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President Bush Ponders New Iraq Strategy; Former Chilean Dictator Dies; Space Shuttle Discovery Prepares to Dock With International Space Station; Almost 200 Cruise Passengers Catch Virus; Democrats Vow To Change Paid Leave Options For Millions Of Americans
Aired December 11, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.
Looking for parking outside the International Space Station -- a live update on Discovery with CNN's Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: New twists and more victims in the poison spy saga -- the story with a half-life all its own.
LEMON: Frozen solid and blowing sideways -- extreme conditions on Oregon's Mount Hood complicating the search for three missing climbers.
You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
In between Iraq strategy sessions, and under the gun to find a new strategy fast, President Bush talking to as many people as he can, before unwrapping a new plan by Christmas -- he wants a new way forward. But can he reverse the course of the war?
Let's go straight to the White House and our Elaine Quijano -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Don.
Well, the political pressure is certainly intensifying for President Bush to come up with some new policies on Iraq, with Democrats poised to take control of Congress, and, of course, in the wake of that sobering report by the Iraq Study Group, that report released last week.
For now, as he weighs various options, the president is basically in listening mode. In fact, over the next few days, he is going to be holding sessions with various officials within the administration. This morning, he was over at the State Department.
He and the vice president and top Bush aides met privately with senior officials there, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. And officials here insist that, although the president is seeking advice largely from the same group of advisers who have been in place since the start of the Iraq war, that they are still able to give fresh assessments of the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's also -- look it's not, also, as if these -- these folks just sort of sat around and stared blankly in a room and said, "Well, gosh, we have been doing this. We don't have any new ideas."
They, themselves, have also had conversations with a number of others, and they have been soliciting ideas so that they can think of creative ways and effective ways of moving forward toward that goal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And, this hour, the president is set to sit down with a handful of outside foreign policy and military experts, including some former generals, in the Oval Office.
And the consultations will continue tomorrow and Wednesday, including a videoconference tomorrow with military commanders on the ground in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad.
Now, all of this comes as the president is waiting on the results of three internal administration reviews from the Pentagon, the State Department, and the National Security Council. Senior Bush aides say that the hope is that any changes to the president's Iraq policy might be announced in a speech, possibly before Christmas -- Don.
LEMON: Well, Elaine, here's something very interesting, meanwhile. The White House is responding to wire reports of efforts within the Iraqi government to oust Prime Minister al-Maliki? What can you tell us about that?
QUIJANO: Yes. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked about this today. And he basically denied it, flatly. He said that they just aren't true, those reports, said that there is no move afoot to oust Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq.
And, so, how did these reports come about? Well, Tony Snow said that he believes that perhaps somebody cobbled together threads of information, jumped to conclusions, but, again, flatly denying that.
And he went on to say that the president has confidence in Nouri al-Maliki, as does a prominent Shia politician, somebody the president met with last week, Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim. But, as for any truth to the rumor, officials here say, based on conversations they have had with people in Iraq, they don't believe it's true -- Don.
LEMON: Elaine Quijano, at the White House, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Urban warfare in Baghdad -- dozens more Iraqis dead or homeless. Today, at least three were killed in separate bombings. Over the weekend, at least 78 Iraqis died in sectarian fighting.
Gunmen stormed homes, driving families out or killing them where they stood. Gunmen also took money, and lots of it. At least 20 men in army-type uniforms ambushed a security truck in Baghdad, taking $1 million in cash, along with the driver and three guards. That truck was en route to a bank.
LEMON: Free speech in Tehran? Well, before you say no such thing, check out today's appearance by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Tehran University.
Not only was he heckled; students lit a firecracker and burned his photo, chanting, "Death to the dictator." They were outnumbered, though, and shouted down by Ahmadinejad supporters. The president himself responded calmly, calling his opponents a minority.
Open dissent is still pretty rare in Iran, but many students are furious over the president's purge of liberal and secular professors.
PHILLIPS: Home for the holidays, a dream delayed, at best, for a South Carolina couple who went missing five days ago during a trip north on I-95.
Here Elise Olson of CNN affiliate WBTW.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEGAN LIENDO, DAUGHTER OF MISSING COUPLE: This is like a nightmare I'm going through. I just want to wake up from it.
