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Gunman Reveals Preparation for Mumbai Attacks; Bill Richardson Gets Nod for Commerce Secretary; Soldiers Reenlisting for Economic Reasons; Growing Up in the White House: FDR's Grandson Recounts Youth
Aired December 03, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Timeline of terror in Mumbai. One week after the onslaught, the lone surviving gunman is talking, and the bombshells are for real.
AMY THORNE, ARMY WIFE: You know, there's Web cameras. That seems good. You just make the best of it.
PHILLIPS: The risks are high, the distance great, but for many families caught in the economic meltdown, Army life is the best deal around.
War, terror, deprivation. FDR had it all, including a devoted grandson who grew up on the ground floor of history. Curtis Roosevelt joins me live.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
At the top of the hour, we're talking about the 10 that came ashore a week ago today. Attackers from abroad, bent on shedding blood and spreading fear in India's largest city. Now nine are dead and one is telling investigators how their chilling plot was hatched and possibly preventing more deaths in the process.
CNN's Nic Robertson is following the trail of terror in Mumbai.
Nic, what have you been able to learn as you've been investigating this?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the gunman who's in police custody at the moment has told them that he had one-and-a- half years of training with this outlaw terror group inside Pakistan, that he went to different training camps. He went to a training camp in Kashmir and in other areas. And there he went to specific classes, specializing in handguns, automatic weapons, survival training, explosives, nautical training.
But in the last three months of that training, he just told the police here in Mumbai, they had very -- he and the other gunmen had very specialized training. They were shown photographs of the targets that they were going to. They were given code names. They split into their separate teams. Each team didn't know what the other team was learning.
Two gunmen, he was assigned with one other gunmen, and they were shown pictures of the railway station, the hospital and other targets they were to go to. They were shown the doors leading in and out of the buildings, told exactly how and where they should move through these buildings, what to expect to see.
Three months of that extensive training before they took off in boats on the way to Mumbai for that attack that began a week ago, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Nic, do we know exactly where the training was and who was behind the training, where all that background came from?
ROBERTSON: Well, we're told that it was ex-Army officers that were giving the training, ex-military officers that were giving the training. Some of the training was being done at a training camp in Musafrabad (ph), a Pakistani city in -- in the Kashmir part of Pakistan, a contested region with India. And other camps in that area.
It is, according to the police, and the information that they've been able to get from this particular gunman, very professional training that they'd been getting. They'd been getting it from experts in the different fields. Some of it -- the training has been in classrooms.
What made this particular gunman and his nine co-conspirators in this attack, what made them stand out in their class isn't clear. But they were picked out because they stood out above the rest, and they were given special training for this particular mission that was three months in the planning.
And the police we talked to here say that is something new. It's something unique. They think it's -- they think it's a shift change in the type of attacks they've seen. And what they've learned from this gunman, there are other such people as this gunman going through those training camps right now. The police won't say how many, but they say it means to them, indicates to them, there could be more attacks coming for India. And they say what they know about these camps now, those attacks could have not just been for India but for other countries in the world as well, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Nic, final question, when you say military, are you talking about former legitimate members of the military within Pakistan's military? A military that the U.S. supports financially turning to terrorist training?
ROBERTSON: Yes. We're talking about guys in green uniforms or whatever, you know, specialty and field they were in. But guys who used to wear uniforms, used to march up and down on parade grounds, who had special expertise in weapons training, who knew how to train army recruits, who have left the military services and gone and joined these terror groups.
Which is not unusual. Al Qaeda has done the same thing. They have ex -- former policemen in there. They have former Army officers in Al Qaeda that have helped with training. So this terror group isn't different in taking on these experts, in essentially in weapons systems, and bringing them into the sort of terror field and providing that training for people who would go out and be terrorists, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson investigating the attacks in Mumbai.
Nic, thank you.
And pressure from India; backlash from Pakistan.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
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PHILLIPS: A couple thousand students marched through the Pakistani capital today, burning flags and denouncing the U.S., India and Israel. U.S. secretary of state is due in Islamabad tomorrow.
And today in New Delhi, Condoleezza Rice insists that Pakistan act with transparency and urgency to help get to the bottom of the Mumbai massacre.
