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American Morning
Gates In Iraq; Expanding Military; Latest Polls; Mount Hood Search Slows; Gaza Cease-Fire; Second Chance
Aired December 20, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. America's new defense secretary lands overnight in Iraq, as President Bush asks him to expand the size of the military. We're live in Baghdad this morning.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hold your fire. A chance truce in Gaza this morning after deadening violence threatens to explode into all out civil war.
O'BRIEN: And clues from Mount Hood. The last photos snapped by the missing climbers gives rescuers reasons to fear the very worst and the weather is slowing the search again. Those stories and much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Its Wednesday, December 20th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts in for Miles O'Brien this morning.
Middle of the week. What we like to call hump day. The slide into the weekend. But a busy news day. Everything from Iraq, to bad weather in the Midwest coming up.
O'BRIEN: It's all kind of happening in the last couple of hours too.
Let's begin, in fact, in Iraq, where the new defense secretary, Robert Gates, arrived early this morning there. This urgent trip just his third day on the job so that he can meet face-to-face with senior military commanders. Let's get right to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. He is the only network correspondent who is traveling with Secretary Gates. Jamie's on the phone.
Hey, Jamie, good morning.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
It's just third day on the job now. Robert Gates 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 some top Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki, whom some at the Pentagon privately blame for failing to unite the Sunni and Shia factions and disarming the militias and death squads. Gates and his senior military advisor, Joint Chief's Chairman General Peter Pace, were greeted at the Baghdad airport just a short time ago by the two senior generals in charge of Iraq strategy, General Abizaid and General George Casey, both of whom have said repeatedly that they have posed an option under serious consideration by President Bush dispatching tens of thousands of more U.S. troops to Baghdad to try to bring down the rising violence long enough for the Maliki government to make some progress on national reconciliation.
Gates made only brief comments to reporters on the 12-hour flight over from Washington to Baghdad, saying he was here to listen and he expected to learn a lot in his few days here. Before he left Washington he said he looked forward to getting the honest assessment of U.S. commanders, getting their advice. What he called unvarnished and straight from the shoulder. During his confirmation hearings Gates said he hoped that commanders might be more candid with him when he's defense secretary than they were back in September when he went there as a member of the Iraq Study Group.
Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Which way does it seem that Secretary Gates is leaning? To support the surge in troops or to not?
MCINTYRE: Interesting. He really didn't give us any hand at which way he was going in the brief time that we saw him on the trip. He's playing his cards pretty close to the vest. You can see that there's a momentum gathering for this idea of a last-ditch chance to perhaps snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat here by coming up with a policy. Not necessarily to withdraw troops right away, but to increase the security force here.
But again, in doing that, he'd be going against the recommendation of General Abizaid. But keep in mind that General Abizaid is scheduled to retire anyway in March, in just a couple of months. That could also make way for a change in strategy.
O'BRIEN: I guess we'll wait and watch and see. All right, senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre, the only network correspondent who is traveling with Secretary Gates.
Thanks, Jamie.
The new defense secretary, in fact, arrives in Iraq on a day that is like so many other days, with explosions rocking Baghdad. Five so far today. Fifteen people killed, 37 hurt. The deadliest attack involved a suicide bomber who slammed his car into a police check point and then set off his bomb.
John.
ROBERTS: President Bush for the first time agreed with his top commander that the U.S. is not winning in Iraq, but not losing either. And he is asking Gates to draw up plans for more troops. In an interview with "The Washington Post" the president says he agrees with generals whose say the military is stretched too thin. White House correspondent Ed Henry has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president this morning signs into law a key domestic initiative, extending some of his expiring tax cuts. But it's Iraq that continues to dominate his agenda. Senior administration officials confirming to CNN that the president has asked his new defense secretary, Robert Gates, to come up with a plan to expand the Army and Marines.
Officials here caution this is not confirmation that the president is planting to surge up to 30,000 or 40,000 more U.S. troops into Iraq. And as a new Democratic Congress prepares a new federal budget, the president wanted to stake out his broader priorities. But there's know denying that by addressing the long-term strength of the military.
This could give the president the political cover in the short term to surge more troops into Iraq. And it also could be seen as a repudiation of his former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who championed the idea that the U.S. military could do more with less.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Got a couple of new poll numbers to tell you about this morning about the people who are closest to President Bush. They come from the latest CNN poll, which was conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation. Here's senior political analyst Bill Schneider.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As President Bush continues to fall in the polls, is he taking others down with him? Vice President Dick Cheney for sure. Fifty-six percent of the public disapprove of the way he's doing his job. The worst rating he's ever gotten. If Cheney were preparing to run for president, he'd be in deep trouble.
