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American Morning
Gerald R. Ford: 1913-2006; Is Denver International Airport Ready?; Millions of Muslims Making Annual Pilgrimage to Mecca
Aired December 27, 2006 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Elaine Quijano, we interrupted you right before we began this, but generally speaking, that is -- there are no better words to say about any individual, in particular this president.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The highest of praise, really, is what we heard from President Bush just a moment ago in a rare appearance from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, speaking in the hangar from Marine One there.
The president, as you noted, saying that he spoke with Betty Ford, first of all, and offered prayers and condolences, but also noting the life of Gerald Ford, saying that he was a person who devoted the best years of his life to serving the United States. The president noted his time in the U.S. Navy, as well as a congressman from Michigan. And the president said that for a nation that needed healing, Gerald Ford essentially came at a time when the nation needed him most.
The president also using the words "honorable," using words like "integrity" to describe Gerald Ford. Saying today that, of course, the country is mourning the loss of his -- of him as a leader -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano in Crawford, Texas -- near Crawford, Texas.
Thank you.
Ted Rowlands is at the Ford family home in Rancho Mirage, California.
Ted, I know that the family has been working and reviewing the plans for two funerals. Do we know anything more yet?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't. We expect more information later this morning in -- here in California. They're expected to announce the exact schedule of events of what will happen.
We do know that the former president will lie in repose here in Rancho Mirage and then in Washington, D.C. There will be a funeral in Washington, D.C. And then he will lie in repose in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and there will be a funeral there, a private ceremony before he is laid to rest in his hometown. Now, overnight in Grand Rapids people have been coming out and leaving flowers and candles, paying their respects for the former president. That has happened throughout the night there.
People have come out, and we expect once the sun comes up here in California that well-wishers will make their way towards the Ford home. And then, when they are given the opportunity, when he's lying in repose, we expect huge crowds here in California, in Washington, and then again in Michigan -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ted Rowlands in Rancho Mirage.
Thank you -- Alina.
CHO: We're going to head now about 130 miles west of Rancho Mirage, California, to Los Angeles. That's where we find CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider with a closer look at the legacy of Gerald Ford.
We talked a bit earlier about this, but, Bill, you know, in an age of partisan politics, Ford really was a man of the center, wasn't he?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: He was. He was a very traditional Republican. Not a harsh partisan. He got along with Democrats, even though he was confronted by a very aggressive Democratic Congress after the 1974 midterm, which happened just before he became president -- or just after he became president. And he issued a lot of vetoes as president.
Nevertheless, he was always a man of good faith, goodwill towards Democrats, as well as Republicans. Very much a centrist. And I would say his failure to win election narrowly in 1976 and then Jimmy Carter's failure after him to get re-elected as president, I think in many ways that demonstrated to a lot of voters that the center was not holding in American politics. They wanted something stronger, something more well defined, ideologically, and that brought in Ronald Reagan.
CHO: Bill, give us a bit of a history lesson because, as you know, he came into office, was never elected, trying to restore honesty and truth in government. But a month after he came into office he pardoned Richard Nixon. So tell us exactly how that affected his presidency.
SCHNEIDER: Well, he was one month into his presidency. He came into office when Nixon resigned in August 1974, and then in mid- September he issued the unconditional pardon. And this just created a firestorm.
Those of us around to cover that remember all the outpouring of anger, really a lot of it directed at Gerald Ford, the president. That ended his honeymoon with a very sharp stroke, and from then on, you know, he was a very -- he was controversial, but I would say the controversy began to diminish over time as a lot of Americans came to understand what he said -- what he meant when he said, "Our long national nightmare is over."
He was trying to spare the country a very divisive, embittering experience of putting a former president through and putting the country through the criminal trial of a former president. A lot of people think that pardon cost him the election in 1976, which, as I say, he very narrowly lost.
It could have been some other blunders in the debate in 1976 with Jimmy Carter. He prematurely liberated Eastern Europe from Soviet domination. But the pardon remains his signature move and his most controversial move, although I think the controversy has diminished certainly over time.
CHO: Bill Schneider in Los Angeles for us.
Bill, thank you so much.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Let's continue our discussion here. Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, is here.
Jeff, let's pick up our discussion where we left it last hour. We were talking about Ronald Reagan and 1976.
