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NASA Releases Pilot Safety Poll Results; Michael Bloomberg's Effect on Campaign; Dangerous Winds in Southern California
Aired December 31, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
It's a pilot's eye view of the skies. The airline safety survey NASA tried to keep secret. Today the secret is out, but what does it prove?
A New York mayor with presidential dreams? Rudy Giuliani might not be the only one. This hour, the potential impact of Michael Bloomberg and Michael Bloomberg's billions on campaign 2008.
Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN Center in Atlanta and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
After months of turbulence, the survey has landed. NASA finally releasing the results of years of pilot interviews on airline safety. This is the survey THAT the agency didn't want you to see and now doesn't even want you to take seriously. Our own aviation expert Miles O'Brien here with all the details and the 16,000 pages of millions of dollars of research that now everyone says, hmm.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can imagine people just scratching their head at home on this one when you think about it.
PHILLIPS: It was supposed to be earth-shattering.
O'BRIEN: It's a scary picture that is painted, 30,000 plus pilots interviewed, started back in 1998. The idea, according to NASA and the FAA was to proactively get them to talk about safety, not just rely on them reporting, and perhaps learn a little bit more about the safety of the system in general.
Let me just give you a flavor of what is in that report before I tell you why NASA says you shouldn't pay too much attention to it. Are you with me on this?
First of all, pilot reports. They were concerned about arming the cockpit, air marshals on the planes, lots of talk about fatigue, especially at night. A lot of this isn't new, but nevertheless in the report radio congestion and traffic big worries.
Also in that report, concern about airplane maintenance getting poor and bottom-line issues there, that kind of thing. There is also in that report there's twice the number of bird strikes, twice the number of near misses with other aircraft or ground equipment and four times the number of engine failures that is publicly acknowledged by federal aviation regulators.
Well those numbers will get your attention and it did get the attention of the "Associated Press." It tried to get this particular report released. NASA said no, we will not release it, because it will undermine the confidence that the public has in the aviation safety system.
That's what started all the turbulence, but Mike Griffin today in releasing it, the head of NASA, said it was flawed from the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATION (on phone): This is an area where, if someone comes in and says we're seeing four times as many engine failures as are being otherwise reported, it calls into question the reporting mechanism rather than the underlying rate of engine failure, which we believe we understand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: So they're downplaying this study big time, walking away from it.
PHILLIPS: Bottom line --
O'BRIEN: Years and years of work, $1 million a year to conduct the study, NASA saying, well, we've released it, but we don't believe in it.
PHILLIPS: But we deserve to know about these things. Even you mentioned, how did they phrase it? The birds --
O'BRIEN: Bird strikes.
PHILLIPS: Bird strikes, thank you. A lot of people don't realize that brings an aircraft down.
O'BRIEN: Yes, but here's the thing. When those happen, they're not secrets. So when they say twice the numbers out there, where do these things happen?
We have cameras, we have people that call us. We have people on the planes that see these things. These things aren't easy to hide.
I should tell you this, the FAA has a comprehensive system which encourages aircrews and anybody involved in the airline system and the general aviation as well, to call in anonymously and report problems.
That system, the FAA says, works pretty well. It does rely on them picking up the phone proactively and making the call, but they are guaranteed anonymity. And according to the FAA, they're getting some good, solid data and some information that they weren't previously getting a hold of before just based on things that everybody knew about. So I guess the question is, would it be good if you proactively called pilots and had a conversation with them and maybe learned more? Yes, that would be good, but how do you quantify what happened? Is it nothing more than anecdotal, or is it rumor?
PHILLIPS: Right.
O'BRIEN: Is it rumor, essentially?
PHILLIPS: Bottom line, we want to know what's happening.
O'BRIEN: Of course we do.
PHILLIPS: We all fly. We all are concerned.
O'BRIEN: We should remember it's a pretty safe way to travel. And a lot of people are traveling right now. They get concerned about all these things. The fact is it's very safe.
