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CNN Live Saturday
Suspect Found in Bizarre Murder of Pregnant Woman; Chemical Ali, Top Saddam Aide Face Judge; Bush Promises Budget Cuts; Officials Concerned about Cyber Terrorism; Soldiers Return Home for Holidays
Aired December 18, 2004 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: It is 4 p.m. on the East Coast, 1 p.m. out west. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's global headquarters. Welcome to CNN SATURDAY.
A mother is dead. Her baby is alive, and a suspect in custody. But the shock and questions from this gruesome crime remain. We'll talk about what comes next in that case.
Also, another drug company warning has people questioning the safety of what's in their medicine cabinets. We'll set the record straight on what's safe and what's not.
And later, it's a holiday travel story that will warm your heart. Soldiers headed home are making quite a scene at the nation's busiest airport.
Those stories and more coming up. But first, a look at the top stories.
The Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali was one of two men interrogated at a court hearing in Baghdad today. Ali Hassan al-Majid gained notoriety for allegedly ordering the gassing of thousands of Kurds. Today's hearing marked the beginning of a process that will eventually lead to full-scale trials of Iraq's former leaders.
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is being treated in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Doctors say the 89-year-old Pinochet has suffered some neurological damage. But, they say, his vital signs are stable. The illness comes amid a flurry of court proceedings on whether to uphold his indictment and house arrest on human rights charges.
More arrests in connection with a suburban Washington subdivision fire. Police have charged three men, all in their 20s, with arson. A fourth man, a security guard, was the first person charged in the case. A court document says he has admitted to his involvement in the arson.
We begin with a chilling, grisly story about a baby stolen from her mother's womb. The infant is safe today after a frantic search, and a Kansas woman is in custody. Police say she admitted to strangling a pregnant Missouri woman, cutting open her womb, and taking her baby.
Jim Flink with KNBC has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD GRAVES, U.S. ATTORNEY: Our victim had pictures on the Internet of herself and so forth. They hooked up through that message board.
JIM FLINK, KNBC CORRESPONDENT: And it was that Internet meeting, authorities say, that ultimately led to Bobbie Jo Stinnett's murder.
Authorities say she was supposed to meet a woman named Darlene Fisher at her home Thursday to sell her a purebred rat terrier. Darlene Fisher, authorities say, was Lisa Montgomery with murder on her mind.
Police believe Montgomery strangled Stinnett from behind, then cut her 8-month-old baby fetus from her stomach, Stinnett left in a pool of blood. Family and neighbors are still shocked.
ROMAINE HENRY, RELATIVE: I just can't understand why anybody would do a trick like that, you know. I just don't know why.
TRACY, NEIGHBOR: This stuff doesn't happen, you know? These are the really bad TV shows that you don't watch. And this happened.
FLINK: Police say two threads of information clinched this case. First, an Amber Alert putting out a call for a red car. It almost didn't happen.
SHERIFF BEN ESPEY, NODAWAY COUNTY, MISSOURI: We may have not ever recovered this little baby if the Amber -- Amber Alert system was not put into place.
TROOPER SHELDON LYON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: It's also apparent that after this case is over, there's going to have to be a little adjustment made to this.
FLINK: The other, the FBI tracked old communication on the victim's computer, which led right to the doorstep of Lisa Montgomery.
GRAVES: They were virtually and literally simultaneous, a tip, and they were going through the computer forensics at the same time. And two leads, you know, crossing, make that the best lead you've got, the one you move the quickest on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, the crime has shocked police and residents in the town of Skidmore, Missouri, where Stinnett's body was found.
Alyson Raletz is a reporter with "The St. Joseph's News-Press." She joins us by phone with more on the community reaction.
And Alyson, in what way did the Amber Alert help the community help find the suspect?
ALYSON RALETZ, REPORTER, "ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS": Well, I think the tips started coming in. According to officials, tips started coming in the moment the Amber Alert was issued.
As you know, the Amber Alert almost didn't get issued. There was some criteria problems, and because there was no physical description of the baby because it hadn't been born yet.
WHITFIELD: Do we know any other details about how this person was apprehended? Whether there were any neighbors nearby who thought the vehicle at that residence may have been suspicious from the beginning? Anything like that?
RALETZ: There was a gentleman. He lived across the street from her. He had got home at 12:30 and saw the red vehicle parked in -- right outside her house for about two hours. He left for work at 2:30. The car was still there. And then he heard about everything else later. He couldn't believe that he was the only person in the town that saw that car.
WHITFIELD: Now, Ms. Stinnett was a breeder of dogs. Are police revealing any more details about the conversation or interaction over the Internet she had with the suspect?
RALETZ: Essentially, you know, through computer forensics, they just found out that there was some brief communication. Mrs. Stinnett apparently gave Lisa Montgomery, who was arrested for all this, she gave her directions to her home. And she was expecting to meet her, to meet her there. It was all through -- it was all through online communication, e-mails and message boards.
WHITFIELD: And what can you tell us about the condition of the baby girl?
RALETZ: The hospital that the baby was taken to Topeka, Kansas, hospital, and the hospital this morning released that the baby had been there overnight. The baby is healthy, is in good condition, and the father, Zeb Stinnett, has been reunited with his daughter. And they released this morning that the daughter's name is Victoria Jo, named after the mother, Bobbie Jo.
WHITFIELD: And any comment coming from the family?
RALETZ: The immediate family, I think they had just said that they were relieved. I don't think I can speak to that.
WHITFIELD: Alyson Raletz, a reporter with "The St. Joseph News- Press." Thanks so much for joining us on the telephone.
RALETZ: Thank you. Bye.
WHITFIELD: Well, there's a new twist in the mystery surrounding a missing Arizona couple.
Police in Newport Beach, California, arrested a man who bought a yacht from Tom and Jackie Hawks for more than $400,000 cash. The man is suspected of money laundering and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
The couple disappeared before Thanksgiving. Their car was found in Mexico.
Renewed pleas for the release of an American contractor kidnapped last month in Iraq. Roy Hallums is one of six people kidnapped in Baghdad from this upscale neighborhood there. Three Iraqis and a Nepalese worker have been freed, but Hallums and a Filipino accountant remain in the hands of militants. Both are believed to be alive. Hallums' wife is pleading for his release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN HALLUMS, HOSTAGE'S WIFE: They're not willing to share any -- absolutely zero information with us, and I believe that makes it harder because you don't hear good, bad, any type of news.
And -- but the main thing that the family wanted to say was that pray for his safety and his return and that he's being treated well and humanely and to please let him come home. This is the holidays. Everyone's supposed to be happy now. And that we're devastated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Hallums works for a Saudi company that does catering for the Iraqi army.
Tough questioning in Iraq today for two former members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The man known as Chemical Ali and Hussein's former defense minister faced an Iraqi panel investigating alleged war crimes. The trial of condemn Chemical Ali is expected to begin by the end of the year.
Here's our Chris Lawrence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the first time we have seen Ali Hassan al-Majid like this: handcuffed, handled by police, and appearing before Iraq's new authorities in a court of law.
Once he was inside the courtroom, police officers removed his handcuffs, and he went through the hearing wearing a gray suit, frequently leaning on his walking cane.
Al-Majid is also known as Chemical Ali, and he is accused of gassing up to 5,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in the late '80s.
Al-Majid's lawyer was by his side as he was interrogated by the chief judge. And soon after he was finished, the judge questioned Iraq's former defense minister, Sultan Hashim.
Although high-ranking sources in the Iraq's new government tell me Hashim is really being used to collect information on Chemical Ali, who is the primary focus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARHAM SALEM, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: We have videotapes. We have audiotapes where Ali Hassan Majid, Ali Chemical, ordering the killing of people, him himself beating people around. And the evidence is overwhelming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: All this comes just two days after Saddam Hussein met with his lawyer for the first time. Although I'm also told that Hussein will be tried after all of his top aides so that prosecutors can collect evidence from the trials of the men who worked for him.
Saturday's court proceeding was an investigative hearing, not the start of an actual trial. It's being used to determine if there is enough evidence to one day bring these men to trial.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Terrorism and cyber security. Up next, we'll look at the danger computer attacks could pose for power and water supplies.
And then take a look at this. One D.C. landmark sees its last day. We'll have details on that story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: President Bush is considering putting the squeeze on domestic spending for next year to make up for the massive federal deficit. What programs could face the deepest cuts?
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us from the White House with more details -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka.
The budget is not expected until February, but we already know some of the areas where President Bush is placing big -- great importance, rather, areas where we don't expect to see many cuts, things like defense spending and also homeland security funding.
Now, earlier this week, the White House held an economic conference here in Washington, and it was a chance for the president to lay out some of his domestic priorities. But the president at that time said he would be submitting a tough budget to Congress, although no specific details.
