Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

FBI Bulletin Warns Law Enforcement to be Vigilant of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman Dies; Police Quarantine Class at Elementary School in Willingboro, New Jersey; Senator Tim Johnson's Illness Could Return Control to GOP; Raphael Shore, Nonie Darwish Discuss "Obsession"; Golden Globe Award Nominees

Aired December 14, 2006 - 13:59   ET

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Kyra Phillips, live in the CNN world headquarters.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

PRESS: Emergency brain surgery. The next 24 to 48 hours is critical.

Actually, we apologize for that.

LEMON: Yes, that's Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman.

PRESS: The script and video not matching.

LEMON: Yes, that's Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, and we're going to give you an update on him.

PRESS: Let's start the show.

LEMON: Law enforcement agencies have put out a warning with him, so we're going to begin with that story. We begin with this developing story here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The FBI sent out a bulletin warning that the expected death of an al Qaeda spiritual leader could lead to terror attacks against the United States. Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as "The Blind Sheikh," has been in prison since the first attacks on the World Trade Center. The FBI bulletin said he spit up blood on December 6th and was rushed to the hospital.

The bulletin reminds law enforcement agencies that the sheikh has previously called for attacks if he dies in prison. The bulletin includes what he says is a last will and testament distributed at an al Qaeda press conference back in 1998.

Law enforcement sources stress that the bulletin is just meant to make all those in law enforcement aware of the possible threat, and there is no intelligence to suggest there are any attacks being planned.

We'll have more on this developing story this afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Now let's get to the newsroom. Carol Lin is working details on a developing story out of New Jersey -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Right. Kyra, we're still working on the condition of that hospital in -- from Garfield East Elementary School in Willingboro, New Jersey.

You're looking at video that came into the CNN center of HazMat teams that responded to that elementary school after this teacher opened up an envelope and some white powder spilled out of it onto her arms. Apparently, the report from the hospital is that she experienced some skin irritation, but they don't know what that white powder was.

Now, a local hospital did confirm to CNN that she did test negative for anthrax exposure or smallpox, but they are so concerned about this, Kyra, that they have quarantined that classroom of children, and they have diverted some 400 students to another school while they check out this situation, trying to figure out what that white powder is.

So far they don't know who sent it. So we don't know what a motive may be here, but it is under investigation. A pretty dramatic scene there at that elementary school.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking it Carol. Thanks.

Well, Washington, we all know, is all about politics all the time, sometimes bitter, sometimes divisive. But even in Washington party differences can be put aside.

Today lawmakers in both parties are expressing their concerns for Senator Tim Johnson. The South Dakota Democrat is in critical condition after brain surgery, raising immediate concerns about his health and long-term questions about control of the closely-divided Senate.

Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, following the story for us -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right, the last 24 hours have been an emotional roller-coaster for Senate Democrats especially, not only concerns about the health of, for many of them, a close friend and colleague, Senator Tim Johnson, but also about their own political fate. Ever since last month's midterm elections, Democrats have been set to take over the Senate with the slimmest of majorities, 51-49.

Among those concerned on both fronts, Senator Harry Reid, the man poised to become the next Senate majority leader, who said he spent much of the evening in the hospital at George Washington University and also was there early this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: He really looks good. The 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: The question out there that we've been talking about for the last 24 hours, of course, is what happens if Senator Johnson's health precludes him from keeping his job in the Senate? Would that mean that he would have to step aside or be replaced if that were the case?

The South Dakota governor, who happens to be a Republican, would be the one to choose his replacement. He would presumably be a Republican; therefore, leading the Senate in a 50-50 split. And because Vice President Dick Cheney is the President of the Senate, he would be the one casting the tie-breaking vote, leaving Republicans in the majority. But as far as Senator Reid is concerned, he says, it is full steam ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

KOPPEL: And, of course, if Democrats are in the majority next year, come January 4th, when the 110th Congress is set to take place, they would be the ones, Kyra, who are in charge of choosing the committees. They would be the chairpersons of those committees.

They'd set the agenda on the floor of the Senate and would be in charge, of course, of all the nominating process. So it is a very big deal for Democrats to keep that control -- Kyra.

PRESS: And not knowing what could happen with his condition at this point, does the governor immediately start thinking about possible replacements? Is this something that just no matter what the -- how this turns out, he's got to be ready with a nomination, right?

