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American Morning
Christmas Day Tornadoes Rip Through Central Florida; Somali Islamic Extremists Heat up a Border War with Ethiopia
Aired December 26, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Nature's fury: Tornadoes tear through central Florida on Christmas Day. More extreme weather expected in other parts of the country this morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: On the road again. Holiday travelers heading back out. We're live with a look at where you may see some slowdowns.
O'BRIEN: And a shopping rush. Gift cards, sales, take backs, draw crowds to the malls once again today. How you can get a deal and keep stress levels low on this AMERICAN MORNING.
One way would be to say right where you are.
CHO: That's right. Keep it tuned here.
O'BRIEN: Right here. Good morning, Tuesday December 26. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho in for Soledad this morning. Thanks for joining us.
O'BRIEN: We begin in Florida where it is cleanup day after a Christmas Day filled with wild weather and tornado touchdowns. Damage and injuries reported in Jacksonville, Daytona, Deland and north of Tampa in San Antonio. CNN's Susan Candiotti is there.
Good morning, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Hi. And adding to the misery, now we're starting to get some rain. Fortunately, those blue tarps come in handy to try to protect the damage to these homes.
Because they are no fatalities, people are calling the aftermath a Christmas Day miracle. I'm at the Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club, about 1,000 homes here in all, 100 of them reporting damage, 15 of those homes condemned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice over): A chorus of chainsaws, not what you expect to hear Christmas morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wind kicked up. And like everybody says, you know, you hear the train coming. That's exactly what it was. CANDIOTTI: Columbia County, west of Jacksonville, hit early. Authorities say a likely twister cut a seven-mile path of destruction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was terrible. My wife was looking out the windows. All she could see was just white.
CANDIOTTI: Damage expected to run at least $3.5 million, yet no serious injuries. Incredibly, for some, a holiday dinner served after all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bird is in the oven. Everything is OK. Everybody is OK. We're going to cook that bird and go in there and enjoy it and thank God we're still alive.
CANDIOTTI: A few hours later, another severe thunderstorm took aim north of Tampa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit so fast with power. It was only, I would say, 45 seconds, and it was gone.
CANDIOTTI: Gone, but not easily forgotten. Strong winds peeled off roofs and uprooted trees in Pasco County. Fortunately, police say, no one critically injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roofs are gone from a lot of these houses, and they're collapsed, there were cars still in the garage. It is just devastating.
CANDIOTTI: In Volusia County, near Daytona Beach, about 50 planes crushed, crumbled and piled on top of each other at internationally known flight school Embry-Riddle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just like a war zone. Embry-Riddle took a beating. It happened here at the apartment complex and further on up. How we didn't lose any lives? God was smiling on us.
CANDIOTTI: Up to 200 mobile homes also damaged in the area, but no lives lost.
BEN JOHNSON, SHERIFF, VOLUSIA COUNTY, FL.: I'm amazed. Absolutely amazed that we didn't, because by all rights, we should have a number of fatalities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: In this community, fortunately most people still have power because the lines are buried underground. But those homes with heavy damage don't have power. It's been cut. And if you have a generator, well, you're in good shape. If not, you're out of luck, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Good thing to have in Florida, for sure. Thank you very much, Susan Candiotti.
CANDIOTTI: OK, thank you.
O'BRIEN: In just a few moments, we're going to talk to a survivor literally swept off his feet during the storm -- Alina.
CHO: Well, if you're trying to get home, some good news. You're cleared to fly in or out of Denver today. That backlog from last week's blizzard is finally straightened out. United Airlines, Denver International's major carrier, brought in more planes and some workers on Christmas Day to get people where they wanted to go.
The storm also delayed packages so delivery trucks were out in force on Christmas, too. Look out for another snowstorm expected in Denver on Thursday. Chad will have the forecast just ahead.
First, though, CNN's Allan Chernoff live at New York's LaGuardia Airport this morning.
Allan, it has been busy morning, hasn't it?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: It certainly has. As a matter of fact, Alina, just about right now there are happy skiers leaving LaGuardia for Denver, hoping to get fresh powder. And I have to say, I certainly do envy them.
Those people will be among, about a million people flying in the United States today. That estimate according to AAA. You have people not only returning from their Christmas holidays, but it seems even more people beginning their winter vacations. If you do want to catch a flight about now, you have got to get to the airport pretty early in the morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got here at -- what time I get here? 5:30?