PHILLIPS: Miles O'Brien, especially when I'm flying with you. It's been a while. He's a great pilot, folks, by the way. All right, thanks, Miles.
Electability, experience, world events, all are coming into play as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama go after those all-important undecided Democrats three days before the Iowa caucuses. Let's get an update now from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux on the campaign trail in Des Moines. Suzanne, keeping warm, I hope?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Trying to keep warm in a windy Des Moines. One of the main issues between Senator Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is over the issue of foreign policy experience, and that is why some of the comments made by the former President Clinton has really perked up people's ears. It's all about the controversial U.S. policy regarding genocide in Rwanda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): In 1998, President Clinton and then First Lady Hillary came to Rwanda to apologize. Hundreds of thousands had been slaughtered there on Clinton's watch as the U.S. government stood by. If only Bill had listened to Hillary, perhaps the genocide could have been stopped. That's what the former president is now saying, stumping for his wife on the campaign trail.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 800,000 people macheted to death, but I believe if I had moved, then we might have saved as many as a third of those lives, and I think she clearly would have done that.
MALVEAUX: Hillary Clinton confirmed the story Sunday, that she had urged her husband to intervene.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that our government failed shortly after the genocide ended, and I personally apologized to women whose arms had been hacked off, who had seen their husbands and their children murdered before their eyes and were at the bottoms of piles of bodies.
MALVEAUX: Hillary Clinton has highlighted her foreign policy experience to make the case she is better qualified and prepared to be president than her opponent Senator Barack Obama. Earlier, Obama seemed to minimize her experience by referring to her duties as sipping tea with dignitaries.
Is it fair to say that that was more than pouring tea, that visit that she went with her husband to Uganda?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they're getting a little jumpy right now because we're at the end of a campaign, but I will let them sort out who was involved in what. 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.
MALVEAUX: CNN political editor Mark Preston says President Clinton's move to give credit to his wife for the good while taking the blame for the bad is a useful strategy.
MARK PRESOTN, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: He's saying that voters really need to give Hillary Clinton a second look on what her role was in his administration. She played a very key role and Hillary Clinton in a time of need, in the time of crisis, is able to step up and make the right choice, make the right judgment about what to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And president and other political analysts say that really it's impossible to know what the first couple talked about. Really voters have to take their word for it essentially. President Clinton also saying this was not something that was discussed with his full national security team. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, we'll keep checking in with you. Also coming up at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, we're going to check in with our Candy Crowley, she's on the John Edwards campaign trail.
Now, in the wake of ads by Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney attacking Mike Huckabee's record on crime and government spending, Huckabee says that the former Massachusetts governor is running a, quote, "desperate and dishonest campaign." And he says he intends to take the high road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDNETIAL CANDIDATE: We often talk about changing the tone of politics and the direction of the way we elect our officials. And sometimes we talk about it and then we end up doing the same things. And at some point we have to decide, can we change the kind of politics and the level of discourse? And so I'd like to believe that we can, but it's got to start somewhere, and so it might as well start here, and might as well start with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUCKABEE: You've heard this question before, but it won't go away. Will New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg join the race for the White House? Bloomberg and other potential independent candidates plan to meet next week with moderates from bother parties to talk about a third-party bid. CNN's Jim Acosta joins us now live from New York. What do you think, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, here we go again. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is scheduled to attend what appears to be a political summit in Oklahoma this Sunday that will feature a who's who of retired moderate politicians - all who say they are fed up with the partisan bickering in Washington.
While the billionaire businessman turned mayor has insisted he is not in the race for the White House, Bloomberg's name is emerging as a potential Independent presidential candidate. One of the participants at this Sunday's meeting, former Republican Congressman Jim Leach has confirmed to CNN that Bloomberg's name is being mentioned among the participants as an alternative to the current two-party slate of candidates. But on CNN's "LATE EDITION," former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn said the upcoming gathering is more about ending the hyper- partisanship in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM NUNN (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: It is no one's meeting, it is not the beginning of a third party. It is not a meeting to forge an Independent candidacy. All of that is possible in the future, but what we are is a group of people who trust each other because we worked for years together across party lines. We're frustrated with the political process. We think the two-party system is not working now for the best interests of the American people.
