Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Blizzard Leaves Denver Paralyzed; President Bush's Plan to Boost Ranks of Military
Aired December 21, 2006 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey good morning, everyone.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Heidi Collins is off today.
HARRIS: For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this Thursday, the 21st day of December.
Here is what's on the rundown.
WHITFIELD: A blizzard rolls into the prairie today leaving Denver paralyzed. The city's airport and major roadways shut down. Holiday travelers very stuck.
HARRIS: President Bush's plan to boost the ranks of the military -- the cost could run-into the billions.
WHITFIELD: And Rosie's rant, "The Donald's" threat -- two opinionated celebrities, one very ugly feud. A beauty queen drama becomes a what, Tony?
A smack down.
HARRIS: A smack down.
WHITFIELD: That's it. I'm counting on you. A smack down over values right here in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: So, at the top this morning, blame it on the blizzard. Thousands of holiday travelers are stranded this morning all over Colorado and other Western states. No one can get in or out of the Denver airport. The interstates? Forget about it.
Pattie Logan joins us from Denver this morning -- and, Pattie, we'll get to the travel difficulties in a moment. But I'm just sort of curious, has -- are there any reports of any serious injuries? And what about power outages?
PATTIE LOGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far, Tony, we haven't heard any of that, and that is a blessing in all of this. The reports are still coming in to find out what happened overnight. But it looks like things have worked out pretty well. The National Guard was actually out on Highway 36 between here and Boulder rescuing stranded people out of their vehicles last night. And that has been going on in other parts of the city, as well, to make sure that nobody gets caught in their vehicle or got caught overnight.
So hopefully we'll escape all of this without any real trauma.
But it's certainly very, very difficult, especially for the folks out at the airport. They've been there, some of them 24 hours now, since this all started.
It looks like the snow is lightening up a little bit. We're expected to be out of the worst of this by around noon today. But we've still got highways closed pretty much from Denver up to the Wyoming border. A short stretch just north of Denver is still open.
But down south, to the New Mexico-border, it is closed, I-25; and east to Kansas on I-70 is closed. The only place that you can get out on a major interstate is actually to the west, into the mountains, which is usually where most of the snow is. But this is an upslope storm, so a lot of it comes into the Denver front range. They are getting snow up in the mountains so skiers and snow boarders are going to be happy about that.
But the bulk of it is down here in the metro area. And we've got over two feet in the Denver metro area. And it looks like it's going to be a very difficult day again for travelers. Plows have been out. We're seeing some four wheel drive vehicles come around the streets of downtown Denver. We saw some folks trying to get on the light rail to get to work today.
So people are trying to move, but it's still going to be a very rough day. As you can see, the streets still are pretty much of a mess. We've got two, three, four foot drifts and then some of the major thoroughfares have been plowed but the neighborhood streets still a big mess.
HARRIS: Wow!
LOGAN: So it's going to be tough.
HARRIS: Yes.
Hey, Pattie, is this another day where folks are being advised to stay at home if they can?
LOGAN: Yes, they sure are. And the city of Denver, workers -- city and county of Denver workers have been given the day off.
HARRIS: Yes.
LOGAN: State workers in the Denver metro area. So the state and the government is taking the lead in saying, you know, folks, don't come to work today. And the businesses, I'm sure, will follow suit and allow people to stay home, work at home if they can and probably just have essential services.
HARRIS: Yes.
Pattie, we appreciate your watching it for us.
Pattie Logan for us.
Pattie, thanks.
LOGAN: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Our Chad Myers is watching it, as well, in the Weather Center -- and, Chad, two feet of snow?
That is remarkable.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, how about this?
WHITFIELD: What?
MYERS: You want to hear remarkable?
WHITFIELD: Tell me.
MYERS: This just in, literally. Seven miles north of Glen Haven, which is about 15 miles west of Fort Collins on up toward Estes Park, 52 inches of new snow.
WHITFIELD: No.
MYERS: Yes. From a trained spotter.
WHITFIELD: That is ridiculous.
MYERS: Fifty-two inches.
WHITFIELD: And that's just over...
MYERS: Four feet.
WHITFIELD: ... what? A 24-hour period.
HARRIS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MYERS: Yes, here. Let me see if I can get it in...
WHITFIELD: That doesn't make any sense.
MYERS: Here's Fort Collins. Here's Fort Collins right there. Here's Estes Park. If you -- it's kind of difficult to get there, but if you go up here to Glen Haven, then there's a small road seven miles north of that, Glen Haven Interchange.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.
MYERS: Fifty-two inches of snow. Yes, that's the biggest number.
WHITFIELD: I hope folks have a lot of firewood when they...
MYERS: Incredible.
WHITFIELD: ... for those that live there.
MYERS: Even Golden, I mean, a very populated area. Some three miles southwest of Golden now, 34.5 inches. And these are just the brand new numbers just coming in. Fort Collins with three to five foot drifts.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
MYERS: And Littleton at 24.