But the administration pushing the president's ambitious economic goals, including making tax cuts permanent, and changing the tax code, but the centerpiece of the second-term agenda is partially privatizing Social Security, a topic the president discussed today in his weekly radio address.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To help our young people, we must also fix the long-term problems in the Social Security system. Workers in their mid-20s today will find Social Security bankrupt when they retire unless we act to save it. As we reform and strengthen the system, we will deliver all the benefits owed to current and near retirees.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, the administration -- the administration has not said how it wants to pay for Social Security reform. We know that the president does not want to raise payroll taxes, also does not want to see a change in benefits for those at or near retirement age.
And finally, of course, the president wanting younger workers to be allowed to take part of their Social Security withholdings and put them into personal accounts.
Now, also this week, the White House came out with its economic forecast. And part of that included a look at job growth numbers. Now, specifically, the job growth numbers for 2004 are looking to be a little bit lower than originally anticipated.
The White House coming out with numbers showing about 1.4 million less jobs than the original prediction at the beginning of the year. Now, officials are saying that's because productivity has gone up in recent years.
But looking ahead to 2005, the president's economic team is projecting a boost in job growth to 175,000 jobs created every month. This is for 2005. They're also looking at a slight decrease in unemployment. Now, at about 5.4 percent. There you see estimated to be down to 5.3 percent.
And officials are expecting inflation to drop from about 3.4 percent now to two percent for next year.
But critics -- getting back to the question of the president's ambitious legislative goals. Critics are asking how the president plans to pay for his reforms. The White House, as we said, indicated that some tough spending choices are going to have to be made.
But Fredricka, no word, no official word yet on what specific areas the White House is looking at -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Elaine, what's on tap for next week for the president?
QUIJANO: Next week, he'll actually be heading down to -- he'll first be going to Camp David, as you know, for the holidays. And then after that, he'll be going down to Crawford.
But the president now, in this -- at this moment, a lot of people looking at that window early in this week -- or early in next week, rather, as a chance, perhaps, perhaps to have some cabinet announcements, specifically the Department of Homeland Security nominee position, which, as you know, was the subject of so much speculation in the wake of the Bernard Kerik scandal. We have heard a lot of named bandied about but nothing that White House officials are willing to talk about. As you know, they don't like to speculate about these kinds of things.
So there is a little bit of a window of opportunity there where the president may make an announcement. But his official schedule, of course, just reflecting that he'll be going down to Camp David on Tuesday and spending the holidays there before going on to Crawford -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thanks so much.
One of the biggest threats to Americans at home is something that can't be seen, but could be devastating: a terrorist attack launched over the Internet.
CNN's Kareen Wynter takes a look at the vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This just in to CNN, word of a significant power outage in New York City.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rush hour in the Big Apple. Thousands of New Yorkers jam the streets of Manhattan after the lights go out.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK MAYOR: There was a power failure in northern New York or southern Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Declare a state of emergency.
WYNTER: The cascading power outage from southern Canada to Detroit to Pennsylvania.
No foul play here. Rather, the aging electric grid.
But what if al Qaeda was just a click away from pulling the switch on a nuclear power plant or tapping into the country's water supply system?
(on camera) Officials are now taking lessons learned during the blackout to protect against what they call the real threat of a cyber terror attack that could be launched from thousands of miles away.
Former White House cyber security czar Richard Clarke called the scenario a digital Pearl Harbor. Years later, experts say the threat is still real.
MATTHEW DEVOST, TERRORISM & RESEARCH CENTER: We've built these critical infrastructures that are incredibly dependent on information technology, and we've found, over time, that that information technology is inherently vulnerable, which provides a perfect target of opportunity for a terrorist organization. WYNTER: A congressional subcommittee on homeland security issued a report this month, calling for more government resources devoted to combating the cyber threat.
REP. MAC THORNBERRY, CHAIRMAN, CYBER SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE: In cyber, you have to look at the whole range of possibilities. Obviously, the one that concerns people the most is if you use the Internet to effect physical things like a water treatment plant or a dam or a nuclear power plant or something -- or a chemical plant.
WYNTER: Representative Mac Thornberry says it's especially challenging to secure privately-owned assets.
THORNBERRY: It's the computers of the banks. It's the privately held fiber optic lines that go across the country. And so there has to be the kind of cooperative partnership with government and with private sector that we haven't seen that much of.
WYNTER: The Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or CERT, monitors the Internet 24-7, ready to act when problems arises.
ANDY PURDY, HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT: We are acting aggressively and proactively to try to reduce the risk that we face and mitigate the vulnerabilities.
WYNTER: The blackout that gripped the northeast last year ended when the lights came back on. But it serves as a reminder of what can happen when a vital infrastructure is rocked.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
News across America now.
Too late. A judge in Washington state has blocked efforts to count more than 700 newly discovered ballots in the tight race for governor. The Republican candidate won by just a few dozen votes. Democrats say they'll appeal.
Going, going, gone. The walls come tumbling down at Washington's old convention center today. It took about 20 seconds to implode the 22-year-old building. The city's new and much larger convention center opened last year.
Moving on out. A cow stranded for three weeks on a Georgia island was lifted to safety in a risky rescue. Yesterday, the cow wandered on to an island when the lake's waters were lowered. And then she was spotted several days later as the waters were rising. Well, no one has since claimed the cow. She is recovering at a local farm now. Soldiers heading home for the holidays means a lot of smiling faces passing through Atlanta's airport this weekend. Up next, we'll hear from some very excited men and women.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: U.S. veterans are gathered in Belgium, remembering their role in one of the most famous and deadliest battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge. Today Belgium's King Albert hosted ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of that campaign between the allied forces and Nazi Germany.
Half a million U.S. soldiers fought for six weeks, defeating the Germans in what would be the last Nazi offensive. Nineteen thousand Americans died, making the Bulge the deadliest battle in U.S. history.
Here in the U.S., thousands of new soldiers are getting a welcome break from training camp. They're headed home for the holidays for some much needed R&R with family and friends.
Tim Lister reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one nighttime operation these recruits were eager to line up for, Operation Exodus, sending soldiers in training home for the holidays.
CHARLES STROUSE, U.S. ARMY: I can't wait. I'm so excited. I've been here since 5 a.m. this morning. And I've been here for 18 hours almost.
LISTER: Charles Strouse can't stop smiling. He hasn't seen his Texas hometown in six months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you say one or two?
LISTER: Punching his ticket he says he knows exactly what to expect when he finally gets there.
STROUSE: I'm probably going to have to wait an hour for them to come pick me up. There, like -- there's going to be all kinds of hugging and stuff like that.
LISTER: Strouse is among nearly 10,000 soldiers from five Army bases across the country who have been granted a 16-day leave to spend time with friends and family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't been home in about three and a half months. It's the longest I've been away from home my entire life. I'm pretty excited to see all my family and friends.
LISTER: At the airport in Atlanta, masses of homeward bound soldiers began rolling in after midnight Thursday from Georgia's Ft. Benning and Ft. Gordon.
With a little help from Santa...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas to you. You've been good, I hope.
LISTER: ... USO volunteers help the recruits start celebrating while they waited for their flights.
Eighteen-year-old Laura Hopple has Michigan on her mind. She welcomes the break from boot camp.
LAURA HOPPLE, U.S. ARMY: I don't want to make my bed again. I am so sick of making my bed and cleaning.
LISTER: Trainee James Wells has been dreaming of a home-cooked holiday dinner.
JAMES WELLS, U.S. ARMY: I miss the cooking quite a bit. My friends and family are all very good cooks. They've all promised to cook treats for us.
LISTER: But the real treat is the chance to go home. These recruits haven't forgotten friends who will spend the holidays bake at base camp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as you keep them in your heart and your mind, you know, they're right there with you.
LISTER: And they're also aware that next Christmas may be very different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because next year they may not be in the United States. They may be overseas serving our country.
LISTER: Busloads of soldiers will continue to arrive at airports during the less hectic overnight hours until Monday, when Operation Exodus ends.
HOPPLE: They keep asking me what I want for Christmas. My family, that's all I want. They just don't understand that's all I want to see is my family.
LISTER: As do 10,000 other Army recruits now on their way.
Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And almost every day we talk about the insurgents in Iraq. But most of us hardly know a thing about who they really are. Coming up, a remarkable face-to-face meeting with one of the leaders.
And later on, problems with another popular painkiller have lots of people on edge. We'll talk to a physician and set the record on Celebrex's dangers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and here's what's happening now in the news.
The Missouri baby cut from her mother's womb is alive and in good condition. A Kansas woman is charged with kidnapping, resulting in the death of the infant's mother. Police say Lisa Montgomery strangled Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and cut the fetus from her womb on Thursday.
In his weekly radio address, President Bush touted last week's economic summit. President Bush hosted the summit, which focused on a variety of issues, including reforming Social Security and curving the growth of government spending.
