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Israeli Jets Strike Gaza; Severe Weather Continues; California Christmas Eve Shootings

Aired December 27, 2008 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICHARD LUI, CNN HOST: A fragile cease-fire shattered. Israel launches air strikes on the Gaza strip. The death toll has now passed 200.
Voices trembling with fear. 911 calls are released from inside the south California home where bloodshed and flames shatters Christmas Eve.

Plus, rain, sleet and, yes, even snow. Weather causing problems from coast to coast. That and more live this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First off, breaking news in the Middle East. It's the bloodiest day of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in years, with Israeli air strikes pounding the Gaza strip as the death toll mounts. Palestinian medical sources say at least 205 people have been killed, in an Israeli offensive that began early today, targeting Hamas training camps and headquarters.

In the West Bank City of Hebron, dozens of youths herald rocks at Israeli forces, who are lobbying tear gas in return. CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on this violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The injured that transported the Gaza City hospital by any means hospital. Children on their way home from school, adults, whether Hamas affiliated or not, all caught up in Israel's air strikes. Inside the hospitals hundreds of wounded Palestinians are being treated by too few doctors with painfully eliminated equipment.

DR. MAHMOULO B. KHAZINDAR, TREATING THE INJURED: I have two young men simply because I could not find anything to put in the chest due to nemo thorax injuries and they are suffering just because of shortage of medical equipment.

HANCOCKS: This is the moment Israel's air force struck Hamas installations in Gaza. Many of these buildings in the middle of residential areas, civilian casualties were inevitable. Hamas says all of its security compounds have been destroyed, many of its senior peace commanders were inside and killed when the missiles hit. It is vowing revenge.

EHUD BARAK, ISARAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: We will not raise the count to Israel and we will not raise the white flag.

HANCOCKS: Israeli prime minister is at pains to point out he's targeting Hamas and not the Palestinian people.

BARAK: The citizens of Gaza are not our enemies. Hamas, Jihad, and the other terrorist organizations, are your enemies as they are our enemies. They brought disaster on you and they tried to bring disaster to the people of Israel.

HANCOCKS: Israel says the air strikes are meant to end the rocket attacks from Palestinian militant groups in Gaza but inevitably, rocket attacks are continuing in retaliation for Israel's air strikes.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I don't want to delude or deceive anyone. This will not be a short operation. The war on terrorism is an ongoing one, we will have to stand firm in order to change the situation in the south.

HANCOCKS: The six-month truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups expired one week ago, and reality it had started to break down two months ago but any hope of a renewal of Egyptian-brokered cease- fire today looked almost impossible.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Well Israel's government is defending its military moves today.

MARK REGEV, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: Unfortunately, what we have had to do today is the direct result of Hamas deliberating torpedo the calm that was in place until a few weeks ago. They announced just a few days back that the cease-fire was off and they've got no one else but themselves to blame for the current situation. Did anyone really expect Israel to sit by idly and not respond to a fact every day rocket after rocket, barrage after barrage was coming in from the Gaza strip targeting Israeli civilians inside Israel? You have 250,000 Israelis living in the range of these rockets, maybe up to 100,000 children living, growing up in bomb shelters, not knowing anything else. Of course, in response to this sort of violence by Hamas, we had to respond.

LUI: Israel's defense administrator Ehud Barack will join us live here for an interview next hour at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

The White House is responding to this violence. Spokesman Gordon Jondro says, "Hamas continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop. Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people. The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza."

Two Covina, California, now where nine bodies have been plucked from the rubble of a Christmas Eve massacre by a gunman masquerading as Santa Claus. Selma Gutierrez CNN's has the latest on how that suspect executed the attack and planned to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Their frantic screams for help coming from the inside of this home. These are the transcripts of the 911 calls. "He's shooting. He's shooting." Two dozen people were at a Christmas party when a man dressed as Santa Claus goes on a rampage. The panic caller tells the 911 operator she knows the shooter. His name is Bruce Pardo. He's my ex-brother-in-law. He's still shooting. He came in through the door in a Santa Claus suit. I didn't see him when he was shot. Police say 45-year-old Bruce Pardo went to the Christmas party dressed as Santa because he knew it was an annual family tradition.