(END VIDOE CLIP)
ACOSTA: One big question about a Bloomberg candidacy is who it would hurt more. Republican front-runner Mike Huckabee is already placing his bet saying it would take away votes from Democrats. But clearly an Independent bid is on his mind. Take last week when the mayor said the Electoral College has nothing to do with parties, which is a good point. He's right about that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We'll be tracking it, nevertheless. Jim Acosta, thanks so much.
And for all the day's political stories, you can log on to our special political news Web site. It's at CNNpolitics.com.
And on New Year's Day, catch the game that really matters, the battle of the presidential candidates. It's all the contenders talking about the most important issues. The economy, the war, immigration, in their own words. CNN's Ballot Bowl tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
A woman who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975 has just been paroled from a California prison. Sara Jane Moore now 77, fired a single shot at the president as he stood outside a San Francisco hotel. An ex-marine standing next to her was able to grab her arm and the bullet missed. It was actually the second attempt on Mr. Ford's life in three weeks. Gerald Ford died last December at the age of 93. Interviewed shortly afterward, Moore said that she was glad her assassination attempt had failed.
A tear-jerker essay wins a little girl some Hannah Montana tickets, until organizers discover it was a mother of a scam.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 3:14 Eastern Time right now. Here's some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM. How did Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto really die? More doubts are emerging now about the government's version of her assassination.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour names his choice to replace Senator Trent Lott. It's Republican Congressman Roger Wicker. Lott stepped down earlier this month.
And a would-be presidential assassin stepped out of prison today. Sara Jane Moore was paroled in California. Moore fired a single shot at President Gerald Ford in 1975. The bullet missed Ford's head by inches.
Dry and windy. It's always a dangerous combination in southern California. And we've seen too many wildfires there lately. But that's not the only potential problem, right, Thelma Gutierrez?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, right now I can tell you that the winds are calm. It is a warm, sunny day here in Hollywood, so for now there's nothing to complain about. But later this afternoon, the National Weather Service actually predicts that there will be strong Santa Ana winds gusting throughout Los Angeles County.
And of course, this is a huge concern for people in the canyon areas like Malibu, where you have those dry, windy conditions. Everyone is worried, of course about fire dangers. And so right now there are firefighting strike teams that have been deployed throughout the area. They are set up in the event of a brushfire. And in San Diego County, there are also about a half dozens air tankers that are on standby ready to go in the event of a fire. As far as residents are concerned, the ones that we have talked to have said that the winds are an absolute nuisance, blowing around trash cans and mailboxes, anything else that's not tied down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL FORSELL, LOS ANGELES: It's amazing. It's amazing. Every year it's windy and every year it gets windier. It's incredible. When it says it's like 60 miles-an-hour up here it feels like it's 80. Very, very windy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Now the wind gusts have been reported up to about 38 miles-an-hour in the Los Angeles area and up to about 80 miles-an-hour in Ventura County. But right now, as you can see, it's very calm, actually very nice conditions here on this New Year's Eve. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right and I'll see you next year, Thelma, happy 2008.
Well gusty winds and snow storms and also what Thelma's talking about there. It's quite a way to end the year, huh, Bonnie Schneider?
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Our senior political correspondent goes head to head with the leading Democratic contender. Candy Crowley will tell us how John Edwards views his chances and his rivals' criticism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Little girls went crazy for Hannah Montana this year, and parents went a little crazy, too trying to score concert tickets. Some paid thousands of dollars on eBay. Some danced in drag contests. But a mom in Texas topped them all, concocting a tall, terrible tale that her kids father was killed in Iraq. Details now from reporter Byron Harris of CNN affiliate WFAA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BYRON HARRIS, WFAA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Club Libby Lu stores across the country sell rock star dreams. Little girls who walk in are sprinkled with fantasy dust and make a wish.
