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America's New Defense Secretary Arrives in Iraq Overnight; Clues From Mt. Hood

Aired December 20, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins today.

HARRIS: For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this Wednesday, the 20th of December. Here's what's on the rundown.

WHITFIELD: President Bush looking to ramp up the size of the Army and Marine Corps? He'll talk about a military expansion in a news conference one hour from now. You'll see it live, right here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: The Pentagon's new boss on the ground in Iraq. Robert Gates getting input from top war commanders.

WHITFIELD: And a little something for your headache. Well, pain relievers may get new warning labels. Important medical news right here in the NEWSROOM.

A stark concession at the White House. For the first time, President Bush appears to admit the United States is not winning the war in Iraq.

More on that likely next hour in a presidential news conference. For now, let's go to CNN White House correspondent, Elaine Quijano, on this developing story - Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON: Hello to you, Fredricka.

Well, that end-of-the-year news conference is set to get underway about an hour from now. We're told by officials here that the president is expected to make a statement that will run about 10 minutes or so.

And this news conference, of course, is coming at a time when President Bush is under intense political pressure to change his Iraq policy. It also comes, of course, as his new defense secretary, Robert Gates, is actually on the ground in Iraq, taking a look at the situation there first hand.

Now, with the president continuing his deliberations over what to do next in Iraq over the short term - considering, among other options, a short-term surge, perhaps, of U.S. forces to help secure Baghdad - one of the topics that he's expected to discuss today is a long-term view of the military - something he talked about in an interview with the "Washington Post" - a desire to increase the overall size of the military.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops, the Army and the Marines.

And I talked to this about Secretary Gates. And he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, and come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

QUIJANO: So, we do expect the president to mention, of course, that Secretary Gates is now in Iraq. But we're only really expecting the president to speak in very broad terms about the consultations underway, not just with Secretary Gates, but also Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as well as his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, and other top administration officials.

Also, with Democrats, of course, poised to take control of Congress next month, the president is expected to reiterate a commitment to work in a bipartisan fashion. And we also expect the president to highlight the economy when he meets with reporters next hour - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be looking for all of that. Elaine, thanks so much - Tony.

HARRIS: Two days on the job, now he is on the road. The nation's new defense secretary arrives in Baghdad.

Robert Gates says his unannounced visit will allow him an unfiltered view of the war's deepening crisis. He vows to listen to military leaders and to talk to Iraqi civilians.

The urgency of the Gates mission underlies the White House's vow to form a new strategy in the war.

CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent is the only network reporter with Gates on the trip. Jamie McIntyre now from Baghdad.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD: Just three days on the job and Robert Gates is here in Baghdad, as promised, to confer with American military commanders about how to turn around the deteriorating situation in Iraq. Gates went right to meetings with U.S. military leaders.

And tomorrow he meets, as well, with top Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who some in the Pentagon privately blame for failing to unite Sunni and Shia factions and disarm the militias and death squads. Gates and his senior military adviser, Joint Chiefs chairman, General Peter Pace, were greeted at the Baghdad airport by the two senior generals in charge of Iraq strategy, John Abizaid and George Casey, both of whom have said repeatedly they oppose one option under serious consideration by President Bush - dispatching tens of thousands more U.S. troops to Baghdad to try to bring down the rising violence long enough for the Maliki government to make progress at national reconciliation.

Gates made only brief comments to reporters on the 12-hour flight from Washington to Baghdad, saying he was here to listen, and expects to learn a lot in his few days in Iraq.

Before leaving Washington, Gates said he looked forward to hearing the honest assessment of U.S. commanders and getting their advice, unvarnished and straight from the shoulder.

During his confirmation hearings, Gates said he hoped the commanders here might be more candid with him now as defense secretary than they were in September when he met with them as a member of the Iraq Study Group.

As for which way he's leaning on the question of whether to surge or not to surge U.S. troops into Iraq, Gates gave no hint.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Baghdad.

HARRIS: So, the president has scheduled a news conference to begin at the top of the hour. Stay with us here in the NEWSROOM and join our players.

Boy, we have assembled a team. Whenever there is a presidential news conference, we pull out the top guns here at CNN.

So, we'll be joined by John King, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad. A retired general will join us, as well. And Elaine Quijano, of course, at the White House. She will actually be in the room for the press conference.

Again, 10 a.m. Eastern time, right here in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: All right. Great analysis from all of those people.

