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Missing Climbers; The Fight For Iraq; Eye on Iran; Senator Hospitalized; Wii Warning
Aired December 15, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Tony Harris. Spend a second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the rundown.
Furious snow, hurricane-strength winds. A live picture now from Mount Hood. I'm not sure of that. A tough day for rescuers, searchers today. It was live. OK, a live picture there from Mount Hood. The latest on three missing climbers. We will take you live to Oregon.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Election day in Iran. A big test for the country's hard line president. Reformers hoping to show they're still a force. We are live from Tehran.
HARRIS: Cut hormones, cut breast cancer rates. The number of cases taking a dramatic plunge. Progress in the cancer battle this Friday, the 15th of December. You are in the NEWSROOM.
At the top this hour, hurricane-force winds, blizzard conditions making the search for three missing climbers a near mission impossible. Live now to CNN's Chris Lawrence in Parkdale, Oregon.
Chris, good morning.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
You know, there has just been one obstacle after another for these rescue teams, beginning with this weather. It has turned from rain to snow here in the past hour and a half or so and that means that it's even worse at some of those higher elevations. When you get up at a certain level, you're talking about winds gusting at up to 100 miles per hour. You know, for the rescue teams, that would be like standing in the middle of a hurricane on top of a freezing cold, icy mountain.
They have tried to send out some of the unmanned heat-seeking drones, but again, the weather becoming a problem. The precipitation making it very hard for those lenses to pick up anything at all, so they called them back before too long.
Now two of the climbers, Brian Hall and Nikko Cooke, did descend down the mountain last Saturday looking for help. They have not been heard from since. The third climber, Kelly James, is believed to have been holed up in a snow cave right around the 10,000 feet elevation. Now, sheriff's department said -- recently told us that on Tuesday they did pick up another ping from that cell phone. The sheriff says more likely than not, it's just a dying battery, perhaps a roaming signal that momentarily picked up a receiver. But the family is very hopeful and very encouraged that perhaps that may be Kelly James himself turning the cell phone off and on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK JAMES, BROTHER OF MISSING CLIMBER: That's what gives us great hope. As I've said before, it indicates, one, that he has his wits about him and that he's alive. And those are the kinds of things that give me hope. It also gives hope to the other families as well because if Kelly's alive, there's a good chance that the other two are alive as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Again, the sheriff's department skeptical, but these rescue teams down here are very anxious to get back up that mountain and at least try to make an attempt at getting to some of those higher altitudes.
Tony.
HARRIS: So, Chris, obviously, this is a race against time. That goes without saying. But practically speaking, on the ground there, is there any chance that these rescue teams could get up the mountain any time soon?
LAWRENCE: Well, they still got two base camps on both sides of the mountain, the north side and the south side. And if, you know, the snow stops, you know, if we get a break in the weather, which we expect to get this weekend, they could begin the climb. It would take about four to six hours to reach that elevation.
The problem is, even if we saw perfectly sunny skies by tomorrow, say, the amount of snow that has been dumped by these blizzards over the past couple of days has been incredible. There are overhangs of thick snow and so the officials are saying there's a tremendous danger from an avalanche and you have to factor that in when you talk about sending people up to those higher elevations with that kind of risk involved.
HARRIS: I mean, how brave, how courageous are these folks who are volunteering, in many cases, to go up this mountain to try to rescue these missing climbers. Chris Lawrence for us from Parkdale, Oregon.
Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: Among the challenges facing incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates, making sure the Pentagon has what he views as the right stuff. CNN's Jamie McIntyre with that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: This man's work ethic is incredible. Is he demanding? You bet. DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: No.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Joint Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace is one of Donald Rumsfeld's biggest fans and often showers him with public praise as he did last week at Rumsfeld's farewell Pentagon town hall meeting.
PACE: This is a man of very strong loyalty.
MCINTYRE: But as principal military adviser, Pace is also supposed to be a critic, capable of providing harsh truth to the defense secretary and the president. As Robert Gates take over, he needs to decide if Rumsfeld's hand-picked chairman is really who he wants to get his advice from, or whether, when Pace's first two-year term expires next summer, he should be replaced. One possibility would be Marine General Jim Jones, who Rumsfeld also interviewed for the chairman's job. Jones warned his close friend Pace, who got the position, that Iraq could be a debacle and not to be a parrot on the shoulder of the secretary. In fact, some critics argue Gates should ease out all the generals in charge of the Iraq War, starting with top commander John Abizaid
COL. DOUG MACGREGOR, U.S. ARMY (RET.): General John Abizaid has always known what was right, but he simply has been unable to act on it. He's a product of this system that rewards officers for being charming and compliant but presenting no resistance to their bosses.