To help them become more like Hannah Montana, girls can get secret celebrity makeovers. And when a 6-year-old Garland girl came in, she was presented with a surprise makeover. Then came an even bigger shock. Her essay won her four tickets and airfare to a Hannah Montana concert. Priscilla Ceballos did most of the talking for her daughter.
She laid out a tragedy of a father killed in Iraq, an army sergeant named Jonathon Menjivar of Garland who died on April 17th of this year. But for those who sadly track local Iraq casualties, that was an unfamiliar name. A check with Department of Defense records showed that no one of that name was killed in Iraq on that day. In fact, no one of that name has died in Iraq. The mother would not talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no person that was killed in action?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't need -- O don't need --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no such person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't need to be --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a Hannah Montana four pack.
HARRIS: Club Libby Lu sponsored the essay contest. The company now says the statement about the father killed in Iraq is false. They say they never dreamed about having to do background checks on essays from little girls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And over the weekend, Club Libby Lu decided to take back the prize and award it to somebody else.
Wall Street is now in the final hour of trading on the final day of 2007. Investors sort of had a lot of bad news to contend with this year, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. That's according to Susan Lisovicz who knows all from the New York Stock Exchange. Hey, Susan.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Well how did she sigh? The Pakistani government offering up conflicting causes for Benazir Bhutto's death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We spend a lot of time today analyzing the enlightening new videotape that appears to show the fatal attack on Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto. CNN's Ali Velshi has taken a close look at it as well as other evidence and he's put together a compilation of what we know now four days later. Here's his report from Islamabad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one doubts that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, but a puzzling controversy has erupted surrounding what exactly caused her death. Two videos released since Bhutto's death show different angles of her assassination, both seeming to support the theory that Bhutto was shot. This widely seen video shows a man on the right raising a gun, pointing it in the direction of Bhutto, who is standing up in her car with her upper body through the sunroof. He fires three shots, then an explosion.
Another angle -- on the far left a clean shaven man in a dark suit and sunglasses approaches Bhutto's car. He's the suspected shooter. Police are in the vicinity, but do not appear to be keeping anyone away from Bhutto's car. Then three gunshots. You can still see Bhutto standing. Her hair and scarf appear to move, perhaps from the bullet. Then Bhutto falls into the car -- clearly before the blast.
These images appear to show what most people assumed from the beginning -- that Benazir died at the hands of a shooter and then a suicide bomb was detonated, killing another 23 people. Everyone in Bhutto's bomb-proof car lived except her. Those with her say they saw her bleeding from her winds and the heavily bloodstained interior appears to support them. The doctor who initially examined the body said she died of bullet wounds. Then the government said she died from shrapnel wounds from the explosion. Then, in a move that further confused the issue, the government released x-rays of Bhutto's skull, saying it shows she died when she hit her head on the metal lever of the sunroof, as she fell into the car. But this video challenges that, showing Bhutto dropping and disappearing through the sunroof after the gunshot but before the explosion. Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, says the government is using it to divert attention from the main issue -- who's behind the killing.
ASIF ALI ZARDARI, BENAZIR BHUTTO'S WIDOWER: One (INAUDIBLE) appear the controversy over whether it's a bullet or whether it's a bomb or whether it's shrapnel.
VELSHI: Further complicating the issue was a speedy burial -- done in accordance with Islamic custom. There was no autopsy.
ZARDARI: I have lived in this country long enough to know how and where the autopsies are done. I know that their forensic reports are useless. We know what the wound is. We know how it was done.
VELSHI: Pakistan's interior minister now concedes it's immaterial how she died. What's more important is who killed her and finding who killed her.
(on camera): The Pakistan Peoples Party and Benazir Bhutto's husband, Asif Zardari, have called for an international investigation into the circumstances surrounding Benazir Bhutto's assassination. They say the Pakistani government cannot be trusted to handle this investigation properly.
The government of President Musharraf says they're fine and don't need help from the outside. But after a conversation with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Musharraf may be reconsidering that decision.