CHERNOFF (on camera): It's not even 5:30!
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 4:30! I'm sorry, 4:30. I didn't get any sleep. I pulled an all-nighter to get here on time.
CHERNOFF: When is your flight?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 6:00. I'm pushing it.
CHEROFF: What time did you have to get here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, two hours before our 6:00, so 4:00. So we woke up at 3:15. So we slept three hours last night.
CHERNOFF: It will be worth it when you're on the beach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be, big parties.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Party on the beach, sounds pretty good. Here's the really sad part of this story, I'm actually returning from two weeks of vacation. Do you know what I did? I just stayed home with the kids -- Alina.
CHO: Not a bad way to spend a vacation, at all, Allan. CNN's Allan Chernoff at LaGuardia for us. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Although some would say that's not much of a vacation. With kids, that's hard work.
It is December 26th. Only 364 shopping days left until Christmas, folks. What better day to get a bargain? Or trade in that god-awful tie you got from Aunt Millie. CNN's Rusty Dornin, live for us in Atlanta. Even before the stores are open, she is there looking for bargains.
Morning, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: That's right, Sears, North Lake, Atlanta. The doors just opening, just a couple of shoppers coming through the doors. But you know, Miles, for serious shoppers, it's like hunting, the whole experience. This is really opening day of the season.
For those bargain hunters, when you really bag a trophy, the one that people say, where did you get that? And you can say, I only paid half price for it.
But if you come out today, you'd better be prepared to brave the crowds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN (voice over): Combing the malls before Christmas, Arthur Blackman already knows he'll be back, the day after.
ARTHUR BLACKMAN, CHRISTMAS SHOPPER: Yeah, I'll be out that day. Certainly that entire week more likely because you will save a lot on certain items, things like, you know, clothing items and seasonal stuff that you can normally get for a lot less and I can use for the next year.
DORNIN: Anyone brave enough to venture out today will likely show up early. For those returning items, Dawson White of Back Rack Mens' Store, has some advice, tags, tags, and more tags.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the merchandise, we're going to need the tags which are attached to it. Our label, of course, is always on our merchandise, so we know what's ours and what's not. That's the easiest thing about it, the receipt, merchandise and the tags.
DORNIN: Returns might be down ever so slightly this year, because more people are buying gift cards, letting that impossible person to shop for, buy their own gift. And the number of online shoppers also is rising. Gift cards and Internet shopping are up more than 20 percent this year.
How jolly is the season looking overall? Sales are up a mere 5 percent from last year. But that translates into roughly $457 billion. And the National Retailers Federation says it's not over yet.
SCOTT KRUGMAN, NAT'L. RETAILERS FEDERATION: The week after Christmas is becoming an incredibly important part of a retailer's business. It can account from anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of total holiday sales, between returns, gift card redemptions, and clearance sales, retailers are going to see a lot of store traffic. And anytime you are seeing heavy amounts of traffic in the stores, that's an opportunity to make some more sales.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: Now, the crowds really haven't started pouring through the doors here at Sears. I'm here with the David Skates, the store manager.
What are you really seeing, are you seeing? Are you seeing more people returning are you seeing the gift certificates? What are you seeing on the day after Christmas?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're seeing a lot of people bargain hunting today. They're out getting the outerwear, the seasonal stuff. I think they are also using those gift cards they got for Christmas as presents.
DORNIN: What are they really looking for the bargains in? Is it that just that after Christmas stuff, or is it clothes for the rest of the year?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a little bit of everything. But certainly after-Christmas sales, the outerwear. They are looking for all kinds of bargains, the trim shop, the toy left over -- and electronics. A lot of people get cash money and like to spend it after Christmas.
DORNIN: Thank you very much. David Skates at Sears. And we're expecting the crowds to be coming through these doors any minute -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: It's a big day to buy wrapping paper, isn't it? Right, the trim shop?
DORNIN: That's right.
O'BRIEN: That's a big one. Sandy always does that, gets the wrapping paper for next year. It's great to have it laying around all year long.
DORNIN: That's it.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, very much, Rusty. Have fun there.
Alina.
