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Senator Tim Johnson in Critical Condition After Brain Surgery; Princess Diana Report Released; Strategy Shift in Iraq?

Aired December 14, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the NEWSROOM on this Thursday, the 14th day of December. Here's what's on the rundown.

A Democratic lawmaker critical after brain surgery. His health raising questions about political control of the Senate as well. Democratic leader Harry Reid live this hour.

HARRIS: A new top man at the United Nations. Ban Ki-moon sworn in today. See it here live, shortly.

COLLINS: And polygamist leader Warren Jeffs returning to court today. New questions about the power he holds over small-town police in the NEWSROOM.

Twin shocks on Capitol Hill today. Concern for a colleague and speculation about a potential shift of power. Democratic Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota in critical condition now after brain surgery.

Let's go ahead and talk with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

I always want to remind everyone that you, too, are a neurologist. And interestingly enough, you have actually operated on someone with this similar condition known as AVM.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, and similar areas of the brain as well.

You know, we got so many details sort of coming out about the senator's condition. At first it sounded like it was a stroke, like he was having difficulty speaking, some difficulty with the right side of his body. And then we've come to find out, in fact, it was exactly what you said, Heidi, an arteriovenous malformation.

It's a big word. What it means is that you have a cluster of arteries and a cluster of veins, and sometimes they grow together, and they get fast-moving blood from the arteries which get into the veins, which aren't used to seeing that kind of fast-moving blood, and that causes a bleed. You see a picture of it there. That's what it looks like at the top right of your screen there. That's that cluster of arteries and veins all sort of tangled together. That's a classic picture of an arteriovenous malformation.

That can bleed, and it did, as it sounds like now in the senator's case. The biggest concern, I think, for the doctors that are hearing this and are taking care of him is where this occurred. It sounds like based on the fact that he had difficulty speaking and some difficulty with the right side of his body, that it happened in a part of the brain here.

I want to show you on this model. This part of the brain here is called the left temporal lobe. That's a part of the brain that's very important. We call it eloquent brain. It's responsible for speech, not only being able to speak, but also being able to comprehend speech. And this area right here is responsible for strength on the right side of his body.

It sounds like the operation was successful. They were able to take out the blood and take out this cluster, this tangle of blood vessels, but his recovery is tough to say at this point.

COLLINS: Yes. And interesting to me -- I don't want to get too -- but when you say that the veins and arteries were kind of in a cluster, doesn't there have to be some sort of nick or some way that the artery blood gets into the venous (ph) blood?

GUPTA: It's a great question. And people have tried to study for years what exactly causes one of these arteriovenous malformations, which he's probably had since he was born, his entire life...

COLLINS: Right.

GUPTA: ... what caused it to suddenly bleed. Some people say it could be an increase in blood pressure, it could be some change in the brain. It didn't have to be trauma, but just an increase in blood pressure perhaps could do it as well.

COLLINS: All right. So the prognosis, again, knowing that everybody is different, but it would look to be most typically what?

GUPTA: Well, you know, with regards to him surviving and getting out of this part of the operation, I think it looks good. It looks like he had a successful operation.

What a lot of people are curious about, is he going to be able to speak again like he did, is he going to be able to have strength on the right side of his body? And it is hard to say, it is early to say.

Usually these things are measured in weeks and months, not days and weeks or even hours and days. It takes a while. And we probably won't know anything for a few days in terms of his speech and his strength on the right side of his body. COLLINS: All right. Our in-house neurosurgeon, CNN Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta.

Thank you for that, by the way.

GUPTA: I'll keep you posted.

Thank you.

COLLINS: All right. Terrific.

HARRIS: And we're standing by waiting to hear more of the very latest information on the senator's condition from officials at George Washington University Hospital. We're also expecting in that time to hear from Senator Harry Reid, who's been in to visit with Senator Johnson this morning.

As we wait for that to happen, let's get the view from Capitol Hill on all of these developments.

Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, joins us live now.

Andrea, good morning.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

And we've already gotten an indication as to perhaps what we're going to hear from Senator Reid later this hour. Our colleagues Dana Bash and Ted Barrett actually cornered him in the hallways as he returned from the hospital this morning and asked him about Senator Johnson and his impression of his condition. Senator Reid told them he was ".. so happy to see him this morning. He looked very, very good."

