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Countdown to Iowa, Outdoor Hockey Matchup, Pakistan in Peril, Countdown to 2008, Texan of the Year, Tough Year for Stocks, Iowa Caucus 101
Aired December 31, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Eastern Time now. Stay informed all day long right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here is what's on the rundown for New Year's Eve.
New video of the attack on Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto. Gunshots and seconds later a suicide blast.
Republicans, Democrats, the cold facts in Iowa point to a dead heat in both parties for this week's caucuses.
And a stormy farewell to 2007 for New England. Boston flirting with a new snow record this Monday, December 31. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Pakistan looking beyond last week's assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The stakes are huge. Nuclear weapons and a potential power base for al Qaeda. Today new questions about the killing and elections as well. CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is coming to us live now from Islamabad. Matthew, what can you tell us about the new pictures of Benazir Bhutto's last moments?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these dramatic images have really started to shed some light on the mystery surrounding exactly how it was that Benazir Bhutto actually died. Of course, no one is objecting to the idea that she was the victim of a suicide bomb attack, a successful assassination attempt.
But there's been a big controversy in Pakistan at least about what was the actual cause of death. Benazir's supporters, people who were with her in the convoy when she was attacked, insists she died from gunshot wounds, at least one gunshot wound to her head. There was other suggestions from the surgeon who first treated her that her wounds to her head could have been caused by the shrapnel from the detonation of the explosives.
But what this latest video shows is that in the crowd there was a gunman who held up what seems to be a gun, fired three shots towards Benazir Bhutto. It's possible to see her standing up through the sunroof of her car. The flap of her scarf picks up as the shots are fired and she slumps into the car. Now what the government is saying, the official version of her cause of death, is that she attempted to duck away from the attack and in doing so hit her head violently on the lever of the sunroof of her car. This video does seem to contradict that and indeed supporters of Benazir Bhutto have been very critical of the government for making these claims of the cause of death because they're saying that it kind of diminishes their responsibility, that it was an attempt to diminish their responsibility for her killing.
If she would have ducked out of the way and hit her own head, then perhaps the government weren't that responsible. But if it was a gunman that penetrated the security, then maybe they are to blame.
COLLINS: All right. Well, I know that there is an awful lot going on in Pakistan obviously. We are awaiting a decision on the elections which were originally scheduled for January 8th. It's just next week. Any word on that yet, Matthew?
CHANCE: Well, no, and that's the big uncertainty. In the last few hours as Pakistan prepares to met its new year, there's big uncertainty facing the country now about what will come next. Officials in the country have yet to decide on whether elections, which are due to be held in just over a week from now on January the 8th, will, in fact, go ahead.
All the main parties, including Benazir Bhutto's party, former party, say they're willing to contest the elections because of the various technical reasons, because of the violence that followed her death and the destruction that was wreaked upon voting centers, particularly in the south of the country. Also on the very volatile law and order situation in the country, the government is saying they're not yet ready to actually make a decision as to whether the elections are going to go ahead. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance coming to us live from Islamabad this morning. Matthew, thanks for that.
Meanwhile, widespread violence in one of Africa's most developed nations. Thousands of opposition supporters have been rioting in Kenya. They say the president rigged his re-election bid.
State television reports at least 124 people have been killed. The death toll expected to go higher. Several police officers have told the Associated Press they have been ordered to shoot to kill. Kenya's government denies this.
Two elections in this country. And now three days to go in Iowa. Candidates are trying to gain grounds in the final hours. Others just trying to hold on. More now from Dana Bash, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENTM (voice-over): At the Community Heights Alliance in Newton, Iowa, it's not just about praying and praising the Lord, it's about politics.
PASTOR CORY STOUT, COMMUNITY HEIGHTS ALLIANCE CHURCH: You know the caucus is coming to Iowa on Thursday. I want to encourage each and every one of us to take part.
BASH: No endorsement from the pulpit, but the pastor supports Mike Huckabee. Plays a video to point them in the right direction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the righteous rule, the people rejoice.
BASH: These are evangelicals Huckabee is relying on.