KOPPEL: Yes, that's a terrific question. But the fact is, I've spoken to a couple of Senate historians here, and they say that there are really only two cases under which the governor would then choose a replacement.

That would be, one, if Senator Johnson himself were to resign from his position, or if he were to pass away in office. And there are any number of cases over the years, dating back to the Civil War, in which you had senators from both parties who have been -- fallen ill, so ill, in fact, that they haven't been able to come to work and haven't been able to vote for months, sometimes years. And yet they have not been replaced on the job -- Kyra.

PRESS: Andrea Koppel, live on the Hill. Thanks, Andrea.

LEMON: Senator Johnson is being treated at George Washington Hospital in D.C.

Our Brianna Keilar is standing by with an update -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the nursing supervisor's office here at George Washington University Hospital telling us that at last check, Senator Johnson was in critical condition following brain surgery early this morning. And a source familiar with Johnson's condition saying that it's really a matter of course that he would be listed in critical condition following a surgery like this.

Now, the attending physician for the U.S. Capitol, Admiral John Eisold, saying, "Senator Johnson was found to have an intracerebral bleed caused by a congenital arteriovenous malformation. He underwent successful surgery to evacuate the blood and stabilize the malformation."

And this condition has been explained in lay terms as a brain hemorrhage caused by pressure from blood vessels that are too close together.

Senator Johnson's wife, Barbara, also issuing a statement on behalf of the family this morning, saying, "The Johnson family is encouraged and optimistic." She went on to thank friends, supporters and fellow South Dakotans for their prayers and good wishes, and she also thanked the doctors here at George Washington University Hospital.

Again, Senator Johnson's condition at this point listed as critical, and his surgery has been billed as successful by a source familiar with his condition. Also the attending physician for the U.S. Capitol saying that he is recovering without complications -- Don.

LEMON: Brianna, did the doctors talk about any long-term prognosis for the senator?

KEILAR: Well, we've only heard from this attending physician for the U.S. Capitol, saying at this point that it's really too early to determine if there will be any long-term consequences.

LEMON: Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Will he or won't he go on to trial? Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could find out today, and that's what the hearing in St. George, Utah, will decide.

CNN's Gary Tuchman has been in the courtroom.

Bring us up to date, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. And we will find out today. We are about two hours from finding out if Warren Jeffs, the leader of the largest polygamist sect in the United States, formerly on the FBI Top 10 Most Wanted List, will be going to trial on charges of being an accomplice to rape.

Warren Jeffs is 50 years old, who looks extremely skinny since he's been held in jail. Could face the possibility of life in prison.

He's accused of setting up many, many marriages between children. In other words, girls under the age of 18 and older men. But in this case specifically, they are focusing on the claims of one 19-year-old woman who was 14 when she married her first cousin, who then was 19 at that time.

So her first cousin was a legal adult. She was 14. She testified during the beginning of this preliminary hearing three weeks ago that she was forced to marry him, that she was very unhappy.

She said, "The entire time I was there" -- speaking of her marriage ceremony -- "I was crying, I just wanted to die. I was so scared."

She said she was forced to have sex with this first cousin. She told Warren Jeffs -- she said that she was very unhappy about the marriage. And based on that, Warren Jeffs has been charged with being an accomplice to rape. Not raping this girl himself, but being charged with setting it up so the rape could occur.

But what you should know as viewers is that this 19-year-old husband who is now 24 has not been charged in the case. Why? There is a school of thought that he was a victim, too, that he was told that he had to marry this girl under the terms of the FLDS religion, the fundamentalist sect.

But it could provide a problem if this goes to trial. Legally, yes, you can charge a person with being an accomplice to rape if the alleged rapist hasn't been charged, but sometimes a jury might say, hey, if you don't have the rapist here, how can I believe this person who's charged with assisting in the rape is guilty?

Indeed, during this hearing, the preliminary hearing today, defense attorneys have said, hey, how did Warren Jeffs know there was unconsented sex? Yes, he married this couple -- by the way, they were not polygamists, this couple. This was the husband's first marriage, but there are many polygamists in this 10,000-member sect.

But they say legally Warren Jeffs didn't know what was going on in the bedroom. Yes, he knew this girl was unhappy. Yes, he knew she complained. But he did not know she was having unconsented sex, and therefore, judge, we want you to say, Warren Jeffs, you do not have to go to trial on these charges.

