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Problems At Denver Airport Caused Ripple Effect; Tough Week For Airline Passengers In England; U.N. Security Council May Impose Sanctions Against Iran

Aired December 23, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, things are slowly getting back to normal in Denver after this week's crippling snowstorm. Planes, well, they are flying. But that doesn't mean everybody is getting home for Christmas. We're going to have a weather and travel round-up. That is straight ahead.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Robert Gates is briefing President Bush at Camp David this morning. Gates just returned from Iraq, where he spoke with generals about military operations, including a possible troop surge.

NGUYEN: The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to meet at this hour and it is expected to vote on sanctions against Iran. The United States and other Western nations claim Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

HOLMES: Aides are working on final preparations for a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas says he hopes to sit down with the Israeli leader in the coming week.

NGUYEN: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The news is unfolding live on Saturday, this, the 23rd day of December. Hopefully you're in the holiday spirit, as time is running out.

Good morning, everybody.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes.

Better here than in Denver. The airport packed, as people stuck for days finally begin to make their way out of town.

NGUYEN: Well, she may have saved her son's life. A woman working as a 911 dispatcher gets the emergency call of her life.

HOLMES: And it's a wonderful time of year. But don't some of the holiday traditions just annoy you?

We're going to play Scrooge, a little later in THE NEWSROOM. I'll be home for Christmas -- well, not me, exactly. But that's the way the song goes, at least. It's more of a hope than a promise for many airline passengers today. The Denver airport is up and running again after Wednesday's blizzard, but it's going to take time to rebook everybody who was bumped from earlier flights.

And weather worries in places as far away as London aren't making things any easier.

NGUYEN: No, they're not.

And we do have some reports coming up from Denver, Los Angeles, London and the CNN Weather Center, of course, here in Atlanta.

We're also going to keep you informed continuously with the holiday travel updates that you see at the bottom and side of your screen.

So let's start by checking in with Pattie Logan.

She is live in Denver, where people have been waiting for days -- Pattie, just to get on a flight somewhere.

PATTIE LOGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

Hello, Betty.

We are still waiting for some people to get out of here, the stranded passengers. They have rebooked them on a number of flights today, tomorrow, Christmas and thereafter. Every available seat is full. They are running at full capacity here at airport. There are a steady stream of people coming to the airport, a steady stream of flights taking off and landing, which is great news.

The lines, however, inside are not very good news. Huge lines winding all around the terminal for check-in, for security. Security now over an hour. They are expecting to move a lot of people here today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK CANNON: Well, it's going to be very busy today. The airlines are working to get -- operate a full schedule today. The airport has four runways open, so we have all the airfield capacity that the airlines will need today to operate that full schedule. They're simply in the process now of trying to get people booked and get them through screening and all of that.

It's about 160,000 travelers today. So it's going to be a very busy day, but everybody is working to try to get people where they need to be for Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOGAN: The standby lists are very long and some of the airlines are no longer adding to those standby lists. But the people that do have seats are expected to get out today.

NGUYEN: Pattie, we appreciate that.

We also have, inside the airport, CNN's very own Rob Marciano -- Rob, you've been watching as folks have really had to pack their patience. A lot of them staying the night in the airport, some in cots.

How is it going today?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, today is not quite as nutty as yesterday, but the same kind of trend is happening in that the lines start out manageable and rather small and now that we're getting into the mid-morning and closer to the noon hour here local, they're just starting to swell.

I can tell you that the security line on what I'm told is the better side, the north side of the terminal, is an hour-and-a-half just to get to the cattle gates, you know, the places where you just zig and zag. So figure two hours, which is about what we saw yesterday for a security line.

If you're checking in at Frontier, I'm told the check-in line there is an hour-and-a-half to two hours. It looks like it's a similar wait to get into the United.

A word of advice -- pay the $2 or $3 a bag to the skycap and your wait out there is about 20 or 30 minutes. Or check in at home, that's the other thing.

Another interesting item, you know, United and Frontier are the big carriers here at Denver International Airport. This is one of the days where if you're traveling on one of the airlines that isn't a major player in this market, as American, United or Delta, any of those airlines, the lines are smaller because they have less flights going out. So the lines to check in there are not nearly as bad.

But they are swelling, Betty, and expect that all day long, at least in security and check-in, it'll still be a two plus hour wait.

I got here for my flight three hours ahead of time and it looks like I'll make it with about 20 or 30 minutes to spare.

NGUYEN: Well, don't say that too loud, because there's probably people around you who are not going to make their flight.

Rob Marciano, thank you.

MARCIANO: You bet.