CHO: Look at the stories we're following this morning, a family's Christmas Day shock. A tornado roars through their neighborhood, just as they finish opening presents.
Tensions escalating overnight in Africa. Could the U.S. be drawn into a growing conflict between Islamic rebels in Somalia, and Christian invaders in Ethiopia? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, Boxing Day, more like bulldozing day in Florida. Hundreds wake up to a big weather mess. It seems Mother Nature got the best of Santa Claus in some parts of Jacksonville, Daytona, Deland and north of Tampa. Denny Meyer joins us now from San Antonio, Florida, right beside his house.
That's your house behind there, right?
DENNY MEYER, TORNADO DAMAGED HOME: Yes, it is, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, tell us what happened yesterday. You were enjoying Christmas with your family, and what happened?
MEYER: We had just finished opening presents, and my son and daughter were visiting me. They started toward the back of the house. My wife went in the bedroom. Just then I heard the roar and I looked outside and I saw the palm trees, in the front were pretty much parallel to the ground. I figured this is not good.
And all of a sudden part of my neighbor's lanai, two doors across the street and down from me, came crashing through the dining room window.
O'BRIEN: Whoa!
MEYER: It pretty much blew everything that was in the front of the house to the back. I was thrown in the bedroom, from the foyer area right outside the front door.
O'BRIEN: How about the rest of your family? How'd they fair?
MEYER: Everybody else was fine. My son grabbed my daughter, when he heard it, and threw her down on the ground and jumped on top of her to protect her. My wife was in the bedroom and that was pretty much relatively untouched in that area of the house. So they were OK.
O'BRIEN: Was there much time to even get scared?
MEYER: No, there wasn't. From the time I first heard the sound, until the time I was thrown in the bedroom, I'd estimate probably no more than five seconds.
O'BRIEN: Tell us how much damage you have.
MEYER: Well, I fared probably better than a lot of my neighbors. Some of the neighbors, the roofs are almost completely gone. I just lost a section of the top of my roof and in the back. Mostly the contents inside the house were blown around and the front window was breached. The front door was damaged. But like I said, a lot of my neighbors had a lot more damage than I did, so I consider myself a little bit fortunate.
O'BRIEN: And so, obviously, you are going to rebuild? And are you going to try to pick up where you left off on the Christmas celebrations? Or are you just going to move on?
MEYER: We're going to stay here, but we're going to move on. We'll just, pretty much the presents were opened up, and everything. And we had what was left of Christmas dinner. So, I think we'll just count our blessings and put it behind us.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now, you moved from Cincinnati not too long ago. In Cincinnati you had a close call with a tornado as well? Tell us about that.
MEYER: Yeah, I lived in Loveland, Ohio, and that's right at the Hamilton/Warren border. We had like about a year before we left town, we had a tornado hit up there. And we didn't suffer any structural damage on the house, but the backyard, we had sheds blown apart back there. And I know the neighbor behind me had a 40-foot motor home in his driveway and that was picked up and thrown in through his living room.
O'BRIEN: Whoa!
MEYER: So, I lucked out on that one, too.
O'BRIEN: Not sure I want to be your neighbor, Denny.
MEYER: I know.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about one thing here. Now, you've been through this twice. Do you have a weather radio?
MEYER: Yes, I do.
O'BRIEN: Did it go off yesterday?
MEYER: Actually, I didn't have it on. I probably should have because I know there was a tornado watch, but we were busy opening presents, so I didn't think about the weather radio.
O'BRIEN: All right, Denny. That's a good lesson for us all, I think, to keep that thing on just in case.
MEYER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Denny Meyer, best to your family in the new year. I hope everything goes well as you rebuild.
MEYER: Thank you, Miles, I appreciate it.
O'BRIEN: Good luck to you.
Quarter past the hour. Chad, I am kind of a harp on this weather radio thing, but they do save lives. And they have repeatedly, haven't they?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST, CNN AMERICAN MORNING: And they're not what they used to be, Miles, where it would go off for every county in your state, and you end up hitting the thing off the counter because you get so sick of listening to it talk about every other county that's not yours.