And right on the heels of the Celebrex announcement comes a new warning about Strattera. The FDA says patients taking the drug, used to treat -- used, rather to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, should stop taking the medicine if they develop jaundice or evidence of liver injury.
Today marks the first test of Iraq's new judicial system. Two leading members of Saddam Hussein's former regime appeared in court. One of the men is known as Chemical Ali. He's accused of ordering a chemical weapons attack on thousands of Iraqi Kurds back in the '80s. The hearings open the first phase of trials for 11 former regime members and Saddam Hussein himself.
Also in Iraq, 1 person was killed and several wounded in an attack at a polling registration center. Mortars were fired at the election office north of Baghdad. An upsurge in violence has sparked calls from many Iraqis to postpone the January elections.
Farther north, 4 U.S. civilians were wounded today in an ambush in the city of Beiji (ph) . The Americans were on a security patrol when a car bomb blew up near their vehicle. The military says all four worked for the same contracting firm.
You've seen countless stories on the growing insurgentency in Iraq, but how did it all begin? Two of Saddam Hussein's former military leaders tell us themselves what's driving the resistance and what tactics insurgents are using to carry out their campaigns across Iraq. CNN's Karl Penhaul reports from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The religious chants of Arab volunteers blend with the thump of combat boots. Iraqi TV broadcast these images days before the U.S. invaded. It looked like a propaganda ploy to rally support across the Muslim world. But one of Saddam Hussein's former generals familiar with the training program says those international recruits and Baath Party loyalists are the back bone of today's guerrilla war.
MOHAMMED AL ASKARY, FRM. IRAQI ARMY GENERAL (through translator): Without a doubt, those were the people who were coming to kill or be killed. That's a philosophy for their lives. PENHAUL: The former commando says 7,000 volunteers trained at Nahuan (ph) military base and other camps near Baghdad in the months before the U.S. invasion. Most were military novices, but the General Al Askary says there was a combat ready hard core from Afghanistan and North Africa, including Taliban and fighters affiliated with al Qaeda.
Iraqi state TV transmitted messages from defiance from Syrians, Egyptians, Moroccans and Libyans training in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): This aggression is not only against Iraq, it's against all Arab nations. But god willingly, we will fight this U.S. and British aggression.
PENHAUL: Other preinvasion images show Baath Party activists training in small unit tactics. These are Kirkuk branch members.
General Al Askary says guerrilla-style training began on Saddam's orders. But he left it to his deputy Azad Ibrahim al Douri and intelligence agents to map out the long-term strategy.
AL ASKARY (through translator): Saddam isn't that clever to be a long-term planner. He only cared about power. And when U.S. troops entered Iraq, that put an end to his era.
PENHAUL: Al Douri still on the lam. He's No. 6 on the deck of cards of the coalition's most wanted.
This letter, purporting to be from him, appeared December 6 in a london-based Arabic newspaper. It calls on former members of Saddam's security operators to step up the resistance.
(on camera): Trusted intermediaries leaders to one of Saddam's former military intelligence offices in a Baghdad safehouse. He says he's now an insurgent general, a story our sources confirmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (through translator): We loved Saddam Hussein. And now he's in the prison of the occupiers. We can't see him, so we don't fight on his orders. We fight to defend our self- respect, our pride, and against the occupier, America.
PENHAUL: He explains how he laid low for six months after the invasion before contacting old comrades and taking up arms. He said the pillars of the resistance are ex-army officers and Baath Party cadres known as the United Baath Party.
He confirmed volunteers from neighboring countries are part of that force, united by a goal of Arab nationalism.
Yet 20 months after the invasion, U.S. commanders seem to know few specifics about the enemy they're facing. Brigadier General Irwin Lessle is the multinational force's deputy operations chief.
BRIG. GEN. IRWIN LESSLE, U.S. AIR FORCE: Well, it's still a very difficult situation to get your arms around completely and to fully understand. They're very secretive. They use operational security very well. PENHAUL: Numerous guerrilla factions have surfaced in propaganda videos, including Muhammed's Army, the 1920s Brigades, Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Islamic Army, their religious and political affiliations are not always clear. On evidence to date, the vast majority of them are Iraqis. Just 2.5 percent of those killed or captured last month in fallujah were foreign fighters, according to U.S. military figures.
LESSLE: Determining the actual number of insurgents in the country has been a terribly challenging question. It's one we can't that completely get our arms around. It's one that there are a variety of estimates, anywhere from early going from 4,000 to 6,000 and estimates as much as 8,000 to 20,000.
PENHAUL: Insurgent General Hafim (ph) opted not to cover his face, saying he was confident the U.S. military wouldn't be able to track him down. He declined to reveal the size of the resistance.
GENERAL HAITHAN, UNITED BAATH PARTY, (through translator): It is not about the number of fighters, it is about the will power of those who fight. The enemy must leave our country and the occupation must end. We will not stop fighting them. They must be defeated.
PENHAUL: The U.S. did manage to gather some new intelligence on the insurgency during November's Fallujah campaign. Coalition and Iraqi officials say some rebel strategists and financers are based in Syria and Iran.
LESSLE: Don't have evidence that I can discuss about any state- sponsored terrorist activities. The evidence that we have seen is individuals, some groups that are sponsoring the movement of individuals, the movement of weapons, the movement of finances into Iraq.
PENHAUL: Iraqi media reports suggest Muhammed Eunice al Ahmed (ph) was recently elected new head of the Baath party's political and military wing, and is operating out of Syria. But General Lessel says he has little idea how the overall insurgent leadership is structured or how it's coordinated.
LESSLE: They have a common goal in that they want to see the multinational forces leave, hey want to see the Iraqi government fail. But beyond that, they are still pitted at odds against each other for the ultimate end state.
PENHAUL: Despite differences, they're waging what experts term a classic insurgency, striking military, economic and political targets. The insurgent leader threatened fighters in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East may focus more heavily on economic sabotage in the future.
HAITHAL, (through translator): America is an octopus, swimming in the river of oil. Dry the river, and the octopus will die. We will dry the oil of America, and America will die, and Europe with them.
PENHAUL: He denied the Baath Party had control over other factions, using terror tactics, such as beheadings. But said Baathists had launched suicide attacks. Experts say resistance tactics are getting better coordinated and more sophisticated.
AL ASKARY (through translator): The myth of American military power has evaporated. The American military is vulnerable on the ground and on the streets. However, they still retain supremacy within the air and with their artillery and missiles.
PENHAUL: That superior U.S. firepower was evident in Fallujah. The close quarters urban combat looked spectacular. But in hit and run guerrilla warfare, the army that wins most planned battles is not automatically guaranteed final victory.
At the head of an irregular Arab force in World War I, Laurence of Arabia wrote quote, "our best line was to defend nothing. Our cards were speed and time, not hitting power."
Iraq's resistance rarely stands and fights to defend liberated zones. And while Fallujah was falling, attacks spiked across the country: Ramadi, Baqubah, Mosul, Beiji, Tikrit, Samarra and Baghdad. Many ordinary Iraqis say they see no end in sight. Their leaders are more optimistic.
GHAZI AL YAWAR, IRAQI INTERIM PRESIDENT: We are not fighting a Vieet Cong, which have principles and have support, popular support. We are fighting Saddam loyalists who are shielding behind beards and the name of Allah.
PENHAUL: The insurgents have presented no public political plat form. Analysts say certain factions religious extremism has little broad support.
But many Iraqis are simply tired of coalition troops on their streets or angry at what they see as the lack of cultural sensitivity. Resentment may be translating into popular support for the resistance.
These girls in a makeshift refugee camp in Baghdad chant songs praising the mujahideen. They fled their home in Fallujah more than a month ago.
In the Sunni triangle town of Burutz (ph), this man recites a rebel poem at a rally calling for a boycott of January elections.
Efforts to build up Iraqi security forces are slow. The U.S. aim of turning over control of Baghdad to Iraqi forces by mid-2004 didn't materialize. Instead of cutting troops, Washington's bolstering levels to record highs before elections. Still, U.S. commanders see the light ahead.
LESSLE: I don't know what the timeline might be for all insurgency, for all terrorism to stop here. But certainly, there is a horizon down the road, and I think getting through the elections safely and securely will take a lot of steam out of the insurgent movement.
PENHAUL: Publicly, officials reject the U.S. is bogged down in Iraq or caught in a quagmire. Privately, few U.S. field commanders would argue with Laurence of Arabia's warning that fighting rebellion is messy and slow, like eating soup with a knife.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, if you turned on the television in the last 24 hours, then you've heard plenty about the Celebrex scare. Up next, we sort through all the new information about the drug.