Here are some of the numbers that I had. This was the big one for a while. This is southwest of Denver by about 15 miles. Conifer 40; Genesee 38; then Castle Rock, Littleton and Fort Collins, the areas where people -- a lot of the people live and are really now snowed in in those areas, snowed in, really, because you can't even get out.
I-70 closed literally from just south of Denver all the way to Kansas. 25, south of Denver all the way to New Mexico. That's hundreds of miles. And I-76 from Denver all the way to Nebraska. Blizzard conditions closing the roadways there. No way to get around it.
This is what's already fallen. This was the computer forecast, actually, from yesterday, and I'm so very impressed with how the computers did. Because it said 24 inches plus here...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
MYERS: ... approaching three feet west of Boulder. And the you look at this heaviest snow.
See that little white dot right there?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Yes. That's Glen Haven. That's 52.
WHITFIELD: All right.
MYERS: And it said greater than four feet right there.
WHITFIELD: Right on the money.
HARRIS: I just can't believe how well these models did yesterday. Iiafnw that weather forecasting is better now that we have faster, better and more accurate computers. It's not garbage in, garbage out anymore.
HARRIS: Yes, that's for sure.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and hopefully that means people are better prepared...
MYERS: I hope so.
WHITFIELD: ... because you're able to better inform folks.
MYERS: There you go.
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And hopefully they're heeding the warning, too, staying off the roads.
Thanks so much, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
HARRIS: Send more troops -- the message from some soldiers on the front lines of the Iraq War speaking to new Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Baghdad.
Details now from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, the only network correspondent traveling with the secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The question is how much say should front line troops have in whether the U.S. pursues an option of surging tens of thousands of additional troops into Baghdad?
That was the question that came up at a breakfast meeting between Robert Gates, the new defense secretary, and a small but representative sample of U.S. soldiers here in Baghdad.
When Gates asked them the question, "Would you like to see more U.S. troops in Baghdad?" the answer was a resounding yes.
Specialist Jason Glenn's answer was typical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPECIALIST JASON GLENN, DEPLOYED TO IRAQ: I really think we need more troops here. I really think we need more troops in Iraq. I'm just thinking that maybe more presence on the ground, more troops, might be able to hold them off long enough to where we can actually get some of the Iraqis turned strong so that they can hold it themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Other soldiers quickly chimed in that they'd also like to see mutt here. When Gates asked how the Iraqi troops were doing, one soldier said they're doing OK, but they need to get better. Another said that they thought having more troops here would give the U.S. more time to integrate troops into the Iraqi units and strengthen them, as well.
The attitude of the troops here is they'd like to stay and succeed, rather than leave, and that might require more troops.
Now, Gates went on from that breakfast meeting to meet with Iraqi leaders. He's looking from them for some kind of commitment of what they would do to take advantage of a lull in the violence if the U.S. were to surge troops in to bring the violence down. And then Gates will factor all of these decisions -- the recommendations of the commanders, the sentiments of the troops, the promises of the Iraqi government, when he makes his recommendation to President Bush, likely some time next week.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Baghdad.
HARRIS: The biggest criminal case involving U.S. troops in the Iraq War could come to a head today. Military officials say at least five Marines could be charged with murder in the Haditha killings. An unknown number of officers could face lesser charges.
It happened in November of last year. Four Marine Humvees were on a routine patrol. The last Humvee was struck by an IED, killing one Marine. Twenty-four Iraqi civilians -- men, women and children -- were killed in the aftermath, when Marines opened fire at several homes in Haditha. Two AK-47s were found.
The case centers on whether the killings were deliberate or the Marines were defending themselves from a perceived threat.
WHITFIELD: Another day of violence in Iraq. At least a dozen people killed in attacks today.
CNN's Cal Perry joins us live from Baghdad -- Cal.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Fredricka.
Another day of unrelenting insurgent violence here across the capital. On this day, two major attacks to tell you about. The first at about 7:15 a.m. this morning at a police recruitment center. Recruits were lining up outside the center. They were going through the process of becoming Iraqi police when a suicide vest bomber exploded himself, killing at least 10, wounding some 15 others.
Insurgents again picking on these security forces, as they know, as Iraq is able to bolster its security forces, they will, of course, target the insurgency. So we see this a constant tit for tat violence here in the Iraqi capital.
A second attack this afternoon in the western part of the city has killed at least two people, wounded two others. That was a parked car bomb. All of this, of course, coming at a time in which fears of sectarian violence are really at an all time high. The Interior Ministry telling CNN that they found 76 bodies strewn across the capital yesterday. That is one of the single highest totals for any day since the start of the war. And U.S. troops again on the offensive in places like Baghdad and the Anbar Province. They continue to pay a heavy price. We learned today from the U.S. military two U.S. troops were killed in the Anbar Province, bringing the total to 69 killed in the month of December, half of which were victims in the Al Anbar Province, where the fighting, we understand, is quite heavy -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Cal, meantime, this taking place a day after President Bush, in this country, promised to further explore sending more troops, more U.S. troops to that region.
Is there any reaction coming from the Iraqi citizens there?
