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Get Ready For Round Two; Baseball Stars & Steroids; Digging Out!; Out Front & Under Fire; Saving Dad's Life
Aired December 14, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris Lawrence, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know, dad felt bad. He missed his daughter's birthday while on duty in Iraq. So he sent a big present for them to open at their Kentucky school. Tearing off the wrapper and -- wait for it, wait for it, yes. How about that. Sergeant Matthew Wilder (ph) reporting for hugs. One of the girls said all she wanted for Christmas was her daddy in a box. When Wilder -- stay with us, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: That is so darn sweet.
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) right now. Stay with us. When Wilder's wife found out he was coming home, she made her daughters' dream come true. How about -- want to see it one more time? Want to see it one more time? Outstanding. Better the second time around, huh?
COLLINS: Yes.
Good morning, once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown.
Plowing through a snowy Friday in the Northeast. One storm moving out today, but, wait, wait, here comes another.
COLLINS: Some of baseball's biggest heroes linked to steroids. One player's response.
Also this hour, a look at the legal implications of the Mitchell report.
HARRIS: A big city. It's got a pain in the primate. We are monkeying around this Friday, December 14th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: You can call it a winter weather smack down. The Northeast waking up to this cold, harsh reality. A brutal winter storm. Closing schools and businesses and stranding many, many travelers. Airlines trying to get back on schedule at Boston's Logan Airport and other airports in the region. Hundreds of flights, though, had to be canceled. Delays already being reported today. And a nightmare on the roads, including this gridlock on I-95 in Massachusetts. I-Reporter John Sullivan (ph) snapped this shot and then he hit the back roads. He says it took him more than an hour to drive just five miles.
Traffic jams didn't just keep commuters from getting home on time. Many kids were stuck on buses or at schools for hours. Round two set to hit this weekend. A classic nor'easter with snow, ice, and gale force winds. Yuck.
CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in Hartford, Connecticut, now, kind of in the middle of it all. People there trying to recover from round one. And what do you have? I mean, what kind of armor is that? It's just a thermometer.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm telling you, Heidi, yes, what a morning it has been. Hey, before we get started on stuff, I want you to take a look at this. Check out the temperature gauge we've got here. You'll notice the temperature right around 75 degrees or so. The reason why it's around 75 degrees is because this temperature gauge was inside the nice, warm vehicle. Trust me, it's not in the 70s out here. It's much cooler than that. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to drop this, whoops, there it goes. We're going to pick it up in just a minute or so and take a look at the temperature to give you a better idea of how it is.
But forget the gauges for a second. Trust me, it's cold. (INAUDIBLE) anywhere from say six to eight inches of snowfall here in Hartford. The city, though, did a great job clearing much of it out. They had snowplows coming through. They had the sand trucks. They did a really good job. And I'll tell you, this morning, we had no major problems just trying to move a lot of the vehicles through. We've got a lot of the buses that have been coming through. We've seen school buses too. So the kids are back in school.
You can see behind me, inside the park, this is Bushel (ph) Park and things are fine. People have been walking their dogs, out for a stroll, out for a jog. It's been fine.
The problem is, Heidi, we're going to see things warm up today to around about 45 degrees or so. Much of the snow will be gone. But then we're going to get another blast of winter weather as we make our way into late Saturday, into Sunday. It could get very interesting. All because of a very powerful nor'easter that we're expecting, and, of course, we're going to have more information for that on that coming up throughout the day.
Hold on one second. Let me take a look at the gauge. This is false information. It's still showing 60 degrees. Trust me, guys, it's much cooler than 60 degrees.
COLLINS: I was thinking, hey, this is almost as good as throwing the water up in the air and watch it freeze on impact. But I was liking this a lot better. I was going to guess it would have to be below 32, obviously, because you've got snow there. But, boy oh boy, you need a new thermometer, buddy. HARRIS: Yes, there you go.
COLLINS: There you go. All right, Reynolds. Enjoy the beautiful day there as it stands now because, obviously, it is going to be changing. Reynolds Wolf, thank you.
WOLF: You bet.
HARRIS: When experiments go haywire.
COLLINS: That's awesome.