HOLMES: And the problems in Denver caused a ripple effect. Flights were canceled at airlines all across the country.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is at LAX -- and good morning to you.

How are things going there? THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.

I can tell you that here at LAX, we have much better news to report. This is always a very, very busy airport. We fly in and out of here all the time. Always busy. Third busiest airport in the country. And the holiday season just adds to the frenzy.

But if you take a look behind me here at the American Airlines terminal, I mean things are moving incredibly smoothly out here, which is good news for travelers, at least right now. It isn't particularly crowded. Things are moving smoothly. Of course, officials did prepare for the crowds.

They brought in 131 extra security teams inside the terminal to make sure that travelers are aware of all the rules, that is, making sure that makeup and three ounces of liquid are kept in see-through plastic bags. And most people seem to be aware of that.

There are 1,800 flights that come through here each day and 160,000 people that are processed through LAX every day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM WINFREY, LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Well, we're right in the thick of it right now. Today would be the start of the really busy period and then through Sunday we'll be also very busy, where some of the airlines are flying in at almost 100 percent capacity.

So between now and January 2nd, we expect about 1.75 million people to come through LAX during that holiday period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Some of those people, Joe Novak (ph) and Whitney Brown (ph). They're traveling to Little Rock, Arkansas.

When you came to LAX, were you just dreading it, like most holiday travelers?

JOE NOVAK: We were scared a little bit with what's been going on with Denver and everything. But I travel for a lot and we honestly figured who's going to Little Rock today from Los Angeles?

GUTIERREZ: Well, what did you think when you drove up?

WHITNEY BROWN: When we drove around the corner at the Southwest terminal, that's always the marker. And there wasn't anybody in line. It was surprising.

GUTIERREZ: I mean, take a look behind you. There's no one here.

BROWN: There's no one here. It's crazy.

GUTIERREZ: Yes.

Good news, then, for you?

BROWN: Absolutely.

NOVAK: Great news.

GUTIERREZ: What's it like inside?

NOVAK: What's it like inside right here?

GUTIERREZ: Yes.

NOVAK: It's actually not bad at all. We just checked while we were waiting here, checking our bags in, and the line is going to go straight through so...

GUTIERREZ: So for once a very good day at LAX.

NOVAK: Yes.

GUTIERREZ: All right. Well, have a great time and Happy Holidays to you.

BROWN: Thank you.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you so much.

NOVAK: This is our Merry Christmas present.

GUTIERREZ: Was it, really?

NOVAK: Exactly.

GUTIERREZ: OK, thank you so much.

Have a safe trip.

NOVAK: Thank you.

BROWN: Thanks.

GUTIERREZ: And so, you know, that's the way it is right now. Of course, people here are still saying that you need to get to the airport two hours ahead of time. And, of course, if you're traveling with gifts, make sure that they're unwrapped so that you can get through security. Otherwise, they may make you unwrap them -- T.J. back to you.

HOLMES: Man, Thelma, thanks.

Now fantastic there at LAX. I'll come visit just because it'll be easy.

Thank you so much, Thelma.

NGUYEN: Because you have so much time on your hands.

HOLMES: Yes.

NGUYEN: Well, it's also been a tough week for airline passengers in England. A freezing fog at London's busy Heathrow Airport forced the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights.

HOLMES: Yes, and things are getting better now.

We have a report from CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What a difference a day makes. When we came to you on Friday from outside Terminal 4 at London Heathrow Airport, there were hundreds of people here with us, long lines, cues of people trying to rebook or rescheduled one of hundreds of flights canceled due to more than three days of heavy fog at London Heathrow.

But today, on Saturday, British airport officials saying that the weather has cleared up somewhat.

A little bit earlier on I spoke with the head of baa Heathrow. That's the authority managing this airport. I asked him what sort of advice would he be giving travelers passing through London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best advice passengers can be given is to check with their airline before coming to the airport. Obviously, if their flight has been canceled, they shouldn't come to the airport. But what we're seeing is a significant operation by the airlines to clear passengers from the airport.

So, for example, British Airways are putting on larger planes for some of their short haul European flights, to take passengers away from Heathrow. And, also, they've been laying on a large number of buses, so they're taking people by coach to their destination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: So after three days of unprecedented freezing, heavy fog, after more than 1,000 flights canceled and more than 60,000 people affected by these weather delays and cancellations, things appear to be returning back to normal, weather permitting.

Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, at London Heathrow Airport, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: So let's check on the weather here -- Reynolds, some places really just need some relief from all this snow so they can get home. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely.