More than three quarters of the public say First Lady Laura Bush is doing a fine job, though her 18 percent disapproval is also the highest it's ever been.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a Bush administrator insider, but she's also an African-American woman and she's pursuing diplomacy. Yes, Rice's disapproval is up, but her 57 percent job approval is something President Bush has not seen in more than three years. Rice is the most popular political figure in the administration.
You know, with Cheney not running, there's no Republican to carry the Bush banner in 2008. Hmm.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: It's going to be Vice President Dick Cheney for the defense. His former chief of staff on trial. Lawyer for Louis "Scooter" Libby say they're going to call the vice president as a witness in Libby's perjury trial related to that leak that exposed the identity of the CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby also faces obstruction of justice charges, is accused of making false statements to investigators. The trial is to start next month.
ROBERTS: A new cease-fire is holding this morning between Palestinian rival forces. Hamas and Fatah began withdrawing gunmen from the streets of Gaza this morning. Ten people have been killed in clashes since Saturday when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for early elections. Hamas controls the Palestinian legislature and rejects the call for a new vote.
But al Qaeda is warning Palestinians that elections will not make them free. In a tape just released overnight, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command says, the only path to freedom is through holy wall. The tape has not been authenticated and it's not clear when it was recorded.
O'BRIEN: Back in this country, the search for those two missing climbers is now being scaled back. The terrible weather that is expected to hit the area is going to make ground and the aerial searches very difficult. The sheriff is now saying that photos from a camera that was found with the body of climber James Kelly is now giving him reason to worry that the men were traveling light and they may not be prepared to survive the extremes. CNN's Chris Lawrence has our report this morning from Hood River, Oregon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): For more than 100 hours, they scoured this mountain with Blackhawks, 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, MISSING CLIMBER'S SISTER: 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 Mount Hood packing lightly for a quick climb. They summited 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 cage 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 crevass (ph) 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 VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Just a minute ago I misidentified that climber who died. I said he was James Kelly. Of course his name is Kelly James.
Ahead this morning, winter arrives on the front range of the Rockies, moving into the heartland, just like Chad predicted. He's going to tell us straight ahead who's going to get 20 inches of snow by tomorrow.
And Gaza City is quiet right now, but it's still on the brink of chaos. How can Palestinians find peace in the Middle East while they're fighting with each other?
Those stories and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back on AMERICAN MORNING. And happening now.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq. He's meeting with top commanders.
And the space shuttle Discovery disengages from the International Space Station and prepares to head home. Maybe to start playing that song, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," though. Discovery is supposed to land on Friday, but weather could change that plan.
O'BRIEN: A closer look this morning at a day in a life of a Palestinian. Right now a new cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Fatah appears to be holding. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Gaza City for us.
Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Soledad.
That cease-fire seems to be holding, more or less. But really where we've been talking a lot about Hamas and Fatah recently. But caught in the middle of this conflict are ordinary people who, when going to work, going to school, just minding their business, can find themselves in a gun battle without a moment's notice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN, (voice over): It's time to run for your life. This gun battle between Palestinian police and the Hamas militia broke out as school children were out on a lunch break. Shop keeper Hadan Ilian (ph) is closing up.
"I'm going home," he tells me. "I'm afraid. We're done with. It's never been this bad." Gangland-style warfare seems to be taking hold.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, vendors pack up. Another gun battle brewing just up the street. As members of Palestinian military intelligence, angry over the killing of a comrade, try, but fail, to trash a Hamas banner. They were interrupted by more gun fire.
The bloody confrontation between Fatah, which wants new elections, and Hamas, which rejects them, has left at least 14 dead and dozens wounded. Every new death brings new calls for revenge, a vicious cycle of killing and counter killing no one seems able o to stop.
At this funeral for a Fatah member killed in clashes with Hamas, curses for the militant Islamic group. As they head to the graveyard, yet more shooting. We run into the first open door. We've taken cover inside a vegetable store here in Gaza City. There's a gun fire going on outside between members of Palestinian security and unknown others somewhere out there.