A new message from al Qaeda's second in command. The videotaped statement from bin Laden deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, aired on the Al- Jazeera network today.

On the tape, al-Zawahiri criticizes the call for new Palestinian elections. He says that will only result in a reversion to jihad.

Al-Zawahiri says, "Those who try to liberate Muslim land through elections ... will not liberate one grain of sand of Palestine."

He also refers to Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, as "America's man" in Palestine. Well, talk about some brutal weather - and it could get worse - scaling back in the search. The situation on Mt. Hood even more grave with little hope left for two climbers still missing.

CNN's Chris Lawrence has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, HOOD RIVER, OREGON: For more than 100 hours, they scoured this mountain with Black Hawks, a Chinook and a C-130.

SHERIFF JOE WAMPLER, HOOD RIVER COUNTY, OREGON: Now, the big search probably is over.

LAWRENCE: Dozens of rescue climbers have been ordered to stand down, and the helicopters grounded.

Search teams recovered the body of Kelly James, but there's still no sign of his two climbing partners.

ANGELA HALL, SISTER OF BRIAN HALL: And we also ask those many thousands of people around the world, who have so graciously and passionately offered their prayers to Brian and Nikko, to continue to pray for them - now more than ever.

LAWRENCE: Through letters they left behind and evidence in the ice, this story emerges. James, Brian Hall and Nikko Cooke climbed the more challenging north side of Mt. Hood, packing lightly for a quick climb. They summated the mountain about 11 days ago. But at some point, James dislocated his shoulder.

WAMPLER: I think that injury threw that schedule all off, and left them in a position of, now what are we going to do, and desperation.

LAWRENCE: Search teams found evidence they dug a snow cave and huddled together. And then, maybe the next morning, Hall and Cooke grabbed ice axes and left the cave to get help.

WAMPLER: Where did they go?

LAWRENCE: It's a question they can't answer.

There are places to hide, in a crevasse that drops 2,500 feet. Already covered by new snow, the footprints just disappear.

That doesn't mean they're giving up. An avalanche team will still investigate. Fixed-wing aircraft will still fly by.

But even the sheriff is asking the question, how long can anyone last in this environment?

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Hood River, Oregon.

(END VIDEO) HARRIS: And once again, we invite you to stay in the NEWSROOM with us this morning. President Bush has scheduled a news conference at the top of the hour. We will, of course, carry it live.

And what analysis from our team. John King, our senior national correspondent, Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, Ryan Chilcote on the ground in Baghdad, and Elaine Quijano actually in the room for the news conference this morning, 10 a.m. Eastern, right here in the NEWSROOM.

So, a lot to talk about here in Washington this morning. But what's the view from the ground in Iraq?

The new defense secretary, Robert Gates, is there today, contemplating more troops to fight the war.

CNN's Barbara Starr now with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Joint Chiefs of Staff are opposed to a White House option to significantly increase the number of forces in Iraq unless there is a well-defined mission for those units, several knowledgeable source now tell CNN.

General John Abizaid, the top commander on the ground, has long been firmly opposed to sending more U.S. troops.

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER, IRAQ: The Baghdad security situation requires more Iraqi troops. And that's the direction that we're headed right now.

STARR: The White House says, no decision to send troops has been made, so there is no problem.

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, the idea that there is a decision and a squabble would be wrong.

STARR: But what if the White House ideas calls for increasing combat forces by up to 30,000, mainly to deal with security in Baghdad? That means troop levels in Iraq could rise to the highest levels ever, perhaps nearly 165,000.

The generals worry more boots on the ground might mean just more targets. Attacks by extremist elements of the al-Mahdi militia, now identified as the most dangerous group in the country, are still a major concern.

The debate may be Defense Secretary Robert Gates' first test of wills.

LT. GEN. DAN CHRISTMAN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, what you've got is a professional military that, I think, almost to a senior officer has said, please don't do this. But a political inclination to do just the opposite.

And I think that clash between military and civilian cultures is looming to be a very, very great divide.

STARR: The Joint Chiefs also warn that the military can't handle an increase for more than a few months. And in Congress, some Democrats say, it's just too late.

REP. IKE SKELTON, D-MISSOURI, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: The time for a troop increase, larger troop increase, was about 3.5 years ago, when we initially went into Iraq.

STARR: Even as President Bush is talking about a permanent increase in the size of the U.S. military, this potential short-term surge of troops for Iraq still has the generals worried.

