Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Mideast on Edge; Obama's Recovery Plan; John Travolta's 16- Year-Old Son Dies; Weighty New Year's Resolutions

Aired January 03, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look. Explosions and protests as the attacks in Gaza now enter a second week. The Israeli military telling us that it has not yet reached its goal of crippling Hamas.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: And heartbreak for actor John Travolta and his family after his teenage son dies while on family vacation.

NGUYEN: And the ballot recount battle in Minnesota, well, it is not over. We're going to tell you why.

From the CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM. It is Saturday, January 3rd.

Happy New Year, everybody, and good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.

MARCIANO: 2009.

NGUYEN: Yes. Can you believe it's already here?

MARCIANO: Yes, and T.J.'s already taking the entire weekend off.

Hi, everybody. I'm Rob Marciano, in for T.J.

It's 10:00 a.m. here Eastern Time in Atlanta, 7:00 a.m. in Los Angeles.

Let's get you caught up with what's going on around the world.

Get out or you could be in danger. That warning this morning from the Israeli military to people living in northern Gaza. The Mideast is on edge. Here is what's happening right now.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said just moments ago on CNN that Israel is keeping open the option for a ground assault on Gaza. She said Israeli airplanes will hit more Hamas targets because the militant group's rocket launching capabilities aren't destroyed yet. Israeli troops and tanks are massed at the border as the conflict enters its second week.

Well, we do have live coverage from the ground. Paula Hancocks is on the Israel/Gaza border. Lonzo Cook in London, where pro- Palestinian demonstrations are going on. We're going to hear from Ben Wedeman as well in Jerusalem a little bit later. And Kate Bolduan covering the reaction from the White House.

Lots of players today, so let's start with Kate in Washington. Kate, looking for a solution to the problems in the Mideast has been obviously a challenge and a frustration for plenty of presidents, and that includes, of course, President Bush.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty.

In his first comments since this latest conflict began, President Bush, in his weekly radio address, said another one-way cease-fire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable. He also says that promises from Hamas will not suffice.

Bush also says the U.S. is leading diplomatic efforts, but the question is, how much traction is the administration's approach having while the fighting continues?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN (voice-over): A week into Israel's attacks in the Gaza Strip and Hamas rockets being fired into Israel, the Bush administration is still pushing for a long-term solution. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared for the first time in public after briefing the president.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I have talked with our European colleagues, and we are talking is constantly with the Israeli government to find a solution to Gaza that will be a sustainable one.

BOLDUAN: However, the top U.S. diplomat says at this point, she has no plans to head to the Middle East to broker a cease-fire and repeated the administration's conditions.

RICE: It is obvious that that cease-fire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a cease-fire that is durable and sustainable.

BOLDUAN: But with the threat of the conflict escalating with an Israeli ground assault, the White House is declining to comment on whether it would be justified.

GORDON JOHNDROE, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: You know, I don't want to speak to an operation that has not taken place, that may or may not have taken place. Those will be decisions made by the Israelis.

BOLDUAN: Decisions that Mideast expert James Phillips says the U.S. has little influence over.

JAMES PHILLIPS, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I think it the U.S.' hands are relatively tied here. And the first priority should be, avoid making the situation worse by pushing for an abrupt end to the conflict that will leave Hamas in a position to continue threatening Israeli civilians.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: But by the U.S. not taking a stronger position, it could appear as the U.S. giving the green light to an Israeli escalation. Now, both the White House and the State Department, Friday, declined to comment on reports that some diplomats are suggesting international monitors be brought into Gaza as part of any peace deal -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Kate, joining us from Washington today -- Rob.

MARCIANO: And we have been watching pro-Palestinian demonstrations this morning. Thousands are in London for a march to Trafalgar Square.

CNN's Lonzo Cook joins us live from London this morning.

Lonzo, describe for us what you have seen so far.

LONZO COOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the crowd gathered a few hours ago by London's embankment. They numbered only a few thousand as they started off.

They walked by the British houses of parliament and then turned up Whitehall. As they passed by Number 10 Downing Street, the residence of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, several shoes were hurled in a gesture of Arab defiance and disgust of the conduct of the British government, who many accuse of not doing enough to help rein in the Israeli airstrikes.

