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American Morning
New Years Eve Celebrated Around the World; Iraq War U.S. Death Toll Passes 3,000; Former President Ford Remembered
Aired January 01, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
O'BRIEN: There it was, New Year's Day, 2007. More than a million people rang in the New Year in New York. We're live with the sights and sounds from Times Square and around the world this morning.
ROBERTS: In Iraq, a tragic milestone, 3,000 American troops have now died there. The White House now responding as President Bush prepares for the major speech on the war.
O'BRIEN: Developing news out of Thailand, those deadly explosions that canceled New Years' celebrations there, apparently not the work of the usual suspects. The latest in the investigation straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back, everybody. Monday, January 1st. Happy New Year. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts in for Miles O'Brien. Thanks for joining us this morning, Happy New Year to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you and likewise and thanks for helping us out this week, we appreciate it, while Miles gets a little vacation.
ROBERTS: Happy to do it. I love missing New Years Eve and getting up at (INAUDIBLE)
O'BRIEN: You're not missing -- see you're practically experiencing it now. I'll throw some stuff on you if you want.
Let's in fact begin with the biggest party in the world. Times Square in New York City, more than a million people watched the ball drop in person. Millions, of course, caught it on TV.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff in Times Square this morning, the morning after. Good morning to you Allan A rainy morning after, isn't it?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. You know, it's been seven hours since the ball dropped a few blocks behind me. Would you believe people are still stumbling around here in Times Square trying to find their way home? But, I guess that's understandable, given the fact that this was one heck of a party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Six, five, four, three, two, one. CHERNOFF, (voice over): In New York's Times Square, it was estimated more than a million revelers, a record number, ushered in the new year. The giant crystal ball dropping into what looked like a sea of humanity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your plans for 2007?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, all the best! Peace! Peace and good wishes to everybody!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plans for 2007? Your resolutions?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: None whatsoever. Just have a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a good time. That works. What about you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a good time and hopefully fall in love and stay in love.
CHERNOFF: By the time 2007 arrived, the big crowd was well versed in counting backwards. Each hour brought another mock countdown complete with fireworks and confetti.
In Key West, Florida, they don't drop a crystal ball to bring in the new year, they drop a drag queen named Sushi (ph) in a big red stiletto. They've been doing it now for 10 years.
A Texas-sized party in San Antonio with some 250,000 people taking part in the festivities. There were fireworks on Chicago's lakefront to welcome in 2007. And some celebrants even waxed alcoholic on the difference between New Year's in the big apple and the second city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from New York and here I am in Chicago celebrating New Year's Eve, yes!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got the Bears. That's our ball.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa! Yes!
CHERNOFF: There was another big street party in New Orleans, where they dropped a big pot of gumbo to signal a new year in the city still struggling to come back from Hurricane Katrina.
Of course, it wouldn't be a New Year's Eve without plenty of music. And this year was no exception. From the Goo Goo Dolls in California, to the B-52s in Atlantic City, to Lionel Richie in Las Vegas, they were singing in the new year, 2007.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Well, let's hope that 2007 certainly is a year of peace and happiness for all of us -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Gosh, I certainly hope so. Allan Chernoff for us this morning. Thank you Allan -- John.
ROBERTS: Somehow the weather in Times Square this morning seems to look like the inside of most people's heads must feel this morning..
A developing story now in Thailand, investigators are trying to figure out who planted eight deadly bombs around Bangkok on New Year's Eve. The explosions also hurt 20 people, including some American tourists.
New Year's celebrations were called off there. Military troops are now patrolling parts of Bangkok. Investigators though don't believe Islamic extremists linked to past attacks in Thailand were responsible for yesterday's attacks.
Now to that bleak milestone in Iraq, the death toll for U.S. troops reaching 3,000. While December wrapped up as the deadliest month of 2006 for the U.S. military, the deadliest in two years, in fact.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon, joins us now live. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you John. Well, the year 2007 will now be the fifth year of the war in Iraq, did end with a very grim milestone for the 140,000 U.S. troops still on the front line.
2006 ending with now in this war, 3,000 American service members having lost their lives. The last month of the year, December, the deadliest. 111 troops losing their lives in that month of the war, the deadliest for the year 2006.
It is still, of course, the IEDs, the roadside bombs, that are the number one killer of U.S. troops on the front line. All of this coming, of course, as President Bush contemplates a new strategy in Iraq.
We decided to have just a little bit of a historic look. We know that Americans are very disturbed about this casualty figure, but how does it compare to wars past in which America has fought? So we looked back a bit.
In World War II, for example, 400,000 U.S. troops killed, more than 400,000; 670,000 wounded. In the Korean War, more than 36,000 killed; more than 100,000 wounded. In Vietnam, which was so divisive to America, more than 58,000 killed; 150,000 wounded. And of course, in that first Gulf War, very small numbers, 382 killed, 467 wounded.