Without political and economic progress, they say, more troops for Iraq might not make much of a difference.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO)

HARRIS: So much to talk about this morning. And the president will get us started with his final news conference of the year from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. That's this morning. Stay with us here in the NEWSROOM.

We will, of course, bring it to you live, 10 a.m. Eastern.

WHITFIELD: And life's little aches and pains. A couple of these usually help, right? Well, don't overdo it. And apparently, some of you are. New warning labels from the NEWSROOM.

And a Christmas mystery. Who would steal 32 - count them - 32 baby Jesus figurines? And why?

We're on the case, today in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Lights, cameras, cue the tears. Great. Now, cue the Donald. What you're seeing today about the beauty queen spectacle - later in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And stay in the NEWSROOM this morning, because at the top of the hour, President Bush answers reporters' questions about Iraq, about U.S. troop build-up - all of that. CNN will be covering that live. It's coming from the Executive Office Building right next to the West Wing of the White House.

Meantime, you probably have some in your medicine cabinet right now - over-the-counter pain relievers.

Well, now the government wants the popular pills to carry even stronger warning labels.

Medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here with more on that. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, a lot of people just sort of pop these all the time. You have a headache, or for whatever. I'll take some Tylenol or I'll take some Advil.

And they don't realize that they are taking a drug.

Well now, the FDA is proposing tougher warning labels on these drugs.

Let's start first with acetaminophen. That's what's in Tylenol and many other drugs. It's also in cough and cold medicines, which a lot of people don't know.

And what the FDA is proposing is that it would carry warning labels talking about possible liver problems, liver toxicity, if you take high doses, if you drink three or more alcoholic beverages a day, or if you double up on products.

And what we mean by that is, some people will take a Tylenol and will take a cold medicine. What they don't realize is that they're getting acetaminophen twice, and they're getting a very high dose.

WHITFIELD: Too much.

COHEN: Now, also, proposed labeling changes for Advil, for aspirin - you see the generic names up there - Aleve.

They're warning about possible stomach bleeding, if you're 60 years or older, if you have a history of stomach bleeds, if you take blood thinners, if you take multiple drugs containing these products, which we already explained, and if you are drinking three or more alcoholic beverages a day.

Again, the concern with these drugs a little bit different. Here they're talking about stomach bleeding.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, now everyone's getting the public or verbal warning. But when might these warning labels be attached to these items?

COHEN: Right now it's just a proposal. And the FDA is hoping that these companies will put these on these products voluntarily, and that they won't have to go through the whole regulatory rigmarole to make it a regulation.

But if they do have to go through that, it could take about a year for them to be on the labels.

WHITFIELD: All right. And so, a lot of folks who are taking this stuff regularly.

Are there certain patients or certain conditions? Do they need to stay away from it altogether, wait till these warning labels come out? What?

COHEN: What people need to do is, they need to talk to their doctors. They need to think about what category they might be in, and talk to their doctors.

For many people, this really isn't a problem. But let's say you're over 60. You should talk to your doctor about aspirin or Aleve or Advil.

And stomach bleeding. Let's say you drink moderately. You should talk to your doctor about acetaminophen and alcohol.

It really depends who you are, your age, what conditions you already have. But no one needs to stop taking them immediately, necessarily. Talk to your doctor.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And we can't be overly cautious. I think a lot of folks think, over the counter. Then, you know what? It's safe. It's fairly harmless. We can take them at liberty.

COHEN: Right. These are drugs. And what they found is that actually people were sometimes taking lots and lots of them. For that reason, as Fred just said, it's over the counter. They say take one. Gee, two must be better.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

COHEN: Not the case.

WHITFIELD: All right. Good warning. Thanks so much, Elizabeth.

HARRIS: Again, we invite you to stay in the NEWSROOM with us this morning. President Bush has scheduled a news conference for the top of the hour. We're expecting about 10 minutes from the president before he takes questions.

The president will talk about the economy - strong and growing, he'll say.

And then we expect the president to address his comments in the "Washington Post," alluding to a desire to increase the size of the Army and Marines.

Extensive coverage, top-flight analysis, right here in the NEWSROOM, once again, at the top of the hour, right here on CNN.

WHITFIELD: Now, here's a question for you. This might get folks a little frazzled.

HARRIS: OK. What are you working with here, Fred?