You know, the thing that's interesting about what's happening over in London and what's happened here back in the U.S. in terms of the weird weather? It's not that the weather has really been all that unusual. It's just the timing of it, to have it this close to the holidays has been giving so many people headaches, and people stranded out at the airport in Denver.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Stick around for this story, Reynolds. We're just getting word now the dethroned Miss. Nevada USA says she is deeply sorry.

NGUYEN: Yes, she is.

HOLMES: Katie Rees held a news conference just minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE REES, FORMER MISS. NEVADA USA: I am so sorry this happened. So many of us just don't realize how our actions, even one night of poor judgment, can affect the rest of our lives.

I sincerely want to put this behind me, but I hope my experience will send a message to all young women. Please don't let your guard down when it comes to being photographed, no matter how close you are with someone, how much you trust that person. Do not let anyone make you vulnerable.

As you can see, just one mistake can have a great consequence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: OK, wait a second...

HOLMES: No, no, no.

NGUYEN: Don't let your guard down and be photographed.

HOLMES: No, Betty...

NGUYEN: What about what you're doing?

HOLMES: Betty...

NGUYEN: What about that portion of this?

HOLMES: There was more to the press conference.

NGUYEN: OK.

HOLMES: That was just a sound bite.

NGUYEN: OK. Well, let's be clear.

HOLMES: There was more. That was just...

NGUYEN: Because you know people are... HOLMES: That was just a clip.

NGUYEN: ... sitting home going what?

HOLMES: That was just a clip. She had more to say. We're going to try to break it down for you a little later. But...

NGUYEN: I think we should.

HOLMES: ... she was stripped of her title after she kind of stripped for some photos, actually...

NGUYEN: Right.

HOLMES: ... about five years ago.

NGUYEN: A little more than that.

HOLMES: Those surfaced on the Internet. They showed her actually kissing other women and, like we say, kind of with some of those clothes off that should have been should have been...

NGUYEN: Partly disrobed...

HOLMES: ... should have been on.

NGUYEN: ... is the word.

HOLMES: But she's apologetic and we'll see...

NGUYEN: Yes, and don't be photographed.

HOLMES: There was more to it, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, we'll get -- we'll get more context to that, as is needed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GILBERT ARENAS, WASHINGTON WIZARDS: I don't know if I would have had the courage, you know, to do what he did. And, you know, just, you know, to give, you know, your body, you know, to help your, you know, your soldiers, your teammates, you know, that is just amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The friendship and admiration between an NBA superstar and a U.S. soldier who is overcoming incredible hardship.

NGUYEN: Many Christians have never read the entire bible. Even those who have might have missed some of the story. The case of the missing gospels -- that's coming up.

HOLMES: And then a little later in THE NEWSROOM, we take a look at Christmas -- the good, the bad and the just flat out annoying.

We will explain this a little later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANNE LAMB, 911 OPERATOR: But if he dies, I want to talk to him before he dies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruce, talk to momma.

LAMB: Put him on the phone.

BRUCE: Hello.

LAMB: Bruce?

BRUCE: Baby, I love you.

Now, listen. OK. Jesus is going to take care of you, OK?

You'll be safe. You just need to calm down and just focus on that, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: It is the phone call every parent fears. Dianne Lamb was at her job as a 911 dispatcher in Charleston, South Carolina when she got a call saying her son Bruce had been shot. Now, Lamb called -- and then calmed him down and sent an ambulance to their house.

Bruce did survive. He is OK. But, boy, what a few minutes that was on the phone.

HOLMES: And this Christmas now, it's going to be an unforgettable one for a Pennsylvania man. Drew Whitley is spending the holidays with his family for the first time in 18 years. He spent nearly two decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit. He was released in May.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLE CHURCHILL, STRANDED IN DENVER: Now I don't have to worry about being in a dumb airport because I have my daddy and my step mom and my little sister.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: See, that's 9-year-old Cole Churchill. He was stranded at the snowed in Denver airport for two days. But he was finally able to get on a flight home to Omaha, Nebraska yesterday and he has been reunited with his family, thankfully.

By the way, Cole's dad just returned home from serving in Afghanistan.

Check this out -- NBA star Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards is a hero and a role model to many youngsters all across the country.

HOLMES: But Arenas has his own hero. He's inspired by the courage of a young Iraq War veteran.

CNN's John King tells us more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gilbert Arenas is an NBA star and to many, a role model, nimble under the basket, yet always a threat to pull and launch a three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give a word for Arenas.

ARENAS: It worked. It worked.

CAPT. SCOTT SMILEY, U.S. ARMY: What's the score now?

KING: Among those on hand this night is Scott Smiley, a man Arenas considers a friend, a more appropriate role model and a hero.