You know, after the pardon, of course, Gerald Ford's popularity went way down. But he was able to run a very close election ultimately with Jimmy Carter, but it was a bruising primary with Ronald Reagan attempting to get the nomination.
That was critical, wasn't it?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: That was the closest any modern president has come to losing re-nomination. There have been challenges, you know, in the past, but never one this close.
Ford used all the power of his incumbency, he was forced to dump Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president in favor of Robert Dole, who was back then considered a conservative favorite. Reagan came within a few dozen votes at the '76 convention. He was swept through the later primaries and did not campaign all that enthusiastically for Gerald Ford, something that Ford had some, if not bitterness, some resentment actually, and that might have helped him.
So that was -- that bruising primary fight I think is one of the reasons why Ford lost. A very close election to Ford. He came back from a huge deficit and almost caught Carter at the end.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's fast forward four years to Detroit...
GREENFIELD: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... and this amazing backroom scene which obviously filtered out into the public about this possibility of a Reagan-Ford ticket. GREENFIELD: Yes. I have a feeling it never was actually going to happen, but Reagan's dissatisfaction with George Herbert Walker Bush as his running mate -- he was the logical choice, he had come in second -- the thing again, it took on a life of its own.
If you read that history, some of Ford's old hands thought, hey, this is a way to get back into power. There were negotiations, intense at times, between the Reagan and Ford people, well, how much will Gerald Ford have a clear role? Will he take over foreign policy? Will he take over budget?
And at the end, not only did Gerald Ford think, "I don't know," but I think in retrospect it would have been a disaster. It looked like a dream ticket but the signal it would have sent was that Ronald Reagan wasn't confident enough to run his own presidency. So it was probably a blessing politically that it didn't happen.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. It was interesting to see that whole thing unfold. Ultimately, were those two men friends?
GREENFIELD: I don't think you'd ever call them friends. I think Ford's resentment or feeling that Reagan could have done more by 1980 had dissipated because Ford was -- also, Ford was determined to beat Jimmy Carter, the man who beat him. At the end, they became very close.
In the same sense that the first President Bush and Clinton worked together, Ford and Carter wound up doing a lot of kind of good government things, talking about government reform, electoral reform. So actually, I think they became closer than Ford and Reagan did in some sense.
O'BRIEN: A final thought here. A couple of key players in the current White House, or -- of course Rumsfeld just left, but Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld cut their teeth in the White House in the Ford years. That has an impact on how this White House has unfolded, doesn't it?
GREENFIELD: Well, in one clear sense, Dick Cheney was Gerald Ford's chief of staff. I think the youngest chief of staff at the time, when Rumsfeld was the youngest defense secretary ever. He wound up becoming the oldest.
Cheney saw the executive power being really challenged by a Congress that was determined to say after Watergate, we're taking a lot of power back over things like the conduct of intelligence. And even the Vietnam War ended, in part, because the Congress said, enough.
Cheney, I think, if you see his role today as the most ardent supporter of what some people would say was virtually unlimited executive power, at least in international affairs, I think the experience of Dick Cheney as Gerald Ford's chief of staff, seeing a president hamstrung by the Congress, in his view, explains one reason why Cheney more than anybody else has said there are almost no limits about what a president can do here. So, yes, we're living with that today.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. Jeff Greenfield, our senior analyst.
Appreciate it.
GREENFIELD: OK.
O'BRIEN: Alina.
CHO: I think it's safe to say that every newspaper in America today will be leading with the death of Gerald Ford.
He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but he moved shortly after his birth to Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's because his mother divorced Ford's father there.
And the headline from the paper there in "The Grand Rapids Press," "He Saved a Nation." Not an understatement.
Ford's museum is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the plan is for him to be buried in the courtyard of the museum there. His presidential library, by the way, is in Ann arbor, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan.
And both the library and the museum, by the way, will have extended hours so Americans can go in there, pay their respects and sign condolence books.
In the nation's capital, the headline from "The Washington Post," "Gerald R. Ford, 93, Dies, Led in Watergate's Wake," referring, of course, to his presidency after Nixon resigned.
Although Ford served for over 25 years in Washington, his presidency lasted for only two and a half years, just 29 months. And he felt the highs of a 71 percent approval rating, and then a month into office, when he pardoned President Nixon, his approval ratings plummeted to just 36 percent.
