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Latest on Yesterday's Deadly Attack on Camp Marez in Mosul; The Road Dogs and Their Dangerous Missions

Aired December 22, 2004 - 13:30   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at stories now in the news. Gay marriage, again, front and center in California. A judge in San Francisco to hear an argument today on whether the state law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed by 12 gay couples whose marriages were nullified by the state supreme court.
Will it, or won't it? Washington State supreme court is hearing arguments over whether to include more than 700 newly discovered ballots in that tight race for governor. Election officials in King County are counting those ballots and plan to announce the results of a hand recount today. But the results won't be certified as official until the Supreme Court makes its ruling. As it stands right now, the Republican candidate for governor is ahead by all of 51 votes.

Suspended Indiana Pacers' forward Jermaine O'Neal could be back on the court on Saturday. An arbitrator has cut O'Neal's suspension following that Pacers/Pistons brawl, from 25 games to 15. The NBA did not take part in the arbitration, so it's unclear if it will follow the ruling.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The latest now on yesterday's deadly attack on Camp Marez in Mosul. An Iraqi militant group claims responsibility for that attack, saying it was carried out by a suicide bomber. Although the suicide bomber aspect has not been confirmed, this group has acted before.

CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs Octavia Nasr joins me now for a closer look at Jaish Ansar Al Sunna. Tell us about this group first, and then I'll have some other questions.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN ARAB EDITOR: Jaish Ansar Al Sunna, which means the army of the supporters of the Sunna tradition, is a Sunni group. Many believe that it is based in Mosul. They've been very active, as far as the attacks are concerned. They've been very vocal about those attacks. They have a Web site. They have a monthly magazine that carries their name as well. And they have produced, since September 2003, they've produced two videos, full productions, showing that attacks, showing what they call Mujahadin, preparing for attacks, carrying out attacks on U.S. coalition and Iraqi forces.

PHILLIPS: Do they say they have video on this attack in Mosul?

NASR: That's what they said. Yesterday, there was this claim of responsibility, which we've reported. The interesting thing about this claim of responsibility yesterday is that it mentioned the one suicide bomber, whom they called a martyr. And of course, the news coming out of Mosul yesterday was about a few rounds that were heard, an explosion, not sure what was the reason behind it.

So that statement that this group has posted yesterday was not consistent with the news we were getting out of Mosul. But we still reported it, because it seemed that that statement was a genuine Ansar Al Sunna. It's going to be very interesting to see if indeed this turns out to be a suicide bomber. That means their statement was accurate. And it gave us the news even before we heard it anywhere else.

PHILLIPS: So this group claims that one of its members infiltrated this camp?

NASR: That's basically what they're claiming, but again, I mean, we have to take these claims with a grain of salt, really, because they claim lots of things. Their claims are usually taken out of proportion. They claim that they killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers on a regular basis. So we don't necessarily believe everything they say.

But when there is a claim of responsibility like the one that was posted yesterday, we look at it very closely. We try to identify the group, try to see if it's believable.

The interesting thing in that one particular case is two days ago this same group had shown video on its Web site of what they called their Mujahadin, preparing for an attack on that same very camp. Now, we didn't report it. We didn't do anything with it. But two days later, there was an actual attack that killed more than 22 people. And that's when you stop, you pause, you go back to the information that was provided by that group, and we tend to believe more of what they say. Now they said that they have the attack on video. They will publish it later...

PHILLIPS: OK, they haven't released it yet.

NASR: They haven't released it yet, and who knows if they will ever release it? Who knows if they have the video? That's to be seen. We believe it when we see it, obviously. But we feel it's our duty to report what we read, what we see, but we don't necessarily believe it. We're not reporting it as news; we're reporting it as something that's out there, that's worth looking at and analyzing, and we definitely will see what's going to happen next.

PHILLIPS: We're going to talk about it more later on, because a suicide bomber and the way that explosion would take place, compared to the aftermath of what we've seen in Mosul, it's not matching up. So we'll follow the Web site also. Thanks so much, Octavia.

NASR: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

O'BRIEN: U.S. troops stationed in Kuwait don't regularly face the same kind of deadly guerrilla tactics seen in Iraq until they crossover the border to make vital deliveries to their military comrades that is.

CNN's Barbara Starr profiles the Road Dogs and their dangerous missions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just before sunrise, these soldiers quietly gather to pray for a safe journey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

STARR: This is the 227th Transportation Company, an Army Reserve unit from North Carolina. They call themselves the Road Dogs. On this cold morning in the Kuwaiti desert, they are about to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the military, drive a supply convoy north into Iraq.