ARENAS: I don't know if I would have had the courage, you know, to do what he did and, you know, just, you know, to give, you know, your body, you know, to help your, you know, your soldiers, your teammates. You know, that is just amazing.

KING: Captain Scott Smiley is 26, a West Point grad, an Iraq War veteran whose tour ended on an April morning when a suspicious vehicle approached his platoon in Mosul.

SMILEY: I then shot a warning round in front of his vehicle. And at this time I didn't think that he was a terrorist. He stopped, raised his hands up again and then he began to point forward. I then shot another round and then he exploded. I received shrapnel in both of my eye sockets.

KING: The eyes that sparkled at the sight of Tiffany or the chance to hold an Iraqi baby were destroyed.

SMILEY: I was probably not the nicest person in the hospital.

KING: The military offered a discharge, but Smiley said no. And the first blind man to serve in the active duty Army now counsels soldiers and their families on the stress of war.

SMILEY: I have a purpose in life and I signed a contract with the United States Military Academy. It is a little different than being an infantry officer and, you know, shooting guns and driving vehicles around. But I'm still able to do a lot of things for the Army.

KING: Scott first met Arenas and other NBA stars last summer, when he was invited to address Team USA before practice.

SMILEY: Appreciate you guys having us. You know, we all look up to you. You guys are doing awesome. ARENAS: Get back!

KING: Arenas and Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade wore microphones so Captain Smiley could listen in during drills.

ARENAS: How was the...

(CROSSTALK)

SMILEY: Oh, it was excellent. No, you did awesome.

ARENAS: Well, thank you.

SMILEY: That was awesome.

KING: A bond was formed and Arenas and the NBA invited the Smileys to a recent Washington Wizards game.

ARENAS: Yes.

All right, you guys have a half hour today.

TIFFANY: Thank you, Gil.

SMILEY: No, you, too. Appreciate it, man.

KING: With opposition to the war at record highs, Arenas says he worries the troops are under appreciated.

ARENAS: You know, it is kind of sad that, you know, that, you know, our role models are, you know, people who entertain. You know, but at the end of the day those people who's, you know, the real heroes of the world. There's, you know, people like Scott that's going out there and fighting for our freedom.

KING: Smiley wants to get his MBA, perhaps teach at West Point. He still skydives and has learned to surf -- yes, surf -- a determined hero who has lost his sight, but not his way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, from the sands of Egypt, ancient texts that help explain the development of Christianity almost lost. We want to tall you about that.

Plus, this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Americans are divided over many religious issues, but Christmas is not one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Think Christmas is just for Christians?

Well, we took a poll. It turns out that almost everyone takes part. We're going to have those results still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Checking out the most popular video right now on CNN.com, a giant squid filmed alive in Tokyo. It may be a first for one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures. But zoologists at Japan's National Science Museum say the female squid is about 24 feet long.

Also, a big Christmas for a huge Georgia military family. Wal- Mart trucks serve as Santa's sleighs, surprising a struggling single father just back from Iraq with Christmas presents for his 11 children. The military and Wal-Mart call it Operation Christmas. Sergeant Russell Fairchild calls it a blessing. He says all he had was $5 in gas money until now.

Also, lots of people clicking on the picture perfect shuttle landing. Discovery touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday evening, ending a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

NGUYEN: On Monday, Christians will celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the beginnings of Christianity. But some of the earliest writings on Christianity were lost in modern times.

And tonight, Liam Neeson narrates our special, "CNN PRESENTS: AFTER JESUS, THE FIRST CHRISTIANS."

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIAM NEESON (voice-over): Of all the threats to Christianity over the past 2,000 years, perhaps the greatest came in 1945 near the village of Nag Hammadi and southern Egypt, where the waters of the Nile dry up into desert sands.

This is where a farmer named Mohammed Ali was digging for fertilizer when he discovered a clay jar with 13 ancient books hidden inside.

(on camera): Within these books, there were over 50 texts, most of which we did not know about before, that can help us understand the beginnings of Christianity and the development of religion in some remarkable new ways.

(voice-over): But it all nearly vanished in a puff of smoke when the mother of Mohammed Ali was looking for fuel to make some tea.

(on camera): She found these old books and, as he told the story, Mohammed Ali says that his mother ripped out some pages of papyrus, some precious pages of ancient text, and pushed those underneath her stove and burned the papyrus and had some delicious tea that day.

But what was lost in the process, we will never know. (voice-over): What we do know is that the surviving books, called "The Gnostic Gospels," gave the world a compelling and competing story of what happened after Jesus.