PERRY: Well, we've really heard two theories. One is if they flood Baghdad with troops, there's a chance, of course, that they'll be able to dampen down the violence. There's really no historical, anecdotal evidence that this will work.
otff, about three months ago, when they increased the troops in Baghdad, violence actually increased.
The other thing that really worries the Iraqi public is sectarian fighting, is tit-for-tat Shia and Sunni violence. This is what most people believe is really tearing this country apart.
When you talk to U.S. troops on the ground and you talk to commanders here on the ground, they'll tell you very openly we are not suited to solve the sectarian problem. We don't have the training, we're not from here.
If you ask an Iraqi Army soldier to tell you whether somebody is Sunni, whether they're Shia, whether they're from outside the country or whether they're Iraqi, they can spot that.
U.S. troops here are really, really hesitant to get in the middle of a sectarian war -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Cal Perry in Baghdad, thanks so much for that update.
Some pictures of progress now. New technology may let doctors see Alzheimer's Disease before it actually harms the brain. What that means to you, coming up next in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And still to come, a strong view, a not so subtle threat -- Rosie and "The Donald" blast away at each other. The war of words, coming up, Fred.
WHITFIELD: And what would Jesus play?
A Christian-based videogame released just in time for Christmas is now under fire for its perceived religious intolerance. Game on straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Baby Jesus resurrected. Exactly one year ago, thieves made off with a plastic figure from a Nativity scene at a home in Buffalo, New York. The family figured the figure was gone for good.
But lo and behold, the beloved plastic figure is back home in his manger. He arrived on the family's doorstep with a photo diary of his travels around New York State. The family, in the spirit of the season, says all is forgiven. Oh, holy night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A cholesterol test can be an early warning sign for heart disease. Now researchers are working on a new test that could do the same for Alzheimer's.
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with a very intriguing development.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is intriguing. This is just out in the "New England Journal of Medicine." Scientists at UCLA have managed to do something very interesting. They have managed to actually get an image of what a brain of someone with Alzheimer's looks like.
And this is very important. It could, down the road, lead to better dangerous and eventually better treatment for Alzheimer's Disease.
Let's take a look at these images that these UCLA scientists did.
What you see on the left is a healthy brain and what you see on the right is a brain of someone with Alzheimer's Disease. And so what you're seeing in those yellow and red colors is the plaques and the tangles that actually appear on the brain when someone develops Alzheimer's Disease.
Now, what's really going to be important here is that middle group. Those are folks who have what's called mild cognitive impairment. So they're having some problems. They're having problems -- for example, you give them a list of numbers, they can't repeat it back to you. They can still function in life, but they're having some memory issues. And you can see that they are starting to get some of those plaques and tangles that you see in the Alzheimer's group.
And so the reason why this is important is that scientists would love to be able to tell people earlier right here than later if it looks like they're on their way to developing Alzheimer's.
WHITFIELD: So does this mean if I'm feeling a little fuzzy or maybe I'm feeling a little forgetful that it's time for me to run-to a neurologist to see if it's time to look at my brain?
COHEN: Unfortunately, they can't do this right now. If you went to a neurologist right now, they would say we can't give you this test. This is experimental. It's only being used at UCLA right now. And so you can't even get it. But it's important to remember that people have what we jokingly call senior moments all the time and it doesn't mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that you're going to go on to get Alzheimer's.
But that's why this test could be very important, because eventually it would be great if you could go to your doctor and they could say you know what? You're just stressed out, you're just tired. Or you know what? We're seeing some of these brain developments that are a little worrisome.
WHITFIELD: Right. So there is potential that if this does end up being used, you know, quite readily, that they would be able to make a forecast, so to speak?
COHEN: Right. And that's important because, first of all, it would give you warning and you would know. Now, some people might not want to know. But some people would want to know.
Plus, there are some drugs that are now used to treat people with Alzheimer's and other memory issues, that, it doesn't stop Alzheimer's, but it is, in some people, helpful. It does give some modest benefit. It does help them a bit, to varying degrees, depending upon the person, to slow down the progression of the Alzheimer's. So your doctor could potentially, if this all works out, start you on some of those drugs.
WHITFIELD: All right. That's encouraging news.
Thanks a lot, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Thanks.
HARRIS: And still to come this morning, a blizzard leaving holiday travelers in a stormy daze. Here comes the snow. Here comes winter, right in THE NEWSROOM.
Teens and drugs -- why you should be encouraged a bit concerned. Find out what the survey has to say about it all straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
And we're concerned, very much so, about -- well, we want folks to get along, particularly at this time of year, the holiday spirit of giving.
WHITFIELD: That's right. We want to spread the holiday cheer, people.
HARRIS: Giving knuckle sandwiches.
WHITFIELD: Ooh.
HARRIS: Donald Trump-Rosie O'Donnell -- what's behind this feud over the blonde beauty queen?
WHITFIELD: Can't we all just get along?
HARRIS: All we can tell you now, it is getting ugly.
WHITFIELD: It's real ugly.
HARRIS: And we are Minding Your Business this morning.