CNN had an exclusive look this morning at what is known here as the Iraqi express. It gets underway every morning at dawn, driving fast to avoid attacks. Today, the convoy has more than 30 military and civilian trucks with armor protection plates, and its own heavily armed Humvee escorts with 50-caliber machine guns.

It is just five minutes to the Iraqi border, and the shooting can start the minute they cross the line. Scores of U.S. troops have already been killed or injured driving convoys into Iraq. Many were in armored vehicles. These young soldiers, and they are very young, all have their own way of coping with the threat of insurgent attacks, the instant when a normal day can become a disaster.

Specialist Gabrielle Curtis is just 19 years old. Today, she is smiling.

(on camera): How many times have you driven convoys into Iraq so far?

SPC. GABRIELLE CURTIS, U.S. ARMY: This will be the first time.

STARR (voice-over): She says she is ready.

CURTIS: Pray. Ask God for strength.

STARR: Specialist Anna Galbraith drives a supply truck. She is 20 years old.

SPC. ANNA GALBRAITH, U.S. ARMY: You just kind of drive and hope nothing happens. That's really basically all I do. Just drive and hope nothing happens.

STARR: But she knows the worst is possible. One buddy was hurt recently.

GALBRAITH: Oh, I'm afraid every time I go out, every time. I mean, it's exciting, but it's scary, because you never know if you're going to come back.

STARR: Staff Sergeant Gregory Duncan says presenting a tough face to the Iraqis is essential, and his weapon is always ready.

STAFF SGT. GREGORY DUNCAN, U.S. ARMY: You're always afraid. Always afraid. It's a job, you've got to do it and you do it.

STARR: A final briefing, and then the convoy moves out as the sun begins to rise.

On this day, soldiers of the 227th include heavy weapons, armored vehicles, and prayers in their arsenal.

(on camera): The Iraqi express has now pulled out and is on its way north to its destination, Falluja. It will be a two-day drive. Already, another convoy is getting ready to go.

Barbara Starr, CNN, on the Kuwait/Iraqi border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: News around the world now. Home again for two French hostages released by their Iraqi captors yesterday. France's president, Jacques Chirac, interrupted his Christmas holiday in Morocco to personally greet them. Meanwhile French officials insist they paid no ransom to secure the men's release. The journalists were taken hostage in August by a group which demanded an end to France's ban on Muslim head scarves on public schools. The ban still stands.

British's prime minister, Tony Blair, met with his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, in Jerusalem, then paid a call on Mahmoud Abbas, who is expected to replace Yasser Arafat as the new Palestinian chief in next month's election. Blair is promoting an upcoming London summit as a bridge back to the road map for Middle East peace.

And police in Ireland hunting up to 20 thieves who knocked over that Belfast bank on Monday. Officials say the crooks may have had inside information as well as assistance from paramilitaries to pull off the precision heist. It netted more than $39 million. One Australian paper says the bank, owned by National Australia Bank, was not insured against the loss.

PHILLIPS: A lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a conservative lawmaker. How is that for an odd couple? But they have one thing in common, frustration over airport security searches and the secret rules that govern them.

Also, damage to a major artery leading into the nation's capital after a tanker truck explodes. We'll have more right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Something a little quirky for Albuquerque, a chance for a white Christmas this year. Did you like that, Miles? New Mexico is on one end of the winter storm that's stretching all the way up to the Great Lakes. And it's bound to complicate holiday travel in the next few days. We're going to have more from CNN's Jacqui Jeras who joins us live again next hour from a snowy Evansville, Indiana, Miles' favorite spot, the local truck stop there in Evansville.

Other stories making news across America. Police in Arlington, Virginia, say a tanker truck flipped over and exploded on Interstate 395 near the Pentagon, killing the driver. The heat was so intense from that burning petroleum that a ramp overpass was damaged. That fire burned for more than three hours.

In Southern California, the highway patrol is investigating a string of unexplained shootings on the freeways near Ontario. A woman and her son riding in an SUV were the latest targets. Their rear window was shot out, apparently just at random. Both of them escaped without injury.

In baseball, the New York Yankees accuse the Los Angeles Dodgers of reneging on a deal. It would have brought Arizona Diamondback star pitcher Randy Johnson to New York. Ten players and three teams were involved in the proposed megadeal that just fell apart.