MCINTYRE: Gates will have to decide if Generals Pace, Abizaid and George Casey have been too cowed by Rumsfeld to say what they really think. But some argue firing commanders for saluting smartly and doing their best would be a mistake.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: If you fire General Abizaid and General Casey, you're firing two of the most competent Army officers that we've ever produced in this country because there is no solution. They're working hard to solve a problem, a big problem that they've been handed and walked into the middle of and you can't simply hold them responsible.
MCINTYRE: General Pace is in a unique position. As the top military adviser, he must have the confidence of both the defense secretary and the president. It would be perfectly understandable and no reflection on Pace if Gates wanted his own person in that position.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And come up a little bit later today, we want to let you know what's happening. At 1:15, in particular, the armed forces full honor review event will happen. Once again, that's at 1:15 Eastern today. This is Donald Rumsfeld's last day, a farewell ceremony, as secretary of defense. The president of the United States will be there as well, so we'll bring it to you when it happens.
HARRIS: Iran's president, opinionated and outspoken, but today it's the Iranian people who are expressing their views, casting ballots in elections that could have major implications for hardline rule. Let's go live now to Tehran and CNN's Middle East correspondent Aneesh Raman.
Aneesh, good to see you.
Well, we don't have him. OK. We will take a couple of minutes. Do we have him? I'm going to hang around for just a second. No, we don't have him. All right. We will talk to Aneesh on the other side of the break.
But first, coming up in just minutes, the medal of freedom ceremony at the White House today. I'm cherry picking just a little bit on the list of some of the honorees.
COLLINS: Yes, there are quite a few people, but certainly some that most people recognize.
HARRIS: B.B. King.
COLLINS: B.B. King, right.
HARRIS: I'm really excited about the president of Xavier University, Norman Francis. What a big comeback for Xavier University there after Hurricane Katrina. Other great names on the list as well. That ceremony to begin in just minutes. And, of course, we will bring it to you here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And what an honor for those folks.
Meanwhile, a holiday horror story, when your office party becomes a stop on the way to the emergency room. That's right. We'll give you some warning signs, coming up.
HARRIS: Another big ceremony happening in just minutes this morning. Heidi, we love this story.
COLLINS: If she wakes up.
HARRIS: Yes. Well, that's what she's been doing throughout the morning. Wake up a little bit and wiggle a little bit and let me change my position on the bedding here, throw me in a little more fresh bamboo. We are going to name that cutie pie in just minutes at the Atlanta . . .
COLLINS: Well, not us. Somebody is.
HARRIS: Well, we'll bring it to you live. We've got a vote in this as well in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And Wii players, get a grip. Trouble with Nintendo's super hot tech toy.
Well, what you were supposed to hear is a little bit of trouble with the straps on this thing. It requires a lot of, as you see with Miles O'Brien, physicality and, apparently, there are pieces that are not staying put. So now Nintendo has issued a recall. We'll give you the scoop in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Iran's president, opinionated and outspoken, to be sure, but today it is the Iranian people who are expressing their views, casting ballots in elections that could have major implications for hardline rule in that country. Let's go live now to Tehran and CNN's Middle East correspondent Aneesh Raman.
Hello, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, good morning.
We're standing at one of the main polling stations here in Iran. We're well over eight hours into the election and they're still streaming in.
I'm going to give you a sense of the scene here. It is a mosque, as many polling stations are. It is segregated, as all polling stations are. To my left, the men are casting their ballots. And we're going to turn over to the right where the women are casting theirs.
As you mentioned, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's hardline president, not on the ballot, but by many this is seen as a referendum on both him and his policies over the past year. He was elected as a president that was going to bring about economic reform. That is what he had promised.
Instead, since he has taken office, he has brought about increased defiance against the west. In the past week we've seen a holocaust conference that has drawn anger from capitals around the world. He has also risen Iran's status of regional power. What does that come at the expense of? Critics say domestic reform. Specifically economic improvement.