And be sure to catch a very special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. Larry will be back looking at the very special life and career of Gerald Ford. That's "LARRY KING LIVE," tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time.
O'BRIEN: Another big story we're following this morning, the Mile High City bracing for its second blizzard in a week. Up to two feet of snow could fall again starting tomorrow.
Last week's whiteout crippled Denver International Airport. The so-called all-weather airport stranding thousands of passengers. The airport had to close for two days, leaving some to wonder if DIA can handle another round.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice over): It was built to handle the tough Rocky Mountain winter, but Denver International Airport did not pass this acid test. When last week's blizzard dumped two feet of snow on the city, DIA was MIA.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were getting cranky. We were stuck on the flight for eight hours. You know, it was not fun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping you can get me to Jacksonville.
O'BRIEN: With snowdrifts as high as 12 feet, airport managers had no choice. The airport was shut down. Sixteen hundred flights canceled on Thursday alone. It left some 4,700 air travelers stranded, 3,500 of them spent the night at the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously you wonder, are they doing everything they can?
O'BRIEN: Airport officials insist they were doing everything they could, literally moving mountains of snow.
CHUCK CANNON, DIA SPOKESMAN: We think we did a good job, as good as we could have in a blizzard that essentially paralyzed all of eastern Colorado. We think we got -- we handled it pretty well, but we'll look at everything and decide if there's something we should do -- change in the future.
O'BRIEN: Now with another huge storm gathering and another holiday travel weekend ahead, is Denver's airport ready?
CANNON: The forecasts say anything from three inches to -- that's the best case -- up to 20 inches, which is worst case. So you kind of have to deal with it as it comes, but you need to make sure everyone is prepared for the worst case. And we'll try to deal with that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right, so anywhere between three and 20 inches. If you're trying to do the over-under on this, it's going to be a tough bet.
About 12 minutes past the hour. Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center.
You're somewhere in the middle on this, aren't you?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think the hovers are around 12.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Still to come, some other stories making headlines this morning, including millions of Muslims making their annual pilgrimage to Mecca. As we speak, the annual Hajj.
We're live in Mecca right after the break. Stay with us.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHO: Some developing stories we're watching this morning.
Ethiopian soldiers poised to take back Somalia's capital city from Islamic extremists with ties to al Qaeda.
The U.S. military not saying when it will surrender Saddam Hussein to Iraqi authorities. An Iraqi court has ordered Hussein to be executed within 30 days -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Millions of Muslims are making their annual pilgrimage to Mecca as we speak. It is the annual Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
The faith calls for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives. Security and crowd control are once again big issues. Last year, 350 pilgrims died in a stampede.
CNN State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee reports from Mecca.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Getting fit to handle the Hajj -- 50,000 security forces mobilized to protect pilgrims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have only -- the target is safety of the Hajj.
VERJEE: Brimming in thick pads to soften body blows at a deadly ritual site. Emergency medical teams ready to react. Separations of the ritual sites in the deserts beyond Mecca.
For the head of Hajj security, crowd control is the key and using brand-new traffic lights could help direct flow.
GEN. MANSOUR AL-TURKI, HAJJ SECURITY CHIEF: Because when you make people stop with the huge crowd, people pushing each other, luggage fall down, then it might create a hazardous situation.
VERJEE: Like this. At the last Hajj a deadly stampede killed about 350 pilgrims as they were performing a ritual rejection of evil.
(on camera): It's been here on the Jamarat Bridge where the stampedes happened. To prevent that, the Saudi government has invested $1.5 billion in this huge construction project. They've created two new entry points for pilgrims to enter, they've made the bridge wider, and they're creating more levels. All of this to ensure the smooth flow of pilgrims to stone those pillars.
(voice over): Major General Mansour al-Turki is watching everything carefully. The nerve center of security's command and control, a state-of-the-art state of the Hajj. Instant images from 1,400 cameras eying Mecca and the ritual sites.
MANSOUR: Here you look for the crowd density. You look for the flow of crowds through the network (ph).
VERJEE: New software zooms in to inspect, and if there's a problem it's e-mailed out to a field commander to check out.
MANSOUR: They are also supported by helicopters, helicopters provided with cameras which send instant data.
VERJEE: The men in the control room are on alert for any suspicious activity. General Mansour says the Saudis will handle security but the pilgrims must help with safety.