And later on, we meet one woman who spent the last 20 years keeping Santa Claus in tip-top shape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A consumer group is calling on the government to ban the drug Celebrex. Yesterday, Pfizer said the painkiller could raise the risk of heart attacks or stroke if taken in large doses, but it did not pull it off the market. Meanwhile, millions of Celebrex users are wondering what to do next. CNN's Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the past year, Neala Rastogi Shapiro has had to walk slowly on lunch breaks ever since she hurt her knee from overdoing it in the gym. As recently as Thursday, she took Celebrex. Not anymore.
NEALA RASTOGI-SHAPIRO: I'm in my 30s. I shouldn't be worried about heart problems and cardiovascular problems. I'm too young for this. I only have knee problems.
CARROLL: Shapiro started out taking Vioxx, but that pain killer upseted her stomach, so her doctor suggested Celebrex and that was weeks before Vioxx was pulled for its risk of causing heart attacks and strokes. Now, there may be risks associate with Celebrex. Shapiro wonders what to do now.
DR. GARY MEREDITH, RHEUMATOLOGIST: How are you today?
CARROLL: Rheumatologist, Gary Meredith is Shapiro's doctor.
MEREDITH: I think people area going to ask is it safe to continue to take it. What we'll probably try to see if we can minimize the dose or possibly substitute another medication for those that are at high risk.
CARROLL: Dr. Meredith says as late as Thursday, he spoke with representatives from Pfizer, the company that manufacturers Celebrex. He says that company rep made no mention of any potential problems.
SHAPIRO: My pain comes and goes.
CARROLL: now, Shapiro says she's going to look at other options. SHAPIRO: At this point, I want to experiment on other alternatives, natural remedies, homeopathic remedies, holistic medicine or maybe not take anything.
CARROLL (on camera): Medical experts say people taking Celebrex should meet with their doctors and if there's a history of heart disease, weigh the risks versus the benefits of staying on Celebrex.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, millions of Celebrex users are understandably concerned about this disturbing news. The Food & Drug Administration is recommending patients and doctors to evaluate alternative treatments. Dr. Mark Seigle joins us now to help put some of these concerns into perspective. He's an associate professor of medicine at New York University Medical School. Good to see you again, doctor.
DR. MARK SIEGLE, NYU MEDICAL SCHOOL: Good afternoon, Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: Well, who do you blame on this? Sometimes it takes a drug manufacturer years to finally get FDA approval after studies like this to uncover how dangerous a drug might be. How is it this can be on the market and now you've got a study that says it's potentially dangerous?
SIEGLE: Well, here's what happens. You know, first of all, we've accelerated drug approvals because of AIDS. And we now try to get drugs on the market a lot quicker. And, you know, this drug was approved quickly.
And then the other thing is, once a drug is approved is when you first start seeing its effect on millions of people, the preapproval studies are only in thousands. So it's when you really start to see it out there that you could start to see a problem.
The other issue is that I think, you know, the FDA has to be more independent and do more studies at looking at safety, not just how effective a drug is.
WHITFIELD; Well, just a couple months ago, we had Merck's Vioxx, now it's Pfizer's Celebrex, and now Strattera, also, all the drugs that are being scrutinized now. You have to wonder, does this mean, or should this precipitate a reexamining of a number of drugs on the market now?
SIEGLE: I think it should, Fredericka. But I also want people to keep in mind that in the Celebrex study, you know, these people were on the drug every day for two to three years at a very high dose. So I don't want people to think that a casual use, or an occasional use of this drug is likely to put them in danger. It's not. But it is a warning. You know, it's to say that we better do a better job at looking at our drugs.
WHITFIELD: Well, now the FDA is saying that doctors need to reexamine, and perhaps recommend alternatives snid of recommending this drug, Celebrex, be used. Should it be up to the FDA? Or should it be Pfizer itself which says, voluntarily, that says we're going to take it off the market voluntarily?
SIEGLE: Either way -- it would be good if Pfizer thought about that. But the FDA has an obligation to do that.
I think another thing that's come out of this, you talk about doctors looking at prescribing. I think we doctors are too quick to prescribe the latest drug that comes out. There are many other drugs for arthritis that work at least as well and have been around a lot longer. And I think we've rushed past them to go to the latest drug.
WHITIFELD: And what happens in terms of the marketing influence? More and more patients are seeing all these advertisements for various drugs on the television and in magazines like never before. And so sometimes they're requesting these drugs to other doctors, perhaps planting the seed, planting the idea of whether or not they need a drug that perhaps they don't really?
SIEGLE: You're absolutely right, Fredericka. Only the United States and New Zealand is that even allowed. And I think yes, it does raise media -- public awareness of a problem, but it doesn't mean you have an understanding of whether you need a medication or not. I'm much more interested in physicians having proper education on what they prescribe than being pressured by someone that sees a TV ad.
WHITFIELD: Pfizer has said that there are other studies that show that there's no incidencey of heart failure whatsoever as it pertains to Celebrex. So what does this say about how you value which studies?
SIEGLE: Well, I think, you know, because we already know that as a class, this drug might have a problem in this regard, it actually supresses an enzyme that can prevent blood clots. I think we've been looking for this. So I am actually more interested in the study that shows this problem.
I agree, there was a parallel study that is not showing the problem. And I think it's mainly at a high dose over a prolonged use that this is a problem.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Marc Siegle of NYU, thanks for joining us from New York.
SIEGLE: Thank you, Fredericka.
All right. Just over an hour from now, this will still be a pretty interesting topic of conversation. Our Carol Lin will be along with CNN LIVE SATURDAY`.
And I have a feeling you'll be talking more about this Celebrex.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You bet.
We were just talking about this and how frustrating it must be for people who are trying to get pain relief and they're not sure, why am I the up with to make the decision and not the FDA or the drug company? So I'm going to talk with a practicing physician, a cardiologist, here locally and see what he's telling his patients and maybe clarify some of the confusion about this.
And also, Fred, I just got this in. I'm going to be talking with Todd Graves the U.S. attorney out in the western region of Missouri, about this missing baby case. And what is going to happen now in terms of how this prosecution goes forward now that this woman has admitted to cutting out this baby, this fetus. Someone she may have known, actually.
WHITFIELD: It's remarkable. It's remarkable. And it is a great help that the community apparently was involved. But at first, they weren't going to have an amber alert, but it turns out that is what helped lead them to the suspect.
LIN: And a miracle that this baby is alive.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. All right. We'll tune in for that at 6:00 Eastern.
Thanks, Carol.
Well, sleigh rides and chimneys can make for a pretty bad hair day. But not if you've got the right hairstylist on board.
Up next, we'll meet the woman who keeps Santa looking spiffy through the holiday season.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, Santa Claus' snowy white beard is a part of the holidays, like egg nog and mistletoe. Well for many, it doesn't come without a price or a little help from the Santa stylist. Here's CNN's Denise Belgrave.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "And his beard on the chin was as white as the snow." Every year at her salon in suburban Atlanta, Joyce Beisel, known as the Stylist to the Santas, pushes the hair coloring envelope to create that snowy white beard.
JOYCE BEISEL, OWNER, HAIR APPEAL: I look forward to it every year. That's why a lot of hairdressers don't do it because they're afraid of it.
BELGRAVE: And as many women know, they're afraid of it because this much coloring can ruin your hair. Beisel's over 100 clients come as fair as Las Vegas and as close as just up the road. Hal Bell who's a Georgia real estate agent loves Beisel's unique way with a beard.
HAL BELL, "SANTA": We tried to bleach it out the first time and...
BEISEL: Yourself.
BELL: Yes, ourselves, and it was painful and never got it really white. So I saw Joyce on TV and that was when it started.
BELGRAVE: Beisel has handled up to 12 Santas in one day. Hal Bell's in for just a touch up this time.
BEISEL: Hal usually takes three days. So...
BELL: So we compressed it into one day.
BEISEL: We did.
BELGRAVE: Beisel does no advertising.
JOE SMITH, "SANTA": I got started talking to this person and that person, telling them what I was going to do and they said, "Well, you need to find this lady down in Roswell.
BELGRAVE: Only the most dedicated Santas are willing to go through this trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just look dirty. I look dirty because I can see it coming through down here and of course, my eyebrows and then my halo right there. And she said, "Now you know what women go through."
BELL: She just makes the application take away all that pain so it doesn't burn so bad.
BEISEL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) allergies?
BELL: This is the killer.
BELGRAVE: Joyce's more than 20 years of experience shows in the final product. All the cutting and combing, coloring and coifing, only serve to enhance the most important part, the magic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been good this year? Have you? What else?
BELGRAVE: Denise Belgrave, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHTIFIELD: Looks pretty convincing there.
That's all we have time for right now. But stay with CNN. Up next "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" looks at LL Cool J and Shania Twain.
Then at 6:00 Eastern, on CNN LIVE SATURADAY, how one New Jersey city is dealing with a firefighter shortage.
