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Continued Fighting in Iraq; Senate Field Hearing on Katrina Response
Aired January 29, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Heidi Collins today.
For the next three hours, you'll want to watch events as they come into THE NEWSROOM live on this Monday, the 29th day of January.
Here's what's on the rundown.
HARRIS: Scenes from a battle -- a cell phone camera captures a firefight between U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents.
NGUYEN: A hiking trip becomes a fight for life. The mountain lion attacks a 70-year-old man. We're going to hear from the victim.
HARRIS: And a New Orleans entertainer gives back to his city. We will talk recovery with Harry Connick, Jr. in THE NEWSROOM.
At the top this morning, the fight for Iraq and flashpoints across the country. A series of bombings sweep across Baghdad this morning and a ferocious gun battle slowly ebbs in Najaf.
Hundreds reported dead, almost all insurgents.
Let's get the latest now from CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A senior Iraqi police official telling CNN that U.S. forces had taken the lead in that intense battle happening just north of the holy Shia city of Najaf. The fighting began early dawn on Sunday, after Iraqi police received a number of tips that gunmen were massing just north of the city, with the intent of storming Najaf, killing pilgrims, clerics, including Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the most revered Shia cleric in Iraq, as well as amongst the Shia population throughout the entire world.
The fighting killed, according to initial estimates by Iraqi authorities, at least 300 armed gunmen. They are basing that estimate on the intensity of the bombardment and the fighting.
Meanwhile, some details emerging as to who these gunmen may be. We are hearing from a number of sources within the Iraqi security forces and Iraqi authorities that they are members of a Shia messianic cult that is trying to increase the chaos here to accelerate the appearance of the Mahdi, whom they believe is their savior.
We are also hearing reports, though, of Sunni extremist groups being involved in the fighting, including fighters from Fallujah and Ramadi, as well as foreign fighters, criminals and thugs.
U.S. and Iraqi forces are conducting intense sweeps and searches throughout that entire area and remain on the lookout for other plots targeting Shia pilgrims, clerics and religious shrines.
Had this plot succeeded, should any plot succeed against these targets, it would most certainly catapult the already violent sectarian attacks to an entirely unimaginable new level.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
HARRIS: The battle against insurgents in Iraq -- who's the enemy and what are American troops up against?
Insights from a man who knows ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
The future of Iraq and an alliance that's sure to rattle nerves at the White House. Iran's automobile to Baghdad tells the "New York Times" that his country plans to greatly increase military and economic ties with Iraq. The newspaper says Tehran plans to offer military training, advisers and equipment in what it calls "Iraq's security fight." The U.S. has long accused Iran of aiding the insurgency in Iraq and just Friday, the White House took a tougher stand against Iran and its suspend meddling.
A closer look next hour with Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
NGUYEN: Recovery from Hurricane Katrina is still agonizingly slow in much of New Orleans and parts of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Well, this morning, a Senate committee is holding a field hearing on the government's response to the storm.
Our Gulf Coast correspondent, Susan Roesgen, joins us now with the latest on all this -- and, Susan, the first thing I want to ask you is tell us why these senators have come to New Orleans.
SUSAN ROESGEN, GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to be coming here to look at the slow pace, the agonizingly slow pace, Betty, of the recovery here. This is actually the third field hearing for the Senate's Homeland Security Committee meeting. But it is the first since the Democrats took control of Congress.
Now, behind me, in these big leather chairs, is normally where the Louisiana Supreme Court justices sit. But today it's going to be senators. We're going to have Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee; Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu; Louisiana Senator David Vitter; and Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
They'll be sitting there in those chairs and they'll be taking testimony from witnesses who will be sitting here at this table in front of them.
These are going to be the heads of various federal agencies -- the federal recovery czar, Don Powell, appointed by President Bush; the local regional head of FEMA; the head of the Small Business Administration; various other federal agency officials.
They're going to be here focusing on accountability.
What's happened to the federal money, all American taxpayer money, that's been allocated to help Gulf Coast recovery and why isn't that money being spent more quickly and is it being spent wisely and effectively?
That's what this hearing is here to talk about today, Betty.
And it's not going to be any kind of a touchy feely give and take. This is official witnesses testimony presented to the senators here that will actually be entered into the Congressional record.
NGUYEN: Well, Susan, you've spent a whole lot of time there in New Orleans.
What do you expect these senators will hear once those questions are asked.
ROESGEN: Well, the senators are going to be asking things about the housing, for instance.