So, perhaps, an indication of how much America now expects in terms of lower casualties in its wars. As far as the Pentagon says, they are not counting how many in terms of that one number makes any more difference than another. As a Pentagon spokesman said, every loss leaves a family behind -- John.
ROBERTS: Absolutely it does. And Barbara, what's the latest on more troops going to Iraq in this predicted surge of some 20,000 to 30,000 to go in to try to get a handle on this violence?
STARR: Well, of course, that decision awaits President Bush. The military says if ordered, they can do it. They will have problems sustaining a surge, but fundamentally for the top commanding generals, the question that they are still trying to answer is what would more troops do? And as you see the casualty numbers John, does more troops just mean mortar gets?
ROBERTS: All right, yes, many military people are saying that as well. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much. Happy New Year to you as well.
STARR: Happy New Year.
ROBERTS: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: President Bush returns to Washington this morning after a week at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. There's growing anticipation about when the president might make that highly anticipated speech about Iraq.
CNN's Elaine Quijano live near the president's ranch in Crawford this morning. Good morning, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad. Well that's right, Bush aides continue to say that the president's speech on Iraq will come some time early this month.
Now, this is the president's address coming after he met last week for about three hours with members of his war cabinet. The president saying after that three-hour meeting, that he believed that they were making progress in crafting a new Iraq policy.
But, at the same time, the president signaling clearly that he did not feel ready to announce any changes just yet because he said he wanted to consult further with the Iraqi government, as well as members of Congress.
Now, a senior administration official says that once these tributes to Gerald Ford are over and Congress is back, the president will, indeed, reach out to members of Congress for further Iraq consultations.
Now, as for this death toll, a White House spokesman saying yesterday, Soledad, that the president, the hardest decision he ever has to make is to put American troops in harm's way -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for the update for us this morning -- John.
ROBERTS: When president and Mrs. Bush pay their respects to Gerald Ford this afternoon, they will become the latest in a line of statesmen and complete strangers taking time to honor the 38th president and his family.
AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is live on Capitol Hill for us. And Bob, the crowd seemed to be a little thin yesterday. How are they this morning?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're nonexistent thus far. It's a little bit early and, of course, the weather is playing a part. The opening for the continued viewing doesn't come for a bit of time, about two hours, as a matter of fact.
But the truth of the matter is that he is lying in state close to where he spent 25 years of his life, in the House of Representatives. He always fancied himself a man of the people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN, (voice over): Throughout the day, family members came to share their private grief with the public. Sons Jack and Steve Ford stayed on to personally thank many of the ordinary citizens who waited hours to pay their respects to the man called to lead the nation out of the Watergate debacle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He helped us get through a bad time.
HUGH KEARNEY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: It was a very calming time after, you know, a very difficult period.
FRANKEN: On Saturday night, there were the eulogies from the highly placed, like the vice president, Ford's former chief of staff.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He assumed power without assuming errors.
FRANKEN: The somber occasion was also notable for those who did not show up. President Bush flies back from Crawford, Texas, today and heads straight to the Capitol. Neither his father, the first President Bush, nor President Clinton was here.
For whatever reason, six of the nine Supreme Court justices were absent and most of the new congressional leaders have not showed up, Republicans as well as Democrats, at least so far.
The final memorial service in Washington is held at the National Cathedral on Tuesday. Between now and then, those who were not on the "A" list get their chance to glimpse history and the man that everyone remembers as honest and decent.
JOHN BYERS, SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY: It's kind of nice now that he's passed and everyone's looking back at the positive things that he did and it's nice to be a part of it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: The fact that this was a holiday weekend and the fact he wanted it low-key meant that former President Ford is lying in state with all the trappings of that, but, John, he's getting the low- key sendoff he wanted.
ROBERTS: Bob, you mentioned that a lot of dignitaries weren't there for the funeral on Saturday night. Even a couple of the honorary pallbearers didn't make it.
FRANKEN: Well, one of them, Donald Rumsfeld, couldn't get out of the West where it was snowing very heavily. We're hearing that he might come and pay his respects today.
ROBERTS: And he'll probably be there for the Tuesday ceremony wouldn't he?
FRANKEN: Right. Just about everybody who is on that "A" list I mentioned, is going to be at the National Cathedral. I live close to the National Cathedral and I'm going to have to move my car. No parking.
ROBERTS: All right. Bob, thanks very much, appreciate it -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, you hear the numbers, but rarely do you hear about the people behind them. This morning we meet a mother whose son is among the 3,000 Americans killed in Iraq. We'll tell you how she's helping other people cope with tragedy.