We can tell you, inside the courtroom, really fascinating. There are 42 seats in the court. About 17 of them are taken up by followers of Warren Jeffs.

And when Warren Jeffs came into the courtroom today, all 17 of them, including five women in their traditional dress, which is buns -- their hair made into buns and long dresses. They all stood up and stared right at him, looking at him. It was almost like the Dalai Lama or the pope walked into the room.

They believe that this man talks to god. This is the most important man in their lives, and these people stood up to honor him. Warren Jeffs looked back at them, and then the case started today.

We can tell you the security is intense. There are seven sheriffs deputies inside the courtroom, including one man who faces back -- faces the judge. He looks at the 17 supporters of Warren Jeffs and doesn't take his eyes off of them.

So we expect within two hours -- it's lunch break right now -- the judge will make the decision -- will Warren Jeffs stand trial on charges of being an accomplice to rape -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll check back in with you. Gary, thanks.

LEMON: One team at a time, a few feet at a time. Rescuers looking for three missing climbers on Mt. Hood. Can't get very far today because of the brutal weather.

Driving snow and winds gusting nearly 100 miles an hour, holding them back. Search leaders say only team at a time is being allowed to venture out, and rescuers are only going up as far as 4,000 feet. At the foot of the mountain, family members are huddled together, holding out hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK JAMES, BROTHER OF MISSING CLIMBER: It's very hard. And -- but, you know, we're hanging in there. And if anybody can survive these kinds of conditions, Kelly can, and I would say that these other two guys, Brian and Nikko, are made of the same stuff.

So, yes, we all agonize. That's a good word. But we press on.

And again, we're very determined. I was thinking this morning how I would describe the family. And I think the words that came to mind were that we have a tenacious faith. And we mean that.

LEMON: Climbers Kelly James -- there you see them our screen -- Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke left a week ago for what was supposed to be a two-day trek.

Let's go straight the newsroom now and Carol Lin working the details of a developing story -- Carol.

LIN: Well, Don, we have learned that the FBI is going to be involved in the search for these lost climbers. They are going to be involved in trying to track down that cell phone signal of that call that was last made a couple of days ago.

And we've also learned that the Army's 10th Mountain Division is arriving today. This is a specialized Army fighting force that is trained to work in harsh, wintry conditions. Many of the members of the 10th Mountain Division are specialists in skiing and mountaineering in these kinds of harsh conditions. Trained for mountain warfare, essentially.

And when you take a look at the conditions on that mountain, 100- mile-an-hour winds right now, and a driving snowstorm. These are the conditions in which they are trying desperately to find these men. Every resource possible being sent their way.

So they will be -- the skiers are going to be in good hands. I mean, they are -- the best of the best are looking for them right now.

LEMON: Yes. And I want to remind our viewers, Carol -- thank you for that -- tell our viewers that later on in the NEWSROOM, we'll be talking to one of the men who has been braving the elements, trying to find those climbers.

PHILLIPS: The hunt for a possible serial killer. Are police starting to get a fix on the person killing prostitutes in eastern England? The latest clues in a string of brutal crimes next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A military mission in Iraq. The nation's top military leaders reportedly have advised President Bush to shift the mission from fighting insurgents to supporting Iraqi troops and hunting terrorists.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday at the Pentagon. The top uniform leaders reportedly do not favor adding significant numbers of American forces in Iraq. The president says he will not be rushed on a decision.

LEMON: Seeing for themselves. U.S. lawmakers, most of them senators, most of them Republican, they are in Baghdad today with the Iraq Study Group's grim findings still echoing. Speaking to reporters, the big issue was U.S. troops, pull out or beef up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The situation, in my view, remains serious. It requires us to have an injection of additional troops on the ground in order to bring the situation under control, in order that the political process may proceed.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: I echo what Senator McCain said. I think I feel very strongly that as the president looks for new direction forward in Iraq, that we need more, not less, troops here. But there has to be real thought about what those troops do to help the Iraqi security forces secure the country. And, of course, there has to be ultimately real leadership by the government of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As if to underscore the instability in Baghdad, a suicide bomber struck an Iraqi army checkpoint today in a western suburb. The city a mostly Sunni neighborhood. One Iraqi soldier and a civilian were killed.

Another development in Baghdad today as well. Gunmen wearing outdated police uniforms kidnapped more than 50 people on a busy market street. We've learned that about half of them have since been released.