ELISE OLSON, WBTW REPORTER (voice-over): Megan Liendo says she hasn't eaten or slept since she realized her parents are missing. She's handing out fliers, hoping someone knows where they might be.
LIENDO: This is a picture of my parents. Their names are Wayne and Dianne Guay, and they have been missing since Wednesday night.
OLSON: Liendo says her parents were heading up to Queens, New York, from their home in Myrtle Beach to celebrate her birthday and an early Christmas. They left home at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday. The last time anyone heard from them was Wednesday evening.
LIENDO: This is very unlikely of them to be missing. They always call and give us updates about where they are. Even when there's no traffic or there's no problems, they always call to let us know that they're on their way.
OLSON: Liendo she tried calling her mother's cell phone, but no one is answering.
LIENDO: When we call my mother's cell phone it goes directly to her voice mail. My mother always leaves her voice -- her cell phone on.
OLSON: Liendo's husband and brother traveled to the Ladysmith Shell gas station in Virginia, where her parents always stop. An employee there said she saw the couple early Wednesday morning.
LIENDO: The lady said that she can bet her children's life on it that she saw my mother. OLSON: In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I'm Elise Olson, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Another desperate search is under way in Oregon. Just days after the ordeal that ended so horribly for the Kim family, rescuers are moving up Mount Hood to look for three missing climbers.
One was able to call his son on his cell phone yesterday to say he was stranded in a snow cave. He said the other two climbers had gone back down to find help. There's been no contact since, and no sign of the two other climbers.
PHILLIPS: Almost a year in the making, the official report in the Sago Mine tragedy is delayed one more week. Twelve miners died after an explosion at Sago in January, an explosion that supposedly will be blamed on lightning.
But victims' families are said to be unhappy with some of the conclusions. So, West Virginia's governor is giving the study's authors a little more time to gather more information.
LEMON: The toxic trail keeps growing behind the former Russian spy who died behind of radiation poison in London. Today, one of the dead man's colleagues, a Russian -- a Russian agent himself, is under suspicion.
CNN's Rick Sanchez has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): German authorities tracking the trail of radiation they believe killed former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko say one of the former spy's colleagues could have played a role in Litvinenko's death. That's according to Hamburg's chief prosecutor, Martin Koehnke.
News agencies quote him as saying this: "A reasonable basis for suspicion that Dmitry Kovtun may not just be a victim, but could also be a perpetrator."
Investigators believe Dmitry Kovtun, a Russian colleague who met with Litvinenko in London the day he fell ill, first stopped in Germany. German authorities say they have picked up Kovtun's trace radiation trail in several places in Hamburg.
THOMAS MENZEL, HAMBURG CRIMINAL POLICE (through translator): During the night, from October 29 to October 30, Dmitry Kovtun spent time in a building in the town of Haslah (ph) in Pinneberg district. Contamination was discovered in that building, too.
SANCHEZ: There are conflicting reports as to whether Kovtun is also suffering from radiation sickness. According to news agency reports, German authorities are investigating Kovtun on suspicion that he may have improperly handled radioactive material. News agencies also quote German officials as saying this does not necessarily mean that Kovtun carried polonium through Hamburg to London in order to poison Litvinenko. CNN is making attempts to reach Kovtun's lawyers for comment.
MARINA LITVINENKO, WIDOW OF ALEXANDER LITVINENKO: His first full sentence for all day, what he could say: "My (SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN), I love you so much."
And I said, "Sasha, thank you."
SANCHEZ: Litvinenko, a vocal critic of the Kremlin, himself pointed a finger, from his deathbed, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind his poisoning. The Kremlin denies any involvement.
The focus of the "Where did the poisoning happen?" part of this investigation has moved from a sushi bar to this hotel. Health authorities say they found polonium 210 contamination at both places, but they detected more of it here. Russia's prosecutor general's office says it wants its own investigators in London to work on the case.
Russian investigators may want to join British officials looking into guest records at the Millennium Hotel. Scotland Yard is hoping some of the hundreds of people in the bar the day that Litvinenko fell ill may be able to offer clues that could lead them to the former spy's killer or killers.
Rick Sanchez, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: An ailing ex-dictator is dead. And, for many of his countrymen, the only pity is that he didn't live long enough to answer for his alleged crimes.