JAMES PATRICK, EVANGELICAL: I have a responsibility being a follower of Jesus Christ to choose godly people.
BASH: Volunteers lobbying churchgoers to support the former preacher.
PAT THIES, EVANGELICAL: I am trying to get the word out to my friends who I think have the same values who would be interested in him.
BASH: Yet despite passion here, new polls show Huckabee's Iowa support is slipping. A series of misstatements in the wake of crises in Pakistan have some backers worried the former Arkansas governor lacks credentials.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: National security and national interest is huge for us, and I know there are other people who have a little more foreign policy experience.
BASH: Huckabee says Mitt Romney's barrage of ads against him on taxes, immigration, and crime has hurt.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If a person is dishonest in order to get a job, do you believe that he will be honest if he gets the job?
BASH: So with days to go, he's abandoned his promise to stay positive, launching at Romney.
HUCKABEE: He's a recent convert to the pro-life position, and if I want to say, well, is it real? His health care plan has a $50 co- pay for an elective abortion.
BASH: Meanwhile, Romney's frenzied bus tour is aimed at closing positive. Suddenly avoiding confrontation.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to try to keep this from being a personal matter and personal attacks I just don't think serve the candidate or the process very well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: CNN's Dana Bash is in Des Moines now for us this morning. What is Mike Huckabee's next move to try to regain the lead there in Iowa?
COLLINS (on camera): You know, it's very interesting. You know what he did all day yesterday, four days before the Iowa caucuses, Heidi? He wasn't out campaigning. He was working behind the scenes to film and to cut a new television ad, and, in fact, we expect to see that new ad likely later this afternoon to be unveiled. Mike Huckabee has got a press conference, and we understand that this new ad is going to be attacking Mitt Romney. So it's really interesting the way he is changing his strategy, and it really is a bit risky to do this at the 11th hour. Because as you know, part of the reason why Mike Huckabee himself says he has done so well here in Iowa is because he has run, he says, a positive campaign. The people like him because of that, because they think he's authentic and he tries not to go negative that.
That might change, but it's pretty clear in looking at what Mike Huckabee has been doing over the past couple days, and looking at the polls, he feels that he needs to do this to retaliate, go back against Mitt Romney in order to stop his support from eroding here just before the caucuses take place in just a few days. Heidi?
COLLINS: It is heating up, that is for sure. All right. Thanks so much, Dana Bash, coming to us live from Des Moines this morning. The Democrats in a dead heat. We'll return to Iowa for more on how that three-way battle is shaking out. That's still ahead coming up this hour in the NEWSROOM.
Meanwhile, this programming note for you. Tomorrow, New Year's Day, catch the game that really matters, the battle of the presidential candidates. The contenders talking about the most important issues of this campaign, the economy, the war, immigration in their own words. CNNs "Ballot Bowl" tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Want to get you back over to the weather center now. Jacqui Jeras is joining us from the severe weather center I should say. Northeast is digging out, but the Midwest is sort of preparing for the same type of thing.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, and the Northeast is going to get a one-two punch out of this, too, because it's going to clear up just in time and be beautiful for the big ball drop tonight, New York, say, but then the next wave comes in midday tomorrow. This is what it looks like in Albany, New York right now. Isn't that just beautiful? The snow came down really heavy through the overnight hours. Really the worst between say midnight and 6:00 a.m. You got a good 10 inches plus in the Albany area, and that was pretty common across parts of Upstate New York and extreme northern parts of New England.
Check out some of these snowfall totals that we've had from this system, really making the skiers happy here. Schenectady, New York had over 10 inches. There you can see Albany. Woodford, Vermont at nine and the Portland, Maine, area about 6.5 inches of snowfall. There you can see the system starting to pull out now. Looking a lot better but still going to be rough going especially along the I-95 corridor. The snow was so heavy in Portland this morning the airport closed for a short while. That's back open, but make sure you call ahead, there may be some cancellations. Now second system coming on through. This is going to be a big clipper type system. This is what we're expecting late tonight. The snow is going to come into play this afternoon in Chicago. It's going to head towards Indianapolis. There you can see all of the advisories in effect, and these are winter storm watches which includes you in Detroit. How much snowfall are we talking? Well, overall really maybe only a handful of inches in this pink area is where we're expecting the heaviest accumulations. Maybe four to eight on best and coming in off that lake you're going to have a little bit more of that enhancement.