And at 7:00 Eastern, "CAPITAL GANG" talks about Donald Rumsfeld under fire from all sides.
And I'll be back after a quick break with today's top stories.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 18, 2004 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: It is 4 p.m. on the East Coast, 1 p.m. out west. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at CNN's global headquarters. Welcome to CNN SATURDAY.
A mother is dead. Her baby is alive, and a suspect in custody. But the shock and questions from this gruesome crime remain. We'll talk about what comes next in that case.
Also, another drug company warning has people questioning the safety of what's in their medicine cabinets. We'll set the record straight on what's safe and what's not.
And later, it's a holiday travel story that will warm your heart. Soldiers headed home are making quite a scene at the nation's busiest airport.
Those stories and more coming up. But first, a look at the top stories.
The Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali was one of two men interrogated at a court hearing in Baghdad today. Ali Hassan al-Majid gained notoriety for allegedly ordering the gassing of thousands of Kurds. Today's hearing marked the beginning of a process that will eventually lead to full-scale trials of Iraq's former leaders.
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is being treated in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Doctors say the 89-year-old Pinochet has suffered some neurological damage. But, they say, his vital signs are stable. The illness comes amid a flurry of court proceedings on whether to uphold his indictment and house arrest on human rights charges.
More arrests in connection with a suburban Washington subdivision fire. Police have charged three men, all in their 20s, with arson. A fourth man, a security guard, was the first person charged in the case. A court document says he has admitted to his involvement in the arson.
We begin with a chilling, grisly story about a baby stolen from her mother's womb. The infant is safe today after a frantic search, and a Kansas woman is in custody. Police say she admitted to strangling a pregnant Missouri woman, cutting open her womb, and taking her baby.
Jim Flink with KNBC has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD GRAVES, U.S. ATTORNEY: Our victim had pictures on the Internet of herself and so forth. They hooked up through that message board.
JIM FLINK, KNBC CORRESPONDENT: And it was that Internet meeting, authorities say, that ultimately led to Bobbie Jo Stinnett's murder.
Authorities say she was supposed to meet a woman named Darlene Fisher at her home Thursday to sell her a purebred rat terrier. Darlene Fisher, authorities say, was Lisa Montgomery with murder on her mind.
Police believe Montgomery strangled Stinnett from behind, then cut her 8-month-old baby fetus from her stomach, Stinnett left in a pool of blood. Family and neighbors are still shocked.
ROMAINE HENRY, RELATIVE: I just can't understand why anybody would do a trick like that, you know. I just don't know why.
TRACY, NEIGHBOR: This stuff doesn't happen, you know? These are the really bad TV shows that you don't watch. And this happened.
FLINK: Police say two threads of information clinched this case. First, an Amber Alert putting out a call for a red car. It almost didn't happen.
SHERIFF BEN ESPEY, NODAWAY COUNTY, MISSOURI: We may have not ever recovered this little baby if the Amber -- Amber Alert system was not put into place.
TROOPER SHELDON LYON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: It's also apparent that after this case is over, there's going to have to be a little adjustment made to this.
FLINK: The other, the FBI tracked old communication on the victim's computer, which led right to the doorstep of Lisa Montgomery.
GRAVES: They were virtually and literally simultaneous, a tip, and they were going through the computer forensics at the same time. And two leads, you know, crossing, make that the best lead you've got, the one you move the quickest on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, the crime has shocked police and residents in the town of Skidmore, Missouri, where Stinnett's body was found.
Alyson Raletz is a reporter with "The St. Joseph's News-Press." She joins us by phone with more on the community reaction.
And Alyson, in what way did the Amber Alert help the community help find the suspect?
ALYSON RALETZ, REPORTER, "ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS": Well, I think the tips started coming in. According to officials, tips started coming in the moment the Amber Alert was issued.
As you know, the Amber Alert almost didn't get issued. There was some criteria problems, and because there was no physical description of the baby because it hadn't been born yet.
WHITFIELD: Do we know any other details about how this person was apprehended? Whether there were any neighbors nearby who thought the vehicle at that residence may have been suspicious from the beginning? Anything like that?
RALETZ: There was a gentleman. He lived across the street from her. He had got home at 12:30 and saw the red vehicle parked in -- right outside her house for about two hours. He left for work at 2:30. The car was still there. And then he heard about everything else later. He couldn't believe that he was the only person in the town that saw that car.
WHITFIELD: Now, Ms. Stinnett was a breeder of dogs. Are police revealing any more details about the conversation or interaction over the Internet she had with the suspect?
RALETZ: Essentially, you know, through computer forensics, they just found out that there was some brief communication. Mrs. Stinnett apparently gave Lisa Montgomery, who was arrested for all this, she gave her directions to her home. And she was expecting to meet her, to meet her there. It was all through -- it was all through online communication, e-mails and message boards.
WHITFIELD: And what can you tell us about the condition of the baby girl?
RALETZ: The hospital that the baby was taken to Topeka, Kansas, hospital, and the hospital this morning released that the baby had been there overnight. The baby is healthy, is in good condition, and the father, Zeb Stinnett, has been reunited with his daughter. And they released this morning that the daughter's name is Victoria Jo, named after the mother, Bobbie Jo.
WHITFIELD: And any comment coming from the family?
RALETZ: The immediate family, I think they had just said that they were relieved. I don't think I can speak to that.
WHITFIELD: Alyson Raletz, a reporter with "The St. Joseph News- Press." Thanks so much for joining us on the telephone.
RALETZ: Thank you. Bye.
WHITFIELD: Well, there's a new twist in the mystery surrounding a missing Arizona couple.
Police in Newport Beach, California, arrested a man who bought a yacht from Tom and Jackie Hawks for more than $400,000 cash. The man is suspected of money laundering and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
The couple disappeared before Thanksgiving. Their car was found in Mexico.
Renewed pleas for the release of an American contractor kidnapped last month in Iraq. Roy Hallums is one of six people kidnapped in Baghdad from this upscale neighborhood there. Three Iraqis and a Nepalese worker have been freed, but Hallums and a Filipino accountant remain in the hands of militants. Both are believed to be alive. Hallums' wife is pleading for his release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN HALLUMS, HOSTAGE'S WIFE: They're not willing to share any -- absolutely zero information with us, and I believe that makes it harder because you don't hear good, bad, any type of news.
And -- but the main thing that the family wanted to say was that pray for his safety and his return and that he's being treated well and humanely and to please let him come home. This is the holidays. Everyone's supposed to be happy now. And that we're devastated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Hallums works for a Saudi company that does catering for the Iraqi army.
Tough questioning in Iraq today for two former members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The man known as Chemical Ali and Hussein's former defense minister faced an Iraqi panel investigating alleged war crimes. The trial of condemn Chemical Ali is expected to begin by the end of the year.
Here's our Chris Lawrence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the first time we have seen Ali Hassan al-Majid like this: handcuffed, handled by police, and appearing before Iraq's new authorities in a court of law.
Once he was inside the courtroom, police officers removed his handcuffs, and he went through the hearing wearing a gray suit, frequently leaning on his walking cane.
Al-Majid is also known as Chemical Ali, and he is accused of gassing up to 5,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in the late '80s.
Al-Majid's lawyer was by his side as he was interrogated by the chief judge. And soon after he was finished, the judge questioned Iraq's former defense minister, Sultan Hashim.
Although high-ranking sources in the Iraq's new government tell me Hashim is really being used to collect information on Chemical Ali, who is the primary focus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARHAM SALEM, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: We have videotapes. We have audiotapes where Ali Hassan Majid, Ali Chemical, ordering the killing of people, him himself beating people around. And the evidence is overwhelming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: All this comes just two days after Saddam Hussein met with his lawyer for the first time. Although I'm also told that Hussein will be tried after all of his top aides so that prosecutors can collect evidence from the trials of the men who worked for him.
Saturday's court proceeding was an investigative hearing, not the start of an actual trial. It's being used to determine if there is enough evidence to one day bring these men to trial.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Terrorism and cyber security. Up next, we'll look at the danger computer attacks could pose for power and water supplies.
And then take a look at this. One D.C. landmark sees its last day. We'll have details on that story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: President Bush is considering putting the squeeze on domestic spending for next year to make up for the massive federal deficit. What programs could face the deepest cuts?
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us from the White House with more details -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka.
The budget is not expected until February, but we already know some of the areas where President Bush is placing big -- great importance, rather, areas where we don't expect to see many cuts, things like defense spending and also homeland security funding.
Now, earlier this week, the White House held an economic conference here in Washington, and it was a chance for the president to lay out some of his domestic priorities. But the president at that time said he would be submitting a tough budget to Congress, although no specific details.
