Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Staff Sergeant Charged with 13 Counts of Murder; Denver Snow Leads to Travel Snags; War of Words Between Rosie, Trump

Aired December 21, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes. And I am so glad I could be around for this one, Kyra.

Trump versus Rosie. The Donald fires off a fresh round in the war of words. Our A.J. Hammer just talked with the miffed mogul himself.

PHILLIPS: And it's all about the weather in Denver. No school, no mail service. Thousands of travelers stranded on the roads and at the airport. We're going to look at how much longer the snowbound situation will last.

HOLMES: Plus, they don't have a choice. They have got to come home soon. But weather is throwing major monkey wrenches at NASA's plans to land the shuttle. We're going to talk to their astronauts for their take on the situation.

PHILLIPS: New developments now in that story we just reported. An attorney for U.S. Marines says his client is being charged with multiple counts of murder in connection with the so-called Haditha massacre. Standing by live with more on the story, Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

What do you think? More charges possibly on other Marines?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, Kyra, it is expected that at a press conference later today, Camp Pendleton in Southern California, a number of Marines will have criminal charges announced against them.

But the initial word that we are now getting from an attorney for one of the Marines, an attorney for Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, is that that man, Frank Wuterich, has been charged now with 13 counts of murder in connection with the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha, Iraq, last November.

This case has been one of the grimmest for the U.S. military in its operations in Iraq. It is alleged back in November of last year Marines entered the town of Haditha and entered some homes there, killing 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians.

This press conference today had been expected for the last couple of weeks. This has been a very lengthy criminal investigation against the Marines. Of course, many of their attorneys saying their clients are innocent of the charges, that the Marines simply were involved in a combat operation.

But there had been some evidence that the military felt it had that some of these Iraqis civilians were, indeed, shot at close range and were not armed at the time of the incident.

Complicating this entire matter, of course, has been the fundamental issue of why it was never reported that the Marines engaged in this particular shooting operation.

The initial reports at the time of the incident were that the Iraqi civilians had all been killed in some sort of roadside bomb attack. And then it came out several weeks later that this had been a shooting incident involving the Marines with these Iraqi civilians.

So there have also been questions of cover-ups. There have been questions of lying to investigators. We will hear much more about this at the press conference in the next couple of hours.

But it is now confirmed that at least one staff sergeant has now had 13 counts of murder filed against him -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And it also came out, Barbara, right, that this was possibly a retaliation against people that took the life of a Marine days prior?

STARR: Well, that has been an allegation that has been discussed in the news media and in public, of course. But what we do not know is if prosecutors have any credible evidence of that, that they are going to present, if and when they finally take this case to trial or if there's any sort of plea agreement in the interim. That has been a matter of discussion, but that, of course, is fundamentally a matter to be proved in a military court of law.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon.

STARR: Thank you.

HOLMES: Digging out in Denver. The Mile-High City snow bound after a blizzard barreled in overnight, dumping up to two feet of snow and twice that in the Colorado mountains.

The governor has declared a state of emergency as snowplows struggle to clear the roads. At the airport, huge snow drifts are keeping runways closed, and all flights grounded until at least some time tomorrow. Hotel rooms now being arranged for the nearly 5,000 travelers who have been stranded there since yesterday.

And with post offices closed another day, postal service is now considering delivering Sunday to get all those cards and packages there by Christmas.

Patty Logan has been out in the snow and the cold since before dawn today.

Patty, bless your heart. How are you doing out there?

PATTY LOGAN, CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you for your concern. I'm doing pretty well. The snow is definitely letting up quite a bit. It's much warmer than it was at 4 a.m. here this morning. So feeling a lot better on that case, as well.

We're also seeing the roads doing a lot better. We've got pavement. We've got more people out.

We've got some folks behind me that are actually out here having a good time with it all. Some folks are actually enjoying it. They're out snow shoeing. We have seen folks go by on snowmobiles, cross country skis. There's a lot of people enjoying the good part of the storm.

Of course, there's still the downside. People are definitely starting to dig out. There are an awful lot of cars that are out there off I-25 and various roads all along the metro area. And there are good Samaritans who are out there digging them out, helping them to get their cars retrieved.