Ali Velshi, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you heard it here live -- an exclusive interview with the widower of Benazir Bhutto, her temporary successor as head of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Asif Ali Zardari plans to hold the party post until it's assumed by the Bhutto's college-aged son. Zadari told our Wolf Blitzer that the January elections promised by President Pervez Musharraf should go on as planned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZADARI: I believe that the elections should go on. That's the reason -- that's the mission that my late wife, Benazir Bhutto, was carrying with her. That's the mission that she laid her life for, is democracy. That is how my son, Bilawal Al-Zadari, and her son, Bilawal Al-Zadari, have started (INAUDIBLE), by saying that democracy is the best revenge. And if there can be elections in Sri Lanka, where there's a constant war; if there can be elections in Africa, where there's a constant war, why can't there be elections in Pakistan?
If there can be elections in Afghanistan, where there is an al Qaeda movement, why can't there be elections in Pakistan -- and on time?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, you can hear that interview start to finish in THE SITUATION ROOM 4:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. It's about half an hour away.
More than 100 people are dead in election related violence in Kenya. Kenya's reelected President Kibaki promised a crackdown today against political opponents who say the election was stolen.
(VIDEO FROM KENYA)
PHILLIPS: You can hear the gunshots there. That violence stretched from the teeming capital of Nairobi to smaller towns and villages across the African nation. One hundred and twenty-four people reported dead. And today, the State Department expressed congratulations to the Kenyan people for the voting in record numbers. But now it's voiced concern at reported irregularities and called on the Kenyan government to resolve any problems promptly.
Well, he came in second in Iowa four years ago and eventually landed the second spot on the Democratic ticket. This time around, John Edwards is aiming for first.
Can he do it?
Let's get to our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, on the campaign trail in Des Moines. She had a chance to sit down with him -- hi, Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, how are you, Kyra?
Listen, as you know (AUDIO GAP).
PHILLIPS: Oh, it's always a bummer when we lose those satellite connections.
Actually, I think we got her back.
Candy, we lost you for just a...
CROWLEY: Am I back?
PHILLIPS: You are back, my beautiful friend.
CROWLEY: All right.
PHILLIPS: Let's take it from the beginning.
Let's try it.
CROWLEY: All right.
PHILLIPS: Let's rewind. Try it again. CROWLEY: All right.
So, you know, what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, was that what politicos like to do and what these campaigns like to do is kind of game out what might happen if.
So here's the situation we have on the Democratic side. We have a three way tie -- Clinton, Obama, Edwards.
Now, John Edwards, yesterday, you know, I asked him. He said he really thinks that he has a very good chance of coming in first. He says he knows this by the enthusiasm on the ground, by the phone calls that they're making, that sort of thing. I said to him, you know, when you talk to the Obama campaigns and you talk to the Clinton campaigns, they both say if they don't come in first, they'd rather have John Edwards come in first, because they don't think he has the money or an organization to go much beyond New Hampshire or South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can I just say, respectfully, if that were true, Senator Obama wouldn't be out every day criticizing me and attacking me. I don't think that's the -- I don't think that's reality. I think the reality is that I have a great chance here in Iowa. We have a lot of energy and momentum. We have a wonderful chance Thursday night. And whoever comes out of Iowa with momentum is going to have more money than they know what to do with.
I mean John Kerry raised millions and millions of dollars just in the period of a few hours and days after the Iowa caucus, when he won in 2004.
Money will become irrelevant once somebody wins the Iowa caucus.
CROWLEY: But you can't raise but a certain amount of money. I think that's what they're saying here, is that they can raise as much money as they want and spend as much money as they want. You can't.
EDWARDS: But the problem with what they're saying is, if they don't win the Iowa caucus -- the winner of the Iowa caucus is going to have huge amounts of money pouring in. And if you're taking public financing, a huge percentage of that will be matched by the federal government. So I think as a practical matter, I'll have plenty of money to run this race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: So the Edwards campaign is so sensitive about this subject that they put out a press release today sort of quoting all of the political stories from four years ago, when everyone thought Howard Dean would be the winner and then after he lost Iowa, all of the punditry saying listen, Dean's got the money to go on. He's the only one that has the money to sustain himself. And, of course, Howard Dean lost that.