Now, later in the NEWSROOM, CNN's Robin Oakley looks at Rice's farewell tour of Europe and Asia. That's at half past the hour, right here on CNN.
Well, President-elect Barack Obama has picked another rival- turned-ally for his cabinet. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson gets the nod as commerce secretary.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins me now from Washington with more on this.
We had -- well, you had been talking about it weeks ago. So I guess we're not surprised it finally came forward.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Not surprised. And Kyra, you've got to look at this guy. Talk about experience. Bill Richardson has been a governor, a Congressman, a diplomat, a U.N. Ambassador and energy secretary. He has negotiated with countries like North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Iraq. He has gotten hostages out, peace agreements in, cease-fires.
So the big question today, of course, is why commerce secretary? It was wildly viewed that he would be the logical pick for secretary of state. It was a job that he wanted, but the big prize, of course, we know, went to Senator Hillary Clinton.
And Obama today was asked why this shouldn't be seen, especially to Hispanics who supported his candidacy, why this wasn't a consolation prize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Commerce secretary is a pretty good job. You know, it's a member of my key economic team that is going to be dealing with the most significant issues that America faces right now, and that is how do we put people back to work and rejuvenate the economy. Bill Richardson has been selected because he is the best person for that job.
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MALVEAUX: So not surprising, Obama emphasized Richardson's role as an economic diplomat, one who would deal with the global economic crisis. As a governor he's acted as the CEO of his state, balancing budgets, increasing access to health care, that type of thing.
And Richardson's own bid for this Democratic nomination never gained traction, Kyra. When I asked about that before he dropped out of the race, he said his weakness was that, despite his accomplishments, he wasn't as high-profile or even as charismatic, he realized, as his competitors in the Senate.
And after Richardson dropped out, there was a lot of suspense over who he was actually going to endorse. He's a very close friend of the Clintons. And he and Bill Clinton even spent Super Bowl Sunday together before he shocked anybody and endorsed Obama. Kyra, this infuriated Bill Clinton, but they've since decided to put that aside and move on. So now you've got a cabinet that has Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson.
PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.
With all the cabinet picks and staff appointments by the president-elect, only one comes with a spouse who used to be president. You heard Suzanne mention that. So assuming that Hillary Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state, will Bill Clinton become a de facto diplomat?
Well, in an exclusive interview with CNN International, the former president described his suspected involvement in the next chapter of Mrs. Clinton's career.
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ANJALI RAO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How involved do you think that you will get in what -- in the decisions that your wife will have to make, as far as foreign policy?
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think my involvement will be what our involvement with each other's work has always been. That is, all the years I was a governor and president, I'd talk to her about everything. And I, you know, found her advice invaluable.
And I'm sure that we'll talk about all this. I mean, I really care about a lot of these profound challenges that our country and the world we're facing, but the decisions will have to be ultimately President-elect Obama's decisions. I'll just try to be a helpful sounding board to her, but I don't think I will do any more than that for her, unless he asks me to do something specific, which I'm neither looking for nor closed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The former president says that the junior senator from New York and last surviving rival for the Democratic nomination did not expect a spot in Obama's cabinet.
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W. CLINTON: I think she was shocked. She read about it in the newspaper in speculation.
RAO: Did she?
W. CLINTON: Yes. And she -- it was, I think, a very wise decision by the president-elect, and I think she made the right decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Clinton with CNN's Anjali Rao in Hong Kong where he opened a meeting of his Clinton Global Initiative.
Leading our political ticker, a Democratic dream dies in a Georgia runoff election. There will be no filibuster-proof Senate for the Democrats after yesterday's win by Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. He got 57 percent of the vote to easily defeat Democratic challenger Jim Martin.
And the Democratic Party had hopes to reach 60 seats in the Senate. And it could still get within one seat of its goal. A recount is still going on in Minnesota in the very tight race between incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. Results are expected later this month.
With terror threats always a concern, there's no time to wait for a changing of the guard at the White House. Members of a bipartisan commission on the prevention of terrorism are meeting with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and homeland security nominee Janet Napolitano.
In its report, the commission says the nation's security has improved a lot since 9/11, but a lot more work needs to be done.
Check out our political ticker for all the latest political and Obama transition news. Just logon to CNNpolitics.com, your source for all things political.