MANSOUR: If people insist that they want to do it their way, then they put themselves in danger and they put other pilgrims in danger and they put us in a bad situation.
VERJEE: A situation these young men must be prepared to face.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That was CNN's Zain Verjee reporting from Mecca.
The Hajj starts on Thursday -- Alina.
CHO: Tomorrow, fans will get to pay tribute to James Brown at the famed Apollo Theater in New York, where his body will lie in repose. Most knew James Brown, who died Christmas morning at the age of 73, as the "Godfather of Soul," the hardest-working man in show business. But Brown is also being remembered for his work in politics.
More now from CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice over): The "Godfather of Soul" had political soul, too. We all know James Brown's funky musical moves. How about his funky political moves? Like his 1972 White House meeting with President Richard Nixon?
Eat your heart out, Elvis. The meeting with Brown was preserved on the White House audiotapes. The president and the "Godfather of Soul" discussed the memorial to Martin Luther King Jr.
RICHARD NIXON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... a big project in Atlanta to make his birthplace a monument...
SCHNEIDER: James Brown was proud of his political connections.
FRANK COPSIDAS, JAMES BROWN'S AGENT: He performed for every president from Richard Nixon through our president today. And he was very proud of that, as well.
SCHNEIDER: Brown and Al Sharpton visited President Ronald Reagan in 1982. President Clinton identified with the rock star at this 1997 Congressional Black Caucus dinner. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am profoundly grateful to the Congressional Black Caucus for making a dream of a lifetime come true. I am the opening act for James Brown.
SCHNEIDER: He identified with Brown's politics, too.
CLINTON: One of James Brown's songs, he says, "I don't want nobody to give me nothing. Just open up the door. I'll get it myself."
SCHNEIDER: In the 1960s, James Brown had a powerful influence on black consciousness. He didn't act white. He was black and proud. In fact, he invented that phrase in his 1968 song, "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud."
That year, Brown went to Vietnam to perform for the troops.
In 2003, when Colin Powell presented Brown with a Kennedy Center Honor, the secretary of state recalled Brown's soul music pouring out of army hooches in Vietnam.
In 1968, a "Look" magazine cover story asked, "Is he the most important black man in America?" That was after the King assassination, when Brown gave a concert in Boston and spoke out against rioting. He's credited for helping prevent violence that night.
At the Kennedy Center three years ago, Brown offered this advice...
JAMES BROWN, SINGER: I've been out on the town, and there's one thing I've found. If you want to get down, find James Brown.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): Good advice for politicians, as well as music lovers.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: The one and only James Brown.
All right. Some of the other stories we're covering for you this morning.
A big shakeup for British prime minister Tony Blair. And get this, it has nothing to do with politics.
We'll have that story for you next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, British prime minister Tony Blair on board a packed 747 as it skidded off a runway in Miami last night. No one hurt. Some runway lights damaged. Denver bracing for its second major storm in a week. Blizzard conditions and somewhere between a few inches and a few feet of snow expected starting tomorrow.
CHO: A piece of a U.S. airline is bought by a company from Iceland.
Twenty-five minutes after the hour, Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
So what's going on here?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can't say I know much about Iceland. I didn't know they had companies that were buying up pieces of U.S. airlines.
But American Airlines, about six percent of the airline is now owned by a company out of Iceland. They've been buying it up over some time, actually. This is a company that owns about a quarter of Finnair. So it's a, you know, pretty big company.
They say that they just like American Airlines. This is a company that a few years ago shares were trading under a dollar. It was a real chance that this company was going to go bankrupt. It now is the world's biggest airline. And for people who think that airlines have some future, American Airlines apparently seems to be a good option.
O'BRIEN: Iceland, maybe they'll attach some reindeer.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I don't know.
VELSHI: This company was saying, by the way, it doesn't mean that they think there's going to be a whole lot of consolidation, because that's what we've been talking about in the U.S. airline industry.
CHO: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: But they think it will happen eventually, and American Airlines is a good bet.
CHO: It's been a warm winter throughout much of the...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes. Well, listen, let me tell you -- Miles knows being from New England, and I grew up in Canada. I've got no issue with snow. I like snow. I like lots of snow, and I keep fantasizing about spending a New Year's Eve in a log cabin somewhere away from people and snowed in.