Up next in the CNN NEWSROOM: the disturbing legacy of Augusto Pinochet.
PHILLIPS: Plus: She's been gone almost a decade, but speculation may never die. As British investigators prepare to release a report on Princess Di's fatal accident, a new twist -- why were U.S. spies tapping her phone?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Grief, relief, and ambivalence in Chile -- no state funeral for the fallen former dictator Augusto Pinochet. But, in a muted show of respect, military bases are flying flags at half-staff today, on orders from the government.
Yesterday, in Santiago, scores of people were arrested, after wild celebrations got out of hand.
More now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Preparations are under way for a military funeral for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, this after current Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said that a state funeral would not be organized for the former Chilean leader who died on Sunday.
News of Pinochet's death on Sunday sparked protests in the streets. Thousands were out there, some celebrating his death, others mourning him. And, throughout the day on Monday, hundreds of people have been lining up for hours on end to file past his casket to pay their respects.
The reaction to Pinochet's death are very polarized. And they are a testament to how polarized Chilean society is about his legacy for this country. During the Pinochet regime, from 1973 to 1990, over 3,000 people were killed, 20,000 more either tortured or disappeared. And there are still hundreds of legal cases that are outstanding, legal cases which are now uncertain, due to the death of Augusto Pinochet.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Santiago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Whatever you think of Augusto Pinochet, his death wasn't untimely, and he wasn't beloved.
Princess Diana, on the other hand, suffered the kind of death that breeds conspiracy theories. A report due soon from Scotland Yard will apparently rule out any sinister cause of Diana's death in a car crash in 1997, while serving up new and tantalizing details.
Here is CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The British press is apparently getting an early peek at a highly-anticipated report commissioned by Britain's royal coroner to look into the circumstances before and after the crash that killed Diana, princess of Whales, in 1997.
British newspapers and television reporting over the weekend and into this week, some leaks from the report. We understand that that report, when it is released on Thursday, will reach some conclusions, including that Diana was not pregnant at the time of the crash when she died, that she was not planning to marry Dodi al-Fayed, her partner, and that Henri Paul, the driver of the Mercedes that was carrying Diana and Dodi Fayed at the time of their death, well, that he was three times over the French drunk driving limit.
Now, that report, expected to be made official and released on Thursday, is expected to be taken into evidence as part of preliminary hearings into an inquest about Diana's death. That inquest, which is expected to be public, is slated to begin early next year. Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We know there's a lot to love about flying on a space shuttle, but we're not quite sure about the music here.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: We are sort of dishing on the mission. I don't know. Don and I like the music.
LEMON: I kind of like it.
PHILLIPS: I do, too. I don't know. Maybe someone else in the NEWSROOM has an issue with it.
LEMON: It makes me want to start twisting.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: And the devil...
(MUSIC)
LEMON: There we go.
The devil comes to Tasmania and to mainland Australia, as well -- wildfires down under, up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A rendezvous view in space, and, then, it gets busy. Space shuttle Discovery is preparing to dock with the International Space Station -- on board, a new crew member and a two-ton addition to the space lab.
The astronauts plan to rewire the station in three space walks, the first tomorrow. And, as for the shuttle, NASA says, so far, so good. Initial scans show no damage from Saturday's spectacular nighttime launch -- a live report on the docking coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Walls of flame everywhere you look, extreme brushfires in southeast Australia, in the wake of that country's worst drought in more than 100 years.
Reporter Trent Evans of Channel 7 Australia takes us to the front lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRENT EVANS, CHANNEL 7 AUSTRALIA REPORTER (voice-over): Authorities predicted a wild night. And it was, with the wind change and increasing speed, pushing fires back towards towns, including Cheshunt (ph) and Whitfield, that thought they were safe. Daylight, and the ridge continues to smolder. At Mount Beauty, a fire that claimed 5,000 hectares and threatened homes continue to burn. It could be the work of a fire bug. And there's another sleepless night ahead for residents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If a fire got going here, I reckon we would be straight out of here. We wouldn't be -- it wouldn't be worth hanging around to try and save anything.
EVANS: The premier, the environment and emergency services ministers in tow, flew in to thank firefighters -- the trio announcing an extra $27 million to fight the fires, possibly more in the coming months.
