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American Morning
What New Congress Might Mean for Country; White House Agenda
Aired January 04, 2007 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story. New video surfaces of American contractors kidnapped in Iraq. The demands their captors are now making, we'll tell you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Health alert. A promising new treatment for Parkinson's Disease that has a lot to do with timing. We'll tell you about it.
O'BRIEN: And history here on Capitol Hill. Democrats retake Congress today. Their plans to clean house and the reality of what can really get done on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
We're live from Washington.
And welcome back, everybody. And good morning. It is Thursday, January 4th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien, right on Capitol Hill for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you, Soledad.
I'm John Roberts in our Washington bureau, in for Miles O'Brien this week.
Thanks for joining us.
Soledad, last week it was the tourists who had inundated Washington. This week, it's back to work.
O'BRIEN: And the constituents really were inundating Washington as they watched the swearing in of their various elected officials. In fact, as we begin here in Washington, D.C., really we're talking about the countdown to history. It's all going to happen in the building right over my shoulder.
The first session of the 110th Congress convenes at noon. Ten new faces in the Senate, 54 new faces in the House. The power shifts to the Democrats. They'll control the majority in the House and the Senate for the first time since 1995.
Women are making a mark. Two new senators and 10 new representatives are women. Nancy Pelosi is also the first woman to become speaker of the House.
There are some religious firsts as well. A Muslim and two Buddhists are among the lawmakers who are taking office today -- John.
ROBERTS: First up, what the new Congress might mean for the country. The Democrats are promising big things, but will they be able to deliver? Is the new government structure a recipe for progress or gridlock?
Senior political analyst Candy Crowley is here with that side of the story.
So it's a little of both here perhaps?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A little of both. The first 100 hours, as you know, has been the time frame set by the Democrats in the House side for doing a number of pieces of legislation, sort of the low-hanging fruit of legislation. The real question, though, is where will they be six months from now?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), ILLINOIS: And I urge my colleagues...
CROWLEY (voice over): He's out. She's in.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), FMR. MAJORITY LEADER: The next vote will...
CROWLEY: He's gone. He's stepping up.
So it will look different. And boy, they talk a good game about being different.
REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: And there's going to be a new direction that we're going to take this country from top to bottom.
CROWLEY: All righty, then. With all but a hardy "Hi-ho, Silver," Democrats are ascending to majority status with a promise to be nice to Republicans and get stuff done.
STUART ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: But if we're talking about big stuff, fundamental reform for Social Security, or tax policy, that seems very unlikely. At the margins, sure. There are a couple of popular Democratic items. But really changing our government and changing policy? That seems like a very hard pull to me.
CROWLEY: Some of the fault lies not in themselves but in the setup. A Republican White House, a Democratic House majority without enough votes to override a veto, a bare majority of Democrats in the Senate, a whole bunch of lawmakers running for president, and not much time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the time we hit the summer season, the presidential hopefuls -- and there are at least a half a dozen of those in the Senate -- that campaign will be kicking up in earnest. And anything that might be able to move legislatively is going to be sort of frozen out by the politics of -- of 2008. CROWLEY: Some things probably will fly -- increasing the federal minimum wage, lowering interest rates on student loans. Some 9/11 recommendations look good to go, and woe be to the politician who stands in the way of ethics reform.
But Social Security and Medicare reform or a big change in health care? Not happening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's going to be a whole lot of jockeying, a whole lot of moving around the chairs. But whether anything substantive comes forward I think is doubtful.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), INCOMING HOUSE SPEAKER: Because of you we are making history.
CROWLEY: Incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi is kicking off three days of celebration, taking advantage of the spotlight Democrats have craved for 12 years.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all. We just finished our first cabinet meeting.
CROWLEY: He can't rain on their parade, but the president is not without a microphone.
BUSH: We need to reform Social Security and Medicare.
CROWLEY: Yes, well, good luck with that. But specifics were not the point of the president's Rose Garden appearance or his editorial in "The Wall Street Journal."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He basically says, hey, I'm happy to work with Democrats. You know, if you agree with me on a lot of these issues, we can work together just fine. Really trying to put -- push back on Democrats to say, don't expect me to be the punching bag for the next two years.
CROWLEY: Let the jockeying begin, and brace yourself for gridlock.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: But as you know, John, there are a lot of people in Washington and outside Washington who think gridlock is not such a bad thing, that Congress is at its best when it takes a minimalist approach.
ROBERTS: Yes. And that's why they say, you know, at least with Congress out of town they can't do any harm.
But this idea of 100 hours in the House, it's not necessarily going to translate to 100 hours in the Senate, will it?
CROWLEY: No, and will not translate to 100 hours in the Senate. You know the Senate. It doesn't do anything quickly. And yesterday, talking to people on Capitol Hill, and particularly on the Senate side, they said, well, we're going to be a lot slower here. We'll take a look at this.
