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Condoleezza Rice Nominated as Secretary of State; Iraqi Fledgling Security Forces Hit Hard

Aired November 16, 2004 - 15:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: College at 15, State Department at 50.
As you may have seen live here on CNN, Condoleezza Rice caps her career in academics and public service with a nomination to America's most senior Cabinet post, secretary of state. The soon-to-be former national security adviser was introduced with a presidential peck on the check. And, in brief remarks, she returned the affection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I look forward, with the consent of the Senate, to pursuing your hopeful and ambitious agenda as secretary of state.

Mr. President, it is an honor to be asked to serve your administration and my country once again. And it is humbling to imagine succeeding my dear friend and mentor Colin Powell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And, like Powell, Rice will almost surely be a steadfast advocate of West Wing policy.

And CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel picks up the story from there -- hi, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

And unlike Secretary Powell, Condoleezza Rice is also a close confidante and personal friend of President Bush, having tutored him on foreign policy when then Governor Bush was running for the 2000 presidential election. She was thereafter named national security adviser. And during his announcement about his nomination as Ms. Rice as the next secretary of state, Mr. Bush laid out an ambitious agenda and said that Ms. Rice is certainly up to the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Meeting all of these objectives will require wise and skillful leadership at the Department of State, and Condi Rice is the right person for that challenge. She is a recognized expert in international affairs, a distinguished teacher and academic leader, and a public servant with years of White House experience.

... secretary of state.

Congratulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: But no experience at the State Department. And perhaps with that in mind, Ms. Rice, who has headed up a staff of dozens, is going to be coming over to the State Department, where she'll have a staff of thousands. For her part, Ms. Rice reached out to those both career and foreign service diplomats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: in my 25 years of experience in foreign affairs, both in and out of government, I have come to know the men and women of the Department of State. I have the utmost admiration and respect for their skill, their professionalism and their dedication.

If I am confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working with the great people of the Foreign Service and the Civil Service. And one of my highest priorities as secretary will be to ensure that they have all the tools necessary to carry American diplomacy forward in the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Once Ms. Rice arrives at the State Department, after she's been confirmed by the Senate in coming weeks, perhaps a couple of months, she's going to have a very full agenda.

Among the various flash points that she'll be forced to deal with, of course, the Middle East road map that has been stalled has hit a roadblock for the last number of years. But, with the passing of Yasser Arafat now, the president believes that there is an opening. And, also, you've got Palestinian elections on the horizon.

In addition, you have got elections in Iraq on the horizon at the end of January. The State Department is in charge of reconstruction. Ms. Rice will be heading that up. And, finally, you have North Korean talks, nuclear talks and Iranian nuclear talks, both of which were spearheaded by Secretary Powell. The North Korean talks involve Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and the United States, as well as the North Korean capital.

Those talks haven't really been going anywhere in recent months, but perhaps, after the new year, North Korea has signaled it would be willing to go forward. And then, on Iran, you've got the Europeans leading talks on that front.

Again, this is going to be something, both very important issues because both governments have been pursuing what the U.S. contends are secret nuclear weapons program. So Ms. Rice is going to have a very full agenda, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. She'll be a busy woman, probably more than ever. Andrea Koppel, thanks -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: So if Condi by now is a household name, Stephen Hadley isn't it. But Rice's deputy and heir apparent in the West Wing has a history of national security service dating back to the Ford administration. Hadley's began with the second Bush administration of 2001.

During the first Bush administration, he served as assistant secretary of defense for the international security policy. Before that, he was on the National Security Council under President Ford. In 1986, Hadley helped investigate the Iran-Contra scandal under President region.

PHILLIPS: Well, the election may be over, but, unlike old generals, politics never die and never fade away. That loud quacking you hear from our nation's capital, you ask? It's the nation's lame- duck Congress convening today. On the table, plenty of domestic funding issues to be settled before this term ends.

For the Senate, there's also the Specter specter. Will Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter be able to convince fellow Republicans he's enough of a party man to merit chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee? Specter's support of abortion rights is expected to be an issue.

One decision has already been made in the Senate, a replacement for the minority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada picking up the reins dropped when South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle's reelection hopes were dashed. In all, the Dems dropped four Senate seats, leaving Reid with the smallest majority since the Hoover administration.