Why do so many people still not have housing? What can be done to get people back into their homes? Also, what about the reconstruction effort here? Why has it taken so long to repair public buildings and infrastructure?
And, finally, what's being done to bring people back and get them into jobs, get them back going again, get the economy here going again?
These are all critical issues in the recovery and the senators want to know what many people at home want to know, which is why, 17 months after Katrina, has so little been done?
HARRIS: And why are we still searching for answers at this point in time.
Susan Roesgen, we appreciate your time.
Well, another wait for thousands of Mississippi homeowners trying to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. A federal judge has refused to endorse a State Farm's settlement deal and the proposed agreement between Mississippi's attorney general and the insurance company would impact about 35,000 homeowners. But the judge says he doesn't have enough information to know how many of them would benefit from the deal or how much each would be paid. And he left the door open for a new proposal.
State Farm says it will address the judge's concerns.
HARRIS: And, Betty, there's this. Some serious new concerns being raised about scores of levees across the United States. According to "USA Today," the Army Corps of Engineers has identified almost 150 levees it says could fail in a major flood.
Much of the problem, poor maintenance. Now communities are having to spend millions on repairs. The report says if the levees are not fixed, FEMA could decide they're no longer adequate and property owners who live near the stay the course would have to buy costly flood insurance.
We're going to get you to the Weather Center now and Chad Myers.
And, boy, if you're living along the East Coast right now, New York on up the coast...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
NGUYEN: Even here in Atlanta.
HARRIS: Even here in -- and Betty makes the point -- even here in Atlanta...
MYERS: Oh.
HARRIS: Yes...
MYERS: I hear the Stratovarius again --
NGUYEN: No sympathy from chad.
MYERS: ... this morning, don't I? Holy, cow, it's...
HARRIS: The wine and cheese parade.
Here we go.
MYERS: It's 18. Just call off school already.
NGUYEN: Can't we just go home, Chad?
Come on.
MYERS: Good morning.
Good morning, guys.
It is cold across the Northeast and the Southeast.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is. (WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: This story -- have you been following this, this morning?
NGUYEN: I have, yes.
HARRIS: This is the story of a California man receiving special treatment from an unusual attack. Seventy-year-old Jim Hamm was jumped by a mountain lion.
NGUYEN: In a big way. You've got to see these pictures. With his head in the lion's mouth, Hamm struggled while his wife actually fought off the animal.
CNN's Chris Lawrence has the full story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bandages can't even begin to cover the puncture wounds and torn scalp. But Jim Hamm is only alive because of his wife Nell.
NELL HAMM, FOUGHT OFF MOUNTAIN LION:
LAWRENCE: His life was in -- in jeopardy. And we were fighting for his life.
LAWRENCE: Nell is 65 years old. Jim is 70. They go hiking, two, three times a week, but had never seen a mountain lion before last week, when a lion like this one pounced on Jim.
JIM HAMM, ATTACKED BY MOUNTAIN LION: So he just wants to pin me down and start eating. He doesn't care.
LAWRENCE: It knocked Jim flat on his face.
J. HAMM: And then he got me in the mouth and I got my thumb in his eye. And I jammed my thumb in his eye up to my knuckle.
LAWRENCE: Nell grabbed the biggest log she could lift and hit the animal's head as hard as she could.
J. HAMM: She was beating him the whole time. She was worn out from beating him. She said she didn't think she could beat him anymore. She was exhausted.
LAWRENCE: Finally, the jaws loosened and let Jim go.
(on camera): So, did she do the right thing?
MAURY MORNINGSTAR, PARK RANGER: She did exactly the right thing. And that was to fight back, not give up.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Park Ranger Maury Morningstar says you can't outrun a mountain lion. Sightings like this one in residential areas are increasing. Attacks are still extremely rare, but three years ago, a lion killed a biker who may have been kneeling down to fix a flat tire.
(on camera): We're more of a target...
MORNINGSTAR: Yes.
LAWRENCE: ... because we're smaller?
MORNINGSTAR: Right. We're smaller. We look about the type of size of their type of prey. So that's the idea of we want you to stand up, put your hands above your head and start yelling and screaming at it.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): The cat that attacked Jim was shot and killed. On examination, it looks like it hadn't eaten in weeks.
N. HAMM: I feel very blessed that Jim is alive and I'm so very thankful for that.
LAWRENCE: Nell says they fought side by side, the same way they've done everything for the 50 years they've been together.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Eureka, California.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come, the battle against insurgents in Iraq.