We also know from Senator Johnson's wife, who issued a statement this morning, that she said, "The Johnson family is encouraged and optimistic. They are grateful for the prayers and good wishes of friends, supporters and South Dakotans."

Senator Johnson is a two-term senator from South Dakota who is now in his 10th year of serving on Capitol Hill. Needless to say, you have a lot of anxious Democrats and Republicans, because as we all know, the Democrats regained control of Congress by the slimmest of margins last month, by just one vote.

You've got a 51-49 margin right now. And if for some reason Senator Johnson takes a turn for the worse, either he passes away or either decides he doesn't want to serve, then it would be up to the South Dakotan governor, who is a Republican, to choose his successor for the duration of Senator Johnson's term.

Now, that likely would be another Republican, which would then make the Senate a 50-50 split. And under Senate rules, then, you would have the vice president, Dick Cheney,. who would cast the tie- breaking vote. That would then put Congress and the Senate back in Republican hands.

The House would be controlled by the Democrats, the Senate would be controlled by Republicans. But at this point, Tony, it is far too soon to say just what Senator Johnson's prognosis is.

No one that we're talking to behind the scenes is discussing the possibility of a turn for the worse. But, of course, we're going to get more information, hopefully at the bottom of the hour from Senator Reid and then late they are hour from the hospital -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Andrea, I thought what you explained to us last hour was so, so interesting, so compelling, I'd love for you to do it again for folks who are just joining us.

How does the timing of Senator Johnson's illness after the election, obviously, but before the new Congress begin its work, how does that make a difference?

KOPPEL: Well, I've gotten clarification since we last spoke, Tony. I've spoken to yet another Senate historian who explained it to me this way. He said because Senator Johnson is a serving senator, he's an incumbent, he wasn't just elected in this last election, he would either -- one of two things would have to happen.

He would either have to pass away while he was in office or he would have to decide that he wasn't going to serve out his term. Either way, it would then be left up to the South Dakotan governor to make a decision. But under Senate rules, he cannot be replaced simply because he's incapacitated.

In fact, there are any number of examples. Even another South Dakotan senator, Karl Mundt, back in the 1970s, had a stroke. He was unable to cast a vote for two years. He wanted his wife to replace him. They wouldn't allow that to happen.

So he simply kept his position. He was a Republican -- kept his position for the duration of his term, but he could not be replaced.

HARRIS: OK. Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, for us.

Andrea, we appreciate it.

KOPPEL: Sure.

HARRIS: And we can add a little bit more. There is, as Andrea mentioned, a history of extended leaves by senators.

Senate historian Richard Baker provided a list of nine such cases to the Capitol Hill publication "Congressional Quarterly." The list includes former senator Al Gore.

Gore missed a month of work in 1989 after his son was hit by a car and seriously injured. Senator Joe Biden, you may recall, was out for seven months in 1988 to recover from a brain aneurysm. COLLINS: To London now. British police releasing publicly their final report on the death of Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed back in August of 1997.

It was a three-year investigation, 832 pages, which quickly prompted a press conference from the father of Dodi al-Fayed, Princess Diana's former companion, Mohammed -- Mohammed al-Fayed. Let's go ahead and listen in to the very beginning of that press conference as he points to the royal family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED AL-FAYED, DODI FAYED'S FATHER: I mentioned this before. I am certain, 100 percent, that a leading member of the royal family have planned that and the whole plot being executed in his order with the help of member of (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Bringing in Paula Hancocks now, live, coming to us from Buckingham Palace. Checking to see if we have her. There she is now.

Paula, he also mentioned, Mohammed al-Fayed in that press conference, that he had had a conversation with Princess Diana and his son, Dodi al-Fayed, just three hours before this tragic accident.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, yes. And he said and has done all along that he did believe that they were to be married. What Mohammed al-Fayed is saying is in direct contrast with what John Stevens, the head of this report, has said just a few hours ago.

He said that there was no conspiracy to murder. This was his main job, to find out whether or not all the allegations which Stevens called very severe allegations against the royal family, against MI6, had any credence to them. And he said they didn't. He said it was just a tragic accident.