So people are starting to take care of the problems that have amounted after this huge amount of storm -- snow that we had, a couple of feet, as a matter of fact.

So I think we're on the upside that way. Things at the airport are also looking better. They're saying they're getting those folks out to some hotels. Some people, at least, are getting out to area hotels. And we're still waiting word, though, to find out exactly when they will be opening the airport.

Here's the latest that we've heard about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SNYDER, DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: There's some four- and five-foot drifts between the concourses. And we've got to clear out the taxiways behind the concourses so that the planes can back out. You have to clear a path from the taxiways to the de-ice pads for the planes to de-ice and then from the de-ice pads out to the runways.

So that's a lot of concrete to clear. That's a lot of -- obviously a lot of accumulation out there, as well, and it's going to take some time. So that's why we're hopeful for noon tomorrow, but obviously, nothing out today at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOGAN: So that's disappointing for an awful lot of people, thousands of people that have been stranded out there.

The smaller airports around town are also closed, so there's really still very little going in and out of Denver in terms of roads. Trains are operating. They're behind schedule but that's about it. HOLMES: And Patty, did we just see -- are those guys still around? We just saw somebody go behind you with snow shoes on, I believe. Are they still around?

LOGAN: Yes, you did. I think they headed off. They're all the way -- they're good. They're all the way up the road.

HOLMES: That's the way to get around. You're seeing a few people getting around town like that? And other creative ways?

LOGAN: Yes, we absolutely are. It seems like there is some life coming to the city, although there are still really no restaurants or businesses open, shopping, that sort of thing. But people are maybe getting a little stir crazy and just want to get out and check it out. So they're getting out and about.

HOLMES: Well, they found a way to do it. Patty, thank you so much. And hopefully, you'll get to get inside at some point soon. Thank you so much.

LOGAN: You bet.

HOLMES: We're going to head back over to Reynolds Wolf, keeping an eye on all of this storm and where it's going and what it's going to be bringing with it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: But we will certainly listen to you, as well.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I would hope so. Especially you.

HOLMES: Of course I will. Reynolds, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Does he think I don't listen to him?

HOLMES: Probably. You don't.

PHILLIPS: I always listen to him.

HOLMES: Yes, come on, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Remember, he grabs the huskies and yells mush! That's how he gets through the snow. He doesn't have snow shoes. Whatever, Reynolds.

HOLMES: There you go.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, a disturbing sight for people of New Orleans still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina. Take a look at this.

The storm system has produced heavy snow in parts of the west. Well, it dumped five inches of rain on the New Orleans area. As pumping stations struggled to cope, some streets were covered with a foot or more of water.

The morning commute was a nightmare. And officials urged people to stay at home or at work until the rain stops.

And then the fog isn't going anywhere at London's Heathrow Airport. But, you know, London is known for its fog. Come on. And neither are thousands of travelers now.

This thick blanket of fog moved in three days ago and put the kibosh on holiday travel. There's no telling when flights will be rescheduled. And the forecast for London doesn't show any change for days.

British Airways cancelled all of its domestic flights into and out of Heathrow. Flights to Paris and Brussels are limited.

HOLMES: Coming up, should a congressman be sworn in using the Koran? One lawmaker sounds off. It's coming up in the NEWSROOM.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm A.J. Hammer in New York. Man, the war of words is heating up between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump in the aftermath of the Miss USA scandal.

I just got back from the Donald's office, and boy, was he in rare form. What he told me, coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: She says he's a snake oil salesman. He says she's a woman out of control. No loss of words this week between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump over the Miss USA controversy. Only now the Donald may be suing.

CNN entertainment reporter A.J. Hammer went straight to the source for some answers. He had the sit-down with the Trumpster.

All right, A.J.

HAMMER: Kyra, you have no idea. I mean, he was not holding back one bit when I was down with Donald Trump.

PHILLIPS: He never does.

HAMMER: No, no, no. And I could probably sum it up for you in a couple of words: Donald Trump thinks Rosie O'Donnell is a loser, thinks she is an ugly person inside and out.