So will we see dramatic change? Unlikely, especially when it comes to the U.S. What we could see is a subtle change in domestic policy. Iranians I've spoken to in line are desperate for economic reform and they're hoping to send some message to the government to make that happen.
Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Aneesh, we would like to think that the outcome of these elections might have some impact on Iran-U.S. relations, but what's your best bit of analysis for us?
RAMAN: Well, we're not at a fork in the road for Iran. You do have reformists here that would pursue an alternate path, perhaps of engagement with the U.S. They're largely absent from this election. In part because they've been marginalized over the past few years. Also, many of their candidates have been disqualified.
So instead it's a battle among conservatives. The hardliners that are backed by Iran's president and the more traditional conservatives who could pursue, perhaps down the road -- we're talking about a long term plan here -- engagement with the U.S. for the sake of economic reform. That's not at all a given. And it does seem like when it comes to the U.S., nothing really is going to change.
But this is the one thing that could happen. If the hardliners win big in these elections -- and we're seeing huge turnout -- Iran's president will claim this as a mandate, as referendum of sorts that validate what's he's done over the past year or so and it will increase his confidence and in doing so increase his defiance and his policies of defiance against the west.
Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Aneesh Raman for us in Tehran.
Aneesh, we appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: One thing Republicans and Democrats agree on today, they are hoping Senator Tim Johnson can rally after bleeding of the brain. Our Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill now.
And, Dana, can you give us the very latest on the senator's condition?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, you know, it's nice to be able to report good news. And so far we've really heard nothing but a good news coming from Senator Johnson's office since his brain surgery about 36 hours ago. He is still in critical condition, but his wife, Barbara Johnson, released a statement late yesterday saying that they were encouraged and optimistic because for a few reasons. First of all, he was responding to her voice and her touch, following her directions and even reached out and touched her hand.
Now the capital physician says so far no additional surgery has been needed. But this is not necessarily -- what they are saying is that there certainly are a couple of days left of really critical time to monitor the senator's condition. And he is certainly not out of the woods yet. It is very unclear what his prognosis is, short term and long term, how long it will take or to what extent he will recover.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, as you talk about that good news for Senator Johnson, is there now less worry, if you will, Dana, about the loss of power for Democrats in the Senate?
BASH: You know, as we have gotten a better word, if you will, from George Washington University Hospital, where Senator Johnson is right now, the questions swirling about whether Democrats are going to lose their very slim majority certainly has subsided. But the Democratic leader does -- he was asked about it yesterday -- Harry Reid. He insists that there is absolutely no chance the Democrats are going to lose power.
And when you take a step back and really look at the rules governing this whole question, the fact of the matter is, a sitting senator cannot be removed from office unless he dies or he resigns. There is ample precedent for senators who have been quite ill and have been out for months, even several years, while keeping their seat. So that is sort of the current state of play when it comes to that.
But what this has done, Heidi, is reminded both parties that the Democrats' new majority, when they take over in January, will be very, very slim. As I mentioned, just one vote. And there is already some talk -- although I should mention Republicans are not going there at all, they're not talking about this issue very much at all -- but there is some talk about the Republicans wanting, as they organize, to make sure that if something does happen, if a Democratic senator does have to leave for whatever reason, their seat, that they can -- Republicans can take control if that happens.
Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Understood. Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill. Thanks for the update.
HARRIS: Let's get you to Chad Myers now in the Weather Center for us this morning.
And, Chad, your team gave us a bit of a heads up that you've come across some pretty cool I-Reports.
Did we just lose your mike? Chad, we've got to change your mike. I think we just lost your mike. When you get the battery changed out, we'll come back and we'll take a look at those -- he's yelling behind me here.
All right, let's take a live picture now at the White House. The medal of freedom ceremony is underway there right now, as you see, President George Bush entering the room with the first lady, Laura Bush. A wonderful ceremony there right now to honor distinguished service to this country. The award was reinstated by President Kennedy in 1963. We are going to listen in to some of the ceremony. Let's do that right now.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all for coming. Welcome, Mr. Vice President, members of my cabinet. Laura and I are pleased you could join us on this special occasion.
We're delighted to welcome our distinguished honorees, as well as their families and friends to the White House. Thanks for coming.