STEVE BRACKS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA: There's more work to be done. And, certainly, at the start of December, we know this is going to be a marathon, not -- not a sprint.
EVANS: Authorities defending their prediction the weekend weather would be worse, denying accusations it was a dangerous game of crying wolf.
RUSSELL REES, FIREFIGHTER: I believe a far safer approach is to go on the -- the side that says our worst-case scenario is this, because, then, if it doesn't happen, everyone is at least prepared.
EVANS: Neal Flanagan (ph) spent last week fighting fires.
(on camera): It's been a long week, hasn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long week.
EVANS (voice-over): Today, he returned as a paramedic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get a bit of dehydration and that, and smoke inhalation.
EVANS: The fight is far from over, with the premier predicting the fires could burn until March.
Trent Evans, 7 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And the smokestack came tumbling down this morning. Take a look at it. It was at a controversial phosphate facility in Plant City, Florida. Workers used hammers to chip away at the stack, before it toppled over. Wow. There it is. Neighbors had complained about possible environmental problems at the facility. It shut down back in March of 2004.
PHILLIPS: Well, the U.S. Army has a $168 billion budget, but it may not be enough.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the details.
Boy, can you imagine having that kind of budget?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's not enough.
It's just a mind-boggling story, the front-page story of "The Wall Street Journal" today, saying that Army, U.S. , has a cash crunch. The problem is that the cost of waging war is outpacing the Army's huge budget.
For example, the Army says the cost of a foot soldier's basic equipment, everything from rifles to body armor, has tripled since 1999. And the cost of a Humvee has also surged, because of added armor, guns and navigational devices. In just five years, the price on the vehicle has jumped more than 600 percent, to $225,000.
And don't forget the cost of paying and training the troops. "The Journal" says that has gone up 60 percent in the last five years. A big part of the problem is that, over the past decade, the U.S. military built a force to fight a short war, using lots of top-gun, high-tech equipment, not a long, grinding guerrilla war, which is, increasingly, what we are seeing in Iraq -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. But, still, why isn't $168 billion enough?
LISOVICZ: It is such a huge number. But, Kyra, just last week, the Iraq Study Group said in its report that American ground forces have been stretched nearly to the breaking point.
And keep in mind that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are dominated by boots on the ground, that is, U.S. Army. "The Journal" says that, in the past 15 years, the Pentagon has spent nearly $700 billion on Air Force weapons, and more than $600 billion on the Navy. But weapons for the Army have only accounted for a little more than $300 billion.
The Pentagon slashed billions of dollars from the Army's weapons programs. And some of the weapons that were cut are used heavily in Iraq, which means that weaponry used for training here at home is being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving some troops still in training without adequate equipment.
(MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
He's a big fan of a certain U.S. president, just not the current U.S. president. Kofi Annan sits down with CNN's Zain Verjee, as he gives up the helm of the U.N. Zain will join us just ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Another desperate search under way in Oregon right now, just days after the ordeal that ended so horribly for the Kim family.
Rescuers are moving up to Mount Hood to look for three missing climbers. One was able to call his son on his cell phone yesterday to say that he was stranded in a snow cave. He said the other two climbers had gone back down to find help. There has been no contact since, and no sign of the two other climbers.
LEMON: And it's a mystery to police and a nightmare for the family.
A South Carolina's couple's road trip was interrupted last week. By what? Well, no one knows. Wayne and Dianne Guay were driving up I-95 to New York. They were supposed to arrive Thursday, but they haven't been heard from since Wednesday night.
Frantic relatives have been handing out missing-persons flyers along the Guay's route. The couple was driving a white Mazda-3, South Carolina license plate number 732RZZ.
PHILLIPS: It's been more than 80 hours since Laura Gainey went overboard in stormy seas.
The 25-year-old daughter of hockey legend Bob Gainey had set sail Tuesday from Nova Scotia aboard the tall ship Picton Castle. She disappeared Friday night when the Caribbean-bound ship was rocked by a rogue wave. Her fellow crew members are heartsick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL MORELAND, CAPTAIN, PICTON CASTLE: Losing a crew member is the constant fear of a skipper at sea, regardless of the size of the vessel. Right now, our thoughts are for our missing crew member, her family, and her shipmates searching for her. The search will continue until we have recovered our shipmate, or when that all possible hope is exhausted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A Canadian C-130 has joined the search in the waters off Cape Cod.