HARRIS: And awful at the same time. All right. A new message out today from al Qaeda's second in command. CNN can't independently confirm the 20 minute audio message is actually from Ayman al-Zawahri. In the message posed on a radical Islamic website, the voice rails against last month's Mideast peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland. He calls it a betrayal of the Palestinians. Al-Zawahri, by the way, is the deputy to Osama bin Laden.
COLLINS: Want to get you back to this story that we just brought you moments ago. You were looking at, I believe, Tony Taylor, who is the fourth defendant in the whole dogfighting conspiracy that led to the downfall of, you remember, of course, of NFL star Michael Vick. He has just been sentenced to two months in prison for his role in all of this. He was actually the first guy to plead guilty and the last now to be sentenced. And just as a reminder, we were talking about this earlier, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison, and the other two defendants Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips, one got 18 months and the other 21 months. So there you have it. All four of them have now been sentenced.
HARRIS: No joy in Mudville today. Did the Mighty Casey strike out or was he juiced up? Dozens of baseball stars linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Now what? CNN's Keith Oppenheim takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's an all- star lineup. Dozens of Major League Baseball players have been named in the much-anticipated Mitchell report on drug use in baseball. David Justice, Barry Bonds, Lenny Dykstra, John Rocker, and Roger Clemens among the most prominent.
GEORGE MITCHELL, MLB STEROID INVESTIGATOR: Each of the players was invited to meet with me so I could provide him with information about the allegations and give him an opportunity to respond. Almost without exception, all current players declined my invitation.
OPPENHEIM: The report is the result of a 20-month investigation into the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by league players. The report said there has been widespread use of drugs since 2002. The controversy engaged lawmakers today before the report came out. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would strongly urge the Major League Players Association to sit down with the owners and we restore confidence back in the game and to the performance of those players.
OPPENHEIM: In his report, Mitchell recommended Major League Baseball should use an independent agency to conduct drug testing of its players.
RICHARD MCLAREN, REPORT ADVISER: Senator Mitchell's recommendations are exactly what baseball needs to remove the stain of performance enhancing substance for use in the game.
OPPENHEIM: It's important to remember that the report only alleges that the players listed either used, bought, or sold steroids or performance-enhancing drugs. And for his part, the head of the players union advised those players to get a lawyer.
Keith Oppenheim, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The steroids investigation. Justice delays or justice denied? An attorney weighs in on the legal controversy coming up in minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Severe weather center now. Bonnie Schneider is manning all of it for us today because we certainly have a lot to talk about. And I bet the people in the Northeast are saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, we've had enough and now you're saying we're going to get even more.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, and if you live in New England, you know this is just the beginning. Sometimes you don't get any break. At least we're getting one day between the storms. But sometimes there's no break.
And that's what we're seeing right now. We have a winter storm watch that will go in effect as you head further to the south. That will actually occur Saturday morning and then head to the north Saturday night. And then all the way to extreme northern New England. That's where we'll see the winter storm watch go into effect I'd say on Sunday morning. So this storm is slowly going to work its way to the north and east.
And speaking of a time evolving storm, I want to show you a really cool I-Report that comes to us from West Hartford, Connecticut. This I-Report from Rick Ho actually is a camera set up in front of his house. Watch what happens as we go through the motions. There it is. The snow comes. Four to five inches of snow accumulate right in front of his house and he's able to kind of speed up the video for us so we could see it happening through this great time laps video. Thank you so much for that I-Report.
And we love to hear from you. Send in your I-Reports from how the snow is affecting you here at cnn.com. You can log on and click and send your I-Report there. We're looking at more snow coming through upstate New York even at this hour. Most of the snow has stopped, but that's where it's still snowing. And look at these numbers. Almost over a foot in some areas and just below in others.
In Boston, nine inches of snow. That's a lot to start off your morning commute. And if you're flying today, we have a lot of delays to tell you about. And most of them are on the rise. Two hour delays in Wilmington, Delaware. That is a big slow down. So it will continue like that throughout the afternoon.