Bitter cold temperatures, unbelievably cold. Are you ready for winter? Because it really hasn't arrived yet when you consider how cold the temperatures have been. Actually pretty mild in the last month or so. Jumping forward to Wednesday, look at these highs across the east. Eleven in Minneapolis, 36 in Atlanta, and even freezing temperatures expected Wednesday morning and Thursday morning on the beaches on the Gulf Coast. That's a pretty rare thing, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yeah. That is a rare thing. Not a very pretty one either.
JERAS: I know.
COLLINS: Big, big beach blankets.
JERAS: What are they going to do? Stay inside.
COLLINS: Jacqui, we know you're watching all the temps for us. Thanks so much. We'll check back later on.
Meanwhile, this story now. NASA talking today about a major airline safety survey. According to the Associated Press, the report is expected to show near collisions both in the air and on the ground are more frequent than the public may have known. NASA's numbers come from a survey of 24,000 pilots. NASA hasn't said if it will release all the details in the report. The agency has refused so far to make the information publicly available. The Associated Press got the survey data through a Freedom of Information Act request.
We are watching the clock as it strikes midnight around the world. South Korea's new year. These new pictures just in. Let's take a look.
This is about 11 minutes ago or so, and also to Australia. Want to show you those pictures as well. They already welcomed the New Year there.
Great pictures, fantastic light explosions over the harbor. Sydney, Australia, and also the first big city to reach 2008 is in New Zealand. Fireworks shooting up from a tower in the city there.
Belgium just hours away from popping the cork on the champagne bottle. Already celebrations have been canceled. A terror threat for the capital will close the Christmas market earl early, so no fireworks in Brussels. But, of course, the big party here in the United States in New York City. Another live shot for you this morning. More than a million people are expected to crowd Times Square for the 100th anniversary of the ball drop.
And there will be more of that trash you saw around the corner.
Meanwhile, CNN on New Year's Eve, we're going to bring the party to you. Plus, we will have a look back at the year's top stories and big events. Anderson Cooper and comedian Kathy Griffin live from Times Square. It all starts tonight at 11:00 Eastern only on CNN.
Special delivery from one twin to another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awesome. I feel very blessed to have been able to do this for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A new baby, but wait, the stork has another surprise.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Saved by the rain. Atlanta dodges a drought record. One that we don't really want. What does it mean though for the city's main water source?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A deadly head-on crash in Ohio kills five people, including a baby. Fire officials say a minivan collided with a pickup truck going the wrong way on Interstate 280 just north of downtown Toledo. All of the dead were in the minivan. It had Maryland license plates. Three others in the van and the driver of the pickup survived.
Still no reason. What led to that fatal tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo? Police still trying to piece it all together. The two survivors are now out of the hospital. They have talked to police, but they're not talking publicly. A vigil was held to remember the 17-year-old killed in the attack, Carlos Sousa Jr. His family is still looking for answers. Zoo officials say they expect to reopen on Thursday.
Death or life without parole? Prosecutors today are trying to decide which punishment to pursue in a horrific Christmas Eve slaughter. Six family members killed outside Seattle. Another member of the family and her boyfriend charged in those murders. Arraignment set for January 9th. Newly released court documents show the couple fled the scene on their way to Canada but decided to come back pretending to find the bodies. In fact, here you can see them talking to police before their arrests. Police are trying to determine why officers stopped at a locked gate in front of the house after a 911 call from inside.