When an 8-year-old girl opens the door, Pardo pulls out a semiautomatic weapon and shoots her. The caller tells the operator, "My daughter's been shot in the face. She was shot in the face and she's bleeding." Police say Pardo then begins shooting at everyone in sight. Some hide under furniture. Others jump from windows to escape. Then he pulls out a canister of fuel disguised as a holiday package.

CHIEF KIM RANEY, CAVINA, CALIFORNIA POLICE: The package he had appears to be a homemade pressurized device.

GUTIERREZ: The two-store home belonging to Pardo's former in-laws is engulfed in flames. The bodies of nine people are burned so badly, they have to be identified using dental records. Pardo is also severely burned.

RANEY: He suffered third degree burns on both arms. It also appears that the Santa Claus suit that he was wearing did melt onto his body.

Reporter: Pardo flees to his brother's house but investigators discover he had an elaborate escape plan.

RANEY: Pardo did have $17,000 of cash saran wrapped to his legs or concealed inside of a girdle that he was wearing. He also had a plane ticket or an early morning flight Thursday, Christmas morning, from L.A.X. to Canada.

GUTIERREZ: He had not counted on suffering third degree burns himself. Unable to escape, Pardo fatally shoots himself in the head. Selma Gutierrez, CNN, Covina, California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: In Philadelphia, firefighters there suspect a kerosene heater of sparking a deadly house fire that killed seven people. It happened earlier this morning in southwest Philadelphia 11 people were in the basement. Only four escaped. The victims are described as three adults, a teenager, two children and a toddler. Firefighters say they found six of those victims huddled together at the only exit door. A neighbor awoke to the raging flames next door.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WADE LEE, NEIGHBOR: It burned our room literally from light to dark within seconds. With the lights on, it was completely black. First thing to disappear were my feet and then my legs and then I couldn't see anymore after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Officers say they did not find any smoke detectors in the home, which may have been undergoing renovations at the time of that fire.

OK, let's find out what's going on across the country. Karen MaGinnis joins us right now. The weather across the country, of course, is a big question. Of course, what's happening in the Midwest as well as in the northwest? Karen, what are you seeing?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are seeing such bad weather almost from coast to coast but just about the worst weather we are looking at is right smack across the nation's midsection. Here's the reason why. We have a couple areas of low pressure but here's the frontal system. This stripes all the way down towards the south. This is really the dividing line between the very cold air that lies behind it and the very warm, moist unstable air that lies in front of it. That's what we are looking at near record-setting temperatures.

Let's go ahead and give you a live look at what's happening in Chicago. Under a number of weather watches as we speak. They've got flash flood watches. They've got flood warnings and they also are under a tornado watch. If we've got those live pictures outside now, it is rainy. It is misty and foggy. Gray skies all around Chicago. Now today your temperature approaches 60 degrees. Tomorrow, you will be in the 30s and a brisk wind.

Still, with that wet weather, those rivers are going to be filling up. We have tornado watches that stretch all the way from Chicago down across Little Rock and now into the Arklatex Region, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. I think you a little later on you will be under the gun as well. Chicago, some thunderstorms rumbling through there and St. Louis, pretty big thunderstorms as we speak. You could see an additional one to three inches of rainfall. Still under the tornado watch, portions of Arkansas. Right now Little Rock, you're just about ready to see those thunderstorms approach your region, probably within the next 30 minutes or so.

Certainly some of the suburbs definitely are looking at strong storms with lots of lightning. All of these areas looking at heavy amounts of rainfall, and as a consequence, those rivers and streams are really beginning to fill up. So this time of year, you might not expect flood warnings but one to three inches of rainfall possible going to fill up these rivers and streams.

When I come back in just about twenty minutes or so, we will tell you about the Pacific Northwest. They've got problems there. Also avalanche warnings out, Richard, as we take a look across Utah once again. Back to you.

LUI: They are getting dumped on in the northwest. Thank you so much. See you in about 20.