And then on a much lighter note, the tech trends of 2007. Could your i-Pod be on the endangered species list?
ROBERTS: Huh?
O'BRIEN: Yes, some predictions ...
ROBERTS: Say it ain't so.
O'BRIEN: ... For the new year. All ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The war in Iraq has surpassed a new milestone, 3,000 American troops dead. The Pentagon is reporting that Specialist Dustin Donica on Spring, Texas died on Thursday while he was in patrol in Baghdad. His name was released on Sunday.
And while the 3,000 mark naturally draws attention, the personal toll is rarely counted. Each number represents a person of course. A son or a daughter, a father or mother who leaves behind a family struggling to cope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEB YASHINSKI, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: This is the book that I started for him once we found out he was gone.
S. O'BRIEN: Everywhere in Deb Yashinski's home are reminders of her son, Michael. Pictures, paintings, medals, his ashes.
YASHINSKI: He was my baby. My buddy. My life. He was my son.
S. O'BRIEN: Deb lost her son, Army Sergeant Michael Yashinski, three years ago on Christmas Eve in Iraq.
YASHINSKI: About 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon, two soldiers from Ft. Bragg knocked on the door, came inside, and said, "on behalf of a grateful nation."
S. O'BRIEN: These days, Deb's life is about remembering those who have been lost and reaching out to those they've left behind.
YASHINSKI: This is gold star moms. This is where I spend most of my time.
S. O'BRIEN: Every day she goes online looking for new gold star moms, mothers who have lost their children to war.
YASHINSKI: The only name I recognized was this one.
S. O'BRIEN: During one of those searches, she found Patricia Desens.
YASHINSKI: I called her and I said, would you be willing to meet? And she said, "yes."
S. O'BRIEN: That initial contact turned into a friendship, which turned into a unique bond.
YASHINSKI: I always say, you know, my phone is open 24/7. If she is having a bad day and calls me or I'm having a bad day and call her, we know that we're not going to tell the other one, well, get over it. You know, you've got to keep going.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
Patricia's son, Army Specialist Daniel Desens Jr., died in a firefight near Baqubah, Iraq, in June 2004. He was only 20 years old.
PATRICIA DESENS, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: If I could leave this earth and go where he is, I'd be happy. But it's not my time. I'm not that special angel. He was.
YASHINSKI: See, they've got a book of everyone that's been . . .
DESENS: Right.
YASHINSKI: North Carolina residents.
S. O'BRIEN: The women, who share not only loss, they share a goal.
YASHINSKI: The most important thing, I think, to all of us is, we don't want our children forgotten. You're saying 3,000. Well, number 436 probably doesn't mean much to you. But it meant the world to me. Because number 436 was my son. Each one of those numbers was somebody's someone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: At least 111 service members were reported killed in December. It was the deadliest month of 2006 for the U.S. military.
ROBERTS: Each one of those numbers, and sometimes they're just sort of impersonal statistics is as you saw they represent a face.
O'BRIEN: Somebody's someone.
ROBERTS: Somebody's son, daughter, mother, father. Terrible tragedy.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Coming up, from "Pirates of the Caribbean" to the return of "Rocky." 2006 was the year of the sequel. And it looks like 2007 could be even hotter.
Ali Velshi is "Minding your Business" for you this morning. And on this New Years' morning. a look at the best of the Moos, Jeanne Moos. her mea culpa to 007 and more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Seen any good movies lately? A lot of folks have said just that, and many of the movies they've seen are sequels. And that's been part of a big boom for Hollywood.
Ali Velshi is here to tell us about Rocky 92 or whatever it is.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievable.
M. O'BRIEN: It's amazing isn't it?
VELSHI: What a great thing. You've got a recipe and it works for you. Out of the $9 billion in box office receipts in 2006, $2 billion were just from sequels alone.
And the biggest of the year -- by the way, I still don't believe this -- the "Pirates of the Caribbean" installment was wildly successful.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I saw it, but saw it on a plane, which is what I usually do.
Let's look at some of the big successes in 2006. We had "Pirates of the Caribbean," we had "X-Men, the Last Stand", "Ice Age," "Mission Impossible III," "Casino Royale," the new James Bond movie. So really, really successful year for sequels. And you're definitely going to see that in 2007. You just mentioned "Rocky."
M. O'BRIEN: Whatever it is.
VELSHI: Yes, they don't even have a number on it in fact. We've also got "Pirates of the Caribbean III," which was shot I believe "Pirates of the Caribbean II." Like it's done, it's in the ...
M. O'BRIEN: 'Lord of the Rings" style.
VELSHI: "Spider-Man 3" will be coming out, "Shrek the Third," "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." I don't know if that's episode 12 or what it is. But this is going to be a hot, hot year for sequels?