After walking up Whitehall, the crowd has now swelled to several thousand. And as you can see behind me, they have gathered for a large rally where they are being addressed by various politicians and celebrities, including Annie Lennox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's shocking and it's terrible. And I feel that even though I'm so far away, these people are -- they're human beings. And we have to look at what's going on. And we can't just sit by and watch it happen without doing anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt so angry inside. And I felt so sad. And I couldn't stop crying. And every single day, as soon as we turn on the TV, we see children there die in the hospitals, adults dying, children dying on the floor.

Why, why, why? Why do children have to die? Why do innocent children have to die on the floor? Why?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOK: As the speeches here continue, their (ph) chants of "Free, free Palestine" and "End the genocide in Gaza." And the crowd fervently hopes that the U.K. and European governments will be able to exert their influence to rein in the Israeli military action in Gaza.

MARCIANO: Lonzo, any sight or seeing or hearing anything from pro-Israeli folks down there? COOK: No, not today. We heard a few disparate comments from the sidelines, but overwhelmingly, this is a rally protest march in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.

Yesterday, I was at a protest in front of the Egyptian Embassy. Many here across London, across, actually, the Arab world as well, accuse Egypt of being at least silently complicit in what they call Israeli atrocities. But as of yet, we've seen no pro-Israeli demonstrations of any sort.

MARCIANO: CNN's Lonzo Cook covering the pro-Palestinian protests there in London, England.

Thank you.

Well, take a look at this. This is one of the sites hit by Israeli warplanes, a fuel depot in northern Gaza. Our correspondent who's in the region says Israel has struck more than 40 targets today. A spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense Forces says it is hitting Hamas targets and not civilian areas.

NGUYEN: We're also following what is going on in the Middle East throughout the morning and all day right here on CNN, with the help of our correspondents and affiliates in the region. And coming up in about 15 minutes, we will hear from both sides of this escalating conflict.

Fresh from vacation, President-elect Barack Obama is back at work, putting the finishing touches on his $775 billion economic fix.

CNN's Brianna Keilar, in Chicago, going to break down this fix for us, because I understand there are some major points to it and he's disclosing it in new detail.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, we do know some of these things that he has proposed before. This is the Obama/Biden economic plan and what he's done, what the president-elect has done, is kind of distilled some of this down into his weekly radio address to really get his message out there before he goes to Washington to sell his plan. This includes doubling renewable energy productions, building, rebuilding crumbling roads, bridges and schools, and tax cuts for working Americans, among some other things that we have heard him talk about.

Now, if you want to know what this plan is, if you want to see it in detail, you want to see what you think about it, you can, of course, check it out online on his Web site at change.gov because, again, this is what he is taking to Washington. He leaves tomorrow from Chicago for Washington, and then on Monday, he's on Capitol Hill meeting with top Democrats and Republicans, trying to win them over with his plan.

Listen to some of his radio address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I look forward to meeting next week in Washington with leaders from both parties to discuss this plan. I'm optimistic that if we come together to seek solutions that advance not the interests of any party or the agenda of any one group, but the aspirations of all Americans, then we will meet the challenges of our time just as previous generations have met the challenges of theirs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, the tough sell here, as it has been on other big spending plans over the past year, is Republicans. They have some concerns, specifically about how quickly this is going and how big it is.

The estimated price tag could go as high as $775 billion. And some sources in Congress tell us that Democrats want to push this through the House as soon as the second week in January. Republicans are concerned that's just too quick, that they won't have a chance to go over it in detail, and that that won't give them enough time to make sure that there is enough oversight over how all this money is going to be spent -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes. No doubt, you know, as he talks about the economy, he's also going to be faced with questions dealing with the Middle East and the situation over there.

Brianna, as you know, last night a Hamas leader made some really harsh remarks involving President-elect Barack Obama. Want us to listen to that for a secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHALED MESHAAL, HAMAS LEADER (through translator): Mr. Obama, your beginning is not good. You got involved and you had a statement regarding the issue of Mumbai. But you would not get involved and say anything about the enemy's crime against Gaza. Enough of your double standards, oh western nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And I've got to ask you, you know, on the heels of that, is this something the Obama team would even respond to?

KEILAR: They're not, and we've asked for them to. While you see President-elect Obama really talking about the economy in detail, that doesn't fit the mantra that we have heard from his transition team that there is only one president at a time. It's an entirely different story when you are dealing with foreign policy issues. So they're not responding about this.