PHILLIPS: Welcoming the light of day. After surviving the nightmare of Baghdad, CNN's Nic Robertson looks at neighborhoods where the vigilante creed is simply shoot first.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's nighttime in Baghdad, and this is the new face of war here -- Sunni vigilantes. In the neighborhoods where Iraq's mostly Shia security forces are simply not trusted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Sectarian war is happening. Destroying mosques, forcing Sunnis to leave their neighborhoods.

ROBERTSON: These few snatches of video tell a disturbing story of just how bad sectarian tensions have become.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no other way. If they come to us, they will slaughter us. Resisting them is the only way we have.

ROBERTSON: On an Iraqi Web site, AliveinBaghdad.org, citizens post their own reports. Recently, this appeared. A chilling account from a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. A resident stockpiling weapons, shooting outsiders.

(on camera): But as I am finding out, not all vigilantes are volunteers.

(voice-over): I am meeting a Sunni. He's afraid to show his face. He says local gunmen have forced him to join the fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You have to defend yourself. All the neighbors are doing it. And if I stayed at home, they would say you're a coward and they would take action to deal with you.

ROBERTSON: He describes what he calls a dissent into civil war.

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.

ROBERTSON (on camera): The neighborhood he's describing, the Ama Mello (ph) worker's neighborhood, is just over there, just off the main airport highway. It's so volatile, we can't drive through there right now. In fact, sometimes the fighting overspills onto the highway here.

(voice-over): Sectarian havoc is clear in other neighborhoods. Here, a Sunni mosque has been destroyed to drive Sunnis out of a mostly Shia neighborhood.

On walls in another neighborhood, new graffiti tells Sunnis to get out.

This is one of 40 Sunni families forced out from one small neighborhood this past weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We asked the Iraqi army to come and help, but the army didn't interfere and it seems they are conspiring with the militia.

ROBERTSON: And it isn't just Sunnis on the run. This Shia lady says her husband and son were killed by Sunnis, then her house torched and she was forced out. They told me to go out from your house, Shiite. We're going to burn it.

A close look at the map of Baghdad reveals where tensions are highest. Dark blue is strongly Shia; dark red, strongly Sunni. Where the colors fade are the mixed neighborhoods. A sectarian fault line runs north/south all the way through Baghdad.

Iraq's ministry of defense says security forces are stretched too thin. But for some Sunnis, it's clear it's not the numbers the Iraqi army lacks, it's trust.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When the Americans are in the neighborhood, we sleep. When there are no Americans, everyone carries his weapon and protects himself.

ROBERTSON: A wake-up call for anyone who thinks Iraqi security forces are ready to take control of the country.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Back then, Hitler youth. And now, junior jihadists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fanatic Muslim world and Hitler both agree that no ideology can exist beyond theirs. It's all- encompassing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Ahead in the NEWSROOM, a closer look at a controversial new film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: You know, it's kind of like "The Beverly Hillbillies." One day you are living in a trailer park, the next day you are filthy rich. Wow.

Susan Lisovicz, New York Stock Exchange, with all the details.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Is it fair to compare Islamic radicals to the Nazis? The people behind the new film "Obsession" say absolutely. A live interview about this film just ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the worst form of child abuse is teaching a child to hate. But we have on Palestinian TV and on Saudi TV over and over again little kids being taught, I want to be a suicide bomber.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A new film looks to the past to sound a warning about the future. Live interviews coming up.

LEMON: The FBI has sent out a bulletin warning that the expected death of al Qaeda's spiritual leader could lead to a terror attack against the United States. Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the blind sheik, has been in prison since the first attacks on the World Trade Center. The FBI bulletin said he spit up blood on December 6th and was rushed to the hospital.

The bulletin reminds law enforcement agencies that is the sheik has previously called for attacks if he died in prison. The bulletin includes what is says was the last will and testament distributed at an al Qaeda press conference back in 1998. Law enforcement sources stress that the bulletin is just meant to make all those in law enforcement aware of the possible threat and there is no intelligence to suggest there are any attacks being planned. We'll have more on the developing story throughout the afternoon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: What do Osama bin Laden and Adolf Hitler have in common? Well, a new documentary says that America needs to know the answer or else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALFONS HECK, FORMER HITLER YOUTH OFFICER: It is absolutely correct to say, if you can't learn from the events of Nazi Germany, you will not be able to grasp the true intent of the danger of the radical Muslim world today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The film is called "Obsession," radical Islam's war against the West. It's a fascinating and chilling look at the parallels between Nazism and modern Islamic terrorism.