Now, it's completely up to you to program what county you want it to go off for. So, if you had it programmed for Pasco, it would have gone off before. And there was a warning on that storm. In fact, there were warnings on every single tornado before every touchdown yesterday. That's how good all the forecasters did from Melbourne, on up to Jacksonville, and also, down into Tampa. Those forecasters were on top of that rotation yesterday for sure.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: In Africa this morning, an escalating fight in Somalia is raising new concerns for the United States. Right now, troops from Ethiopia are in Somalia fighting Islamic extremists with ties to Al Qaeda. Now, the outcome of that fight could decide whether Somalia, one day, joins Iraq and Afghanistan, as a third front in America's war on terror. CNN's Barbara Starr recently traveled to the region, she joins us live from the Pentagon.
So, Barbara, how likely is it that the U.S. could get dragged into this?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Well, good morning to you, Alina.
The whole goal of the United States is not to get dragged into this war, but it is rapidly becoming very complex. Let's put that map back up for one second.
As you say, this fight right now is between Somalia and Ethiopia, but the U.S. has 1,800 troops sitting right between those two countries, right between Somalia and Ethiopia, in the small French African nation of Jabudi. Those 1,8000 troops mainly do humanitarian relief work, throughout the poorest parts of Africa. They very much plan to stay out of the fight, but, of course, there is concern.
What has really happened her is in the last several months, this Islamic militia has taken over much of Somalia. They are calling for a new jihad. They have ties to Al Qaeda. That has made Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population, very upset, and very concerned about having the jihadist movement on their border.
This video we're showing you, right now, is from our trip. This is where U.S. troops were training Ethiopian commandos in late November, anti-terrorism operations, training them to protect their own border. So, this is a war that the U.S. military had long expected, they are training the Ethiopians, but they certainly hope to stay out of the fight, Alina.
CHO: We know you'll be watching the situation, Barbara. Thank you very much. CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.
O'BRIEN: Coming up, a new tally on Hurricane Katrina puts more heat on the Bush administration for wasting taxpayer money.
And the buzz-worthy movie, "Dreamgirls" is a story that's actually much closer to reality. We'll take a look at what inspired the film ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
("DREAMGIRLS" MOVIE CLIP)
CHO: Makes you want to sing along, doesn't it? That's a scene from the new movie musical, "Dreamgirls," both the new film and the '80s Broadway musical were inspired by the story of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Now one of the original Supremes is weighing in. CNN's Sibila Vargas has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING (voice over): Long before Beyonce and Jennifer, and Anicka (ph) were the big-screen Dreams, Diana, Florence and Mary were the real-life Supremes.
MARY WILSON, "THE SUPREMES": It still ended up being closer to the truth than what I think even they imagined.
VARGAS: Mary Wilson, who along with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard made up the iconic '60s girl group, says that "Dreamgirls," both the 1981 Broadway musical, and the new feature film is the story of The Supremes.
WILSON: Jamie Foxx took a liking to this group, "The Dreams" and really changed their lives, made them stars. The same thing happened to the Supremes by us going to Motown and Barry Gordy, obviously, taking us under his wing, and grooming us, and you know, we became super stars.
(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ginna is going to sing lead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ginna is doing what?
(END MOVIE CLIP)
WILSON: It is uncanny, because in the movie the manager wanted there to be a crossover effect, and the heavier girl, and the gospel voice, was not what he thought could take it to that point. In our group, the same thing happened.
Florence Ballard was our original lead singer. Barry chose Diana Ross to be the main singer. The problem was is that Florence, who had this great voice, was no longer able to sing. It was that, that kind of drove her to be extremely unhappy, and eventually she was asked to leave the group.
VARGAS (on camera): This is where the similarities between the Supremes and Dreams end. Both Broadway and Hollywood did what life, sadly, could not.
WILSON: Unlike the movie, Florence Ballard actually ended up dying.
VARGAS: Ballard's death isn't the only departure from the film. On screen we leave the Dreams reconciled, real life has offered the remaining Supremes a different outcome.
WILSON: You know, one day maybe, hopefully Diane and I will be able to bridge that gap.
VARGAS (voice over): Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: "Dreamgirls" has been nominated for five Golden Globe awards, including best musical or comedy motion picture. Got to get out there and see it that.
O'BRIEN: I want to see that on.
CHO: Yes.
O'BRIEN: A new count of the wasted money that was supposed to help with the rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. You're not going to like what you hear. But Ali Velshi has got the bitter medicine for you. It's 25 minutes past the hour.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning.