Let me give you the background, of course. This all started after the Miss USA scandal, where Miss USA, Tara Conner, had been allegedly underage drinking and whatever else. Donald Trump decided to give her a second chance and not to fire her.

Rosie O'Donnell on "The View" yesterday, saying she wasn't at all happy with how the Donald handled that situation, and that basically she should -- he should have let her go. So I went to Donald Trump himself and wanted to hear his reaction to exactly what Rosie was saying. His reaction to her calling him, among other things, a snake oil salesman.

I wanted to hear his reaction to the fact that she said this is not a guy who should be our moral compass, at least not for 20-year- olds.

And also, Donald Trump had threatened to sue Rosie O'Donnell because she had said that he had gone into bankruptcy. He says that's not so. He said/she said, blah, blah, blah.

Here's what the Donald told me about all this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: Well, Rosie is a loser. She's always been a loser. I've always understood it. She failed with her magazine. She failed with her show. As you know, at the end it was doing very poorly in terms of the rating.

Rosie is really somebody that she's unattractive in every sense of the word. From a physical standpoint, she looks like hell. Inside she is far worse than she is on the outside.

And I understand Rosie. But Rosie inherently is a loser.

HAMMER: What about what she said about you being the moral compass for 20-year-olds and the country taking exception, saying left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair.

TRUMP: Look at Rosie's moral compass. You tell me about a moral compass. You take a look at Rosie's moral compass. I mean, this woman is a disgrace.

HAMMER: Plan to follow through with your threat to sue her?

TRUMP: You know, taking money out of her big, fat ass would be probably something that's very easy, and we probably will follow through with it, yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: All right. So do we think Donald Trump was clear? That's basically the deal. We know how he feels now. We're going to have much more of my sit-down with Donald Trump tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

And by the way, Kyra, Donald Trump feels that Rosie O'Donnell is absolutely terrible for "The View." He thinks that she's going to ruin that particular program. Of course, Donald Trump and Barbara Walters are very good friends.

Donald told me that Barbara called him yesterday and he said that if you were to ask her exactly how she feels about Rosie O'Donnell and she was being truthful, she would say she doesn't like her and that she's not good for the program.

HOLMES: Wow.

HAMMER: Yes. So some pretty strong words coming from Donald Trump today.

And of course, now we're reaching out to Barbara Walters' people to find out about this. Barbara in the past has always told me she loves Rosie and believes Rosie is brilliant for "The View". And "The View" certainly has done well in the ratings since Rosie joined up.

PHILLIPS: I wonder if Rosie will turn around and try to sue Donald Trump?

HAMMER: It's going to be interesting to see if this plays out. As you just saw, I did ask him if he'll follow through with that. And it seems that he's doing it more from the pleasure he will take from the actual action of suing her and not from whether or not she may have libeled him or slandered him in any way.

PHILLIPS: Well, he definitely knows how to -- how shall we say -- I don't know...

HOLMES: How should we say it, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: How should we say that, A.J.? He knows how to get attention, doesn't he? He knows exactly what to say and do.

HAMMER: Yes and, of course, the point has been made since this happened -- I mean, the fact is this happened, the Miss USA controversy happened. Literally at the moment the press conference was taken where he was announcing that he was not firing Tara Conner and giving her a second chance as Miss USA.

Literally at that exact same time a little electronic press kit for the next season of "The Apprentice" which begins in a few weeks, landed on our desk at "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."

PHILLIPS: There you go.

HAMMER: So I had to ask him. I said there are those who would say this whole thing, a big publicity stunt. And he said, what, for "The Apprentice" that starts in a couple of weeks? Of course not!

PHILLIPS: See, there you go. There you have it. He is a master P.R. man. A.J. Hammer, we'll look forward to your full interview tonight. No doubt, it will be interesting.

HAMMER: See that on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", 11 p.m. Eastern.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, A.J.

HOLMES: It's all coming together now.

PHILLIPS: It all makes sense.

HOLMES: Yes. It all makes sense now.

PHILLIPS: We believe in second chances. Some of these e-mails, though, they don't believe in second chances.