WHITFIELD: Does the "f" word constitute free speech? Can you just say it whenever you want to?

HARRIS: Free. I like that "f" word - free.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, broadcasters are now taking on the FCC in court to talk about other ways in which the "f" word might be used.

HARRIS: Oh, oh, oh, oh. OK.

WHITFIELD: It's all about the indecency issue.

And it is real cold in certain parts, particularly the middle part of this country. You've got extremes, you know. You've got super warm temperatures on the East Coast and quite the opposite on the West. Well, now, look at Denver - lots of snow. Skiers love it, but it makes getting around a little ugly.

HARRIS: And it's just starting for you, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes.

HARRIS: Out there in Denver it's just beginning. My goodness.

WHITFIELD: You don't want to be on the road even trying to get to the slopes with this kind of weather.

HARRIS: Good point. Blizzard warning in Denver. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.

And we are "Minding Your Business." Ali Velshi here now with a preview. Ali, good morning.

ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Tony, those blizzards will slow airlines down, but is it going to slow your package down? This is the busiest week for shipping. I'm going to tell you about what's going on there, and I'm going to tell you about how reliable the nation's biggest shippers are.

That's all coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Millions of packages are still going to be shipped before Christmas, if you can believe it. So, which delivery company is most likely to get it there on time?

Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business."

Where were you earlier this week, Ali?

VELSHI: I was in Memphis on Monday, and that's FedEx's biggest hub. And Monday was FedEx's biggest day. They were expecting about 10 million packages to go through the system.

Now, today is UPS's biggest day, and they're expecting more than 20 million packages to go through the system today.

But you know what I was trying to get at, Tony? On Monday, I was trying to figure out. They guarantee this 10:30 delivery ...

HARRIS: That's right.

VELSHI: ... deadline. And I couldn't really get an answer as to how much that happens. Now, think about this. The airlines have a 73 percent reliability record, an on-time record. And when you're late, you don't get your money back.

I'm guessing the delivery companies, because they have to give your money back if your package is late, had a better record, and we were dead-on.

If you look at the three biggest in the country, you've got UPS and FedEx, which together are about 70 percent of the market, and then DHL, which is after that.

They're all very, very close. You know, 90.8, 90.6, 88.0. That's the ...

HARRIS: That is close, yes.

VELSHI: Yes. And that's the reliability for 10:30 the next morning delivery, which is ...

HARRIS: Now, I have to ask you, though. I mean, if you - let's just talk about this year. Put it in a little bubble here. Let's talk about

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: Are you watching the conditions out there in Denver?

VELSHI: Right.

HARRIS: I mean, come on. If you're talking about reliability now, and you're talking about those weather conditions, I mean, it does not compute necessarily.

VELSHI: Well, there's a couple of things I learned that are interesting. Now, this is stuff I learned from FedEx about how they handle it.

The first thing is, they have staff meteorologists. They know that certain places don't get shut down in terms of air travel, because of the weather. Remember packages, unlike people - delays in weather slow everything down. They slow a whole lot of things down.

Let's say that there's traffic congestion at an airport, and planes are ready to take off. What happens is, the air traffic control people say, we've got a slot available now for takeoff.

That FedEx plane is ready to go, because it doesn't have to board ...

HARRIS: Oh, that's right.

VELSHI: It's standing there ready. It's packed, and they say, we'll take the slot. We're out of here.

HARRIS: OK. Gotcha. VELSHI: And then they have these - you know, they have the extra planes around to make sure that happens.

But they're always tracking. So they gave me an example on Monday about how a package had to go to - a plane had to go to Baton Rouge. It was all fogged in, so they - it was supposed to go Lafayette, Louisiana. They rerouted the plane to Baton Rouge, sent their trucks to Baton Rouge, picked up all the stuff and then took it to Lafayette.

So, it's a big logistical thing. And I suppose, if you've got to give the money back, you're more interested in getting it there on time.

HARRIS: It's their business. It's their promise.

VELSHI: It's their business.

HARRIS: But you know what? It's interesting. I'm thinking again about regions of the country, and I'm wondering if certain companies are better in terms of getting the packages to different regions of the country than others.

VELSHI: Yes. It was kind of mixed up, but when you look at it, FedEx, which is based in Memphis and has hubs in Newark and Memphis, seems to do very, very well in the South. And UPS seems to do very well in the West.

Those are the only two where there were very clear differences between them. But they do seem to be spread out.