(on camera): The texts of the Nikamiti Library (ph) are making it very clear that there were a lot of gospels that were composed in the early church. Four were finally selected for the New Testament Canon. But beyond that, there were plenty of other gospels.

(voice-over): Other gospels? More than one version of the faith?

In fact, there were many. There were even Christians who believed in more than one god.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And you can see the rest of this two hour special narrated by Liam Neeson. "CNN PRESENTS: AFTER JESUS, THE FIRST CHRISTIANS."

That airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and midnight.

Meanwhile, after months of haggling and negotiations, the U.N. Security Council may impose sanctions against Iran today.

CNN's senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth is standing by for us -- Richard, has all of this gotten underway yet?

RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: It's about to start, T.J.

The United Nations Security Council, if we could take a look at the meeting room, is poised to pass a sanctions resolution against Iran. This is a significant measure.

Is it going to change the regime there?

No. It's the start of a process and it's taken months to get to this part, after the Council threatened that if Iran did not freeze its uranium enrichment program, it would take action such as sanctions.

And now the Council, after months of wrangling, is on the verge of doing that. Last minute holdup over the last few days, Russia and China forcing concessions and a change in language proposed by Britain and other European countries in this text.

The resolution would bar any shipment, the search for of technology, materials and the like to Iran. It would also start a list of figures and companies connected to the Iranian nuclear enrichment program. It would freeze their assets.

Russia, which has extensive business interests in Iran is concerned about this and thus was forcing changes in how it was worded. And they're worried that, also, sanctions puts too much pressure on the Iranian regime and that there should be more room for negotiation.

That's the Council president at this moment, the ambassador from Qatar. It's a monthly rotation, T.J.

And it's not clear whether there will be any speeches before the vote. We'll take a listen here, but we can discuss this for a moment or two. It's another rare Saturday session. Russia forcing one day of postponement.

President Bush speaking today with Russian leader Putin. Putin saying that he would -- they'll go forward with this. Bush stressing the need for big power unity in this measure.

It's possible that Qatar, the lone Arab representative on the Security Council, would abstain. That is not a veto here.

There is no John Bolton in this chamber. He is now a former U.S. ambassador, in effect. The U.S. is being represented by the acting ambassador, Alejandro Wolf, in this chamber.

A little bit different atmosphere, I can tell you that, without John Bolton here for this type of contentious significant measure, imposing some sanctions on the Iranian regime.

The Iranian ambassador is inside the room. The Iranian ambassador is going to watch and he may be called to the table shortly while they're considering this measure against his country. We may see him stride to the table -- T.J.

HOLMES: And, Richard, what do you know about what we might expect?

You spoke about the Iranian ambassador.

But what kind of response can we expect from Iran here?

ROTH: I think you're going to see a denunciation, like we did with no question, which didn't take long. There are very similar tracks here -- two countries the Security Council is concerned about their nuclear capabilities.

Iran has already given indications it will not accept this resolution and will continue with what it says is a peaceful nuclear enrichment program for more civilian electrical nuclear power to help the nation.

There's the Iranian ambassador going up to the table now, taking his seat. Javad Zarif, a very personable fellow who has spoken at local universities here in New York and was once a deputy foreign minister in Tehran and knows the scene very well here at the U.N. And he has been given his instructions. And if he speaks, he'll be relating what the view is from Tehran on this measure.

HOLMES: And Richard, you certain said the mood is different there having Bolton not there anymore. So, I guess he was kind of the bulldog, if you will, for the U.S., kind of he rubs people the wrong way of course. What kind of I guess representation there, do they still have that kind of push, that same kind of I guess swagger that he brought. And of course the U.S. name means plenty and has a lot of power and has a lot of prestige and what not, influence. Is the U.S. still as strong of a player even though we don't have that strong of a personality or that strong personality of Bolton in that chamber any more?

ROTH: Well, it may be just the atmospheric difference. The U.S. I'm sure would say they have their man in place here, (INAUDIBLE) who is an experienced career diplomat. And I think the other countries appreciate the fact that there are no histrionics they might say. But John Bolton was a notable presence as resolutions like these were being debated and discussed and it's like that he would have been at the microphone demanding a vote yesterday and putting more pressure on.

Some diplomats thought that Russia, China, especially Russia, this is a little bit of time for drawing blood maybe in payback for John Bolton. It was this time it would seem that China and Russia were determining the schedule a little bit more though on this Security Council measure. You'll never be able to really prove that. But what you're missing is John Bolton in public denouncing Tehran and stressing maybe the need for this resolution. But this is diplomacy. Diplomacy doesn't have to be what they say megaphone diplomacy. The UN is still carrying on with its work. But for Americans, you're not used to maybe seeing John Bolton in his place. And eventually there will be a new U.S. ambassador.