LEMON: And poor Eric Rudolph. The abortion clinic and Olympic Park bomber finds life at Colorado's Supermax prison a bit too restrictive for his liking.
In a letter to "The Gazette of Colorado Springs," Rudolph calls himself a political prisoner.
He says he doesn't get enough exercise or social contact, and that Supermax overall -- and we do quote him here -- is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as constitutionally permissible.
You may recall, Rudolph killed two people and maimed many more in bombings in Alabama and Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: Almost there. In just about an hour, the crew of space shuttle Discovery will be knocking on the door of the International Space Station, keeping an eye on all of the docking maneuvers.
Our own space guru, Miles O'Brien -- we were kind of hoping we would get the big, famous flip live.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: The flip live?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You know, let me get right on the horn to them right now. Do I have mine? Yes, Roger, Discovery, flip live to Kyra now, over.
PHILLIPS: You've got the total connections. You can call the head of NASA on your cell phone, for goodness sakes. Come on, Miles, let's bump it up here.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely. Had I known, Kyra. You've just got to give me a little warning.
PHILLIPS: OK.
O'BRIEN: Well, the flip she is talking about is actually an important thing. Should I press on?
PHILLIPS: Press on.
O'BRIEN: OK. Space Shuttle Discovery, on its way to a docking with the International Space Station -- should happen in about an hour and 35 minutes time -- as it approaches the space station coming up shortly -- and by the way, check out this cool shot.
Do you see that, Kyra? You know what that is, right? Can you see that?
PHILLIPS: All right, someone was talking to me for a second there.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
PHILLIPS: You want to ask me what this is, this image?
O'BRIEN: Can you see that? What's that there?
PHILLIPS: Isn't that the moon?
O'BRIEN: That is the moon. And that there is the space station. Isn't that a cool shot.
PHILLIPS: Hey, that's pretty cool!
O'BRIEN: That's such a cool shot.
PHILLIPS: Yes. How -- wait a minute. I'm going to ask you how far away. How many miles? O'BRIEN: How far away is the moon? Two hundred and fifty thousand miles.
PHILLIPS: How many miles from the space station, smarty-pants?
O'BRIEN: Two hundred and fifty thousand. No, the shuttle was a few miles away when they shot this shot.
PHILLIPS: OK.
O'BRIEN: In any case, they've gotten a lot closer. And if you ever wonder how they fly in space, take a look at this shot. This is a cool shot. Do you see that?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Do that one more time. Can you replay that? I don't know who is on the board today but watch as it...
PHILLIPS: All of the rings.
O'BRIEN: Well, there's a little a ring that kind of puffs out. Here. We'll try it one more -- rerack it. We're going to rerack it. Now, watch. Watch very closely. Watch it now -- no, did you see that?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: That is the thruster firing. That is the combination of monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide which are hypergolic chemicals that are kept in separate places. They come together, they explode and that is what causes the thrusters to fire. You're seeing that spontaneous combustion...
PHILLIPS: I love it when you say all those big words, Miles.
O'BRIEN: ... the hypergolic poof which is sending the space station toward the International Space Station. Take a look at the animation. This is how they'll approach. They come up from the earth end of things and as they come up, their goes the flip that Kyra was referring to. It's a slow -- this is much speeded up, a nine-minute backflip.
Why do they do that? It gives the space station crew up here with a couple of cameras an opportunity to take some pictures of the heat shield using a 400-millimeter lens and an 800-millimeter lens -- There you go, they have their own NASA animation there -- to make sure that that heat shield was not damaged during launch.
Of course, this dates back to concerns with Columbia, now almost four years ago, when a piece of foam struck the heat shield causing a fatal breach in that heat shield and a loss of the crew of seven when they returned to earth.
Once they dock with the International Space Station -- and you have to fly this thing fairly carefully in -- they will begin a really busy mission where, essentially, they're going to rewire the space station. So it's not an easy job, because it's been on temporary power since day one.
They're going to disconnect a bunch of connectors, make sure the power is off before they do that, reconnect and then restart everything and hope everything goes in proper sequence and that things start in the same sequence so that the power -- the situation doesn't overheat because the cooling system has to be turned on and so forth. So it's a complicated mission.