You just talked to Claire McCaskill, who said, well, we're going to have committee hearings. The House isn't even having hearings on these agenda items that they have for the first 100 hours. The Senate will definitely have them.
They're going to want to have their say-so. They're going -- they will add to these bills, subtract from these bills. Then they go to conference committee and they have to work out their differences, then they go back to both houses, then they go to the White House. So, you know, while the House is at this quick pace, the rest of Washington is at a slower pace.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, the Senate, they've got six years to do things. They don't have to be reelected every two.
Candy, thanks very much -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, it might be a slower pace, but change is coming to the White House, too. The president's national intelligence director is moving to the State Department. This, as President Bush puts the finishing touches on his new Iraq strategy.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live for us at the White House this morning.
Also, you have, Suzanne, the president spending a little time with some of the new congressional leaders last night. Lots on his plate, obviously.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting to watch this all happen, unfold, Soledad.
The president's going to stay out of the spotlight this morning in deference to Congress, Democrats' big day. But yes, there is a new political reality for the president. He's very much aware of it. We have heard a change in tone and rhetoric from him, but the big question, whether or not he's going to really be able to compromise to get anything done for the next two years, or risk becoming a lame-duck president.
Now, last night we actually saw the leadership, Democrat, Republican leadership. Incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi, she is once who once called the president "the emperor with no clothes."
We saw the incoming Senate majority leader, Harry Reid. He once called the president a liar. Both of them at the White House, socializing with the president, along with their spouses.
Now, President Bush, of course, trying to gain in this outreach, but also trying to set the tone, the debate here, the domestic agenda.
He emerged from his cabinet meeting and he talked about what he wanted to do, balancing the budget, making tax cuts permanent, renewing his No Child Left Behind education program. And yesterday, the president really tried to portray himself as someone who was willing to cooperate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We've all been entrusted with public office at a momentous time in our nation's history. And together, we have important things to do. It's time to set aside politics and focus on the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Soledad, we're going to see how long that lasts, setting aside politics. The president, of course, can always use his veto power to object to legislation. That could happen when it comes to the stem cell research debate -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, and for those of us who don't live in Washington, D.C., it's kind of classic D.C., at least for an outsider. You can be calling the president a liar one minute, and then partying with him to celebrate the new incoming 110th Congress.
Let me ask you a question. As the president mulls what he's going to do next in Iraq and everybody sort of waiting for this big announcement, we're getting word at CNN that it might be a surge between 20,000 and 40,000 troops.
What are you hearing from the White House on that?
MALVEAUX: Well, the White House certainly is not giving out those numbers. But there are sources outside of the White House who are certainly suggesting that those -- that certainly is a reasonable range, from 20,000 to 40,000 troops.
It is widely expected and likely that the president is going to make this announcement about this U.S. troop surge, a temporary surge to try to get control of Baghdad. And as you know, Soledad, we have Democrats coming into power here. This is something that they vehemently object to, most of them at least, as well as many as Republicans. So it's, again, another example of the moving forward with his agenda, what he believes in, despite the fact that those in power may not agree.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House for us this morning.
Thank you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
O'BRIEN: So what about the folks who put this new Congress in office? What do the voters think?
AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is in Baltimore this morning.
Good morning to you, Bob. Kind of taking the pulse and having a little breakfast?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed.
You know, in Washington, the stories about Congress are selling like hotcakes. But here at the Sip & Bite in Baltimore, 40 miles from Washington, it's really worlds away from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice over): They're supposed to have some of the best crab cakes in Baltimore here at the Sip & Bite diner, which is really saying something. What they definitely do have is customers who are real crabby about Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like they're puppets in the Congress. I don't know. It's like...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we don't know who's controlling all of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Yes. Yes. It's just kind of bizarre.
FRANKEN (on camera): Whichever party?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they're both...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even think it's a party. I don't even think it's a party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
FRANKEN (voice over): Our table included an administrative assistant, truck mechanic, the owner of a real estate agency, and a clerk.
While a CNN Opinion Research Poll found that 61 percent of those surveyed expect the Democratic takeover will be good for Congress, our Sip & Bite diners weren't so sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, when the Democrats lost the house, everybody was tired of Democrats, so they thought Republicans can do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would make a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they would make a difference. So the Republicans were in for 12 years. And so now the Democrats come back around.
So it's going to go back in the same cycle. Democrats will stay in for eight, 12 years. They'll screw up. Republicans will say, we can do better. And people will vote them in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's been going on for over 200 years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's terrible.
FRANKEN: What about corruption? Will it be any better under the Democrats than it was under the Republicans?
Our poll shows that 49 percent say it would make no difference. The Sip & Bite commentators agree.
(on camera): Do you feel that the Democrats are going to be any less corrupt?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel that they're all corrupt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: The feeling here seems to reflect the feeling in the country, that people are going to cut the Democrats some slack. But not much -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's what it looks like.