Gunmen told us if we videotaped anymore they'd shoot us. So all we could do was set the camera on the ground and let it roll. Recording as this city teeters on the brink of chaos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: And, Soledad, there have been some clashes just about an hour and a half after that cease-fire went into effect. Fatah policemen and Hamas militia men exchanged fire. Two people were killed in that clash, five wounded.
Soledad.
O'BRIEN: So more or less the cease-fire has been holding for 24 hours or so. It looks as if there will be no new elections unless Hamas gets on board with that and there's no indication that they ever would. What's the resolution? How are the Palestinians going to come together? Can they really negotiate a peace?
WEDEMAN: Well, there's no real resolution to the problems that sparked this fighting in the first place. As you said, each side is sticking to its position. The one possible solution that, in fact, we did hear both the Palestinian Hamas prime minister and the president, who's from the rival faction say, is that they're still considering the possibility of forming some sort of national unity government with technocrats, not political figures. So that's really the only way out. Because if the elections go ahead or the authority continues to plan for these elections, there's going to be more trouble. So people are hoping they find some sort of middle solution to avoid more of what we've seen.
Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It doesn't sound very hopeful at this point. Ben Wedeman for us this morning.
Thank you, Ben, for that update.
And we should remind everybody, ahead in this hour we're going to be talking to Hanan Aswari (ph). She's a Palestinian legislature. We're going to get her take on the fighting that's been going on between Hamas and Fatah.
John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 17 minutes past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center. He's got our first look at the traveler's forecast.
And, Chad, am I reading it right? Is this big storm in the plains and the Southwest sliding a little further east than we initially thought it would?
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Got a look at our top stories straight ahead this morning.
Plus, some new rules. Tough new rules on adoption. Have you heard about this?
ROBERTS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: If you're overweight, if you're single, don't bother to apply, at least in one country. We'll explain straight ahead.
ROBERTS: Also if you're on anti-depressants.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Really a kind of strange list.
Also ahead this morning, a pretty revealing new study about Americans and their sex lives. We'll tell you what it says.
ROBERTS: And accused of bad behave. A teary-eyed Miss USA is not fired after all, but her second chance comes with a couple of strings attached.
That story and more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Miss USA, Tara Conner, in will get to keep her crown after all. At a news conference yesterday, pageant co-owner Donald Trump said he originally had planned to fire Connor over accusations of underage drinking. As CNN's Jeanne Moos reports, America is the land of second chances.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): She went from the beauty pageant runway, to the New York City media gauntlet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tara, are the allegations true?
MOOS: Apparently some were, admitted a tearful Miss USA.
TARA CONNER, MISS USA: I want to apologize to my family if I put any disgrace upon you.
MOOS: There were things you never expected to hear coming out of Miss USA's mouth.
CONNER: I wouldn't say that I'm an alcoholic.
DONALD TRUMP, PAGEANT CO-OWNER: She's agreed to go into rehab.
MOOS: Think of it as a New York Christmas story. A story of alleged sin and televised redemption.
First there were the stories of wild partying, underage drinking and an allegedly failed drug test for cocaine. Pageant owner Donald Trump summoned Tara Conner, her heels clicking on the marble of Trump Tower, while an army of press waited. Trump got her side of the story behind closed doors, fully prepared to say what's written on the hats of his employees, "you're fired." And then . . .
TRUMP: Tara is going to be given a second chance.
CONNER: I've had a very big blessing bestowed upon me. And you'll never know how much I appreciate Mr. Trump for saving me on this one.
TRUMP: All of this in the atrium of Trump Tower with tourists gawking from the balconies and press shooting from the escalators. And when the Donald delivered her from evil, there was a smattering of applause. Tara stepped away in return to once again dawn her Miss USA sash, an unexpected outcome.
What do you think he decided?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heev-ho.
MOOS: He kept her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See, how -- (INAUDIBLE). With him it's hard to tell.
TRUMP: Tara is going to be the great comeback kid.
MOOS: Not since Vanessa Williams gave up her crown because of some Penthouse photos in 1984 . . .
VANESSA WILLIAMS, FORMER MISS USA: That I must relinquish my title as Miss America.
MOOS: Has there been such hoopla over a tiara.
CONNER: My personal demons are my personal demons.
MOOS: And though Tara kept her tiara . . .
CONNER: I swear I will not let you down.
MOOS: Skeptics abound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two things that don't work in this world of ours. One is anger management. The other is rehab. She'll be back.