M. O'BRIEN: So, what does that tell you about Hollywood? They just, there are no new good ideas?
VELSHI: Well, I'd love to be in a business where I've got a good idea and you can keep it going, but when you look at some of the sequels out this year, you look at "Casino Royale," James Bond. I've been a James Bond fan for a long time, but there are a lot of people who say they've remade it. It's an interesting new kind of movie.
So, I suppose at some point for the kids' movies, you can keep on giving them the same thing because they like the repetition, but maybe for the grownup ones, they're going to have to be creative.
M. O'BRIEN: It seems to me generally sequels don't do as well at least as far as the critics are concerned, as the original movie, but there are options like the "Godfather" and I think this James Bond "Casino Royale" has proven that that's a good sequel.
VELSHI: The idea is can you develop a franchise out of it? In other words, can you just, do you make another movie because you had stuff you wanted to get into the first one and make some more money out of it? Or are you establishing franchises? When you see these number three and beyond in movies, that tells you there's a franchise.
M. O'BRIEN: And suddenly you have a franchise and that does brings people into theaters.
VELSHI: Absolutely does. We all go for this. I haven't seen "Rocky" in years, but I'll go back and see what he looks like.
M. O'BRIEN: It's got good reviews. All right, Ali Velshi. Thanks very much.
S. O'BRIEN: And on this New Year's morning, a look at what made all of us laugh through the days gone by. It is the best of CNN's Jeanne Moos from 2006. And we begin with Jeanne's turnaround on a guy named Craig, Daniel Craig.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We just wanted to say, sorry, James. Sorry for all those cheap shots, for making you seem like a wimp when they first introduced you.
M. O'BRIEN: James Bond wearing a life jacket? Give me a break.
MOOS: We tittered when your tooth got knocked out during a stunt and compared Sean Connery's manly furry chest to yours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE We also are hearing that he has shaved his chest.
MOOS: Well, puff up that hairless chest, Daniel Craig. Here's what they're saying now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a great body. I love it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His whole persona was just wonderful.
MOOS: Naysayers, repent. "Casino Royale" is the number one movie in the world. Critics are raving and so are moviegoers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've seen every single one, this is the best Bond one ever.
MOOS: Even hard-bitten reporters seemed smitten by the new Bond.
QUESTION: You weren't anxious about having to achieve a certain chiseled perfection, which you do, by the way.
MOOS: The scene featuring 007 frockling in his blue swimsuit has been compared to Ursula Andrews coming ashore in her bikini -- that was "Dr. No."
But even men are saying yes to the new Bond. A male critic for a British paper described the swimsuit scene as so scorchingly hot, I feel embarrassed watching it even when alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is more gritty. He's dark, he's more realistic.
MOOS: Sure, Sean Connery could drive a stick shift and still manage to eject the bad guy. And we must confess to making fun of Daniel Craig when we heard he didn't know how handle the stick in his Aston Martin. But now that the movie is out --
(on camera): Did he seen to know how to drive a stick shift?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did fine.
MOOS (voice-over): And that website called Craignotbond. The one that morphed Daniel Craig's face into one of the Three Stooges -- it's gone.
And so in this age of apology for weightier transgressions ...
MICHAEL RICHARDS, ACTOR: I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry.
MOOS: We, too, need a license to grovel.
(on camera): We're sorry, Daniel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Daniel, I'm very sorry that I doubted you. You're terrific.
MOOS: And hot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very hot.
MOOS (voice-over): He's gone from being called a girly boy with a girly gun to, could be the best 007 yet.
(on camera): It's enough to make a guilt-ridden reporter eat her words. Or at least those rave reviews.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: We'll have more of Jeanne Moos from 2006 straight ahead. So far, did you know that "Casino Royale" has raked in more than 450 million bucks at the box office worldwide.
ROBERTS: A very popular movie. I wanted to go see it the other day, but I went to see "Apocalypto" instead, which is a whole other story. But, it's interesting that Daniel Craig is on the 2007 "in list" replacing Hugh Jackman. And there's -- I didn't see it -- but there's a great line in the movie you know the whole shaken, stirred martini thing.
He sits down at a bar, he says I'd like a vodka martini please. And the bartender says would you like that shaken or stirred? He says -- do I look like I give a beep?
Destroying that whole James Bond myth.
O'BRIEN: I love him.
ROBERTS: Sounds pretty good.
O'BRIEN: I love him.
ROBERTS: Coming up, the world comes together to ring in 2007. We'll join the celebrations around the globe. And from pistol-packing judges to a law that makes it illegal for teens to catch a ride in the trunk of a car. Duh. The new laws across the land now in effect this new years. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Happy New Year, everybody. Millions of people packed themselves into Times Square to usher in 2007. We are live the morning after with more reasons to celebrate - like a bigger paycheck for some people in the new year.