A tragic turn in the search for a lost hunter in northwestern Alabama. All three people onboard a rescue helicopter were killed. The crew had just spotted the hunter in these dense woods. They were hovering over him when the chopper crashed. The hunter was found and taken to the hospital and he is okay. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
She's the only survivor of a deadly plane crash in Panama and today she's out of the hospital. Twelve year old Francesca Lewis (ph) plans to stay in panama for a few days with her parents before going home to California. Her dad says she still has a lot of aches and pains. Francesca was found on Christmas Day two days after the crash. The brothers who helped rescue her say they don't want the $25,000 reward offered. Instead, they want visas so they can work in the United States. The crash killed Francesca's friend and her friend's father along with the pilot.
In North Carolina a woman gives birth to her twin sister's baby, but there's a special surprise nobody was counting on. Scott Mason of affiliate WRAL has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MASON, WRAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Casey and Melissa are identical twins and when Melissa and Michael couldn't have a baby, Casey said but I can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said absolutely. Out of the two embryos they put inside my sister, Casey, one took, and that was little Madeleine.
MASON: Little Maddy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it was going to be Matt, Matty, so we're good.
MASON: Madeleine was born Christmas Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We couldn't ask for a better day or a better gift.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awesome. I feel very blessed to have been able to do this for them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But seeing her deliver this baby just made me even more happier to have her as a sister.
MASON: In a story about identical sisters, things naturally come in twos. In six months one baby will become two babies because Melissa, who doctors said couldn't have a baby, is going to have a baby, and baby, what a surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It was a surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're due in June, so they'll be six months apart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In six months we'll have another one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six months. Twins.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all they wanted. We're kids, now they're going to be just bombarded with them.
MASON: What a bundle of joy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best gift.
MASON: Scott Mason, WRAL News, Cary (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Love that story.
2008 arrives Down Under.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Five, four, three, two, one, happy new year Australia! Here we go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Sydney celebrates. New York gets ready. The New Year right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Let's go ahead and take a moment to check out the big board now. Unfortunately we're down a bit, down 50 points for the Dow Jones Industrial Averages, but we are going to continue to watch those numbers for you. On the last day, last trading day, of 2007, moving into 2008. Who knows what this will bring with all this volatility we've seen in the past year.
Meanwhile, as we close out 2007, there are a few new phrases that changed the way we talk. Our favorite is I-Report, of course, because you helped us bring breaking news to our viewers faster than ever, and who could forget this one, "Don't tase me, bro," an I-Report classic. Rick Sanchez revisits the shock heard around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It begins as an ordinary town hall forum at the University of Florida. The guest is Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Then student Andrew Meyer comes to the mike. He launches into a rambling series of questions, even making a reference to a sex act. Event organizers cut the microphone. That's when things heat up. And I-Reporters go to work.
MILES DORAN, CNN I-REPORTER: He started interrupting and the police started moving in, so I flipped it to movie mode and just started rolling.
SANCHEZ: Miles Doran was there to cover Senator Kerry's visit for the campus news radio station.
DORAN: And once the police brought him up to the back of the auditorium and started pushing him down and eventually tasering him ...
ANDREW MEYER, TASED BRO: Don't tase me, bro!
DORAN: That's when a couple people in the audience got up and you can hear in the video they started screaming at the police telling them to stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you doing that?
DORAN: Initially I had thought that the police had -- it looked as though the police had acted well within their rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back up! Back up!
DORAN: But then as it quickly escalated into a freedom of speech issue and a police brutality issue, it was like, wow, OK, this is a much bigger deal than we thought it was going to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: They are telling me I didn't say the saying, "Don't tase me, bro," with enough emotion, so I will have to work on that.
We have a ton of great I-Reports, in fact, from the past year. You can see our special "Caught on Camera." Watch it tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
And it's not too late to vote on your favorite I-Reports of 2007. Just logon to our Web site, cnn.com/yearinreview.
A dead heat heading into Iowa. Three Democrats with a good chance to win.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. 10:30 Eastern Time now, and just three days to go. For Democrats it is neck and neck headed into the Iowa home stretch. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Des Moines this morning. Suzanne, we know you sat down with Barack Obama just yesterday. Tell us all that he had to say.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were a lot of things that we actually covered ground. There are huge crowds that are supporting him now. They feel like they have a lot of momentum. One of the main issues, of course, that they've been going back and forth, Senator Barack Obama and his main opponent, Hillary Clinton, is over this idea of foreign policy experience. We have heard from Senator Clinton, who says that she obviously believes she has more experience being in the white house and sharing experiences and decision-making with her husband. She made some news yesterday when she talked about the genocide that happened in 1994 in Rwanda on her husband's watch.