Diana, princess of Wales, was not pregnant at the time of her death. She was not engaged. And according to her friends, it didn't appear as though she had any intention of becoming engaged in the near future.

And so, Mohammed al-Fayed, who I understand is still talking at the moment at his Harrod's department store that he owns here in the center of London, and he is saying that he's not happy with this particular report, which is no surprise. No one expected it to pacify him.

He has been saying for almost a decade now that he believes his son and Diana, princess of Wales, were murdered. It was a conspiracy by the royal family and the establishment.

But Stevens really was trying to draw a line under a lot of these conspiracy theories by pointing out that this was a very long report. It was an exhaustive report. He said he had incredible technology to retrace the last seconds of that car before it crashed into that Paris tunnel. And he said he is perfectly satisfied that it was just a tragic accident -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Paula, this final report actually put an end to all of the questions from the people of London in any way?

HANCOCKS: Well, this report actually finds exactly the same way as a French inquiry did seven years ago. And there were many that weren't happy with that inquiry. They said there were many question that were thrown up from that inquiry, which is why there is now a British inquest.

So, after this report has come out, those who believe in the conspiracy theories are probably unlikely to drop their theories. The nature of conspiracy theories is that they don't go away, they just adapt to whatever information is out at that particular time.

And this has been going on for so long, that those who really do believe that there was something sinister in that accident, are probably unlikely to ever decide that, yes, this was a tragic accident. And the driver, Henri Paul was twice over the legal drinking driving limit and was speeding. But those who don't want to believe it won't.

COLLINS: So it sounds like no, the questions will remain.

CNN's Paula Hancocks, live from Buckingham Palace.

Paula, thank you.

HARRIS: And still to come, President Bush said to be weighing a short-term increase in troop numbers. The Joint Chiefs reportedly advised him against it.

Crunching the numbers on Iraq in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Against the wind. Rescue teams on Mt. Hood fighting fierce weather. The search for three missing climbers in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: A Golden Globes nomination for "Apocalypto." Does that mean Mel Gibson is back? Maybe he never went away. We'll talk with Hollywood insider Tom O'Neil about it straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Strategy shift? President Bush says he will not be rushed on Iraq. The military's top brass reportedly advising the president against any significant troop buildup.

Let's get to the White House with CNN's Ed Henry.

Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tony, it's been more than a week since the Iraq Study Group told the president the situation in Iraq was grave and deteriorating, he had to move quickly. The president is saying he will take his time to get this right.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY (voice over): President Bush wrapped up the public phase of his listening tour at the Pentagon with a direct message to U.S. troops wondering about his next move in Iraq, declaring that despite the public pressure, he's not bringing them home anytime soon.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have my unshakable commitment in this important fight to help secure the peace for the long term. We're not going to give up. The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave to turn Iraq over to extremists who want to do the American people and the Iraqi people harm.

HENRY: With even his incoming defense secretary, Robert Gates, saying the U.S. is not winning in Iraq, the president tried to reassure the nation that military commanders insist progress is being made.

BUSH: In the months of October, November and the first week of December, we have killed or captured nearly 5,900 of the enemy.

HENRY: But amid criticism, his administration has downplayed the sectarian strife. The president was brutally frank.

BUSH: The violence has been horrific. Scores of innocent men, women and children are being brutally killed by ruthless murderers.

HENRY: The president revealed he delayed his speech on unveiling a new strategy because he does not want to be rushed into a snap decision.

BUSH: I've heard some ideas that would lead to defeat. And I reject those ideas, ideas such as leaving before the job is done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY: Now, Tony, we're still waiting for the president to give that big speech, to unveil this new strategy. It's likely now to be in early to mid January -- Tony.

HARRIS: And we will be watching and waiting. All right.

Ed Henry for us at the White House.

Ed, appreciate it. Thank you.

HENRY: Thank you.

COLLINS: Ticket to ride. Yoko Ono's chauffeur busted. She claims he tried to drive a hard and illegal bargain.

We'll tell you all about in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

HARRIS: Yoko Ono in the news this morning. Her New York chauffeur is accused of trying to extort $2 million.

He was arrested last night. Police say he threatened to circulate embarrassing photos of John Lennon's widow. The driver denies it. He had worked for Ono for several years.