Take a look at the launch, in case you missed it over the weekend. First night launch in four years. NASA finally feeling confident enough with the fixes they've done to that external fuel tank there to ensure that big pieces of foam don't come off and cause serious damage to the heat shield.
Nevertheless, they hedge their bets a little bit. In addition to the photography, which was limited somewhat because it is a night launch, they had a series of radars that were trained on the space shuttle as it went up to ensure that no big pieces fell off.
So far, they're telling us everything looks good. We've heard a few dribs and drabs about perhaps some minor damage to the heat shield, but we're told it's nothing to be worried about.
Look at that halo effect around there, and there you are riding into space, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, remind me, because I'm just trying to think of times past. It's also a pretty neat moment when the crew actually gets on to the International Space Station, right? They open up the hatch and they all greet each other, isn't that right?
O'BRIEN: Yes, they do. And you'll appreciate this because I know how you are enmeshed in Navy tradition.
PHILLIPS: The bell?
O'BRIEN: The bell.
PHILLIPS: Do you know who put that bell up there?
O'BRIEN: I know you know.
PHILLIPS: Captain Jeff Ashby did that.
O'BRIEN: Jeff Ashby who I just saw you talking to the other day who put that on there as part of a Navy tradition because on any ship, you ring people aboard, as you well know, and he put that up there. Of course, the commander in this case is Mark Polansky. They call him Roman, Roman Polansky, and he's an Air Force guy.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: But tradition is important. Tradition is important, so they will, in fact, ring the bell and then they'll brace and then they'd better get right to work because they have a very busy mission.
PHILLIPS: And then, of course, if you go into any Navy bar, right, on a base, you ring the bell and then you have to buy drinks for everybody in there? Isn't it something like that, too?
O'BRIEN: We're getting pretty far afield here, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We're getting too technical.
O'BRIEN: I've never been to a bar like that, ever.
PHILLIPS: Do your Navy -- no, of course not! All right, Miles. We'll monitor all things mission. Thanks. Great to see you.
LEMON: Hey, Miles, can I ask you something? When you watch it, do you get that same adrenaline rush like every single time? It's always new, isn't it?
O'BRIEN: You know, I'm like a kid in a candy store.
LEMON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You've got to admit, yes, it is. You know, the thing is, when I watch a launch, though, it's not a kid in a candy store. I get very tense -- and re-entry -- it's risky business and the more you know about it, the more you know the risks.
LEMON: Yes, it's almost that feeling you get when you listen to the national anthem or something. You get that sort of adrenaline rush.
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's a good way of putting it.
LEMON: Yes, all right. Thanks, Miles. Thanks, Kyra. I had to ask you that because it's always amazing to watch it every time I see it.
Sick and tired on the job? No relief from the boss?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly half of all workers in the private sector don't get any paid sick time and lower wage workers are the hardest hit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The debate over no work, no pay, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Plus, stuck in port. Dozens of passengers stricken by a stomach virus, the latest flaw in one cruise line's shining jewel. We'll have the details from the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Well, not much can spoil a dream vacation quicker than nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Almost 200 cruise passengers have come back to home port with a lot more than memories.
The story from Charles Billi of CNN affiliate WSVN in Miami.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES BILLI, WSVN REPORTER (voice-over): Two ships, two cities, same problem -- sick people.
We start at the port of Miami and the world's largest cruise ship, the Freedom of the Seas, returning sick for a third time; 97 passengers and 11 crew members infected with norovirus, an intestinal viral infection, with flu like symptoms.
The event didn't sit well with some of the passengers and those who weren't sick were angry. Royal Caribbean immediately sanitized the ship, and despite this, it isn't going to be sailing anytime soon. The CDC has informed Royal Caribbean the ship cannot sail for two days, during which time it will be sanitized completely.
Royal Caribbean releasing this statement, quote, "Because Royal Caribbean wants to maintain its high health standards onboard its ships, while providing its guests with the best cruise experience possible, the company is following the CDC's recommendation", end quote. Passengers were informed.
JONATHAN LI, PASSENGER: They told us the government has basically quarantined until Tuesday.
BILLI: At Port Everglades, the Sun Princess returned after 119 cases of norovirus on the 2,875 passenger ship. The CDC did not issue a no sail recommendation and it sailed again in the afternoon. The same viral invader, same passenger frustration, but people were gracious in their praise of the crew's reaction.