You can't find any around here. Folks in Denver aren't going to appreciate this, but there's no snow around here. O'BRIEN: Get on a plane and go to Denver. You don't want to do that.
VELSHI: I may have to do that.
You know, around here when people want to go skiing, if you're really ambitious you go up to New England. But if you just want something an hour or two away, you go to Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania resorts usually get 60 to 70 inches of snow by this time. Seven to 10 inches. A bunch of them closed.
O'BRIEN: Yes, most of them aren't open.
VELSHI: Yes, a couple of them have like one or two...
O'BRIEN: A couple.
VELSHI: ... and that's it. Like, you're snowing (ph) on the snow that they have made, and then you're on the grass or on the stone. So it's actually affecting a lot of business.
O'BRIEN: Wasn't one of them burning skis...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: On Friday, in fact, yes, they're going to be burning skis. It's called a sacrifice to the snow gods. This is going to be at Bear Mountain Creek. They're going to try to invoke the snow.
O'BRIEN: All right.
VELSHI: There you go.
O'BRIEN: We wish them well.
CHO: All right, Ali. Thank you.
VELSHI: Good to see you guys.
CHO: Maybe head to the beach for New Year's. That might be an option.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Coming up, more on the top stories that we are covering for you.
Remembering Gerald Ford. Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas will share her memories of the late president.
And could U.S. troops be heading back to Somalia? CNN Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr will join us for that.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A distinguished long life over, former President Gerald Ford dead this morning at the age of 93. Live reports across the country, funeral plans, and a look at his legacy from a legendary journalist who covered him in the White House.
CHO: A developing story we're watching this morning, the fight against Islamic extremists with ties to al Qaeda ramping up in Somalia. Could the U.S. be drawn back into the country notorious in the minds of many Americans?
And inside autism. Dr. Sanjay Gupta continues our week-long series with the key to helping autistic kids live fuller lives. All ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, Wednesday December 27th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And Alina Cho in today for Soledad. Thanks for joining us.
America is in mourning today for former President Gerald Ford. Remembered for the quiet strength he brought to the White House during a time of scandal. He assumed the presidency when Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace.
Gerald Ford died last night in his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 93. President Bush praised him just a few minutes ago from his Texas ranch in Crawford.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On August 9th, 1974, he stepped into the presidency without ever having sought the office. He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil. For a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Helen Thomas covered the Ford White House and every other president since JFK. She is with us from Washington now. Helen, thank you so much for joining us.
Gerald Ford could disagree without being disagreeable. He really understood the role of the press and even though he didn't like the headlines sometimes, right?
HELEN THOMAS, HEARST WHITE HOUSE COLUMNIST: He had been here for 30 years or so, so he's very acquainted with all the reporters who began to cover him at the White House. It was a very comfortable experience. It was a quantum leap for him because he had as O'Brien said, that there was no aspiration to be president. He wanted to be Speaker of the House, but I think that he was -- he settled into the job as though he had been planning for it all his life.
CHO: As you mentioned, his highest ambition was to be Speaker of the House. Never expected to be president or vice president for that matter. The only president not elected to office. How much do you think that was in the back of his mind as he governed over those two and a half years.
THOMAS: Well, I think that hurt him a lot to be defeated, but he became close friends to Jimmy Carter. I mean all healing and he was a healer. He took the job when the country was really in the throes of despair having the first president in American history to be forced to resign and there was real chaos politically and I think he stabilized everything and he brought a sense of security to the Oval Office.
CHO: Take us back to that day a month into his presidency when he pardoned Richard Nixon. Do you remember that day and what do you remember about it?
THOMAS: I remember being outside the church across the street from the White House, St. John's, and it was an 8:00 service, the president attended. And I was standing there with the AP reporter and we were waiting for the president to emerge, and I said to him when he did, I said, Mr. President, what are you doing for the rest of the day?
And he said, just you wait. He said, we're going to make an announcement. Well, the AP reporter and myself Gaylord Shaw raced across Lafayette Park, went to our -- went to the press room, grabbed our phones and said, you know, going to be a big announcement.
My office tells me that I said that President Ford was going to pardon President Nixon but I don't remember that and I'd like to think it was true.
CHO: You have often been called the first lady of the press.
THOMAS: Whatever that means.
CHO: You know the inner workings of the White House perhaps better than anyone. So ...
THOMAS: Not really.