MOOS: Reporters wanted to know about stories Miss USA had been seen kissing Miss Teen USA.
CONNER: Katie Blair is a wonderful Miss Teen USA. I hate that she got dragged into all of this. She's a good girl.
MOOS: Good girl, bad girls. What would Santa say?
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: My personal demons are my personal demons, she says. I'm going to keep them to myself.
ROBERTS: Yes, there were certain things that they were answering in that press conference and then other things that they really stayed away from.
O'BRIEN: No comment on the drug stuff.
ROBERTS: Yes. Not even just a, that's a personal issue, we're going to deal with it.
O'BRIEN: Not even a no comment. I've got no comment on that.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, you're going to be talking to somebody from the Trump organization, the Miss USA organization later on, right?
O'BRIEN: Exactly. Yes, the president. Straight ahead.
ROBERTS: Yes. We'll look forward to that one.
O'BRIEN: That's going to be good TV for sure. Got a sex -- what is a morning without a sex study to share with you, is what I always say. There's a new study out that shows that virtually all Americans have had sex before marriage. Ninety-nine percent of Americans have had sex by the age of 44. And this study shows that 95 percent of Americans had sex before marriage. So it appears in the new issue of Public Health Reports. The study authors say -- and, of course, all this is done for (INAUDIBLE) reasons to some degree because it raises questions about the government's abstinence only until marriage programs, of course.
ROBERTS: Right. It looks like it's only targeting 1 percent of the population there.
O'BRIEN: And it gets hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. So I think that they're thinking that this study will start the ball rolling on some other questions as well.
Also new rules going into place making it harder for people to adopt children. If they're outside of China to adopt children from China. Have you heard about this? It's incredible. U.S. adoption agencies now say there are new application rules. People who aren't married, if they're obese, if they are taking anti-depressants, if they're over the age of 50, all those people will be turned down by the Chinese government. Pretty shocking, I think. The new rules go into effect on May 1, 2007. And, you know, 8,000 children were adopted from China.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean you would think that the number of children who are up for adoption in China that they wouldn't be so restrictive.
O'BRIEN: And that's a very wide-ranging list. Obese? Antidepressants?
ROBERTS: Obviously we'll be hearing more about this.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I think that's true.
ROBERTS: Looks like the Santa Claus rally came to Wall Street as the Dow hit another record. It's 26 minutes after the hour now. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, I can't even keep track of how many records this has been. It's over 20 this year. The Dow hit another one, which is interesting because two things happened in the markets yesterday. One of them is that there was an inflation report, which I'll tell you about in a second, that otherwise should have spooked the markets.
The second thing that happened is the Tai government imposed some controls on its currency. Now it doesn't seem to matter to us, but it shot that market a lot lower. And if you recall, the Asian currency crisis was triggered by the Tai currency collapsing. Anyway, the Tai market -- the government has popped that back up and, as a result, not such big problems.
The economic news we heard about yesterday was producer price inflation. That's before it gets to the consumer. It had its biggest jump since 1974. Now economists say that's an aberration because consumer prices, the inflation that we worry about, has actually been flat for a few months. So the markets slopped that off and went up to another record yesterday.
The other news. We've been seeing mergers. We've also been seeing buyouts. Companies being taken from public companies to private companies. The world's biggest casino, Harrah's, is now going to go private in a $17 billion deal. It means you're not going to be able to buy the stock of that company. I means the company's not going to have to follow certain disclosure rules, but it's part of a growing trend.
Soledad, I'm going to be back in a little bit telling you about shipping. Today's the biggest shipping day for UPS. More than 20 million packages. I'm going to give you some sense of the reliability. Remember we talked about this the other day. I'll tell you how reliable these shippers actually are.
O'BRIEN: OK, good, because I just got two boxes for the kids and I'm missing the third. So I want some good news.
VELSHI: I'll check on it.
ROBERTS: You'll notice, though, that Ali managed to get himself shipped back from Memphis.
VELSHI: On time.
ROBERTS: So it's pretty good. It's pretty good.
O'BRIEN: On time. All right, Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: A quick look at some of the stories we're following for you this morning.
The new defense secretary lands in the war zone, arriving in Baghdad within just the last couple of hours. We're going to take you to Baghdad for a live report straight ahead.
And you probably take one every so often. Never even give it a second thought. We're going to hear why the government thinks you need to be warned about the most common pain relievers, straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(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)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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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