Now, recently the former President Clinton has said that it was his wife, Hillary, who urged him to intervene, to get involved, that perhaps if that had happened, a third of the lives that were lost could have been saved. Obviously that did not happen. The Clinton administration didn't get involved in that, and yesterday it was Senator Clinton who said our government failed. Now, she and her husband went to Rwanda as well as Uganda to personally apologize to those who survived that genocide.
I happened to be on that trip at the time, and I went to Senator Obama and I asked him, I said do you believe that Hillary Clinton as first lady, could she have done more? Should she have done more? And here is his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Clinton himself has acknowledged that he could have and should have done more, the international community could have and should have done more. I have no idea what role Senator Clinton played in this process. You know, this is one of the issues surrounding their campaign is, you know, who takes credit for what and what involvement she has in foreign policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Heidi, you may know there's been a lot of back and forth between these two over just what should have been done or what could have been done, but also whether or not she was really -- had a significant role as first lady in some of those policymaking decisions. Barack Obama saying at one point, you know, you have to do more than -- it's more than just drinking tea. I asked him specifically about that comment, whether or not he thought perhaps her trip was a far cry from just drinking tea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think they're getting a little jumpy right now because we're at the end of a campaign, but, you know, I will let them sort out who was involved in what. You know, that's not my concern. What I am concerned about is who has the judgment to lead us in a new direction on foreign policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Heidi, it's a very interesting development that's happened here. Some analysts obviously looking at this back and forth and thinking perhaps this is a way to certainly highlight some of the good things, the good accomplishments that happened in the Clinton administration and at the same time providing somewhat of a political buffer for some of the failures. Heidi?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Very interesting, indeed. Our CNN Suzanne Malveaux live from Des Moines. Thanks so much. And on New Year's Day, catch the game that really matters. The battle of the presidential candidates, of course, the contenders talking about the most important issues of this campaign. The economy, the war, immigration, all in their own words. CNN's ballot bowl tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern.
And we want to talk a little bit more about the weather. Believe it or not, Atlanta has been saved by rain. Yesterday marked the fourth straight day of rain in the Atlanta area, and that helped divert a drought record, but just barely. With Sunday's soaking the area received 31.85 inches of rain this year, just slightly above the all-time low that was set 53 years ago, but the rain had only a small effect on Lake Lanier, the area's main source of drinking water.
Jacqui Jeras is standing by with the severe weather center to talk a little bit more about all of that rain. We had hoped it would make more of a difference, but I guess from what you guys have been telling us for several months I guess now, we would have need a lot more than that.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely and for days and days. It helped, and it will allow to saturate the ground a little more so any additional rain we get will run off into some of the reservoirs, but it's been a while since we've had some rain so all those sewers and those grates have been blocked up. So this is the Buford Dam Highway area near downtown Atlanta pushing towards Buckhead and we had some cars stalled. Be careful. Don't drive over any water-covered roads. We had over an inch of rain in Atlanta yesterday, 1.3 inches to be exact. That was not a record, but it was just enough to keep us shy of the record. Some other records that we had, Augusta, Georgia, just over 2 inches, Raleigh, North Carolina, pushing 2, about 1.75. In Charlotte, North Carolina, just over an inch for you.
We talk about the drought conditions. It is still exceptional. This is the latest as of Thursday. NOAA updates this every week on a Thursday. That's the latest information not taking into account the rain we got on Friday.