COLLINS: And now to Mel Gibson, making news once again. This time the focus on his film "Apocalypto."

It was nominated this morning for a foreign language Golden Globe. It also took the top spot at the box office over the weekend.

There have been a lot of questions about whether the star would be shut out after his recent anti-Semitic tirade.

CNN's Anderson Cooper talked with Gibson and asked if he thinks his movie has been affected by the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEL GIBSON, ACTOR, DIRECTOR: I don't think so. Or it if it has, so be it.

I think -- I'm really gratified that it made number one. It was a soft weekend all around. And it's -- to me, it just says that people like compelling stories, they like to go to a cinema and like an artist. Or a chef, you know, if he makes a cake and he hands it out, he likes to hear people say, "Yum."

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": I was in a preview of the film last month in a theater in New York and people hissed when your name came on the screen. And back in August obviously you apologized for your drunken behavior and the anti-Semitic comments that you made. There's a lot of people though, as you well know, who still don't believe you.

Why should people believe you are genuinely sorry?

GIBSON: It beats me. And that's not my problem. I have to keep my side of the street, and I'm doing it.

COOPER: So you don't really...

GIBSON: Making (ph) progress.

COOPER: It doesn't worry you what people think?

GIBSON: Of course, but, you know, there's nothing I can do about that. I mean, I move on. I've moved on. That was six months ago, and I have moved on. And I'm keeping my side of the street clean.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, do the box office results and the nomination mean that all is forgiven?

Tom O'Neil of "In Touch Weekly" is in Los Angeles now.

Tom, Gibson's nomination, is this a surprise in Hollywood?

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": What's not a surprise is people know the Golden Globes, because they love their Mel Gibson.

COLLINS: Yes. That's where he got his start.

O'NEIL: It's really where he got his start, yes, Heidi. Glad you know that, because it was at the Globes in 1995 when he won best director for "Braveheart." And this was a big upset back then because "Sense and Sensibility" won best picture, and so Ang Lee was supposed to win the director.

But Mel started this whole juggernaut that of course cashed in at the Oscars with a best picture win. Now, Hollywood Foreign Press association is coming to the rescue of this Hollywood action hero when he needs it most.

COLLINS: So, Tom, are these awards about the body of work or are they about who created the body of work?

O'NEIL: In general at the Globes it's about who created the work. They're really star smitten there. And I think what we're seeing...

COLLINS: So who cares then?

O'NEIL: Well, I think we all care. You know, we saw the rehabilitation of Roman Polanski at the Oscars.

This is the -- you know, the awards community is the inside club of Hollywood. And it tries to tell us and the history books what to think.

So, it's one thing for Mel to get number one at the box office and say that the fans are still there, but what about the establishment of Hollywood? This is huge, Heidi. For him to be nominated for a producer award for best film of the year, even though it's that foreign language category, this is a huge step in his comeback.

COLLINS: All right. Well then we have to talk about the Oscars. What do you see happening there?

O'NEIL: Well, there it's different. I don't think he can get into the best picture race. And this is where it gets a little confusing, because at the Globes, they define foreign film as foreign language, even though it's an American production. The Oscars define foreign film as the nation where it came from.

So, he won't be in that category at the Oscars. He'll have to compete for the overall best picture race. And there, I don't think he's got a chance of getting in because it's a little too bloody and gory for the Oscars taste. They tend to be a little more squeamish.

COLLINS: All right. So we should also point out, I think, too, Tom, that "Apocalypto" was not eligible for the best picture category, according to rules at the Golden Globe Awards.

What do you think will happen next? I mean, the question also seems to be, is Mel Gibson back?

O'NEIL: I think he's back. And I think when he walks that red carpet at the Golden Globes, the symbolism of that, of him being welcomed back into the inner circle is huge, even if he doesn't win. Even if he doesn't go to another awards show.

This was the next step he had to make, because otherwise they'd say, well, he makes these bloody movies. And of course they do well, they're sensational at the box office. But this is different. This means, Mel, you also made a movie that mattered.

COLLINS: Does it say, though, also at least, perhaps to some people, that you can go out on the streets and can you say anything you want? As long as you make good pictures, it's OK?