Bob Franken for us this morning.
Thank you, Bob. Hope you're enjoying your breakfast -- John.
ROBERTS: It looks pretty good from where I'm sitting.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it looks all right.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Soledad.
Happening this morning, newly released video shows four Americans and an Austrian kidnapped in Iraq back in November. The Americans identify themselves of Paul Ruben (ph) of Minnesota; Jonathan Cote (ph) of Gainesville, Florida; John Young (ph) of Kansas City; and Josh Muns (ph) of California.
All were abducted while doing contract security work near Basra. Kidnappers reportedly made the tape as proof of life for a group negotiating to save the men.
At least 13 people are dead and 22 injured after two early- morning car bombings in Baghdad. They detonated near a neighborhood gas station. Civilians were lined up there waiting to buy heating fuel.
And in North Carolina, the two Duke lacrosse players cleared of rape charges are being invited back to school. Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were suspended while facing charges of raping a stripper at a team party. They and another teammate still face sexual offense and kidnapping charges. Lawyers for Seligmann and Finnerty said their clients were still making up their minds about whether or not to return to Duke. Coming up, news this morning about Parkinson's Disease, including a surprising new treatment. Dr. Sanjay Gupta stops by.
Plus, incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats take control of Congress in just a few hours, and already one top Republican says they're failing the American people.
We'll ask him why ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, live from Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Developing news. Sources tell CNN President Bush may send 40,000 more troops to Iraq, part of a new war plan that he's expected to announce early next week.
And Toyota unseating Chrysler as the third biggest auto seller in the country. GM is number one, Ford number two.
Coming up to 15 minutes after the hour, let's get a quick check of the traveler's forecast. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center in Atlanta.
And Chad, I couldn't ask for a better day here in Washington today. It's just spectacular.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Quite a mess there. All right, Chad, thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: We're just hours away from Democrats taking over control of Congress. First time since 1995. So, what's it like being on the other side of the aisle today?
Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri is the incoming minority whip, the number three Republican in the house.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
REP. ROY BLUNT (R-MO), HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHIP: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: You said recently that "The Democrats are denying Americans" -- this is a quote -- "an open, honest discussion of the issues."
What do you mean?
BLUNT: Well, I think we're -- first of all, we're having an exciting day today. Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman speaker of the House. There's a lot of good things to say about Nancy Pelosi as a person, and we want to honor today the fact that she's becoming the first woman speaker in 200 years. O'BRIEN: I feel a "but" coming up.
BLUNT: But, you know, we're disappointed that some of the -- some of the things that the Democrats promised -- in fact, all of the things they promised procedurally -- are not happening right now. We're not having the opportunity to take bills through committee. Apparently, in the rules today we're going to determine how the first five bills next week are going to be determined.
And those are things that we never did in the majority. But more importantly, they're way apart from the kinds of things that they said they would do when they told the American people they'd like to have a chance to be in control of the Congress.
O'BRIEN: Earlier...
BLUNT: Hopefully this is an early rough patch and we'll get through this very quickly. But it's a bad -- it's a bad start.
O'BRIEN: Two things. We were talking with Congressman Clyburn earlier, and one thing he said was, this is, in fact, what Republicans did to us when the Republicans -- us, being, he's saying, as Democrats -- when the Republicans were the majority. And he also said this -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), INCOMING MAJORITY WHIP: They seem to forget that these are their rules, these are the rules of the 109th Congress that we are trying to improve. So we are pushing things through.
We're putting up the amendments to the rules that they had. And we are phasing in during the 100-hour period our program on ethics and civility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Certainly ethics has been debated and debated and debated, and there's no one who's going to stand up and go against the ethics legislation.
BLUNT: Yes. Well, I like Jim Clyburn. In fact, at 11:00 today, I'm going to be in my former office, the majority whip's office, to welcome him there officially.
But the idea of phasing in ethics and civility I don't think makes a whole lot of sense. And these are not the rules that we had.
I could make the argument about our rules, but I really shouldn't have to do that. The argument really should be about what they said they were going to do.
I could make the argument that these are not the open rules we had, but that really shouldn't be the argument of the day. The argument of the day, if you're in politics, is what you said you were going to do and what you're now doing. And there's a pretty big difference.
Apparently, there's a phase-in of what you said you were going to do. And I don't think in any -- any relationship anywhere in America a phase-in of ethics and civility rings true.
O'BRIEN: You talk about a rough patch. Do you think that you're actually going to be able to work in a bipartisan manner, or is this just not going to happen? I mean, the word "gridlock" has come up more than 15 times on our broadcast this morning.
BLUNT: I hope so, Soledad. I think -- you know, as the former majority whip with the same majority they've got now, a much smaller majority than any Democrat here the majority's ever had, I understand how hard it's going to be for them to get their work done, and the difficulty of that.
