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Digging Out; Marines Charged; Operation Christmas
Aired December 22, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DICK FLAHAVAN, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, SELECTIVE SERVICE: Since the plan hasn't been put together yet, we envision that it would test various pieces of our organization to make sure that information and data flows properly among the various echelons and individual claims by registrants are handled according to our procedures.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So you can understand why folks with young men and women 18 and older may be a little concerned about what is about to happen. How do you reassure American families out there?
FLAHAVAN: Well, I would say a couple of things. One is, if a draft were to be on the horizon, selective service's budget and resources would not have been decimated over the several years. Number two, there is no consensus in the Congress to re-institute a draft and that's validated by the last vote on the so-called Representative Rangel bill back in 2005 where 402 congressmen in the House voted against reinstating a draft versus two in favor. And, of course, the president and the former secretary of defense have said multiple times draft is not needed for the current war on terrorism.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we appreciate your time. Dick Flahavan, thanks so much.
FLAHAVAN: Yes, ma'am.
WHITFIELD: All right. Top of the hour now, 10:00 on the East Coast. Good morning, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in today for Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. Spend a second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the run down.
Denver's big dig. An army of snow plows tries to clear snow smothered runways. Still some travelers may not reach their destination in time for Christmas.
WHITFIELD: It went up, so now time for it to come down. But where? Shuttle Discovery looking for a nice weather landing spot.
HARRIS: Miss Nevada stripped. Oh, boy. We're no tease. The beauty queen loses her crown after losing her shirt. Vegas-worthy vice for Friday, December 22nd. You are in the NEWSROOM.
I'll be home for Christmas, but a lot of people still aren't sure they'll make it. Holiday travelers camped out at the Denver airport can only hope and wait. Clearing a backlog of 2,000 canceled flights could actually take days. The big blizzard also taking the bustle out of the shopping season. Patti Logan joins us live from Denver.
Patti, good morning again.
PATTI LOGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again.
We are getting moving here in Denver. Well, of course, the cars have all just passed, but folks are getting out. They're getting back to work. We've got people out shoveling still. They've got a lot of work still to do, but quite a lot has been done.
Out at the airport, of course, that's the most critical piece of the recovery. We've got the highways going, but the airport is still the biggest piece of all of this. People who were at the United counter all night, agents were there to re-book people. There, of course, are people who had ticket for today. So there are a whole bunch of more passengers who are hoping to get out today.
They're saying call first. We don't know how we will get all of you out. We probably won't be getting you out for a few more days, hoping by Christmas they will get most of the travelers on their way. So it certainly has been a rough few days for holiday travelers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOGAN, (voice over): Stuck, grounded, trapped. Call it what you will. But thousands are spending the final days before Christmas, the last place they expected to -- Denver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'd say the younger people are fairly positive. The older people -- I'm seeing like old ladies crying.
LOGAN: Of the nearly 5,000 still stranded in the city, about 1,500 spent a second night at the airport, the longest closure in its history. While it may open Friday, this stuck hub is causing delays all over the country. For many folks, Denver is where you change flights on the way to grandma's house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We pretty much just found some boxes and just put them on the ground and put them -- kind of made a fort area and found blankets and just used our clothes to make it a little more comfortable and a little more homey, I guess.
LOGAN: Thousands were stuck on the roads all over the front range, where there were 12-foot high drifts in some places. But folks here are resourceful. One group using the snow to help put out a fire. The rest did their best to dig out or just made the most of it.
Friday promises relief. High around 40 and sun. City and state agencies should reopen by mid morning.
The interstates in and out of Colorado are clearing one by one, but the governor is asking everyone to stay off the roads for at least another day. Just three shopping days before Christmas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOGAN: Of course, it's only 8:00 a.m. here in Denver, but some of the malls are already open. Another couple of malls are opening at 9:00 this morning, so they're trying to get people out there early and often.
HARRIS: Well, you know -- yes, early and often. And, you know, we seem to be a little bit at cross purposes here. We're starting to see some traffic on one of the highways here. On the one hand, you want folks to be safe and not take any unnecessary chances, but also you want them to sort of take part in the season and get out to the malls and shop here. Is it safe for the most part to get out on the roads and do the driving you need to, to get to one of the malls?