HOLMES: All right. Richard Roth at the UN keeping an eye on it for us. Richard, thank you as always. We'll be checking back with you a little later.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Other news to tell you about, planes are flying out of Denver international airport after a blizzard grounded them for two days. But many holiday travelers can still face delays as airlines face a backlog of cancelled flights. We have a full update on your holiday weekend weather. That is just minutes from now. But up next, in London, take a look at this, thousands of stranded airline passengers are also on the move once again. Heavy fog cancelled dozens of flights at Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest airport and those flights have been cancelled over the past few days. The fog though is finally starting to clear, but delays still exist.

HOLMES: New Defense Secretary Robert Gates' meeting with President Bush at Camp David this morning. They're talking about Iraq and potential options to take there. Gates is of course just back from a visit to Iraq where he met with Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders.

NGUYEN: If you'd won what they had, you would be happy, too. Yes, extremely festive folks. They are among the lucky winners of the world's richest lottery. Up to 1800 people share the top prize in Spain's annual el gordo (ph) drawing. They won just over $395,000 apiece, 1800 people, can you do the math? The lottery's total prize money is $2.8 billion. Wish I had one of those winning tickets. Well, surviving the holidays, travel stress, shopping stress, family stress. It's enough to make you tired already. Tips on getting through it all unscathed.

HOLMES: You remember these song, you hear them every single year. We will run down the most annoying holiday songs.

NGUYEN: Holiday songs.

HOLMES: We got that and more still ahead right here in the newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And word just in that this will have happen. We told you about this, that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and also the Israeli Prime Minister Egut (ph) Olmert. Their official, some of their representatives were saying they had been working on a possible meeting between these two. And now we are getting word that in fact, yes, this will happen and also that it will happen today. The two are expected to meet at Egut Olmert's office. This is according to a senior aide. So again, something we have been talking about this morning, keeping an eye on, thought it could be a possibility, looks like it actually will happen today. This is certainly something we will be keeping an eye on. Stay with CNN for this developing story.

Well, let's just call it, what, the magic of Christmas? Yes, Americans may not always agree about things like politics and religion of course.

NGUYEN: But as CNN political analyst Bill Schneider reports, many do agree about one thing at least.

BILL SCNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Americans are divided over many religious issues but Christmas is not one of them. In a CNN poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation, 94 percent of Americans say they celebrate Christmas. Nearly three-quarters sent Christmas cards and have a Christmas tree in their home. Oh well, people do that for the kids. Nope. More than 70 percent of Americans who have no children at home put up a Christmas tree. Religious people, right? Nope. Even Americans who rarely go to church put up a Christmas tree. But what kind of tree?

That's where things are changing. Ten years ago, a third of Americans put up a real tree. Now, that number is down to 22 percent. Today most Americans use artificial trees, maybe because it's cheaper than buying a new tree every year, maybe because it's safer, maybe because people are more environmentally conscious or maybe it's just easier. Putting up Christmas lights is not easy. But nearly six in 10 Americans do it, including this woman in Los Angeles who happens to be Jewish.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think Santa Claus and talking snowmen and flying reindeer and candy cane trees have any religious significance at all.

SCHNEIDER: She happens to live in an orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Are her neighbors offended? Some are. Others are not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm an orthodox Jew and I think it's unusual that Mary puts this on. But it's OK. It doesn't faze me. I think it's pretty.

SCHNEIDER: Christmas is less and less likely to divide churchgoers and non-churchgoers, people with and without kids, even Christians and non-Christians. They can all agree on one thing -- it's pretty. Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) Churchgoers and non-churchgoers people with and without kids. Even Christians and non-Christians. They can all agree on one thing -- it's pretty. Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION: I don't know what to say except it's Christmas and we're all in misery.

Ellen, are you smoking again?

No!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Remember that scene from National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation"? Yeah, well, home for the holidays sounds nice. It can also be stressful. Libby Gill is the author of "Traveling Hopefully" how to lose your family baggage and jump start your life. I like that. She's here with tips on how to survive the family holiday. Libby, do we have a lot to talk about today.

LIBBY GILL, AUTHOR, "TRAVELING HOPEFULLY": We do.

NGUYEN: Let's just talk about the schedule of events, first of all. Grandma wants you over at her house to celebrate the holidays. Uncle jimmy wants you over there for a Christmas party. Aunt Jean has her own plans. I mean the list is long. Do you want to spend that much family time? How do you survive it all?