Much more ahead, of course, on the Cabinet shakeup, including the Rice nomination, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" at the bottom of the hour.

HARRIS: And after a week of intense fighting, the Iraqi city of Fallujah is said to be security. But U.S. military commanders say that does not mean it's under control. U.S. and Iraqi forces are still going building by building looking for insurgents who may be hiding out.

CNN's Karl Penhaul tells us can could be weeks before residents of Fallujah are allowed back home. Civilians in Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, are now taking cover. U.S. and Iraqi troops have launched an offensive aimed at rooting out rebels there who have been attacking government and military posts over the past week. Between 6,000 and 10,000 troops are involved in that mission.

PHILLIPS: It's clear that U.S.-led troops in Iraq are finding out that fighting the insurgency is like fighting a wildfire. They can stamp it out one place only to have it ignite somewhere else.

CNN's Karl Penhaul on the fight for Iraq and the deadly toll it's taking on Iraq's fledgling security forces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flames engulf Iraqi police trucks as insurgent gunmen go on the prowl, blasting away at routed Iraqi security forces. Rebels attacked here in Baruts (ph), a town of 40,000, just 25 miles north of Baghdad, as U.S. commanders declared that they liberated a much larger city of Falluja 40 miles away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're telling Bush and Blair and their lackeys in Iraq, that we're coming to claim victory and raise our banner in the name of God.

PENHAUL: Witnesses said several hundred fighters from the pro- Saddam 1920s Brigade, the fundamentalist Islamic National Resistance Army and the Al-Zarqawi network were heading the fight. Impossible to tell if whether any of these had fled Falluja before the Marine offensive. Some civilians in Baruts (ph) clearly approved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): God willing America will be defeated and God will claim victory to the Mujahedeen.

PENHAUL: A statement from U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad said only a police station in the town had come under fire. A few miles away in Baquba insurgents sniped at U.S. forces from a mosque and clashes erupted across the city. The U.S. military said four U.S. Soldiers were wounded and U.S. jets bombed rebel positions.

Further north in Mosul, unrest continued. Iraqi government ministers said insurgents still controlled three or four police stations Monday, though U.S. forces described the situation as stable. In attacks over the last four days, gunmen looted weapons and flack jackets as some Iraqi police, believed to be insurgent sympathizers, gave up without a fight.

FALAH AL MAKIE, INTERIOR MINISTER: Well, we have infiltrations actually in many areas, but it's very limited. It's very limited, actually, but that's what happens. In certain areas, we had to counsel and to fire many of these which we think that they are somehow cooperating with insurgents.

PENHAUL: U.S. officials have said they don't believe insurgents elsewhere in Iraq can sustain their backlash against the Falluja offensive, but insurgent commanders Baruts (ph) seem unavowed, proclaiming solidarity for their comrades in Falluja, vowing to fight to the death.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, it's the lunch that a Florida woman will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DIANA DUYSER, GRILLED CHEESE OWNER: When I went to take that first bite, she was looking back at me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Can you see what she sees in the grilled cheese? The story of the saintly sandwich ahead on LIVE FROM.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood.

It was more mayhem than music after a fight breaks out during the taping of the Vibe Awards last night. I'll have the whole story when CNN's LIVE FROM conservative.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So when can a story be both moldy and fresh?

HARRIS: It's a LIVE FROM story, isn't it?

PHILLIPS: It's a LIVE FROM story. It's a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that is showing up on eBay.

HARRIS: Why a grilled cheese on eBay, you ask? And why did bidding for this unusual item top $20,000?

Well, reporter Marybel Rodriguez from affiliate WFOR in Miami, Florida, sinks her teeth into this, to the backstory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUYSER: This is it. This is what she looks like.

MARYBEL RODRIGUEZ, WFOR REPORTER (voice-over): To Diana Duyser, it looks like the Virgin Mary on her grilled cheese, which may seem bizarre to some, but not to her.

DUYSER: I know a lot of people think, well, this lady must be crazy. She's making this up. But it's there. You've seen it.

RODRIGUEZ: Diana says, 10 years ago, after she cooked it, it was staring back at her.

DUYSER: When I went to take that first bite, she was looking back at me.

RODRIGUEZ: And she has preserved it ever since.

DUYSER: That's why it has a mark like I bit into it. And that's just the way it was.