Mr. Obama has not come out with any reaction to the conflict in Gaza. And it's his advisers simply saying that, this is George W. Bush's jurisdiction.

Now, I did speak with a former adviser and staffer who served four previous presidential administrations. He said in this case, it would be strange for President-elect Obama, even if he were the sitting president, to respond to comments from someone who is a member of an organization that is considered a terrorist organization. And also, that person pointing out the Mumbai situation, very different. Americans were killed in those terrorist attacks, and so Obama had to respond to that -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Brianna Keilar joining us live from Chicago.

Thank you, Brianna.

MARCIANO: Well, John Travolta's family dealing with tragedy. This weekend, his son died. We're going to have the latest on what happened.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Welcome back. We continue to cover the crisis in the Middle East.

Want to get to our reporters on the ground there, and start with Paula Hancocks. She's along the Israel/Gaza border right now.

Paula, describe for us what you've seen and heard today now that the sun is setting.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, to be honest, in the past hour, since the sun has been setting, we have heard a marked increase in the amount of Israeli shelling and of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Certainly in the past hour, maybe hour and 10 minutes, the shelling has been quite intensive. And we've seen what appears to be -- smoke shells have flown just around the border itself.

Now, of course, at this point, we haven't heard that a ground operation has started. The tanks are still standing by as far as we know. But certainly in the past hour, as dusk was falling, we have seen that marked increase.

Now, another interesting thing to point out is that the number of rockets coming into Israel today certainly seems to have fallen dramatically, maybe around 14, 15, is the up-to-date figure we had from the Israeli ministry a couple of hours ago. And we have been seeing 17 on a daily basis in the days preceding this.

So, maybe as the sun is setting on day eight of this onslaught, the Israeli military is starting to have an impact on the rockets coming out. But we are hearing a tremendous amount more -- of more shelling and explosions behind us. Certainly a very terrifying night for 1.5 million residents of Gaza who are having to go through this tonight.

MARCIANO: Well, Paula, as you mentioned and describe for us the bombings that are happening around you, we are showing live pictures.

The lens, the iris of that camera a little bit more open, so it does appear to be lighter than the shot that we are showing when Paula is speaking.

So that intensifying after a relatively quiet day, I suppose, compared to other days, as you mentioned, Paula.

Talk about if you know anything more about humanitarian aid. Of course, we can't get in there. It's tough to get the firsthand reports on the ground in Gaza.

What are you hearing on your end?

HANCOCKS: Well, what we are hearing from the aid agencies from Gaza itself is that more food, water and medical supplies are desperately need. Israel is opening up one of the border crossings to allow some U.N. and Red Cross and Oxfam trucks in every so often. But quite frankly, it's not enough.

This is what we're hearing from inside Gaza. It's, according to Palestinian medical sources, been over 2,000 -- 2,200 is the last number of the Palestinians who have been injured in these airstrikes. And the hospitals just cannot cope.

They are not well-equipped at the best of times. They are mainly running off generators now because the power is down, and they just don't have enough doctors, they don't have enough medicine, and people are being treated in the corridors. It is a very dire situation for those inside Gaza.

Now, we know that Egypt has opened up the Rafah crossing sometimes, not very much during the last eight days, and certainly not permanently, just to allow some of the more injured Palestinians out into Egyptian hospitals and to try and get some medical supplies in. The international community is calling for a truce, is calling for the end to this violence, quite frankly, so that these people can get help.

MARCIANO: Paula Hancocks reporting live along the Israel/Gaza border.

Of course, things, now that they're ramping up a little bit, Paula, we're going to check back with you in a few minutes.

And again, those live pictures of smoke billowing as it looks like attacks continue to ramp up, even as the sun sets -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And caught in the crossfire of it all, Israelis and Palestinians on edge. We're going to talk with experts from both sides about the conflict and what can be done to ease tensions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Earlier, we took you live to London for pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Well, this demonstration took place on the streets of Los Angeles, one of several marches across the U.S.

And this was the scene in Chicago yesterday. These demonstrations were organized by pro-Palestinian groups in several cities. Thirty organizations took part in the Chicago event. The march ended in front of the Israeli Consulate.

You know, people around the world are watching the escalation in the Middle East, and both sides of the conflict, they are on edge.

