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James Brown Remembered; Iraqi Court Upholds Saddam Death Sentence; Microsoft's New Operating System Flawed?; Iraq Death Toll Rises As Year Winds Down; Muslims Make The Hajj

Aired December 26, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead this hour: Something wicked this way comes. We're watching a major storm develop. What's in store for your town?

And this: Iraq's high court starts the clock on Saddam Hussein's death sentence. We have got White House reaction.

Plus: He called himself the hardest-working man in snow biz. How others are remembering the late great James Brown.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Fierce and frigid -- another power storm is bearing down on Denver and points east.

Let's get the very latest on the developing story from Bonnie Schneider in our Severe Weather Center.

Hi, Don.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Bonnie Schneider, Severe Weather Center, thank you so much for that.

And, of course, when weather becomes the news, you can become a CNN correspondent. If you see severe weather happening, send us an I- Report. Go to CNN.com and click on I-Report. Or type in ireport@CNN.com on your cell phone, and share your photos and, of course, your videos.

A week of war in the Horn of Africa is prompting an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council. Some fear the conflict could engulf a volatile region.

CNN senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth has the details for us -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Don, many Americans might have tuned out Somalia in 1993, when the U.S. withdrew, following, you may remember, Black Hawk down, the loss of about 20 soldiers in an ambush in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Well, now, and since then, it's been misery for the people of Somalia. Ethiopian forces have moved into that country in a bid to stamp out an Islamic movement, which has gained control over most of the country.

Ethiopian planes and Ethiopian troops on the ground attack militant positions, and move closer to Islamic control strongpoints in the south of the country. Leaders in Ethiopia say about 1,000 people on the ground they say were Islamic militants were killed. There's no confirmation of those -- those reported numbers or the accusations.

The Security Council is going to convene to hear a briefing from a special representative the U.N. has just for Somalia. And they are likely to listen. There may be speeches from Ethiopia or Somalia. We don't know yet. Ethiopia says it's coming to the rescue of the so- called transitional government in Somalia, which is backed by the U.N., but has really been outgunned by the Islamic Courts Union inside Somalia -- Don.

LEMON: Richard, the likely direction the UNSC action would take, any effect it might have?

ROTH: Probably little at the moment.

Ethiopia says it doesn't want to take over the country. It just wants to even the playing field for negotiations between the Islamic movement and the very shaky, fragile transition government, which is holed up in the town of Baidoa.

LEMON: All right, Richard Roth, joining us from New York, thank you very much that.

Poverty, ignorance and greed. A survivor cites three causes behind today's pipeline blast in Nigeria. At least 200 people were killed in a densely populated neighborhood outside Lagos. Vandals say, witnesses say, professional thieves, tapped into the line to siphon fuel. And crowds rushed in after with buckets and bags. That happens often in Nigeria, an oil-rich nation beset with widespread poverty and frequent shortages.

Once again, sectarian rage puts an Iraqi holy place in the crossfire. A Sunni mosque targeted today in a deadly bombing. At about the same time, an Iraqi appeals court upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence, clearing the way for his hanging next month.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote joins us live with that -- Ryan.

LEMON: All right. We're going to move on now.

The White House calls the Iraqi court ruling a milestone.

And let's go to our Elaine Quijano. She is traveling with the president, who arrived at his Texas ranch a short time ago -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Don. Well, the White House certainly is pleased with today's decision by an Iraqi court, essentially upholding that sentence for Saddam Hussein. A spokesman today called it, in fact, an important milestone for the Iraqi people.

Now, it comes, of course, as President Bush is continuing his deliberations over what to do next when it comes to his Iraq policy. He's going to be continuing that process next -- this week. He will be doing so from his ranch here in Texas.

He arrived here, in fact, earlier this afternoon. And a spokesman aboard Air Force One said that the Iraqis deserve praise for using the institutions of democracy to pursue justice, adding -- quote -- "Saddam Hussein has received due process and legal rights that he denied the Iraqi people for so long. So, this is an important day for the Iraqi people."

Now, despite acknowledging missteps in the Iraq war, President Bush has steadfastly maintained that removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right thing to do. Nevertheless he is, of course, facing intense political pressure, with Democrats set to take control of Congress next year.

For now, though, Don, the consultations continue. In fact, Thursday,, he will be sitting down with members of his national security team to talk about options on Iraq. Aides are continuing to emphasize that no major decisions will be coming out of that meeting, describing them as further consultations. But, of course, as you know, some time early in the new year, we are expecting President Bush, Don, to make some sort of speech announcing changes to his Iraq policy -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Elaine Quijano, thank you very much for that.