Remember that, you know, one thing about Memphis, which is FedEx's hub, it doesn't get a lot of bad weather.

HARRIS: Very good point.

VELSHI: And they fly 600-and-some-odd planes, FedEx.

So, interesting story.

HARRIS: Yes, it is.

VELSHI: Kind of what I would have guessed the numbers were, but that's interesting. Ninety percent.

HARRIS: Fred, there he is, minding our business.

WHITFIELD: I love that.

HARRIS: He does it so well. Ali Velshi with us this morning.

WHITFIELD: We can count on you, Ali.

HARRIS: Ali, good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. And you can count on us to bring you the latest comments from President Bush. This is his last scheduled press conference of the year, and he will be talking Iraq.

And apparently, he'll have a 10-minute statement, kind of laying out the long-term U.S. commitment to Iraq. Of course, there'll be room for questions, as well. That's coming up at the top of the hour, 10 o'clock Eastern. This is the place to be, here, CNN.

Meantime, all this taking place while the nation's new defense secretary is just day three on the job. And where is he spending it? Iraq. This, indeed, could be the week that could help reshape the war.

Details on that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

The weather also pretty critical, and it's a critical factor for Mt. Hood. The search teams today are still looking for those missing three climbers. Hope, however, is fading for the remaining two climbers still missing. And update next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Breaking news, America's new defense secretary arrives in Iraq overnight. President Bush asked him to draw plans for a bigger military.

ROBERTS: Breaking point, it's one militia against another in Gaza. A cease-fire in effect, but chaos threatens to explode into all-out civil war.

And clues from Mt. Hood. The last photo snapped by the missing climbers, giving rescuers reason to fear the worst while the weather slows the search.

Those stories ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. It's Wednesday, December 20th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts, in for Miles O'Brien. Good Wednesday morning to you.

O'BRIEN: And thank you for helping us out, as I say, each and every morning.

ROBERTS: Even though I'm making you say thank you.

O'BRIEN: Yes, even though - because you have a cold. And now I do, too.

ROBERTS: I don't think I'm going to recover from that one. That was a really hard slap.

O'BRIEN: I'm sorry.

Let's begin in Iraq this morning, where the new defense secretary, Robert Gates, has just arrived a little while ago. This urgent trip on his third day on the job so he can meet face-to-face with senior military commanders.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is live for us in Baghdad this morning. Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD: Good morning, Soledad.

Secretary Gates arrived here about four hours ago in the Iraqi capital. He is here, as he put it, to listen and learn from U.S. military commanders and Iraqi leaders, as he forges the U.S.'s new strategy for the Iraq war. That, of course, according to the mandate that he got from U.S. president, George Bush.

Now, Gates, before he became secretary of defense, was a key member of the Iraqi Study Group, famously then saying that the status quo, it will not work for the way forward in Iraq. The Iraqi Study Group, of course, their main recommendation was a drawdown of troops over the course of 2007 into 2008.

But now that Gates is the secretary of defense, it's really not clear exactly what he's going to do. There are a lot of options on the table, including, as you know, an option where there would be a temporary surge in the number of U.S. troops from the current level of 140,000, as opposed to a drawdown.

So far, Secretary Gates keeping his cards very close to himself, not really revealing what he plans to do. Obviously, that's something that he's going to be considering as he talks to the U.S. generals here - Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad for us this morning. Thanks Ryan - John.

ROBERTS: And some surprising language this morning from President Bush. Paraphrasing the Joint Chiefs chairman, President Bush says that we are not winning in Iraq, but adds, we're not losing, either.

It's the first time that he has acknowledged not winning. Remember, just before the election he said, certainly we're winning the war.

The president also says he's thinking about adding 70,000 troops to U.S. forces around the world, bulking up the size of the military.

He said this in a phone interview with the "Washington Post."

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops, the Army and the Marines.

And I talked to this about Secretary Gates. And he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, and come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea. (END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The White House is also talking about sending more troops to Iraq, something some U.S. commanders say is not the answer to the problems there.

A new warning from al Qaeda out this morning. Al Jazeera is playing a tape of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command. His message aimed at the conflict in Gaza, saying that holy war is the path to freedom, not free elections.

It's a rebuke of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his call for new elections. The tape has not been authenticated, though it is a video tape and it certainly looks like Zawahiri.