O'BRIEN: Our CNN "Security Watch" this hour, focusing on two angry air travelers complaining about airport screeners and the TSA. They say the Transportation Security Administration is too tough, too secretive, and too unaccountable in searching some air passengers. We get the story from CNN national security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was a lyricist for the Grateful Dead.

JOHN PERRY BARLOW, FORMER GRATEFUL DEAD LYRICIST: I've been a fairly pesky civil libertarian for a long time.

MESERVE: She was a fire-breathing congressional conservative.

HELEN CHENOWETH-HAGE (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I think the only thing that I've ever terrorized are liberals.

MESERVE: Helen Chenoweth-Hage may be from Venus, John Perry Barlow from Mars, but they have found a common enemy -- secrecy at the Transportation Security Administration. Chenoweth-Hage is irate that TSA personnel at the Boise, Idaho, airport refused to reveal the regulations allowing them to pat her down.

CHENOWETH-HAGE: I was absolutely astounded at the fact that they thought that they could violate my Fourth Amendment rights, violate my privacy, violate my body because of some secret law.

MESERVE: John Perry Barlow believes his constitutional rights were violated too when a TSA screening for explosives allegedly turned up drugs in his checked bag.

BARLOW: If it is, in fact, the case that when you decide to travel in America, you have automatically consented to having an extremely thorough, warrantless, nonspecific search on you for any kind of criminality, then I think we need to know that.

MESERVE (on camera): Both Perry Barlow and Chenoweth-Hage asked to see the rules and regulations under which TSA was operating. Both were told it was designated sensitive security information, or SSI, to keep it out of the hands of terrorists.

MARK HATFIELD, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: So you can come see the stadium, and you can meet the players, but you can't photocopy the playbook.

MESERVE (voice-over): The problem, as some see it, is that too much information is being kept secret, limiting the capacity for oversight and masking abuses.

STEVEN AFTERGOOD, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: It's self- evident that in an open, democratic society governed by the rule of law, we have to be able to know what the law is.

MESERVE: While TSA says SSI has been used inappropriately in the past, it believes it now has the appropriate balance between protecting freedoms and protecting us, though some of those being protected beg to disagree.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Stay with CNN for the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. We have the latest information day and night.

We just got word, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will be holding a briefing in about an hour and 10 minutes from now. Live coverage here on CNN, of course -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Also straight ahead a Christmas scene for those with a sweet tooth, the world's largest nativity made out of chocolate. It's the centerpiece of a small Italian town with a big history of recognizing Christ's birth.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange, your movie night just got a bit cheaper, I'll tell you about a blockbuster deal coming up on LIVE FROM. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So what would the holidays be without lots of candy and other sweet things to eat? CNN's Alessio Vinci take us to a city in Southern Italy where the Christmas confections are oh, so spectacular.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This has to be the sweetest Christmas ever. The world's largest nativity scene, made entirely of chocolate. 32 pastry chefs in Naples created this chocoholic's paradise out of 3,000 kilos, more than 7,000 pounds, of the dark delicacy. Complete with over 170 animals, nearly 130 shepherds to look over them and a white chocolate baby Jesus.

EUGENIO GUAROUCCI, EUROCHOCOLATE: We use a product that you can eat, but it's different -- it's difficult to arrange with chocolate. It's an art. They are artists not (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

VINCI: Artists, indeed. It took them 4,000 hours to craft the figurines from dark, milk and white chocolate. The Virgin Mary alone took two weeks to confect. A huge job these kids would love to polish off in no time.

(on camera): The drawback, of course, is that this chocolate bonanza will eventually be devoured and disappear. Some of the people here may know something about it. Fortunately, though, not too far away from here, a more long-lasting tradition is being preserved.

(voice-over): For nearly 300 year, collectors from far and wide have been venturing through the narrow alleyways San Gregorio Armeno, one of the oldest areas of Naples. They stroll in search of terracotta statues of Jesus, Joseph, Mary and other characters, which artisans like Giuseppe Ferrigno, have been crafting here for generations.

"People cultivate their nativity scenes like a plant," he says. "They water it so that every year it grows bigger with a new character." As the years go by, however, those new characters have been taking on an increasingly modern twist. This year, for example, the recently deceased Palestinian leader is among the hottest new items.