For Saturday, a brand new storm is getting started over parts of the Midwest and mid south. And as it slides up further to the Northeast, what will happen is, it will combine energy with another coastal low and this one will really get going Saturday night and Sunday morning. The storm will be very close to New York City, if not right over it. That's why we're expecting a little more rain and sleet mixing in as you head further south.
But once you head further west and inland, this will be all snow in the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine. The skiers will be happy. More snow for you. But a real slushy mess for areas in some of the big cities.
Heidi. Tony.
COLLINS: I feel so lucky. Usually I'm right smack dab in the middle of all these messes at the airport. But I bailed out on a trip and I apologize to all those people who are at the airport right now trying to get through the day.
Bonnie, thank you.
HARRIS: It's not great to be you right now, I suppose, if you're at the airport. That's not nice. That really wasn't.
All right, Bonnie, thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HARRIS: You know, here's a police chase you will not believe. Altamont (ph) Springs, Florida. Watch the pictures closely here. This is just outside of Orlando. Police arrive to investigate a crash. Yes, at a shopping center. And the van takes off. And boy, does it ever. You saw it in the air there just a second ago. The chase isn't over yet. The driver takes off again, right, and slams -- wow, into the fire hydrant there. Are you ready? Cue the music.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (singing): Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: What you gonna do and it caused -- you know the rest. So that's the theme from "Cops," OK? Not everyone's laughing, though. Police say they found a handgun on the passenger seat loaded, cocked and ready to fire. Not funny. Police now want to know if the suspect is linked to any robberies.
COLLINS: Yes, that changes everything doesn't it?
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Bolting to the top. Republican Mike Huckabee takes off like a rocket in our new South Carolina poll. Tell you about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
Baseball, allegations of steroid use, questions of integrity. Big stars, bigger questions, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Huckabee surging. Obama closing the gap. New poll numbers out this morning on the president race in South Carolina. In the new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, Hillary Clinton still leads Barack Obama 42 percent to 34 percent. But Obama has moved up seven points since July, gaining support among African-American voters. John Edwards is at 16 percent.
Now the Republican side. Mike Huckabee has rocketed to the top. He's at 24 percent, up from 3 percent in July. Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney are now locked in a virtual tie for second place.
HARRIS: Out front, under fire. Mike Huckabee's rise in the polls puts him in the cross hairs of the Romney campaign. The story now from Dana Bash in Des Moines, Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The Republican who led Iowa polls for months is now casting himself as the underdog. And Mike Huckabee . . .
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's the front-runner, and so I want to describe how we're different on issues that people care about.
BASH: A day after a remarkably low-key debate, Romney launched his most aggressive critique of the candidate who has knocked him off stride.
ROMNEY: The more people come to know Mike Huckabee, the more they realize they don't know about Mike Huckabee.
BASH: A rapid fire attack on Huckabee's record as Arkansas governor. On immigration . . . ROMNEY: Governor Huckabee put in place in state tuition breaks for illegal aliens.
BASH: On taxes . . .
ROMNEY: Governor Huckabee has increased taxes in his state by $500 million.
BASH: On spending . . .
ROMNEY: Governor Huckabee, as governor, took spending from $6.7 billion to over $16 billion. That is not a fiscal conservative.
BASH: On crime . . .
ROMNEY: Over a thousand pardons and commutations. Twelve murderers being pardoned. I think people of Iowa will say that's unacceptable.
BASH: To fact check, Huckabee did push college tuition breaks for children of illegal immigrants.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You don't punish a child for the crimes that a parent commits. And that's my position. It hasn't changed.
BASH: Huckabee did increase spending to fix schools and roads and has a mixed record of raising and lowering taxes. He left office with an overall tax increase of $505 million.
Huckabee's clemency record? He did issue 1,033 pardons or commutations in 10 years as Arkansas governor, double the number of clemencies by his three predecessors combined in 17 years.
At Huckabee headquarters, his upstart campaign scrambled to respond to such attacks with prominent Arkansas Republicans vouching for him.
JIM BURNETT, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Mike Huckabee is as conservative and as committed to the principles of Ronald Reagan as any candidate in this race.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Dana Bash live from Des Moines with CNN's election express.
Dana, good morning to you.
BASH: Good morning.
HARRIS: Hey, there's been a, we understand, a big development today with the Huckabee campaign. What can you tell us about that?