And glitter, and pomp and pageantry, they're all part of presidential inaugurations. But in these tough economic times, will the party still go on when Barack Obama is sworn in on January 20? We'll find out in our next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Back in the hot seat, the men who lead the Big Three are heading back to Capitol Hill to explain why their companies are in trouble and why they need so much cash.
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PHILLIPS: Well, the curtain's about to fall on the Bush administration.
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PHILLIPS: Condoleezza Rice conducting a farewell tour of Europe and Asia. We'll look back on an almost four-year run as secretary of state.
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PHILLIPS: Well, some soldiers are staying put in the U.S. military rather than face the uncertainty of finding a job in civilian life. It's just one way the troubling economy is affecting real people.
CNBC's Maria Antonia has a case in point from Fort Riley, Kansas.
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MARIA ANTONIA, CNBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Jay Thorne spends lots of time in lots of places: with a squad in Kuwait, in a sandstorm south of Baghdad, but this poses an issue. The 28- year-old can be closer to one of Saddam's castles than his own home.
SGT. JAY THORNE, U.S. ARMY: We made the decision, but I try not to think about it too much.
ANTONIA: A difficult decision, since reenlisting means he won't be there for more of the kids' birthdays or their photos.
J. THORNE: I mean, it's hard. But this decision was really our best interests in the kids, and my family, my wife's family, my wife.
ANTONIA: A wife who's expecting. They already have two children.
A. THORNE: The Army does take care of you. And that's wonderful. I'm in the civilian world it's a little more brutal. It's harsh.
J. THORNE: We get free housing, free insurance. We don't have to pay for electricity and water.
ANTONIA: The couple couldn't find a civilian job that pays enough.
A. THORNE: So we thought, you don't have much choice in the civilian world, and when you're not used to paying $800 for rent. ANTONIA: And you have a son way medical condition that affects his hearing.
J. THORNE: Since I've gone on active duty, he's had three surgeries. We haven't paid for anything.
ANTONIA: So they pay in other ways.
A. THORNE: It's hard at night, you know, when Daddy doesn't tuck them in. All that good stuff.
ANTONIA: We first met the Thornes in 2003 when an emotional Amy was surprised to see Jay come home for the birth of their daughter, Lexi (ph). He's now stationed in Germany, had the family there, but brought them home so Amy could again give birth in the U.S.
The sergeant, who joined the reserves in 1999, tells us he knows at least ten other soldiers reenlisting for economic reasons.
J. THORNE: As of right now, it's really all my options.
A. THORNE: You know, there's web cameras. That seems good. You just make the best of it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: October recruitment figures were a bit higher than the Army's goal, but an Army spokesman says it's too soon to make a direct connection between the slowing economy and reenlistment numbers.
And today a bit more evidence of just how tough things are. More companies gearing up to cut jobs. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on the labor market.
It's happening in all businesses -- Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's a problem. It's not confined to one or two sectors, Kyra. The payroll firm ADP says 250,000 jobs were cut last November alone. Those are private sector jobs.
And this month, of December, starting with more cuts, GM says it will cut up to 31,000 jobs by the year 2012. That was announced in its latest survival plan, sent to Washington yesterday.
There are reports that Bank of America will cut 30,000 positions. B. of A. tells us cuts are likely, although it's not giving out any numbers on its final plan. It won't be out until next year, blaming its acquisition of Merrill Lynch which, of course, was in big trouble, as well as the recession.
B of A shares are up right now 2 percent. The Dow Industrials are higher, as well, in a volatile session. They've been up and down. Up 56 points. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, is up 17, or better than 1 percent, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, and all this leads to the government's monthly job report on Friday, right?
LISOVICZ: That's right. That's the big one, because it includes private sector, and it includes government jobs. And the expectation for November is a real whopper: 325,000 jobs cut. That's the estimate, and by far it would be the worst this year.
If you consider it just through October, 240,000 jobs were lost, and, of course, every month this year the U.S. economy has been losing jobs.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, is seen going from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent. That's a big jump.
A key factor, of course, in the determination of recession earlier this week was employment. The employment numbers that we've been seeing, the losses there.