O'NEIL: In a way, yes, that's the dark side of this, because as we just saw with the Anderson Cooper interview there, Mel was kind of flip about this whole thing -- yes, that was six months ago, I've moved on.

Well, you know, we're all trying to help Mel here to the extent where we try to move on and forgive him, too. But he should be a little more contrite than that. He's going to have to walk that red carpet and talk to the press along the way when he gets to the Globes. And let's see what he has to say, you know, at that point.

COLLINS: All right. We'll be watching. Tom O'Neil, thanks for your insight.

O'NEIL: Thanks.

HARRIS: Critical condition. Illness could rob the Democrats of Senate control before they even take the gavel. Expected, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a live news conference any minute now, live in the NEWSROOM.

And they've sworn to uphold the law, but whose law? Police officers accused of being enforcers for a jailed sect leader. That story in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.

COLLINS: We are awaiting some words at those microphones you see there -- people setting up -- from incoming expected majority leader Harry Reid. He has spent quite a bit of time at the bedside of Senator Tim Johnson. He was there very, very late last night according to the reporting of our Dana Bash.

He's going to be talking about the senator as well as what all of this could mean to the Senate. The senator, as you know, in critical condition now this morning after brain surgeon, a condition known as AVM that our Sanjay Gupta has been talking about all morning long. So, we'll watch this and bring it to you when it happens.

HARRIS: Bad weather and disappointed searchers in Oregon this morning. Three climbers missing on Mt. Hood since the weekend, freezing rain and dangerous ice preventing searchers from reaching higher elevations. Wind gusts of almost 100 miles an hour are expected today.

One of the climbers called his family on a cell phone. That happened on Sunday. He said they were in trouble. Searchers are trying to pinpoint his cellphone signal. They're also using heat- seeking technology attached to a drone plane. It's complicated. Weather forecasters don't expect conditions to improve until the weekend. CNN's Anderson Cooper has a look now at the men and the mountain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Three men, three different lives brought together by a passion for climbing that led them to an uncertain fate. 36-year-old Jerry Cooke is a lawyer from New York. 37-year-old Brian Hall is a personal trainer from Dallas. Also from Dallas, Kelly James, a 48-year-old architect. All experienced mountaineers, all with loved ones who have faith.

FRANK JAMES, BROTHER OF KELLY JAMES: I want to assure you all that the families are very, very hopeful. We have not given up hope in the least.

JASON BUTTERBAUGH, FRIEND OF JERRY COOKE: He's strong. I have no doubt whatsoever that he'll be able to pull through it.

COOPER: They set out for Mt. Hood last Wednesday, leaving behind a note on the dashboard detailing their plan. It reads, we are party of three, attempting North Face. We plan to sleep 12/7 on route and descend south side on Friday. We will retrieve truck Saturday afternoon. In emergency/storm, we will be descending Cooper Spur and have food, fuel. and truck. Thanks.

They said they descend the 11,239 foot mountain, the tallest in Oregon from the North Face. That would take them along the Cooper Spur route. A popular path for climbers during the spring and summer. But in December, covered in ice and snow and plunging slopes, every step could end in catastrophe.

After reaching the summit, the men would descend the South Face. Traveling light and fast, they hoped to be done by Saturday. The weather was good for the first two days, but on Saturday, the 9th, a storm arrived, bringing rain, ice, snow, and hurricane-force winds, more than 80 miles per hour. On Sunday, James made that desperate cellphone call from a snow cave. As rescue teams searched the mountain, family members of the climbers are waiting.

F. JAMES: These are three extraordinary men. I can't emphasize that enough. Very determined, strong-minded people. But they come from strong-minded families. And the families are remaining strong just like they are.

COOPER: Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and get to this now, quickly as we've been telling you, the expected incoming Majority Leader, Harry Reid will be coming to the microphones with comments regarding Senator Tim Johnson and his condition. Here is he now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA, INCOMING MAJORITY LEADER: ... night with the Johnson family. Senator Daschle was with me all that time. I was at home for a few hours last night, came back this morning. I was with Senator Johnson. I was in his room with him. He really -- he really looks good. Best care. It was perfect, the unit that they have at Georgetown -- George Washington is just superb.

Everyone treated the family so well. I was very impressed. And we're all praying for a full recovery. We're confident that will be the case. I'll take a couple questions.