The American people really sent us here to accomplish things, to work together when we can. They also sent us here in very narrow majorities for one side to at least have the chance to offer an alternative way to achieve the same goal.
I hope they figure out a way to let us have that alternative. I know it will field a lot of their members if they do. But that's really how this process should work.
O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a quick question about what the president may be doing on Iraq. We should hear any day now, really, maybe he'll Tuesday he'll announce it, but there's word that it might be a surge of 20,000 to 40,000 troops increased in -- American troops increased in Iraq.
Would you support that?
BLUNT: You know, I don't know that actually the Congress has a lot to say about the troop level in Iraq.
O'BRIEN: Would you personally support it?
BLUNT: Personally, I want to see what the goal is that those troops are trying to accomplish. I don't think the number of troops is nearly as important as what we're trying to accomplish and whether it can be accomplished or not.
O'BRIEN: Politically, that could be a huge problem. And if you think about Iraq as an issue that caused a lot of people to lose their seats in the midterm elections, coming up on national election in '08, I mean, couldn't it be a big problem? The American people, if you look at the polls, say we don't want to send more troops to Iraq.
BLUNT: I think we clearly have to have better things happening in Iraq before '08, or it's going to have a big effect on the presidential election in '08. And it has a big effect on the attitude of the country toward what we're able to do to secure the world.
We have to have better results. We have to achieve the goals. We have to set goals that are realistic. O'BRIEN: Congressman Roy Blunt talking to us this morning.
Nice to see you, sir.
BLUNT: Nice to be with you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. We got a beautiful day, didn't we?
BLUNT: We sure did.
O'BRIEN: A little windy, certainly, but a beautiful day nonetheless.
BLUNT: Right.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for being with us.
Ahead this morning, we've got a developing story for you. A sailor lost at sea, sending signals to his family. And then word of a possible rescue on the way. We'll update you on what's happening there.
And a promising new treatment for Parkinson's patients. We talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He has a "House Call" straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour.
A bitter pill for some people. One drugmaker raising its prices.
Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" from New York this morning.
Good morning to you, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning; John. And it is Pfizer, the biggest drug company.
Now, here's the thing. On a day when a new Congress being sworn in, and one of the things that they want to do in their first 100 hours of work is renegotiate prices with drug companies for Medicare, it's kind of interesting that the average increase at Pfizer is higher than normal.
Now, it depends on how you calculate it. One analyst at Bear Stearns calculates the increase that took place on January 1st at being about five percent across the board. Pfizer said it's lower than that.
The reason it's tough to calculate is because of the different prices that the drug companies charge to different bodies, whether it's the government or insurers or pharmacies. But the price of the -- the big drugs are going up. Lipitor and Celebrex -- Lipitor, of course, is the blockbuster cholesterol drug; Celebrex is a painkiller, arthritis drug -- both of those probably have increases around five percent. Drugs that aren't going up in price, at the retail level, at least, are Shontix (ph), which is for smoking, to help you stop smoking, and Exubera for diabetes.
But if you are having to pay for your drugs, you're going to find those increases. And remember, five percent or 4.7 percent, as Pfizer says, is a lot higher than the price of inflation.
So it will be an interesting topic just before this Congress gets sworn in. Something more on their plates to consider -- John.
ROBERTS: Prescription drugs always a huge topic on Capitol Hill.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks very much.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: America ordered a new direction in the last election. And the clock may already be ticking for the Democrats, who have promised to deliver change. We'll talk to advisers for both parties.
And he's alone, frightened and 500 miles from land. A race against time to save a sailor adrift on treacherous seas when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A developing story. New pictures of those American contractors kidnapped in Iraq. But this may not be the only tape of them. We've got a live report from Baghdad straight ahead.
ROBERTS: Race against time. An American sailor stranded at sea. He's injured and losing his only connection to the mainland. An update on the rescue mission ahead.
O'BRIEN: Could there be promise in a patch? New hope for treating Parkinson's patients. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.
ROBERTS: And history on the Hill. The Democrats take back Congress in just a few hours' time.
The agenda and their chances for success on a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, live from Washington.
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's Thursday, January 4th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien on Capitol Hill this morning.
Hey, John.
ROBERTS: Hey. Good morning to you, Soledad.
I'm John Roberts in our Washington bureau, in for Miles O'Brien this week.
Thanks for joining us.
A big day where you are, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is. In fact, happening this morning, not only what's going to happen in Congress, but some other stories as well.
The nation's intelligence czar is switching jobs. John Negroponte is resigning as the director of National Intelligence to become the deputy secretary of state. Now, Negroponte is the first- ever director of National Intelligence. Retired admiral Mike McConnell is expected to be nominated to succeed him.
A new name is joining the big three. Toyota passing DaimlerChrysler to take the number three spot in U.S. auto sales, behind General Motors and Ford. Toyota sales were up 12.5 percent in 2006, compared to 2005. GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler and Nissan were all down for the year.