HOLMES: You know, I don't -- if it's just a publicity thing, I don't want to talk about it anymore. We don't have to, right?

PHILLIPS: You want to stop?

HOLMES: Yes, let's stop. But we are talking about Rosie and Donald in their own corners. What's your take? We asked for that in our e-mail. We did get some responses.

The first we got here from Bill says, "Rosie talks like a truck driver? Isn't that an insult to us truck drivers?"

Thanks, Bill.

PHILLIPS: Lisa writes, "I'm with Rosie. What she said is correct. How dare Donald insult her appearance? It is obvious that women are just Barbie dolls to him."

HOLMES: All right. And finally here, we got one from Ted that says, "Both blather a lot. A lot of steam and no substance that really matters in relation to what is truly important in the world today. But they sure get a lot of face time via their inane comments."

And of course, tune into CNN tonight if you want to hear more of this stuff, Donald Trump, hear what he has to say about the brouhaha about Rosie O'Donnell. I'm sure he'll have many -- maybe not so many expletives. He's Larry King's guest tonight. That is at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.

PHILLIPS: Forget it, Denver. No point in trying to go anywhere today. That includes the mailbox, because even the post office has thrown in the towel. We'll upstate the snowy state of affairs next in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: But first, work. We spend the majority of our waking hours doing it. But telecommuting tools, home offices and global markets are all changing the way America earns a living.

In the future, will technology make our work weeks longer and more stressful, or will we find a better balance? Here's what our group of futurists had to say on this subject.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. JAMES CANTON, AUTHOR, "THE EXTREME FUTURE": Ten years from today how we'll get to work, first of all, may be more virtual than physical any way. You may be sitting in meetings as a holographic image.

RAY KURZWEIL, CEO, KURZWEIL TECHNOLOGIES: We'll have eyeglasses that beam images directly to our retina, creating either a virtual screen in the air or a full emergent visual environment, and we'll feel like we're in that environment.

Meeting in virtual reality will be just as good as a meeting in real reality.

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF, CULTURAL THEORIST: Even if you have holographic pictures of people around a table, still, real people in a real place matters.

I think in the future the idea of going to work and tackling problems shoulder to shoulder with your colleagues will be seen as a luxury, rather than looking at work as this thing where, now I've got to go to work. I think people will relish the opportunity to actually have that face-to-face contact.

JOEY REIMAN, THINKER & CEO, BRIGHTHOUSE: Today thinking outside the box means being creative. Tomorrow thinking outside the box means leaving the cubicle.

And the workplace will look more like a work park. There will be much more daylight. We'll be working in thinking villages. We will shift our notion from being a millionaire or a billionaire to becoming a familionaire (ph), which is someone who puts their focus on family, the family of human kind.

It's a radical concept but a heartful (sic) one and I think that's where the world's going right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: New developments now in a story we've been reporting. An attorney for a U.S. Marine says his client is being charged with multiple counts of murder in connection with the so-called Haditha massacre.

Standing by now live for us with more on this story, this developing story, CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

Hello, Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, T.J.

Well, we're here at Camp Pendleton, where officials are expected to announce those official charges in about two hours. However, CNN has confirmed through attorney Mark Zaid, the defense attorney for Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, that his client has indeed been charged with 13 counts of murder for killing unarmed civilians on November 19, 2005, in Haditha, Iraq.

Now, here's the way that those charges are breaking down. Twelve counts of murdering individual Iraqis, according to the defense attorney. In addition to one count of killing six people by ordering a group of Marines to go into one house and ordering to, quote, "shoot to kill" then ask questions later.

Now, the charges do not include any allegations of premeditated murder, according to the attorney, and Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich now faces a maximum of life in prison. None of the charges carries the death penalty -- T.J.

HOLMES: Thelma, is that the key, and how significant is that, that the charges allegedly or according to his attorney, don't involve premeditation? How important is that to his client in this case?

GUTIERREZ: Well, it's very important because all along, critics had said these Marines had gone in and that they had killed these civilians in cold blood.