We know there was some waste after Katrina. We're now looking at estimates from the government, from the federal auditors, amounting to more than $2 billion. A billion of that was fraudulent aid, usually having to do with housing. People claiming that they needed housing assistance.
The other billion, or more, that we are looking at are these no- bid contracts. A lot of really, really big contracts that were awarded to companies, without adequate competition. Four of them, in particular, are being looked at. They were initially worth about $400 million. Now, they're worth more than $3 billion.
Again, not bid out, and to companies in particular, four companies that had strong connections to the government. That doesn't mean that they were wrong. It just means they weren't bid. If you're going to give your buddy the job, you're need to make sure your buddy is the best one for the job.
O'BRIEN: Correct me if I'm wrong, but in some cases, when you really have to get work done quickly, you can bypass some of that bidding.
VELSHI: That's correct. That's the criticism. It is not that -- the government was under criticism to get everything done. So they acted fast to get things done, that might have been the excuse. But a lot of people are saying, now, at least, let's put things in place where we at least have pre-negotiated prices for basic supplies, cleanup. The government needs to think ahead in potential disaster areas.
The other story about Katrina, is that I was reading through "The Wall Street Journal" this weekend, Allstate has taken out an ad on the back page of "The Wall Street Journal". It talks about how much Allstate is doing for New Orleans, helping bring back the Super Bowl to the Super Dome. Paying out about $1.4 billion in claims.
I just want to remind everybody that Allstate, and some of the other insurance companies, have done everything possible to deny many, many claims from people, because of technicalities about wind versus water.
We've all seen a lot of these properties. That technicality may be valid, but we've all seen a lot of people -- where most people think that was a hurricane that damaged their home. A lot of people are not getting paid out. I guess, Allstate is trying to remind people they're good corporate citizens. They have some work to do if they want to rebuild that.
O'BRIEN: In those people's homes, I suspect, it will be lining the bird cage, in some cases.
VELSHI: That's exactly right.
O'BRIEN: Because that's kind of a tough one.
VELSHI: It's a touchy subject.
O'BRIEN: What's else you have coming up?
VELSHI: I'm going to talk about that you're going to start getting ads, commercials on your cell phone.
O'BRIEN: Ooh, boy, I can hardly wait.
VELSHI: Yeah, I'll tell you about that later on.
CHO: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
O'BRIEN: Who do you turn to for advice in the office? Some corporations are bringing in religious professionals to lend an ear, and they say it's good for business. What's next in Iraq? President Bush thinking about it still, but Democratic Senator Joe Biden isn't waiting to hear the answer. He's with us, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Iraq is just one of the key issues President Bush and the new Congress will confront in the new year.
CNN's Bob Franken joins us now from Washington with a look at the debate happening right now.
Hey, Bob. Good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
The president is off to Crawford and the ranch, but it's certainly not going to be all wood chopping. He's going to be meeting about Iraq, the very, very hard situation there, and the hard realities that he'll face when he comes back to Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): Right now Washington is so quiet. It's the holiday lull. But in Iraq, there is no lull. The violence continues, as U.S. leaders continue to look for ways out sooner or later. At Crawford, the president will huddle with his national security team as he tries to devise a new strategy on Iraq while trying to keep the old promise not to leave prematurely.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: I want our troops to know the that while the coming year will bring change, one thing will not change, and that is our nation's support for you and the vital work you do achieve a victory in Iraq.
FRANKEN: The president actively is considering a so-called surge in military units. The Democrats, who are about to take over control of Congress, were elected in great part because their constituents want troops out of Iraq. They'll need their own ideas, because they can no longer simply criticize. They'll also be anxious to show they can get other things done. New speaker Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues will try to jam through an agenda the first 100 hours of business that includes a new higher minimum wage. Good chance. Fully complementing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Fat chance. Legislation that would authorize the federal government to negotiate prices with the companies for Medicare. Don't hold your breath. Even with all that talk of bipartisanship.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, INCOMING HOUSE SPEAKER: We've made history. Now we have to make progress, and I look forward to working with the president to do just that.
FRANKEN: Meanwhile there's no shortage of presidential candidates. John Edwards is expected to try and maximize attention by announcing his candidacy from hurricane-devastated New Orleans, in what is generally a slow news week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: But imagine this, Alina, there are actually some people who believe that 2007 will be more than just the opening act of 2008.