GILL: I think you should make your decisions up front. Decide how you're going to carve up your time, what time you're going to arrive, what time you're going to leave and then let all your hosts know so that you can get any negative feelings out of the way up front. Make your excuses and manage expectations.

NGUYEN: What do you mean, get your negative feeling out of the way up front? Just tell them, I really don't want to spend Christmas with you?

GILL: No, you say -- if they want you to stay for the day but you've got two other stops to make, you say I'm going to get there at noon, but we're going to have to leave at three to go to the in-laws, I love you, we'll be there as soon as we can. And you just let them know so people are going to try and guilt you? You've got to decide. Many of us split our time between our own parents, our in-laws, but we've got our own families too and we want to create a special holiday with our immediate family.

NGUYEN: Not only do they guilt you, but when you bring your children, that can be a big problem. They're making a mess in the kitchen. Sometimes they're fighting with cousins and whatnot. Should you just set some guidelines before you leave, before it gets out of control which many times it does. Then you have gifts that you're unwrapping and that can be a complete nightmare.

GILL: Right. It's a double edged sword. It's the fun of the holidays but it's also the torture of it. So the best thing to do is let your relatives know if your toddler is in that terrible twos, I'm going to see if it breaks when I drop it kind of fade, put the video cameras, put the fine crystal up high so you don't have to put all the kids in a straightjacket and they can actually enjoy the holiday.

NGUYEN: A straightjacket. I wouldn't go that far, Libby, but OK. But inevitably, when you get around family, everyone wants to go down memory lane. Sometimes those memories aren't so great. How do you handle that? It can be really uncomfortable especially around the holidays.

GILL: For people who - especially those who have suffered a loss or a divorce, a death in the family or a separation of some kind, those are the people who tend to, often want to withdraw and not be around relatives in that sort of forced merriment that a lot of us are feeling. But sometimes you can encourage those people to be with you, not necessarily to join in every activity, but just to be around the family, extend the invitation. Let them decide what's appropriate for them.

NGUYEN: I know another one of your tips is to make some time for yourself. Spending a lot of time with family but to do try to carve out some time for yourself. But I wanted to ask you about this, speaking of making your own time, what's the best way to just divert your tradition from the family tradition, spending it with mom and dad and create your own traditions with your own children?

GILL: I think it's a great time to create a ritual, something new and special that you can do and anticipate, look forward to every year. I have for example, I have a coaching client who's got a military member of the family overseas and they decided to create a family website. So everybody can contribute photos and recipes and holiday thoughts. And no matter how distant everybody is, they have that feeling of connectedness and togetherness and they're going to repeat that every year.

NGUYEN: Libby Gill, author of "Traveling Hopefully." The holidays hopefully will be a festive one at your house. Thank you Libby. We appreciate your time

Stop it now, please! (INAUDIBLE) You might as well just celebrate, I guess. The worst holiday music. If you think this is bad, you ain't heard nothing yet. That's still ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's time for us to talk to Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds, everybody wants to know about the weather. Talk to us, the holiday weekend.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We've got some good news in terms of travel. I mean over the last -- all morning actually we've had about an hour delay in Philadelphia. That's now been dropped to pretty much about 30 minutes, which is good news, Newark about the same, 40 minutes there, 45 or rather 25-minute delay in Ft. Lauderdale, easy for me to say and still got that grand stoppage in Phoenix.

We're going to start out west. Scattered shows north of San Francisco clear up to Seattle. We're also going to see some rain through parts of Texas. Along the eastern seaboard, some scattered showers early but into the afternoon, things should be improving. I would definitely look for a few delays there just from congestion alone. Meanwhile, temperatures today very mild in parts of the southeast, looking at temperatures into the 80s for Miami. Life is good there. You can expect 55 for Memphis, 61 in New York, 54 Boston and out west in San Francisco a high of 54 degrees. That's a look at your forecast. Back to you.

NGUYEN: OK. Thank you.

HOLMES: Reynolds, thank you.

NGUYEN: We're talking -- you don't want to know what that was all about.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sorry. We're paying attention.

NGUYEN: What's coming up on CNN newsroom. We're going to have Fredricka Whitfield which is not so long.

WHITFIELD: No, not at all. Happy holidays. Coming up in the noon hour, it's been a year and a half since hurricane Katrina and there are a lot of folks who say there are lots of things still missing, namely the music which is so much part of the culture along the Gulf state of Louisiana. We are going to be joined by a Cajun blues guitarist who took part in an Imax documentary that will be airing this month and he's saying a whole lot is missing including the music. And it really is tough to get a lot of the musicians to come back to the state of Louisiana and try to restore what was --

NGUYEN: Start over.