But the administration pushing the president's ambitious economic goals, including making tax cuts permanent, and changing the tax code, but the centerpiece of the second-term agenda is partially privatizing Social Security, a topic the president discussed today in his weekly radio address.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To help our young people, we must also fix the long-term problems in the Social Security system. Workers in their mid-20s today will find Social Security bankrupt when they retire unless we act to save it. As we reform and strengthen the system, we will deliver all the benefits owed to current and near retirees.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, the administration -- the administration has not said how it wants to pay for Social Security reform. We know that the president does not want to raise payroll taxes, also does not want to see a change in benefits for those at or near retirement age.
And finally, of course, the president wanting younger workers to be allowed to take part of their Social Security withholdings and put them into personal accounts.
Now, also this week, the White House came out with its economic forecast. And part of that included a look at job growth numbers. Now, specifically, the job growth numbers for 2004 are looking to be a little bit lower than originally anticipated.
The White House coming out with numbers showing about 1.4 million less jobs than the original prediction at the beginning of the year. Now, officials are saying that's because productivity has gone up in recent years.
But looking ahead to 2005, the president's economic team is projecting a boost in job growth to 175,000 jobs created every month. This is for 2005. They're also looking at a slight decrease in unemployment. Now, at about 5.4 percent. There you see estimated to be down to 5.3 percent.
And officials are expecting inflation to drop from about 3.4 percent now to two percent for next year.
But critics -- getting back to the question of the president's ambitious legislative goals. Critics are asking how the president plans to pay for his reforms. The White House, as we said, indicated that some tough spending choices are going to have to be made.
But Fredricka, no word, no official word yet on what specific areas the White House is looking at -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Elaine, what's on tap for next week for the president?
QUIJANO: Next week, he'll actually be heading down to -- he'll first be going to Camp David, as you know, for the holidays. And then after that, he'll be going down to Crawford.
But the president now, in this -- at this moment, a lot of people looking at that window early in this week -- or early in next week, rather, as a chance, perhaps, perhaps to have some cabinet announcements, specifically the Department of Homeland Security nominee position, which, as you know, was the subject of so much speculation in the wake of the Bernard Kerik scandal. We have heard a lot of named bandied about but nothing that White House officials are willing to talk about. As you know, they don't like to speculate about these kinds of things.
So there is a little bit of a window of opportunity there where the president may make an announcement. But his official schedule, of course, just reflecting that he'll be going down to Camp David on Tuesday and spending the holidays there before going on to Crawford -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thanks so much.
One of the biggest threats to Americans at home is something that can't be seen, but could be devastating: a terrorist attack launched over the Internet.
CNN's Kareen Wynter takes a look at the vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This just in to CNN, word of a significant power outage in New York City.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rush hour in the Big Apple. Thousands of New Yorkers jam the streets of Manhattan after the lights go out.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK MAYOR: There was a power failure in northern New York or southern Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Declare a state of emergency.
WYNTER: The cascading power outage from southern Canada to Detroit to Pennsylvania.
No foul play here. Rather, the aging electric grid.
But what if al Qaeda was just a click away from pulling the switch on a nuclear power plant or tapping into the country's water supply system?
(on camera) Officials are now taking lessons learned during the blackout to protect against what they call the real threat of a cyber terror attack that could be launched from thousands of miles away.
Former White House cyber security czar Richard Clarke called the scenario a digital Pearl Harbor. Years later, experts say the threat is still real.
MATTHEW DEVOST, TERRORISM & RESEARCH CENTER: We've built these critical infrastructures that are incredibly dependent on information technology, and we've found, over time, that that information technology is inherently vulnerable, which provides a perfect target of opportunity for a terrorist organization. WYNTER: A congressional subcommittee on homeland security issued a report this month, calling for more government resources devoted to combating the cyber threat.
REP. MAC THORNBERRY, CHAIRMAN, CYBER SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE: In cyber, you have to look at the whole range of possibilities. Obviously, the one that concerns people the most is if you use the Internet to effect physical things like a water treatment plant or a dam or a nuclear power plant or something -- or a chemical plant.
WYNTER: Representative Mac Thornberry says it's especially challenging to secure privately-owned assets.
THORNBERRY: It's the computers of the banks. It's the privately held fiber optic lines that go across the country. And so there has to be the kind of cooperative partnership with government and with private sector that we haven't seen that much of.
WYNTER: The Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or CERT, monitors the Internet 24-7, ready to act when problems arises.
ANDY PURDY, HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT: We are acting aggressively and proactively to try to reduce the risk that we face and mitigate the vulnerabilities.
WYNTER: The blackout that gripped the northeast last year ended when the lights came back on. But it serves as a reminder of what can happen when a vital infrastructure is rocked.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
News across America now.
Too late. A judge in Washington state has blocked efforts to count more than 700 newly discovered ballots in the tight race for governor. The Republican candidate won by just a few dozen votes. Democrats say they'll appeal.
Going, going, gone. The walls come tumbling down at Washington's old convention center today. It took about 20 seconds to implode the 22-year-old building. The city's new and much larger convention center opened last year.
Moving on out. A cow stranded for three weeks on a Georgia island was lifted to safety in a risky rescue. Yesterday, the cow wandered on to an island when the lake's waters were lowered. And then she was spotted several days later as the waters were rising. Well, no one has since claimed the cow. She is recovering at a local farm now. Soldiers heading home for the holidays means a lot of smiling faces passing through Atlanta's airport this weekend. Up next, we'll hear from some very excited men and women.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: U.S. veterans are gathered in Belgium, remembering their role in one of the most famous and deadliest battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge. Today Belgium's King Albert hosted ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of that campaign between the allied forces and Nazi Germany.
Half a million U.S. soldiers fought for six weeks, defeating the Germans in what would be the last Nazi offensive. Nineteen thousand Americans died, making the Bulge the deadliest battle in U.S. history.
Here in the U.S., thousands of new soldiers are getting a welcome break from training camp. They're headed home for the holidays for some much needed R&R with family and friends.
Tim Lister reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one nighttime operation these recruits were eager to line up for, Operation Exodus, sending soldiers in training home for the holidays.
CHARLES STROUSE, U.S. ARMY: I can't wait. I'm so excited. I've been here since 5 a.m. this morning. And I've been here for 18 hours almost.
LISTER: Charles Strouse can't stop smiling. He hasn't seen his Texas hometown in six months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you say one or two?
LISTER: Punching his ticket he says he knows exactly what to expect when he finally gets there.
STROUSE: I'm probably going to have to wait an hour for them to come pick me up. There, like -- there's going to be all kinds of hugging and stuff like that.
LISTER: Strouse is among nearly 10,000 soldiers from five Army bases across the country who have been granted a 16-day leave to spend time with friends and family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't been home in about three and a half months. It's the longest I've been away from home my entire life. I'm pretty excited to see all my family and friends.
LISTER: At the airport in Atlanta, masses of homeward bound soldiers began rolling in after midnight Thursday from Georgia's Ft. Benning and Ft. Gordon.
With a little help from Santa...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Merry Christmas to you. You've been good, I hope.
LISTER: ... USO volunteers help the recruits start celebrating while they waited for their flights.
Eighteen-year-old Laura Hopple has Michigan on her mind. She welcomes the break from boot camp.
LAURA HOPPLE, U.S. ARMY: I don't want to make my bed again. I am so sick of making my bed and cleaning.
LISTER: Trainee James Wells has been dreaming of a home-cooked holiday dinner.
JAMES WELLS, U.S. ARMY: I miss the cooking quite a bit. My friends and family are all very good cooks. They've all promised to cook treats for us.
LISTER: But the real treat is the chance to go home. These recruits haven't forgotten friends who will spend the holidays bake at base camp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as you keep them in your heart and your mind, you know, they're right there with you.
LISTER: And they're also aware that next Christmas may be very different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because next year they may not be in the United States. They may be overseas serving our country.
LISTER: Busloads of soldiers will continue to arrive at airports during the less hectic overnight hours until Monday, when Operation Exodus ends.
HOPPLE: They keep asking me what I want for Christmas. My family, that's all I want. They just don't understand that's all I want to see is my family.
LISTER: As do 10,000 other Army recruits now on their way.
Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And almost every day we talk about the insurgents in Iraq. But most of us hardly know a thing about who they really are. Coming up, a remarkable face-to-face meeting with one of the leaders.
And later on, problems with another popular painkiller have lots of people on edge. We'll talk to a physician and set the record on Celebrex's dangers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and here's what's happening now in the news.
The Missouri baby cut from her mother's womb is alive and in good condition. A Kansas woman is charged with kidnapping, resulting in the death of the infant's mother. Police say Lisa Montgomery strangled Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and cut the fetus from her womb on Thursday.
In his weekly radio address, President Bush touted last week's economic summit. President Bush hosted the summit, which focused on a variety of issues, including reforming Social Security and curving the growth of government spending.