CHO: Oh, well, we like to say that you do. Share with us if you could some personal stories about Gerald Ford if you have any.
THOMAS: Well, we were struck by his -- the kindness that he had, a sense of decency. I think you'll notice in all the obituaries and everyone who has spoken about him, there hasn't been one mean thing to say because he was very -- he was a good person and he -- I think he was very human, very humane.
And the first day we started covering him, we went to his home in Alexandria, Virginia, and he was busy toasting english muffins, we thought, well this is really a down to earth president and he really let us in on a lot of things.
CHO: And let's talk a little bit about that because I'd like to close on some thoughts that you have about Ford, the family man. We've talked a lot about his political career today but he had a wife of 58 years. He was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather. Did you get a glimpse of that family life?
THOMAS: My greatest admiration is for Betty Ford. Courageous woman. She always knew what can you say after you say you're sorry. She always -- she didn't -- she walked in where angels fear to tread in terms of first ladies. She wasn't afraid to say that she had seen a psychiatrist, had been divorced and so forth in an era when it wasn't quite acceptable. So she's always been a leader in my mind and one of the great first ladies.
CHO: That's right and Gerald Ford actually quit drinking a little known fact after his wife announced her problems.
Helen Thomas, the first lady of the press, we thank you for joining us this morning.
THOMAS: Thank you.
CHO: With your thoughts on Gerald Ford.
THOMAS: Thanks very much.
O'BRIEN: Heading overseas, overnight Ethiopian forces moving in on Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, trying to regain control from Islamic rebels fighting the fragile U.N. supported Somali government.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr recently spent some time with U.S. troops near the conflict. She joins us now with more. Our Barbara, is it likely U.S. troops will be back in Somalia before too long?
BARBARA STARR, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is a country where there has been a long difficult history with the U.S. military, Miles. In this conflict they're going to do everything they can to stay out of the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STARR (voice-over): October 3rd, 1993. Elite U.S. troops dropped by helicopter into the teeming streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, to search for a warlord. Two helicopters are shot down, a massive firefight erupts. By the next morning, 18 Americans are dead. Blackhawk Down becomes one of the darkest episodes for the U.S. military.
Now, Mogadishu is back in the headlines and worries that U.S. troops are again caught in what may be the next al Qaeda front. This week Ethiopia with its large Christian population launched an assault on the Islamic militia that now controls much of Somalia.
Hundreds have been killed and there may be thousands of new refugees. Somalia's Islamic Courts Union militia is calling for a new jihad. The U.S. says the Somalis are sheltering al Qaeda.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTRAL COMMANDER: Al Qaeda operatives that destroyed the American embassy in Nairobi and in Dar es Salaam are associated with the United Islamic Courts. There's no doubt about that.
STARR: U.S. military commanders are watching the situation closely. They have been training Ethiopian commandos in anti- terrorism tactics for months. There are 1,800 U.S. troops across the horn of Africa, mainly doing humanitarian relief work. Their security was just stepped up.
REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD HUNT, CMDR. JOINT TASK FORCE HORN OF AFRICA: One of our concerns is that some of the extremists will use that as an opportunity to develop further capability to expand their operations.
STARR: Even a brief helicopter trip to Somalia's northern border region now requires heavily armed U.S. troops. This rugged terrain just one reminder of how readily al Qaeda could move through this no man's land making this the next front in the war on terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: And, Miles, as you say, we were out there just a few weeks ago, you see some of our pictures, traveling with U.S. troops throughout the region. They had already expected this war to erupt. They're concerned. The regional instability, the al Qaeda influences and the thousands of African refugees that may now be on the move -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: I guess left unchecked it really could become an al Qaeda base of operations, couldn't it.
STARR: That is the concern and that is why there are 1,800 U.S. troops in the region doing that humanitarian relief work, training African militaries that are friendly to the U.S., trying to be that hedge against instability and the hedge against al Qaeda moving in.
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you -- Alina.
CHO: Still to come this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta with our weeklong series on inside autism. This morning the key to helping children with autism live fuller lives.
And out with a crystal ball. This morning, political predictions for 2007. From Iraq to what lies ahead for the new Congress.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Each year the parents of nearly 24,000 American children hear a diagnosis that can be devastating news. Autism. It's a disorder which remains a mystery to modern medicine, but doctors do know this, parents can help their autistic children live more fulfilling lives if they act fast.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta continuing his series on autism this morning from Atlanta. Good morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. You're right. There are few things that people agree on when it comes to autism but one of those things are recognize it early, treat it early so a lot of focus on diagnosis and early intervention.