Who's the enemy? And what are American troops up against?
Insight from a man who knows, ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: And one student's fun, another student's pain. Charges that some college theme parties are going too far.
HARRIS: And a blinding snowstorm and a mangled mess. Look at this. Details behind these pictures coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Making light of a heavy topic...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY HANANIYA, COMEDIAN: Any Arabs in the audience?
All arrested already, huh?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Israel-Palestinian comics are putting the comedy in the conflict. That's ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: We turn our attention back to Iraq now and the unrelenting violence. U.S. troops leading a fierce fight against insurgents north of Najaf. Hundreds reported dead, almost all insurgents.
We want to take a closer look at who these fighters are and what American troops are facing.
For that, we're joined by Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution.
Brookings has a new report coming out this morning about Iraq. It is called "Things Fall Apart."
Ken, great to see you again.
KENNETH POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Thank you, Tony.
Good to be back here.
HARRIS: Hey, let's start with Najaf, the fighting in the holy city over the weekend yesterday. It looks to be a real mess as to who is fighting against whom and who is aligned w whom.
But bottom line on this brings an interesting question to mind.
If the Ayatollah Sistani were to be killed by insurgents, what might that mean for Iraq?
Listen to Islam expert Vali Nasar, someone I know you know and respect.
Here's what he has to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALI NASAR, AUTHOR, "THE SHIA REVIVAL": It would be a repeat of the destruction of the shrine in Samarra, Iraq in February 2000, which started sectarian war. Sistani's death would really plunge Iraq and possibly the rest of the region, into a bloodbath.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, Ken, remind us again of how important a figure Sistani is.
POLLACK: Well, as my friend Vali was implying there, he is extremely important. He is one of the leading religious figures in Shia Islam. He is a figure who most Iraqi Shia revere. He has also been one of the most important voices of restraint in Iraq.
It was Al-Sistani consistently saying to the Shia, do not fight the Americans, do not fight the reconstruction, this is what we want, this is how we are going to have a better future -- that has been critical in whatever success we've had in Iraq so far.
Without Al-Sistani, things might have fallen apart even sooner than they already are.
HARRIS: Ken how do you -- and this is such a basic question, but I have to keep asking it until I get somewhere close to perfect clarity on it -- how do you stop these factions, these sects in Iraq from fighting and killing one another? How do you do it if they don't want to do it, if they're fighting rivalries that date back anywhere from 1,200 to 1,400 years? How do you -- how do you stop that?
POLLACK: Well, there's actually a pretty simple answer, and it's a pretty good answer, it's just hard to do -- and that is you control the streets. What we need to recognize, Tony, is that in April of 2003, when the United States invaded, we created a security vacuum in Iraq. We took down Saddam Hussein's totalitarian police state and we have never successfully filled the security vacuum that we created.
And Iraq is now like so many other places around the world, like Somalia, like Afghanistan was, like Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia were. There just is no control over the streets and that allows these armed extremist groups to take the streets and actually develop power and influence because of their control over the streets.
So the first thing you've got to do -- and this is what the Baghdad security plan is supposed to be about -- is you take back the streets. Then negotiations can follow.
HARRIS: Twenty-one thousand troops enough?
POLLACK: Well, it will certainly help. There's no question that our commanders over in Iraq have not had enough troops since the get go. You know, General Shinseki was right and I think more and more people now realize that.
So more troops can definitely help.
But it's not just about the troop numbers. It's also about using the forces that we have properly. You know, over the last three-and- a-half years, we've used a lot of those troops to conduct these insurgent hunts out in Anbar Province, where they're basically playing a game of Whack 'Em All (ph).
And that has left Baghdad and Iraq's other cities unprotected and basically fair game for the militias.
HARRIS: Well, why, if 21,000 will help -- I didn't hear you say 21,000 will help us win -- but if 21,000 will help, why not send in enough to win?
POLLACK: Well, that's -- it's a great question. And, you know, about a year we at Brookings, at the Saban Center, we did another report that basically said look, 40,000, 50,000, that would make a much bigger difference.
But the problem is that our Army and our Marines are already over stretched and the White House, I think, is looking at this and saying we need to not only put in more troops, but we need to be able to sustain them. And given how badly we went into Iraq, how poorly we did, it's going to be very hard to sustain large numbers of troops over a long period of time.