RODRIGUEZ (on camera): OK. But when you say she, the grilled cheese didn't have eyes. It was something else.

DUYSER: No, she has eyes. RODRIGUEZ: What exactly did you see? What...

DUYSER: I saw a face that looked like, to me, the Virgin Mary. So that's what I consider her to be, the Virgin Mary.

RODRIGUEZ: Is this pretty odd, though, on a grilled cheese?

DUYSER: Oh, yes, very odd. Very odd.

RODRIGUEZ: Do people think you're like crazy when you say...

DUYSER: Yes. Yes.

RODRIGUEZ (on camera): She says she's had the grilled cheese by her bedside for 10 years and it has brought her a lot of luck. She says she will definitely miss it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The mozzarella Mary.

HARRIS: How do you preserve the thing? Does it take it that long to...

PHILLIPS: It sits there and it grows.

HARRIS: And it never breaks down, doesn't it? What's in the grilled -- oh, read the tag. OK, but the story isn't over.

Diana found out Sunday eBay had yanked her saintly cheese sandwich from its site, saying eBay doesn't allow joke listings, despite the fact that the bidding was up over $22,000. But after review, the auction was back on today. At last check, top bid of the saintly cheese sandwich, $7,600.

HARRIS: OK. All right.

Moving on, an awards show is stopped in its tracks when folks in the audience start to mix it up. Fists fly. So do chairs. What in the world happened?

All right, let's bring in our entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas from the world of Hollywood.

And, Sibila, what did happen here?

VARGAS: Well, you know, yesterday, I told you guys about some of the mishaps at the AMAs, but it was nothing compared to what broke out last night at the taping of the Vibe Awards.

It all began as music mogul Quincy Jones and rapper Snoop Dogg were presenting a lifetime achievement award to Dr. Dre. It looked like a scene out of "Jerry Springer," with chairs flying and people being pummeled. One person was stabbed and taken to the hospital. Now, once the mayhem died down, the show resumed with Dre finally picking up his award. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DRE, MUSICIAN: Yes, yes. They can't stop me. I don't care. That's real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: Now, it's still unclear whether Dr. Dre was the focus of the ruckus, but some reports say the rapper was punched in the face before the violence erupted -- Tony.

HARRIS: So what happens to the show now?

VARGAS: Well, you know what they say in show business. The show must go on. And we called UPN. They tell us that none of the scuttle will be broadcast, however, tonight.

Now, in other news, "Sports Illustrated" model Rachel Hunter will be playing Ginger on TBS' new reality show "The Real Gilligan's Island." Hunter, who was most recently seen sporting a hot bod as "Stacy's Mom" in the Fountains of Wayne music video has been picked to be the movie star. The new TBS dropped real people who fit the mold of the original 1960s characters on to an island. "The Real Gilligan's Island" premiers November 30 on TBS.

Now, it's here. It's finally here. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled its commemorative poster for the 77th annual Academy Awards. Designed by newcomer Brett Davidson (ph), who by day is employed by the Academy as a computer specialist, was selected among dozens of established artists. Davidson's creation incorporates scores of pink, orange, green and blue as a backdrop for the Oscar statuette.

The banners will be used for promotional materials and are available for purchase on the Academy's Web site at www.Oscars.org.

And that's the news from Hollywood -- Tony, back to you.

HARRIS: Looks good, sounds good. Sibila, thank you.

VARGAS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I told you never to call me here. Oh, wait a minute. It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since George C. Scott uttered that and many other memorable lines in "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

HARRIS: No fair with the props. Stanley Kubrick's Cold War classic is hot, hot, hot once again, re-released in a special new two- disk DVD edition, which includes a feature on the late great Peter Sellers and a lot more, in other words, much more than slim pickings here.

And a new red scare appears to be sweeping the country. It's the fear of middle America and has some people in the halls of power bolting the doors.

PHILLIPS: We all remember the sea of red states in the presidential election. Well, in the heart of the heartland sits big red, the state of Nebraska and our Bruce Burkhardt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Bruce Burkhardt in Lincoln, Nebraska, the reddest of the red states that along with the rest of the heartland has given some of the blue states a scare, a new kind of red scare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blueprint for world revolution. Conquer and enslave.