LOGAN: Well, the roads are definitely snow-packed and icy, so the black ice was out this morning on some of the roads that were even more cleared off than the ones you see behind me. So the roads are a bit dicey, so they're not really encouraging a lot of travel. But, of course, the retailers do want people to come out. Some are offering free parking downtown here for the weekend and perhaps some early sales is what we're hearing. So trying to get people out, but, of course, we want them to be safe.
WHITFIELD: Move that merchandise.
HARRIS: There you go. All right, Patti, good to see you again. Thank you.
LOGAN: Uh-huh. Yet bet.
WHITFIELD: And a very encouraging picture we just saw a moment ago. Remember that United Airlines flight that we saw?
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: We were trying to figure out where it was going. Well now we've seen, Chad, in just, what, the past 30 seconds or so that they have moved it to a location for deicing.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Awesome.
WHITFIELD: So you are on the money, my friend.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: You know, Denver is not alone with airport problems. Take a look at this. Weather is hampering holiday travel at many other international airports. This video from London, Heathrow Airport. Take a look at this. Heathrow socked in by fog for several days. The fog problems caused major delays in Paris, Frankfurt and other European airports in those cities. New Delhi and Baghdad also coping with heavy fog today.
WHITFIELD: And now not having to worry about those traffic delays in Europe, heading back from Iraq now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapping up a three-day mission to Baghdad. He'll report to President Bush over the weekend. Gates got conflicting military assessments on whether more troops are, indeed, needed there. Many commanders are not in favor of a U.S. troop increase, but some front- line soldiers say that's exactly what is need. Overall, Gates says he is encouraged by what he saw and heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I was very encouraged by their confidence in their Iraqi partners, by the trust that they described developing between American and Iraqi soldiers, their admiration for the Iraqi soldiers that they're working with, and their belief that this partnering, where the Iraqis take the lead and where the Iraqis significantly outnumber the American soldiers, but in partnership, they're being very successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And Gates' trip to Iraq comes on his very first week as Pentagon chief.
HARRIS: The heat of battle or a murderous rampage. Eight Marines charged in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians last year. Four officers accused of not properly investigating and reporting the deaths. But for the four Marines who were there that day, the charge is murder. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Anxious moments for the families of the Marines awaiting their fate.
JACLYN SHARRATT, ACCUSED MARINE'S SISTER: Probably the most terrifying and most stressful thing we'll probably ever go through as a family.
DAVID WUTERICH, ACCUSED MARINE'S FATHER: He did what he had to do at that time. It's no easy thing over there.
GUTIERREZ: Haditha, Iraqi, November 19, 2005. It's 7:15 in the morning. The fourth armored vehicle carrying four Marines hits a powerful explosive buried beneath the asphalt. The Humvee is ripped apart and a popular Marine, 20-year-old Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, of Kilo Company, is blown in half.
What happens over the next several hours in one neighborhood in Haditha is now the subject of one of the largest criminal investigations to come out of the war in Iraq. According to Marines on the ground that day, immediately following the explosion, they came under enemy fire. They say that following the rules of engagement, they shot and killed four young men in a taxi and the driver when they failed to lie on the ground as ordered. But eyewitnesses say the occupants were pulled out of the taxi and shot.
The Marines then claimed they pursued the enemy house to house. By the end of the day, 24 Iraqis are dead, nine of them women and children. Two young survivors, eyewitnesses, allege the Marines shot their family members in cold blood.
COL. STEWART NAVARRE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Based on the findings of the investigations, various charges have been preferred against four Marines relating to the deaths of the Iraqi civilians on 19 November 2005.
GUTIERREZ: Four Marines were charged with unpremeditated murder. They are Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz, Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum, Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, and Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich. Wuterich was the squad leader. He was charged with 13 counts of unpremeditated murder, 12 individual killings and one count of unpremeditated murder for ordering the squad members to use deadly force to clear a house, killing six Iraqis.