The presidential medal of freedom is our nation's highest civil honor. The medal recognizes high achievement in public service, science, the arts, education, athletics and other fields. Today we honor 10 exceptional individuals who have gained great admiration and respect throughout our country.
Norman Y. Mineta personifies the terms public servant and patriot. He served as an Army intelligence officer, the mayor of San Jose, California, 10-term U.S. congressman, and a cabinet member under presidents of both parties. He was my secretary of transportation. No secretary of transportation ever served longer or confronted greater challenges than Norm Mineta.
On September the 11th, 2001, he led the effort to bring thousands of commercial and private aircraft swiftly and safely to the ground. Norm was calm and he was decisive in a moment of emergency. He showed those same qualities in the months and years afterwards, ably transforming his department to face the dangers of a new era.
Norm Mineta's whole life has been an extraordinary journey. At the age of 10, he was sent with his mom and dad to an internment camp for Japanese-Americans. Such wrongful treatment could have left a person bitter, but not Norm Mineta. Instead, he has given his country a lifetime of service and he's given his fellow citizens an example of leadership, devotion to duty, and personal character.
Mr. Secretary, you're a good friend and a great man and our country honors you.
With us today is Warren O'Neil, who will accept the medal of freedom on behalf of his brother, John Jordan Buck O'Neil. Buck O'Neil passed away in October after a baseball career spanning more than seven decades.
He joined the Negro league in 1938 as a first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs. Buck O'Neil won two batting titles and played on nine championship teams. And as a manager, guided the Monarchs to four league titles. After finishing his playing career, Buck O'Neil joined the Chicago Cubs as a scout and later as the first African- American coach in the major leagues.
He never did slow down. For the rest of his life, he was active in baseball. Not just from the stands or the dugout. July of this year, he took a turn at bat in a minor league all-star game in Kansas City. They wisely pitched around him. He drew a walk at the age of 94 years old.
Buck O'Neil is also remembered as one of the game's best historians and ambassadors. He was a driving force behind the Negro league's baseball museum. He was proud to have been its chairman. But he once said, "it never should have been a Negro league. It shouldn't have been."
Buck O'Neil lived long enough to see the game of baseball in America change for the better. He's one of the people we can thank for that. Buck O'Neil was a legend and he was a beautiful human being and we honor the memory of Buck O'Neil.
One day in 1961, Ruth Colvin of Syracuse, New York, read a disturbing statistic in the morning newspaper. She learned that more than 11,000 people in her hometown could not read. Ruth wondered why isn't somebody doing something about it.
Ruth decided that she would do something. Working out of her basement, she formed a network of citizens willing to donate their time as reading tutors. Before long, that network reached beyond Syracuse and beyond New York and it had a name -- Literacy Volunteers of America. Over the years, the volunteers have helped hundreds of thousands of adults learn the reading and language skills they need to build a better life. Ruth rightly says, "the ability to read and write is critical to personal freedom and the maintenance of a democratic society."
Ruth's good influence has continued to grow. She travels the world promoting literacy with her husband and best friend, Bob. She started literacy campaigns on multiple continents. Ruth has also made many dear friends, including another great crusader for literacy, my mother. Ruth's children, Terry and Lindy, know what I know, that you better listen to your mother.
Ruth has said, "I am and always have been a volunteer." More than that, Ruth Colvin is a person of intelligence and vision and heart and she has earned the gratitude of many and the admiration of us all.
Congratulations.
COLLINS: President Bush giving out the first three presidential medals of freedom. We heard about former Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, John Buck O'Neil, the first African-American coach, and Ruth Johnson Colvin of Literacy Volunteers of America. There are several other people to be honoring today. This is quite a remarkable day for them and their families as the highest civilian honor that the president gives.
Tony.
HARRIS: Waiting to hear the tribute to B.B. King, of course, and Norman Francis. I'm really looking forward to that. The president of Xavier University. A big comeback for Xavier after Hurricane Katrina. More of the service perhaps a little bit later we will dip in and give you a little bit more of the flavor of the medal of freedom ceremony right now at the White House. We will take a break and we will come back with more of the day's news. You are in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So far another big day on Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange inside the first hour of the trading day. Look at this. The Dow up 47 points, picking up where it left off yesterday after a big day, almost, what, nearly 100 points. The Dow up 47. The Nasdaq, for its part, up, what, 22, 23 points. Just an hour into the trading day. We will check the rest of the business headlines a bit later this hour with Susan Lisovicz.