A lot of researchers believe doctors believe that if they can treat this early they can help children overcome a lot of barriers that are so difficult to live with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): They may act like mother and son. But Courtney Hall and 12-year-old Max say they're more than that. They're superheroes on a mission to conquer autism.
MAC HALL, DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM: We all know that Mac Hall here as he was knowing that he wanted to be a superhero and be a superhero at Hollywood ...
GUPTA: Eight years ago Mac Hall was diagnosed with autism. From that day his mother declared war on autism. She found a speech therapist, a psychiatrist, a tutor. She sought out family support groups and special programs.
COURTNEY HALL, MAC HALL'S MOTHER: The initial news tells you all the limitations your child is going to have. Me being who I am decided that that was not acceptable.
GUPTA: While researchers may not always agree on the best treatment for autism, one thing is certain. Children with autism do much better if they're diagnosed and treated earlier. Catch the problem immediately and the child may be taught to adapt, not only on a social level but also psychologically.
So how early is early enough? Well, that's a hard question to answer. Many scientists believe the diagnosis should be made by the age of five. But even better is before the age of two. If caught that early, there may be a way to rewire, if you will, sections of the young autistic brain through certain types of therapy.
DR. PAT LEVITT, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Brain development starts before birth. And during the ages of zero to five, there's a tremendous amount of change that occurs in brain architecture and brain chemistry.
GUPTA: The goal is to take advantage of that change. Places like the Vanderbilt University camp are trying to introduce kids with autism to rigorous instruction based on verbal interaction with word programs, nonverbal communication, and love. Therapists also teach children with autism to develop social skills that are tough for them to master like playing with others.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can look them right in the eyes.
GUPTA: Especially important looking people in the eye and, of course, parents have to be involved.
WENDY STONE, VANDERBILT CTR. FOR CHILD DEVELOPMENT: I think one of the things that is missing in intervention is actual parent training. There are not that many interventions that focus on parents and helping them become more able to incorporate, learning, teaching activities within their everyday routines.
GUPTA: And it takes a team to diagnose and treat a child with autism.
LEVITT: They need intervention and education. They need a pediatrician to take care of their medical needs and for some children with autism they may need a child psychiatrist to help with some of the behavioral problems that they may have.
GUPTA: A lot of people will say Courtney Hall is a real superhero for all she's done for Mac. She feels as long as he continues to improve, all that work would have been worth it.
C. HALL: And I have a very loving child. And I tell him I love him every single day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: There is so much research going on about this topic still around the country. Places like Vanderbilt you just saw there, Yale, University of Michigan, Kennedy Creager at Johns Hopkins. Lots of research going on at these institutions working specifically Miles on diagnostic methods hoping they might be able to pinpoint if a child has or does not have autism by the age of 18 months. That's their goal.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay, is it true that some children can be cured through this therapy or through other ways?
GUPTA: Well, you know, there's a lot of snake oil peddlers out there that talk specifically about a cure for autism. That's probably not the right word. I don't think we found a cure necessarily for autism or that even cure is the right goal.
But what a lot of people are focusing on is these therapeutics that actually help a child sort of erase some of the symptoms that might be barriers later in life. And Miles, there have been success stories where children even at the age of five, who start some of this therapy, get rid of a lot of the problems that they have that could be barriers later in life and they have relatively normal lives.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, fascinating series and we'll hear another -- what are you doing tomorrow?
GUPTA: Tomorrow, you know, it's interesting, we spent a lot of time with the families of children with autism. We really want to look at some of the burdens and some of the ways of overcoming those burdens for the families of those children, as well, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Sanjay, thanks very much. We'll see you tomorrow.
GUPTA: Thank you. O'BRIEN All right -- Alina.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" just minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN center with a look at what's ahead. Hello, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, Miles and good morning, everybody. That's right. We have these stories coming up on the NEWSROOM rundown this morning.
The passing of a president. Gerald Ford dies at age 93. We'll be talking about his life and legacy with his White House chief of staff Alexander Haig.
And a popular heartburn drug may get you more than relief. A study suggesting they block calcium absorption. That could mean more broken bones especially in the elderly. We'll talk about that.