"Just the other day, I sold one to be sent to a relative of Arafat's," says Gennaro, working on his latest figurine of the late Yasser Arafat. Silvio Berlusconi is another popular figure. This season, he is wearing a bandana, just like the one he was sporting when Tony Blair and his wife Cherie visited last summer.

While proud of the century's old craft he is perpetuating, Ferrigno admits the contemporary figurines are a bit of an attention- grabber. But he insists they should be placed far away from the holy family, because, he explains, mixing politics with religion is sacrilege.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Naples.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Don't mix your politics with religion. All right, watch out, Netflix, Blockbuster. Trying to get -- are you a Blockbuster or a Netflix person?

PHILLIPS: Blockbuster.

O'BRIEN: Or neither? PHILLIPS: No. Huge Blockbuster.

O'BRIEN: So you go to the store, you like deal with the store.

PHILLIPS: Yep, I have the little card so you get, you know, one free if you get two, you know, the whole deal.

O'BRIEN: So you take the horse and carriage to the Blockbuster store. You know, Netflix is kind of where it's happening. And pretty soon, you'll be able to download that, but...

PHILLIPS: David, I promise we're going to bring you in at some point, once Miles buttons it.

O'BRIEN: It may be a little too much for you.

David Haffenreffer, now, you're a techie guy. You at least do Netflix, right?

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems so antiquated to hop in the car to get a movie now, doesn't it?

PHILLIPS: It's embarrassing, I know. Well, there's On Demand, too, don't forget that.

HAFFENREFFER: On Demand, right from your cable company.

PHILLIPS: Yes, On Demand, yes.

O'BRIEN: You have no idea what you're talking about, though. On Demand. You've never done that.

PHILLIPS: I have, too.

O'BRIEN: Really?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: We should press on.

PHILLIPS: Sorry, David.

HAFFENREFFER: There are more than just the two companies that you all mentioned, doing -- in this space of mailing your DVDs back and forth. Blockbuster is one, Netflix, of course, Wal-Mart, the other. Blockbuster today lowering the subscription price for its online rental service by two and a half dollars, to just under $15 per month.

This move will buy the number one rental chain -- undercuts the price offered by its competitor, Netflix and Wal-Mart. This latest discount makes Blockbuster the cheapest of the three major rental services on the web. You might recall that Blockbuster recently got rid of late fees, with some strings attached.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT) O'BRIEN: All right, David Haffenreffer, thank you very much. Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, Martha Stewart's holiday message from prison. It's not so nice. What she says her fellow inmates are missing, after the break.

PHILLIPS: And you see them on cars everywhere. You may even have one or two yourself. Those yellow support our troops ribbon magnets. We go inside the company that makes these visual reminders of our soldiers and hear the motivation behind them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 22, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at stories now in the news. Gay marriage, again, front and center in California. A judge in San Francisco to hear an argument today on whether the state law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed by 12 gay couples whose marriages were nullified by the state supreme court.
Will it, or won't it? Washington State supreme court is hearing arguments over whether to include more than 700 newly discovered ballots in that tight race for governor. Election officials in King County are counting those ballots and plan to announce the results of a hand recount today. But the results won't be certified as official until the Supreme Court makes its ruling. As it stands right now, the Republican candidate for governor is ahead by all of 51 votes.

Suspended Indiana Pacers' forward Jermaine O'Neal could be back on the court on Saturday. An arbitrator has cut O'Neal's suspension following that Pacers/Pistons brawl, from 25 games to 15. The NBA did not take part in the arbitration, so it's unclear if it will follow the ruling.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The latest now on yesterday's deadly attack on Camp Marez in Mosul. An Iraqi militant group claims responsibility for that attack, saying it was carried out by a suicide bomber. Although the suicide bomber aspect has not been confirmed, this group has acted before.

CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs Octavia Nasr joins me now for a closer look at Jaish Ansar Al Sunna. Tell us about this group first, and then I'll have some other questions.

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN ARAB EDITOR: Jaish Ansar Al Sunna, which means the army of the supporters of the Sunna tradition, is a Sunni group. Many believe that it is based in Mosul. They've been very active, as far as the attacks are concerned. They've been very vocal about those attacks. They have a Web site. They have a monthly magazine that carries their name as well. And they have produced, since September 2003, they've produced two videos, full productions, showing that attacks, showing what they call Mujahadin, preparing for attacks, carrying out attacks on U.S. coalition and Iraqi forces.

PHILLIPS: Do they say they have video on this attack in Mosul?