Nintendo, out with a product recall. More than 3 million controller straps for the new Wii game system. CNN's Miles O'Brien among those having a Wii bit of a problem with the popular tech toy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can't do the safety strap. That's a problem right there. Veteran gamers James Ransom Wiley (ph) and Chris Grant strap me in for a Wii bit of fun
JAMES RANSOM WILEY: So what do you want to start with, tennis?
O'BRIEN: Tennis.
The Wii controller is more like a magic wand. Wave it and your onscreen avatar mimics your motion. The problem is, it's easy to get caught up in the action. Look what happens when we start boxing.
Am I hitting you or are you hitting me?
CHRISTOPHER GRANT, JOYSTIQ.COM: He's he's hitting you.
O'BRIEN: The same thing happened to James' mom and this controller bears the scar.
WILEY: And then my little cousin kind of bounced forward as my mom stepped forward and just . . .
O'BRIEN: And he goes forward . . .
WILEY: Yes, and just crashed, you know, and then the battery cover flips off and the batteries go flying.
O'BRIEN: In fact, Wii users are bombarded with a series of warnings to be careful. This one reminds players to tightly secure the wrist straps.
GRANT: What Nintendo maybe didn't -- or underestimated was how much people were going to enjoy moving their arms, getting off the couch and really swinging their arms. And they may be doing it a little to much, a little to hard and, yes, the engineering isn't holding up.
O'BRIEN: Which is to say the straps are breaking and the controllers are flying through windows, into ceiling fans, stereos, laptops, and even some expensive flat screen TVs. The gory details documented on the website Wiihaveaproblem.com. Chris and James say the real trick is to tone down the body language. You see the controllers are more sensitive than you think.
Is this less fun?
GRANT: I think just slight, yes. The game doesn't have a lot of strategy in it. It's really about getting up and swinging your arms and stuff.
O'BRIEN: Besides, the experts disagree. We caught up with chiropractor Karen Erickson at the Toys R Us store in Times Square.
KAREN ERICKSON, CHIROPRACTOR: This is my advice. The game is intended to do standing up. Stand up and play the game standing up. Try to use your whole body when you do it, rather than just your wrists. O'BRIEN: She says the Wii is a winner because it will uproot some couch potatoes and get them moving. Just take it easy. Take frequent breaks and stretch between rounds.
A knockout.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right, just be careful. Just -- you've got one -- no, no. You've got all kinds of controls on your controller there.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I've got to many buttons here.
HARRIS: Chad, you know what, we love the I-Report because what it does is it gives everybody who watches us an opportunity to be an I-Reporter for CNN and you collected some great ones.
MYERS: Absolutely. This morning, actually, we got some video in. Most of them are still frames. But when we get video in, we really try to get them on. This is actually from Vancouver, up in British Columbia. This is what the sound looked like up there from Victoria in British Columbia by Chris Fisher (ph). The water just coming right up over the break and then right up onto the shore there. And we had reports there from the buoys in the pacific of 35 foot waves. There you see the background, just crashing over the top of that barrier there, that breakwater. And this is what it looked like all along the Oregon coast, the Washington coast, on up to Victoria, and all the way up even into southern Alaska, as this storm system produced winds of hurricane strength.
This really was a hurricane but without the warm core, as we call it, without the eye, without the whole thing. The pressure was low enough to be nearly a Cat 1. That's awesome stuff there.
Go to cnn.com/ireport and send us what you have. Be great to see more of that. Tony?
HARRIS: All right, Chad, we appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
ANNOUNCER: Live, in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.
COLLINS: New developments in the Duke rape investigation. A source close to the case tells CNN the accuser is pregnant and could give birth at any time. In fact, CNN affiliate WRAL in Raleigh, reports she gave birth last night. This comes some nine months after the exotic dancer claimed she was sexually assaulted at an off-campus party.
Three members of the Duke University lacrosse team deny charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. Lawyers for the accused students say the DNA evidence does not had a match the defendants or any member of the lacrosse team.
HARRIS: Family, friends and Capitol Hill colleagues all praying for Senator Tim Johnson's speedy recovery. Johnson is listed in critical but stable condition at a Washington area hospital.