Raphael Shore, one of the film's producers joins me from Jerusalem and Nonie Darwish is in Los Angeles. She was featured in the film because she grew up in Gaza and her father led Fedayeen operations against Israel until he was assassinated.

It's an honor to have both of you. Raphael, I want to begin with you, talking about the comparison between radical Islam and Hitler's Nazi regime. I think a lot of people look at this, or those that have seen this film and say, wow, we have not learned from the past, have we?

RAPHAEL SHORE, PRODUCER, "OBSESSION": No, I don't think so. First of all, thanks for having us on the show. It's really the case that we have not learned, and that's what helped -- Alfons Heck says when we have -- he was a Nazi youth officer in the film, and he is the one that points out that while Nazi Germany is finished and they repented from what they did, the Arab and Islamists, the radicals who were in Berlin at the time and grew up and learned from Islam, from the Nazis, they never changed, and they continued the battle against the West.

PHILLIPS: And Nonie, you lived this.

NONIE DARWISH, "OBSESSION": Exactly. I grew up in the Middle East for 30 years. I heard all the propaganda of hatred and it's happening again. The same propaganda as Nazi Germany is happening across the Middle East by radicals who want to keep the hatred and the dehumanization of the Jews.

And to them, they have reduced a great religion to just an ideology of hatred of Jews across many mosques in the Middle East. We learn so much hatred, it's embarrassing to even repeat what's being said by some religious leaders, some political leaders in our cartoons, in movies, in schools.

PHILLIPS: And Nonie, growing up, what did you learn? What did your father teach you? Your father fought against Israel. He led Fedayeen operations there in Gaza. Was he teaching you hate?

DARWISH: No, my father was a soldier. And he was doing what most of the Arab soldiers did, which is invade Israel and kill Jews. But it's beyond the military. It's everywhere. It is in schools.

For example, I was told, don't take any fruit or candy from a stranger, because it could be a Jew trying to poison you. The Jews wanted Arab blood to bake their cookies, and we believed it. We recited jihadist poetry daily while we were crying in school, wishing upon ourselves to die as a jihad to kill Jews before they kill Arab children.

And when you grow up with this kind of ideology day in and day out, you really believe that terrorism is OK, and that hating -- hatred is justified. And there are so many lies across the Middle East being taught right now to Arab children and it's really a disgrace that's happening today. The same -- the same propaganda of Hitler is being done right now in the Middle East, across the Middle East.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk more about that. I want to go to a clip that has the former Nazi youth leader that Raphael mentioned, Alfons Heck, also talking with a former PLO terrorist and what they said about the comparison between radical Islam and Hitler's regime. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HECK: The fanatic Muslim world and creed says that no ideology can exist beyond theirs. It's all-encompassing.

WALID SHOEBAT, FORMER PLO TERRORIST: Secular dogma like Nazis is less dangerous than this Islamofascism that we do today. It's less dangerous because Islamofascism has a religious twist to it. It has God almighty ordering to do this, not the furor. So it is way more dangerous. It is trying to grow itself in 55 Muslim states, so potentially you could have a success rate of several Nazi Germany if these people get their way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Raphael, it's amazing to hear a former PLO terrorist say that what's happening right now can be even more dangerous than Nazi Germany. And just looking at the propaganda that you point out to in the film, looking at the comparison of how the Nazi propaganda and the Palestinian extremists' propaganda, it's similar, it's exactly the same images.

SHORE: Yes, and we point that out. In fact, some of these clips are available at our Web site at obsessionthemovie.com. But the point that I want to make clear is that what we're showing in this movie is that this is a war that radical Islam has declared against the western world.

It's not just about Israel or the Jews, although that's an important subplot. But radical Islam today has made a continuation of the Nazi past, and they have declared this war, and they are working against Christianity, against Buddhism, against gays and all over the world, they are attacks.

What we are trying to show in this movie is that when you look around the world and you see separate terror attacks, it looks like separate things going on in separate areas. But we need to connect the dots and realize that in their eyes, it is one global jihad, one front in a global jihad against western civilization and that's what we try to show in "Obsession" the movie.