The Marines all along had said that the killings were collateral damage; they happened in the fog of war. That they are being fired upon by insurgents and that they were following rules of engagement and simply went after the insurgents, went house to house, searching for the people who were firing upon them, and also for the people who had put that roadside bomb on the road that ended up killing a fellow Marine, Miguel Terrazas, a very popular Marine, and that is what sparked the whole thing.

And so the attorney says that the staff sergeant did not premeditate this thing. He goes in. It happened in the fog of war, says that he ordered the Marines to shoot to kill, but that is what then got him into trouble. Shoot to kill, ask questions later.

HOLMES: All right, our Thelma Gutierrez on the story for us. Thelma, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Ford is on the verge of giving up its long-held number two spot. That's been expected, but the timing might surprise you. Susan live at the New York Stock Exchange with that.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Ford may soon be number three in America. "The New York Times" reports that Ford expects Toyota to permanently unseat it as the nation's number two automaker as soon as January.

Ford has held the number two position since the 1920s. No surprise that the two will eventually swap spots. Wasn't expected this soon, however.

Back in September Ford essentially predicted that within two years its share of the U.S. market, its most important, obviously, would bottom out, making it smaller than Toyota. Toyota has also beat Ford twice this year in monthly sales.

Ford has been struggling to turn itself around under its way forward plan, but high gasoline prices and a lack of more fuel efficient small cars are continuing to hurt sales.

"The Times" says Ford expects F-series and Explorer sales to keep falling. You might remember the company recently stopped making the once popular Taurus. It was once the most popular car in America -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: To another Detroit automaker, Chrysler. It's doing a lot better to turn its sales around. Tell us about that latest move.

LISOVICZ: It's been very busy, Kyra. Chrysler started production of its first 2007 Jeep Patriot yesterday. The company is betting that the compact SUV will appeal to Americans, since it taps into their love of SUVs, but it has a lower price point and better fuel economy.

The Patriot is Chrysler's 10th new vehicle this year.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: And Kyra, some good news for Harry Potter fans. We have got a name for the seventh and final installment of the popular series. The new book will be called "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". J.K. Rowling, the author of the wildly popular, series made the announcement on her web site. As of now, no publication date has been set.

Shares of Scholastic, its publisher, are up 1 percent. Can't get enough of those. This is the last one, supposedly.

And that's the latest from Wall Street.

Coming up, DVD players have been around for nearly a decade. I'll tell you why some are saying, however, the device has finally grown up. NEWSROOM continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hi, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Whatever you do, you do not want to get between these two. We've got more on the tiff that became a feud that is now an all out, no holds bar brawl -- bar brawl. The latest scorching salvos from Donald Trump. You might want to get the kids out of the room for this. You are in THE CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, we will start with weather, though. Digging out in Denver, the Mile High City snow bound after a blizzard barreled in over night dumping up to two feet of snow and twice that in the Colorado mountains. The governor has declared a state of emergency as snowplows struggled to clear the roads.

At the airport, huge snow drifts are keeping the runways closed and all flights grounded until some time tomorrow.

Hotel rooms now being arranged for the nearly 5,000 travelers who have been stranded there since yesterday. And with post offices closed another day, the postal service is considering delivering on Sunday to get all of those cards and, of course, those packages there by Christmas. Somebody else hoping to get there by Christmas.

Vanessa Witenko is on the phone for us now from Denver. You're stranded there. Tell me where you're coming from and where you're trying to get to. VANESSA WITENKO, STRANDED TRAVELER: I'm coming from New York City and I'm trying to get to Southern California.

HOLMES: Oh, Southern California sounds really nice right now, doesn't it?

WITENKO: Yes.

HOLMES: Tell me, what has been the plan there for you. When were you supposed to leave? And now when are you hoping to leave?

WITENKO: I was supposed to leave yesterday morning at 9:30. And after siting on the runway for two-and-a-half hours they said the airport would be closed. I got another flight for later that evening. They said no, it's closed. Then I got another flight for this morning. Closed. I got another fight at 7:05 this evening and then they said it will be closed. So my next hope is stand-by or on the 23rd confirmed flight.