The news has weighed heavily on his family.
WUTERICH: Frank isn't that type of person. Like I say, he's a caring person. He's a good father. And I don't believe that he could do something like that.
GUTIERREZ: Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt's father says his son is still his hero.
DARRYL SHARRATT, ACCUSED MARINE'S FATHER: We're upset and we have a great lawyer and all I can say is Justin will be exonerated of these charges.
GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Camp Pendleton, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Discovery has been cleared for landing. The question is, where? The shuttle is set to return home today, but the weather may not cooperate at the top two landing sites. Showers and clouds are forecast for Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crosswinds expected at Edwards Air Force Base in California. So that leaves White Sands, New Mexico, and it has only been used for a shuttle landing once, and that was 24 years ago. NASA has sent equipment there to prepare for the possible landing. Touchdown in New Mexico would delay turnaround time.
HARRIS: Fred, we are willing to wager you have never seen this before. Take a look. This is New York, of course, and that, as you can see, is a Concord jetliner sailing along the Hudson River.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
HARRIS: Here's the story. The supersonic aircraft, a main attraction at the city's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, was towed by barge to Brooklyn. It will remain there while the floating museum's Hudson River pier is rebuilt. The ship, the Intrepid itself, as you will recall, was towed out earlier this month. You saw it here live in the NEWSROOM. Heidi Collins onboard. The Concord will remain open for tourists at its temporary home.
WHITFIELD: Well, that is an incredible view there, though, of the Concord.
Overseas, a trucker charged with killing five prostitutes. Details on Britain's Ipswich murders straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: In Iraq, war vet, 11 kids and a very bleak outlook for Christmas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. RUSSELL FAIRCHILD, GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD: I had no money for Christmas. None. And God just overwhelmingly blessed us. All I had was $5 of my gas money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Why is everyone so happy?
WHITFIELD: Get the hankie out.
HARRIS: A tale of bountiful good cheer by the truckload ahead in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: And pin-up pope. Has Benedict gone glam? The pontiff poses for a new calendar. That's later in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: CNN tonight, the challenges, struggles and revolution that became Christianity. CNN Presents "After Jesus: The First Christians," tonight at 10.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, the winds of change blowing in Cuba this morning.
HARRIS: Oh, yes, Cuba's lawmakers are holding their first meeting since Fidel Castro fell ill almost five months ago. The year in session normally focuses on economics. Today, much of the world focusing on any hints of future leadership in Cuba. Castro temporarily handed his powers to his brother, Raul, after surgery in July. The Cuban leader is not expected to appear at the session, but it's possible he'll phone in or send a written message.
Searching this morning in Washington state. The Army taking the lead in a hunt for a crew member missing from a Fort Lewis helicopter. The Blackhawk went down last night on Mount Peek, southeast of Seattle. The bodies of the two other crew members have already been found.
WHITFIELD: And these days, Santa's sleigh looks a lot like an 18 wheeler and it's a very welcome sight.
HARRIS: This is a great story. It pulled up to the suburban Atlanta home of a National Guard vet and delivered what must have seemed like a Christmas miracle. Charles Molineaux of our affiliate WAGA was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It was a burly sleigh and some big elves that delivered the gifts as Russell Fairchild's thrilled children stared and cheered.
CHRISTOPHER FAIRCHILD, VETERAN'S SON: I got so excited because I was like -- I was like, oh, because I thought it came out of nowhere.
MOLINEAUX: Fairchild suddenly became a struggling single father while he was serving in Iraq with Georgia's 48th National Guard brigade when his wife told him she was leaving him and their 11 kids. Community groups helped make ends meet. This delivery comes from Operation Christmas, put together by the military and Wal-Mart.
MIKE SEGER, WAL-MART MANAGER: It was such an impactful story, you know, that touched the hearts of a lot of people.
MOLINEAUX: As much of a surprise as this was for the kids, Fairchild says it was just as big a surprise for him when he found out it was going to happen. Because, up until that point, he didn't know what he was going to do about Christmas.