QUESTION: Was the senator conscious?

REID: Whatever I say about his medical condition would not be enough for you. So, I'm not going to talk about his medical condition. I saw him, he looked great. To me, he looked very good, but I'm not going to get into ...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) going forward, practically is whether or not Senator Johnson will be able to serve. Are you confident, based on what you saw?

REID: There isn't a thing that's changed. The Republicans selected their committees yesterday. We have completed ours. I have a very busy schedule today getting ready for the next year.

QUESTION: Have you talked to Senator McConnell about this?

REID: Yes. I had a couple of conversations with Senator McConnell. I talked to him last night. I think it's appropriate to let him know. And I told him basically the same thing I've just said to all you today, in addition to of course the statement that Dr. Eisold issued. So I think that I kept him totally advised to everything that's going on. He was very thoughtful, that is Mitch, was very thoughtful and appreciative of my calls.

QUESTION: Senator ...

REID: One last question. One last question.

QUESTION: What are you telling your caucus, Senator?

REID: My caucus, I sent a statement to my caucus. What did I say? I don't have it with me. But, basically I just said I know you're all interested in Senator Johnson's progress. He's doing well. Barbara's doing fine. Here's a statement that was just issued a few minutes ago by Doctor Eisold. Thank you all very much.

QUESTION: Can you clarify one thing, sir, will he be able to serve?

COLLINS: Well, there you have it, expected incoming Majority Leader, Harry Reid commenting about the condition of Senator Tim Johnson. He has been at his bedside for hours late into the evening. Said that he looks very good.

The condition as we've learned from our neurosurgeon here, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, arterial venus malformation, another condition known as AVM. Harry Reid says there isn't a thing that's changed regarding a question that someone brought up about whether or not Senator Johnson will be able to serve.

The balance of power is something that is also very much being talked about in all of this. So, we will continue to watch it and bring it to you if anything else should change.

HARRIS: And let's take you to the United Nations right now. Our senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth joins us to talk about this moment that we're seeing right now -- South Korean diplomat, Ban Ki-Moon being sworn in as the eighth U.N. Secretary- General.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: A big moment in history here, the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan now watches as Ban Ki-Moon will take the oath of office and he'll take the job starting January 1st -- let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I Ban Ki-Moon.

BAN KI-MOON: INCOMING U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I Ban Ki-Moon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Solemnly swear.

KI-MOON: Solemnly swear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To exercise in all loyalty.

KI-MOON: To exercise in all loyalty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Discretion and conscience.

KI-MOON: Discretion and conscience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The functions entrusted to me.

KI-MOON: The functions entrusted to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As secretary-general of the United Nations.

KI-MOON: As secretary-general of the United Nations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To discharge these functions.

KI-MOON: To discharge these functions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And regulate my conduct.

KI-MOON: And regulate my conduct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With the interests.

KI-MOON: With the interests.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of the United Nations.

KI-MOON: Of the United Nations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only in view.

KI-MOON: Only in view.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And not to seek.

KI-MOON: And not to seek.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or accept instructions.

KI-MOON: Or accept instructions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In regard to.

KI-MOON: In regard to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The performance.

KI-MOON: The performance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Of my duties.

KI-MOON: Of my duties.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From any government.

KI-MOON: From any government.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or other authority.

KI-MOON: Or other authority. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: External to the organization.

KI-MOON: External to the organization.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: As the outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan looks on, the new secretary-general sworn in just moments ago, Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea.

Let's bring in Richard Roth again and Richard, talk about the significance of this moment, Ban Ki-Moon, the first Asian, as we've noted this morning, to hold this position in 35 years. What does this speak to in terms of the rise of Asia?

ROTH: Well, they do this by regional rotation, so Asia's turn was up. But, yes, it does coincide with the economic boom and growth over the last 30 years in the Asia region.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan praising Ban, telling him that his most rewarding years are ahead of him. Ban is 62. He is saying don't let his mild-mannered disposition fool you. He's not going to be a pushover. Though some question whether he will be the man for U.S. and China, two powers on the security council which forcefully backed his nomination and thus allowed him to win in a closely contested race.

