there.
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