BURKHARDT: Consider the evidence in Nebraska, red everywhere, fire hydrant, a port-a-potty, students in red and yes, even the football team. In Nebraska where their Cornhuskers are held in higher esteem than most politicians, the color red is nothing new.

KATHLEEN RUTLEDGE, EDITOR, LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR: It's a long tradition of Republican politics in this state.

BURKHARDT: Nebraska has gone Republican in every presidential election since 1940 except for once. The strong Republican tradition may have more to do with farming and the climate than the politics. It can be a dry place, Nebraska.

JOHN JANOVY, PROF., UNIV. OF NEBRASKA: Across most of Nebraska you have got much closer to 20 inches or less of rain. That's an environment where stability makes sense; where making conservative decisions, staying with what works, not being too radical, makes sense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I'm just driving around listening to Nebraska

BURKHARDT: It is a place and culture misunderstood by many, especially among blue staters in these bitter post-election days.

PETER BLEED, PROF., UNIV. OF NEBRASKA: Yes, I think the blue state folks ought to come out and drive by. They're safe.

BURKHARDT: Biology professor John Janovy at the University of Nebraska actually voted with the blue staters in this election. So, too, did fellow faculty member, anthropology professor Peter Bleeding. But red or blue, Nebraska is their state and they wouldn't have it any other way.

JANOVY: But there's an awful lot of Nebraskans, myself included, who think this is the hassle-free good life. And that's what I think a lot of the rest of the world might misunderstand about Nebraska. BURKHARDT: Hassle free, the good life. That's why rock star Tommy Lee is going back to school here for a reality TV series. What a concept, take an outrageous rock star, and plop him down in the middle of quaint, backward Nebraska. But they're used to that around here.

RUTLEDGE: People in the heartland are accustomed to that geographic snobbery. We've been dealing with it for decades.

BURKHARDT: Painting Nebraska with that broad, red brush tends to mask a few things. Take Richard Spellam, who we found at the Keno parlor in Denton.

(on camera): Is it hard being a Democrat in Nebraska?

RICHARD SPELLAM, NEBRASKA RESIDENT: No, it ain't. Nobody give you a bad time. Now, my wife, she's Republican. I'm Democrat. But we get along.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That wraps up our edition of LIVE FROM for today.

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 November 16, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: College at 15, State Department at 50.
As you may have seen live here on CNN, Condoleezza Rice caps her career in academics and public service with a nomination to America's most senior Cabinet post, secretary of state. The soon-to-be former national security adviser was introduced with a presidential peck on the check. And, in brief remarks, she returned the affection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I look forward, with the consent of the Senate, to pursuing your hopeful and ambitious agenda as secretary of state.

Mr. President, it is an honor to be asked to serve your administration and my country once again. And it is humbling to imagine succeeding my dear friend and mentor Colin Powell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And, like Powell, Rice will almost surely be a steadfast advocate of West Wing policy.

And CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel picks up the story from there -- hi, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

And unlike Secretary Powell, Condoleezza Rice is also a close confidante and personal friend of President Bush, having tutored him on foreign policy when then Governor Bush was running for the 2000 presidential election. She was thereafter named national security adviser. And during his announcement about his nomination as Ms. Rice as the next secretary of state, Mr. Bush laid out an ambitious agenda and said that Ms. Rice is certainly up to the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Meeting all of these objectives will require wise and skillful leadership at the Department of State, and Condi Rice is the right person for that challenge. She is a recognized expert in international affairs, a distinguished teacher and academic leader, and a public servant with years of White House experience.

... secretary of state.

Congratulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: But no experience at the State Department. And perhaps with that in mind, Ms. Rice, who has headed up a staff of dozens, is going to be coming over to the State Department, where she'll have a staff of thousands. For her part, Ms. Rice reached out to those both career and foreign service diplomats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: in my 25 years of experience in foreign affairs, both in and out of government, I have come to know the men and women of the Department of State. I have the utmost admiration and respect for their skill, their professionalism and their dedication.

If I am confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working with the great people of the Foreign Service and the Civil Service. And one of my highest priorities as secretary will be to ensure that they have all the tools necessary to carry American diplomacy forward in the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Once Ms. Rice arrives at the State Department, after she's been confirmed by the Senate in coming weeks, perhaps a couple of months, she's going to have a very full agenda.