DEBBIE PINICK, PASSENGER: They came in and sanitized the room twice a day and they really did everything that they could.
QUESTION: You think overall they did an excellent job?
PINICK: I really do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's just about to step down as the head of the United Nations, so what is Kofi Annan doing in Missouri? Hint -- it has a lot to do with America's 33rd president. The information buck stops here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Kofi Annan is three weeks shy of saying good-bye to the U.N. and he's getting less shy by the day. Annan has been secretary general for a decade filled with challenges and conflicts. A short time ago, he delivered his farewell speech at the Harry Truman Library and let the world know what he really thinks of U.S. foreign policy.
CNN's Zain Verjee was there as she joins us now from Independence, Missouri. Hi Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don.
The secretary-general had strong words about the United States. he said this, and I'm quoting from his speech. "When the U.S. abandons its own ideals and its friends abroad, they become troubled and confused."
He also went on in the speech to talk about how the world can't be secure if one country dominates over another. He also added that one can't use military action without international support in the world today. I asked him after the speech whether he was making a deliberate and pointed attack on U.S. foreign policy and this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: What I'm saying here is that when the U.S. works with other countries in much lateral system, we do extremely well. We need U.S. leadership. U.S. provided that leadership in the past and now world is in a sorer state. We have lesser problems around the world and we require the natural leadership role U.S. played in the past and can play today. And so to appeal for cooperation and leadership should never be seen as an attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: And Don, he also said that he had learned five key lessons from his ten years as U.N. secretary-general. He said look, first of all, the world has to be responsible for each other's security. He said that with globalization, also that there are millions of people that are still impoverished, they need to benefit from that too.
He said the prosperity and security depends on human rights and the rule of law. He added too that all states need to be accountable to each other and his final point was that all that can really only happen successfully and effectively if the U.N. system is functioning properly Kofi Annan, may analysts have said for the past ten years, has been an international superstar and a top diplomat and has really put the U.N. on the map and made its relevance more important than his predecessor had -- Don.
LEMON: During his last part of his tenure, Iraq was front in center. Did he mention Iraq at all in his speech?
VERJEE: Yes, he was asked that by a member of the audience and he did respond to do that Don. And basically what he says is that it's got to be a regional solution. He said that Iran and Syria have to be engaged. He said that if the region spirals out of control, it would have detrimental and terrible effects on Iraq itself.
So really he was supporting a lot of what the Iraq Study Group, the Baker-Hamilton commission, had recommended. He also said that it's not just a Sunni-Shia issue in Iraq but that is an issue that plagues the region and is only being exacerbated by Iraq -- Don.
LEMON: Zain Verjee, in Independence, Missouri, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Rock star treatment for a freshman senator on his maiden trip to New Hampshire. Barack Obama's weekend stops in the Granite State were standing room only in part because of a media contingent of 150 reporters.
New Hampshire, as you know, is the traditional home of the nation's first presidential primary. Obama, as you may know, says he hasn't yet decided whether to seek the Democratic nomination. He says he'll make an announcement early next year.
Remember that member of Congress caught by the FBI with a freezer full of allegedly dirty cash? if the voters back home in Louisiana did, and we're pretty sure they did, they didn't mind enough to send William Jefferson packing.
Despite a federal bribery investigation, Jefferson easily won a runoff election Saturday in New Orleans. The eight-term incumbent has been charged -- hasn't been charged rather with any crime. Still his fellow House Democrats have removed him from the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
LEMON: You got to play hurt or maybe if you're -- that's if you're in the NFL, but do you have to work sick? Well for millions of Americans, paid leave is not part of the job.
But as CNN's Alina Cho reports that could change when the Democratic Congress takes over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Rachel Soble, mother of two, quit her job when she was forced to make a choice, her job or her son. Leo had broken his arm and needed her care.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to be home with him.
CHO: But she couldn't. She already used her paid time off, which included only two sick days. So she quit to care for her son. It's a dilemma lots of Americans face.
Nearly half of all workers in the private sector don't get any paid sick time and lower-wage workers are the hardest hit. With Democrats about to take control of Congress, they're vowing to fight for a change.