Ali Velshi is here with a preview -- Ali, good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
You know who doesn't care about that weather in Denver?
HARRIS: Who's that?
VELSHI: Melo, because he doesn't have to get to any games. Carmelo Anthony suspended for that brawl last weekend. And if it's not enough, Northwest Airlines has pulled their magazine because it's got Melo on it.
I'll tell you all about that when we come back in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, Fred, look at this.
WHITFIELD: I know. It is beautiful. I mean as long as you're inside.
HARRIS: Feet of snow, Fred. Feet...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HARRIS: A foot is beautiful.
WHITFIELD: Right.
HARRIS: Feet of snow...
WHITFIELD: Two to three feet not beautiful?
HARRIS: What was it, 52, what was it, 50, what was it in that one place?
WHITFIELD: There was a 40 inches and I guess there was a 50 something.
Where are you, Chad?
HARRIS: Fifty-two inches of snow.
WHITFIELD: He's got the stats on that.
HARRIS: How about this -- pictures from our affiliates.
WHITFIELD: Yes? HARRIS: KUSA.
Can I see pictures from KDVR, as well?
Just a mess.
Hey, folks seem to be taking the advice of staying off the roads.
WHITFIELD: Yes, hopefully those cars have chains or something.
HARRIS: That's great.
Well, it's still early in Denver.
WHITFIELD: Or maybe they're -- yes -- city trucks putting stuff down.
HARRIS: And hopefully folks will continue to take the advice, heed the advice throughout the day and stay off the roads whenever possible.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HARRIS: Government offices and schools closed, of course. Traffic a real nightmare. Forty-seven hundred people hunkered down overnight.
WHITFIELD: Even post offices.
HARRIS: Yes. Deliveries hampered.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HARRIS: OK.
So, be careful and if you don't have to venture out, don't do it.
Why don't we mind a little business this morning?
WHITFIELD: Good idea.
HARRIS: An old brand -- and I love this story -- and a young superstar give Nike a boost.
WHITFIELD: Is it the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
HARRIS: Exactly.
Ali Velshi is Minding Your Business this morning.
Is this the Converse story?
VELSHI: I'm neither the superstar or the old brand...
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, you are. VELSHI: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a boost. But thank you. That was very kind of you. Yes. It is Converse. It's Nike. Nike's got -- sales are up about 10 percent for about three reasons. One is sales in China. Any company doing business in China these days is seeing an up tick in sales. So we've got the China sales.
We've got Converse, which, of course, is a great basketball brand. It is -- it is now owned by Nike and Nike is seeing a great up tick in that. And they're attributing some of their success to the 2006 "Sports Illustrated" sportsman of the year, Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: He's their celebrity athlete, spokesman. That always helps, you know, when you're a spokesman, you're on the cover of "Sports Illustrated." Lots of people read that.
HARRIS: Right.
VELSHI: Now...
HARRIS: Well, let me just say something to you. Let me just say something to you about this. Now, Dwayne Wade is as hot as you could be right now.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: But if you're talking about Converse, for old-schoolers like me...
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: Come on.
VELSHI: That's what you're probably wearing right now.
HARRIS: Chucks?
VELSHI: No. I'm telling you.
HARRIS: Chuck Taylors.
VELSHI: I had them.
HARRIS: The Jappers -- right.
OK.
VELSHI: I can't jump three inches and I have them.
HARRIS: So that -- those brands...
WHITFIELD: I've had them.
VELSHI: Yes... WHITFIELD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HARRIS: Those brands are helping just as much as this young kid, this whippersnapper here, this Dwayne Wade?
VELSHI: Right. But that's a nice combination to have, right?
HARRIS: That's a great combination.
VELSHI: Lots of stuff in China. You've got Converse. You've got Dwayne Wade.
Now, being a basketball star on the cover of a magazine apparently isn't all it's cut out to me. I was in Memphis, as you know, earlier this week...
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: ... and both my flights there and back way too early in the morning. And I forgot to take reading material. So I'm reading the "Northwest Airlines Traveler." I think we've got a picture of this to show you.
HARRIS: There's Melo.
VELSHI: And Melo is on the cover.
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
WHITFIELD: Mellow looking Melo.
VELSHI: And it's a nice story, because Melo is a -- he's young.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: He makes a little more money than you and me.
HARRIS: Come on.
VELSHI: But he's a good kid. He gives money back. Like he's from Baltimore and he really puts a lot of money back into Baltimore.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: So the article is nice. It doesn't -- obviously, it was published before the big brawl.
You remember last Saturday, there was a big brawl?
HARRIS: Oh, yes, yes, yes.
VELSHI: And Melo got suspended for 15 games because of that. And Northwest has now pulled -- look at that thing.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. VELSHI: ... Melo's -- Northwest has pulled the magazine from the seat backs. They don't want to be seen condoning that sort of activity.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
VELSHI: That's kind of sad. I mean...
HARRIS: Well...
VELSHI: And then the worst part is, you know, the Nuggets got Alan Iverson.
HARRIS: That's right.