Among the various flash points that she'll be forced to deal with, of course, the Middle East road map that has been stalled has hit a roadblock for the last number of years. But, with the passing of Yasser Arafat now, the president believes that there is an opening. And, also, you've got Palestinian elections on the horizon.

In addition, you have got elections in Iraq on the horizon at the end of January. The State Department is in charge of reconstruction. Ms. Rice will be heading that up. And, finally, you have North Korean talks, nuclear talks and Iranian nuclear talks, both of which were spearheaded by Secretary Powell. The North Korean talks involve Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and the United States, as well as the North Korean capital.

Those talks haven't really been going anywhere in recent months, but perhaps, after the new year, North Korea has signaled it would be willing to go forward. And then, on Iran, you've got the Europeans leading talks on that front.

Again, this is going to be something, both very important issues because both governments have been pursuing what the U.S. contends are secret nuclear weapons program. So Ms. Rice is going to have a very full agenda, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. She'll be a busy woman, probably more than ever. Andrea Koppel, thanks -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: So if Condi by now is a household name, Stephen Hadley isn't it. But Rice's deputy and heir apparent in the West Wing has a history of national security service dating back to the Ford administration. Hadley's began with the second Bush administration of 2001.

During the first Bush administration, he served as assistant secretary of defense for the international security policy. Before that, he was on the National Security Council under President Ford. In 1986, Hadley helped investigate the Iran-Contra scandal under President region.

PHILLIPS: Well, the election may be over, but, unlike old generals, politics never die and never fade away. That loud quacking you hear from our nation's capital, you ask? It's the nation's lame- duck Congress convening today. On the table, plenty of domestic funding issues to be settled before this term ends.

For the Senate, there's also the Specter specter. Will Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter be able to convince fellow Republicans he's enough of a party man to merit chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee? Specter's support of abortion rights is expected to be an issue.

One decision has already been made in the Senate, a replacement for the minority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada picking up the reins dropped when South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle's reelection hopes were dashed. In all, the Dems dropped four Senate seats, leaving Reid with the smallest majority since the Hoover administration.

Much more ahead, of course, on the Cabinet shakeup, including the Rice nomination, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" at the bottom of the hour.

HARRIS: And after a week of intense fighting, the Iraqi city of Fallujah is said to be security. But U.S. military commanders say that does not mean it's under control. U.S. and Iraqi forces are still going building by building looking for insurgents who may be hiding out.

CNN's Karl Penhaul tells us can could be weeks before residents of Fallujah are allowed back home. Civilians in Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, are now taking cover. U.S. and Iraqi troops have launched an offensive aimed at rooting out rebels there who have been attacking government and military posts over the past week. Between 6,000 and 10,000 troops are involved in that mission.

PHILLIPS: It's clear that U.S.-led troops in Iraq are finding out that fighting the insurgency is like fighting a wildfire. They can stamp it out one place only to have it ignite somewhere else.

CNN's Karl Penhaul on the fight for Iraq and the deadly toll it's taking on Iraq's fledgling security forces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flames engulf Iraqi police trucks as insurgent gunmen go on the prowl, blasting away at routed Iraqi security forces. Rebels attacked here in Baruts (ph), a town of 40,000, just 25 miles north of Baghdad, as U.S. commanders declared that they liberated a much larger city of Falluja 40 miles away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're telling Bush and Blair and their lackeys in Iraq, that we're coming to claim victory and raise our banner in the name of God.

PENHAUL: Witnesses said several hundred fighters from the pro- Saddam 1920s Brigade, the fundamentalist Islamic National Resistance Army and the Al-Zarqawi network were heading the fight. Impossible to tell if whether any of these had fled Falluja before the Marine offensive. Some civilians in Baruts (ph) clearly approved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): God willing America will be defeated and God will claim victory to the Mujahedeen.

PENHAUL: A statement from U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad said only a police station in the town had come under fire. A few miles away in Baquba insurgents sniped at U.S. forces from a mosque and clashes erupted across the city. The U.S. military said four U.S. Soldiers were wounded and U.S. jets bombed rebel positions.

Further north in Mosul, unrest continued. Iraqi government ministers said insurgents still controlled three or four police stations Monday, though U.S. forces described the situation as stable. In attacks over the last four days, gunmen looted weapons and flack jackets as some Iraqi police, believed to be insurgent sympathizers, gave up without a fight.