Many analysts say that the recession we are in now will last until mid-next year or later. So if that is true, more job cuts will come with it. And December, sadly enough, is typically a big month for reductions at the end of the year, getting ready for the new one. And we know '09 won't start smoothly. That's for sure, Kyra.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan, thanks.
Well, the Big Three are heading back to the Capitol for the big question: why their companies are in so much trouble and why they need so much cash.
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PHILLIPS: How will the Obama girls adjust to growing up in the White House? Franklin Roosevelt's grandson grew up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and he's in the CNN NEWSROOM with some advice for Malia and Sasha.
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PHILLIPS: Well, maybe tomorrow's Big Three meeting with Congress will go better the second time around. The GM, Ford and Chrysler CEOs will be back in D.C. stating their case for a government bailout. They claim the corporate check engine light is on, and they need $34 billion to keep from breaking down.
Chrysler and GM want several billion dollars ASAP to keep going. The companies have been detailing plans of how they'd use the money and what direction they'll take going forward.
If things are this bad for Detroit, you can imagine what the dealers are feeling. Their lots, long on vehicles and short on buyers, and that's making for some unheard-of deals on wheels.
Here's CNN's Alina Cho.
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ALI AHMED, BOB LAMBDIN'S UNIVERSITY DODGE: The first thing people think when they come in is that it's a fake ad. It's a normal car dealer ad; it's a gimmick. But it's not.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Buy one get one free. The type of ad you normally see at a grocery store, but at a Dodge dealership in Miami?
AHMED: We've been fielding phone calls and e-mailing queries from every state in the country, looking to get this buy-one, get-one deal.
CHO: Desperate times, desperate measures. This year 700 car dealers shut their doors. That number is expected to top 900 by the end the year, and the majority of those dealers sell American cars.
AHMED: It's definitely a tough climate right now. A lot of people are saying it's a perfect storm of, you know, gas prices and financing, and consumer confidence.
CHO: The biggest problem: the trickle-down effect of the credit crunch. Can't get a loan, can't buy a car. This Chrysler dealership in New York used to sell 150 cars a month. Today, they say it's half that.
(on camera) A year ago you might have had 15 to 20 salesmen on the floor. Today it's what?
MATT LEE, FLOOR MANAGER, MAJOR WORLD AUTO: Eight to ten. Salesmen actually just walk out, because they're not making enough money to support their families.
CHO (voice-over): They've even stopped bringing in new models, because the cars they have aren't moving.
JAMIE KRINSKY, CAR SALESMAN, MAJOR WORLD AUTO: Just you know, where you would see five people a day coming in to at least look at a car, per salesman, you're getting maybe one person a day, or two people a day.
CHO: So they're offering deals, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tire package included.
CHO: Zero percent financing for 72 months, $7,500 rebates. Even that's not enough.
In the two hours we spent combing the lot, only one customer who was just browsing. So could a buy one get one free offer help this dealership?
(on camera) You have to admit, it's pretty catchy.
LEE: If it worked for them, what can we do? Maybe we'll try it. CHO: In the interests of full disclosure, we should tell you that buy-one, get-one-free means buy the first Dodge truck at full retail, get the second one free excluding tax, tags and dealer fees. That will cost you about $3,000. Still a good deal, but, as always, there's a catch.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: CNN is planning live coverage when the Big Three auto execs return to Capitol Hill tomorrow morning, beginning at 10 Eastern. The CEOs will field questions from the Senate Banking Committee, headed by Chris Dodd.
Fancy footwork is a must for a secretary of state.
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PHILLIPS: Condoleezza Rice is pretty good with her hands, too. She prepares to leave the global stage, and the world's weighing in on her performance.
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PHILLIPS: Well, talk about a sales pitch. The CEOs of the Big Three have a big one coming up tomorrow, selling Congress on $34 billion in bailout money. Thirty-four billion. And they're also looking for a little help from workers.
UAW leaders just wrapped up an emergency meeting in Detroit. They talked about what they'll do on their end to help close the deal with Congress, and our Brooke Baldwin joins us with that.
And Brooke, we're just seeing the comments coming from the UAW president, saying, well, additional sacrifices will be required.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: sacrifices indeed, Kyra. Ron Gettelfinger also said, yes, these are concessions. He said once upon a time, he used to shy away from that word. Now he said that is exactly what we're having to do.