Now let's go to Baghdad for reaction from CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

Ryan, what can you tell us?

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the decision to uphold the Iraqi high tribunals, the decision for Saddam's execution at this point, really brings the appeals process to an end for Saddam Hussein. It also really clears the way for Saddam Hussein to be put to death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AREF SHAHIN, CHIEF APPEALS COURT JUDGE (through translator): The appeal court has decided to uphold the ruling against the defendant. Saddam Hussein, Barzan al Hassan and Awad al Bandr should hang for crimes against humanity, according to Article 12 of the Iraqi criminal law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHILCOTE: Now, Don, Iraqi law says that the condemned must be put to death within 30 days. This Iraqi judge today announced that he believes that window should begin by tomorrow and end by January 26. Having said that, international law gives governments the right to stay executions, to commute sentences, and to punish -- to, rather, forgive the condemned. However, in this case, that looks extremely unlikely. The Iraqi government, the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al- Maliki, has already said earlier that he thinks that Saddam Hussein should be hanged by the end of the year -- Don.

LEMON: And, of course, Ryan, the big question: Will these -- this hanging be public?

CHILCOTE: We don't know at this point. We do know that there are two schools of thought, two camps within the Iraqi government. One of those camps believes that Saddam should be executed very publicly, perhaps that the execution would even be filmed, and that would then be disseminated.

The argument for that is that a lot of people would like to see justice. The government would also like to prove to people that it indeed has executed Saddam Hussein.

The other camp believes that showing the execution should -- could show the government in a barbaric light. They are -- they would not want to do that. And there is a little bit of concern about violence, that, perhaps, a public execution of Saddam Hussein could lead to an upsurge, a temporary uptick in the violence here, one reason why the government might also even consider something like a curfew to try to quell that violence, before it really takes roots on the streets, an angry reaction to the execution, possibly -- Don.

LEMON: And, Ryan, speaking of that violence, at the same time that the appeals court were upholding the death sentence, a mosque was targeted there?

CHILCOTE: That's right.

A mosque went off just outside of a Sunni -- a bomb went off just outside of a Sunni mosque here in the Iraqi capital, that within the last couple of hours. It came right after that announcement, but seemingly unrelated bomb going off outside a Sunni mosque, killing at least eight, wounding at least two dozen more people -- that on top of a triple bombing here in the Iraqi capital earlier in the day -- three bombs going or in short order, consecutively -- that killing at least eight as well, wounding dozens more -- all in all, more than 50 Iraqis killed today in another very, very violent day in the Iraqi capital -- Don.

LEMON: Ryan Chilcote, joining us from Baghdad, thank you, sir.

The Dujail killings were Saddam Hussein's revenge for an attempt to kill him.

CNN's Aneesh Raman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On July 8, 1982, Saddam Hussein drove into Dujail -- crowds running alongside his convoy, women rushing to kiss his hand, bellowing in forced joy. It was the sort of visit Saddam often orchestrated, showing he was a man of the people. But, when offered a glass of water in one home, he declined, always fearful of attempts to poison him.

Saddam then spoke to a crowd from atop the local party headquarters about the war with Iran. He was about to find out just how courageous. On this road, six young men were preparing to ambush the dictator.

Mohammed Ali drove one of the shooters to the scene.

MOHAMMED ALI, DROVE CAR IN SHOOTING (through translator): Hassan (ph) came to me, I took him on my motorcycle. I remember he was carrying two pistols. We drove through orchards looking for other men, but we only saw two. Hassan shot with his pistol to give the group a sign to start shooting at Saddam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When the convoy reached the orchards, three gunmen started shooting at his convoy from the left side. Saddam's guards started shooting back.

RAMAN: Saddam escaped unhurt. And, moments later, villagers desperately tried to prove their loyalty.

But Dujail knew its fate. Immediately, a dictator's vengeance descended upon the village. With icy calm, Saddam himself started interrogating terrified locals. No one's loyalty is taken for granted.

And, in the ensuing weeks, thousands of innocent villagers, like Ali, who was 14 at the time, were thrown in jail, tortured, and many others executed. Dujail was destroyed.

Villagers show us barren land that once blossomed with orchards, where the rebel gunmen hid that fateful day.

Ali is lucky. He survived four years in prison. But he never knew what happened to his brothers. They were also imprisoned that day. And it was only after Saddam's fall that he learned the worst.