BASH: That's right, Tony. Veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins tells CNN, he is going to become Mike Huckabee's national campaign chairman. And the two men are going to make that announcement later today in New Hampshire.
Now here's why that matters, Tony. Mike Huckabee is still -- his campaign is still made up of a small band of really loyal aides. And they have been struggling to respond to attacks like you just heard from Mitt Romney and also to take this popularity, both here in Iowa and as we have in our new poll in South Carolina, and turn that into a winning strategy nationally. And what Ed Rollins is going to try to do is help him do that.
Now Ed Rollins is somebody who is probably one of the best resume lines in politics. He was the head of Ronald Reagan's campaign in 1984 when he won in a landslide. He's also worked on some campaign that haven't done so well, like Jack Kemp in 1988 and Ross Perot as well.
So, Tony, Rollins told us this morning, he's been communicating with Mike Huckabee for several months and he decided that he wants to join his campaign. He said that Huckabee is somebody with great communication skills and an approachable message. But Rollins acknowledged that Huckabee really has to figure out how to get from point "a" to point "b," meaning the popularity here in Iowa and in South Carolina and really make that happen on a national level. And he said he hopes that he can help Huckabee do that.
HARRIS: Dana Bash for us in Des Moines, Iowa.
Dana, great to see you. Thank you.
COLLINS: The steroids investigation in Major League Baseball. Damning accusations, debatable evidence. Our next guest on the legal issues raised by the Mitchell report. Now Don Samuels is an attorney who works in the sports world and he is joining us now on the set to talk a little bit more about this.
You know, I think some of the things that are going to be talked about today, and possibly for many days to come, Don, is the fact that George Michel, at least in his report, named the names. But then he also said, you know, they really -- the players shouldn't be fined or suspended. He also mentioned, you know, about half of them not even playing anymore. But, obviously, that means half of them still are. Do you think we're going to see more charges filed?
DON SAMUELS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I don't think you're going to see criminal charges filed. Many of the allegations deal with events that occurred well before the statue of limitations, more than five years ago. And they can't be prosecuted at all under federal law for any of those offenses. Whether baseball itself decides to discipline them under internal policies is a different matter though.
COLLINS: All right. So I don't think most people knew that. The statute of limitations ran out.
SAMUELS: Five years. Anybody, you know, it's December of '07 now. So anybody who took steroids before December of '02 pretty much can't be prosecuted. COLLINS: All right. Let's talk about Kirk Radomski for just a minute. Obviously he was the former New York Mets club house attendant. A lot of this information relied on interviews with him. How credible a witness is he?
SAMUELS: Hard to tell. I mean, he was facing criminal prosecution, being sentenced himself. Those people, obviously, have a lot to gain by providing information. They can reduce their sentences substantially by providing the type of information that the investigators want to hear. So they have to be -- you have to be very careful when you consider information from someone who's going to gain from providing the information.
COLLINS: Yes, in fact, we interviewed here yesterday Victor Conte. I mean he has served time and now apparently they are looking -- Dick Pounds looking to him for some information on how these loopholes are found and how these players sort of worked the system.
SAMUELS: Exactly. Exactly. And criminal defense lawyers know that even their own clients sometimes will exaggerate or tell stories in order to reduce their own sentences and their own exposure to criminal prosecution, which is a lot of what this report is filled with.
COLLINS: Yes. And speaking of loopholes, I just wonder, were any of the people who gave Mitchell information, were any of them under oath at the time. And, if not, what does all of it mean?
SAMUELS: They're not under oath. Many of them were being interviewed with federal agents in the room. So if there's an FBI agent in the room with Mitchell when he is asking questions, then they could be prosecuted under what's known as 1001, which is a federal law which makes it a crime to lie to a federal agent. So even though it's not perjury, they could be prosecuted for giving false statements. So they did have that hanging over your head.
COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, let's talk about Roger Clemens for a minute. Some people would say he's in a pretty bad spot. His attorney says, you know what, there really isn't any evidence. This was all hearsay, interviews and so forth, that were conducted. Could Clemens and maybe some of the others that have been put out on this list actually sue Mitchell? I mean probably in the Mitchell himself, I'm assuming you're going to say, but what about Major League Baseball, for what was said in this report?