ROBERTS: The number of Americans killed in Iraq crossing a new threshold. The death toll now above 3,000.
O'BRIEN: And fallout from the execution of Saddam Hussein. What was said in the final moments? And the fears that it could mean more trouble in the war in Iraq.
All those stories and much more straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. It's Monday, January 1st. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts in for Miles O'Brien. Thanks for joining us, and a happy new year to you and to you, as well.
Happening this morning, three people are dead, 20 injured, after explosions in Bangkok, Thailand. The blasts forced police to cancel New Year's celebrations there and deploy troops to patrol the streets. Investigators don't yet know who's responsible, but they say it's probably not Islamic extremists who were responsible for attacks in Thailand in the past.
On Capitol Hill, fellow Americans and President Bush will pay their respects to the late President Gerald Ford. Mr. Ford's casket will lie in state in the Rotunda through this New Year's Day. The president and first lady are expected to stop by this afternoon. The memorial will take place tomorrow.
The new year bringing a new era of political leadership to New York State. Democrat Eliot Spitzer becoming governor overnight. He took the oath of office at midnight, succeeding Republican George Pataki, who did not run for reelection. Spitzer is New York's former attorney general.
O'BRIEN: And a new year brings new laws. Seven states are raising their minimum wage. Arizona, California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are the states. The federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, and the state increases go as high as $7.50.
In Illinois, a new law goes into effect going after copycat music groups. Tribute acts now have to make it clear in advertising that they're a salute to an actual band. And Alaska and South Carolina are adopting laws to help curb school bullies.
In Wisconsin, police have to now tape interrogations of felony suspects, either on video tape or on audio tape. And that's to prevent wrongful convictions.
There are more laws to talk about, as well. CNN's Allan Chernoff is back in Times Square with more this morning.
You know, the party's over, man. We're well into the new year. And every half hour we see you, you're getting a little more carried away. Good morning.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT, TIMES SQUARE, NEW YORK CITY: Well, Soledad, here we are. New Year's, you know, people do some pretty crazy things for the New Year, not just at the parties, but if you look at some of those laws - well, a few of them are pretty wacky.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
CHERNOFF: Pistol-packing judges could become the norm in Kansas. A new state law permits judges to carry concealed weapons into their courtrooms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would have no problem with that. I would have no problem with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like that.
CHERNOFF: You wouldn't trust a judge ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
CHERNOFF: ... to be a good shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, I wouldn't trust anybody with a gun. No.
CHERNOFF: California is cracking down on pranksters. It's now illegal to ride in the trunk of a car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dead or alive.
CHERNOFF: Some live-wire teens apparently have been doing it. Now it'll cost them $100 if caught.
And anyone taking more than 25 copies of a complementary newspaper in California would be subject to a $250 fine and jail time for a second offense.
It's no longer a legal offense to take home a half-empty bottle of wine from a restaurant in Illinois. Patrons now get to drink every drop they paid for - perfect for New Year's Eve.
2007 rings in new rights for animals. In California, it's now illegal to keep a dog tethered for more than three hours. If convicted of a misdemeanor, the offender could be jailed for up to six months.
A person could actually be sent to prison for that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. I'm an animal lover, you know.
CHERNOFF: Pet owners can now show their love under a new law in Ohio by setting up a trust fund for their pooch.
In Ohio, you're going to be allowed to set up a trust fund for your pet. Would you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. Why not?
CHERNOFF: You already have one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talk to my kids. Everybody likes dogs. Yes.
CHERNOFF: Wait a minute. You're losing your trust fund to your dogs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. That's (ph) not (ph) good (ph).
(END VIDEO)
CHERNOFF: Would you believe that there are more than two dozen states now that have such a law permitting someone to set up a trust fund for their pet. Some very wealthy pets out there for 2007 - Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Hey, you know what? Why not. Some people think their pets are more loyal than their children, and the pets deserve the money. I don't have a pet, so what do I know.
All right. Allan Chernoff for us this morning. Thanks, Allan.
And we have a fresh look at what some Americans are thinking on this New Year's Day. There's a new poll from the Associated Press and AOL News.
Sixty percent of people surveyed think the U.S. is going to be hit by a terrorist attack in 2007. Sixty percent think a biological or nuclear weapon will be unleashed somewhere else in the world. Seventy percent think a major natural disaster is going to hit the U.S.
Only 29 percent think the U.S. is going to withdraw from Iraq this year, and 40 percent think the situation in Iraq will get worse in 2007.