Doctors say the five-hour surgery for a brain hemorrhage was a success. Johnson's wife says the senator is responding to her voice, even reaching for her hand. Doctors say it is much too soon to make a long-term prognosis. If Johnson is not able to met his senate term, South Dakota's Republican governor could appoint a Republican to replace him. Such a move would turn control of the Senate back to the Republicans.
COLLINS: A small community gripped by fear. A killer in their midst and a massive manhunt under way, five women dead, all believed victims of a serial killer targeting prostitutes. Now residents are taking precautions. CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh, with details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's late, and it's last call at DP's pub, and the owner Eliza Stephens says fears that a possible serial killer is on the loose is taking a front seat at her bar.
ELIZA STEPHENS, BAR OWNER: There was two women, who were here tonight, and they wouldn't leave alone. They left together.
VAN MARSH: But Eliza says she's not changing how she operates. She's part of a growing resistance in Suffolk County, where police are on the hunt for a killer or killers.
It may be kicks and giggles at this martial arts school, but the black belt instructor says dozens of women are signing up for a self- defense class.
NICK BLACKWELL, MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR: We've obviously had these murders. And a lot of the women in this town are really frightened at the moment. So we thought it would be a good thing for us to offer these classes free.
VAN MARSH: It's the height of the holiday season in Ipswich, but this community is on edge. For every message of season's greetings, there's a reminder of danger, personal attack alarms, one of the season's best sellers.
(on camera): It's been about two weeks since police found the first murdered prostitute's body, and now it seems that this community is moving from shock into action.
(Voice over): Police say they have received thousands of calls from the public in connection to the case. Officers are handing out thousands of safety advice fliers. Under pressure from their own community, compounded by the international media presence to find the killer, local police are also under stress.
PETER KIRKHAM, FMR. MURDER SQUAD INVESTIGATOR: They need to keep away from letting their emotions get the better of them, and just get on with their jobs.
VAN MARSH: Safety is what everybody is talking about.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One Ipswich high school has canceled their detention classes following the discovery of the five bodies.
VAN MARSH: While some are talking on the radio, others are turning to God.
REV. HALEY DOSSOR, ST. MARY AND THE ELM CHURCH: Our job is to -- as clergy is to say, God is forever, you know. He still loves us, whatever happens.
VAN MARSH: Whatever happens, Eliza Stephens says her tap is always open.
STEPHENS: You can't live your life in fear.
VAN MARSH: Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, Ipswich, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Blind faith is not enough. Visually impaired Americans say change is needed when it comes to cash. That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A queen and a pair of future kings, Prince Williams's grandmother and father turn out for his big day -- graduation, in the NEWSROOM .
And another big day at the Atlanta Zoo.
HARRIS: Yeah.
COLLINS: We are -- and we are looking at a big little as we call it, Beijing, I think on the left. And on the right little baby panda girl. Trying to learn her name. Maybe it's happening at the zoo. They will announce any minute now, after 57,000 votes were cast for an online poll for what the name of the baby panda should be.
We will bring it to you live. It's just around the corner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Drink in moderation at this year's holiday office party. That's the advice.
COLLINS: It's good advice.
HARRIS: Yeah.
COLLINS: It's a tip, too, that may not only save your job, but your life, in fact. Here now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: Excessive drinking at holiday parties can do more than shock your boss. It can shock your heart.
DR. LAURENCE SPERLING, CARDIOLOGIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY: People wind up going from their celebrations to the emergency room, and often being admitted to the hospital with a very rapid and irregular heartbeat.
GUPTA: It's called holiday heart syndrome and it's associated with drinking a lot, over a short period of time. It's marked by a fast, irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. Now, normal heartbeats 60 to 100 times a minute, but during atrial fib it can race up to 600 beats a minute, too fast for the heart to pump blood to the body, making it one of the leading risk factors for blood clots and stroke.
SPERLING: It feels like your heart is racing. There can be associated symptoms like feeling short of breath, sometimes a pressure-like feeling in the chest or throat or neck.
GUPTA: So who's at risk? Chronic alcohol abusers and binge drinkers. But also those people who barely drink all year long, then suddenly over do it. Some sure fire signs you have over-indulged and need to get to the doctor or ER, are racing heart that lasts more than a few minutes, and shortness of breath.
SPERLING: It could be dangerous in people who have significant undetected underlying heart problems.