In Colorado, and neighboring states, too, an all-out blitz to feed livestock trapped by the deep snow. National Guard helicopters and planes are dropping hay on remote areas that ranchers can't reach. Thousands of head of cattle are still missing, haven't eaten in a week. And states are asking President Bush to declare a federal disaster area.
In North Carolina, the two Duke lacrosse players cleared of rape charges are now being invited back to school. Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were suspended while facing charges of a raping a stripper at a team party. Now they and another teammate still face sexual offense and kidnapping charges. Lawyers for Seligmann and Finnerty say their clients are still making up their minds about whether they're going to return or not -- John.
ROBERTS: Soledad, a lot of news coming out of Iraq this morning. A bombing in Baghdad, a second arrest in the Saddam Hussein execution controversy. And a videotape glimpse at five kidnapped security workers who have been held since November.
CNN's Arwa Damon is live for us in Baghdad right now.
Arwa, tell us about this latest violence, this bombing.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the latest attack here, twin bombings that happened at a gas station just a few hours ago. The target of that attack, according to the Iraqi police, was civilians, innocent civilians who were simply queued up there trying to get gas to heat their homes in these cold winter days. At least 13 Iraqis lost their lives in that attack, another 22 were wounded.
Meanwhile, though, the Iraqi government has announced that it has detained a second guard. He, too, believed to be involved in filming that highly controversial cell phone footage and distributing it via the internet and to television stations.
The Iraqi government has identified both guards as being employees of the ministry of justice, and is vowing that in the upcoming executions of Saddam Hussein's two co-defendants, the same mistakes will not be made.
This leaked cell phone video has really been a source of great embarrassment to the Iraqi government and has forever stamped the execution of Saddam Hussein as being an act of Shia revenge -- John.
ROBERTS: And Arwa, what about this videotape of these five security contractors who were kidnapped a couple of months ago?
DAMON: Well, John, that tape was obtained by a reporter who works for McClatchy newspapers. According to the newspaper, it was shot two weeks after those five contractors were abducted. Now, they were abducted back on November 16th.
Four U.S. contractors, one Austrian contractor, abducted when they came upon a fake checkpoint. Armed gunmen were masquerading as Iraqi police. That kidnapping took place just in the vicinity of Basra.
Now in this video, those five abducted contractors do appear to be in good health. Four of them are seated. All of them in this taping identify themselves and identify themselves and they also have requests -- some of them requesting that U.S. forces leave Iraq. But again, that footage was shot according to this newspaper, two weeks after they were abducted, about a month ago, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Some suggestion that this might be proof of life as well for any possible negotiation.
Arwa Damon in Baghdad, thanks very much -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, the first session of the 110th Congress will convene at noon today. Ten new faces in the Senate, 54 new faces in the House. And of course, the power is shifting to Democrats.
CNN's Andrea Koppel joins us this morning with more on some of the newcomers. Good morning, it's been busy around here.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure has. Absolutely, I was going to say, some of those new faces aren't just new to Capitol Hill politics, they're new to politics in general. So you can imagine what a heady, even exhilarating experience it is for these mostly Democrats who are going to be in power obviously. When they walked up this week and saw their names on the plaque just outside their office door.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy cow. Look at the door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exciting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look it.
KOPPEL (voice-over): As he walked into his new Capitol Hill digs, for the very first time, Minnesota Democrat Tim Walz, a father of two, could hardly contain his excitement. Until recently Walz had been a teacher and high school football coach with no political experience.
REP.-ELECT TIM WALZ (D-MN): My own restroom, which is something new, because you would share it with the students at school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have my branding iron.
KOPPEL: Just down the hall, another political newcomer, Florida Democrat Tim Mahoney was also getting the lay of the land.
REP.-ELECT TIM MAHONEY (D-FL): You know, it's almost surreal.
KOPPEL: Both Mahoney and Walz just two of 42 newly elected House Democrats poised to take control of the House. While in the Senate, eight new Democrats will be sworn in, giving their party a one-seat majority.
Many of these new faces elected in conservative districts now determined to push for change. Putting them on a possible collision course with President Bush. On issues like Iraq, and talk of sending in another 20,000 to 40,000 troops.
MAHONEY: Adding more troops on top of quicksand, I don't see how that's going to get us to where we need to be.
KOPPEL: And on making tax cuts permanent.
WALZ: I don't believe so right now.
KOPPEL: But some Congress watchers predict an even bigger obstacle for these new Democrats could come from within their own party. Especially on social issues, like abortion and gay marriage.