NASR: That's what they said. Yesterday, there was this claim of responsibility, which we've reported. The interesting thing about this claim of responsibility yesterday is that it mentioned the one suicide bomber, whom they called a martyr. And of course, the news coming out of Mosul yesterday was about a few rounds that were heard, an explosion, not sure what was the reason behind it.

So that statement that this group has posted yesterday was not consistent with the news we were getting out of Mosul. But we still reported it, because it seemed that that statement was a genuine Ansar Al Sunna. It's going to be very interesting to see if indeed this turns out to be a suicide bomber. That means their statement was accurate. And it gave us the news even before we heard it anywhere else.

PHILLIPS: So this group claims that one of its members infiltrated this camp?

NASR: That's basically what they're claiming, but again, I mean, we have to take these claims with a grain of salt, really, because they claim lots of things. Their claims are usually taken out of proportion. They claim that they killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers on a regular basis. So we don't necessarily believe everything they say.

But when there is a claim of responsibility like the one that was posted yesterday, we look at it very closely. We try to identify the group, try to see if it's believable.

The interesting thing in that one particular case is two days ago this same group had shown video on its Web site of what they called their Mujahadin, preparing for an attack on that same very camp. Now, we didn't report it. We didn't do anything with it. But two days later, there was an actual attack that killed more than 22 people. And that's when you stop, you pause, you go back to the information that was provided by that group, and we tend to believe more of what they say. Now they said that they have the attack on video. They will publish it later...

PHILLIPS: OK, they haven't released it yet.

NASR: They haven't released it yet, and who knows if they will ever release it? Who knows if they have the video? That's to be seen. We believe it when we see it, obviously. But we feel it's our duty to report what we read, what we see, but we don't necessarily believe it. We're not reporting it as news; we're reporting it as something that's out there, that's worth looking at and analyzing, and we definitely will see what's going to happen next.

PHILLIPS: We're going to talk about it more later on, because a suicide bomber and the way that explosion would take place, compared to the aftermath of what we've seen in Mosul, it's not matching up. So we'll follow the Web site also. Thanks so much, Octavia.

NASR: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

O'BRIEN: U.S. troops stationed in Kuwait don't regularly face the same kind of deadly guerrilla tactics seen in Iraq until they crossover the border to make vital deliveries to their military comrades that is.

CNN's Barbara Starr profiles the Road Dogs and their dangerous missions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just before sunrise, these soldiers quietly gather to pray for a safe journey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

STARR: This is the 227th Transportation Company, an Army Reserve unit from North Carolina. They call themselves the Road Dogs. On this cold morning in the Kuwaiti desert, they are about to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the military, drive a supply convoy north into Iraq.

CNN had an exclusive look this morning at what is known here as the Iraqi express. It gets underway every morning at dawn, driving fast to avoid attacks. Today, the convoy has more than 30 military and civilian trucks with armor protection plates, and its own heavily armed Humvee escorts with 50-caliber machine guns.

It is just five minutes to the Iraqi border, and the shooting can start the minute they cross the line. Scores of U.S. troops have already been killed or injured driving convoys into Iraq. Many were in armored vehicles. These young soldiers, and they are very young, all have their own way of coping with the threat of insurgent attacks, the instant when a normal day can become a disaster.

Specialist Gabrielle Curtis is just 19 years old. Today, she is smiling.

(on camera): How many times have you driven convoys into Iraq so far?

SPC. GABRIELLE CURTIS, U.S. ARMY: This will be the first time.

STARR (voice-over): She says she is ready.

CURTIS: Pray. Ask God for strength.

STARR: Specialist Anna Galbraith drives a supply truck. She is 20 years old.

SPC. ANNA GALBRAITH, U.S. ARMY: You just kind of drive and hope nothing happens. That's really basically all I do. Just drive and hope nothing happens.

STARR: But she knows the worst is possible. One buddy was hurt recently.

GALBRAITH: Oh, I'm afraid every time I go out, every time. I mean, it's exciting, but it's scary, because you never know if you're going to come back.

STARR: Staff Sergeant Gregory Duncan says presenting a tough face to the Iraqis is essential, and his weapon is always ready.

STAFF SGT. GREGORY DUNCAN, U.S. ARMY: You're always afraid. Always afraid. It's a job, you've got to do it and you do it.

STARR: A final briefing, and then the convoy moves out as the sun begins to rise.

On this day, soldiers of the 227th include heavy weapons, armored vehicles, and prayers in their arsenal.