It's also important to point out that this kind of meeting is unprecedented with all three counsels, from Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, al coming together, the union leaders, the executive chairmen and -women and the presidents coming together to show solidarity, because they know they need to help the Big Three to make sure they can still survive and get this loan money.
Let's get to those concessions now. First up, they did talk today about allowing the Big Three to delay their payments to the retiree health care trust, in 2010. The big group pays billions of dollars every year, so that will enable them to shore up more liquidity just so they can survive in this economy.
Also they discussed today suspending the jobs bank. And what that is, is that's for all the thousands of laid off workers, that is how they continue to get paid. So that could be suspended.
Ron Gettelfinger did also say, though, he said that they are asking for a loan from the federal government. He reiterated his point: it is not a bailout.
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RON GETTELFINGER, UAW PRESIDENT: We've always said, Main Street, side street and rural America are all impacted by what the Congress of the United States does. And after all, we're asking for a loan here. A loan to be repaid. We're not asking for, that famous term that everybody uses. This is a loan to help the industry through an economic downturn that the industry had nothing to do with. And as I indicated to you, it's being felt around the world.
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BALDWIN: And, Kyra, that was Ron Gettelfinger, again, UAW president and official.
But we also like to talk to the people. And I have Cindy Adams next to me. Cindy just got out of the meeting. She's the local president at 1413 down in Huntsville, Alabama.
You guys do supply -- supply parts for these different cars for the Big Three. What was your first reaction coming out of this two- hour meeting?
CINDY ADAMS, PRES., UAW LOCAL 1413: Well, we all know this is something that we have to do. We've got to help. With 1 in 10 of the American people working somewhere in the auto industry, we really have to do what we got to do to help Ford, General Motors and Chrysler so we'll still have a job.
BALDWIN: The idea of concessions, it's a word you have to embrace as well, right?
ADAMS: Right. Right. And our members will have to embrace it, too.
I mean, they talked about -- we'll make modifications maybe to our local contracts, but not without asking the membership and the bargaining committees that were elected by these memberships. They'll have a chance to go over and vote on yes or no, whether they change things or not.
BALDWIN: And bottom line, talking to a couple of the other union members leaving the meeting, you just kind of have to have faith in your leadership.
ADAMS: Absolutely. And we -- we're glad that they had this meeting today. Because Ron Gettelfinger is headed back to Congress tomorrow and we wanted Congress to know how we feel.
BALDWIN: Great point in jumping off that, Cindy. Thank you.
Final point here, a couple of the retirees appeared at this meeting. They weren't allowed in but they plan to get a caravan together, Kyra, to leave from Detroit to Washington Sunday. Just another point, another show of solidarity. They want Congress to hear their voices if and when Congress reconvenes Monday.
PHILLIPS: Well a caravan makes sense, not the private jets.
Brooke, thanks.
BALDWIN: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: 1:33 Eastern time right now. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Another one-time rival joins Team Obama. As expected the president-elect has chosen Bill Richardson to be his commerce secretary. Richardson has been governor of New Mexico for almost six year. He served in the Clinton cabinet before.
And Indian police have been grilling the only surviving Mumbai attacker for information. Commanders say he is a 21-year-old from Pakistan. He told them that the plot took three months to plan.
Several thousand students held a protest in the Pakistani capital today. India and the United States the target of their anger. The crowds called on their government to stand up to charges that it was complicit in the Mumbai attacks.
Global hot spots are Condi Rice's territory, but not for much longer. America's 66th secretary of state will leave the world's stage with the new administration as it takes office. Until then, she is trying to spread harmony in places more accustomed to discord.
Here's CNN's European political editor, Robin Oakley.
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ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: As part of her farewell tour of Europe, Condoleezza Rice, a concert pianist as well as a diplomat, showed off her musical talents to Britain's Queen Elizabeth and to one of her majesty's favorite pets playing Brahms. She was accompanied appropriately, given the two countries' alliance, by the wife of Britain's foreign secretary.
But has the U.S. Secretary of State always struck the right note in Europe?