SAMUELS: You know, if they wanted to, they could bring a defamation action or a liable action against people who made allegations, if they claim they're false. If they want to remain in the news, they want to remain in courtrooms and want to have this aired over and over again.
COLLINS: But if you're Roger Clemens and you have the possibility of being inducted into the hall of fame, is it worth the fight?
SAMUELS: It might be. That's a financial decision he has to make. I mean, ultimately, a liable action against Mr. McNamee is not going to be financially rewarding. I assume Mr. McNamee doesn't have the resources to pay any kind of judgment like that. But he has to make a decision whether he wants to have a full airing.
COLLINS: Yes. And, also, not only just financially, I imagine in his mind it's definitely about the image.
SAMUELS: His reputation. Sure. His reputation.
COLLINS: Yes. Talk about the kids for a minute. We were talking about that during the break. And there was quit a bit in the press conferences where they were discussing children and their heroes, if you will. From a legal standpoint, is that something that these players and the MLB are even considering or talking about?
SAMUELS: Well, obviously, they're worried about endorsement and worried about their ability to keep fans coming into the stadiums. And I saw your piece earlier today where the kids were saying that they were going to boo some of the players.
COLLINS: As loud as they could.
SAMUELS: Yes. And that's sad. That really is sad. And, you know, I have kids. They love baseball. I don't know what effect it will have on them. But from just a fan point of view, it's a sad day for baseball for sure.
COLLINS: Well, we certainly appreciate your time here today. Don Samuels, defense attorney in the sports arena, if you will.
All right, Don, thank you.
SAMUELS: Thank you.
HARRIS: Little girl, big responsibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEYANNE PHILLIPS, DROVE PICKUP ALMOST 10 MILES: I steered and I actually pushed the gas and the break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Are you kidding me? Saving dad by taking the wheel of his pickup in the dead of night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Close call for a Maryland man. Timothy Webber had a heart attack behind the wheel. Luckily his young daughter, his stepdaughter, was with him. Jennifer Von Reuter of CNN affiliate WHAG has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER VON REUTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It was a typical Friday night. Father and daughter spending an evening at a hunt club in this remote part of town, far from the sound of passing cars or even cell phone service.
Shortly after leaving for home, things started to go wrong.
TIMOTHY WEBBER, SAVED BY HIS DAUGHTER: We got ready to leave. I started having chest pains.
VON REUTER: Timothy was having a heart attack. That's when Cheyanne took control of the car and drove nearly 10 miles to cell phone range.
CHEYANNE PHILLIPS, DROVE PICKUP ALMOST 10 MILES: I steered and I actually pushed the gas and the brake.
VON REUTER: On her dads's lap, Cheyanne drove their Ford pickup truck down these winding, narrow roads at 10:30 at night, looking for a place to pull over and call for help.
PHILLIPS: And then I called mom because I found that I had service on the phone. Then she said that she was on her way to come pick us up.
JESSIE WEBBER, CHEYANNE'S MOTHER: I knew something was wrong. I didn't know what exactly was wrong until I got there and he wasn't responding.
VON REUTER: Jessie drove Timothy to the hospital where doctors found his major artery to be 90 percent blocked.
T. WEBBER: I probably would have hurt myself if Cheyanne wouldn't have been with me. And if she wasn't able to drive the truck, both of us probably would have been hurt.
VON REUTER: Cheyanne says her dad taught her how to drive a tractor and once drove a car on private property. Something she enjoys doing. But as far as driving on main roads again, she plans to wait until she's 16.
Jennifer Von Reuter for CNN, Boonsboro, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.
HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. And happy Friday to you.
Want to get back to the story we showed you just a few minutes ago regarding Michael Vick. We are now seeing the fourth defendant be sentenced. It was just a few moments ago where Tony Taylor, you see him there, was sentenced to two months in prison for his role in this dogfighting conspiracy. Apparently the prosecutor, Michael Gill, asked the judge in this case to sentence Taylor only to probation because of his cooperation with the government. He apparently was the most significant source of information in the case, according to the prosecutor.