HOLMES: The 23rd, and that 23rd, we are talking Saturday?

WITENKO: Yes.

HOLMES: Well, how are you holding up at the airport there? How are you maintaining?

WITENKO: I'm cold. I'm tired. I'm uncomfortable. There's not enough blankets. There's not enough pillows. You have to sleep on the ground. There's not enough heat.

HOLMES: Are they -- do you notice, at least -- or at least in your estimation, looking around at the people who are trying to help. I know they have airport staff, and I believe Red Cross and other folks are there helping out -- does it certainly look like they are doing the best they can and it's just a really horrible situation there?

WITENKO: I haven't seen any Red Cross people. I see very few employees. It's very hard to find somebody who can answer your questions. Your best bet is pick up a red phone that will call a 1- 800 number.

HOLMES: Now how are you getting along? I know there's a lot of frustration there. We talked to another gentleman earlier who says for the most part people are hanging tight, trying to help each other out. They understand they are in a bad spot. Is that what you're noticing as well? That people understand it's just uncomfortable for a little bit and they are just hanging on the best they can? Or are a lot of people like you, it sounds like there's some frustration in your voice?

WITENKO: I think most people are frustrated. But I think together everybody is trying to help each other and be supportive and listening to the bad stories. But I have seen some mothers who are traveling alone with infants and I think they are having a real difficult time. HOLMES: Now what is it -- I guess what is your plan now? You said possibly guaranteed for the 23rd. And what are you trying to get to in Southern California? You have family there?

WITENKO: Yes, I have family there. I will go anywhere, L.A., Burbank, Palm Springs, Orange County, San Diego. I will even go to Phoenix, Arizona. But they said everything is booked tomorrow. You can't leave. I will try to go on stand-by.

HOLMES: Also. We had a report earlier they have been trying to get hotel rooms for people. Is that a possibility for you?

WITENKO: It is. They got me a hotel room, but the problem is they will pay for a shuttle bus to get you to the hotel but there's no guarantee you can get back tomorrow morning, that you have to provide your own transportation. So they are not going to pay for a shuttle or a cab. You have to figure it out yourself.

HOLMES: So, are you going to try that option? A warm bed doesn't sound too bad right now, does it?

WITENKO: Right. But then if I come back, I will be with the general public and I'm going to have to go through security...

HOLMES: Again. Ah. So, you're just going to hang tight.

Does it seem really -- the word is, there's almost 5,000 passengers in the airport stranded. Do you feel like you are totally crowded? Are you able to find little nooks and crannies throughout to have a little privacy? Or are you just jam-packed in there?

WITENKO: No. No. It's not jam-packed. You can definitely find a nook and cranny. And people who are lucky they get to hide underneath tables and create a little bed.

HOLMES: All right.

Vanessa, you poor dear, and a lot of folks -- poor folks stuck in that airport. Good luck to you getting home or getting to Southern California or any part in between, Phoenix, Albuquerque.

WITENKO: Yes.

HOLMES: San Francisco. Wherever you might be trying to get to right now. Really good luck to you. And you hang tight. All of you all hang tight there.

WITENKO: All right. Thank you.

HOLMES: And of course, the storm causing havoc for folks all across the country. Here a look now at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Flights canceled there as well. Hundreds of passengers can only settle in and wait for a break in that weather.

PHILLIPS: How long will the blizzard blues last? Well, who else is in line for a white Christmas. Reynolds Wolf, what do you know? (WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well when weather becomes the news, as you can see, you can become a CNN correspondent. If you see severe weather happening, you can just send us an I-report like those pictures. Go to CNN.com and click on I-report or type in I-report@cnn.com on your cellphone and share your photos or video with us.

HOLMES: I wanted to play that game somewhere -- it's kind of fun.

PHILLIPS: Yahtzee?

HOLMES: Get some more pictures for me?

PHILLIPS: I thought you wanted to bring back Yahtzee.

HOLMES: No, not Yahtzee.

PHILLIPS: You're too young for that. OK, we will move on.

HOLMES: All right. We will talk about a Congressman -- you might have been hearing about this story. This is one you'll probably going to be talking about around the water cooler.