O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, Mt. Hood rescue workers are now scaling back their search efforts for those two missing climbers. An avalanche team and fixed-wing craft will be out this morning, but another storm is moving in.

The sheriff says, if the men are alive, it is not likely that they'll survive that storm.

Vice President Dick Cheney is going to testify as a witness for the defense in the trial of his former top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby is accused of perjury and obstruction of justice related to that leak that exposed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

The trial begins next month. Other key witnesses include Tim Russert of NBC News and Judith Miller, formerly of the "New York Times."

Senator Tim Johnson is showing signs of improvement after emergency brain surgery. The South Dakota Democrat still in critical condition. But according to his son, he is exceeding expectations.

Johnson's wife says he's moving in the right direction, and she's planning a bedside celebration for his 60th birthday, which is on December 28th. It is not clear just how long Senator Johnson is going to have to be in the hospital.

Damage control for a fast-food chain, now under intense scrutiny. The chain is called Taco John's. Remember when they were in the news the other day, offering to pay the medical expenses of its customers who were infected with e. coli. More than 75 people got sick after eating at Taco John's in Iowa and Minnesota. Tainted lettuce is believed to be the cause. The chain has been hit with two lawsuits since the outbreak.

O.J. Simpson might have to pay, even though his latest book deal was canceled. Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman, the man murdered along with Simpson's wife Nicole back in 1994, they're suing for any money that the former NFL star got from his canceled book - "If I Did It," is the title of the book - and also anything he was paid for the TV interview, as well - John.

ROBERTS: Aren't the Goldmans still owed about $35 million from the last court deal?

O'BRIEN: Yes, they've got a lot of money coming to them.

ROBERTS: Or not coming to them, as might be the case.

Coming up, a blizzard warning and up to 20 inches of snow in the forecast. Severe weather expert Chad Myers tells us who's in for the worst of it.

Plus, the cease-fire in Gaza holding for now, but the situation is still tense. What will it take to make this truce last? We'll talk to a Palestinian official - ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

DR. JAMES CANTON, AUTHOR, "THE EXTREME FUTURE": There is a great likelihood that the security threats and risks that face us in the near future will mean that we will be trading a certain portion of our privacy for more security.

JOEY REIMAN, THINKER & CEO, BRIGHTHOUSE: I think what's going to happen in the future is, we will have probably IDNAs. It's an ID that has your DNA in it, that quickly will tell somebody about a medical emergency, but also alert the government about where you've been and where you're going. And that is scary.

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF, CULTURAL THEORIST: Privacy is a thing of the past, not because Big Brother is watching everything we do, but because we willingly broadcast our lives to the world over the Internet. The irony is that people are uploading so much information about themselves online at the same time that they're complaining about the government listening in on their cell phone calls.

PAUL SAFFO, TECHNOLOGY FORECASTER: We will see the number of video cameras installed in our cities increase to a point where there will be more cameras in the city than there are people.

In the privacy area, Big Brother has been our nightmare. What we're seeing is, thanks to our new technologies, Little Brother is watching back.

RUSHKOFF: The more open that we are able to maintain our society, the less frightened and guarded, and the less x-rayed for guns and puffed for gun powder we are, then the more free we are living and the more secure our perception of our world will be.

(END VIDEO)

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ROBERTS: In a video just in to CNN, Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Iraq this morning, meeting there with CENTCOM commander, General John Abizaid.

Also word out this morning that General Abizaid plans to retire in March. Abizaid submitted his retirement documents last month around the time that Secretary Rumsfeld resigned - Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Right now in Gaza, a cease-fire between rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, seems to be holding. Deadly street battles, like the one you're seeing right here, began after the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah Party, called for early elections. Members of Hamas do not want those elections.

Palestinian legislator, Hanan Ashrawi, is a member of the Third Way political party, considers itself an alternative to Fatah and Hamas. And she's in Ramallah in the West Bank this morning.

Nice to see you, Ms. Ashrawi. Thanks for talking with us.

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR, RAMALLAH, WEST BANK: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: My pleasure.

We know that there is a cease-fire that seems to be a tentative one, at the very best. Lots of bad options, certainly, to talk about.

Do you think the cease-fire is going to hold?

ASHRAWI: Well, it's a very uneasy cease-fire. And I think so long as we have this polarization, and we have the militarization and the militias, and all sorts of weapons in the streets, then the temptation to resort to violence, rather than democratic dialogue, would continue.