The arctic blast that has been innovating the landscape out in the west, dumping tons of snow on roadways, as Karen and I were just talking about is also doing a number on roofs in western Washington State. A firefighter was injured when a snow-laden carport roof collapsed on him yesterday. He was outside getting a stretcher to transport a patient when the roof gave way. The heavy weight of ice and snow also caused a 2500 square foot section of roof to collapse at nearby Capital High School on Christmas Day.

Then residents in central Arizona may be getting a slight break from the winter mess today and it couldn't come at a better time. The weather system that dumped all of this heavy snow across the state has pushed off to the east. Winter storm warnings for Arizona have now been called off. But the cold air will not be gone for long. Freezing temperatures are expected across southeastern Arizona for the next few nights.

One weather worry is being substituted for another. Across Chicago and other parts of the Midwest today. Flooding, rain, combing with higher temperatures, our melting snow creating potentially hazardous situations. One section of Chicago -- of the river there is already above flood stage. And the river is still rising.

Holiday shoppers keep spending in check, despite those tempting markdowns and a sludge spill in Tennessee, three times larger than everyone thought.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And back to the issue of the Middle East. The president-elect is watching the deteriorating situation in Gaza from his vacation home in Hawaii. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is live now from Honolulu. What do you have there, Ed?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Richard. We have sort of a reaction, a quick statement from Brooke Anderson; she is chief national security spokesperson for the president-elect. She said, "President-elect Obama is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza but there is one president at a time." And that's all she will say at this point.

Basically a familiar refrain we've heard from the president-elect on a whole host of issues that have come up, not just national security but financial security here at home as well. It's basically something that enables him to sort of duck some of these tough questions during this interim period. But, of course, come January 20th, he's going to inherit all of these challenges, both on the economy and also on national security. Challenges like what's happening in Gaza now, Richard.

LUI: Ed, also one of the issues dominating the discussion and that, of course, the governor from Illinois, Ed Blagojevich.

HENRY: Certainly, that whole scandal is out there. Obama aides continue to insist there's no wrongdoing by them in this whole affair. But the question now is whether it will be a distraction for the incoming president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT ELECT: Thank you. You guys have a wonderful new year.

HENRY (voice over): His daily visit to the workout room at a marine base dubbed simper fit is the only activity making president elect Barack Obama sweat in Hawaii. But the question in the days ahead is whether the scandal in Illinois with Rod Blagojevich will take a bite out of Mr. Obama's Honolulu honeymoon.

BOB BENNETT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's like count Dracula. The count needs fresh blood every day, and if he doesn't get his daily dose of blood, he withers away. And that's what a scandal is. It needs fresh blood every day.

HENRY: The latest wound -- CNN has confirmed Blagojevich's attorney has written to the Illinois state panel considering impeachment, urging lawmakers to issue subpoenas to incoming White House aides Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett for testimony about the governor's alleged attempts to auction Obama's senate seat. Power lawyer Bob Bennett said this is a typical defense tactic that probably will not work. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is likely to squash the subpoenas to prevent interference with his criminal probe. Though a drip, drip of scandal can be politically damaging.

BENNETT: It certainly can take the president and his people off message, and it certainly prevents them from dealing with the issues they want to deal with in the timeline they want to deal with them.

HENRY: But Bennett, who represented then-president Clinton in his impeachment drama, notes the current president-elect seems well served, having Clinton vets on his staff. From Emanuel to incoming White House council Greg Craig, who led the internal transition that they are hoping, will turn the page for the president-elect.

STEVE ELMENDORF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think he and the people have nothing to hide. They have done this perfectly. They answered every question and put out all of the information and they have a U.S. attorney who said at the beginning in his first press conference that Barack Obama was not open to any sort of a deal.

HENRY: Bennett, author of a book how to deal with political scandals, said the transition team was particularly shrewd about making the president-elect available for interview with the prosecutors, suggesting he has nothing to hide.