CHO: All right, CNN's Bob Franken in Washington for us. Bob, thanks.
O'BRIEN: While the president ponders his strategy for Iraq, Democrats, who will take control of Congress shortly, are considering theirs. The incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a man who'd like to be commander in chief himself, joining us now to talk about that. Delaware Democrat Joe Biden joining us from Wilmington.
Hope you had a good Christmas, Senator. Good to have you with us.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: I did, Miles. I hope you did as well.
O'BRIEN: I did. Thank you.
I want to share with you a couple opinions from members of the Senate, on the other side of the aisle, as they say, about this notion of a surge of troops in Iraq. First of all, Lindsey Graham, who on the ABC program "This Week" on Sunday said this, "The security environment in Baghdad has very much deteriorated. You're not going to have a political solution with this much violence. So the surge of troops is, I think, is very necessary." He just go back from Iraq.
And then listen to Senator McCain not too long ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'd like to say that I believe conditions have improved. Certainly in Baghdad they have not. I believe that there is still a compelling reason to have an increase in troops here in Baghdad and in Anbar province in order to bring the sectarian violence under control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Do you see compelling reasons for a surge in troops?
BIDEN: Well, no I don't. I think there's a compelling reason for a political settlement. I think my friends -- I've been there seven times as well into Baghdad, as recently as this summer. And the time has passed for additional troops. If we had 100,000 troops to put in there three years ago, things would be very different. And if we had listened to the generals three years ago they'd be different. We should listen to the generals now, Miles. The generals say we don't need more troops. It's not going to work. We've tried it already. We surged this summer.
O'BRIEN: The generals are now saying they would accept more troops in Iraq.
BIDEN: No, it's very interesting. If you notice General Abizaid going out says no. General Chiarelli, the No. 2 guy, says no. Now you have General Casey saying, I will accept more troops. That sounds to me like a man who is listening to his commander in chief, saying you're going to get more troops. There is no overall call for more troops, and the Baker -- the bipartisan Baker/Hamilton Commission came along and said more troops is not the answer. We should be doing the opposite. We should be drawing down troops gradually, forcing the Iraqis to meet their own needs to end this civil war by a political agreement. If you don't do that...
O'BRIEN: But you're in a classic chicken-and-egg problem here.
BIDEN: Right.
O'BRIEN: Because any sort of political solution requires an end to the violence, or the at least a de-escalation to the violence. And what we're seeing is just the opposite. So how do you get out of that cycle?
BIDEN: I would argue you've got the egg before the chicken. The fact of the matter is, the reason why there's continued violence is because there is no political accommodation. As long as the Iraqis know that we're going to stay there, there is no overwhelming need for the Shia to get their act together and deal with Sadr. As long as there is no worry that we're going to be drawing down troops, the Sunnis don't have to make accommodations they need to make. We cannot want peace more than the Iraqis. And 30,000, Miles, 20,000 to 30.000 troops, we did that before, three times. We did it as recently as this summer. And here's why it doesn't work -- our troops go in. They clear neighborhoods. The bad guys leave. We can't stay long enough. Then we leave, put in Iraqis. The Iraqis are infiltrated. The bad guys come back in and everything breaks out all over again. We don't have enough troops to do it.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about -- how would you do -- let's get specific then. How would you create a political solution here? I mean, do you really think the government of Nuri Al-Maliki, the prime minister, is up to the challenge here?
BIDEN: Well, let me put it this way, let's assume it isn't up to the challenge. How does putting 30,000 troops move him up to the challenge, No. 1. No. 2 ...
O'BRIEN: Let's put that aside, though. Let's just talk about how you would create a political solution.
BIDEN: OK, the way you create a political solution is let the Iraqi constitution work. You let them and we encourage them to move into federal regions, which their constitution calls for. Article one of their constitution, the Iraqi constitution, says "We are a federal system." And this federal system allows the local federal jurisdictions, the states, in effect, within Iraq, the governates, to have their own local police forces. They can protect themselves with their own local police forces. Allow that to take place.