Despite all that, though, 72 percent of Americans say they remain optimistic about what 2007 holds for our country. Eighty-nine percent say they're optimistic about the new year for themselves and for their families - John.
ROBERTS: Saddam Hussein is dead and buried, his body taken to a grave in his home town of Tikrit. But there's new controversy over the final moments of his execution. And what can be heard over a cell phone video taken right before Hussein was hanged?
We want to warn you that some of the images are disturbing. Here's CNN's Aneesh Raman.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
ANEESH RAMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD: In life, Saddam Hussein was obsessed with his own image. And it was everywhere. Towering statues shadowed streets. Overbearing opulence accompanied every appearance.
And if Saddam was still in power, surely the same would have defined his burial. But in the end, it was instead a simple affair. At a mosque in Saddam's home town of Awja, a coffin lay covered with an Iraqi flag, a sole picture placed close by in memory of the man inside - a man whose final moments speak volumes of where Iraq has been and where it is heading.
Saddam stood, noose around his neck, seconds away from the same sort of death he condemned upon others. And from the witnesses came the following.
Chants in honor of radical Shia cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Saddam smiles and asks, is this how you show your bravery as men? "Straight to hell," a voice retorts.
And then came one of the final things Saddam Hussein heard in life. The name of a man killed by Saddam's regime, that of Muqtada al-Sadr's father-in-law, founder of Iraq's Shia Dawa Party, the same party of Iraq's current prime minister.
The hope by his Shia dominated government is clearly that Saddam's execution will bring closure. But mired in division and incapable of tackling sectarian violence, there is, as well, a message - that of a government taking action.
The first image broadcast on state-run TV before Saddam's execution was Iraq's prime minister signing the former dictator's death sentence.
(END VIDEO)
ROBERTS: CNN's Aneesh Raman reporting.
Now, for more on Hussein's last moments and what it might mean for Iraq now and going forward, we go to John Burns. He's the Baghdad bureau chief for the "New York Times." Thanks for joining us, John, and a happy new year to you.
How do you think all this is going to play out in Iraq now, particularly this cell phone video in which it would appear that, if not members of the Mahdi militia, at least supporters of Muqtada al- Sadr were present and handling a lot of the proceedings.
JOHN BURNS, "NEW YORK TIMES" BUREAU CHIEF, BAGHDAD: Well, to use a word that is now clearly in common parlance in the United States military command, I think the entire sequence will have been very disheartening - disheartening first of all to American troops who are out there fighting the insurgency and the sectarian death squads to sustain this government that conducted this degrading spectacle.
Amongst Iraqis, I think Saddam had been heavily discounted in the last three years since his capture. This insurgency war was no longer about restoring Saddam, except very marginally.
It's about power and about the Sunni minority seeking to reverse, if you will, the verdict of April 2003, to regain power, and the Shiite majority now in power for the first time in centuries here determined to keep it. Thus, the sectarian conflict that has grown out of the insurgency.
We know that Sunnis are pretty outraged about this. But so, too, I would guess, are Americans. And it may be that the impact of this may be as great in America and in other countries which send their troops here as it is in Iraq, in terms of asking people - having people ask themselves - what exactly are we supporting in Iraq, where are we going? ROBERTS: John, you wrote in yesterday's "New York Times," American concerns about a rush to execution. And are there other concerns there in Iraq as well from the Kurdish community that the Anfal trial did not complete - a trial that really wanted to charge Saddam Hussein or see him guilty of crimes of genocide for the deaths of a couple hundred thousand Kurds? And then there were Sunnis who suffered him, as well.
Is there a danger that all of this is going to be seen as Shiite vengeance and further the split between the Shiites and the Sunnis?
BURNS: Well, there are two questions there.
I think the first is a narrow point. Yes, of course, the Kurds would have liked to have seen Saddam convicted and sentenced to death for the chemical weapons attacks and the Anfal campaign of the late 1980s, in which, according to the prosecution now continuing without Saddam, killed about 180,000 Kurds.
There are many victims who will be left, if you will, without that closure. But my sense is that, for those victims, for those victim communities, there was a kind of closure in what happened.
But again, I think that the real impact is going to be the fact that Prime Minister Maliki personally supervised this rush to judgment, finally signing off on the execution order at midnight on Friday, only about five hours before Mr. Hussein was taken up that miserable passage to the gallows.
And it's hard to understand - I have to say, after thinking about this, as we all have for the last 48 hours - how it was possible that could have been allowed to resolve into what was a plainly sectarian event.
This was Shiite sectarianism at its absolute worst.
ROBERTS: And John, not long after the execution, Nouri al-Maliki released this statement in which he said, "The door is still open for every person who does not have blood of innocents on his hands to join in the rebuilding of Iraq, which will be for all Iraqis without exceptions or discriminations. The new Iraq will not be ruled after today by a party or a sect."