FALAH AL MAKIE, INTERIOR MINISTER: Well, we have infiltrations actually in many areas, but it's very limited. It's very limited, actually, but that's what happens. In certain areas, we had to counsel and to fire many of these which we think that they are somehow cooperating with insurgents.

PENHAUL: U.S. officials have said they don't believe insurgents elsewhere in Iraq can sustain their backlash against the Falluja offensive, but insurgent commanders Baruts (ph) seem unavowed, proclaiming solidarity for their comrades in Falluja, vowing to fight to the death.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, it's the lunch that a Florida woman will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DIANA DUYSER, GRILLED CHEESE OWNER: When I went to take that first bite, she was looking back at me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Can you see what she sees in the grilled cheese? The story of the saintly sandwich ahead on LIVE FROM.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood.

It was more mayhem than music after a fight breaks out during the taping of the Vibe Awards last night. I'll have the whole story when CNN's LIVE FROM conservative.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So when can a story be both moldy and fresh?

HARRIS: It's a LIVE FROM story, isn't it?

PHILLIPS: It's a LIVE FROM story. It's a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that is showing up on eBay.

HARRIS: Why a grilled cheese on eBay, you ask? And why did bidding for this unusual item top $20,000?

Well, reporter Marybel Rodriguez from affiliate WFOR in Miami, Florida, sinks her teeth into this, to the backstory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUYSER: This is it. This is what she looks like.

MARYBEL RODRIGUEZ, WFOR REPORTER (voice-over): To Diana Duyser, it looks like the Virgin Mary on her grilled cheese, which may seem bizarre to some, but not to her.

DUYSER: I know a lot of people think, well, this lady must be crazy. She's making this up. But it's there. You've seen it.

RODRIGUEZ: Diana says, 10 years ago, after she cooked it, it was staring back at her.

DUYSER: When I went to take that first bite, she was looking back at me.

RODRIGUEZ: And she has preserved it ever since.

DUYSER: That's why it has a mark like I bit into it. And that's just the way it was.

RODRIGUEZ (on camera): OK. But when you say she, the grilled cheese didn't have eyes. It was something else.

DUYSER: No, she has eyes. RODRIGUEZ: What exactly did you see? What...

DUYSER: I saw a face that looked like, to me, the Virgin Mary. So that's what I consider her to be, the Virgin Mary.

RODRIGUEZ: Is this pretty odd, though, on a grilled cheese?

DUYSER: Oh, yes, very odd. Very odd.

RODRIGUEZ: Do people think you're like crazy when you say...

DUYSER: Yes. Yes.

RODRIGUEZ (on camera): She says she's had the grilled cheese by her bedside for 10 years and it has brought her a lot of luck. She says she will definitely miss it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The mozzarella Mary.

HARRIS: How do you preserve the thing? Does it take it that long to...

PHILLIPS: It sits there and it grows.

HARRIS: And it never breaks down, doesn't it? What's in the grilled -- oh, read the tag. OK, but the story isn't over.

Diana found out Sunday eBay had yanked her saintly cheese sandwich from its site, saying eBay doesn't allow joke listings, despite the fact that the bidding was up over $22,000. But after review, the auction was back on today. At last check, top bid of the saintly cheese sandwich, $7,600.

HARRIS: OK. All right.

Moving on, an awards show is stopped in its tracks when folks in the audience start to mix it up. Fists fly. So do chairs. What in the world happened?

All right, let's bring in our entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas from the world of Hollywood.

And, Sibila, what did happen here?

VARGAS: Well, you know, yesterday, I told you guys about some of the mishaps at the AMAs, but it was nothing compared to what broke out last night at the taping of the Vibe Awards.

It all began as music mogul Quincy Jones and rapper Snoop Dogg were presenting a lifetime achievement award to Dr. Dre. It looked like a scene out of "Jerry Springer," with chairs flying and people being pummeled. One person was stabbed and taken to the hospital. Now, once the mayhem died down, the show resumed with Dre finally picking up his award. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DRE, MUSICIAN: Yes, yes. They can't stop me. I don't care. That's real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: Now, it's still unclear whether Dr. Dre was the focus of the ruckus, but some reports say the rapper was punched in the face before the violence erupted -- Tony.