HARRIS: Well, Ken, President Bush, as you know, has put in place a capture or kill policy with respect to Iranians in Iraq plotting. He says it is his obligation to do this.
Let's listen to the president and then let's talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It just makes sense that if somebody is trying to harm our troops or stop us from achieving our goal of killing innocent citizens in Iraq, that we will -- we will stop them. That's an obligation we all have is to protect -- is to protect our folks and achieve our goal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Hey, Ken, no one can argue with that logic.
But why just single out Iranians? Why not -- why not make this an across the board policy for anyone, for anyone who is plotting against American and Iraqi interests in that country?
POLLACK: I actually think that is a good question, Tony.
You know, on the one hand, the administration is looking at the increasing violence in Iraq. They're saying that the Iranians have something to do with this and therefore the United States needs to make clear to the Iranians that they can't take these actions that are exacerbating the problems in Iraq.
But a few points.
First, your point is exactly right. The Iranians aren't the only ones there. And there are other groups who are doing the same thing. Increasingly, our own allies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey, all of them are now providing some degree of covert assistance to some of the Sunni groups.
And beyond that, I think there's also a lot of mixed signals coming out of the intelligence community. There are a lot of people who believe that while the Iranians are there and providing some level of assistance to the Shia, they're not the source of our problems in Iraq.
They are a minor contributor to it and we need to be focusing our efforts elsewhere; that even if we were to eliminate Iranian influence in Iraq altogether, we really wouldn't make much of a dent in the fighting there.
HARRIS: That's because most of the U.S. casualties are being taken in the Sunni areas of Anbar Province, correct? POLLACK: Well, that's certainly the case. So our own problems, our direct problems, are mostly, overwhelmingly, being caused by the Sunni population of Iraq. But even within the Shia population -- and there is no question that the Shia -- many of the Shia militias are receiving arms, other weaponry, supplies, money, perhaps even training from the Iranians and their allies, it's still the case that there are so many guns and so many people who want to use those guns in Iraq...
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
POLLACK: ... that even if you could cut off all those supplies from Iran, you would make much of a dent in the Shia capacity to create violence.
HARRIS: Ken Pollack, great to see you.
Thanks for your time this morning.
POLLACK: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: And another reminder, the Brookings Institution has a new report on Iraq out this morning. It is called "Things Fall Apart: Containing The Spillover From An Iraq War." You can find that report online. Log onto www.brookings.edu.
NGUYEN: check this out -- captured by gunmen, captured by the cameras. An abduction in the Middle East grabs media attention. That's in THE NEWSROOM.
And, of course, we are still Minding Your Business.
Stephanie Elam is in for Ali Velshi this morning.
She's here with a preview -- good morning.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.
Well, it's been long waited for -- Microsoft's Windows Vista comes out tomorrow. But I'm going to tell you how you could get it tonight.
That's coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Healing the wounds of war -- troops and their families got a new home away from home. Details on a special dedication ceremony coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, so it's not quite as fun as a PlayStation 3. But, that won't stop people from lining up for a Microsoft Vista.
Stephanie Elam is Minding Your Business -- and, Stephanie, this is really the new version of Windows, right? ELAM: Exactly. And, you know, you might say it's not as fun as PlayStation 3.
NGUYEN: No?
ELAM: But it depends on who you're talking to.
NGUYEN: True.
ELAM: Because we've been waiting for this to come out a long time. People have been saying when is Vista going to come out?
And it's finally here. It will be out tomorrow. But technically that's kind of tonight, right?
Because it comes out at 12:01 a.m.
So just to mark the occasion, many stores are actually staying open tonight from like 10:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. so that people can come in and get their hands on Vista right away.
There will be NFL players on site at some stores across the country signing autographs, which I don't know what that has to do with Vista, but they'll be there.
NGUYEN: But it has to do with the Super Bowl. That's coming up...
ELAM: The Super Bowl, yes.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: And there are ads for the ads.
What?
HARRIS: Huh?
ELAM: Ads for the ads. This is a -- this is a little different topic here, because you've got the Super Bowl, right? So you have those ads during the Super Bowl, which have a life of their own, right?
Many people don't walk away during the commercial breaks to make sure that they can see the commercials.
NGUYEN: True.
ELAM: So what happens after that?
They go on the Internet. And this is a chance for advertisers to make a few more bucks here.
Or -- so what happens?