SGT. RUSSELL FAIRCHILD, GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD: I had no money for Christmas. None. And God just overwhelmingly blessed us. All I had was $5 for my gas money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is nice.
MOLINEAUX: Fairchild says his kids will remember it's the Christmas spirit of love that matters, even if they happen to have the presents, too.
C. FAIRCHILD: I want to thank Jesus. I want to thank God for giving this to us.
R. FAIRCHILD: In spite of what they're going through and their circumstances at home, people stepped out. You know this is the reason for the season, people stepped out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Oh. Isn't that beautiful?
HARRIS: It's the reason for the season. Wasn't that great?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HARRIS: All right. That's what it's about. That's what it's about.
WHITFIELD: They loved it. Nothing beats seeing these happy kids.
HARRIS: Yes, a bunch of happy kids. Yes, that was great.
Boy, this next story, difficult segue. We've got to do it. WHITFIELD: No. That's true. OK. Not so happy.
HARRIS: Yes. Miss Nevada kissing her title good-bye. Five- year-old racy photos splashed all over the Internet. Have you heard about this story? The latest Miss USA controversy.
WHITFIELD: Yes, embarrassing.
HARRIS: We'll bring it out for you in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: Bad.
And celebrity, what, Tony?
HARRIS: Smackdown.
WHITFIELD: You say it so well. Round two, maybe three. It's disputable. Well, more words, less love. Let's get ready to rumble. It is Donald versus Rosie. Ouch, babe! In the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Bottom of the hour and folks are getting excited in Denver because it looks like the holiday is on. Folks are able to move around there on the highway.
HARRIS: Looking better by the minute.
WHITFIELD: Look at that.
HARRIS: Nice sunrise this morning.
WHITFIELD: And the mile-high city looks beautiful.
HARRIS: That's great.
WHITFIELD: It is.
HARRIS: And if we can get the airport open and operating again, maybe we can get some of these estimated 4,000, at least at the height of the storm, 4,700 people stranded.
WHITFIELD: A lot of folks who cannot wait to get on a plane and get moving, something like this.
HARRIS: But because of the backlog in flights, folks may not be able to get a flight until, what, Saturday and Sunday?
WHITFIELD: It's going to be slow going. I know. And they are still clearing the runways. We showed you the pictures earlier. While there were signs of progress, it's still going to be slow going because they've got a few more hours to try and get that powdery stuff off the runway. That's the view that we saw earlier. Here are some of the taped images. So under the packed snow that you'll see after the truck gets out of the way, they've still got to, you know, get that off because you really want to see that black asphalt before those planes take off.
HARRIS: Yes. And then de-ice all the planes before the planes can take off. So if you're in Denver at the airport now, you don't have much to do, hang out with us this morning in the NEWSROOM and we can give you an update on the smackdown, the celebrity smackdown.
WHITFIELD: Yes, there's the entertainment value because Rosie and The Donald are still going at it. It's not over.
HARRIS: True. And Rosie started it, responding to The Donald's announcement about Miss USA, giving her a second chance.
WHITFIELD: Right. Tara.
HARRIS: Donald Trump not one to shy away from publicity, as you know. Last night he spoke with CNN's Larry King about his feud now with Rosie O'Donnell.
WHITFIELD: Take two.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE": The question of the lawsuit. I wasn't clear with A.J. Hammer. Are you definitely going to sue and are you suing for slander?
DONALD TRUMP: Well, my lawyers want to sue. It's an easy lawsuit. She's, obviously, very concerned because when she went on her show today she looked like a mess. She looked absolutely terrible. She was fumbling, she was stuttering. She probably needed the presence of her girlfriend to get her through the show. And you know why, Larry, because she knows she has a tremendous liability hanging over her head. So we'll see what happens. But we're seriously thinking about just suing her and probably "The View" also.
KING: Since you said you liked second chances, if Barbara Walters asked you . . .
TRUMP: Yes, but not for Rosie.
KING: That's what I mean. Would you want Rosie to be fired?