ALI (through translator): I found a document signed by Saddam in 1985 to execute some of the Dujail people with us in the prison. One hundred forty-nine people, including seven of my brothers, 34 of my relatives, and 118 people of my town, they are now forgotten. To God, they have returned.

RAMAN: Photos of his brothers proudly hang on Ali's living room wall, casualties of state terror. In sheer numbers, Dujail was not nearly the worst of Saddam's atrocities, but that is of no consequence to the villagers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Saddam should be executed immediately for this, because he killed and executed too many. RAMAN: And now, with Saddam's sentence to death upheld, justice may finally come to Dujail -- two decades too late, but sooner than anyone here could have imagined.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Dujail, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Anniversary of devastation -- two years after the cataclysmic Asian tsunami, changes and challenges on the long road to recovery. That is ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And a journey of a lifetime -- millions of Muslims on the road to Mecca, a traditional right of passage.

Zain Verjee reports, ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The timing certainly was eerie, the second anniversary of the devastating Asian tsunami. Two powerful earthquakes sparked fears of another disaster, as they rumbled today off the southwest coast of Taiwan.

But experts soon declared there was no threat of a Pacific-wide tsunami. Several buildings collapsed in southern Taiwan, after a magnitude 7.1 quake struck after 8:00 p.m., local time. A 7.0 tremor came eight minutes later. The quakes were also felt in Hong Kong and southern China.

From Thailand to India, ceremonies today marked the two-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami -- hundreds of thousands killed, millions of aid dollars given, pledged, and spent. Where do things stand now?

CNN's Anjali Rao has a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANJALI RAO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First, the sea receded and then came a wall of water nothing could withstand. It was one of the worst disasters in human history.

Off the West Coast of Indonesia, an earthquake measuring 9.15 on the Richter scale displaced an ocean of water, which swept everything in its path; 232,000 people were left dead or missing across a dozen countries. More than half died in Aceh alone.

The civil war-torn province in the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra was closest to the earthquake fault line. And it's here the wave hit first.

Two years on, and despite a huge global pouring of aid, thousands, like Etep (ph), remain without permanent housing. Her family home is now a temporary barracks. The local authorities tell her the land that's been allocated has yet to be freed for construction, so nothing has been built.

Bureaucracy and the sheer scale of the task is hindering progress.

LAWRENCE GREENWOOD, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK: This is actually not -- not unusual. This is the usual kind of process and pattern for these kind of reconstruction works. Keep in mind that, Kobe, even a rich country like Japan, took seven years to rebuild Kobe after the earthquake.

RAO: There's a similar story in Sri Lanka, where less than half the houses planned for the hard-hit East Coast have been built, even less in the northeast, where civil war has reignited.

But, amid memorials to the dead, new schools and houses are being built. The aid has given hope to many.

Girli Mangalika saved herself by running up a hill that morning.

"We lost everything in the tsunami," she says. "We are not unhappy now. We got this house, and we try to be happy."

There is some happiness in Thailand, too, as tourists are returning to the once hard-hit island of Phuket.

Six thousand people died in the beach resort of Khao Lak. But Peter Brennan has returned, despite a close call in 2004.

PETER BRENNAN, IRISH TOURIST: I could see big tsunami coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BRENNAN: And then I run. But I no make, and it catch -- it put me over trees. Boom, up, up, up, in the air, you know?

RAO: But, for every story of recovery and reconstruction, and despite the passing of time, for those, like Mananshe (ph), the memories of that day are still sharply in focus. Six-thousand lives were lost from her fishing village on India's southeast coast.

"The mere mention of the word tsunami scares me," she says. "It sends a chill down my spine. The waves killed my four children. I can never forget."

Anjali Rao, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The year in Iraq -- hope turns to despair. A look back straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAPLAIN TROY MORKEN, 15TH SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE: Hi. I'm Chaplain Troy Morken, here currently deployed in Camp Taji, Iraq, with the 15th sustainment brigade. I would like to wish my parents and the rest of my family in Bismarck, North Carolina, happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy new year, all that good stuff.

I hopefully will see you soon. Take care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let the voting begin. A little late for the midterms, but it's actually early for the Oscars. And that is what we are talking about. Oscar ballots are being sent out today to more than 5,800 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They have less than three weeks to make their choices. Nominations will be announced January 23. Expect to see that live, of course, right here on CNN. Oscars are handed out Sunday, February 15.

Let's go to biz now. Microsoft was banking on the success of its new operating system, but it looks like there may be some holes in that.

Darby Dunn has the latest, live from the New York Stock Exchange.