Should a Congressman be sworn in using the Koran? One lawmaker sounds off on that. That's coming up in this youthful NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Oh, speaking of youthful -- we were going to go to break, but you can't. Not with a story like this. Remember when she was 21. She is now 32. She's tired of politics and now Monica Lewinsky mastered another field of study, shall we say. Details on her continuing education. Straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Nope, won't do it. Congressman Virgil Goode said he's not about to apologize for a letter that he wrote. He was responding to constituent complaints that contacted him about incoming Congressman Keith Ellison.

See, the Minnesota Democrat, the first Muslim elected to Congress, wants to be sworn in using the Koran, not the Bible. Goode, a Virginia Republican wrote that without immigration reform, quote, "there will likely be more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."

Ellison dismissed the remark, noting that he's not an immigrant. His family has been in America since 1742.

HOLMES: Well, call it a civil union or domestic partnership. Just don't call it marriage. Governor Jon Corzine signed legislation today making New Jersey the fifth state to give same-sex couples the same rights as married couples.

Of those five states, only Massachusetts calls the arrangement marriage. California uses the label domestic partnership. New Jersey will join Connecticut and Vermont in using the term civil union.

The New Jersey legislature voted to legalize civil unions last week after the state supreme court ruled that gay couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples.

PHILLIPS: Monica Lewinsky, London scholar. The former White House intern now holds a masters degree in social psychology. She graduated last week from the London School of Economics. Her publicist -- yes, she has a publicist ...

HOLMES: Really?

PHILLIPS: Yes. Says students and parents cheered as she accepted her that diploma. Lewinsky is now interviewing for jobs in Britain.

HOLMES: Congratulations to her. And 'tis the season for that nice holiday bonus. And for those who work on Wall Street, tidings are especially high this year.

CNN's Alina Cho explains.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their stockings are stuffed with holiday green. Investment banks are handing out a whopping $23.9 billion in holiday bonuses.

ELIZABETH MACDONALD, SR. EDITOR, "FORBES": M&A activity is up. The Dow has taken off. The S&P 500 has taken off. Wall Street is continuing to turn out record profits.

CHO: Profits soared 93 percent at Goldman Sachs this year, which means more than $16 billion in holiday paychecks. Outside Goldman headquarters, no one wanted to brag. Except one guy, who wouldn't give his name, but couldn't contain himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joyous.

CHO: He and fellow bankers celebrated in style with 1,000 White Castle hamburgers. Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein will take home $53 million, while Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack will pocket an estimated $40 million.

A few of their hot shot traders and bankers can expect to take home $10, $25, and in some cases $50 million. A select few are getting $100 million. And they're looking to spend.

Real estate executive Pamela Liebman says her phones are ringing off the hook.

PAMELA LIEBMAN, PRES., CORCORAN REAL ESTATE: We know it's in their pocket and we know that they want to spend it, and they're not shy about saying, hey, I worked so hard all year, I just got this big bonus and I want to live really well.

CHO: Liebman says this year the buyers aren't just setting their sites on Park and Fifth Avenue penthouses, they're thinking oceanfront, Fancy restaurants will also benefit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-four million, five hundred.

CHO: So will auction houses and luxury car dealers -- Rolls- Royces, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis. Some lucky bankers are paying $200,000 and more on the spot with no sticker shock.

WALTER D'URSO, MANHATTAN MOTORCARS: They just want to show everyone that they can afford a beautiful car.

CHO: Experts say what's good for Wall Street is good for Main Street, and an economy that for now is roaring.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you work for a small business, you probably get time off instead of a bonus. According to an American Express survey in USA Today, only 47 percent of small businesses will give out bonuses, down 7 percent from last year. 55 percent are giving time off.

Talk about your steel cage death match. Even though this one isn't playing out in a wrestling ring, it ought to. The latest on a celebrity war of words.

A.J. Hammer joins us for more in his interview with Donald Trump. You might want to send the kids out of the room for this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you think what Donald Trump had to say about Rosie O'Donnell yesterday was bad, wait until you hear what happened today. In a CNN exclusive, entertainment correspondent A.J. Hammer spoke with the Donald just a short time ago.