VELSHI: It was a six...
HARRIS: The number one and number two scorers in the NBA this year, so far they got.
VELSHI: Yes, it would have been great. But Iverson couldn't make it to the game last night because of all that...
HARRIS: Why not?
VELSHI: ... because of all that snow.
WHITFIELD: Snow.
VELSHI: And then the game was canceled anyway. So...
HARRIS: And there you go, full circle back to the weather story.
WHITFIELD: Yes, right.
VELSHI: Is this fantastic how I did...
HARRIS: That's symmetry. Perfect.
VELSHI: Is this fantastic how I did about one-and-a-half seconds of business news here and then it became a sports discussion?
WHITFIELD: Yes, but it's also making me think I'll get one more stocking stuffer that I think I'd like to tell Santa about.
VELSHI: What's that?
HARRIS: Wait, wait, wait, wait, what the...
WHITFIELD: Converse.
HARRIS: Oh, yes!
WHITFIELD: I had -- past tense -- Converse.
HARRIS: Yes? Yes? VELSHI: That would great.
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: But I saw someone wearing some recently. They were just crazy colors, just so cool, so fun.
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Converse never dies.
VELSHI: We should all start wearing them and no one would know. No one would have anything to say about it. We should just all wear them while we're doing TV.
WHITFIELD: Yes. I don't think they'd have a problem with it even if we did.
HARRIS: Note to Santa -- Ali Velshi, Minding Your Business this morning.
WHITFIELD: I like that.
HARRIS: Ali, great to see you.
VELSHI: Great to see you guys.
WHITFIELD: Well, cooling their heels in Colorado. Like you said, it all comes full circle.
Boy, is that a lot of snow or what?
And it's got everybody -- planes, people, automobiles, all of it at a standstill. Stuck in the storm, straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Teens and drugs -- results are in from a huge survey. Why you should be encouraged and somewhat concerned. Find out what the survey says ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
What would Jesus play?
A Christian-based videogame released just in time for Christmas is now under fire for its perceived religious intolerance.
Game on ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: So President Bush wants to beef up U.S. troop strength around the world, but bolstering the Army and Marines will take time and a lot of money. How much? The numbers may surprise you.
Here's CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a question of supply and demand, not enough troops for the wars being fought.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Baghdad, getting recommendations from commanders on permanently increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps. He will report back to President Bush.
BUSH: ... I'm inclined to believe this is a good idea is because I understand that we're going to be in a long struggle against radicals and extremists. And we must make sure that our military has the capability to stay in the fight for a long period of time.
STARR: The Army is under the most pressure. In the last five years, 25,000 soldiers have been added. But commanders now want to add as many as 50,000 more. It's been a massive decline since the Vietnam years. In 1970, the active-duty Army had more than one million troops. New troops could take years to add.
GENERAL PETER SCHOOMAKER, U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: Optimistically, we could add 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers per year, in my view.
STARR: But, then, they must be trained.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, SENIOR FELLOW IN FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: First, there's maybe 10 to 12 weeks of boot camp, 10 to 12 weeks of specialized training in whatever weapons capabilities one is going to become an expert in.
STARR: And it will be expensive. It costs $13,000 to recruit a single soldier, and $1.2 billion a year to pay for salaries and training for every 10,000 troops. No one can predict what it all might cost in new tanks, helicopters and Humvees.
SCHOOMAKER: Frankly, we entered this war flat-footed. Investment accounts were underfunded in the Army by approximately $100 billion, resulting in nearly $56 billion in equipment shortages across the Army.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Barbara Starr joins us from the Pentagon now. Barbara, it's going to be expensive, whether we're talking about increasing the overall size of the military, or this much talked about surge of troops into Iraq, Baghdad, into Anbar province in the short term. It's going to be expensive. So Defense Secretary gates is continuing his talking tour, his Q&A tour, in Baghdad. He is also talking to many of the generals on the ground, Casey and Abizaid to be sure. Let's hear what General Casey had to say yesterday on the question of troop surge, and then let's get into it, Barbara.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, CMDR. MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ: I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, but what I want to see happen is when -- if we do bring more American troops here, they help us progress toward our strategic objectives, and that's what I'll be interested in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK, Barbara. Has General Casey asked for, made a request for more troops, this idea of a surge?
STARR: Well, Tony, not that we know of. What the generals have been consistently saying is they would accept the idea of more troops if they thought there was a job for them to do. Pretty consistently, the top commanders so far have been saying that they think it's a better idea to have a light footprint, not to show up as an occupation force now in Baghdad, that that could only inflame the situation, and that their strategy has been to work to train Iraqi troops, of course. So that sort of defines what the generals call their best military advice to the president.
But of course the question, Tony, is whether the best military advice is really good enough right now.
HARRIS: How difficult is it really from the people that you talked to at the Pentagon to train up Iraqi troops in the middle of a sectarian battlefield, and would this notion of a surge in troops to quell the violence provide that window of time necessary for the further training?