Certainly she can't be faulted for effort. There can't be an important diplomatic hand in Europe she hasn't shaken several time. NATO gatherings, tours with President George W. Bush, foreign ministers, crisis get-togethers. Lately, those have mostly been friendly encounters, but regular observers recall when they used to play at hardball.
ROBIN SHEPHERD, CHATHAM HOUSE ANALYST: Amid the Iraq crisis, when France, Germany and Russia were leading oppositions to the United States, it was Condoleezza Rice who famously talked about those countries as constituting an axis of weasels, in contrast with the axis of evil which George W. Bush had set out, meaning Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
OAKLEY: She's acknowledged difficulties in persuading the Europeans to do more in Afghanistan.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a different fight than NATO was structured to do.
OAKLEY: And Condoleezza Rice has been on the defensive explaining U.S. policies on Guantanamo Bay and the CIA's so-called "extraordinary renditions," where terrorism suspects were spirited off to countries that used harsh interrogation techniques.
RICE: The United States does not engage in torture, doesn't condone it, doesn't expect its employees to engage in it.
OAKLEY: Her hosts weren't always convinced.
SHEPHERD: I don't think Europeans have believed the assurances of anybody in the Bush administration when it comes to issues such as extraordinary rendition.
OAKLEY: But Condoleezza Rice did play a major role in bringing Europe around to make the U.S. missile defense policy a NATO policy, not just a U.S. plan, by persuading the U.S. to listen as well as lecture.
RICE: Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue.
OAKLEY: A better communicator than her boss in the White House, she's been seen as the purveyor, not the maker of policy. People haven't blamed her for what they dislike.
SHEPHERD: I don't think Condoleezza Rice has ever been seen as the key player in American foreign policy. I think that she comes a very distant second in people's perceptions.
OAKLEY: With another high profile president due to take over, Europe will be agawk (ph) to see if the same applies to her expected successor, Hillary Clinton.
Robin Oakley, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well it was modern technology that really helped make our presidential election coverage exciting. And we'll take a look at just what makes that magic wall tick.
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PHILLIPS: Wet, cold weather on tap for several parts of the nation today. Meteorologist Chad Myers keeping up with the chilly mess across parts of the country.
Hey, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is a mess in Alaska, and it's a mess in the Midwest, and snow and cold. And we talked about this the other day, Kyra, how there's more snow that can come down when it's 32 degrees, it can be a lot snowier, because there's more moisture in the air, and so the snow can get deeper. When it's cold air like this, one below, 13, 9, 7, it's hard to get a big snow. You can get that fluffy snow that blows around, but that's what we're looking at today.
Big time cold air here. Warm here. And in between is where most of that snow is going to be. I don't really see a severe weather event happening today.
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PHILLIPS: All right. So you drink during the holidays, Chad?
That was a loaded question, wasn't it? No pun intended.
MYERS: A little eggnog. You can have it both ways. There you go.
PHILLIPS: Little -- what's the other stuff? Glug?
Well here's one for you, pal.
MYERS: Grog.
PHILLIPS: Grog. There you go. I got to get it right.
Many of you will celebrate the holidays with a drink or two, or three or four, or, you know. But how much is too much? We're actually going have a new report out about your heart.
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PHILLIPS: For those of you who watched CNN's election coverage this year you probably saw what we call the magic wall. Our reporters use this high-tech tool to keep us up-to-date on the presidential race.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the story behind the touchable technology now in our "Edge of Discovery" report.
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DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was first made famous by CNN's very own John King.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The biggest changes in American politics...
FEYERICK: Or maybe you caught the parody on "Saturday Night Live."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check out Michigan, I can make it bounce.
FEYERICK: We here at CNN call it the magic wall. To the man behind the technology, Jeff Han, it's called a multi-touch collaboration wall.
JEFF HAN, FOUNDER, PERCEPTIVE PIXEL: Multi-touch is a whole new way of working with (INAUDIBLE). We can actually use more than one finger at time. That means both hands, that means all 10 fingers. It might mean multiple users in front of a screen also.
FEYERICK: The computing power has been around for years.
HAN: It's that interface, that last final few inches between the person and computer that we even have.
FEYERICK: But it's not only good for explaining elections or providing fodder for comedy shows, Han says there are some very practical uses, like military intelligence and medical research --
HAN: This is a close-up of a blood vessel cross-section.