So, unless we take serious steps to resolve our differences peacefully, to have a national dialogue, to have a new government, and at the same time to remove all the weapons and to withdraw all the militias from the streets, there will always be this, I would say temptation, but also the very, very strong likelihood of further conflicts, further clashes leading to a civil war.

O'BRIEN: Well, that sounds like a very tough order. Do you think that there should be new elections?

ASHRAWI: I certainly do think there should be new elections, because we are suffering from an impasse. There is total paralysis in the political system at all levels - the executive, the legislative - even the judiciary, there's a strike.

We're also under siege and the economy is in shambles, and people have no security whatsoever. It's a total breakdown in law and order.

So, we feel elections are an option. But at the same time, we understand also that there is no way in which you can approach elections if almost half the population will resist these elections. So you need to do it as a matter of consensus.

Maybe having a referendum on elections would be able to give those who call for elections a boost. Or maybe having a national dialogue and bringing all the factions together to discuss national interests rather than factional interests would be a proper prelude to elections.

But you cannot sort of jump into elections knowing that there is tremendous opposition, and even military or violent rejection of these elections - even though they claim to do so under basis of democracy. And elections are a tool of democracy.

O'BRIEN: As you're well aware, Hamas has refused the call of new elections. And many people say, well, if they're going to refuse to take part, it's just not going to happen.

Do you think if there were, in fact, elections, that Hamas would be voted out? They hold 76 out of the 132 parliamentary seats.

ASHRAWI: Well, public opinion polls, as you know, are notoriously fickle and unreliable. But right now it seems that Hamas is losing some power in public opinion, and its ratings are going down. It doesn't mean automatically that the Fatah ratings are going up.

There are many, many undecideds. There are many people who are in the grip of this. There are those who feel that they are left at the mercy of the Israeli occupation, killing and incursions and assassinations, and at the same time seeing no way out in a peace process, and seeing no factions coming out with a solution.

So, this kind of sense of vulnerability and helplessness would certainly not allow for a general election that would have full participation. And therefore, the results would not be very indicative.

But the preliminary results show that Hamas is losing the support it had, but I don't know by how much or the percentages, except that it will not have the easy majority it has now, and it might be just a sizable minority.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a quick question about this new tape we have from Ayman al-Zawahiri, where he essentially says, very strongly he's against the elections, but in a nutshell says, Abbas is America's man.

How disruptive is a call for this now, as you're trying to negotiate this fragile peace?

ASHRAWI: Yes. Well, nobody asked him his opinion, frankly speaking. And nobody wants to listen to his opinion.

O'BRIEN: He's got lots of followers.

ASHRAWI: Palestine has nothing to do with al Qaeda - not in Palestine, certainly, and not al-Zawahiri. Palestinians - including Hamas, including the Islamist parties - do not claim any affiliation with or allegiance to al-Zawahiri and his ilk.

Al Qaeda does not have anything to do with Palestine, and we will thank them very much to stay out of it and not to exploit the Palestinian question and not to try to interfere, because this would be extremely negative and detrimental to Palestinian interests.

I think this is a national issue. And I think people have to resolve it peacefully through a dialogue.

O'BRIEN: Hanan Ashrawi, thank you for talking with us. She's a Palestinian legislator. Appreciate your time.

ASHRAWI: You're most welcome. My pleasure.

ROBERTS: Coming up, banning trans fats from French fries and other tasty treats. An entire state may be ready to follow in New York City's footsteps.

Plus, the government proposes tougher warning labels for over- the-counter painkillers. A look at the risks ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: New this morning, America's new defense secretary, Robert Gates, now in Baghdad, arriving there within the last couple of hours.

And will it be another record day on Wall Street? The Dow opens at 12,471 - yet another record high.

O'BRIEN: In health news this morning, you ought to check that bottle of Advil or Tylenol. It might not be as safe to take as you think. The Food and Drug Administration wants tough new warning labels for over-the-counter painkillers. The FDA says, when the drugs are used as directed they're safe, but that overdoses could cause serious injury and even death.

And some promising news about vitamin D to tell you. We know it's good for your bones, but researchers say it could ward off multiple sclerosis. Taking more than the daily recommended dose of vitamin D, of course, can be dangerous.

Massachusetts might follow New York City banning trans fats from restaurants. Health officials say trans fats clog arteries. They make the doughnuts and stuff taste so good, but it's bad for you. The Massachusetts assembly just passed a bill banning them. And critics say they don't need laws to tell folks what they should be able to eat.