Explain that, Darby.

DARBY DUNN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, businesses started to buy Microsoft's new Vista software last month. And the rest of us have to wait until next month.

But, already, the promising new software reportedly has some flaws. One computer security firm has find five vulnerabilities in Vista software. That essentially puts computer users at risk. They say the problem with the browser essentially means that users could become infected with malicious software simply by visiting a booby- trapped Web site -- Don.

LEMON: Oh, you don't want to get infected with malicious software.

DUNN: No, menacing.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: But Microsoft, they have been touting this Vista as security safe all along.

DUNN: It has.

Vista is its first update to the popular Windows software in five years. And Microsoft has spent millions of dollars, branding the Vista system as its more secure product yet. It's also counting on it to help maintain its dominance in the market, amid growing competition from rivals like Google, who are also producing Web-based software.

LEMON: So, Darby, what are they doing to fix this? DUNN: Well, the company is telling CNN that it is investigating the reports and that is not aware of any attempts to actually use the reported glitches.

(MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Do you live in the Rocky Mountains? Better keep the mukluks handy. A fresh round of winter is about to pile right on. We've got our eyes on a stormy forecast right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Fierce and frigid. Another powerful storm is bearing down on Denver and points east. Let's get the latest on this developing story from Bonnie Schneider in our severe weather center -- Bonnie?

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Well a sad milestone to at least 2,997 troops have now been killed in Iraq. That exceeds the total deaths in the attack of September 11. Just today, three U.S. service members were killed in a roadside bombing. The toll for Iraqis is vastly worse. Tens of thousands of men, women, children have lost their lives since the war began in March of 2003.

The death toll keeps going up as the year winds down. CNN's Arwa Damon has more on the latest bloodshed today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smoke once more engulfing Baghdad streets. Firefighters battle the flames while Iraqis try to evacuate victims. In just a few hours Tuesday morning, dozens were killed, over 100 wounded.

One of the attacks, three car bombs exploding in quick succession at a busy intersection in the western portion of the city. This man survived. "The first car exploded here and the second car went off there, followed by a third one," he says. "We were standing there, many people were hurt. You can see the blood. Let the people see. Let the government see."

But the Iraqis and their government has been seeing the violence for nearly four years now. And the Iraqi government seems helpless to stop the ever-increasing cycle of violence. Cleaning up the aftermath of death has become routine. Here, a roadside bomb exploded at an outdoor marketplace, killing at least five Iraqis.

Hospitals scramble to treat the wounded from all of Tuesday's attacks. The staff struggling to save lives. The violence here has overwhelmed Iraq's already poorly equipped medical institutions.

(on camera): It is a violence that spares no one. In the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a roadside bomb placed outside of a primary school. Its target, according to the police, children. Two boys and a little girl were killed. Life here, Iraqis say, only becomes more unbearable by the day. Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And just the other day, at his year-end news conference, President Bush said 2006 has been a difficult year in Iraq. It's one of his very few Iraq war pronouncements on which there is universal agreement. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson looks back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be the year of hope. Election results were being counted, and if the new unity government could be formed quickly, it might just turn the rising tide of sectarian violence. But it was not to be.

By the end of January, it was clear Iraq's Shia majority had won the elections handily but then couldn't agree who would be prime minister. It was a bad start. Without progress there was a power vacuum.

Then, on February 22nd, everything changed for the worst. Sunni insurgents, inspired by al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, blew up a holy Shia shrine. They wanted to start a civil war and the country lurched towards it. Shia TV stations called for revenge, and the first serious signs of sectarian division began to show.

Sectarian death squads stalked Baghdad streets, and frightened families were forced to move. Small refugee camps formed.

(on camera): Four months into the new year, and still no new government. Bullet-riddled bodies are showing up on the streets of Baghdad. Many showing the signs of torture. Sectarian killing is becoming the norm.

(voice over): Eventually, Nuri al-Maliki, a Shia, was appointed prime minister. But to get the post, he needed the support of firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr's militia increasingly blamed for sectarian killings.

June, U.S. warplanes bombed a house where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is hiding, and the al Qaeda leader is killed. It's what the coalition had been waiting for, a psychological victory against Sunni insurgents.

But the victory was short. Just weeks later, reports surfaced that U.S. soldiers raped and murdered an Iraqi girl, killed her family and burned their house. Attitudes hardened against American forces. Polls increasingly show most Iraqis want U.S. troops out.