SEN. TED KENNEDY, (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I, quite frankly, am tired of playing defense. I think it's time that we played offense.
CHO: Next month, Senator Ted Kennedy will reintroduce a bill that would require companies with 15 or more employees to provide full-time workers seven days of paid sick leave a year. KENNEDY: It's good enough for the members of Congress, good enough for the Senate, the House of Representatives, it's good enough for hard-working people.
CHO: It's already good enough for San Francisco. The city recently approved a similar measure, the first in the nation to do so. Kennedy says it should be federal policy. Business leaders say if paid sick leave is that important, Congress should raise taxes to pay for it.
RANDEL JOHNSON, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: People get sick, they need time off. Why should the employer necessarily have to bear that burden?
CHO: Rachel now has a part-time job which affords her more time with her kids, but less money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye.
CHO: What she really wants is a full-time job that allows her enough time off to take care of her kids when they're sick and get paid at the same time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really all American workers who deserve this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: They're supposed to help Santa, but this Elf's in cahoots with the cops. Of course, Jeanne Moos knows all about that. That story, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's getting nasty again in the Northwest. We're talking weather-wise.
Rob Marciano, what's in store?
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: All right. Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
PHILLIPS: He's standing by in the sit room to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour.
Hey, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys.
Thanks very much. A Republican hawk turns on the president's Iraq strategy. And now he's publicly explaining why he believes the war in Iraq may even be criminal.
Senator Gordon Smith is my guest. I'll ask him who should be held accountable right now.
An international gathering in Tehran questions of the existence of the Holocaust. Among those attending: America's own David Duke, formerly of the Ku Klux Klan.
Also, killing Castro. Did a Florida Congresswoman actually call for his assassination? Or did a British documentary put the words into her mouth?
And "Apocalypto" politics. Mel Gibson, searching for redemption in a box office hit.
All that coming up in a few minutes right here in the "SITUATION ROOM".
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.
LEMON: Thanks, Wolf.
PHILLIPS: One of Santa's helpers is exactly making spirits bright in central Florida.
LEMON: He's making pockets light, as a matter of fact, but only for leadfoots -- or is it leadfeet?
CNN's Jeanne Moos has this story on her radar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's bad enough getting a ticket. But to get nabbed by this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Middle lane, silver Nissan!
(MUSIC)
MOOS: This deputy is dashing, all right, in his tights and pointy shoes, instead of wearing a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife put the bells on it.
MOOS: His fellow officers in Orange County, Florida Sheriff's Office have a guy for the guy manning the radar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deputy Elf.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: But the speeders Deputy Elf is catching aren't laughing all the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, the Christmas guy? That's pretty messed up. MOOS: The Sheriff's Office admits it's a gimmick, but in almost three hours, they pulled over 150 vehicles. Deputy Elf had 20 motorcycle cops lying in wait for his instructions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inside lane, inside lane. Silver -- a white SUV.
MOOS: Fifty-six in a 35 mile-per-hour zone. One motorist called the Sheriff's Office saying, it's despicable to use an icon like Santa to catch speeders.
CMDR. KEN WYNNE, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: That's specifically why we didn't choose Santa Claus. An elf is known for their impish behavior.
MOOS: Though even Santa has exhibited some odd behavior lately, driving an eel rather than reindeer in a Japanese aquarium and, last December, robbing this Texas bank.
Here's the 911 call.
BANK TELLER: He put his hand in his pocket, did not show a weapon. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit, hat pulled down over his face.
MOOS: And then there was the store Santa who became famous on the Internet for tackling a guy being chased by security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, I got him.
MOOS: Not only did Santa tackle the suspect, he gave him a kick.
At least the Orange County Elf Patrol isn't kicking motorists. They did recover one hand gun and some pot. But mostly, they just caught speeders.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I saw the elf. I think that's quite entrapment, but what are you going to do?
MOOS: Actually, the elf suit isn't much help since most speeders are already clocked before they even see the officer with the radar gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Middle lane, 56. Middle lane, 56. Silver -- can't tell what it is, but that's the correct one.
MOOS: So what if he missed the make. He's making spirits bright.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silver -- what was that?
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: That's a cool outfit, though.
PHILLIPS: All right. The closing bell, about to ring on Wall Street.
(MARKET REPORT)
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