FEYERICK: -- and collaborative learning, from students to architects, artists, engineers and scientists.
HAN: Never have you been able to manipulate this many objects with this many degrees of freedom at the same time.
FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right, here is a story for you ladies -- drink it up, but not too much. A new study finds that women who drink more than two alcoholic beverages a day increase their risk for an irregular heartbeat. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with all the details.
All right. I thought that --
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That little hesitation -- have you been drinking? Medical correspondent -- Elizabeth Cohen.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen. Right.
I thought alcohol was actually good for your heart. You know, a glass of wine or two.
COHEN: Exactly. A glass of wine or two. PHILLIPS: Stop there.
COHEN: Right, stop there.
It's when it goes beyond two that you start to have problems. This is yet another study that shows that while a little bit of alcohol may be good, a lot is not. This study found two drinks a day max for women may be good, but more could lead to heart problems.
This study looked particularly at irregular heartbeats. But other studies have found that more than two drinks a day can be bad for other problems, other types of heart disease, breast cancer, all sorts of issues.
PHILLIPS: Well instead of two drinks a day, how about maybe four drinks one night and then no drinks for three more days?
COHEN: No, no, no. Doesn't --
PHILLIPS: Doesn't work.
All right. What type of alcohol are we talking about?
COHEN: You know what's interesting? Is that it really doesn't matter. People have sort of gotten in their heads that red wine somehow is better. But actually, what doctors tell me is that it's the alcohol itself that seems to give many the advantages to light drinking as you might call it.
So it doesn't really matter what form the alcohol is in.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well the study was about women. What about men?
COHEN: Men also. They found something very similar, which is that a few drinks a day does need (sic) to help. But since men are larger and metabolize alcoholism differently, what this study a couple years ago from Harvard found -- 1.5 to 3 drinks per day can be very helpful for men. It can decrease your risk of heart attacks, but that more can lead to health problems.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, that is going to change the dynamic of a lot of Christmas or holiday parties this year.
COHEN: That's right. But I like the averaging it out idea. It was a good try.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Thank you.
Well they're about to move into the most famous house in America. What will daily life be like for the Obama children? A man who spent much of his childhood in the White House shares his story. FDR's grandson joins me live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Then, death of a legend. Her voice was an inspiration to artists and activists. We are remembering Odetta. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, do you still have to make up your bed if you live at the White House? 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha Obama will apparently have to, according to their mom. Future first lady Michelle Obama says her daughters will still be expected to clean their rooms and make their beds once their dad is sworn in as president. But will the girls be able to have a normal childhood in the most famous home in America?
Curtis Roosevelt knows firsthand about growing up in the White House. He moved in when he was just 3 year old to live with his grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. He has written a book about the experience called, "Too Close to The Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor."
Curtis joins me live from Seattle.
Curtis, good to see you.
CURTIS ROOSEVELT, FDR'S GRANDSON: Nice to be with you.
PHILLIPS: Or should I say Buzzy?
ROOSEVELT: Well, you know, I find school friends here, where I spent some years, still call me Buzz.
PHILLIPS: OK. I'll keep that in mind then.
Look, let's just start out on a lighter note. You had some pretty amazing memories with your grandfather. I think one story in particular, when he'd be holding these meetings with heads of state and you were sitting on his lap and he was reading you the funny pages.
Tell me about some of those memories.
ROOSEVELT: Well, not heads of state. He was -- he propped himself up in his bed, he had his breakfast tray, and these were his immediate staff. So it was not that big a deal. And in fact, we, my sister and I, were scheduled to come in and say our good mornings, but that meant propping ourselves up in the bed, and he would sometimes read the funny papers, as I note in the book, hamming it up, more for his immediate staff standing around who were guffawing with laughter at this double level of reading.
And I just found it a jolly occasion and enjoyed it immensely, more for -- as much for their laughter as it was for whatever the funnies had to say.
PHILLIPS: How do you -- you know, when you see -- you were very young living in the White House. You look at the Obama girls, they are going to be fairly young living in the White House. When you think about them and what they are about to encounter, what are your concerns? ROOSEVELT: Well, you have to know one thing, I was in and around the White House for over 12 years. So I was a teenager when I left. So some of my observations are of that age and not just as a young kid.