BENNETT: I think it was a very smart thing for the president-elect to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Meanwhile, the president-elect, like thousands of people vacationing here in Hawaii right now, had to deal with the power outage here on the island of Oahu late last evening. Power went out for about 12 hours through the night. It closed all of the shops around here. At one time reporters in the protective crest pool tried to bring a generator to the home where the president-elect and his family are staying. I can tell you now the power is back. Everything seems to be getting back to normal here in the Honolulu area and also I found something out, Richard, which is that you don't need electricity to go out and sit on the beach. So it's actually -- once that sun comes up, you're back in business.

LUI: And I'm sure you were testing that out.

HENRY: I was testing it out with everybody else this morning.

LUI: Ed Henry, thank you so much, in Honolulu with the president- elect.

A marketing group survey shows mall traffic was off about 19 percent the day after Christmas compared to 2007. Yet more evidence that the bad economy has curbed your enthusiasm for shopping. CNN's Susan Candiotti is at Macy's Flagship store in Manhattan. Yes, the one on 34th Street. That survey not curbing folks to want to at least get on out and take a look at the deals, though, hey, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. If you take a look around, you go by shear numbers. The sidewalks are very crowded and most people that are walking by us here are carrying shopping bags, not only from Macy's but from eight gazillion other stores around here. Sales all around are down 5 to 8 percent this season and this weekend retailers have one more crack at getting shoppers inside the store to take advantage of deep holiday discounts. We pulled a couple of them aside who did quite well. Can you give us an example of how well you did?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I bought a little outfit for a newborn baby.

CANDIOTTI: Let's get a look at it.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): And it was $48 originally. And it was half price, so it was $24. And then an additional 15 percent off with the Macy's coupon from yesterday's paper.

CANDIOTTI: You consider yourself a smart shopper?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Usually.

CANDIOTTI: Did you alter the way you shop this holiday season?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Very much.

CANDIOTTI: How so?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I didn't shop.

CANDIOTTI: Retailers don't want to hear that. That's the kind of thing we're talking about. How about you? Did you take advantage of all of the sales this season?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I definitely did. I got a new coat and I'm actually from Canada so we came down to get the extra deals. It's definitely been great. With all of the shopping, Macy's been fantastic. We got an extra 25 percent off today.

CANDIOTTI: Sounds like we're giving them a good commercial today.

Can you show us what you got?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Sure. I got a new sweater actually for half off. H & M is great. So it was about $15. It was great.

CANDIOTTI: Did you find yourself holding off buying until right before the holidays?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Definitely. Saved up extra money from university and what not, so it's been great. Saved some money from Christmas and held on to the Boxing Day sales.

CANDIOTTI: Thank you both for joining us and we hope you have a good 2009. Of course, the question is, will the sales be enough to salvage this entire season? We will get the official numbers on January 8th. Back to you, Richard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Susan, just between the two of us now. You have been out there for about eight hours. What did you get so far? Any good ones?

CANDIOTTI: Wouldn't you like to know. I'm taking orders, Richard. If you would like me to pick up something for you, I would be happy to be your personal shopper.

LUI: I will pop an e-mail to you, my friend. Susan Candiotti have a great time while with other shoppers in New York City. Thank you.

CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.

LUI: Churches are not immuned to the recession and households are cutting back on donations and that led to a spike in church foreclosures. But this church in Liberty, Missouri, not too far from Kansas City, is thriving, even expanding. Desperation church, yeah, desperation, calls a warehouse home. And the no-frills building means no stained glass and no carved wooden pews and fewer worries about bills to pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CRAFT, LEAD PASTOR: You have huge mortgages on a building you have to pay off and there's a stress to, you know, pay that monthly mortgage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Desperation church is tripling its size in the $180,000 expansion. No mortgage here. A member donated the cash up front.

Tensions rise between nuclear neighbors, Pakistan troops move to the border with India.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: A setback for the U.S. war on terror. Pakistan is moving troops away from its border with Afghanistan. They are heading to Pakistan's border with India. A response to growing India/Pakistan tensions. CNN's senior foreign correspondent Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Three days of terror, attacks that shocked India and now fears it could have that country marching towards war with Pakistan. Pakistani officials now confirm they are moving troops away from the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in the border region neighboring Afghanistan and towards India. The move comes in response to Pakistan's belief that India is building troops along its border.