And this Texas teaser, dozens of suitcases from a Continental flight end up in a pet store's trash dumpster. Don't want to miss that one. I'm in the NEWSROOM with Rick Sanchez today. We get started at the top of the hour on CNN. Back to you Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hey, that's my bag. How did it get there?
COLLINS: I know, I was going to say it's got a big M.O.B. on it right.
O'BRIEN; All right. Thank you Heidi. We'll see you then.
COLLINS; You bet.
O'BRIEN: Alina.
CHO: All right. Still to come this morning, a look into the future. We're predicting the big political stories of 2007. Everything from Iraq to the big players expected in the next presidential election. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Before bringing in the New Year we're bringing out our crystal ball here on AMERICAN MORNING to make some predictions for 2007, in the second part of our special series. "Newsweek" senior editor Marcus Mabry joins us to look at the coming year in politics. But before we get to the coming year, we've got a big political story today, the death of Gerald Ford, a man of the center and a dying breed, you say, right?
MARCUS MABRY, "NEWSWEEK" SR. EDITOR: Absolutely, Alina. He's literally a vanishing breed, Gerald Ford. We're talking about a centrist northern Republican moderate. Those are in very, very short supply, and Gerald Ford really was the last of his kind as far as leadership at the American center in the White House. CHO: You hear so much about people, politicians being too much on the right or left, and certainly we're going to have a lot of fireworks come January when the new Congress comes in, the Democrats taking control. What's that going to be like?
MABRY: Well, you know, I think we're really going to miss someone of the stripe of Gerald Ford when the Democrats take over starting on January 4th. And this is really going to be a test, I think, 2007, of character for this president, for President Bush. He's not a guy who likes to brook opposition. He's not a guy who does well generally when he's on the defensive. He can be snappy. He can be snippy. He can be ornery. He can be a little bit like, kind of like the Andover preppy wisenheimer he was in high school. So it's a really good test of character for the president. And I think it's going to be interesting to see if he can find his own inner Gerald Ford.
CHO: It will also be a test for the most powerful woman in politics, Nancy Pelosi, the incoming House speaker. What does she have planned for this coming year, do you think?
MABRY: The most powerful woman in the history of American government. And as I like to say, Condoleezza Rice held that title -- well, still holds that title until Speaker Pelosi, madam speaker, comes in. At that point she'll be the most powerful woman in the history of American politics.
CHO: They tangled on a lot of things, including Iraq.
MABRY: Absolutely. It will be to no one's advantage, I think, for this to devolve into this nasty food fight politically. But ironically, I think both the president and Nancy Pelosi -- Nancy Pelosi is all about making sure that this president is actually monitored and policed in the way that she feels the Republican- controlled House and Senate have not done in the last six years.
CHO: Checks and balances.
MABRY: Checks and balances. She says that's what they're here for.
CHO: Let's really bring out the crystal ball. You know, we in the media like to talk about the upcoming presidential election, 2008.
MABRY: It's only two years away, yes.
CHO: Hillary, I mean, Barack Obama -- I mean, what are the big names we have to watch for?
MABRY: Well, you know, I'm always wary of making predictions, but one prediction, I'll make an early prediction for '08 for you. I predict that Tom Vilsack will win the Iowa caucuses in '08. So, but I think Hillary and Obama will definitely -- they've already sucked all the oxygen out of the air, out of the room. It's going to be interesting to see if, for instance, John Edwards can stay alive as an alternative to Hillary and to Obama. CHO: And a Hillary/Obama ticket maybe?
MABRY: I think in some ways it may be a dream ticket for the Democrats, and I think that might be only scenario by which someone perhaps a John McCain, if he were to win the Republican nomination, might go to Condoleezza Rice, and say, I need you on my ticket for vice president.
CHO: Of course we're watching Rudy Giuliani, as well, right, another name to watch.
MABRY: Absolutely.
CHO: Marcus Mabry, "Newsweek" senior editor, we thank you for joining us with your predictions for 2007.
MABRY: Thanks for having me.
CHO: And tomorrow, Dr. Sanjay Gupta with predictions for the new year in medicine.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The flag at the White House at half staff this morning in honor of Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States, dead at the age of 93. That's all we have for time for this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins and Rick Sanchez begins right now.
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