Ban Ki-Moon will hold a press conference shortly after this. He will not be the secretary-general until January 1st. He's been given more lead time than Kofi Annan had to get ready for this job. Annan only had two weeks, selected in mid-December on a Friday the 13th ten years ago. Ban Ki-Moon selected a couple of months ago.

He's been in the Korean foreign ministry and diplomatic posts for more than 35 years. So he brings a lot of experience to this job. But the crises go on as Kofi Annan told him and the rest of the general assembly, the work of the U.N. is never done -- Tony.

HARRIS: Our senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth for us this morning.

Richard, we appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Nightmares made real.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are a Sunni area surrounded by Shiites. We are under mortal attack day and night. Snipers are working from high buildings, shooting at people day and night. And at night, the mortars start falling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Sunni versus Shiite. Baghdad's brutal neighborhood wars. That story coming up here in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The military mission in Iraq. "The Washington Post" reports military leaders are advising President Bush to shift the mission, take it from fighting insurgents to supporting Iraqi troops and hunting terrorists. The top uniformed leaders reportedly do not favor adding large numbers of American forces. President Bush and Vice President Cheney met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday to discuss the Iraq crisis. The president says he will not be rushed on a decision.

More killings and kidnappings today in Baghdad. An Iraqi army convoy targeted by a car bomb. Police say the attack left a soldier and civilian dead and nine other people wounded. Plus, word that 20 or 30 Iraqis were kidnapped by armed men in a Baghdad shopping area this morning. An Iraqi official says the kidnappers were wearing outdated Iraqi police uniforms and driving about 10 vehicles.

Meanwhile, the shell of a vehicle is all that remains from a car bomb in Sadr City. Two Iraqi police explosives experts died while trying to diffuse the bomb.

HARRIS; Tackling malaria, the first lady hosting a summit on the disease. It's been eradicated here in the States, but it's still killing millions of people in Africa. It's estimated that some 3,000 children die of the mosquito-borne disease each day there. Donating something as simple as nets can save lives. President and Mrs. Bush are challenging the world, including faith-based organizations, to join forces to fight the disease.

COLLINS: Coming up now, Jim Clancy and "YOUR WORLD TODAY." He's going to be telling us what that show will be having.

Hi there, Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi. Hello to you, too, Tony.

We have a lot coming up in our survey of global news, including the official report into the death of Princess Diana. After years of speculation and accusation, some troubling rumors are laid to rest. Above all, it was a tragic accident.

And then from Baghdad, correspondent Nic Robertson is looking at the bloody sectarian divide there and what he sees as emerging neighborhood wars.

Plus, on a different note, a sour note to be exact, at Lascala (ph), the Milan, Italy's world famous opera house, the star tenor gets booed, storms off stage and threatens to sue his understudy. Well, maybe just a little bit unprepared. He had to take the stage in blue jeans. We'll have that, plus live reports and special coverage from Moscow all coming up right here at the top of the hour.

Back to you, Heidi and Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Jim, appreciate it. Thank you. Christianity in America, it impacts everything from politics to scientific research to pop culture. So what exactly does it mean to be a Christian? As Anderson Cooper reports tonight, when it comes to being a Christian, one size hardly fits all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PASTOR RUSSELL JOHNSON, FAIRFIELD CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Secularism, materialism, intellectualism, hedonism...

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Pastor Russell Johnson rallies so-called patriot pastors behind conservative issues. He preaches America is in the grips of a war over its moral soul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've said, this is a battle between the forces of righteousness and the hordes of hell.

JOHNSON: I do believe there's a battle between right and wrong. I do believe that there is a forces of darkness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all God's people shouted...

COOPER: Many Christians believe the end of days prophesies in the bible are happening right now.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you see what's been happening in the Middle East as the beginning of the end of time?

PASTOR LARRY HUCH, NEW BEGINNINGS CHURCH: The beginning of the end as we know it, yes. Yes. You look at the bible and you will see all these things lining up, and it's not a coincidence.

COOPER: And there is a fast-growing group, millions of Christians who say if you believe, truly believe, you will prosper.