(on camera): The Iraqi express has now pulled out and is on its way north to its destination, Falluja. It will be a two-day drive. Already, another convoy is getting ready to go.

Barbara Starr, CNN, on the Kuwait/Iraqi border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: News around the world now. Home again for two French hostages released by their Iraqi captors yesterday. France's president, Jacques Chirac, interrupted his Christmas holiday in Morocco to personally greet them. Meanwhile French officials insist they paid no ransom to secure the men's release. The journalists were taken hostage in August by a group which demanded an end to France's ban on Muslim head scarves on public schools. The ban still stands.

British's prime minister, Tony Blair, met with his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, in Jerusalem, then paid a call on Mahmoud Abbas, who is expected to replace Yasser Arafat as the new Palestinian chief in next month's election. Blair is promoting an upcoming London summit as a bridge back to the road map for Middle East peace.

And police in Ireland hunting up to 20 thieves who knocked over that Belfast bank on Monday. Officials say the crooks may have had inside information as well as assistance from paramilitaries to pull off the precision heist. It netted more than $39 million. One Australian paper says the bank, owned by National Australia Bank, was not insured against the loss.

PHILLIPS: A lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a conservative lawmaker. How is that for an odd couple? But they have one thing in common, frustration over airport security searches and the secret rules that govern them.

Also, damage to a major artery leading into the nation's capital after a tanker truck explodes. We'll have more right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Something a little quirky for Albuquerque, a chance for a white Christmas this year. Did you like that, Miles? New Mexico is on one end of the winter storm that's stretching all the way up to the Great Lakes. And it's bound to complicate holiday travel in the next few days. We're going to have more from CNN's Jacqui Jeras who joins us live again next hour from a snowy Evansville, Indiana, Miles' favorite spot, the local truck stop there in Evansville.

Other stories making news across America. Police in Arlington, Virginia, say a tanker truck flipped over and exploded on Interstate 395 near the Pentagon, killing the driver. The heat was so intense from that burning petroleum that a ramp overpass was damaged. That fire burned for more than three hours.

In Southern California, the highway patrol is investigating a string of unexplained shootings on the freeways near Ontario. A woman and her son riding in an SUV were the latest targets. Their rear window was shot out, apparently just at random. Both of them escaped without injury.

In baseball, the New York Yankees accuse the Los Angeles Dodgers of reneging on a deal. It would have brought Arizona Diamondback star pitcher Randy Johnson to New York. Ten players and three teams were involved in the proposed megadeal that just fell apart.

O'BRIEN: Our CNN "Security Watch" this hour, focusing on two angry air travelers complaining about airport screeners and the TSA. They say the Transportation Security Administration is too tough, too secretive, and too unaccountable in searching some air passengers. We get the story from CNN national security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was a lyricist for the Grateful Dead.

JOHN PERRY BARLOW, FORMER GRATEFUL DEAD LYRICIST: I've been a fairly pesky civil libertarian for a long time.

MESERVE: She was a fire-breathing congressional conservative.

HELEN CHENOWETH-HAGE (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I think the only thing that I've ever terrorized are liberals.

MESERVE: Helen Chenoweth-Hage may be from Venus, John Perry Barlow from Mars, but they have found a common enemy -- secrecy at the Transportation Security Administration. Chenoweth-Hage is irate that TSA personnel at the Boise, Idaho, airport refused to reveal the regulations allowing them to pat her down.

CHENOWETH-HAGE: I was absolutely astounded at the fact that they thought that they could violate my Fourth Amendment rights, violate my privacy, violate my body because of some secret law.

MESERVE: John Perry Barlow believes his constitutional rights were violated too when a TSA screening for explosives allegedly turned up drugs in his checked bag.

BARLOW: If it is, in fact, the case that when you decide to travel in America, you have automatically consented to having an extremely thorough, warrantless, nonspecific search on you for any kind of criminality, then I think we need to know that.

MESERVE (on camera): Both Perry Barlow and Chenoweth-Hage asked to see the rules and regulations under which TSA was operating. Both were told it was designated sensitive security information, or SSI, to keep it out of the hands of terrorists.

MARK HATFIELD, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: So you can come see the stadium, and you can meet the players, but you can't photocopy the playbook.

MESERVE (voice-over): The problem, as some see it, is that too much information is being kept secret, limiting the capacity for oversight and masking abuses.

STEVEN AFTERGOOD, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: It's self- evident that in an open, democratic society governed by the rule of law, we have to be able to know what the law is.