Are Sunnis likely to buy into that?
BURNS: Well, first of all, Mr. Maliki has issued any number of statements like that, carefully drafted for him by what the American military would all PAOs - public affairs officers - who are well aware of the foreign audience that is consuming this, as well as the domestic one.
The problem is that Mr. Maliki, since he took office in May, has led a government which has run, in many respects, counter to all the promises that were made about national reconciliation, about joining people together. And one gets ever more the impression that the government, whatever its public professions, is preparing for a sectarian civil war, that is to say, an all-out sectarian civil war.
They can read the American political calendar. They know what the trends in the United States public opinion are. They know that there will come a time, maybe in the next, in the not-so-distant future when there is an American troop draw-down, and they are left to fight this out themselves.
ROBERTS: It doesn't bode well for 2007.
John Burns, Baghdad bureau chief for the "New York Times," thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. And again, happy new year to you - Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, what's going to be cutting edge in the new year? We're going to take a look into our crystal ball, make some predictions about the tech world in 2007.
Plus, a beer belly with a purpose for folks who can't wait till they get home to have a drink. We'll take a look back at the best of Jeanne Moos in 2006 - straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: When it comes to technology, just what lies ahead in 2007? Nicholas Thompson, a senior editor at "Wired" magazine, nice to see you.
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, SENIOR EDITOR, "WIRED" MAGAZINE: Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us.
Let's run through your predictions for the new year starting with, obviously, what was a big, big story for 2006, the iPod.
Do you predict continued dominance of the iPod? I own a couple, and everybody I know owns at least one.
THOMPSON: I'm predicting an iPod backlash.
O'BRIEN: Really?
THOMPSON: iPods are very popular.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
THOMPSON: They've had a great five-year run. People like them a lot. They're very intuitive.
O'BRIEN: Love them.
THOMPSON: But there are a lot of problems with them. They break all the time. The batteries aren't very good.
And there are all sorts of restrictions on the way you can move music from an iPod to another player, restrictions on what you can do with the music you download onto the iTune store.
I think they're going to have troubles. I think people are going to get angry. And now that people have had their iPods for awhile, they're going to have their second one break or their third one break, and they're going to start to get frustrated.
O'BRIEN: You think Apple will step in and fix the problems maybe?
THOMPSON: Apple may fix the problems, but there are also eight or nine competitors. I think at the end of next year, Apple will still be the most popular MP3 player.
O'BRIEN: But declining, you think.
THOMPSON: But they're going to be declining. And I think somebody else - it probably won't be Microsoft Zune, which is the big one - but one of the other eight or nine players will jump up a bit.
O'BRIEN: Cell phones. You know, back in the day a cell phone was this big and you kind of leave it in your car. It was like a brick.
THOMPSON: Right.
O'BRIEN: And, of course, now they do everything.
THOMPSON: Well, they're becoming bricks again, now that they're adding all this more material, right.
My prediction is that in the next year, somebody is going to make a WiFi cell phone. And what's interesting about that is, it's very cheap to make a phone call over your computer.
O'BRIEN: Right.
THOMPSON: I just bought a plan that will let me make - call anybody in the country for 20 bucks for the year - not per month, but for the year.
O'BRIEN: Right.
THOMPSON: So, some company is going to make a phone that lets you make cheap phone calls over Internet while you're within WiFi - when you're in your home, when you're in your office, when you're in a park - and then switches to their cellular network when you're outside of the WiFi zone.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
THOMPSON: They could do it now. The reason they don't like doing it is you can charge eight cents a minute to call over your cell phone network.
So, in your house with your WiFi, they'd still like you to be paying the cell phone network rates. But somebody's going to do it. O'BRIEN: That's an interesting prediction. I would actually like it if that happens.
THOMPSON: Oh, it would be great. It'd be much cheaper.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the year. How great is that?
When it comes to technology behind movies, what do you predict for 2007?
THOMPSON: I think 207 is going to see a resurgence in 3D films.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're kidding me.
THOMPSON: No, I'm serious.
O'BRIEN: What?
THOMPSON: Three-D films came about 50 years ago. You put on those crazy glasses.
O'BRIEN: Right.
THOMPSON: You got dizzy. You felt like ...
O'BRIEN: Right.
THOMPSON: ... the (ph) spear (ph) was going through your head. You didn't like it. You left the movie theater.
Technology is much better. There are going to be a few big releases this year in 3D. You're going to wear black risky business shades. They won't be the crazy ones that leave you disoriented. If you turn your head, you'll still be able to see the screen.
O'BRIEN: Right.
THOMPSON: And people are beginning to expect a lot more from chase scenes. We're getting used to high definition. There are a whole lot of reasons why I think we're ready for it.