Secondly, move in and get the Kurds and the Shia to agree on what was promised in the constitution, giving the Sunnis a piece of the oil. They have no revenues in the Sunni Triangle. Give them a piece of the oil revenues. Oil should be used as the glue to hold this country together rather than split it apart. And make it clear them, we're not going to stay there forever while they try to work out these two accommodations. They better get going, because we can not save them from themselves.
O'BRIEN: Senator, won't that lead to the breakup of Iraq as we know it, though? Isn't that -- you don't call it partitioning. A lot of people would say that's a partition.
BIDEN: Well, it's not partitioning. It's what their constitution calls for. Their constitution, Miles, said, we are a loosely federated system, that we, in fact, can allow to have any region have local control over the police, local control over the law. It's just like the state of New York, the state of Pennsylvania, the state of California has their own state troopers, et cetera.
But the real key here, Miles, is you've got to give some resources to each of these regions. A little bit like -- you know, let me put it this way. The Iraqi constitution doesn't even allow the central government to tax; it has no taxation power. Doesn't that tell you something about how they envisioned this country to be? And you've got to give them breathing room, just like we did in Bosnia. We've had roughly 30,000 troops there 10 years. Thank God none of them have been killed. Why? You gave each of these groups breathing room. And now after 10 years in Bosnia, they're coming back together again. You want to hold Iraq together, you better give them some breathing room.
O'BRIEN: Senator Joe Biden, thanks for your time. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
BIDEN: Thank you very much, Miles. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: All right -- Alina.
CHO: We want to update you on a developing story we're watching very closely here. Up to 200 people are dead in a pipeline explosion in Nigeria. Forty-five others are injured. Apparently thieves trying to steal fuel triggered that blast. It's a common practice there. Again, 200 people dead in a pipeline explosion in Nigeria. We will have much more on this developing story as more information comes in.
Coming up, another big snowstorm in the forecast for Denver. Chad has the latest just ahead.
And a plane crashes overnight in Georgia, killing all three aboard. We'll tell you what happened.
And who do you turn to for moral support at the office? Some companies are hiring professional listeners for that job. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHO: A growing number of American companies are providing workers with a different kind of resource. They're actually hiring chaplains as coworkers.
AMERICAN MORNING's faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, real good.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At her snack factory in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, you have potato sorters, chip line workers, pretzel people and a chaplain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's it going?
GALLAGHER: Five chaplains actually.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is that hand holding up?
GALLAGHER: Their head is Don Kreider, one of a growing number of workplace chaplains.
DON KREIDER, MARKETPLACE CHAPLAINS USA: We go around and greet people as they work, ask them how they're doing, see if there are any issues that they might be concerned about.
GALLAGHER: They also preside over funerals, weddings and make home and hospital visits.
MISSY TWYMAN, QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER: My mother, who's 76, became quickly ill, suddenly ill and was in the hospital. He asked if I would mind if he came up to see my mother. I said absolutely not. It was nice, and he went up and he had the visit with my mom.
GALLAGHER: Quality assurance manager Missy Twyman says the program has not only helped her family, she says it's brought her closer God.
TWYMAN: It strengthened my Christianity; it strengthened me.
GALLAGHER: Chaplain Don insists that's not the goal of the program.
KREIDER: Our primary mission is to care for people. We want to show love and concern for those employees.
GALLAGHER: The chaplains at Herr's (ph) are employed by a nonprofit Christian organization that has ministers in about 300 companies nationwide.
KREIDER: How is everybody doing? Baby doing OK?
GALLAGHER: Don says their on hand for people of all faiths, not just Christians, and the chaplains only talk religion with workers who bring it up.
But Jeremy Grueber of the National Work Rights Institute is wary of corporate chaplain programs.
JEREMY GRUEBER, NATIONAL WORKRIGHTS INST.: The idea that the practices of the corporate chaplains in all instances are completely egalitarian, that the line is never crossed is a difficult case to make.
KREIDER: We are not pushy, and we're just available to love people, and I'd say give us a try and see what we do, because we certainly do not force religion on anyone.
GALLAGHER: The organization that employs Don believes Americans have become more spiritual since 9/11, and it plans to be in 45 states by next year.
KREIDER: You have a good day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You too, Don.
KREIDER: See you later.
GALLAGHER: Delia Gallagher, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Just ahead this morning, some new research on kids and food allergies. Could eating a little bit about what troubles them actually help them overcome the allergy? A radical new approach coming up.