And more good press for olive oil. European researchers say it could prevent cancer. They gave a group of men a quarter of a cup of olive oil every day, and they showed a reduction by 13 percent of a cancer-causing marker in their DNA.

ROBERTS: Tastes good, and good for you, too.

Some of the stories that we're working on this morning. If you have any last-minute packages to send before Christmas, do we have a story for you. We're going to look at the reliability of next-day delivery. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" today. And the president wants a bigger military, but are recruiters able to bring in the numbers?

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: With millions of packages still to be shipped before Christmas, which delivery company is the most reliable?

Fifty-six minutes after the hour now, and Ali Velshi in "Minding Your Business."

Good morning, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, good to see you.

You know, when I was talking to you from Memphis on Monday, it was FedEx's busiest shipping day of the year. Today is UPS's busiest shipping day of the year.

And whether you're shipping yourself or a package, basically the idea is to get to your destination, get there on time and in one piece.

Now, the airlines, when I flew down there, Northwest Airlines was advertising that the flight I was on had a 70 percent reliability record - on-time record, on-time performance.

In fact, the U.S. airlines have a 73 percent on-time performance, and maybe that's because they don't offer a money-back guarantee if they don't get you there on time, but major shippers do.

There was a study that was commissioned by DHL by a group called PA Consulting. And it was measuring the three major carriers - UPS and FedEx have about 70 percent of the market, DHL is next - and how they all perform on their next-day 10:30 a.m. guarantee.

And if you take a look at this, UPS comes out on top with 90.83 percent, DHL right behind it with 90.66 percent, and FedEx at 88.02. So, they're all very similar.

And remember that the shippers give you your money back if it doesn't get there on time, regardless of what goes on. When you look at the airlines, they'll tell you, well, this was air traffic control, this was weather.

You know, I spent a lot of time talking to the shippers about, how do you make up for those things. And they say, we build it into the system. That's why they've got extra planes, they've got ways of dealing with it that allow them to figure out how to get it there on time.

So, I was looking for these numbers, finally got them. About 90 percent, and they're all very, very similar.

Soledad, you were wondering why they couldn't give us the answers? Well, now we've got them.

O'BRIEN: I was wondering. All right, Ali, thanks.

VELSHI: OK.

O'BRIEN: What do you have coming up for us?

VELSHI: I'm going to be talking to you about Delta telling US Air where to go.

O'BRIEN: All right. We'll wait for that. Ali, thanks.

A look at our top stories coming up. Take a look at this, though. CNN.com, top story there, a new study on premarital sex. Ninety-five percent of Americans say they've had sex before marriage.

ROBERTS: From the "Los Angeles Times" this morning, pollution nets a $37 million penalty. Federal officials have levied a record fine against Overseas Shipholding, one of the world's largest tanker companies, for deliberately dumping sludge and other contaminants into the ocean, claiming that they were fouling the ocean in the middle of the night, just to save a few bucks.

O'BRIEN: And did you know that today marks the 50th anniversary of the day that the Montgomery bus boycott, started by Rosa Parks, finally ended. A young Martin Luther King helped lead the boycott. We're getting some new insight into his historic journey for equality that began on that bus in Montgomery 50 years ago.

Recently, CNN acquired exclusive access to Dr. King's speeches and his private notes and his library. And all those things reveal some major surprises.

For example, we'll tell you how his "I Have A Dream" speech wasn't written for the March on Washington, where it was delivered. He actually adlibbed the whole thing.

ROBERTS: Wow.

O'BRIEN: And some of his advisers were absolutely horrified when he went off-copy and just started to wing the "I Have A Dream" part. It was never called "I Have A Dream," in fact.

We'll tell you why and how he went to Memphis, why he delivered his "Mountaintop" speech the night before he was killed.

Our special is called "Words That Changed a Nation." You're going to want to see and hear those words - some of them for the very first time - starting on January 8th, right here on AMERICAN MORNING. We've got a week-long series.

ROBERTS: Adlibbed the whole thing?

O'BRIEN: Well, he had delivered it before, and people who heard him start, the way it goes is "Mahalia Jackson said, 'Tell them about the dream, Martin.'" And he launched into it. It's a great story. And in the middle ...

ROBERTS: Still, amazing oratorical skills.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

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