I wouldn't have any advice for them. That's something that would be silly to do. However, from the little bits of television that I have seen, it does appear that the Obamas are quite good at parenting. Those kids show it, but that doesn't mean to say they won't be under immense pressure once they move into the White House, their father is the president, their mother is the first lady, who has a lot of responsibilities. And they are going to have demands upon them as children of the president and the first lady that are experiences that they have not had before, believe me.
They may have thought they had all of the press attention they could possibly have during the primary and the election that just finished. Not at all. This will be a whole new experience.
PHILLIPS: And you know what else is going to be new and something that is different, is that apparently their grandmother will be looking after them. And you had a nurse, Betty, I believe you called her B.B.
ROOSEVELT: Correct.
PHILLIPS: You had a very special relationship with her. What do you remember about her? And also, too, as an African-American, what do you think Betty would think about the fact that there is going to be a black president now and a black family living in that White House where she used to take care of you?
ROOSEVELT: I could just see her eyes widening, her mouth opening. She would have been appalled. Just to remind your audience, that Washington, D.C. was a segregated, Jim Crow town right up to 1946. And when I was -- the last couple of years there, I really was out and about, didn't have quite the Secret Service coverage that I had had when I was smaller, and I was quite amazed at separate facilities for everything. Or you looked in a advertisement, say a classified ad, and it would just say bluntly, no blacks need apply.
Now, totally different world we now have a Negro, black -- I use words because they change as you go through -- African-American, as president of the United States, or will be.
PHILLIPS: And you know what? What is interesting is if you look at Eleanor Roosevelt and what your grandmother did from a diversity perspective -- she always seemed to remain so down to earth, like the one picture also in your book, which I think is such a hoot. And she's got her purse on one hand in her dress, and she is cooking hot dogs at the White House, which I just think is hysterical.
Was that because she was so down to earth? Or was she unhealthy?
A little of both?
ROOSEVELT: I think you are missing one fact.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
ROOSEVELT: She didn't know how the boil an egg, you know. She had absolutely no idea of what to do. So she would look at me, and I do the cooking in our house, so she would have looked at me and said, but how do I know when it's boiled?
PHILLIPS: That is a great -- well I know not only did she cook hot dogs there at the White House, but also she was pretty upset that she couldn't get you a swing set because there were rules that it would hurt the trees, but by God she got those monkey bars and slide on the White House lawn for you.
ROOSEVELT: Well, she was very good that way. She was like a surrogate mother. I confess, with all of the criticisms that I might have, she wasn't as giving a person as my grandfather was or my great grandmother, and so forth -- nevertheless, she was the most influential person in my life. No question about that.
But she would bring in the press to talk to, you know -- take pictures of us. We were not interviewed by the press, no. But my mother would answer questions, she would answer questions. We were as well known in the country for all Americans just as any celebrity is today.
PHILLIPS: Well, and you got tons of Christmas presents, too, from random people, right? But Eleanor Roosevelt said, you know what? You don't need all of this Buzzy, we need to give this to the poor.
ROOSEVELT: We didn't need -- that's correct. And we didn't even know about it. I didn't know about it until I was a teenager that this load of presents would come in for Sissy and Buzzy. We never saw them, we never knew about them.
PHILLIPS: Final thought, Curtis, Obama studying your grandpa's ways -- what do you think about that?
ROOSEVELT: I -- just wait and see. It has been a long time.
But there are similarities if you look at the campaign of 1932 and the campaign we just finished in 2008. And FDR was criticized for not being specific in laying out his plans. He was specific enough about the New Deal to have Herbert Hoover, the president, comment, it will break the back of the Constitution, yes. But he was criticized for not being specific enough on what he was going to do about the Great Depression and things of this sort.
He was also said to be elitist and aloof. Well of course, he was paternalistic, this was his background. He was a squire in the White House.
PHILLIPS: Well, it is going to be interesting to see -- well, sounds like Barack Obama is going to be absolutely enterprising in a number of ways, remembered for a lot of changes, just like your grandfather. The book is terrific, "Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of My Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt." Very candid.
Curtis Roosevelt, great talking to you.
ROOSEVELT: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: We will be right back.
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