As we look at the national picture, we still have drought conditions persisting across the southwest and we have some strong winds that are going to be pulling up this afternoon and evening. Critical fire conditions expected across southern California today and tomorrow with winds gusting as strong as maybe 50 miles per hour. This is going to be a two-day event, and then big changes come into play by the end of the week. We could see some extreme flooding in southern California. We're talking inches of rain potentially on Thursday and Friday, so very concerned there about any flooding. We also have a clipper-type system moving in across the upper Midwest. That's going to bring in some beneficial concern. I'm a little concerned what will happen with the hockey game tomorrow, Heidi.
Take a look at these pictures. They turn the stadium where the Buffalo Bills play football into a hockey rink. They're going to have the NHL winter classic tomorrow between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres at that Ralph Wilson Stadium there. 3 to 5 inches of snow is going to be expected. 35-mile-per-hour wind gusts. That's outdoor hockey for you. Now we know why they play it inside, if you didn't already know.
COLLINS: Well, yeah, if they're wimpier.
JERAS: Us Minnesota girls that's just what you do in the winter.
COLLINS: We're so tough, aren't we? All right. Thanks, Jacqui.
To Pakistan now and more on the anatomy of a murder. An assassin strikes and videotape rolls. These images raise new questions about last week's assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The government said she was not shot and died instead from hitting her head. This tape appears to show the assassin shooting at Bhutto and her head snapping to the side. Bhutto's husband will help lead her party. Their 19-year-old son will be the leader in symbol only until he finishes college.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILAWAL ZARDARI, BENAZIR BHUTTO'S SON: Like all chairmen of the PPP, I will stand as a symbol of the federation, the party's long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with renewed vigor and I stand committed to the stability of the federation. My mother always said democracy is the best revenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: What's not clear is whether the elections will be held one week from tomorrow as originally scheduled. Opposition leaders are demanding they not be delayed. The government's election commission says they should be postponed. A decision is expected tomorrow.
"Texan of the Year," a newspaper says he's someone we can't live with and someone we can't live without.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: CNN's countdown to 2008 live from Times Square tonight. This year is doubly special, too. The New Year's Eve ball turns 100, and to celebrate, it's going green. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in Manhattan for the big party. Hi there, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Heidi. We can tell you everybody here at Times Square is getting ready for this. The restaurants are filled with balloons and champagne. All the different stores are selling glasses like these and hats so everybody can be decked out properly for tonight's festivities. There's a steady stream of people just coming by here, some of them are going to stick around. Some of them just seeing what the excitement is all about.
I want to show you the building just behind me here. That's the building, you can see where it says Toshiba, that's where the ball will drop from. A brilliant combination of crystals and strobes. It will use 95% less energy. So that is a big deal here, especially when you see just the effect that this has, that ball as it drops sparks off a wave of confetti. We're talking something like two tons of it.
About a million people are expected to come here to Times Square. The majority coming in about 3:30. That's when the police cordon off the entire area, shut it down to traffic. Everybody can come, but they have to come on foot. Security is really tight. The way they do it, it's really an impressive exercise in crowd control, they pen off the entire area.
Once you get in your pen, you stay in your pen. If you have to go to the bathroom, you should have thought of that before you left is what I usually say. You can get out, but chances are you can't get back into the same spot. Security is very tight. They tell you not to bring any backpacks and also you will have a lot of cops around, undercover, a lot of police officers in uniform, and also those who are heavily armed. All of this because even though there's no particular security threat, they want to make sure nothing happens.
There's a contingency plan if something doesn't go right tonight, but nobody planning on falling back to that position. Here we are, I'm ready with my glasses, Heidi. I'm going to try to get you a pair so you can wear them.
COLLINS: And I will, I promise you, I will.
FEYERICK: The only thing crazier than the fact that I now have a pair of these glasses is I actually tried on different ones to see which looked best on me.
COLLINS: You're being careful and fashion conscious, I think that's important. All right, Deb, have a great time. Deborah Feyerick coming to us live from Times Square there in New York City.
CNN on New Year's Eve, we are going to bring the party to you. Plus, we will have a look back at the year's stop stories and big events. Anderson Cooper and comedian Kathy Griffin live from Times Square. It all starts tonight 11:00 eastern only on CNN.