PRANAB MUKHERJEE, INDIAN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER: We would expect that instead of raising war hysteria, they will address this problem. This is a menace to the regional peace and stability.

ROBERTSON: The long-simmering tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbors were reignited when India claimed the attackers were claimed at terror camps in Pakistan. Pakistan arrested leaders of the terror group, which denies any part of the attack, but claims India has yet to give them sufficient evidence to specify their role. In India, many people are demanding the government strike Pakistan. During the attack, India's air force was put on stand-by.

VAJID SHAMSUL HASAN, APKISTANI HIGH COMMISSIONER TO UK: You cannot rule out the possibility and we have to respond to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Both sides are now accusing the other of "war hysteria" but neither is stepping back. This march towards conflict could be exactly what the tele attackers and their mastermind intended with the bloody assault, ignite tensions, bring chaos and keep the region a fertile breeding ground for radical extremists.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

LUI: The latest on the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.

And U.S. Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy. She's got the name and political connections. But what else does she bring to the table?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And we continue to follow breaking news out of the Middle East for you. Israeli air strikes rained down on the Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources say and report that more than 200 are dead, many of them civilians. Israel says it's targeting Hamas militant leaders after days of rocket attacks. Take a look at what's going on there, but we warn you, some of the pictures we're about to show you are very graphic. All right, moving to weather now. We want to get the lowdown on the weather in your neck of the woods. Let's go over to Karen Maginnis, our meteorologist in the CNN Weather Center.

And Karen, some severe weather watches out there could mean the final weekend of the year may go out with a bit of a bang, huh?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Even though we don't see severe weather outbreaks all the time during this time of year, it's not rare that we see it, but we are looking at the potential for severe weather, this from Google earth in this red-shaded area. Now, here's Illinois, here's Missouri, here's Arkansas. And as you can see the red-shaded area, that's where we're looking at a moderate risk of severe weather. And guess what? That's exactly what we are looking at right now with the outbreak of some of these embedded thunderstorms along squall lines.

The frontal system lies just about in this direction, but the moisture behind it, it changes over to ice and snow. So, this really is the dividing line between what we're seeing the mild, moist unstable air ahead of it and the much colder air behind it. Now, you'll start to see those temperatures really drop off for tomorrow.

Temperatures in Chicago are in the 50s. You may in fact set a record today. But coming up for tomorrow, you're looking at temperatures a little more near normal. Near normal are readings generally in the low to mid 30s for this time of year.

But, look what's going on right now, Lincoln, Nebraska is in the mid- 20s and Chicago has reported a 60-degree reading just in the past hour or so. So you can see, there's a huge temperature difference, here.

Let's go to the Pacific Northwest, kind of a different story, here. We've got winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories out and flash flood warnings and flood watches, as well, all the way across Washington state, from Seattle down to Portland and into Eugene, into northern California, into the Sawtooth and down through the Red River range in Wyoming, you could see six to 12 inches of snowfall.

So, all of this is going to lead to some delays at the airports. I'll show you that in just one minute. But, look at these temperatures. Seattle, 43 degrees, down right around Yakima, 26 degrees. Callusfel (ph), Montana is reporting six degrees. These are not wind chill factors, they are the actual outside air temperatures.

What about airport delays? Newark, looking at delays right now, ground stop until 4:00 Local Time. Chicago, low visibility, have lots of fog. We showed you that just about 20 minutes ago, very low visibility. Chicago has seen some of the worst weather over the past week with snow. I was there just a few days ago, the snow was beautiful, then it changed over to sleet and freezing rain.

New York's JFK, an hour, almost an hour and a half, also Philadelphia. Dallas seeing some rough weather, also, and in Toronto. So, major hubs with delays and I think we'll start to see some of these delays lengthen as well as we go through the evening hours. What about the rainfall? We can see all way from Springfield towards Chicago, one to three inches of rainfall certainly possible in these areas.

Richard, a lot to keep track of today. Back to you.

LUI: All in one breath.

MAGINNIS: Just about.