You go to, let's say, YouTube. And you want to go see, let's say, this crab ad, which is going to air during the Super Bowl for Budweiser. And before you get to see that ad, you're going to see another advertisement for maybe another company, that it will be giving them a little chance to get their word out there, as well, from their product.
So they're just taking advantage of the traffic that's going to be on the Internet after the Super Bowl ads make their debut on TV.
NGUYEN: And it is all the money.
And, you know, it really does make sense because you'll go to work the next day and you'll say hey, did you see that ad? It was the greatest?
N then people are like no, I haven't seen it.
ELAM: I haven't seen it. And they'll go...
NGUYEN: An easy way to go check it out.
ELAM: And there's a lot of polls, actually, like which ad was the best?
NGUYEN: Right.
ELAM: And so this is where they're going to capitalize on that mood.
NGUYEN: All right, Stephanie, we appreciate it.
Thank you.
ELAM: Sure.
HARRIS: And still to come, the battle for Iraq and the political fight on Capitol Hill. A resolution challenging the president's plan ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
And it's a primary concern -- California considers switching places in the 2008 presidential calendar. That story ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right, let's take you up to the New York Stock Exchange right now.
NGUYEN: Ready?
HARRIS: Alpine (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- we hear it just a little bit there?
NGUYEN: Yes, we've got it.
HARRIS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right over the net. That's the moment we want. I'm still doing it. NGUYEN: You can go on now.
HARRIS: The folks from Alpine dividend fund sounding the bell.
Let's get started. Let's get it off to a hot start.
Do we have initial numbers yet?
Nothing yet on how the market opens. But it closed down on Friday by 15 points. The Dow was down. The Nasdaq was up just a fraction on Friday. And I think we're up just marginally to start the day this morning.
We will check all of the business headlines this morning, throughout the morning, in THE NEWSROOM, with Susan Lisovicz right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Among our top stories this morning, in Iraq, the death toll rose. And the religious divisions, well, they're deepening. Iraqi officials say U.S.-backed forces killed as many as 300 insurgent fighters in Najaf. Among the dead, they say, a cult leader who led the siege.
Iraqi officials say their goal is killing -- or was, at least -- killing top Shiite leaders.
Now, a U.S. military official says that small arms fire is most likely to blame for this that you see right here, Sunday's crash of a U.S. military helicopter in Najaf. This is cell phone video showing smoke rising from that crash. Both U.S. soldiers aboard those -- that helicopter, they were killed. And civilians also among the insurgent targets, as a wave of bombings erupted across Baghdad. At least five people are dead, another 15 wounded.
Well, President Bush and his new strategy for Iraq facing a big test on Capitol Hill.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has that.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The administration has made its views clear -- any congressional resolution opposing the president's new troop increase...
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Certainly emboldens the enemy and our adversaries.
KOCH: Top Democrats reacted angrily.
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: It's irresponsible. He ought to be very careful about statements like that. This is a -- this is a Democratic process.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Well, the person who has emboldened the enemy is the president and his policies. He went in without a plan, he went in prematurely, he went in without enough troops.
KOCH: Republican supporters echoed President Bush, challenging critics to come up with their own plan if they so dislike the new strategy.
SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: I think to have a responsible debate, we need to compare plans side by side, because there is no easy answer.
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: If they're really concerned about the lives of our soldiers and they believe that this is a futile effort, then cut off the funds now so that no more lives are lost.
KOCH: So far, none of the competing resolutions the Senate is considering would cut off funding. But one prominent Democrat says that could come next.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: It's a difficult thing to do, because you want to protect the troops that are there and not allow an escalation. But in the upcoming funding resolution in the next month will be our second step.
KOCH (on camera): Test votes are due out as soon as this week on the resolutions. The votes also a test for President Bush, of whether he's persuade lawmakers to give his plan a chance or has become even more politically isolated.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: Two Palestinian groups now claiming responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing in Israel. Israeli police say at least three people were killed when suicide bomber attacked a bakery in a resort town on the Red Sea. Israel is still investigating the attack.
It's the first such incident in Israel since April, when a suicide bomber killed 11 people in Tel Aviv. The White House is condemning today's attack, calling it "a terrorist bombing."
More Palestinian infighting this weekend, with violence spreading from Gaza into the West Bank. In Nablus, a brazen abduction in broad daylight right in front of the media.
Take a look at this. A local Hamas leader hauled away by a squad of gunmen allied with the Fatah movement.
Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah implored Hamas and Fatah officials to travel to Mecca for peace talks. Both sides accepted the offer, but they had not set a date for any talks.
NGUYEN: In political news, California may move up to take a prominent place in the presidential primary season.
Here's CNN's Peter Viles with more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): California's problems, like freeway gridlock, won't come up in the Iowa caucuses. This is what traffic looks like in parts of Iowa. And California politicians are tired of it, tired of being ignored in presidential campaigns. Governor Schwarzenegger, with Democratic support, wants to move the state's presidential primary from June to February 5th, forcing candidates to campaign here.
RICK JACOBS, COURAGE CAMPAIGN: It's great for California and I think it's great for the nation because it will force debates on big issues like healthcare, immigration, transportation, infrastructure, education.
VILES: Presidential candidates typically treat California like an ATM or a rich uncle -- they raise money here and spend it somewhere else. If they have to campaign in California, they'll need that money. It costs roughly $5 million a week for statewide TV advertising, and the state's too big for the kind of retail politics that work in Iowa and New Hampshire.
CHRIS LAHANE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The skill set that it takes to succeed in a place like California, the ability to communicate on television, the ability to have a message, put together a far flung organization, to raise money at enormous levels, those are the skill sets that are needed in a general election.
VILES: Conventional wisdom says that favors well-funded candidates and rules out long shots, especially if Florida and New Jersey join California in moving up their primaries. But liberal activist Rick Jacobs disagrees.
RICK JACOBS, COURAGE CAMPAIGN: A new candidate, a Chuck Hagel, for example, on the Republican side, who doesn't have a big infrastructure and, frankly, doesn't have a lot of money right now, he could emerge. He could decide to run in California on February 5th, if that's when the primary is, and he could win in California.
VILES (on camera): One likely winner in all of this is Schwarzenegger. As the most popular Republican in the state, he'll be in a position to tell every one of those Republican candidates for president exactly what California wants from Washington.
Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Have you been following the weather story here?
NGUYEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HARRIS: Man, a lot of sliding, crunching, as evidenced by these pictures, and just out and out misery along Interstate 69 east of Flint, Michigan. Police blame whiteout snow conditions for this twisted metal horror. Twenty-four vehicles in all involved.
Twelve people treated for injuries. Cleanup kept the Interstate closed for hours on Sunday. Oh, what a mess.
NGUYEN: Yes, you can see why.
Well, CNN's Chad Myers joins us -- see, Chad, when we complain about the weather, there's good reason.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: I've actually -- I've been in a traffic wreck like that and it -- I guess -- I don't even know what you do. I mean I know the best thing is to stay in your car because you're protected, but that's where all the other cars are coming upon, right?
NGUYEN: They're slamming into you, right?
MYERS: And you're stopped. And one time I was up -- well up into the northern part of Michigan, not in the thumb where that was, actually. But we just actually got out of the car and ran into the woods. And behind us, you could still hear cars crashing into each other, into each other, into each other.
So, I mean obviously -- it's just -- it's whatever you think. I can't give you an -- usually there is some kind of rule of thumb, and maybe it is stay in your car. But I'll tell you, at that point -- because it's protected.
But I'll tell you what, when you know cars are going to smash into the back of you, that's the last thing you think about is staying in there.
HARRIS: Yes, it really is.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Now we want to tell you about a home away from home for military families. Look at this. This is the newest Fisher House, two of them, in fact, will be dedicated in Texas in just a few hours. The homes allow military family members to be close to their loved ones who are being treated about nearby medical centers, including the brand new Center for the Intrepid.
Now, this center is a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility that is also being dedicated today.
And CNN's Anderson Cooper will be there. Tonight, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" reports on the toughest battle -- healing our heroes. You can catch that at 10:00 Eastern.
HARRIS: And still to come, a Congressional committee in New Orleans right now to get a firsthand look at how the city is recovering from Hurricane Katrina. We don't even mention Rita anymore. It did some damage there, as well.
The story in THE NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: This story is going to keep you talking. One student's fun, another student's pain -- charges that some college theme parties are just going way too far. That's ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Wild parties part of college life, correct?
Well -- but now charges of racism are flying at college campuses around the country.
The concern?
A series of off campus theme parties.
Allan Chernoff filed this report for CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last Saturday night, dozens of white law students at the University of Connecticut dressed up hip-hop style for what they called the "Bullets and Bubbly" party, off-campus at a private house. When these pictures were posted on Facebook.com, black students were outraged.