Joining me now to talk about the conflict and the prospects for peace is Ambassador Reda Mansour, which is the Israeli consulate general to the U.S.

We do appreciate your time with us today.

We just spoke with Paula Hancocks, one of our correspondents on the ground, who told us that there are fewer rockets from Gaza heading into Israel due to this offensive that is taking place there. So why go in with ground troops? If it's already working, why go in on the ground?

AMB. REDA MANSOUR, ISRAELI CONSULATE GENERAL TO THE U.S.: Well, I want to tell you that today, more than 20 rockets already landed in Israel and Israeli cities. And people need to understand, this is not a war between some two distant countries.

When we fight Hamas and Gaza, it means that, imagine somebody took over your downtown, is now showering missiles from downtown Atlanta to the suburbs of the city, or any other city around the world. This is how we live this life.

We have been doing it for eight years now and we were very patient. We tried many ways to resolve it by negotiation.

Hamas is just getting emboldened. Their idea of a cease-fire is that they stop shooting maybe, but in the meanwhile, they can restart missiles, like Hezbollah is doing; they can improve their technologies, build more tunnels. Even, they can get to the fence and put some explosives, and supposedly, we shouldn't do anything. That's a cease-fire on Hamas' side.

NGUYEN: But is the Israeli reaction excessive? Because some people argue that it is. Just look at the sheer numbers: 430 Palestinians killed compared to four Israelis killed.

MANSOUR: Look, I think we should look at the numbers in a way to understand what they mean. First of all, the vast majority of the people who are killed there are Hamas operatives. This is something that even Hamas admits. So this is not some Israeli opinion.

Second of all, we are dealing here with a movement that, its ideology is to embed its terrorists inside family homes and mosques and schools. We saw the other day the secondary explosions after that mosque, which was actually a bunker, was hit. You see secondary explosions, which means that they are stockpiling in schools, even in hospitals in some cases. So you have here a very different set of rules of ideologies, of cultures. You have a democratic country that is trying only to protect its citizens.

NGUYEN: Let me ask you this, and I want you to listen to this very briefly. We have some sound coming in from an exiled Hamas leader named Khaled Meshaal, and he promised bloodshed if Israel comes in with ground troops. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MESHAAL (through translator): If the enemy got into Gaza, our people will fight from one street to the next, from one house to the other, and on every inch of the land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right. So will a ground assault, which it appears imminent, looking at, you know, the tanks and the troops that are amassed at the border, would a ground assault lead to more civilian casualties given the fact that Hamas has been known to use civilians as human shields?

MANSOUR: I just want to ask you and the viewers, remember the look of the face of that guy. And remember that smile, that arrogance, that narrative. It's no different from bin Laden in Afghanistan, from Nasrallah a few days ago in Beirut, that arrogance of not caring about your own people, that you see them killed every day, the destruction that you see.

We have demonstrations in Israel to try and help the Palestinians, and this guy is sitting there in Damascus preaching to President-elect Obama. I mean, the representative of no hope, of depression, of the most extreme ideology of our time, is preaching to the president-elect who represents so much hope and change and integration. I think this small sound bite said it all.

NGUYEN: OK. But back to the question, he says that we will fight you from house to house, on street to street. And if that is the case and Hamas uses people as human shields, will a ground attack lead to more civilian casualties?

MANSOUR: All he needs to say, we have a cease-fire and we will stop stockpiling weapons in the Gaza Strip. He doesn't need to say anything else. This is what is expected of Hamas right now.

NGUYEN: OK.

MANSOUR: And they won't do it because their ideology is destruction. For them, what's happening now, this is great. This is exactly what they want.

NGUYEN: I want to give equal time, but very quickly, is a cease- fire something that is possible at this point?

MANSOUR: It is possible. I think when they understand that this is not going anywhere -- they can't keep on occupying Gaza, by the way. I want to tell all of these Muslim and Arab demonstrators all around the world, when you say, "Free Palestine," you have to free Palestine from Hamas.

Israel is not in Gaza anymore, so a cease-fire is possible. They need to stop shooting rockets and stop stockpiling these rockets in the future.

NGUYEN: OK. Ambassador Mansour, we do appreciate your time today.

MANSOUR: Thank you very much.