AMY WALTER, SR. EDITOR, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: There's a reason that the Democratic leadership picked issues like ethics reform, like increasing the minimum wage, like stem cell research in their first 100 hour agenda. They have broad consensus in their party. Pretty easy to get past at least on the House side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: But the same cannot be said over in the Senate where these issues are anything but a slam dunk. But those are the stories we're going to be covering in the days and weeks ahead, at least for today and tomorrow, Soledad, after Nancy Pelosi and the other members are sworn in, she plans to lead her new flock and her old flock to try to push through lobbying reform, ban on gifts and also try to make earmarks more transparent.
O'BRIEN: But today's the big day of partying and celebration and swearing in.
KOPPEL: That's right, the champagne will be flowing.
O'BRIEN: Exactly. Then tomorrow they really have to start getting to work. Andrea Koppel for us this morning on the Hill. Thanks, Andrea -- John.
ROBERTS: Thanks Soledad. The new Democratic controlled Congress is expected to focus on issues from the war in Iraq to so-called kitchen table issues like health care, taxes, minimum wage. But can they deliver?
Here with me now are two members of the best political team on television. Our Democratic strategist James Carville, former Republican Congressman J.C. Watts. Good morning to you.
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
J.C. WATTS, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: Good morning.
ROBERTS: Let's start out with the idea of the 100 hours in the House. Roy Blunt today said, getting off to a bad start here by just bringing this stuff up for floor votes. Not going through committee. Are Democrats James, at risk of doing what they complained Republicans were doing for the last few years?
CARVILLE: No. This stuff is going to pass. This stuff has been in committee for ten years. It's languished around. They had 12 years -- they didn't raise the minimum wage they didn't do anything about the student loan rates. The ethic stuff was going on right under their noses and they didn't do anything and this stuff is going to get through and it's been committeed to death.
ROBERTS: But even so, the Senate saying, well, we're going to take close look at this. We're going to put this through committee.
CARVILLE: The minimum wage is going to pass the Senate. The stem cell, which is going to pass the House, is going to pass the Senate. It may be changed somewhat. They're two different bodies with two different rules, but the Democrats are very clear on what they were going to do, and they promised the American people they'll get it done in 100 hours. And guess what, they're going to deliver. (INAUDIBLE). It's low hanging fruit, but it's sweet fruit.
ROBERTS: You're the second person to call it low hanging fruit today. Candy Crowley was the other one. J.C., a recent CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation found that on a lot of these issues they want to get done in the 100 hours, like prescription drugs, minimum wage rise, cut in the college loan rates, has the support of 80 plus percent of Americans. The other items that they want to get through, 70 plus, 60 plus percent. Did Republicans blow it in the elections by not embracing these issues? WATTS: Well, I think John, back in 1995, my first year in Congress, we had the Contract with America. And a lot of those issues, they were considered 80-plus percent support issues. But they had a full vetting. They went through committees. They went through debates.
And so I think one of the reasons Republicans lost in November is because of their arrogance. And when you say -- and Republicans, they are accusing Democrats of things that they themselves did, but nevertheless when you voted for change, you feel like you're going to be different than the other guys.
And so I think there's a scent here that says what's different from what Republicans did now that the Democrats are in the majority. And so I think there's a scent of arrogance I think you have to be careful with.
ROBERTS: Perception is two-thirds of the game here.
CARVILLE: I just have to say, in the last ten years, how much national debate have we had on stem cell research? Google it -- millions and millions of hours in angst. You know what, they're going to pass it.
ROBERTS: But there's still debate over it.
WATTS: But there's 54 new House members, John. They never debated that. They never debated minimum wage. There's eight to ten, ten new senators. They never debated any of those issues. So I think there is discussion. I think it's legitimate to say, let's have a debate on this.
ROBERTS: James, Mario Cuomo in an op-ed yesterday in "USA Today", called this a light agenda for the Democrats. He said, not something that's going to get you re-elected in 2008, let alone win the White House. He's looking for big sweeping ideas.
CARVILLE: I think people think there is an ethics problem. And when you take away lobbyist funded trips, I think people will say, right on. I think when you say minimum wage hasn't been raised in eight years and they raise it, I think people say right on. I think student loan cuts in interest rates, people say right on. I think stem cell research, I think they're talking about moving some of these tax breaks for all companies, moving into alternative energy. I think people will be pretty impressed with that. I think it will be a dog gone good start.
ROBERTS: Yes, but he's saying you need bigger ideas like war on terror, energy ...
CARVILLE: Well, I think in all deference to Governor Cuomo implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, that's pretty much right on target with the war on terror. These are things that they recommended and they're going to implement (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: We're getting short on time. Let me throw one more thing at you J.C. The president in his op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal" on Wednesday said, quote, "if the Congress chooses to pass bills that are simply political statements, they will have chosen stalemate." What do you think the tone is going to be? Will it be bipartisan or is it going to be gridlock?