LAHNY SILVA, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT LAW STUDENT: All we ask as minority students on this campus is to be recognized as equals. And the fact that they were mocking us makes us feel as though they don't see us as equals.
CHERNOFF: Many white students say that was not the intent.
RYAN GRECO, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT LAW STUDENT: I don't think that people got together and said let's mock a certain subculture of our community on Saturday night. That doesn't change the fact of how that was perceived and how it was, you know, received by members of our community.
CHERNOFF: Some white students from Texas' Tarleton State University celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with demeaning parodies, chugging bottles of malt liquor. One wore a shirt saying, "I love chicken." Another dressed as Aunt Jemima.
DONALD ELDER, TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I was hurt because I thought there was only a few people like that, the stereotypes. But these are just regular students.
CHERNOFF: One of those students at the party was Jeremy Pelz, who posted the pictures on his Facebook.com page.
JEREMY PELZ, TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: We didn't mean -- you know, we weren't trying to discriminate against anybody.
CHERNOFF: it's happening across the country -- themed events that brush up against and sometimes go over the bounds of what might be racially offensive.
At this Halloween party, a white student from Trinity College in Connecticut colored his entire body. Even high school students have posted pictures on the Internet of what they call ghetto days at their schools in Minnesota and New Hampshire.
There's irony here. Hip-hop has huge influence on young white Americans, who, according to industry data, are the primary buyers of the music. As seen on VH1's "The White Rapper Show," young whites across the nation emulate black performers.
(on camera): Black students here at the University of Connecticut Law School say there's a big difference between enjoying hip-hop music and engaging in a parody of the culture behind that music, even if there's no racial intent. It amounts, they say, to unconscious racism.
SILVA: Just because there's no intent to be racist doesn't necessarily mean that their actions are not.
CHERNOFF: It's been a wakeup call for students and administrators.
DEAN KURT STRASSER, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT LAW SCHOOL: This incident shows us that we have a lot of work to do in that regard. We have done work. I think in some areas we have made progress.
CHERNOFF: Some of that work started Thursday, when U. Conn. Law held a forum closed to cameras to help enlighten students.
At Tarleton State, a similar discussion helped change Jeremy Pelz's perspective.
PELZ: We have to look at, you know, what we do and how we do it, how something in our eyes may not be bad or discriminatory, but in others', it's very much so.
CHERNOFF: Parties that had been planned simply for a good time are now becoming lessons in respect for other cultures, as valuable as any time spent in the classroom.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, Hartford, Connecticut.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, in other news, Iran and Iraq -- are they growing closer?
The White House grows more anxious. We're going to tell you why.
That's in THE NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANANIYA: Any Arabs in the audience?
All arrested already, huh?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Making light of a heavy topic. Israeli-Palestinian comics, well, they are putting comedy right in the middle of the conflict. That's ahead right here in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, it's not a laughing matter?
Well, the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour is mining the Mideast conflict for material, of all things.
CNN's Ben Wedeman caught the act.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do you get when you bring together three Jews and an Arab in Jerusalem?
A lot of laughs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prayer bottoms (ph).
AARON FREEMAN, COMEDIAN: The truth is, I really became a Jew because between Christmas, Kwanza and Hanukah, I could just take December off.
WEDEMAN: Two of the Jews are converts from Catholicism.
FREEMAN: I am a Jew by choice, as opposed to so many of you who had no choice. When people -- when people find out that I converted, they -- invariably, they always want to know why, by which they really mean what's wrong with you? You didn't have enough trouble? Were you just trying to be an extra credit target for a KKK sniper?
ISRAEL CAMPBELL, COMEDIAN: I'm the first born son of a manic depressive Italian woman and a pathologically silent Irishman. This makes me wildly emotional in a very quiet way. I look calm, I'm just going nuts. My aunt, though, was a nun, which makes Jesus my uncle.
WEDEMAN: One is an American who moved to Israel for the politics?
CHARLIE WARADY, COMEDIAN: We have elections here all the time. Yes, yes. I've lived here 10 years, I voted 37 times. Yes. You know, that -- that should be our slogan -- move to Israel, vote a lot, you know? This is the only country in the world where the phrase term of office is only a suggestion.
WEDEMAN: And the Palestinian...
HANANIYA: Any Arabs in the audience?
All arrested already, huh?
WEDEMAN: Lives in Chicago with his Jewish wife.