STARR: Well, that's still the question that nobody really can seem to answer yet. If you put more troops in, do you inflame the violence, do you inflame the sectarian violence? Do the militias and death squads do what the insurgents have now done for so many years, simply melt away, disappear back into those neighborhoods and wait for the U.S. to leave? That's one of the major concerns about a surge of U.S. troops, that they might just melt away and wait for another day. That's why the U.S. military thinks at the highest levels training Iraqis is really the long-term solution.
But as you say, the question now is do you just need to try to buy enough time to try to get a handle on the violence in Baghdad. So that's the question that Gates is asking. That's what they're discussing, and that's what the president says he will make a decision about.
HARRIS: And on this point of the surge, the president hasn't announced it, we know that. That announcement as to whatever he is going to do is going to happen in January. But back to this notion that's being kicked around of a surge, are we talking about combat troops going in or are we talking about training troops going in. And If we're talking about combat troops going in, what would the mission then be? They're a fighting force. Would they be going in to Sadr City? Would they be going into the other areas of Anbar province? Would they be going into Baghdad to actually conduct house-to-house operations?
STARR: Well, when we hear this figure of a 30,000 troop surge, I don't think anybody is really talking about sending in 30,000 trainers. They are, indeed, talking about sending in combat forces.
And again, the question of what they will do becomes quite significant. What will be their rules of engagement? Will they go head-to-head with the militia of Muqtada Al Sadr which is said to be responsible for some of the worst sectarian violence that is plaguing Baghdad right now? Will they go house to house, will they kick down doors, will they have the authority to directly attack those militia groups consider them hostile forces and go after them.
Because many commanders say unless you have these very strict rules of engagement, what good is it going to be? The soldiers will just have one hand tied behind their back.
We have talked to some very senior commanders about this question, and it's really coming down to what you might think of as crunchtime. You either go after the militias and the death squads or you get out. That's what one commander said to us last night. We either have to make the commitment to do this, he said, or we have to leave.
HARRIS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Many thanks, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
WHITFIELD: In Denver, snowy gridlock. It's not slow going, it's no going. Just ask Cherice Ware who is stuck with thousands of others of folks in the Denver International Airport.
Cherice, where are you in the airport?
CHERICE WARE, STRANDED TRAVELER: Sitting on the floor in front of ground transportation trying to wait on a shuttle.
WHITFIELD: How miserable is this?
WARE: It's pretty miserable. I had to sleep on the cold, dirty, hard tile floor last night.
WHITFIELD: Oh no. And where are you trying to go?
WARE: I'm sorry?
WHITFIELD: Where are you trying to go?
WARE: I'm coming from Kansas City, had a layover in Denver which I thought was only going to be three hours, turned out to be three days.
WHITFIELD: Oh no.
WARE: And now I'm stuck here. I can -- I'm on my way to L.A., but I can't leave until Friday night. So, i've been here since 7:00 Wednesday morning.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's pretty rotten. WARE: Absolutely miserable.
WHITFIELD: Not that Denver is a terrible place to be stuck, but it's stuck -- terrible when you are stuck in an airport, sleeping on the cold floor.
So now you are trying to catch a shuttle. How definitive is that plan, given that it is difficult to get around even in a vehicle?
CHERICE WARE, STRANDED TRAVELER: Well, we've asked the people -- we've called the hotel we are trying to get to, and they say that it should be running but they have no idea when it's going to get here. So everything is pretty up in the air.
Nobody knows what's going on. Everybody is all pretty helpless. Everybody is kind of keeping a positive attitude round here. There's really nothing we can do about it.
WHITFIELD: So, even though you started out in Kansas City, I'm thinking you're heading home to L.A., which means that you probably don't have a heavy parka and layers of clothing like a lot of folks in that region might be used to. How cold are you? How uncomfortable?
WARE: Actually, I'm going to visit family in L.A., so I have -- I have a pretty warm coat. But there are several people here that don't have the kind of equipment that we need for the cold weather. Thank goodness we still have electricity and heat in the airport. It could be a lot worse.
WHITFIELD: You are right about that. So, what about tempers? How is everybody else managing?
WARE: People are -- there are some people getting a little upset because it is very frustrating, you feel very helpless. But most people are keeping a very positive, optimistic attitude about the whole situation.
WHITFIELD: So do you think it might be Friday, tomorrow?
WARE: Maybe.
WHITFIELD: Maybe, 7:00 a.m.
WARE: No, actually, I'm going to be hopefully leaving around 9:00 p.m.
WHITFIELD: Oh. Okay. All right. So, you've talked to your family members.
WARE: Uh-huh.
WHITFIELD: And what do they seem to think about all this?
WARE: They're saying I'm really sorry.
WHITFIELD: Are they worried about you? WARE: Yes, they're a little worried because, you know, I'm here by myself. I don't have anybody here really to talk to. I'm making some friends.
WHITFIELD: I was going to say, I'm sure you guys, you know, given that you are all dealing with this common struggle, it's easy to make friends right now.