TRUMP: Well, I think Barbara is going to end up doing it. Look, Barbara doesn't like Rosie, let's not kid ourselves. You know that. I know that. Anybody that knows Barbara that (ph) Barbara's embarrassed by Rosie. Rosie is a total disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Oh, man.
WHITFIELD: That's what you say, going for the jugular.
HARRIS: So, there will be more you would think today.
WHITFIELD: Oh, you know there's more. HARRIS: We'll find out what Rosie has to say about all this on "The View." Maybe we can turn around something, that is of, well, some entertainment value. There you go.
You know, sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words. Other times, they're worth just two. As in, "you're fired!" Did you like that? I wrote that myself.
WHITFIELD: I like it.
HARRIS: Yes. The Miss USA pageant has stripped Miss Nevada of her title after this racy photo and others -- underline others -- hit the Internet.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
HARRIS: They show 22-year-old Katie Rees kissing other women, exposing her breasts, and pulling down her pants to reveal her thong underwear.
WHITFIELD: Oh, no.
HARRIS: Yes. Her lawyer says the pictures were taken when Rees was just 17 and calls the incident a lapse in judgment. Do you think? Rees was fired just days after Miss USA, Tara Conner, got into some trouble for underage drinking but she was allowed to keep her crown after agreeing to enter rehab.
WHITFIELD: Well, perhaps they're all set, at least to return to earth but exactly where? Well, that part is still up in the air. Shuttle Discovery's uncertain homecoming. We are going live to the Kennedy Space Center in the NEWSROOM.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: London still in a fog. Heathrow was socked in and has been for days. That's caused flight delays all over the globe.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is at a very chilly Heathrow for us this morning. And Alphonso, about what -- 3:00, 3:30 in the afternoon? Give us the view from Heathrow. And what is behind you there?
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind me is -- let's call it terminal chaos, as you mentioned. The snow -- or I should say the fog out here has just caused absolute chaos here. Hundreds of flights canceled, thousands of people stranded out here at London Heathrow.
Do not be fooled by what you see behind me. Airline officials saying that even though there may not be crowds here at this very moment, for certain, for certain there have been hundreds of people stranded here. Why? As we mentioned, the fog.
Airline officials -- I should say air traffic control officials don't want to put out as many takeoff and landing spots for airplanes. They want pilots to have more room to actually see in front of them, to be sure that it's safe to take off and land here.
And as a result, as we mentioned, some 350 flights in and out of London to other European destinations canceled today. Thousands of people waiting sometimes days to get out as a result. It's not a happy place here.
But at the same time, there is some good news. People heading to the United States, heading to Asia, those long-haul flights they are moving as they should be.
One thing to remember, though, some people have it twice as bad, especially given the snowstorms in the United States that Chad was talking about before. We talked to one couple about that. This is what they had to say out of London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our flight has been canceled because there's a blizzard in Denver so we are flying to Chicago and hoping for the best.
VAN MARSH: So you're canceled not because of bad weather here but because of bad weather in America?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad weather in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN MARSH: Now, as I mentioned before, it looks nice night now. But even airport officials are saying that this particular terminal -- terminal four here at London Heathrow -- tends to get busy in the morning.
As you mentioned, it's later in the afternoon. Now, some other terminals are not faring so well. Again, thousands of people just trying their best to get home by Christmas. Well, we'll just see what happens. Many people are hoping they do achieve that goal
HARRIS: Yes, Alphonso, when is -- when is this fog expected to lift?
VAN MARSH: Well, it depends on who you talk to. Some weather officials say it will be another two days. Some airport officials say it should be sooner. I guess the best thing to do is to sit and wait and hope for the best, hope to catch on that flight.
HARRIS: And generally speaking, are folks taking this in stride or are you seeing some flaring tempers?