PHILLIPS: Well, and it starts with the kids. Let's listen to this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the worst form of child abuse is teaching a child to hate. But we have on Palestinian TV and on Saudi TV over and over again, are little kids being taught signs, I want to be a suicide bomber.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE): I'll turn into a suicide warrior. I'll turn into a suicide warrior. In battledress, in battledress, in battledress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oh, it's heart-wrenching. Nonie you've even made the point that look, not all Muslims are radicals like this and not all parents are teaching this, that your religion infiltrated by this hateful agenda. How do you break it though? How do you start changing what we're seeing here among hundreds and hundreds of children?

DARWISH: That's the million-dollar question. The Arab leadership, the good people in the Muslim world, and I don't doubt that the majority of my culture are decent, good people, but they are not in power. They have to end this hate. They have to say, enough is enough. We should never teach our kids hate.

Because, really, terrorism doesn't only hurt the West and Israel and the non-Muslims, it destroys the moral fabric and goodness that I know exists in Arab culture and in Muslim culture.

And it's bad for -- even for moderate Muslims who are being oppressed and being threatened by radical Islam. It can -- a very horrific ideology that is tyrannical and it oppresses freedom of speech, it oppresses women, and it oppresses even men and it's a tyranny.

PHILLIPS: And, finally, points well made, Nonie. Rafael, just -- I encourage everybody not only to see this film but just look into the history of this relationship between Adolf Hitler and the Grand Mustafa al-Husseini, the grand Mufti of Israel and how they both came together and talked about the extermination of Jews.

They had the same goal and that was world domination and hatred. I mean, this goes back decades. What do you want people to walk away with after they see this film? Not only the understanding of history, but what else do you want?

DARWISH: I would like to see ...

SHORE: Actually, I would ...

PHILLIPS: Go ahead, Rafael.

SHORE: Yes, I was actually speaking with Bernard Lewis last week. He's a preeminent Islamic scholar in the world today, and he said that what is important for people to realize today, he said, he was an intelligent officer in the British Army in the 1940s.

He was more optimistic about a victory of the West then, after the Nazis had taken over Poland, Czechoslovakia and France than he is now, over the victory of the West over radical Islam.

And I asked him why, that's such a shocking statement. And he said because, then we knew who we were and we knew who they were. We were the Western world, which was freedom and Democracy and individual rights and they were totalitarian dictators who were trying to destroy our way of life.

Today, he said, we don't know who we are, we don't know what we stand for in the West and we don't know that there's an enemy that is trying to -- has declared war and is trying to destroy the West. And, therefore, the first important message to, answer your question, and this is what we try to get across in "Obsession" the movie, is people need to understand that there is a war going on today.

It's not something that we asked for, but there are people, just as there was in the Nazis in the 1930s and '40s, there are people and it is the minority of Muslims like Nonie says, but there are radical Islamists and there are millions of them who are trying to declare war and destroy civilization, Western civilization. We have to be aware of and it educate ourselves. That's the most important thing that needs to happen today.

PHILLIPS: Well, you can definitely get an incredible education by watching this film "Obsession." Rafael Shore, Nonie Darwish, I can't thank you enough for your time. The movie left many of us speechless. We appreciate what you've done.

DARWISH: Thank you.

SHORE: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Man and machine are at their limits says one Oregon rescuer. Today hurricane-worthy winds stall rescue efforts on Mt. Hood. How can three stranded climbers possibly survive? One of the search team members just ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Did he force a 14-year-old girl to marry her older cousin? We're at a hearing that could determine the future prosecution of that accused polygamist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Progress of a sort into the murder of five British prostitutes. Police have identified one of two victims discovered Tuesday as 24-year-old Paula Clennell.

A medical examiner says she died from compression to the neck. Another dead woman found nearby is believed to be 29-year-old Annette Nichols. Police believe one killer may have slain the five women in the area around Ipswich, England.

PHILLIPS: Will Warren Jeffs stand trial or not? We could know in about two hours. The polygamist leader was back in a Utah courtroom today for a hearing on charges that he acted as an accomplice to rape.

Prosecutors say he forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19- year-old cousin, a union she says led to sex without her consent. Jeffs is the leader of a fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints, whose followers believe she is a prophet of God.

LEMON: Extortion claims, death threats, $2 million dollars. And John Lennon's widow in the middle of it all. It's going to take half a million dollars for Yoko Ono's chauffeur to get out of jail.