But the judge said, no, not going to do it. Shouldn't be such a huge disparity in the sentencing between Taylor and the other defendants. So he went ahead and sentenced him to two months in prison. Just to let you know and remind you, he was the first man to plead guilty in the case, last to be sentenced. The other defendants got 18 months, 21 months and then, as you know, Michael Vick got 23 months.
HARRIS: Well, the Northeast in recovery mode this morning after getting slammed by a fierce winter storm. As much as 13 inches of snow blanketed the region. Many schools and businesses shut down as crews try to clear roads.
The scene in Massachusetts, commuters stuck in absolute gridlock. This shot captured by i-Reporter John Sullivan from an overpass on I- 95. Many airports also brought to a standstill. Hundreds of flights canceled. Airlines now trying to get back on schedule, but delays already reported and more trouble ahead. A nor'easter with snow, ice and strong winds set to hit this weekend.
COLLINS: Small plane, big trouble. Rescued at sea, thanks to a news chopper.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Let's take you to the White House now and the Rose Garden. President Bush making a statement. As you can see, his cabinet secretaries around him and the vice president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning.
I just finished meeting with members of my Cabinet. I am proud of this team. I appreciate their service to the country.
We discussed the priorities that we're working on to meet the needs of the American people. We're talking about the business that remains on Capitol Hill.
I want to thank the Senate and congratulate the Senate for passing a good energy bill. And now the House must act.
Congress also must move quickly to pass legislation to protect middle-class families from the burden of the alternative minimum tax without raising taxes.
Congress must pass legislation to ensure our intelligence professionals can continue to effectively monitor terrorist communications.
Congress must move forward with spending legislation to fund the day-to-day operations of the federal government so that the Cabinet departments can provide essential services for the American people.
Because Congress did not pass any spending bills by the end of the fiscal year, with the exception of one, many essential services are now being funded under what's called a continuing resolution. This is a bill that keeps the federal government running on a temporary basis while lawmakers work out their differences.
In recent days, lawmakers have made some important progress in working out such differences. I'm pleased to hear that they're close to reaching an agreement on a budget.
There are a lot of details left to be worked out, and I hope they will pass a bill that is fiscally responsible and does not raise taxes.
I also understand that Congress may provide a down payment on the war funding I requested without artificial timetables for withdrawal.
These are encouraging signs.
Unfortunately, members of Congress have not been able to complete their work by today, when the current continuing resolution expires. So last night Congress passed another continuing resolution that will fund the government for one more week. And I just signed the resolution.
I hope Congress will use the additional time productively. I urge them to pass a clean spending package that meets the reasonable spending levels I put forward, without gimmicks, without policy riders that could not be enacted in the ordinary legislative process, and with much-needed funding for our troops in combat.
It would be disappointing if members of Congress did not finish their work by the holidays. If they don't, they should not carry the unfinished business of 2007 into the new year.
Instead, they should pass a one-year continuing resolution that does not include wasteful spending or higher taxes. And they must ensure that our troops on the front lines have the funds and resources they need to prevail.
I'll take a couple of questions.
QUESTION: Mr. President, on the Mitchell report, sir, do you think that the baseball players actually mentioned in the report should be punished?
BUSH: A couple of reactions to the Mitchell reports.
As you know, I'm a baseball fan. I love the sport. I love the game. Like many fans, I've been troubled by the steroid allegations.
I think it's best that all of us not jump to any conclusions on individual players named, but we can jump to this conclusion: that steroids have sullied the game. And players and the owners must take the Mitchell report seriously. I'm confident they will. And my hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us.
You know, I -- in the State of the Union a couple of years ago, I addressed the issue of steroids. And the reason I did so is because I understand the impact that professional athletes can have on our nation's youth.
And I just urge our -- those in the public spotlight, particularly athletes, to understand that when they violate their bodies, they're sending a terrible signal to America's young.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what was Kim Jong Il's message to you in response to your letter to him?
And what was -- what is your response to him?
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Well, first, I'm -- you know, I got his attention with a letter and he can get my attention by fully disclosing his programs, including any plutonium he may have processed and converted some of that into whatever he's used it for. We just need to know.