GUPTA: An irregular heartbeat will often stabilize on its own within 24 hours, but some peoples will need medication or electric shock to restore the rhythm.
As for minimizing your risk, of holiday heart syndrome, it's pretty simple. Drink moderately for men and women. That means a drink, or two.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: What do you say we go back to Washington, D.C. now? There he is, B.B. King, about to receive his Medal of Freedom from the president.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And helped give the blues its special place in the American musical tradition. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, he began his career playing on street corners and today has performed more than 10,000 shows, won 14 Grammys and been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
The United States honors B.B. King for his lifetime of achievement as one of America's greatest musicians.
(APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: How about this moment for B.B. King? All of the honors in his legendary, storied career, receiving the Medal of Freedom from the president of the United States today. The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer.
COLLINS: Yes, we didn't hear the very, very beginning of that, but I'm sure the president had wonderful things to say about him, as well as the other honorees.
He said, that he picked cotton before picking up a guitar.
HARRIS: Yeah. And what a guitar, what music he made with Lucille.
COLLINS: Boy, that's for sure.
HARRIS: We'll give you a bit more of the flavor of the ceremony this morning, but we'll take a break right now and say hello to Susan Lisovicz.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: Good morning, Heidi and Tony.
In fact, you know, we love him here in New York, too. B.B. King is a popular music club Uptown, B.B. King, been to it myself.
In the meantime, I'm going to tell you why the bulls are running again. We're at record highs today. We will have details when NEWSROOM returns. You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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COLLINS: Back now to the split screen, the big drama. We are looking at, on your left at Zoo Atlanta. Everything is being done here for this ceremony, the 100th day naming ceremony for the panda cub, on the right. Still don't know the name yet, but apparently this is the last speaker. This is a Doctor Jan Jaha (ph), he is a veterinarian, and also very involved in the naming process, along with those 57,000 votes that were cast online. Everybody very excited about learning the name.
HARRIS: All about the cub today, huh?
COLLINS: Yeah.
HARRIS: Nothing about mom today, huh? All about the cub. What about Lun-Lun? Anyone thinking about Lun-Lun today? No, it's all about naming the cub. All right.
COLLINS: We're going to continue to watch this and bring you the name just as soon as it happens. Should be any minute now.
Meanwhile, the bulls needed a good reason to rally after Thursday's big gains.
HARRIS: And they got it this morning in a reassuring report on inflation. Susan Lisovicz joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with details.
Hi, Susan. LISOVICZ: Bulls not quite as cute as that panda cub.
COLLINS: No. They never are.
LISOVICZ: But, you know what? It looks really nice on your 401(k).
HARRIS: There you go.
LISOVICZ: Yeah, real nice.
Inflation a no-show last month. That's what we got this morning, an hour before the opening bell, Tony and Heidi.
The Labor Department's consumer price index, which measures prices paid at the retail level came in unchanged in November. That's thanks largely to a decline in energy prices.
The closely watched core rate, which takes out energy and food costs, unchanged as well. Economists were expecting small increases in both. With one month left in the year, inflation is rising at an annual rate of 2 percent and core inflation clocked in at 2.6 percent. That's still above the Fed's comfort zone -- Tony and Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Susan, so how are investors actually reacting to the news?
LISOVICZ: Well, kind of gave you a tease a few minutes ago, right?
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: We are seeing some positive momentum. Investors taking the tame reading as a sign that the slowing economy is helping to keep inflation in check. It also reinforces the hope that the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates any time soon and could begin cutting rates a soon as next spring.
At its meeting last Tuesday, you may recall, the Fed left rates unchanged, saying it will continue to keep a close watch on inflation. Lower interest rates, of course, make it cheaper for consumers and companies to borrow money. And that is something investors like.
Let's check the numbers. Right now the Dow industrials, adding to yesterday's record high. We are at levels that we just haven't seen before, folks. Up 51 points, or half a percent. Can you say 12,500? Because that's where we're heading.
HARRIS: Where we're headed, yeah.
LISOVICZ: The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, is up nicely as well.
Meanwhile, the head of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, is in China today to address another concern. The U.S. and China have wrapped up a two-day trade session in Beijing without an agreement on ways to solve their currency disputes.
Critics here, in the U.S., say China's yuan is undervalued. That gives its exporters a big trade advantage by keeping their goods cheaper for other countries to import. China has pledged to pursue exchange rate reform, has not given a timetable. That's the latest from Wall Street.