WHITFIELD: ... taken from Katrina. Also long gone we believe, the rape charges against these three lacrosse or Duke University lacrosse players. Our legal eagles saw this coming. We'll be talking to them in the 2:00 hour and they'll talk about what they think is next for the prosecutor Nifong.

NGUYEN: Because there's still a lot of charges.

WHITFIELD: Right. There are other charges still pending.

NGUYEN: Interesting (INAUDIBLE) Thank you Fred.

HOLMES: Got another development to tell you about here. We're now getting word that in fact the UN Security Council has approved sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Taking a live look at it right there. But we have our Richard Roth there keeping an eye on it. CNN is all over the story. It'll be plenty more on this story. We're keeping an eye. Stick with CNN. We will be right back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And again, here keeping a live eye on the UN Security Council where they have just voted to -- for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Iran of course saying that that program is for peaceful means, the world, many communities around the world, the world community I should say not really sold on that idea. So it has voted to impose sanctions, a unanimous vote there as you see. We will keep an eye on that story for you all day here at CNN.

Meanwhile, we will dramatically switch gears and talk about some annoying holiday music. We don't want to be Scrooges here, but there's a lot of good music out there. But Donald Duck singing "Amazing Grace" not so much. And remember, Tammy Faye Baker, she did a disco Jesus. Well, Jim Nayder is all over the stuff. He's the expert when it comes to that kind of music. He's been hosting the "Annoying Music Show" for 10 years on Chicago public radio and he looks like he's having quite a time this morning in Chicago. Sir, good morning. What would make you want to do this for a living and listen to annoying music all the time?

JIM NAYDER, HOST, THE ANNOYING MUSIC SHOW: I do it so you don't have to, TJ.

HOLMES: Appreciate that.

NAYDER: I'm sorry you got this assignment this morning.

HOLMES: No. It's good.

NAYDER: I'm sorry I got this assignment and Betty.

HOLMES: Now what makes this stuff annoying? All of it's not necessarily just horrible music, but it just annoys the mess out of you.

NAYDER: Well, the listeners on our NPR show appreciate it because it's always serious attempts gone awry. Since there's only 10 Christmas carols and 500,000 people doing them, Christmas is like Christmas for "The Annoying Music Show."

HOLMES: All right. Do people like - do you find that they get into the annoying music? We can't stop listening to it, even though we're annoyed by it?

NGUYEN: It's so bad.

NAYDER: Yes, annoying music is not like bad music. Annoying music is like passing a train wreck. You don't want to look, but you sort of have to. Bad music you shut off the dial right away.

HOLMES: All right. We got a couple.

NAYDER: We better get to it.

HOLMES: Yes. We got a couple of ones here. "Santa Doesn't Smoke Anymore". Let's play that clip.

HOLMES: Now this song, tell me, what is it about this song? Do people like this one? How's this one play out with the public?

NGUYEN: How could they possibly like this?

NAYDER: This is soon to be a Christmas classic, Santa off the nicotine train. If we can only get him off the amphetamines now, he's up all night, over to Weight Watchers he'll be fine.

HOLMES: We got another pretty good one here.

NAYDER: This is my last cigar.

HOLMES: That's your last one?

NGUYEN: For the year, that is.

HOLMES: All right. Regis and Kathie Lee, this is one that a lot of --

NAYDER: Oh yeah.

HOLMES: OK. Let's let people get a sample of this one.

NAYDER: Let's not.

NGUYEN: Regis!

HOLMES: All right. Tell us about this one. We don't want to listen to much more of it. Tell us about this one.

NAYDER: You know, family, imagine having to go to Christmas dinner with Regis and Kathie lee. You know, save the turkey, chop off my head.

NGUYEN: Let me ask you this, do you have any William Hung (ph) Christmas songs there to make your list?

NAYDER: He's kind of forced on the public. We like to sneak up behind and scare him. So we don't have any William Hung. You know, it's much more fun to find things in somebody's basement than the CD store. HOLMES: You got tons more. I think I wish we could spend more time with you.

NGUYEN: Not really. It's too bad.

HOLMES: Again, Jim Nayder has the show the "Annoying Music Show."

NAYDER: We got Bette Davis.

HOLMES: Quite a party for you there. You have a good time. We wish we could party with you; looks like you're having a good time. Sir, thank you so much.

NGUYEN: It's been truly annoying. We appreciate it.

NAYDER: Annoying music show CD too, don't forget.

HOLMES: All right.

NGUYEN: We're going to grab that one right now. Thank you, Jim.

HOLMES: The NEWSROOM continues with Fredricka Whitfield. That's coming up right after this quick break.

NGUYEN: That's not annoying. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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