LUI: Yeah, and I only say one green for the airports that you were watching for us. So, it's going to be tough for some folks in the day or so. OK, thanks a lot, Karen. We will talk to you in a little bit with more.

Ironic but true, one place rain is not welcome right now is a drought- stricken county in Tennessee. There, state and federal authorities are trying to clean up and contain that massive coal ash spill from a TVA power plant. More than a billion gallons of the nasty waste by- product poured from a retention pond on Monday. Rain could hamper the cleanup and further spread this sludge downriver. TVA says initial tests of the drinking water supply meet EPA standards. Local residents and environmental groups are skeptical.

She has an undeniable legacy, but does Caroline Kennedy deserve a seat on the U.S. Senate? That's the question the 51 yield daughter of JFK addressing in a round of interviews. The lawyer and education activist says she's got a zest for public service and the right connections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLINE KENNEDY, LAWYER: And I think I have relationships in Washington that I would like to put to work to benefit the people of New York. You know, I ran, helped run the vice presidential search process for Barack Obama. I have a good working relationship with him. You know, and I saw -- I know, you know, what people in Washington and I want to be able to be part of the team that uses all my relationships... Most people don't realize that my mother loved campaigning, you know. And because you just get to meet people and it's just an education. And, of course, she would, you know, she would roll her eyes about the whole thing, but she was, you know, an incredible patriot and herself and I think she would be really proud that, you know, that I was doing it.

Well, he would be laughing his head off. There's no doubt about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really why?

KENNEDY: Because -- because, you know, that was the kind of relationship that we had. But, you know, we were, you know, he would be, you know, 100 percent behind me, he always was. And you know, it would be great if he was here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LUI: Critics have said more experienced politicians deserve the New York seat Senator Clinton will give up if confirmed as secretary of state. More than half a dozen evicted officials are vying for the U.S. Senate seat, including New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo.

How a popular gaming platform could one day be a player on a real-life battlefield.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Israel hammers Gaza City. According to Palestinian sources, more than 200 people have been killed in today's air raids. Israel says the attacks are retaliation for weeks of Palestinian aggression. Next hour, we'll talk live with Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak in the NEWSROOM, right here.

The family of a well-known trauma surgeon serving in Iraq is mourning his death. Major John Pryor of New Jersey was killed in Iraq on Christmas Day when a mortar round hit near his living quarters. Colleges say the 42-year-old Army doctor and father of three was so dedicated that he learned the local language to treat his patients.

Before heading to Iraq, Pryor worked at the hospital for the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote articles for the "Philadelphia Inquirer"" and " Washington Post" about his experiences as a surgeon in Iraq.

A deadly car bomb tore through a busy square in Baghdad, today. At least 24 people were killed and dozens more wounded. The blast broke a 10-day period of relative calm since the last major bombing in the city. The bomb exploded in a mostly Shiite neighborhood in northwest Baghdad near a bustling outdoor market.

So, this year's gamer may be next year's soldier. Skills learned in front of a popular gaming console may soon follow recruits to the military. Here's CNN's Chris Lawrence with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A gun in one hand and a Wii in the other, it's one possible image of the 21st soldier. Engineers are modifying the video games remote to move military robots.

PETER WILL, ROBOTICS EXPERT: It's this natural hand-eye coordination. It's not looking at the keyboard or typing, and getting the motions from typing.

LAWRENCE: The Army uses robots to dismantle explosives and keep soldiers at a safe distance, but the controllers are big, bulky and the operator has to focus on 40 or 50 buttons, that's a potentially deadly distraction during battle.

The Wii-mote would use an infrared beam to instantly match a soldier's motions with the robots movement. Potentially, it's small and light enough that the infantry could use it to say, send robots into a building ahead of troops. But, the Wii's greatest benefit could be its biggest drawback. The same way gamers accidentally throw controllers into their TVs, engineers have to account for a soldier's natural body twitches. So, the goal...

BOB QUINN, VICE PRES, TALON ROBOT OPERATIONS: Is to make sure you're not having misguided, unintentional movements of the body, make those changes in the robot and have the robot act chaotically because it's sensing that it's being moved when the soldier really has no intention of moving it.