VAN MARSH: Really, they are taking it in stride. As you can see behind me, right over this way is a tent. Inside this tent they've got television, it's warm, they've got coffee, tea, drinks, all sorts of stuff to try to keep people entertained, even Father Christmas or Santa Claus is here for the kids, handing out free candy, basically just trying to make the best of a tough situation
HARRIS: All right. Alfonso Van Marsh for us at Heathrow International Airport. Alphonso, thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, round and round the Earth it goes. Where Discovery will land, well, we still don't know. A shuttle update in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The empire strikes back. The ancient version. Titus in the role of Darth Vader. Jerusalem sacked, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: What goes up must come down. For the space shuttle, the question is where? The weather has Discovery's homecoming plans up in the air.
Our John Zarrella is at the preferred landing site, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. John, good morning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. Well, the astronauts woke up this morning to the crooner Perry Como singing home for the holidays. And that's certainly good news. The astronauts on Discovery home for the holidays, but the question is where are they coming home to?
Will it be here at the Kennedy Space Center where it is very windy this morning, but that shouldn't be an issue. The concern here at the Kennedy Space Center is for clouds and rain showers this afternoon. Concern out at Edwards Air Force Base in California is for crosswinds that might exceed the limits that would allow the space shuttle to land there.
So, the third and last option, the best option today, is White Sands, New Mexico. The issue, of course, there is they haven't landed a shuttle at White Sands since 1982. That was STS 3 and that was commanded by Jack Lousma (ph) and piloted by Gordon Fullerton.
That was one of the early shuttle program missions -- STS 3 -- a test flight. And of course, they do not have the support equipment out there at White Sands at the same level that they have or degree that they have at Kennedy and at Edwards, so it is not the preferred option.
It's a great place to land, it's wide open, the gypsum field. It's a beautiful place to land but they just don't have the support staff, so they really want to get into either the Kennedy Space Center or to Edwards today. At Kennedy, 3:56 Eastern time option at Kennedy.
Now, what kind of put them in this situation where they have to try to get down today or tomorrow is that they opted for a fourth spacewalk on Monday because of some issues they had with retracting the solar arrays.
That was a tremendously successful mission, where they rewired the international space station but they did have those issues with the solar array, so astronauts Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang went out on Monday, out of the airlock, went out and did some work on that solar array, and did manage to free it up so that NASA was able to retract the solar array, which was necessary in order to use the newer ones that they have out there. And to make way for another space mission coming up in March.
So, the question now is, of course, can they get home today? They would really, really efforting to do that, but they might, might have to go to White Sands, Tony, in order to do that.
HARRIS: And if it all doesn't work out today for whatever reason, maybe you just answered this a moment ago, you just simply try again tomorrow?
ZARRELLA: Yes, it is the last option, though. They would have had three days of options had they not extended the mission by a day to do that fourth spacewalk. But they cut one of those landing day opportunities out by doing that fourth spacewalk.
They have to come down tomorrow. They begin to run out of consumables, primarily the propellants that they need, the cryogenic fuels and things in the vehicle to power the vehicle start to run out. So, tomorrow they have to come home one way or another, so really they do want to get home today -- Tony.
HARRIS: Let's make this happen today. John Zarella for us at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. John, good to see you thanks.
WHITFIELD: And of course, we will continue to watch that throughout today and into the weekend. I will be here in the NEWSROOM this weekend beginning at noontime. But first you got to get through Betty Nguyen and T.J. Holmes in the morning in the NEWSROOM. Here's what's on tap.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up this weekend on CNN, before you hit the roads or the airport, make sure you check with us. That big blizzard is moving east and could impact your holiday travel plans. We'll have constant information on screen all weekend on travel delays and weather conditions across the country.
Speaking of roads, we have got car karma. Would you believe the astrological sign you were born under may determine what kind have driver you really are. So what's your sign?
Also, the science behind Santa. Even if you don't believe, you will want to hear how St. Nick pulls off this Christmas feat using plausible science.
Plus, take a listen to this ...
(MUSIC)
NGUYEN: Not so great right? It is the most annoying holiday music of all-time. You have got to tune in for this. You may not want to, but you really should. All this plus up to the minute headlines, CNN Saturday and Sunday morning, beginning tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern.