NGUYEN: Well, there are two sides to every story. Ziad Asali is from the American Task Force on Palestine, and he joins me now from Washington.

What do you say about the possibility of a cease-fire? We're hearing from the ambassador that it is possible, although we heard just last hour from the Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson that at this point, it doesn't look like it's something that's on the table.

ZIAD ASALI, AMERICAN TASK FORCE ON PALESTINE: Well, the cease- fire that would work is the one that is sustainable. And that is a very important thing, and it has to really be immediate.

Looking at the victimization of the Gaza people, the civilians that the ambassador was talking about, the kill ratio, as you can see, is 100 to 1 and the wounded ratio is 1,000 to 1. So the people and the living circumstances of the people in Gaza are just absolutely atrocious. So there has to be an end of their suffering, and the sooner the better.

NGUYEN: OK. But how do you do that?

ASALI: Yes.

NGUYEN: How do you prevent rockets from coming to Israel, and stand up for your people and protect your people, if the people that you are fighting, the Hamas militants, are using civilians as human shields?

ASALI: Well, there is a problem with what Hamas is doing. There is no question that there's a problem with what Hamas is doing. And the answer to that is really to advance, in general, in general terms, to understand that there is no military solution for either party and there has to be serious negotiations for the people who are reasonable on the Palestinian side, reasonable on the Israeli side, to find the right formula, the right formula to split the land between the Palestinians and the Israelis and to have two sovereign states.

That is the ultimate answer.

NGUYEN: But hey have been working on that for years and been debating that for years.

ASALI: Yes. Well, not seriously. They have really not been working on it seriously, and that moves us from one crisis to another.

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: But at this point -- I hear you, but at this point, when you have a conflict like this, that seems far off in the distance. How do you stop this right now?

ASALI: OK. This is where political leaders, globally, have to play at finding a formula.

A formula that can conceivably work is for Hamas to stop firing right away, for the Israelis not to get into the ground offensive, and for the crossings that separate the Palestinian territory from Egypt to be manned by the Palestinian Authority personnel so Hamas will not be in charge of those borders. This is the agreement of 2005 that was worked out, and the European monitors will be in place.

So there has to be an element in it to absolutely stop the firing from Gaza against Israel, and also to provide the kind of authority for the Palestinian Authority that will give it the political rewards that are needed for the upcoming negotiations.

NGUYEN: But what will that take, a third party, peacekeepers, monitors? What is it going to take?

ASALI: Yes, yes. Yes, it will take all of the above and take a Security Council resolution before that. And that is the kind of thing that is now talked about in the capitals of the world. Hamas absolutely has to refrain from firing a single rockets for this to proceed.

NGUYEN: But in the meantime, when we talk about the humanitarian situation in there, many of the major infrastructures just have been demolished due to this.

ASALI: Yes.

NGUYEN: People are being caught in the middle. If there is a ground attack by Israel, are we going to see more civilians killed?

ASALI: We will. And we will see those pictures on Al-Jazeera and other satellite stations. And that will further inflame an already highly-inflamed situation in the Arab and Muslim world. It could be a problem for the regimes that are really needed to eventually negotiate this grand deal that we must come to, otherwise the future of the Middle East is going to be grim for decades to come.

NGUYEN: Do you think the Israeli response has been excessive?

ASALI: The Israeli response has been excessive as far as -- ask the civilians of Gaza, and you don't need to ask them the question before you know the answer. Of course, everybody understands that Hamas' strategy is to have as many casualties as can be offered to the TV as long as there is no real destruction of the sovereignty of Hamas in Gaza. That we understand. How you deal with it is a harder question. And how we deal with it, it would have to take restrain on the part of Israel, and it would have to have an energy in the international community to come up with this compromise.

NGUYEN: All right. Ziad Asali, thank you so much for your time and your information today. We do appreciate it.

ASALI: Thank you.

MARCIANO: Meanwhile, to American politics. The recount not over. Deadlines in the Minnesota Senate race coming and going. There are still hundreds of votes up in the air.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich can no longer access highly sensitive government information. The Department of Homeland Security revoked his clearance after he was charged with criminal corruption last month. Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat.

MARCIANO: In Denver, officials are moving the wreckage of that Continental Airlines crash to a nearby hangar now that the ground has dried up a little bit. The cause of the crash still unknown. Thirty- seven people were injured when the plane veered off the runway and caught fire.