Tony and Heidi, back to you -- and the panda cub.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Exactly. Excellent timing there. I think that we are about to learn the name. Susan Lisovicz, Tony Harris. Let's go ahead and listen in.
Once again, this is the 100 day naming ceremony, customary in many parts of China; 57,000 votes were cast. They had to choose from 10 names. Let's listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we are want to, in Georgia, we winner. But we don't need a run-off. So, Doctor Juan Juan (ph), if you would take the side? I would like you guys to stand and see the name. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I'm told if we pull steadily we'll see the name. Everybody ready?
(APPLAUSE)
COLLINS: Mei Lan is the name, everybody. And believe it or not, in my best Chinese, that means Atlanta Beauty.
HARRIS: Is that -- it was right underneath there. Is that what that means?
COLLINS: Yeah, I also have it right here.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: So I'm cheating.
HARRIS: All right. Mei Lan.
COLLINS: Mei Lan, Atlanta Beauty. It's a very nice name. Little Mei Lan, look, she's waking up. She's like, cool, I have a name.
HARRIS: Right on cue.
COLLINS: I will now be awake, maybe.
HARRIS: Perfect time for a little Jeanne Moos, what do you think?
COLLINS: Yeah.
HARRIS: We all sort of think that our own kids, certainly, pets are the cutest ever there, Heidi, but as we saw in this week's "People" magazine, there's cute and then there's Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Here's CNN's -- that's a transition -- Jeanne Moos with the cutie competition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Sure hope Shiloh isn't shy, because her face is plastered all over the place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The lips, the nose, the eyes, everything.
MOOS: But all this rhapsodizing about the Brangelina baby got us wondering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can you define cute?
MOOS: It's that thing that makes you go --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ah.
MOOS: There is a science to cute and the poster child is the panda bear, for instance, the cub at Washington's National Zoo.
(On camera): Which one is cuter to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The baby panda.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The panda.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The baby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that panda bear is so cute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a cute baby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love children, but I just think this panda is so cute. Look at the eyes.
MOOS (voice over): Researchers say humans react to forward- facing eyes, set low on a big, round face, with prominent ears, floppy limbs and a waddling gait. No wonder folks seem attracted to penguins, both real and animated.
They say cuteness stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain that are aroused by sex, food and drugs.
We say, ah, over the pandas. Photographers even said, ah --
CROWD: Ah!
MOOS: -- over a wax version of the Brangelina baby introduced at Madame Tussaud's
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That baby is very cute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably be the panda, because the baby is going to turn into a disgusting teenager.
MOOS: Researchers say humans react to the vulnerability of the young.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he kind of shows a vulnerable side.
MOOS: Which is good for evolution, since it brings out protective instincts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold it. Hold it.
MOOS: There are websites devoted to cute, like cuteoverload, which features nothing but cute pictures and videos that people submit.
Sleepiness seems to add to the vulnerability we find so appealing. There's even a section for cute products and who doesn't see the round face factor in cute cars like the VW Bug and the Mini?
The opposite of cuteoverload is uglyoverload, featuring cow tongues and bats, not to mention alpacas. But sometimes homeliness can be cute. One of the most popular stories I've ever done was on Sam, the three-time winner of the Ugliest Dog Contest, now deceased.
As for the smackdown between the panda and the Brangelina baby?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This bear is much cuter. I know that baby cries, and well, that bear, he just looks to damn cute.
MOOS: The panda won, 16 to 12, a vote not worth losing sleep over. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: When blind faith is not enough, visually impaired Americans say change is needed when it comes to cash. Ahead, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A sea of graduates at Britain's elite Sandhurst Military Academy, but the one there stands out -- there on the end -- the cadet who also happens to be second in line to the British throne.
COLLINS: Prince William became an army officer today, his new title, Second Lieutenant William of Wales. He will train to be a troop commander in an armored reconnaissance unit. Since he's a king in waiting, the prince is unlikely to see front line action.
A big drop in breast cancer rates, and new questions about hormone replacement therapy. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Facing the fury of Mother Nature.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: It's a biting cold. It's hard to see. In fact, it's downright painful. The question now is, is if you were stuck in these conditions, what do you do? How do you survive?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: CNN's Rick Sanchez in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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