HARRIS: The empire strikes back. The title comes from Hollywood, the plot may have been written in the time of Jesus. Tonight, Liam Neeson narrates a special "CNN Presents, After Jesus, the First Christians." Here's a preview of a bloodbath that shaped the religion and the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIAM NEESON, NARRATOR, "AFTER JESUS, THE FIRST CHRISTIANS": In the year 66 A.D., the Jews of Israel had seen enough of their Roman masters and launched a revolt that would end in disaster and permanently divide them from their Christian brothers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a serious uprising in which Jews decided to try and throw out the Roman oppressors and establish Israel as a sovereign state in the land.
NEESON: The Romans sent in their legions from Assyria and fought their way south through Galilee to Jerusalem, the holy city of Judaism and the fortress of the Jewish rebels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They made the tactical mistake of assembling in Jerusalem around that temple. Then the worst thing happened. They started to fight among themselves about what to do, how to defend themselves.
NEESON: That's when, according to the Jewish historian Josephus (ph), the Roman General Titus surrounded Jerusalem. Titus, a brutal warrior, cut off the city's food and water in an attempt to starve the people out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meanwhile, he waited for Jewish faction 'A' to defeat Jewish faction 'B'. He let the internal revolutionaries fight the battle for him.
NEESON: Titus and his troops then breached the walls of Jerusalem. They attacked the temple slaughtering more than half a million Jews with sword, fire, and crucifixion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And you can see the two-hour special narrated by actor Liam Neeson, CNN Presents "After Jesus, the First Christians." It airs tonight at 10:00 Eastern and again at 1:00 a.m.
WHITFIELD: And Pinup Pope? Has Benedict gone glam? The pontiff poses for a new calendar. That's later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Well, only a few shopping days left before Christmas that is, but what do you buy the Catholic who has everything? How about a pin-up calendar of the Pope?
CNN's faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Who would have guess that the shy, intellectual Benedict XVI would agree to pose for a calendar. That's just what the pope did in front of the lens of famous Italian photographer Jean Carlo Giani (ph) a few months ago at his summer residence (INAUDIBLE) outside of Rome.
The pictures show the pope in his more intimate settings, working at his desk and walking in the garden. Here, playing the piano, a favorite past-time. On the phone. Taking in the panoramic view from his balcony. And pausing during a summer morning to peruse the theological tome.
Below each picture is a quote from the pope enslycical (ph) God is Love. A portion of the proceeds from the calendar go to a school for poor and orphaned children in Rwanda set up by Benedict's predecessor John Paul II and financed by the Vatican.
Pope Benedict himself requested that the children of Rwanda be the recipients of the money. Less you think calendars were created only for swimsuit models or sports stars, remember the modern calendar from the beginning was a Papal project.
It was Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century who instituted the calendar we use today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALLAGHER: And Fredricka, for those people who are interested in buying this calendar, it's sold in Italy, but you can go on the website of the Italian magazine that sponsored this.
It's called Famiglia Cristiana. The Web site is www.famigliacristiana.it, and they've got all the instructions and a phone number there for anybody in the U.S. who wants to get the papal calendar.
WHITFIELD: And so, Delia, is this a first? Has a pope ever done anything like this before?
GALLAGHER: Well, this is why this is news, the pope has never really posed for a calendar before. And I think the surprising thing for a lot of papal watchers is that the pope should be Benedict XVI. It seems more like a John Paul II sort of thing to do, but he agreed to do it. He agreed to do it for charity, to support this school in Rwanda, and certainly it's a surprising thing coming from this pope.
WHITFIELD: So the operative word "posed" for these pictures for the calendar, because surely there are other calendars out there with an image of a pope in it, so that's what makes these very different.
GALLAGHER: Absolutely. Yes, this is kind of the official one, if you will, because anybody can take the image of the pope and put it on t-shirts, and mugs and calendars, and we saw that with John Paul II all over the place. But this is the first time that the Vatican has sort of come out, that the pope agreed for an entire day to let a photographer come to his summer residence and take these snapshots of him for this particular purpose.
WHITFIELD: All right, kind of showing the softer side of the pope.
Delia Gallagher, thanks so much.
GALLAGHER: Thanks, Fred.
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