So the Edwards campaign is very sensitive, but also saying they're feeling very confident not just about Iowa, but about the states beyond.
PHILLIPS: Well, do you have year boots on, Candy?
I hear they're passing out shovels, one of the campaigns.
Do you want to explain this?
CROWLEY: This is great. This is my favorite thing about Iowa is it's like nothing you've ever done, trust me.
Look, on the Hillary Clinton side, just for a little perspective, her kind of target audience is women over 50. It includes a number of women 65 and older. What the Clinton campaign has done is hand out hundreds of shovels to their precinct captains, saying, look, if anybody needs their walk cleared from previous snows, go on and do that so they can get out on election night. They're offering rides and they're offering catering at some of these caucuses. So that's on the Clinton get out the vote.
On the Obama side, now remembering that he has an electorate -- a target audience that is 45 and younger -- now, read that child-bearing age -- they're offering free baby sitting so people can go to the caucuses.
So it's one of those wonderful things about Iowa.
PHILLIPS: Well, I have another little wonderful thing to share. You know, you follow on all the political cartoons.
Do you have a favorite political cartoonist by chance?
CROWLEY: Whatever I say is going to get me in trouble.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: You had a long pause.
CROWLEY: All of them are my favorites.
PHILLIPS: OK.
And I'll go ahead and say -- well, all right, one of our favorites, with the "AJC," Mike Luckovich. He's syndicated in 150 different newspapers. So he was here with me on set, Candy, and I don't know if you had a chance to hear what he was doing.
But I said, you know, could you work up on cartoon, you know, on the best political team in television?
So he's given a new view to American gothic, my friend. It's you and Wolf Blitzer right here. And the bubble over your head says -- over your head -- says "Get me out of Iowa."
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: So it's signed, sealed and delivered. CROWLEY: So, in the next couple of days -- right.
In the next couple of days, when I'm on a bus somewhere calling you on the phone, I want you to put that picture up instead of the actual picture of me.
PHILLIPS: That is a deal.
You know, you actually look pretty good here. He's given you a new hairdo, a nice little conservative dress. Yes, you and Wolf. He's got the pitchfork.
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: That's me.
PHILLIPS: Yes, right. Exactly. You've been giving him that look like Wolf, let's get going, pal.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Anyway, it's going to be in the mail to you in about 10 minutes.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: All right, Candy Crowley.
And for all the day's political stories, you can log onto our special political news Web site. It's at CNNPolitics.com.
And on New Year's Day, you can catch the game that really matters -- the battle of the presidential candidates. It's all the contenders talking about the most important issues -- the economy, the war, immigration -- all in their own words. CNN's Ballot Bowl tomorrow, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Now, something new in Times Square this year -- a high tech spin on the old ball drop.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the calendar rolls over to 2008 down under. Check out how Australians ushered in the new year. A pretty spectacular light display over the famed and beautiful Sydney Harbor.
Auckland was the first big city to reach to 2008, in New Zealand. There are fireworks there, shooting up from a tower in the center of the city.
And, of course, one of the biggest parties here in the U.S. is going to be in the Big Apple. At least a million people are expected to squeeze into New York's Times Square with all those orange balloons for the 100th anniversary of the ball drop. Live pictures right now downtown. You can see security getting ready. You can even the CNN van set up down there kind of in the corner. Well, when the ball drops tonight over Times Square in New York, it will mark more than the start of 2008. It's going to mark 100 years of ball drops over Times Square. And this year's ball is a far cry from that very first one -- or even last year's.
CNN's Allan Chernoff got a sneak peek.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here it is sitting high above Times Square -- the brand new high-tech ball covered with 672 Waterford crystal triangles -- built at a cost of more than $1 million, now waiting for its debut on New Year's Eve.
JEFFREY STRAUS, PRESIDENT, COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT: We took the entire year this year developing this new LED crystal ball.