(on camera): As the long, hot summer stretched out, sectarian tensions simmered. Mortars were occasionally fired between increasingly divided communities, heightening debate. Is this a civil war?

(voice over): The year's trends are becoming clear. Increasing violence. No one knows for sure how many Iraqis have been killed in the war, but estimates range from 50,000 to 600,000.

In October, an unwelcome record -- 106 U.S. troops killed. It's the deadliest month of the year for American forces.

Then, out of the blue, Iraq's prime minister openly challenged U.S. power. Nuri al-Maliki demanding U.S. troops remove checkpoints in the volatile Shia slum of Sadr City. The checkpoints came down, stymieing a hunt for a kidnapped U.S. serviceman. And without an Iraqi police and army, effectively turned over control of the suburb to a key supporter of the prime minister, firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his militia.

And if the year wasn't going badly enough, November became another defining month for all the wrong reasons. Again, events center on Sadr City, where the biggest single attack of the war killed more than 200. It's another lurch towards civil war. If the attack in February had primed the powder keg, this put a match to the fuse.

Sectarian violence rocketed again. Death squads killed hundreds a week in Baghdad. Threats rampant, fear palpable. Without trustworthy police and army, vigilantes took control of their neighborhoods.

Even as U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's was met with shrugs in Baghdad, President Bush called Prime Minister Maliki to a meeting in Jordan. He warned he must disarm the militias. Iraqis hoped for much more from the meeting, but they don't get it.

Maliki returned to a fractured government. And by December, as President Bush paused to digest the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group in Baghdad, Prime Minister Maliki took the lead, launching a new security plan that put the Iraqi security forces in charge.

But on the political front, Maliki was still struggling to retain control over his government. Any hopes it placed in finding common ground with Sunnis dashed when many Sunni representatives refused to show up at a reconciliation conference.

In 2006, there was plenty of transition in Iraq, mostly from bad to worse.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We want to take time now to salute a fallen area. Major Megan McClung was the first female Marine officer killed by hostile action in Iraq. She died when her Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Ramadi. McClung was a public affairs officer, the go-to contact for media working in Ramadi, and here is how she described her mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARINE MAJ. MEGAN MCCLUNG, OFFICER: I think of this as a great opportunity to help Iraq really stand on their own feet as a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Major McClung was an avid runner. A few weeks ago, she organized a Marine Corps marathon at Iraq's Al Asad Air Base. She came in second. A fellow Marine saluted her spirit and her determination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I remember her energy most of all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was a runner, and she was driven.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was the kind of person who could light up a room with her smile.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll remember her most for her quick wit and her eagerness to make people laugh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her ability to run was a metaphor for the way she lived her life. And she wasn't walk toward the goal, she ran. She ran toward it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Marine Major Megan McClung, one of the 2,977 U.S. military women and men who have given their lives in the war in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to update you now on a story we've been following all afternoon here in the CNN NEWSROOM, a partial building collapse on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, really the lower end of Harlem there, happening on 113th street between Central Park West and 7th Avenue.

We have learned that one person has died and two were injured after that building, which was under construction, partially collapsed early Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters telling reporters and the Associated Press they got the call around 12:30 p.m. to that building. They didn't see any visible damage on the outside, but when they got to the roof, they could see that the walls had caved in on the inside.

Again, one person is dead, at least two others are injured, and they were taken to the hospital there. No other information immediately available on the victims there.

It is a religious rite of passage, the yearly Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. It's called the Hajj. More than a million pilgrims are gathering in Saudi Arabia for a sacred journey that can also turn deadly.

CNN's Zain Verjee takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can see it from high in the sky, a sacred symbol at the core of the Islamic world. Muslims making the Hajj, the ultimate physical and spiritual journey to Mecca to see Islam's holiest place up close.

All Muslims have to do the Hajj at least once in their lives, if they're healthy enough and can afford it. Millions come to the old oasis town where the Prophet Mohammed was born and perform the same rituals he did 1,400 years ago, and all together, from Iran to Indonesia, China to Chad.

SAMI ANGAWI, HAJJ EXPERT: Hajj is representation of unity and diversity.

VERJEE (on camera): The pilgrims enter Mecca in a sacred state of purity. The men wear two pieces of unstiffed cloth. The women dress simply and they cover their heads.

(voice-over): The rules are very strict: no violence, no sex, no swearing. The first ritual for pilgrims, circle this black cube, the Kabah, seven times, to symbolize that God is at the center of a Muslim's world. Muslims pray in this direction five times each day.

ANGAWI: You are not an individual anymore. You are part of a moving world.