It could be the most talked about issue in 2007, illegal immigration. Now the "Dallas Morning News" is naming the illegal immigrant the Texan of the year. The paper says "We can't seem to live without him and his family and if we can live without him, nobody has figured out how." According to the Center for Immigration Studies, half of the immigrants in Texas are in the United States illegally.
As you know, it's been a rough ride on the stock market this year. Problems started in the housing and mortgage markets. That sparked a wider credit crunch that really squeezed financial stocks. Don't forget about the record high oil prices either. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with a look back. Is that something we want to do or do we just want to blast into 2008?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been painful Heidi. Forgive my whiplash because if you had one word to describe stock trading in 2007, it would have to be volatile. The Dow lost more than 200 points 18 times this year. On the other hand, the Dow gained 200 points 8 times this year. The Dow and the S&P 500 hit all-time highs this year. The Dow, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ entered into direction mode this year. That's a decline of 10%. It's been that kind of year.
Financial stocks have been particularly volatile. Let's talk about Dow's worst performer of the Dow 30 stocks. It would have to be Citigroup. It lost half its market value in these 12 months. It wrote down more than $6 billion in mortgage-related write downs in the third quarter. More red ink expected in this quarter.
And then, of course, we'd have to focus on the mortgage sector. Many mortgage lenders simply went out of business and the nation's biggest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial, lost more than $1 billion in the third quarter. Freddie Mac lost $2 billion in the third quarter. Remember, a quarter is just three months. That's a lot of red ink in just three months.
Oil prices on the other hand going in the opposite direction. Crude hitting record after record. Coming within a hair of 100 bucks a barrel. Remember, crude started the year at just above $61 a barrel. Today it's trading at $95.75 a barrel. Crude prices are up about 60% year-to-date. That's a pretty big jump.
COLLINS: Yeah, that is a pretty big jump. So we had all of these great records and stuff on the Dow, and then we have these corrections. It was up down, up down, but still the market actually ended up by gaining on the year, right?
LISOVICZ: That's the thing. You could really get lost in some of this bad news, but, you know, the fact is all three major averages are going to be up on the year. Now, the Heidi index --
COLLINS: What's that?
LISOVICZ: Heidi index underperformed.
COLLINS: I have no idea what you're talking about.
LISOVICZ: We're not going to see Dow 15,000 at 4:00 today, regrettably. But the Dow will register a 7% gain. We're not expecting big moves on this final trading day of the year. The S&P 500, many mutual funds track that index, up 4%. The NASDAQ is the star. Gaining nearly 11% helped by big gains in many tech stocks, Google share price topped 700 bucks for the first time this year. Shares are up 50%, and you can't forget about Apple. Its stairs are up 130%. Helped by two products in particular.
COLLINS: I have no idea what those are.
LISOVICZ: That iPhone and yet another refreshment of the iPod which continues to do well for apple, apple's bottom line.
COLLINS: It's really amazing. Any chance of a turnaround next year? LISOVICZ: We're hoping for 15,000 in '08. We have to be optimistic, but a lot of analysts say we will have more rough times at least in the first half of the year. The credit crunch far worse than expected. Let's not forget the housing sector. We got existing home sales at the top of the hour actually in stop although home prices continue to fall, and we're seeing a sell off on this light volume but full trading day. New Year's Eve, we're seeing the Dow down 79 points at 13,286. The NASDAQ is down 22 points. I'll continue to monitor it and see if there's any kind of big surge in the remaining hours, Heidi.
COLLINS: The clock is ticking, that's true. That's true.
LISOVICZ: Hey, you're bullish and that's good. We need that.
COLLINS: Optimistic. We'll talk to you one more time this year, all right?
LISOVICZ: You got it.
COLLINS: All right, Susan. Thanks.
LISOVICZ: Are you wondering why you should care about the Iowa caucuses?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen up. You care because those folks in Iowa may actually choose your next president.
COLLINS: Yeah. Caucuses 101, class gets started shortly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The plane was bound for Denver, but it took a detour. A wrong turn on the runway. United Airlines flight 183 out of Kansas City stuck in the mud on an access road. Passengers had to take a bus back to the terminal and find other flights.