Busy day, huh, A.J.?

HAMMER: Yes, Kyra, I'm not feeling the holiday love between these two, either.

Of course, we are talking about Donald Trump and "The View's" Rosie O'Donnell with this verbal smackdown going on. I truly believe it has hit the boiling point at this point. All fallout now from the Miss USA scandal where reigning queen Tara Conner almost lost her job for partying but was given a second chance by Trump, as he announced at a press conference Tuesday.

Well, O'Donnell, as seen here on "The View," didn't think the Donald did the right thing. She made her feelings for Trump and how he handled the situation perfectly clear on "The View" yesterday.

Well, Trump is now firing back and I assure you he's not mincing words. I just sat down with him at his office in New York so he could set the record straight on exactly how he feels about Rosie O'Donnell. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, Rosie is a loser. She's always been a loser. I've always understood it. She failed with her magazine. She failed with her show. As you know, at the end it was doing very poorly in terms of the rating.

Rosie is really somebody that she is unattractive in every sense of the word. From a physical standpoint, she looks like hell. Inside, she is far worse than she is on the outside. And I understand Rosie, but Rosie inherently is a loser.

HAMMER: What about what she said about you being the moral compass for 20-year-olds and the country taking exception saying, left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair?

TRUMP: Look at Rosie's moral compass. You tell me about a moral compass. You take a look at a Rosie's moral compass. I mean, this woman is a disgrace.

HAMMER: Plan to follow through with your threat to sue her?

TRUMP: Well, you know, taking money out of her big, fat ass would be probably something that is fairly easy and we probably will follow through with it, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: I think we are now pretty clear on exactly how Donald Trump feels. And, as I said, all of this began on "The View" with Rosie's best Donald Trump impersonation. Take a look at what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE O'DONNELL, "THE VIEW": There he is hair looping, going everyone deserves a second chance! I'm going to give her a second chance!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her hair is perfect for that. Your hair is perfect for that!

O'DONNELL: He annoys me on a multitude of levels. He's the moral authority. Left the first right, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair, had kids both times but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: One of the more interesting things Donald had to say, which you will see tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," he told me that Barbara Walters, Rosie's boss at "The View" called him yesterday and Donald said, quote, "she's a friend of mine and she's not a big fan of Rosie."

Pretty strong words there, and contrary to what Barbara has told me in the past about her feelings for Rosie. Barbara has always told me that likes Rosie very much and that she's been an extremely positive addition to "The View."

Trump told me he thinks Rosie is going to basically destroy that show. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" did reach out to ABC since I returned from my little chat with the Donald.

They had no comment, Kyra, so...

PHILLIPS: You know what we are thinking? We are thinking this is all a big plan. It's all a big media plan and somehow they're going to do an "Apprentice" together. Rosie and Trump. What do you think?

HAMMER: I have to tell you, I actually didn't get that vibe from Donald today. You might almost think they are on the phone loving how this is playing out. But, really, from some of the conversations we had before the camera was rolling, I really got the sense -- no, don't think this is a big master plan.

PHILLIPS: I thought I would try.

HAMMER: Yes, well, of course, we're going to have much more on these war of words tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." The question is, have both of them gone too far? Is Rosie out of control? We will be dealing with it on TV's most productive entertainment news show, which is, of course, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on Headline Prime. What a day.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I can just -- and we have been getting a lot of e- mails too. Listen to these, A.J. We know that you're talking about it around your house or your office just like we are, and we have been reading your e-mails. Just drop us a line. The address is CNNnewsroom@CNN.com. We're going to read some more of your responses throughout the afternoon.

And tune into CNN tonight to hear Donald Trump say more about this brouhaha with Rosie O'Donnell, and the Miss USA controversy. He's Larry King's guest tonight. That's at 9:00 Eastern. And then you can turn around and see A.J.'s awesome interview.

Well, coming up, not only kidnapped but road tripped? At least this baby Jesus made it back in time for his birthday with quite the photo album. You're not going to want to miss this one.

(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