As well, he can get our attention by fully disclosing his proliferation activities.
We have laid out a way forward -- and I say "we," there's four other countries that have joined us. We've got what's called the six- party talks. And the five of us agree that there's a way forward for the -- Kim Jong Il.
And an important step is a full declaration of programs, materials that may have been developed to create weapons, as well as the proliferation activities of the regime.
Thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK)
Well, I've got freezing Cabinet members out here.
(LAUGHTER)
They're whispering. You can't hear their whispers.
I can just feel their vibes saying, "I'm envious. They're all wearing these expensive coats and here we are."
(LAUGHTER)
I hope you enjoyed the holiday bash as much as I did.
I noticed some of the silverware is missing.
(LAUGHTER) We'll be taking a full inventory.
Happy holidays.
HARRIS: Hey, how about that? The president riffing a little bit there. That was good, that was good. All right, let's get to our White House correspondent Ed Henry.
Ed, great to see you.
The president there with the cabinet members shivering cold. The president feeling their hot breath on his neck, saying let's end this thing, and the president has been taking these opportunities lately to send some broadsides at Congress to get the work done, certainly before the holidays.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think he should have stayed out and take more questions. I don't have an overcoat on, and I don't think it's that cold out here to tell you the truth, Tony.
But bottom line, is at the beginning of this year when the Democrats took over control of Congress, a lot of people were writing the president's political obituary, but as you can see, as he's been turning up the rhetoric in recent weeks, this year is ending the Democrat's first year in control of Congress, with the Democrats almost limping out of town, trying desperately to finish their work, trying to get some things done.
You heard him note the Democrats did their energy bill done yesterday, for example. But on the budget, the Democrats have not gotten most of their spending bills done, and since all of this work is balled up at the end before the holidays, it looks like the president is going to get a lot of what he wanted, especially on war funding. Democrats in recent days have been privately admitting they're very likely to give the president as much as $70 billion in more war funding.
As you remember just a couple weeks ago, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was swearing that the president would not get another dollar of war funding this year. It's looking like he's going to get some that and a lot of some his other priorities.
And so, you have these traditional budget battles at the end, but what's interesting at the end of this year, it looks like the president hasn't gotten everything he's wanted obviously, but that veto pen has helped him a lot to push back against the Democrats.
HARRIS: Wow, there he is, White House Correspondent Ed Henry for us this morning. Ed, great to see you, thanks man.
HENRY: Thank you, Tony.
COLLINS: No jacket for Ed, either. He wasn't complaining.
HARRIS: No, no jacket required.
COLLINS: Holiday home coming, troops returning from Iraq. The best gift any family can have.
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COLLINS: Quickly want to get you to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talking to some reporters in Johnston, Iowa. Now, sort of addressing the issue with Barack Obama and this alleged drug abuse. Let's go ahead and see what she has to say about it.
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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ...on January 20th, 2009, I'm going to have to start dealing with two wars, ending one as quickly as I possibly can and trying to salvage the other. I'm going to have to deal with the way we've alienated the rest of the world. All the people calling Leonard (ph), they call me, what is going on in America? What are you going to do to repair the damage?
We're going to have to keep faith with the American people, get this economy working for everybody, begin to reverse the inequity that President Bush has enshrined in our tax policy, and then take on the big challenges. This is a big job with a lot of big challenges, and I'm up for it, and that's why I'm making my case and others are making their cases, and I want to keep focused on what I intend to do as president.
Yes?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
CLINTON: You know, I'm only talking about myself. You know, I have said for months in this campaign, I am vetted, I am tested. The Republicans will go after whomever we nominate. I think all of you know that. Every single one of you know that, and I've been dealing with their incoming fire for 16 years, and I'm still here.
And I think that voters should take that into account because I've been through those fires, and I have emerged and not just survived, but thrived, much to their amazement and dismay. So, I think that's a very strong factor in favor of my being the candidate for Democrats to nominate.
QUESTION: I have a question for you. I wonder if you would take the opportunity today to say a candidate's discretion as a teenager should not be an issue upon (INAUDIBLE).
CLINTON: Well, I apologized to Senator Obama yesterday, and ...