NGUYEN: And here at the international desk, take a look. Our team working very hard to bring you the latest on the Mideast conflict. We got word just moments ago from our correspondent on the Israel/Gaza border that Israeli airstrikes have intensified within the last hour. Also, leaflets dropped by Israel over northern Gaza today warned residents to get out of the area.

MARCIANO: Meanwhile, back to the 2008 election, all that's left is the counting and the lawsuits. The final absentee ballots in the Minnesota Senate race are supposed to be counted today, but there is still a legal challenge from incumbent Norm Coleman.

That's Norm Coleman there on the right.

Challenger Al Franken holds a slim lead right now, but there likely won't be a winner in time for Tuesday's swearing in.

Well, CNN all-platform journalist Chris Welch is inside the state office building in St. Paul this morning.

Chris, last I checked, the number was 49, 49 votes. Al Franken has an advantage over Mr. Coleman. What else can you tell us this morning?

CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Well, it's a very slim lead. And as you mentioned, counting was supposed to get started today for these rejected absentee ballots, but there's already a twist this morning. Lawyers from Norm Coleman's campaign began the day right at 9:00 Central Time here asking that the secretary of state's office stop counting today. They don't want anything counted today until the Supreme Court has time to hear their arguments that the rejected absentee ballots have been handled improperly.

They have been saying all along that there is no real uniform way that these rejected absentee ballots have been counted. So what was supposed to happen is, this weekend, the secretary of state's office was going to finish counting these improperly rejected absentee ballots, and they're rejected for a number of reasons, mainly clerical and mistakes, that kind of thing. But -- so Monday and Tuesday, we were hoping to have a result from the secretary of state's office on a winner.

Who knows what could happen now?

MARCIANO: So any guess as to the timeline? And assuming it goes past Tuesday, I assume the incumbent remains in office?

WELCH: Well, actually, it's funny you mentioned that, because today is technically Norm Coleman's last day. At noon Eastern Time, his seat will expire.

So it remains in flux and it looks like Minnesota will have only one senator for at least a short time until this mess can get sorted out. It looks like there will be legal battles to come, because what has to happen is the governor of the state, a Republican, has to sign off on whatever the secretary of state's office and the state Canvassing Board picked as a winner from the recount.

So, unless he signs off on it, there technically can be no second senator from Minnesota yet. So what will probably happen is the governor wouldn't sign anything like that until the legal battles are complete.

MARCIANO: Memories of 2000.

Chris Welch, thank you for that, reporting live for us from St. Paul this morning.

Thank you, Chris.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Oscar nominated actor John Travolta and his family, they are trying to cope with such a devastating loss today. Their 16-year- old son, Jett, died from an apparent seizure during a family vacation in the Bahamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a tragedy. It's their oldest boy. Very sad. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel badly for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Oh, so sad.

Ken Baker with E! Entertainment's L.A. bureau joins us now live with more on this story.

All right, Ken, you know, help us understand exactly, how did this happen?

KEN BAKER, E! ENTERTAINMENT: Well, we don't have all the details, and an autopsy is going to be performed Monday, we believe. But what we do know is this, is that John Travolta, his wife, Kelly Preston, and their two kids, including Jett Travolta, who was 16-year- old, flew to the Bahamas on Tuesday for a family vacation. They were just going to spend the New Year's holiday there with some family and friends. And on Thursday was the last time the family had seen Jett.

He said he was going to use the restroom at the Bay Resort Hotel in Grand Bahama Island, and they didn't see him until the next morning, Friday morning, at about 10:00 a.m., when a caretaker found Jett unconscious in the bathroom of his hotel room. And...

NGUYEN: OK. Wait a second, Ken. So he was going to the restroom Thursday evening. No one saw him again until Friday morning?

BAKER: Yes, that's one of the mysterious elements that's emerged from this story, is that they said that they saw him on Thursday at some point, presumably later in the day. But then no one had seen him until Friday morning. And that's when they called the police.

The ambulance came, rushed him to the hospital. And we're told that he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

NGUYEN: Did Jett have any kind of condition? Because we have heard so many things from Kawasaki Syndrome, which leads to heart disease, to possibly autism. Do you know? Did he have a prior condition?