PASTOR CREFLO DOLLAR: The Word of God is the gateway to the world of wealth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: CNN's Anderson Cooper takes an in-depth look at Christianity in America tonight at 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

COLLINS: They've sworn to uphold the law, but whose law? Police officers accused of being enforcers for a jailed sect leader. That story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs back to a Utah courtroom this morning. The hearing is to determine whether prosecutors will have probable cause for a trial. Jeffs has been charged as an accomplice to rape. Prosecutors say he forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin, and now a 20-year-old woman told the court last month the marriage led to sex without her consent.

HARRIS: Two police forces, one chief, a polygamist sect leader in jail and under scrutiny.

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on the connection and the concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How you doing, sir?

(voice-over) Try to interview a cop in the neighboring polygamist towns of Hilldale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, and you quickly realize you're not a welcome guest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the cameras away.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Can I just ask you off the property then? Can I ask you a couple questions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The police who patrol these two fundamentalist Mormon towns do not like to associate with outsiders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't because it's the -- it's the chief's policy not to talk.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officers don't give media statements.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): This is the largest polygamist community in the U.S. It's where Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS church, facing the possibility of life behind bars, is considered by most a prophet of God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want to talk to you.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How come?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Load up and leave the property now.

TUCHMAN: I don't understand. Why can't I talk to you? That's fine if you don't want to talk, but why won't you talk to me, is all I'm asking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go now or I'll cite you.

TUCHMAN: You'll cite me for what? So why the feeling of a totalitarian state?

GARY ENGELS, MOHAVE COUNTY INVESTIGATOR: It's my experience in the two years here that these police officers are not real police officers. They're enforcers for the FLDS Church. They're enforcers for Warren.

TUCHMAN: Gary Engels is a county investigator, who has an office in Colorado City to check into the allegations of sex crimes against girls under 18 and tax evasion. Ideally, he would work with the local police.

ENGELS: I know that if it comes down to it, I can't count on them at all for backup. In fact, I believe that if guns started being pointed, that their guns would probably be pointed at me.

TUCHMAN: And now the state of Utah has decided to start an investigation that could lead to closing down the police department.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What it comes down to is once again simply a derelict of duty issue that we're looking into. That's why we've opened the investigation and that's what we're going to look into.

TUCHMAN: The state of Arizona has a similar investigation. And a letter police say they recovered after arresting Warren Jeffs has added fuel to the whole controversy.

In it, the chief of the Colorado City/Hilldale police department writes to Jeffs, who is now in jail, charged as an accomplice to rape, and says, "I am praying for you to be protected and yearn to be with you again. I love you and acknowledge you as my priesthood head. And I know that you have the right to rule in all aspects of my life."

Chief Fred Barlow has turned down requests to be interviewed about the letter, but we did ask one of his officers about the investigation of the department.

(on camera) When you heard about this report, though, of Utah's investigation, how did it make you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No comment.

TUCHMAN: But you don't want to talk because you don't have an opinion or the chief tells you not to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I kind of like my job. I'd like to keep it.

TUCHMAN: You like your job and want to keep it.

(voice-over) But keeping it may be out of his or the chief's hands if the states of Utah or Arizona shut them down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: All right, Gary Tuchman reporting there.

Meanwhile, two more reporters coming up at 1:00, CNN NEWSROOM in the afternoon.

Hi, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, guys.

Talking about the desperate search for three stranded climbers. Well, it the hit the brick wall we're told. You've seen tape of the conditions on Mount Hood. And it was before the latest storm, this what it looked like. The man who shot these pictures joins us live to talk about rescue efforts right now.

And we're also going to have this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some people knew the current situation with the Middle East as a clash of civilization. I think it's more than that, way more than that. I think it's an outright declaration of war from radical Islam on Western culture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS; Radical Islam, is it the same kind of mentality seen decades ago in Nazi Germany? Producers of a new film say absolutely. A live interview about obsession.

And get this, a 4-year-old accused of sexual harassment. Now the preschoolers parents fight back. This report in the CNN NEWSROOM 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

HARRIS: I love that.

PHILLIPS: Yes, starting young, 4 years old. It's one of those most clicked on stories. We'll tell what you happened.

HARRIS: Thanks, Kyra.

COLLINS: This must be some kind of record, I'm sure of it. Check it out, the world's tallest man saves not one, but two dolphins. Yes, his arm is inside the mouth of a dolphin. We'll tell you about it, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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