WARE: Yes, especially when you're stuck on the runway for six hours, stuck in a snowbank, thinking you might be taking off. We sat about 100 yards away from the terminal in the airplane for six hours yesterday before they could have tow trucks bring us back to the terminal so we could go inside the airport.
WHITFIELD: Wow, well miserable indeed, but it sounds like you are really hanging in there. You know, like you said, it could have been worse. So, it's a good thing. We hope you make your way to L.A. eventually to meet up for friends and family for what's left of the holiday once you get there. Cherice Ware, thanks so much.
WARE: Thank you.
HARRIS: Let's stay in Denver, Fred. Greg Nieto is a reporter with our affiliate in Denver, KWGN, and Greg is standing in the middle of a place called Washington Park, but the locals call it Wash Park.
WHITFIELD: Oh.
HARRIS: Greg, I can see -- I can make out very little behind you because of the virtual whiteout conditions.
GREG NIETO, KWGN REPORTER: Yes, Wash Park here in Denver is almost the equivalent of Central Park in New York City, of course, on a much smaller basis.
But, yes, behind me here ordinarily would be a nice pond or lake, and you see a number of geese and what not, people running around the lake or maybe -- we even saw someone this early morning that was doing a little bit of cross country skiing. Those are a few of the folks we saw this morning.
But again, here, the Denver metro area, basically the state of Colorado, at least on the east side of the continental divide at a virtual standstill because of the roads, as you can imagine, it was kind of surreal to see people on one of the main thoroughfares. It's called Colfax Avenue and I actually saw people walking on the street, no cars are moving, simply people walking that we saw. Saw a few people in the middle of the street actually hitchhiking.
As for the snow levels, we're here, standing ordinarily behind me here on the banks of this pond, right about now you're seeing about, I'd say, about four feet of snow. I'm trying to think of a good way to show you exactly how deep it is so maybe I will just kind of ...
HARRIS: What are you doing? NIETO: Jump in a little bit to give you an effect of how soft it is, and how much padding there actually is. So I can tell you I'm not hurt.
WHITFIELD: I want to see instant replay. Come on, do it again.
NIETO: There are a few -- maybe later. I'm not a young man anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
NIETO: We -- are seeing a few folks walking around here, including, we have Don here with his dog Joe. Are you OK there sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is deep out here.
NIETO: Let's just make it a little bit easier on all of us. Talk about -- you finally got out this morning and obviously Joe is enjoying Mother Nature
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she just loves the snow. In fact, she loves it when it's deep like this because she gets to dolphin through it. Comes up to just about shoulder height for her, and, you know, she goes and tries to find her ball. She doesn't have a real good sense of smell so she has to dig through everything.
NIETO: Sure
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she loves that.
NIETO: You were saying yesterday she wanted to go out swimming while everybody else was holed up in their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She loves the outside, she loves it when it's cold. In fact, every night she wants to sleep outside. She wanted to sleep outside last night and I wouldn't let her. It was just too cold.
But with this coat, you can see it's nice and thick. A good lab, chessie (ph) coat, it's so thick she could sleep in the snow. And no one would know the -- she wouldn't know the difference.
NIETO: Sure and I hear that, you know, I see she's actually -- she can hear some of the geese are behind us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, she's not that much of a geese girl. She really likes the squirrels. So she's not finding much squirrel action today.
WHITFIELD: No squirrels today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're all holed up in whatever tree they are in.
NIETO: Of course, for a lot of us this is one reason why we moved here for days like today or yesterday. Anything else you want to say to the rest of the country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I come from Cleveland originally about 30 years ago. This is really nice, and in two days, three days, it will be all gone. And to my sister who's in Australia, you are missing this, but guess what. You're going to come home from winter there to winter here, so you will get two doses of it.
NIETO: There you go. Again, that was Don and this is Joey. Thanks for your time this morning. We appreciate it
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
NIETO: If I can stand up again, we will be okay. Not too bad now. The biggest problem, believe it or not, guys, out here in Denver is not the fact that people can't drive anywhere, it is the fact that Starbucks are closed in the area.
HARRIS: You know what?
NIETO: I'm starting to turn from behind you there. I have to rely on -- yes, my gas station hot chocolate from yesterday.
HARRIS: You know what Greg?
WHITFIELD: From yesterday, frigid chocolate.
HARRIS: That is what you call a full-service, comprehensive live shot.
WHITFIELD: With a lot of reporter involvement. We love that.
HARRIS: Greg, great stuff.
NIETO: The thing about live shots is you do it one time because I couldn't do that all again.
HARRIS: Good stuff, man. We will be running that a couple of times this morning right here in the NEWSROOM. Greg, we appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
NIETO: You are welcome. Merry Christmas
(MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: And still to come, Rosie O'Donnell, talk show host with a point of view. Donald Trump, a man who puts his money where his mouth is, that's for sure. Their quarrel over a blond beauty queen. Have you heard a bit of this? It is getting ugly in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Okay, so what is better than a smackdown? We get plenty of those around here Fred. And I try to use them as a teaching moment.