BAKER: Well, the autism rumor has been around for a long time. There was a lot of speculation in the media that Jett had been suffering from autism and that his parents didn't acknowledge it because they are Scientologists, and allegedly scientologists don't believe in autism and certainly don't treat it with medication.

But I have to emphasize, there is no proof that he had autism, and certainly there's no proof that the autism was related to this seizure that he apparently had yesterday. But what is clear is that he did have a disease called Kawasaki Syndrome. And he was diagnosed with that when he was 2 years old.

Now, this is a disease that attacks the immune system. And, in fact, Kelly Preston, his mom, went out in public and said that she thought that some carpet cleaner, some toxic substances that she had used to clean her own carpet, caused the syndrome which creates rashes and fevers and can lead to a heart condition. But experts that I have spoken to in the last 24 hours say there is rarely a connection between seizures and Kawasaki Syndrome.

So, as of right now, no one is sure why he fell, why he bumped his head in the bathtub. And we're just going to have to find out over the next week or so for the autopsy to be completed.

NGUYEN: Yes. And I'm looking at some information right here that says Kawasaki Syndrome is rare in children after the age of 8 years old. So what we understand, though, what we know at this point, is that he did have a seizure, according to reports coming out of the Bahamas.

What does Scientology say about seizures and being treated for that?

BAKER: Well, from what I understand of Scientologists is that they don't like to treat diseases with medication, particularly psychiatric illnesses or neurological disorders. So it's unclear whether or not he had been treated. We don't know the details of his treatment.

What we do know is that John Travolta loved this boy so much. I have been told that John would fly around the world. John is an experienced pilot, he flies very big aircraft. And I'm told that Jett would be in the cockpit with him often.

The last time we saw them together was in November in Paris. And you can see the video there.

And Jett, a lot of people, hadn't seen him in so long. It was so rare that we see Jett, that people remarked back in November, wow, he has gotten big. He is a big boy.

And John and Kelly both kept him out of the public eye, and he had a very private life and a very normal childhood, by a lot of accounts. And I think that was very deliberate.

NGUYEN: Yes.

BAKER: They didn't want him to grow up in the public eye. They also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella. And we also haven't seen much of her either.

NGUYEN: Well, I was going to say, looking from this video brought to us, I mean, they are holding hands with their family, obviously very protective and very loving. And we understand from a statement that says, obviously, "This is the worst day of John's life, to lose his only son, Jett."

Ken Baker with E! Entertainment.

Thanks so much for your time and your insight today. We do appreciate it.

BAKER: Thanks, Betty.

MARCIANO: A new year, 2009. New Year's resolutions, for sure. Making them could very well be the easy part. Keeping them, well, that's where it gets a little bit tricky.

So for those of you with weighty resolutions, we've got some tips that maybe you can stick to.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERTRUDE BAINES, 114 YEARS OLD: I didn't smoke and I didn't drink. Work, go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Gertrude Baines, she is 114 years young and possibly the next person to be crowned the world's oldest woman. The person who held that title previously died this week. Baines was born to former slaves and grew up near Atlanta. She now lives at a nursing home in Los Angeles.

MARCIANO: God bless her, huh?

NGUYEN: I know.

MARCIANO: We get halfway there we'd be doing all right.

NGUYEN: Exactly. She looks pretty good.

MARCIANO: Exactly. Hey, maybe just living another year would be a good deal. That wouldn't be a bad resolution.

NGUYEN: True.

MARCIANO: It's that time of year people make resolutions. Well, maybe this is your year we can help you lose the weight, maybe get in shape, eat healthier.

NGUYEN: That is my resolution -- get in shape, eat healthy.

You know, it's easy to say, not easy to do. But our guest can help.

Dr. Judy Beck is the author of "The Complete Beck Diet for Life," and she joins us now.

All right. Dr. Beck, let's get right down to it. We all make these resolutions, especially when it comes to weight loss and getting in shape. But, it seems like a lot of us fall off the wagon very early on in the new year.

So what's the key? DR. JUDY BECK, AUTHOR, "THE COMPLETE BECK DIET FOR LIFE": Well, the key is to learn how to diet. Most people just take a diet plan and they expect to be able to start eating the right foods and not eating the wrong foods right away.

What dieters really need to learn is skills such as how to motivate themselves every day, how to stick to a plan, how to deal with cravings and hunger and emotional eating. These things are not intuitively obvious. They need to learn how to do these things.