CHERNOFF (on camera): And that ball has been a year in the works?
STRAUS: One year in the works. We actually started the planning for it last year before last New Year's Eve.
CHERNOFF (voice over): It's controlled by a computer in the elevator room on top of the former headquarters of "The New York Times."
STRAUS: That is the clock. We're actually tied into the atomic clock. And so we have it down to the second her in mission control.
CHERNOFF: Just in case of a power outage, the six members of the ball drop team are prepared to pull it down. It will be the 100th anniversary of the Times Square ball drop.
TIM TOMPKINS, TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE: It's a great message that the city sends to the entire world -- that New York City is the center, it's the place to have a great time, it's a crossroads of the world.
CHERNOFF: More than half a million -- perhaps as many as a million -- people will jam Times Square and surrounding blocks.
(on camera): How early do you need to get here to be able to be in Times Square?
CHRISTOPHER HEYWOOD, NYC & COMPANY: I would recommend you get here as early as possible. Get here in the late morning, probably about 10:00, 11:00 a.m. at the very latest.
CHERNOFF: Twelve hours standing here in Times Square.
SARA CATRON, TOURIST: Yes.
CHERNOFF: No problem?
CATRON: No problem. We stand up on the job all day, so we'll be fine.
CHERNOFF (voice over): Some visitors say Times Square is the last place they'd want to be on New Year's Eve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too many people.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Are you planning to be here New Year's Eve?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we're not. It's too crowded.
CHERNOFF (voice over): For those willing to join the crowd, as well as the estimated billion people watching on television, it is a moment for celebration and hope that the new year brings happiness and a more peaceful world.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PHILLIPS: CNN New Year's Eve -- we're going to bring it to you live -- the whole party. Plus, we've got a look back at the year's top stories and big events.
Anderson Cooper, comedienne Kathy Griffin, live from Times Square. It all starts tonight at 11:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
The sole survivor of a Panamanian plane crash leaves the hospital.
How is the 12-year-old California girl doing and where is she now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: In Phoenix today, good leads reported in the hunt for a man known as "Psycho." Jose Francisco Mendoza allegedly shot six neighbors in a home Saturday night, then fired on responding police. No one died and none of the victims' wounds is believed to be life- threatening. But neighbors say the shootings were linked to an escalating gang-related violence and they say that they're afraid that the worst is yet to come.
A candlelight vigil is planned in Carnation, Washington today for six family members of the Anderson family. They were shot to death on Christmas Eve. Anderson's daughter, Michelle, and her boyfriend, Joe McEnroe, are charged with aggravated murder. Police believe a family feud over finances played a role in the bloodshed. McEnroe and Anderson fled north after the killings, but later returned, according to authorities, to pretend that they discovered the bodies. A hearing for both suspects is scheduled next week in Seattle. Prosecutors may seek the death penalty.
And if you find it hard to believe that a tiger could escape its living space at the San Francisco Zoo and maul visitors, the zoo apparently didn't believe it either -- not at first, not according to a log of police communications on Christmas Day. Our Kara Finnstrom reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police radio transmissions from the night of the tiger attack set a chaotic scene. An 18-page log lists the first report coming in at 5:08 p.m. with a very agitated male claiming he was bitten by an animal and bleeding from the head.
The logs say zoo personnel initially told police the two men reporting an escaped tiger might be mentally disturbed and making something up. By 5:10, zoo employees themselves were reporting a tiger on the loose.
At 5:13, the zoo was on lockdown, as fire department responders arrived. By 5:20, medics had found one victim with a large puncture hole to his neck. The log warns the scene is "not safe."
Then an officer spots the tiger sitting down, and at 5:27, it attacks another victim. Officers begin shooting. And less than 20 minutes after the first reports, they kill the 300-pound Siberian tiger.
But not before the tiger killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa, Jr. Saturday, about 100 people gathered for a candlelight vigil in his honor -- the same day the two brothers who were with Sousa, Jr. and seriously hurt during the attack, were released from the hospital.