Carl Carson is accused of trying to blackmail Yoko Ono and supposedly having people ready and waiting to kill her. Carson went before a Manhattan judge a little while ago proclaiming his innocence. He says Yoko Ono is trying to head off his sexual harassment suit. Carson's been Yoko Ono's driver for about six years.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, entertainment news, and Sibila Vargas of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Hey Sibila, what's on tap?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well newcomer Jennifer Hudson had her dreams come true this morning. The nominations were announced for the 64th annual Golden Globe awards. That's all ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Gore goes global, back in the public spotlight with his 2006 release of a documentary on global warming. It's a second act in American life, making Al Gore a candidate for "Time" magazine's Person of the Year.

RAMESH RATNESAR, "TIME" WORLD EDITOR: I think Al Gore is becoming more popular now than he was when he ran for president in 2000. This year he came out with the documentary about global warming and really seemed to captivate and tap into an anxiety, I think, a lot of people have and an awareness of climate changes as this kind of major issue of -- that demands kind of national attention.

JOSH TYRANGIEL, "TIME" MANAGING EDITOR, TIME.COM: What Bono is to AIDS in Africa, Al Gore is now to global warming in America. You're a politician and you are associated with an administration, you're associated with a particular year, the year you run, you're associated with an ideology, Democratic, Republican. And what he did is strip all that context away and come off as a guy who cares very much about a particular issue. That's a magnificent transformation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: They're not the Oscars, but sometimes the Golden Globe Awards predict the Oscars. And if that's the case this year, the people who made the movie "Babel" may want to dust off their trophy case.

CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas is in Los Angeles with this year's Golden Globe nominations.

Sibila, lots of big surprises, this year. Any dreams come true?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start with "Dreamgirls". That's a couple of dreams come true there. The film was nominated in the Best Motion Picture in Musical or Comedy category. And it really has been the talk of Tinseltown.

Three members of the cast were nominated, including Beyonce Knowles, her first nomination, and Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, also her first nomination. This is Beyonce's again, first nomination and, Jennifer, again, her first nomination as well, in the supporting category. And many people are rooting for them.

We caught up with Hudson just after the nominations and here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HUDSON, GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE: Of course, being in the film and working with -- but I've had time to get used to that and adjusted to it some, just a little bit. But this is something I didn't expect at all. Thinking back to last year this time and looking at it now, I never saw it coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: You can say that again. Hudson has quite an interesting story. She was on "American Idol" and was rejected. Simon Cowell actually thought that she didn't fit the part. Well, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Not only is she the top contender in this category, but she's also the person who many believe she's the one to beat at the Oscars.

LEMON: Sibila, you know what, we hear that there's been a lot of controversy lately around Mel Gibson but we hear that his film "Apocalypto" actually got a nod? Yes, he sure did, and many here in Hollywood weren't sure if he would. Gibson, of course, came under fire earlier this year for his anti-Semitic rant after a traffic violation, and the Hollywood foreign press today decided to give his film a nomination. Now we'll have to wait to see if he's considered for an Oscar. So, that's the scoop from today's nominations.

Now shifting gears, tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", Rosie's sorry. Why Rosie O'Donnell is now apologizing to outraged Asians for what she said on "The View". Why the startling about face? The inside story on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 p.m. Eastern on "HEADLINE PRIME".

LEMON: I like that, the most provocative entertainment news show.

VARGAS: That's what we are. LEMON: all right. We're going to hold you to that. I'll be watching.

Thank you.

VARGAS: OK.

PHILLIPS: Ever try to rewire a house? How about rewiring a house in zero gravity inside a clunky space suit? The NEWSROOM's keeping an eye on the latest home improvement project for shuttle astronauts. Don't flip that switch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. The Blind Sheik falls gravely ill and the FBI worries his death could spark al Qaeda reprisals against the United States. We're following the latest developments.

PHILLIPS: Hurricane worthy winds freeze Mt. Hood rescuers in their tracks, but family members still find a glimmer of hope.

LEMON: And talk about a high wire act. Make that a high-wiring act. Not only do they have to be pilots, but electricians, too. Your multitasking shuttle astronauts, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: At the top of the hour, we're talking about brutal conditions keeping rescuers from going all out today in their search for three missing climbers on Oregon's Mt. Hood.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com