And right on the heels of the Celebrex announcement comes a new warning about Strattera. The FDA says patients taking the drug, used to treat -- used, rather to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, should stop taking the medicine if they develop jaundice or evidence of liver injury.
Today marks the first test of Iraq's new judicial system. Two leading members of Saddam Hussein's former regime appeared in court. One of the men is known as Chemical Ali. He's accused of ordering a chemical weapons attack on thousands of Iraqi Kurds back in the '80s. The hearings open the first phase of trials for 11 former regime members and Saddam Hussein himself.
Also in Iraq, 1 person was killed and several wounded in an attack at a polling registration center. Mortars were fired at the election office north of Baghdad. An upsurge in violence has sparked calls from many Iraqis to postpone the January elections.
Farther north, 4 U.S. civilians were wounded today in an ambush in the city of Beiji (ph) . The Americans were on a security patrol when a car bomb blew up near their vehicle. The military says all four worked for the same contracting firm.
You've seen countless stories on the growing insurgentency in Iraq, but how did it all begin? Two of Saddam Hussein's former military leaders tell us themselves what's driving the resistance and what tactics insurgents are using to carry out their campaigns across Iraq. CNN's Karl Penhaul reports from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The religious chants of Arab volunteers blend with the thump of combat boots. Iraqi TV broadcast these images days before the U.S. invaded. It looked like a propaganda ploy to rally support across the Muslim world. But one of Saddam Hussein's former generals familiar with the training program says those international recruits and Baath Party loyalists are the back bone of today's guerrilla war.
MOHAMMED AL ASKARY, FRM. IRAQI ARMY GENERAL (through translator): Without a doubt, those were the people who were coming to kill or be killed. That's a philosophy for their lives. PENHAUL: The former commando says 7,000 volunteers trained at Nahuan (ph) military base and other camps near Baghdad in the months before the U.S. invasion. Most were military novices, but the General Al Askary says there was a combat ready hard core from Afghanistan and North Africa, including Taliban and fighters affiliated with al Qaeda.
Iraqi state TV transmitted messages from defiance from Syrians, Egyptians, Moroccans and Libyans training in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): This aggression is not only against Iraq, it's against all Arab nations. But god willingly, we will fight this U.S. and British aggression.
PENHAUL: Other preinvasion images show Baath Party activists training in small unit tactics. These are Kirkuk branch members.
General Al Askary says guerrilla-style training began on Saddam's orders. But he left it to his deputy Azad Ibrahim al Douri and intelligence agents to map out the long-term strategy.
AL ASKARY (through translator): Saddam isn't that clever to be a long-term planner. He only cared about power. And when U.S. troops entered Iraq, that put an end to his era.
PENHAUL: Al Douri still on the lam. He's No. 6 on the deck of cards of the coalition's most wanted.
This letter, purporting to be from him, appeared December 6 in a london-based Arabic newspaper. It calls on former members of Saddam's security operators to step up the resistance.
(on camera): Trusted intermediaries leaders to one of Saddam's former military intelligence offices in a Baghdad safehouse. He says he's now an insurgent general, a story our sources confirmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (through translator): We loved Saddam Hussein. And now he's in the prison of the occupiers. We can't see him, so we don't fight on his orders. We fight to defend our self- respect, our pride, and against the occupier, America.
PENHAUL: He explains how he laid low for six months after the invasion before contacting old comrades and taking up arms. He said the pillars of the resistance are ex-army officers and Baath Party cadres known as the United Baath Party.
He confirmed volunteers from neighboring countries are part of that force, united by a goal of Arab nationalism.
Yet 20 months after the invasion, U.S. commanders seem to know few specifics about the enemy they're facing. Brigadier General Irwin Lessle is the multinational force's deputy operations chief.
BRIG. GEN. IRWIN LESSLE, U.S. AIR FORCE: Well, it's still a very difficult situation to get your arms around completely and to fully understand. They're very secretive. They use operational security very well. PENHAUL: Numerous guerrilla factions have surfaced in propaganda videos, including Muhammed's Army, the 1920s Brigades, Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Islamic Army, their religious and political affiliations are not always clear. On evidence to date, the vast majority of them are Iraqis. Just 2.5 percent of those killed or captured last month in fallujah were foreign fighters, according to U.S. military figures.
LESSLE: Determining the actual number of insurgents in the country has been a terribly challenging question. It's one we can't that completely get our arms around. It's one that there are a variety of estimates, anywhere from early going from 4,000 to 6,000 and estimates as much as 8,000 to 20,000.
PENHAUL: Insurgent General Hafim (ph) opted not to cover his face, saying he was confident the U.S. military wouldn't be able to track him down. He declined to reveal the size of the resistance.
GENERAL HAITHAN, UNITED BAATH PARTY, (through translator): It is not about the number of fighters, it is about the will power of those who fight. The enemy must leave our country and the occupation must end. We will not stop fighting them. They must be defeated.
PENHAUL: The U.S. did manage to gather some new intelligence on the insurgency during November's Fallujah campaign. Coalition and Iraqi officials say some rebel strategists and financers are based in Syria and Iran.
LESSLE: Don't have evidence that I can discuss about any state- sponsored terrorist activities. The evidence that we have seen is individuals, some groups that are sponsoring the movement of individuals, the movement of weapons, the movement of finances into Iraq.
PENHAUL: Iraqi media reports suggest Muhammed Eunice al Ahmed (ph) was recently elected new head of the Baath party's political and military wing, and is operating out of Syria. But General Lessel says he has little idea how the overall insurgent leadership is structured or how it's coordinated.
LESSLE: They have a common goal in that they want to see the multinational forces leave, hey want to see the Iraqi government fail. But beyond that, they are still pitted at odds against each other for the ultimate end state.
PENHAUL: Despite differences, they're waging what experts term a classic insurgency, striking military, economic and political targets. The insurgent leader threatened fighters in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East may focus more heavily on economic sabotage in the future.
HAITHAL, (through translator): America is an octopus, swimming in the river of oil. Dry the river, and the octopus will die. We will dry the oil of America, and America will die, and Europe with them.
PENHAUL: He denied the Baath Party had control over other factions, using terror tactics, such as beheadings. But said Baathists had launched suicide attacks. Experts say resistance tactics are getting better coordinated and more sophisticated.
AL ASKARY (through translator): The myth of American military power has evaporated. The American military is vulnerable on the ground and on the streets. However, they still retain supremacy within the air and with their artillery and missiles.
PENHAUL: That superior U.S. firepower was evident in Fallujah. The close quarters urban combat looked spectacular. But in hit and run guerrilla warfare, the army that wins most planned battles is not automatically guaranteed final victory.
At the head of an irregular Arab force in World War I, Laurence of Arabia wrote quote, "our best line was to defend nothing. Our cards were speed and time, not hitting power."
Iraq's resistance rarely stands and fights to defend liberated zones. And while Fallujah was falling, attacks spiked across the country: Ramadi, Baqubah, Mosul, Beiji, Tikrit, Samarra and Baghdad. Many ordinary Iraqis say they see no end in sight. Their leaders are more optimistic.
GHAZI AL YAWAR, IRAQI INTERIM PRESIDENT: We are not fighting a Vieet Cong, which have principles and have support, popular support. We are fighting Saddam loyalists who are shielding behind beards and the name of Allah.
PENHAUL: The insurgents have presented no public political plat form. Analysts say certain factions religious extremism has little broad support.
But many Iraqis are simply tired of coalition troops on their streets or angry at what they see as the lack of cultural sensitivity. Resentment may be translating into popular support for the resistance.
These girls in a makeshift refugee camp in Baghdad chant songs praising the mujahideen. They fled their home in Fallujah more than a month ago.
In the Sunni triangle town of Burutz (ph), this man recites a rebel poem at a rally calling for a boycott of January elections.
Efforts to build up Iraqi security forces are slow. The U.S. aim of turning over control of Baghdad to Iraqi forces by mid-2004 didn't materialize. Instead of cutting troops, Washington's bolstering levels to record highs before elections. Still, U.S. commanders see the light ahead.
LESSLE: I don't know what the timeline might be for all insurgency, for all terrorism to stop here. But certainly, there is a horizon down the road, and I think getting through the elections safely and securely will take a lot of steam out of the insurgent movement.
PENHAUL: Publicly, officials reject the U.S. is bogged down in Iraq or caught in a quagmire. Privately, few U.S. field commanders would argue with Laurence of Arabia's warning that fighting rebellion is messy and slow, like eating soup with a knife.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, if you turned on the television in the last 24 hours, then you've heard plenty about the Celebrex scare. Up next, we sort through all the new information about the drug.
And later on, we meet one woman who spent the last 20 years keeping Santa Claus in tip-top shape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A consumer group is calling on the government to ban the drug Celebrex. Yesterday, Pfizer said the painkiller could raise the risk of heart attacks or stroke if taken in large doses, but it did not pull it off the market. Meanwhile, millions of Celebrex users are wondering what to do next. CNN's Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the past year, Neala Rastogi Shapiro has had to walk slowly on lunch breaks ever since she hurt her knee from overdoing it in the gym. As recently as Thursday, she took Celebrex. Not anymore.