And if you need another incentive to drop some pounds, well we have one for you. Dr. Sanjay Gupta pays us a house call just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHO: Welcome back.
In health news this morning, an experiment to help children combat food allergies. Doctors at Duke University are having kids eat small amounts of the foods to build up their tolerance. In the pilot study, they're closely monitoring children allergic to eggs and peanuts. It appears to be working for some of them. The report is coming out in the "Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology."
A super gene that helps people live to at least 90 might also help ward off Alzheimer's. A study shows that people with the gene appeared to age more strongly, Had a stronger resistance to heart disease and had a much higher chance of living without developing dementia. The study is from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
O'BRIEN: Another new study may give men another incentive to drop some pounds in the New Year. It's resolution time. It says men who can lose weight can lower their risk of prostate cancer. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us with that.
Good morning, Sanjay.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
A bit of a double whammy here. They find that this new study finds that men who weigh too much actually have an increased risk of prostate cancer, like you mentioned, but specifically one of the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer. I want to break that down for you a little bit. First of all, a couple of facts. Prostate cancer, as a lot of people know, a fairly common cancer.
I think we've got the wrong graphic up there.
I'll tell you a couple things. It's the third leading cause of cancer deaths in men; 234,000 new cases in 2006. About one in six men will get prostate cancer. One in 34 will die from the disease. So it can be a fairly benign disease, but still something a lot of people are concerned about. They've been studying this for quite some time. They know several factors play a role. Your age does, your ethnicity does, your family history does, and your diet does. They've long suspected that how much you weigh, your body-mass index, probably plays a role as well, but they haven't been able to prove it until now, in a study of 70,000 men that were actually followed over 10 years, and what they found was that men who had an increased body mass index actually was linked to the increased risk for the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer. And the good news was that men who lost at least 11 pounds, no matter where they started, reduced that risk by half. So some good news, bad news in there, Miles.
Just a couple points much reference here for people saying, well, what is overweight, what is obese? We go through this a lot. It's measured by body mass index, which admittedly is not a perfect scale, but here's a little bit of a frame of reference -- 5'10 inches, weighed about 180 pounds. That puts your BMI at 25. That's considered overweight. Obese, 5'10" who weights about 220 pounds. That puts you at 31.16.
So if you're watching this and thinking, well, where do I stand, to get a sense of that? And how much do I have to lose? About 11 pounds seems to work, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, I'm doing the math right now on me. And while I'm doing that...
GUPTA: You're tall and skinny. You've got it made. O'BRIEN: But I'm not going to share everything with you on that.
The question is, you say, it doesn't matter what weight you start at, but does it matter when you start losing that weight?
GUPTA: It doesn't seem to. I think if they carried the study out further -- this was a 10-year study of 70,000 men, if they stratified it a little bit more, they might find that if you lose weight early on, you're going to have better chance of success in terms of reducing that risk.
What seemed to be the best, and no surprise here, is that never having the additional weight in the first place seemed to be the most protective. So people who are watching who are a good weight now, not adding those pounds ever, significantly reduces your chance of prostate cancer.
O'BRIEN: So don't make it your New Year's resolution to gain weight, for sure. Not that anybody would do that.
And just quickly, any other cancers that might be affected the same way?
GUPTA: Well, it seems to be. We don't know for sure. And we believed for a long time that prostate cancer was affected, and now this proved it. I think that there's going to be other studies that have shown that body mass index is linked to other cancers as well. What happens it seems to increase the amount of an insulin growth factor in your bloodstream if you weigh too much, and that seems to fuel the growth of tumors, knock the weight down, knock that growth factor down, and makes you protect it, at least somewhat.
O'BRIEN: All right, another reason to not order that dessert. Thank you very much, Sanjay Gupta.
You'll be back with more on your autism series in just a little bit.
GUPTA: Yes, excited about that, in just about an hour.
O'BRIEN: Yes, looking forward to seeing that in about an hour -- Alina.
CHO: All right, still to come this morning, extreme weather delivering a Christmas blitz. Pictures coming in of the damage left behind by powerful tornadoes in central Florida. And guess what? More snow in Denver is coming. Chad updates the forecast for another snowstorm this week.
An outrage from James Brown's widow. She's locked out of the house she shared with her late husband. We'll have her side of the story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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