LAWRENCE: Bob Quinn works for the company that's helping integrate the Wii. He says developers still have to extend the range of the controller and make sure its signal can't be hacked.

QUINN: And allow for the soldier to be able to make those movements without the enemy bringing out their own controllers, and taking over control of the robot.

LAWRENCE (on camera): The company tells me they can turn the prototype into a working unit within a year. The Pentagon doesn't move quite that fast. The Army has to test it, allocate the money. So it will probably be at least three years before it's actually available to soldiers.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Initially, she garnered a lot of compassion, a tearful woman pleading for the return of her baby. A look at why that act got her in legal trouble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: And now the latest on a bizarre hoaks out of Miami. Florida police have called off the search for an alleged missing baby boy. As it turns out, they say he did not exist. Two days before Christmas, Megan McCormick went before TV cameras, pleading for her baby's return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN MCCORMICK, HOAXER: I don't even know if he's even dead or alive. I don't know if they're in a car accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Police say it was an elaborate scam to lure her ex-boyfriend home from Boston. Some 20 police detectives were involved in the search over Christmas, and slowly her story fell apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DET WILLIAM MORENO, MIAMI POLICE DEPT: I think it's been mounting up -- the lies have been mounting up ever since day one, when she first created, fabricated this information. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: The desperate woman allegedly filed a false police report saying that her 6-month-old son and his nanny were missing. McCormick apparently did not want her ex-boyfriend to know that she'd, had a mischarge in March. She's been charged with making a false report of a crime, a misdemeanor.

O.J. Simpson convicted and sent to prison. Simpson's case was by no means the only crime and punishment story to grab the headlines in 2008. Earlier today, noted civil rights attorney and law professor, Avery Friedman, and I talked about the top legal stories of 2008, both the serious and the salacious, beginning with the precedent-setting MySpace suicide case out of Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTY: It involves the crime of cyber bullying. And that's a crime that, frankly, no one even knew about. Watch for Congress this year to address that issue but what we saw here is Lori drew, who was the mother that you talked about, actually engage in behavior by posing as a phony boyfriend, resulting in the suicide of Megan Meier. And the creative prosecution came down by the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, even though this action occurred in Missouri.

Why? Because MySpace is based in Beverly Hills and that prosecution was successful in bringing about three convictions, three misdemeanors, and we will see in 2009 what kind of sentence this mother's going to be facing.

LUI: What do you think, maximum years here?

FRIEDMAN: Well, maximum years, three years. The fact is there's no criminal record. I don't think that we're looking for jail time, but you know what? Lori Drew is still going to face off to potential wrongful death civil action by the Meier family.

LUI: OK, let's go The election of 2008, a big story for us. There's ACORN, which registers votes across the country. Voter registration fraud or voter fraud?

FRIEDMAN: Yeah, went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court to get the question answered. But, you know what? It wound up being a tempest in a teapot and here's why. The ACORN people were registering people like the Dallas Cowboys, Mr. And Mrs. Jive Turkey. And you know what, the Supreme Court made the right decision. It held that organizations didn't have a right to bring the suit, but you know what, Richard, when it gets right down to it, when Mr. And Mrs. Jive Turkey showed up at the polls they weren't going to vote there, anyhow. A lot of nothing, but at the time a big legal story.

LUI: You know, this one is personal to many people across the country and that's the right to bear arms, and a Supreme Court ruled it is a personal right. FRIEDMAN: In a fractious decision, 5-4 the Supreme Court said that, you' right it, it is a personal right. A lot of people thought that meant the end of gun control, but what we learned was that the D.C. ban, which prohibited even the possession of weapons, wound up getting knocked out and as I say in a 5-4 decision, so for those people that are thinking it's the end of gun control, no way. Gun control will remain, but that is an individual right to possess, to bear arms.

LUI: This story had several phases to it, it's in Nebraska, in the Safe Haven Law.

FRIEDMAN: Oh, boy.

LUI: We had a story after day after day, it was either newborns, it was even teenagers, 30-some-odd kids that were dropped off there.