WATTS: Now, John, Republicans in the majority or Democrats in the majority, there's two things that you have to overcome. Ego and the hunger for power. And ego and power creates gridlock. And it doesn't matter if Republicans are in the majority or Democrats in the majority. You're going to have those problems. There's two parties. There's differences on taxes and health-care and stem cell. And so I think it behooves them to work together. But that's easier said than done.
ROBERTS: Well, three hours and twenty minutes, we'll be off to the races and we'll see. James Carville and J.C. Watts, two of the members of the best political team on television. Thanks for being with us -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, there's a very dramatic rescue under way, John, hundreds of miles off the tip of South America. A sailor from California is stranded. He's hurt, his sailboat's damaged, his family is waiting for any word of a rescue, which could be heading his way.
AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence has our report this morning from Newport Beach in California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From a dying satellite phone, half a world away, Ken Barnes manages to reach his daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, dad.
LAWRENCE: Barnes is adrift at sea, 500 miles off the coast of Chile. A vicious storm blew out his engine and destroyed the mast and steering wheel. Barnes' leg is bleeding, his boat taking on water. His sat phone is almost finished.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has no way of recharging it Ron and he's running out of battery.
LAWRENCE: In Newport Beach, California, his girlfriend and twin daughters wait hours between his short 60-second calls.
CATHY CHAMBERS, GIRLFRIEND OF ADRIFT SAILOR: Well I thought, you know I haven't heard from him for several hours. You know, has that boat rolled and is he alive.
LAWRENCE: Barnes set out from Long Beach the end of October. He headed south past Mexico and Peru trying to circumnavigate the Earth alone.
(on camera) Barnes had hoped to cover more than 100 miles a day arriving back here at home sometime between April and June.
(voice-over): A search plane spotted him Wednesday and dropped off supplies.
CHAMBERS: Did you get the last drop and the communication? Were you able to retrieve it?
LAWRENCE: No, he tells Kathy Chambers. But he appreciates the attempt.
CHAMBERS: Seeing the plane and him waving at the plane was giving him a ray of hope. Yes, they are coming after me.
LAWRENCE: Three ships are fighting through 20-foot swells, racing to save him before another storm hits Friday. And the man who dreamed of sailing around the world will now settle for just coming home.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Newport Beach, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now Ken Barnes' family tells us that a commercial fishing boat might be able to reach Ken sometime this evening. And of course we're all crossing our fingers and hoping for the very best for him there.
Could treating a dreaded disease be as simple as slapping a patch on? Well up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to pay us a "House Call" and sow us a promising new treatment for Parkinson's Disease.
And here's a guy who's a talk of the town and the talk of the country this morning. We've been telling you about a real life hero who pulled off an astonishing rescue under a moving train. An update on this story of the subway superman when AMERICAN MORNING returns in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: A little health news to get to this morning. Developments in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. A new patch to help patients in the early stages of the disease is showing a little bit of promise.
Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got more on this for us with this morning's "House Call." Hey Sanjay, good morning. It sounds very good.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It does so far, Soledad. Phase three clinical trials now, talking about a patch specifically to treat Parkinson's. There's been long need for new ways of trying to treat this pretty debilitating disease.
About 1 million people in the United States have Parkinson's. As most people know, it is sort of characterized by these tremors, these pretty significant tremors, stiffness, and slowness of movement. Typically you have to take medications, pills, several times a day to try and control those symptoms. Which is why there's so much excitement potentially about this patch.
As I mentioned, it's currently in phase three clinical trials, but it has been shown to be effective. Few side effects. The biggest thing, Soledad, is that it gives this continuous dosing of the medication throughout the day, which can help control symptoms. It's not approved yet, but as you said, Soledad, it does look promising at least early on.
O'BRIEN: Why is a continuous dosage important in the treatment because it's obviously not just hey you don't have to take pills all the time now, it's the continuous flow of the dosage. Why does that matter?
GUPTA: Well you know it's interesting with Parkinsons in particular, you tend to have an on and off phenomenon. People can be perfectly fine in term of fluid movements and able to walk OK, but suddenly turn off. And if they turn off before they get the medication into their system, it's very hard to get that fluidity of that movement back.
So, the whole idea has been, can you somehow give a continuous dosing throughout the day so they never have those off periods. They've worked on pills that have a longer duration, but a patch might be a better answer, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: So, it's not approved yet. How long before people -- the general population that has Parkinsons could actually buy it?
GUPTA: We talked to the company about that. It's in phase three clinical trials. Maybe by the end of this year, 2007. This process can take a while. But getting through the first two clinical trials, showing its safe and effective, has already been done. So possibly within the next several months.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay, let me ask you about this other report that showed that some other drugs, not this patch, but other drugs that you take to treat Parkinson's could actually cause heart damage. What do we know about that?
GUPTA: This was a bit of a stunner, Soledad. Talking about a couple of medications that are widely used again, pills, to treat Parkinson's. They go by the name of Permax and Dostinex. And patents who have had Parkinsons or know someone with Parkinsons have seen these medications.