VERJEE: Then, those here head out to the desert to the Mina Valley, by car or by foot. They camp out and meditate. At sunrise, they go to the Plain of Arafat until sunset. The pilgrims pray, asking for forgiveness.

ANGAWI: All equal, all the same, regardless of who they are, where are they coming from, what race, what language, and they are there calling the name of God.

VERJEE: Next, a dangerous moment in the Hajj, three days of stoning, a ritual symbolizing the rejection of the devil's temptation. It's here that often deadly stampedes happen.

Finally, back to Mecca and around the Kabah and then a return to the pilgrim's regular life with a clean bill of spiritual health and to the feast called Eid, celebrated by all Muslims around the world.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Mecca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: There is another holiday millions are celebrating this week. This is the first day of Kwanzaa, a seven-day, non-religious holiday inspired by the black civil rights struggles of the 1960s. It's based on the African celebration of bringing in the harvest. Kwanzaa is built on seven principles from unity to responsibility and faith and is marked by the lighting of candles each night. A basketball team with a special bond -- they score in silence. Their story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Schwarzenegger in surgery. Three days after he broke his right leg on a ski slope, California's governor is on the operating table having screws and cables inserted to mend the bone. His office says the procedure took an hour and a half and was successful.

Schwarzenegger will stay in the hospital for three days and be on crutches for weeks. While he was under anesthesia, California's lieutenant governor who ran against Schwarzenegger in the last election, he was in charge.

For a lot of folks, holidays are not holidays without sports. Our Larry Smith introduces a spirited team you want to root for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listen to the sounds of this basketball game. Now hear it the way these players do.

(SILENCE)

SMITH: Bruce Rogers has coached basketball at the American Sign language and English High School in New York City from the team's inception 12 years ago. He's not one to bark out instructions since they won't be heard by a team made up mostly of deaf players.

BRUCE ROGERS, HEAD COACH: Usually I have a towel or a jersey and try to get their attention. But, if I'm trying to get the attention of a deaf player, he's not watching the play.

SMITH: The Tigers used to compete only against other deaf schools in the northeast, playing as few as six games a season. Three years ago to help save travel costs, they joined New York's public school league, they've won just once since.

DANNY GUZMAN, SOPHOMORE GUARD (through translator): When I'm playing basketball against hearing kids, I try to read their lips and sometimes it's really hard. I'm watching their body language and that's something I really have to navigate on the court. It's hard. It's definitely hard. Not as easy as if it was with deaf.

MARTIN FLORSCHEIM, PRINCIPAL (through translator): I mean, they're playing against tough schools, yes. I think it's a good experience for them to feel that kind of competition.

GUZMAN (through translator): I think it was a lot easier when I was playing in the deaf school because the teams weren't that hard to beat. Now we're playing in the public school league and it's a little bit harder. The students are better players. It's definitely a bigger challenge.

SMITH: The Tigers now play around 20 games a year, always against teams that are more skilled and athletic, although rarely do they go against one that tries harder. Still the players admit the losing is difficult. Last season they lost a game by 100 points and even that was not nearly as devastating as the one they lost by just three.

ROGERS: They get beat up every week and they come back as charged up as last game. They have the togetherness. I guess that's what really helped them with all the losing.

GUZMAN (through translator): No matter how much we lose by, even if it's a close game or not, he always tries to make us remember, that look, it's only a game, and we're here for each other, we're just here for enjoyment.

SMITH: And that's the victory Rogers seeks. His team doesn't play for cheers they can't hear. They play for much better reasons.

BRANDON WILLIAMS, FRESHMAN GUARD (through translator): I don't know that it matters, deaf or hearing on the court. We're all players and playing the same game.

FLORSCHEIM (through translator): I don't think it matters whether or not they're winning or losing. Honestly, the hearing and deaf are working together. And they're proud. And everyone's equal on the team.

ROGERS: They feel so much. They know what's going on. They know what's going on at all times. They really enjoy it. It's special for them.

SMITH: So, these players may never be able to hear this game the way you do. But you will never be able to feel a game the way they do.

Larry Smith, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Good for them. Nice story, Larry. Closing bell and a wrap of the action on Wall Street straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Yikes, look at that. Calamari, anyone? That's mean. Excitement surrounds a capture on Friday of this giant squid, all 24 feet of it. It happened off Tokyo. Researchers say this may be the first time anyone was photographed the mysterious creature while it was alive. It put up quite a fight but, unfortunately, it died in the process. That is a huge, huge squid. Look at that. Wow.

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