HANANIYA: And you guys should have been to our wedding. We had 900 people. We only sent out 24 invitations. It was amazing. We had all the Arabs on one side, all the Jews on the other side. We didn't have a bridal party, we had a U.N. peacekeeping force right down the middle on the Arab side, of course. WEDEMAN: This unlikely quartet, the first self-described Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour, has come together, they tell me, with an audacious, some might say comical goal.
HANANIYA: Yes, you know, we wanted to resolve the Middle East conflict in six shows and we got four...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a lot of pressure.
HANANIYA: You know, we've got two more shows we're trying to book. And if we can do that, I'd be over.
WEDEMAN: Since the best efforts of hyper serious self-important diplomats and politicians have so obviously failed, maybe...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, everybody.
WEDEMAN: ... these guys should give it a show.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, a dress rehearsal for Oscar night, perhaps?
The Screen Actors Guild Awards are being handed out. In fact, they were last night. And we're going to hear from those winners.
That's ahead here in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A Congress committee in New Orleans right now to get a firsthand look at how the city is recovering from Hurricane Katrina. The story in THE NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: And his heart's in his hometown. Harry Connick, Jr. doing a lot to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina.
Ahead in THE NEWSROOM, he joins us to talk about a project to benefit New Orleans musicians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY CONNICK, JR.: How long can this go on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last week was a hot one for our I-Reporters.
From forest fires to burning tires to gallery burning, you can find it all at cnn.com.
This is how not to recycle tires. Take a look at this video sent in by Mark Zimmer of Kingman, Arizona. He shot this while driving. All he could see of the Kingman Auto Recycling Yard was the billowing black clouds of smoke. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Also, check out these amazing pictures. This one taken by Ben Gross from Westlake, California. It shows firefighters working a fire line in Thousand Oaks.
Eric Bowen took this picture of a growing forest fire burning on the slopes of the Haleakala Volcano in Maui.
And did you resolve to burn thousands of calories and lose weight this year?
Well, Matt McKenna did it back in 2005 and with the support of his family, a diet and exercise, Matt lost more than 250 pounds. This gallery chronicles Matt's success story with pictures of his transformation.
You can read more and send in your own story at cnn.com/exchange.
For the Dot-Com Desk, I'm Veronica de la Cruz.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Witnessing a fierce fight via cell phone. Pictures of a major battle against insurgents coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Honoring the best performances in 2006. The Screen Actors Guild handed out awards for movies and TV last night.
And CNN's entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas was there.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worlds of film and television collided in a star-studded extravaganza at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
(on camera): While the critics have spoken about the work of such performers as Helen Mirren and Forrest Whittaker, at an awards show where the winners are chosen by their fellow actors, how would their peers decide?
(voice-over): Already crowned Hollywood royalty, both Whittaker and Mirren continue to reign during the awards season. Whittaker was honored for his outstanding performance in a lead role for "The Last King of Scotland," while Helen Mirren was chosen for "The Queen."
The four time winner was also honored for her performance as Elizabeth I in the television movie category.
HELEN MIRREN, ACTRESS: It's incredibly exciting, but it's fleeting and one has to recognize that fact, as well. You know, you can't sort of hang onto it. You have to enjoy the moment and then let it go.
VARGAS: Oscar nominees Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson both took home actor statues for their supporting work in "Dreamgirls."
EDDIE MURPHY, ACTOR: And I've been in all different types of movies and, you know, to do something -- to step outside of what you do and try to do something a little different and for it to be well received, it's a -- that's a really great feeling.
JENNIFER HUDSON, ACTRESS: One week I'm, what, winning a Golden Globe. The next week I'm nominated for the Oscar and winning the SAG award in the middle of it. And then, one day I'm interviewing with Oprah and the next day I'm interviewing with Barbara Walters. It's like ahhhh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the actor goes to the cast of "Little Miss Sunshine."
VARGAS: Perhaps the evening's biggest surprise came when the independent comedy, "Little Miss Sunshine" was honored for outstanding performance by a case in a motion picture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.
I don't know, who do you want to thank?
VARGAS: In the television categories, the cast of fan favorite "The Office" was recognized as outstanding ensemble in a comedy series. The cast of "Gray's Anatomy" was recognized for their outstanding work, both as an ensemble, as well as individually, with Chandra Wilson home the statue for her work.
CHANDRA WILSON, ACTRESS: It's about those 10 cast members sitting over there and the other one in rehab. I mean, you all just hold me together.
VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
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