QUESTION: That wasn't my question.
CLINTON: Well, but that -- but ...
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
CLINTON: It certainly is not an issue in my campaign and I said that very clearly to Senator Obama. Yes?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
CLINTON: The answer is no. I've answered that question many, many times. Yes?
QUESTION: Can you explain what you did when, in certain situations where (INAUDIBLE)?
CLINTON: You know, I have answered the question, and I really have nothing to add. I have been answering this question for a long time, and I refer you to everything I've said about it in the past.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) some advice that we should (INAUDIBLE). Have you ever second guessed your decision to (INAUDIBLE)?
CLINTON: No, you know, I guess I've been in enough campaigns over a lot of years to know that there is no predictability and there certainly is no inevitability. You have to get out and work for every single vote. That's what I have always done. I don't know any other way to do it. That's what I'm doing in Iowa.
You know, we're about to start on Sunday a 99 county blitz. We're going to have as many people as we can covering this state, making the case for my candidacy. Making the, you know, arguments ...
COLLINS: All right, we have been listening to presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton talking to a room full of reporters and some other people there in Johnston, Iowa. The reason we took this was because we were wondering if she was going to be commenting on some of what happened just the other day.
As you may know now, her top adviser has actually resigned because of some of these comments regarding her rival Barack Obama and whether or not there was drug use as a teenager. Some questions on that, which were very difficult to hear, we realize. But she basically sort of skirted the issue and said it's not an issue in my campaign. So there you have it, again, Hillary Clinton speaking in Johnson, Iowa today.
Want to get to business now, stocks on Wall Street started sinking right from the opening bell. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange this morning to tell us why, Susan.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
HARRIS: Betty Nguyen is here now with a preview of what is coming up for you on CNN Saturday and Sunday Morning.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Think back to your high school days. Were you stressed? Well today the competition and pressure is at an all-time high, because more students are applying to college than ever before.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These kids are afraid to get a wrong answer, so they don't invent, they don't create. Even here at Stanford I have had professors say to me 10 or 15 years ago, kids would say to us, I'm really excited I'm going to write my paper on this or I'm going to do the project on this. Now they say what can I write my paper on to get the A?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN (voice over): So schools are taking extreme measures to help their kids cope, including mandatory yoga classes, homework-free weekends. Sounds pretty good to me, but is it working? Well, I went back to school to check it out. Plus, my partner, T.J. Holmes, takes on Iowa. That's right. He's joining the best political team on television this weekend on board our election express bus.
And bracing for a nor'easter. Snow, ice, rain, and more power outages. We'll keep you up to speed on travel delays and so much more. CNN Saturday and Sunday morning beginning tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern.
HARRIS: Thank you Betty. And still to come in the newsroom this morning, monkey mayhem on the streets. Are monkey wranglers the answer?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a stupid plan, and it's making the country look ridiculous in the eyes of the scientists of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: That is so no good. A primate problem. What's the solution?
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HARRIS: We really want to take you back to yesterday for this story. It was amazing. A Florida couple can thank a TV news crew for helping save their lives. Andora and Richard Ramsey crashed their small plane in the waters off Marathon, in the Florida Keys yesterday. We brought you these pictures in the CNN NEWSROOM. Do you remember this? Their distress call was picked up by a WFOR news chopper. The crew spotted the plane and called in the Coast Guard, even dropped life vests to the couple while waiting for the rescue ship. Pretty dramatic stuff.
COLLINS: They are home for the holidays from half a world away. A welcome home ceremony this morning for troops at Fort Carson Colorado, Colorado Springs just a little bit south of it. Back from duty in Iraq, soldiers from the Second Brigade Combat Team, Second Infantry Division and the 984th Military Police Company. Look at them marching in there and the families' holiday celebrations begin now. There's the hug. I knew we'd wait for it. Very good.
HARRIS: Nice. You don't want to leave it, do you?
COLLINS: Uh-uh.
HARRIS: OK, that's good. OK, OK. Pay attention. You could learn a lot from this lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love to learn. I have always loved to go to school. I love going to classes. Every class is a new adventure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A new grad, an old hand at life.
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