But what they found is that about with a quarter of the time, about 25 percent of the time, there's significant heart valve problems in patients who take that. That's a very high side effect profile. And the worst part about it is that the only way to really treat these significant heart valve problems is usually with a heart valve replacement. So, a lot of doctors already probably scrambling to look for other ways to treat Parkinson's and that sort of brings us back to the patch, which in the next several months might be another option.
O'BRIEN: Well, that would be good news, doubly good news then. All right. Sanjay Gupta with "House Call" this morning. Thanks Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" is just a couple of minutes away. And Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead this morning. Hey Heidi, good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there Soledad. That's right, we have these stories coming up in the NEWSROOM rundown this morning.
The 110th Congress as you know sworn in today. Democrats in charge for the first time since 1994. And for the first time, a woman running the House.
Also, car bombs explode at a Baghdad gas station. More than a dozen people die in a fiery hell. We'll be talking about that.
Plus, he made it. A 14-year-old British lad sails the Atlantic solo. We'll have the pictures for you. It's a trip for the history books aboard his boat, the Chicky Monkey. Can't wait to hear this one.
Join Tony Harris and me in the NEWSROOM, the top of the hour on CNN -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, the Chicky Monkey. All right. Heidi, thanks. See you then.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, more on that dramatic rescue we first told you about yesterday. We're going to meet the man that the nation now knows as the subway super hero. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: More now on a story that we've been talking about for these last couple of days. It's a terrific story as well. A real- life hero, the toast of the town in New York and across the nation, as a matter of fact. After risking his life to save a total stranger who fell onto the tracks of the New York subway.
His story now from CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So you take this train to work every day?
WESLEY AUTREY, SUBWAY HERO: I take this train every day.
KAYE: Same time?
AUTREY: Same time.
KAYE (voice-over): But Tuesday's commute would be different. This 50-year-old Navy veteran noticed Cameron Hollopeter having a seizure on the platform near him.
AUTREY: I think he meant to lean on this, but when he came this way, he went like this, bumped off and fell backwards.
KAYE: Wesley Autrey jumped onto the track to save a man he'd never met.
AUTREY: I hopped down here, one feet there, one feet there. I look. I see an oncoming train. You see those red and blue lights?
KAYE (voice-over): Cameron was still struggling in this gutter between the live rails. The train was blowing its horns. Brakes were squealing. Time was running out.
AUTREY: I'm slipping. Each time I go, I look, the train is getting closer, the train is getting closer, getting closer. But the last time the train was about right there where that wood is. And I'm like, you can't get him up. Go for the gutter.
KAYE (on camera): So where?
AUTREY: So I grabbed him like this, fell on top of him, and locked my legs around his, both of them, held him down, put my head over here and leaned in the gutter.
KAYE: So, he was on his back, and you were on top of him.
AUTREY: Yes.
KAYE: From the time Wesley jumped down on the tracks, he thinks he had only about seven seconds before the train was on top of him.
(voice-over): Four cars rushed over them, so close they grazed Wesley's hat. Cameron's recovering in the hospital.
Wesley doesn't like being called a hero, but to Cameron's family, that's what he is.
LARRY HOLLOPETER, CAMERON'S DAD: Mr. Autrey's instinctive and unselfish act saved our son's life.
KAYE: Hero or not, Wesley is in demand. David Letterman wants to interview him. Donald Trump is giving him $10,000. His kids have been offered a trip to Disneyland.
And the New York Film Academy, which Cameron attends, surprised Wesley with a $5,000 check, plus $5,000 in scholarships for his children.
Wesley says he doesn't care about the money. He just wants others to know...
AUTREY: I mean, a life is worth saving.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Well, Soledad, if he doesn't like being called a hero, he better not look at the "New York Post" today because they have a photo of him mocked up in a Superman suit.
O'BRIEN: Good for him. You know and I thought when he kissed the dad the young man who fell, his dad, leaned over and got so emotional and choked up and he leaned over and kissed him, that was the nicest thing. He literally saved someone's life.
ROBERTS: He did, he says in retrospect it was a pretty stupid thing to do. But he says he's glad he could save a life.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely it was, but it ended up well.
ROBERTS: Our hats off to him.
O'BRIEN: Here's a quick look, John, about what "CNN NEWSROOM's working on for the top of the hour today. Take a look.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The 110th Congress opens for business. Democrats taking charge for the first time in a dozen years.
Kidnapped in Iraq. Four Americans and an Austrian appear on videotape.
And a couple of odd ones. A Colorado dog turns up in Tennessee, and baby can't wait. She debuts on the side of a busy freeway.
You're in the NEWSROOM, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: That's it for this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING from Washington, D.C. I'll see you back in New York tomorrow morning -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Have a safe trip because I'm staying down here and I will see you from Washington tomorrow morning.
"CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
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