NEALA RASTOGI-SHAPIRO: I'm in my 30s. I shouldn't be worried about heart problems and cardiovascular problems. I'm too young for this. I only have knee problems.
CARROLL: Shapiro started out taking Vioxx, but that pain killer upseted her stomach, so her doctor suggested Celebrex and that was weeks before Vioxx was pulled for its risk of causing heart attacks and strokes. Now, there may be risks associate with Celebrex. Shapiro wonders what to do now.
DR. GARY MEREDITH, RHEUMATOLOGIST: How are you today?
CARROLL: Rheumatologist, Gary Meredith is Shapiro's doctor.
MEREDITH: I think people area going to ask is it safe to continue to take it. What we'll probably try to see if we can minimize the dose or possibly substitute another medication for those that are at high risk.
CARROLL: Dr. Meredith says as late as Thursday, he spoke with representatives from Pfizer, the company that manufacturers Celebrex. He says that company rep made no mention of any potential problems.
SHAPIRO: My pain comes and goes.
CARROLL: now, Shapiro says she's going to look at other options. SHAPIRO: At this point, I want to experiment on other alternatives, natural remedies, homeopathic remedies, holistic medicine or maybe not take anything.
CARROLL (on camera): Medical experts say people taking Celebrex should meet with their doctors and if there's a history of heart disease, weigh the risks versus the benefits of staying on Celebrex.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, millions of Celebrex users are understandably concerned about this disturbing news. The Food & Drug Administration is recommending patients and doctors to evaluate alternative treatments. Dr. Mark Seigle joins us now to help put some of these concerns into perspective. He's an associate professor of medicine at New York University Medical School. Good to see you again, doctor.
DR. MARK SIEGLE, NYU MEDICAL SCHOOL: Good afternoon, Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: Well, who do you blame on this? Sometimes it takes a drug manufacturer years to finally get FDA approval after studies like this to uncover how dangerous a drug might be. How is it this can be on the market and now you've got a study that says it's potentially dangerous?
SIEGLE: Well, here's what happens. You know, first of all, we've accelerated drug approvals because of AIDS. And we now try to get drugs on the market a lot quicker. And, you know, this drug was approved quickly.
And then the other thing is, once a drug is approved is when you first start seeing its effect on millions of people, the preapproval studies are only in thousands. So it's when you really start to see it out there that you could start to see a problem.
The other issue is that I think, you know, the FDA has to be more independent and do more studies at looking at safety, not just how effective a drug is.
WHITFIELD; Well, just a couple months ago, we had Merck's Vioxx, now it's Pfizer's Celebrex, and now Strattera, also, all the drugs that are being scrutinized now. You have to wonder, does this mean, or should this precipitate a reexamining of a number of drugs on the market now?
SIEGLE: I think it should, Fredericka. But I also want people to keep in mind that in the Celebrex study, you know, these people were on the drug every day for two to three years at a very high dose. So I don't want people to think that a casual use, or an occasional use of this drug is likely to put them in danger. It's not. But it is a warning. You know, it's to say that we better do a better job at looking at our drugs.
WHITFIELD: Well, now the FDA is saying that doctors need to reexamine, and perhaps recommend alternatives snid of recommending this drug, Celebrex, be used. Should it be up to the FDA? Or should it be Pfizer itself which says, voluntarily, that says we're going to take it off the market voluntarily?
SIEGLE: Either way -- it would be good if Pfizer thought about that. But the FDA has an obligation to do that.
I think another thing that's come out of this, you talk about doctors looking at prescribing. I think we doctors are too quick to prescribe the latest drug that comes out. There are many other drugs for arthritis that work at least as well and have been around a lot longer. And I think we've rushed past them to go to the latest drug.
WHITIFELD: And what happens in terms of the marketing influence? More and more patients are seeing all these advertisements for various drugs on the television and in magazines like never before. And so sometimes they're requesting these drugs to other doctors, perhaps planting the seed, planting the idea of whether or not they need a drug that perhaps they don't really?
SIEGLE: You're absolutely right, Fredericka. Only the United States and New Zealand is that even allowed. And I think yes, it does raise media -- public awareness of a problem, but it doesn't mean you have an understanding of whether you need a medication or not. I'm much more interested in physicians having proper education on what they prescribe than being pressured by someone that sees a TV ad.
WHITFIELD: Pfizer has said that there are other studies that show that there's no incidencey of heart failure whatsoever as it pertains to Celebrex. So what does this say about how you value which studies?
SIEGLE: Well, I think, you know, because we already know that as a class, this drug might have a problem in this regard, it actually supresses an enzyme that can prevent blood clots. I think we've been looking for this. So I am actually more interested in the study that shows this problem.
I agree, there was a parallel study that is not showing the problem. And I think it's mainly at a high dose over a prolonged use that this is a problem.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Marc Siegle of NYU, thanks for joining us from New York.
SIEGLE: Thank you, Fredericka.
All right. Just over an hour from now, this will still be a pretty interesting topic of conversation. Our Carol Lin will be along with CNN LIVE SATURDAY`.
And I have a feeling you'll be talking more about this Celebrex.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You bet.
We were just talking about this and how frustrating it must be for people who are trying to get pain relief and they're not sure, why am I the up with to make the decision and not the FDA or the drug company? So I'm going to talk with a practicing physician, a cardiologist, here locally and see what he's telling his patients and maybe clarify some of the confusion about this.
And also, Fred, I just got this in. I'm going to be talking with Todd Graves the U.S. attorney out in the western region of Missouri, about this missing baby case. And what is going to happen now in terms of how this prosecution goes forward now that this woman has admitted to cutting out this baby, this fetus. Someone she may have known, actually.
WHITFIELD: It's remarkable. It's remarkable. And it is a great help that the community apparently was involved. But at first, they weren't going to have an amber alert, but it turns out that is what helped lead them to the suspect.
LIN: And a miracle that this baby is alive.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. All right. We'll tune in for that at 6:00 Eastern.
Thanks, Carol.
Well, sleigh rides and chimneys can make for a pretty bad hair day. But not if you've got the right hairstylist on board.
Up next, we'll meet the woman who keeps Santa looking spiffy through the holiday season.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, Santa Claus' snowy white beard is a part of the holidays, like egg nog and mistletoe. Well for many, it doesn't come without a price or a little help from the Santa stylist. Here's CNN's Denise Belgrave.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "And his beard on the chin was as white as the snow." Every year at her salon in suburban Atlanta, Joyce Beisel, known as the Stylist to the Santas, pushes the hair coloring envelope to create that snowy white beard.
JOYCE BEISEL, OWNER, HAIR APPEAL: I look forward to it every year. That's why a lot of hairdressers don't do it because they're afraid of it.
BELGRAVE: And as many women know, they're afraid of it because this much coloring can ruin your hair. Beisel's over 100 clients come as fair as Las Vegas and as close as just up the road. Hal Bell who's a Georgia real estate agent loves Beisel's unique way with a beard.
HAL BELL, "SANTA": We tried to bleach it out the first time and...
BEISEL: Yourself.
BELL: Yes, ourselves, and it was painful and never got it really white. So I saw Joyce on TV and that was when it started.
BELGRAVE: Beisel has handled up to 12 Santas in one day. Hal Bell's in for just a touch up this time.
BEISEL: Hal usually takes three days. So...
BELL: So we compressed it into one day.
BEISEL: We did.
BELGRAVE: Beisel does no advertising.
JOE SMITH, "SANTA": I got started talking to this person and that person, telling them what I was going to do and they said, "Well, you need to find this lady down in Roswell.
BELGRAVE: Only the most dedicated Santas are willing to go through this trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just look dirty. I look dirty because I can see it coming through down here and of course, my eyebrows and then my halo right there. And she said, "Now you know what women go through."
BELL: She just makes the application take away all that pain so it doesn't burn so bad.
BEISEL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) allergies?
BELL: This is the killer.
BELGRAVE: Joyce's more than 20 years of experience shows in the final product. All the cutting and combing, coloring and coifing, only serve to enhance the most important part, the magic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been good this year? Have you? What else?
BELGRAVE: Denise Belgrave, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHTIFIELD: Looks pretty convincing there.
That's all we have time for right now. But stay with CNN. Up next "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" looks at LL Cool J and Shania Twain.
Then at 6:00 Eastern, on CNN LIVE SATURADAY, how one New Jersey city is dealing with a firefighter shortage.
And at 7:00 Eastern, "CAPITAL GANG" talks about Donald Rumsfeld under fire from all sides.
And I'll be back after a quick break with today's top stories.
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