HARRIS: So what happens to the show now?

VARGAS: Well, you know what they say in show business. The show must go on. And we called UPN. They tell us that none of the scuttle will be broadcast, however, tonight.

Now, in other news, "Sports Illustrated" model Rachel Hunter will be playing Ginger on TBS' new reality show "The Real Gilligan's Island." Hunter, who was most recently seen sporting a hot bod as "Stacy's Mom" in the Fountains of Wayne music video has been picked to be the movie star. The new TBS dropped real people who fit the mold of the original 1960s characters on to an island. "The Real Gilligan's Island" premiers November 30 on TBS.

Now, it's here. It's finally here. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled its commemorative poster for the 77th annual Academy Awards. Designed by newcomer Brett Davidson (ph), who by day is employed by the Academy as a computer specialist, was selected among dozens of established artists. Davidson's creation incorporates scores of pink, orange, green and blue as a backdrop for the Oscar statuette.

The banners will be used for promotional materials and are available for purchase on the Academy's Web site at www.Oscars.org.

And that's the news from Hollywood -- Tony, back to you.

HARRIS: Looks good, sounds good. Sibila, thank you.

VARGAS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I told you never to call me here. Oh, wait a minute. It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since George C. Scott uttered that and many other memorable lines in "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

HARRIS: No fair with the props. Stanley Kubrick's Cold War classic is hot, hot, hot once again, re-released in a special new two- disk DVD edition, which includes a feature on the late great Peter Sellers and a lot more, in other words, much more than slim pickings here.

And a new red scare appears to be sweeping the country. It's the fear of middle America and has some people in the halls of power bolting the doors.

PHILLIPS: We all remember the sea of red states in the presidential election. Well, in the heart of the heartland sits big red, the state of Nebraska and our Bruce Burkhardt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Bruce Burkhardt in Lincoln, Nebraska, the reddest of the red states that along with the rest of the heartland has given some of the blue states a scare, a new kind of red scare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blueprint for world revolution. Conquer and enslave.

BURKHARDT: Consider the evidence in Nebraska, red everywhere, fire hydrant, a port-a-potty, students in red and yes, even the football team. In Nebraska where their Cornhuskers are held in higher esteem than most politicians, the color red is nothing new.

KATHLEEN RUTLEDGE, EDITOR, LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR: It's a long tradition of Republican politics in this state.

BURKHARDT: Nebraska has gone Republican in every presidential election since 1940 except for once. The strong Republican tradition may have more to do with farming and the climate than the politics. It can be a dry place, Nebraska.

JOHN JANOVY, PROF., UNIV. OF NEBRASKA: Across most of Nebraska you have got much closer to 20 inches or less of rain. That's an environment where stability makes sense; where making conservative decisions, staying with what works, not being too radical, makes sense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I'm just driving around listening to Nebraska

BURKHARDT: It is a place and culture misunderstood by many, especially among blue staters in these bitter post-election days.

PETER BLEED, PROF., UNIV. OF NEBRASKA: Yes, I think the blue state folks ought to come out and drive by. They're safe.

BURKHARDT: Biology professor John Janovy at the University of Nebraska actually voted with the blue staters in this election. So, too, did fellow faculty member, anthropology professor Peter Bleeding. But red or blue, Nebraska is their state and they wouldn't have it any other way.

JANOVY: But there's an awful lot of Nebraskans, myself included, who think this is the hassle-free good life. And that's what I think a lot of the rest of the world might misunderstand about Nebraska. BURKHARDT: Hassle free, the good life. That's why rock star Tommy Lee is going back to school here for a reality TV series. What a concept, take an outrageous rock star, and plop him down in the middle of quaint, backward Nebraska. But they're used to that around here.

RUTLEDGE: People in the heartland are accustomed to that geographic snobbery. We've been dealing with it for decades.

BURKHARDT: Painting Nebraska with that broad, red brush tends to mask a few things. Take Richard Spellam, who we found at the Keno parlor in Denton.

(on camera): Is it hard being a Democrat in Nebraska?

RICHARD SPELLAM, NEBRASKA RESIDENT: No, it ain't. Nobody give you a bad time. Now, my wife, she's Republican. I'm Democrat. But we get along.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That wraps up our edition of LIVE FROM for today.

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