(on camera): It may ultimately be the stories of those two survivors we have yet to hear from that give us the best idea of what happened that evening at the zoo.
Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, a 12-year-old girl who was the sole survivor of a plane crash in Panama is out of the hospital. Francesca Lewis is expected to spend a few more days in Panama with her parents before going home to California. Her dad says she's trying to deal with the tragedy and still has plenty of aches and pains. Francesca was found on Christmas Day, two days after the crash, amid the wreckage. The brothers who helped rescue her say they would rather have U.S. work visa than the $25,000 reward. Francesca's friend and her friend's dad were killed in that crash, as was the small plane's pilot.
Most new moms have quite a story to share about the birth of their first child. But for the Washington State woman, it's a bit of a doozie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right, time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
He's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- hey, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Thanks very much, Kyra.
Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney -- they're running neck and neck in Iowa right now, going on the attack against each other. But Huckabee is making a completely unexpected campaign move today. I'll talk to him and to Mitt Romney -- both of them live here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
The widower of the slain Pakistani opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, is speaking out in an exclusive interview with me. And he has an urgent appeal for President Bush. You'll hear it.
And the New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, may be about to play the billionaire wild card and shake up the race for the White House big time. That plus we'll witness Moscow ring in the new year in a few moments-- Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Sounds good.
Talk to you in a little bit, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's see what's clicking with all you CNN.comers right now -- some of our most viewed video today.
Another angle on the Benazir Bhutto assassination. New footage raises new doubts about the Pakistani opposition leader's official cause of death.
A surprised small fry served up at a Washington State McDonald's. An employee who says she didn't know she was pregnant gives birth in a bathroom. Mom and baby are both fine.
And it wasn't clams casino, but they sure hit the jackpot. A Florida couple finds a rare purple pearl in a plate of steamers. It could be worth thousands of dollars.
All these stories and much more at CNN.com.
Well, some sisters will do just about anything for each other. But here's a case in point. A North Carolina woman became a surrogate mother when doctors said that her twin couldn't have kids. But the story gets better. After she got pregnant, her sister did, too.
Reporter Scott Mason of WRAL explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MASON, WRAL REPORTER (voice over): Casey and Melissa are identical twins. And when Melissa and Michael couldn't have a baby, K.C. said, "But I can."
MELISSA FERRARO, NEW MOTHER: I said, absolutely. Out of the two embryos that they put inside my sister, K.C., one took, and that was little Madeleine.
MASON: Little Maddie.
MELISSA FERRARO: I thought it was going to be Matt -- Matty, but -- so we're good. It's...
MASON: Madeleine was born Christmas Day.
MELISSA FERRARO: We couldn't have asked for any -- a better day or a better gift.
K.C. WHEELER, SURROGATE MOTHER: It's awesome. I feel very blessed to have been able to do this for them.
MELISSA FERRARO: 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.
MELISSA FERRARO: Oh yes. Oh. It was a surprise.
MICHAEL FERRARO, NEW FATHER: We're due in June, so they'll be six months apart.
MELISSA FERRARO: In six months, we'll have another one.
MICHAEL FERRARO: Yes, six months apart twins.
WHEELER: I mean, it's all they wanted, you know, were kids. And now they're going to be just bombarded with them.
(LAUGHTER)
MASON: What a bundle of joy.
MELISSA FERRARO: It's the best gift.
MASON: Scott Mason, WRAL News, Carry (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right, the closing bell about to ring on Wall Street.
Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at the trading day on this, the final day of the year -- hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
And as we count down the final seconds of trading for 2007, let's raise a toast to a song that we all sing, but we don't really understand what it means. It's the song that's gainfully employed musicians through the decades. The song, of course, is "Auld Lang Syne," which is Scottish for "old long ago" or, I guess, the good old days.
This is a song that has been featured, Kyra, as you know, in dozens of movies, perhaps most famously in three of Frank Capra's movies, including "It's A Wonderful Life" and "When Harry Met Sally".
And, of course, Guy Lombardo, the great conductor, popularized it in the U.S. over the decades.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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