O'BRIEN: Without the nausea?
THOMPSON: Without the nausea.
O'BRIEN: We'll see if that actually happens.
All right, let's talk a little bit more about predictions.
Finally, big picture and big predictions for 2007. Not just gadgets, not just WiFi, not just the latest cell phone - big picture.
THOMPSON: OK. I think one thing that's going to happen, people are going to get much, much more concerned about global warming. We saw that in the last year. But, instead of just learning how to install compact fluorescent light bulbs that reduce your energy use or driving a Prius, people are going to start really thinking about and talking about ways to suck the carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere.
Or, they're going to start thinking about ways to change the oceans, or they're going to start thinking about ways to reflect light and heat back up to the atmosphere.
We're going to try to make the problem - we're going to try to pull things out instead of putting less stuff in.
O'BRIEN: Wow. Do you think they make progress in 2007? Or is this going to be the year of the big forums to discuss, and progress down the road?
THOMPSON: I'm going to say progress, but probably I just believe forums.
O'BRIEN: That's because you're with "Wired" and you're going out on a limb for us. Nicholas Thompson is a senior editor at "Wired" magazine. Nice to see you, and happy holidays.
THOMPSON: Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me on.
O'BRIEN: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Coming up, from New York to Chicago to New Orleans, we're going to take you across the nation and show you some of the hottest New Year's parties.
And get a load of this, a product that really puts the beer in beer belly. But incredibly, the more you drink, they more it shrinks. We'll explain. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: On this special live edition, New Year's Eve edition - New Year's Day edition, rather - of AMERICAN MORNING, we're taking a look back at the best of CNN's Jeanne Moos from 2006.
One of our very favorites was BYOBB - bring your own beer belly. Here's Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK: You're looking at a guy with six-pack abs. We mean a real six-pack. Six cans of beer poured in pouch, the pouch goes in a sling.
Slip the sling over your head. The sling gets velcroed on. You put on a T-shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once we lose the hose, I think it's going to look pretty legit.
MOOS: And voila!
It's very realistic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I don't get the joke.
MOOS: It's not a joke; it's a product.
A product that lets you go undetected to, say, the ballpark or a movie, loaded with beer or any other beverage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put some vodka in there, get a vodka orange if you wanted to.
MOOS: So you don't have to shell out outrageous amounts for drinks or stand in line. You drink from a hose that you can stick through your collar, sleeve or fly - oh my.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're sort of like a human keg.
MOOS: The beer belly is unisex.
Maybe a little tighter? It's like a bad-fitting bra.
What a pair, news assistant Chris Brown and I made. I sure had folks fooled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. Do I say congratulations?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You definitely look like you're about seven months.
MOOS: But when I revealed myself ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's very sexy. Oh, my God! I like it! I like it!
MOOS: Sort of like those empathy bellies husbands wear to experience what their pregnant wives are going through.
Self-described beer drinkers were smitten.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow! I'm serious. That's cool. That is so cool!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need more people drinking at the ballpark. Is that what you're saying?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's exactly what ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't have enough?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where can you get one?
MOOS: They're sold at TheBeerBelly.com for 35 bucks. The owner of a California electronics company dreamed them up.
BROOKS LAMBERT, UNDER DEVELOPMENT, INC.: It kind of happened as a gag between a couple of buddies. We were just joking around about, you know, how do you get beer into a movie or to a ball game without shoving a can in your sock?
MOOS: Police say using the beer belly could violate open container laws. The Web site has tips for avoiding detection.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going to say, if he's going to pad it down, he's going to say, you know, look, I have this medical device. You don't want to see it.
MOOS: Sometimes it's hard to tell the fake from the real beer belly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, but where's your hose?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My hose? Oh!
MOOS: The creator has a follow-up product in mind. Instead of one, there would be two pouches designed to add to a woman's bust.
LAMBERT: We're going to call it the Wine Rack.
MOOS: But for now, if you want to carry a six-pack undetected, you've got to make yourself ugly with a beer gut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you're still drunk enough to feel attractive.
MOOS: You're the bar. Belly up.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO)
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's pretty funny.
ROBERTS: They have invented everything now.
O'BRIEN: Yes, they have. I wonder how many have failed with a ruse (ph) after that (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
ROBERTS: Yes, I'll tell you, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Although rather the beer belly than the empathy belly.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I suppose.
ROBERTS: If you're going to go in that direction, you might as well get something out of it.
O'BRIEN: You might as well get a beer out of it.
ROBERTS: Exactly. Well, coming up, if you fell asleep last night before the clock struck midnight, we're going to relive the magic for you with a recap of all of the best parties.
And the Rockies and the Plains digging out from a killer blizzard, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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