Time now to take a look at some of the most clicked on videos on CNN.com. A teenager who says she didn't even know she was pregnant gives birth at a McDonald's in Washington State. The 16-year-old is an employee. Both mom and baby are doing fine.
Controversy erupts over what caused the death of Benazir Bhutto. A new video seems to show a man shooting at her and then there is an explosion.
Some California homeowners facing foreclosure and hard times are leaving their pets behind. Sacramento animal control officers are busy rounding up animals living in deserted homes.
And, of course, don't forget you can take us with you anywhere you go. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 at CNN.com.
Well, is the government hiding something? New air safety stats may scare you. They'll certainly leave you wondering.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Front-runner falling. Rudy Giuliani is slipping in Iowa and New Hampshire. Can he recover before Super Tuesday?
But first the Iowa caucuses, three days away, but if you don't live in Iowa, should you care? CNN's Jeffrey Toobin puts on his professor's hat to explain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Imagine an election with no secret ballot, no all-day voting, the age requirement, only 17. And finally, you can vote for more than one candidate. If that sounds unAmerican, it's actually how the Iowa democratic caucuses operate, and listen up. You care because those folks in Iowa may actually choose your next president. In fact, the rules here are so strange that the campaigns in Iowa run training sessions on how to vote. Step one, stand up and be counted.
CHELSEA WALISER, MOCK CAUCUS ORGANIZER: And what you'll do is then you will get up out of your seat and you will go walk to the corner or space by the wall designated for the candidate of your choice. Okay, ready, go.
TOOBIN: At Obama's Iowa rehearsal caucus, they practice without candidates. Instead they use winter activities. They have ice skating here, drinking hot cocoa, snowboarding, building snowmen and, of course, snowball fights. After the first round, anyone who is standing for a candidate, well, activity in this case, that doesn't meet the threshold of 15% of the room, is out of luck. Turns out on this night, not enough snowboarders. Very sad. So what happens now? If the snowboarders want their votes to count at all, they have to pick a new candidate before the second and final tally.
WALISER: Each group that is viable gets to send one ambassador over to the snowboarding group and try to persuade them to join your group.
TOOBIN: Now it's let's make a deal. The other groups all send someone over to the snowboarders to say come on, join our side. A little arm twisting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ice skating, you feel free, you feel free to be on one feet, two feet. You can twirl around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like that one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do, too.
TOOBIN: The snowboarders decide ice skating is their second choice, and they all make the switch. Understanding that the persuasion period and how to win over second choice voters is so important, candidates have web videos to explain it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't just go to the caucus. Bring your friends. TOOBIN: And even highlighted on the stump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you hit that floor and work it and try to get them. It's like a fun game. It's like monopoly. You go over and say your man isn't going to make it. Come over here, remember I loaned you that snow shovel.
TOOBIN: Because the rules are so complicated, organization is key. You need to get your supporters to the caucus locations by 7:00 sharp or they can't vote, and this is Iowa in the wintertime. Sometimes the weather is a factor.
By comparison, the republican caucuses are pretty simple. Though the campaign, here Fred Thompson's, are also training their supporters. It's a secret ballot, and there's no viability threshold. Every vote counts. The complicated rules make for one sure thing, that the results here are very hard to predict.
So after all this, who wins? Well, that's not simple either. The party keeps the popular vote totals at the caucuses a secret. They only announce the percentage of delegates each candidate will receive at the State Party Convention later in 2008. And there's more, of course, the caucus rules are 72 pages long. Jeffrey Toobin, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: On New Year's Day, catch the game that really matters, the battle of the presidential candidates. The contenders talking about the most important issues of this campaign, the economy, the war, immigration, all in their own words. CNN's ballot bowl tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern.
You're with CNN. Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on December 31st, 2007, New Year's Eve. Here is what's on the run down.
Assassination video, new tapes show the attack on Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto.
Iowans, caucus, in three days. Polls suggest the presidential contests are a tossup for both parties.
And the calendar rolls over for Australia and East Asia. 2008 arrives.
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