WHITFIELD: Not around here. HARRIS: Oh, we get them in to the NEWSROOM. And I do, I try to use them as a teaching moment. Hard to figure out, at least at this point, what the lesson might be in this next celebrity smackdown.
WHITFIELD: Ouch. Well, today's fight card, Rosie O'Donnell versus The Donald. The origin of the dust-up, Donald Trump's news conference to publicly give a second chance to Miss Usa, Tara Conner.
HARRIS: Well, Rosie used her spot as co-host of "The View" to poke some fun at trump. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Well, apparently this young girl, Tara Conner, how old is she? Twenty-one. She went out and she was partying. She's from Kentucky. She went to New York and she was hanging out at all the parties, doing what Paris and Lindsey do, dancing, whatever. So he held a press conference to announce whether or not she was going to retain her crown, and then she started to cry. I just want to thank Donald for giving me a second chance! And there he is, his hair looped over.
(LAUGHTER)
O'DONNELL: Everyone deserves a second chance, and I'm going to give her a second chance, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your hair is perfect for that.
O'DONNELL: He annoys me on a multitude of levels. He's the moral authority? Left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair, had kids both time. But he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America? Donald, sit and spin, my friend. I don't enjoy him.
He inherited a lot of money -- wait a minute, and he's been bankrupt so many times, where he didn't have to pay...
He's on the payment plan.
Get ready.
He's going to sue me, but he'll be bankrupt by that time, so I won't have to worry. But I don't know, I just think that this man is sort of like one of those snake oil salesmen in "Little House on the Prairie."
DONALD TRUMP, OWNER OF MISS UNIVERSE ORG.: Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting, I mean, both inside and out. You take a look at her, she's a slob. She talks like a truck driver. She doesn't have her facts. She'll say anything that comes to her mind. And you know, her show failed when it was a talk show. She failed on that. The ratings went very, very low and very bad and she got essentially thrown off television. Her magazine was a total catastrophe. She got sued. A I mean, she's basically a disaster. She called me a snake oil salesman. Coming from Rosie, that's pretty low. Because when you look at her, and when you see the mind, the mind is weak. I don't see it. I don't get it. I never understood how does she even get on television. I'll probably sue Rosie because she doesn't tell the facts. As an example, I'm worth many billions of dollars. Now, it's not to brag about, I'm worth many billions of dollars, very simple. She said I was bankrupt. Now, I never went bankrupt. She said I filed bankruptcy three times. I never filed bankruptcy. I never went bankrupt. But she said I went bankrupt.
So, probably I'll sue her because it would be fun. I'd like to take some money out of her fat-ass pockets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, those were fighting words. Oh, that was harsh. I don't know, what was the tipping point? Was it the hair thing?
HARRIS: I don't know.
WHITFIELD: Was it the bankruptcy?
HARRIS: All I can tell you is...
WHITFIELD: Was it the litany of wives?
HARRIS: Fred, all I can tell you, the pageantry here is getting even uglier.
WHITFIELD: Trump says, I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice little Rosie. You heard it. Somehow I had to reiterate it.
HARRIS: Still to come, teens and drugs, why you should be encouraged. There is good news the study, but also there is reason to be concerned. The results in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: From time to time we all have our down moments.
WHITFIELD: Understandably, but what can you do when those down moments never seem to end? Elizabeth Cohen has some answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To look at her cha cha, you would never know that just a few years ago, Jaye Lombard couldn't get out of bed.
JAYE LOMBARD, CLINICAL DEPRESSION PATIENT: It's just a walking death. There's nothing -- there's nothing in life that excites you. It's just -- it's just breathing.
COHEN: Lombard has suffered from clinical depression since childhood, but it took her 40 years to fully understand her condition.
LOMBARD: And then I thought, what is wrong with me? And everyone around me kept saying, can't you just be happy?
COHEN: According to mental health experts, anyone can suffer from depression at any age. Most adults develop it in their late 20s or early 30s, but often don't know they have it until they get older. Women may have bouts of depression during their child-bearing years. Actress Brooke Shields suffered from post-partum depression in her mid-30s after the birth of her first child, and sought medication and counseling to help her through it.
DR, KATHLEEN MERIKANGAS, NATL. INST. OF MENTAL HEALTH: When people start to move into their 30s, they're getting more of a sense of who they are in the world, and people are really stressed about whether they're going to perform well and what they will do for the rest of their lives.
COHEN: As we get into our 40s and 50s, age can trigger depression. For women, menopause can cause serious mood swings and sadness. For men, the decline of physical and sexual activities can cause depression. Many 50-year-olds get depressed because they're watching their children leave, their parents grow old, and they have less time in life to do the things they want to do.
MERIKANGAS: You start to really question, have you accomplished what you need to accomplish and where you are going to be going from here.
COHEN: Doctors say the most important thing to do for depression is recognize it and seek help. In most cases, medication and therapy can make a difference. Exercise and keeping active also helps for some people.
Jane Lombard, now in her 50s, takes medicine to curb her moods. She wishes that she had acted sooner.
LOMBARB: To think if someone could have realized that, I could have saved all those years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