NGUYEN: OK. So how do you do that?

MARCIANO: Exactly.

NGUYEN: Because, you know, if I'm a meat eater and I need to stick to salads and all these vegetables, that's going to be kind of difficult when I get those cravings to go and eat that junk food and all the other stuff that I'm not supposed to have.

BECK: Well, that's why I think it's very important to develop a diet that you can stay on for the rest of your life. And in the diet that I've created, I tell people they should eat 150 to 200 calories every day of their favorite foods.

NGUYEN: Really?

BECK: So you can have a candy bar every single day, as long as you make sure that the rest of your food is pretty healthy.

NGUYEN: Oh, OK. I kind of like that.

MARCIANO: Well, you know, a lot of this, when you go to eat healthy, Dr. Beck, you know, it takes a lot of work to make a healthy meal. I mean, do you have suggestions to eat healthy, you know, when Americans don't have as much time to prepare something?

BECK: It does take a little bit of work, but once you find the foods that really work for you, then you have your shopping list. You go to the store. You figure out what you need to prepare. You find out your favorite takeout shops to have food. But it is important to realize that if you want to lose weight, there is some time up front that you are going to need to spend and actually just put in your schedule so you can make sure you are eating correctly.

NGUYEN: Is it more of a mental game, really? I mean, should you make a list of why you want to do this, put it somewhere that you can see? I know it sounds very elementary, but is it one of those things that you have to constantly remind yourself, OK, I'm going to stay away because the results are going to be better than that piece of cheesecake over there?

BECK: Yes. You need to have a card that you're going to read throughout the day that says, "I can have this food that I hadn't planned to eat," or "I can be thinner, I can be happier, I can feel better about myself, I can have more energy, I can be more self- confident." It is important to remind yourself of those reasons throughout the day. That's why you need to have a list to refer to.

MARCIANO: You know, that's easier said than done. I need a simpler solution. And I need...

NGUYEN: We don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but...

MARCIANO: I need you to tell me a way to think that's just horrible, that will snap me out of wanting that fat steak or piece of chocolate. You got any tricks like that?

BECK: Yes. One -- another card that you should write for yourself says, "I'm going to be deprived no matter what. Either I'm going to be deprived of some amount of food, or I'm going to be deprived of all of these advantages, of being able to run around better, about having less cardiac risk, of fitting into smaller size clothing," and so forth.

So you're going to be deprived one way or the other. You have to decide which deprivation is worth it.

NGUYEN: OK. And very, very quickly, if you fall off and you lose, you know, those skills to stay on that diet, how do you get back on?

BECK: Well, it's important to prepare yourself in advance for these times and to remind yourself that if you ran a red light and got a ticket, you wouldn't run red lights for the rest of the day and then start again tomorrow. Of course not.

You'd make a mistake and then you recover from it immediately. And then it probably won't even show up on the scale the next day.

MARCIANO: But three months down the line, you definitely are speeding again.

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: It happens.

MARCIANO: Judy, the name of your book, "The Complete Beck Diet for Life." Tips to help us keep those New Year's resolutions if you're trying to lose weight and eat healthier.

Thanks very much for joining us, Judy.

BECK: Thank you.

NGUYEN: All right. So taking a measurement of contentment, one iReporter contemplates the coming year in his resolution to tell people to appreciate what they have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL VETSCH, IREPORTER: We should learn to appreciate where we're at and value what we have, and be content along the way each and every day, each and every moment. Look at the bright side. The cup is half full.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right.

So if you have any pictures or video that you would like to share, you can send them to us right here at CNN, cnnireport.com.

MARCIANO: Putting the economy in focus. Coming up next hour, CNN's Ali Velshi takes a look at the 2009 forecast, what you need to know to get your finances in order.

And at noon, we'll delve deeper into the mortgage mess, how changes in the mortgage business could affect you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Get out before you get hurt. Israel warning residents that it's assault on Gaza is not over.

MARCIANO: As the fighting continues, thousands take to the streets around the world both in defiance and in support of Israel's actions.

And a parent's worst fear comes true. The son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston dies suddenly.

NGUYEN: Well, it's a new year, new hope on the job front. Is that the case? Well, that's what we're hoping for, but will it get worse before it gets better?

We'll delve into that.

Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.