FRIEDMAN: Right, what a horrible, horrible story. The legislators in Lincoln, Nebraska, actually had a great idea. Let's protect the newborns from death or injury by letting them be dropped off at hospitals.

Well, the problem, Richard, is that they never defined what a child was, so because of that, instead of a child being one to 30 days, it was anyone under 19. As a result, we saw parents dumping their children off in Nebraska, a horrible situation. Well the good news, the legislature did change the law. It is one to 30 days, but what we don't know the answer to is what happens to the children.

LUI: Caylee Anthony, the top legal story of 2008.

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

LUI: Perhaps going into 2009. Are we closer to an end, now that they've found some remains?

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know what? This has been a riveting story that everyone feels for, because of the tragic murder of a 2-year-old. But you know, you look at this case, a mother who didn't report the loss until after 30 days, along with evidence of her use of the Internet, a breaking a neck and using chloroform. I mean, this defendant is about as trapped as Sonny Corleone in a toll booth. She's got big trouble. We'll have to see what happens in 2009.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right, noted civil rights attorney, there, Avery Friedman with some of the top stories, legal ones 2008.

Whatever it takes to catch their suspect...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of fun to show how stupid they are and as I say, the looks on their face.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LUI: And now, a controversial sheriff comes to television.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Going green now, and this has nothing to do with saving the environment it's about the 850-pound emerald that got away and is now the stone of contention among three owners The Bahia diamond is one of the largest ever found. It's worth about $370 million, after being stolen and making the rounds on eBay, police tracked the massive stone to a warehouse in Las Vegas. No arrests were made, but the gem will remain in police custody until a judge decides the rightful owners.

It had to happen. The man who likes to call himself America's toughest sheriff has a reality TV show now. CNN's Brooke Anderson has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: He calls himself America's toughest sheriff. His critics claim he is unethical and out of control. Now, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is unapologetically going Hollywood in a new reality show.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: This is a very dangerous assignment to go after fugitives. You never know what's going to happen when these guys are wanted.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, one of the most controversial sheriffs in the country.

ARPAIO: I am not going to brag, but there isn't anybody in the world who doesn't know who this sheriff is.

ANDERSON: His inmates live outdoors in tents, regardless of extreme temperatures. And they are forced to wear pink underwear.

ARPAIO: They were stealing the white underwear, smuggling the underwear out of the jail. So, you know what? Give them pink.

The other reason is they hate pink. Why would you give the 10,000 inmates a color they like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your cover deputy is at the front door, he's coming your way. Stand by.

ANDERSON: Now, Arpaio and his officers are taking their unusual tactics to television for the new reality series, "Smile...You're Under Arrest." The team works with actors, staging elaborate scenarios to entice wanted criminals out of hiding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I want you to model my jail outfit.

ANDERSON: With promises of modeling and acting opportunities, unsuspecting felons with outstanding warrants, including DUIs, drug charges and missed court dates, show up only to be arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I've got a little bit of a surprise.

ARPAIO: It's kind of fun to show how stupid they are and, as I say, the looks on their face.

ANDERSON: But not everyone agrees the show or Arpaio's participation is fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is so wrong.

PACO FABIAN, COMM. DIR, AMERICA'S VOICE: And it's going to celebrate a sheriff that is, frankly, scaring this community, a sheriff that has seen violent crime increase significantly in his county, a sheriff that is racially profiling the Latino community. And I doubt that the show is going to reflect that.

ANDERSON: Paco Fabian of pro-immigrant organization America's Voice asserts Arpaio leads unfair immigration sweeps, an allegation Arpaio flatly denies.

ARPAIO: We are the only ones cracking down on the state human smuggling law.

ANDERSON: Arpaio is proud of his efforts off and on screen, stating his team made hundreds of arrests as a result of these reality show stings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're under arrest -- for real.

ANDERSON (on camera): Fabian, of America's Voice, told me his organization is considering putting some pressure on the advertisers of this new reality show. "Smile... You're Under Arrest," premiers on the Fox Reality Channel this weekend.

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, that begins right now.