MESERVE: While TSA says SSI has been used inappropriately in the past, it believes it now has the appropriate balance between protecting freedoms and protecting us, though some of those being protected beg to disagree.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Stay with CNN for the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. We have the latest information day and night.

We just got word, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will be holding a briefing in about an hour and 10 minutes from now. Live coverage here on CNN, of course -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Also straight ahead a Christmas scene for those with a sweet tooth, the world's largest nativity made out of chocolate. It's the centerpiece of a small Italian town with a big history of recognizing Christ's birth.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange, your movie night just got a bit cheaper, I'll tell you about a blockbuster deal coming up on LIVE FROM. Don't go away.

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PHILLIPS: So what would the holidays be without lots of candy and other sweet things to eat? CNN's Alessio Vinci take us to a city in Southern Italy where the Christmas confections are oh, so spectacular.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This has to be the sweetest Christmas ever. The world's largest nativity scene, made entirely of chocolate. 32 pastry chefs in Naples created this chocoholic's paradise out of 3,000 kilos, more than 7,000 pounds, of the dark delicacy. Complete with over 170 animals, nearly 130 shepherds to look over them and a white chocolate baby Jesus.

EUGENIO GUAROUCCI, EUROCHOCOLATE: We use a product that you can eat, but it's different -- it's difficult to arrange with chocolate. It's an art. They are artists not (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

VINCI: Artists, indeed. It took them 4,000 hours to craft the figurines from dark, milk and white chocolate. The Virgin Mary alone took two weeks to confect. A huge job these kids would love to polish off in no time.

(on camera): The drawback, of course, is that this chocolate bonanza will eventually be devoured and disappear. Some of the people here may know something about it. Fortunately, though, not too far away from here, a more long-lasting tradition is being preserved.

(voice-over): For nearly 300 year, collectors from far and wide have been venturing through the narrow alleyways San Gregorio Armeno, one of the oldest areas of Naples. They stroll in search of terracotta statues of Jesus, Joseph, Mary and other characters, which artisans like Giuseppe Ferrigno, have been crafting here for generations.

"People cultivate their nativity scenes like a plant," he says. "They water it so that every year it grows bigger with a new character." As the years go by, however, those new characters have been taking on an increasingly modern twist. This year, for example, the recently deceased Palestinian leader is among the hottest new items.

"Just the other day, I sold one to be sent to a relative of Arafat's," says Gennaro, working on his latest figurine of the late Yasser Arafat. Silvio Berlusconi is another popular figure. This season, he is wearing a bandana, just like the one he was sporting when Tony Blair and his wife Cherie visited last summer.

While proud of the century's old craft he is perpetuating, Ferrigno admits the contemporary figurines are a bit of an attention- grabber. But he insists they should be placed far away from the holy family, because, he explains, mixing politics with religion is sacrilege.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Naples.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Don't mix your politics with religion. All right, watch out, Netflix, Blockbuster. Trying to get -- are you a Blockbuster or a Netflix person?

PHILLIPS: Blockbuster.

O'BRIEN: Or neither? PHILLIPS: No. Huge Blockbuster.

O'BRIEN: So you go to the store, you like deal with the store.

PHILLIPS: Yep, I have the little card so you get, you know, one free if you get two, you know, the whole deal.

O'BRIEN: So you take the horse and carriage to the Blockbuster store. You know, Netflix is kind of where it's happening. And pretty soon, you'll be able to download that, but...

PHILLIPS: David, I promise we're going to bring you in at some point, once Miles buttons it.

O'BRIEN: It may be a little too much for you.

David Haffenreffer, now, you're a techie guy. You at least do Netflix, right?

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems so antiquated to hop in the car to get a movie now, doesn't it?

PHILLIPS: It's embarrassing, I know. Well, there's On Demand, too, don't forget that.

HAFFENREFFER: On Demand, right from your cable company.

PHILLIPS: Yes, On Demand, yes.

O'BRIEN: You have no idea what you're talking about, though. On Demand. You've never done that.

PHILLIPS: I have, too.

O'BRIEN: Really?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: We should press on.

PHILLIPS: Sorry, David.

HAFFENREFFER: There are more than just the two companies that you all mentioned, doing -- in this space of mailing your DVDs back and forth. Blockbuster is one, Netflix, of course, Wal-Mart, the other. Blockbuster today lowering the subscription price for its online rental service by two and a half dollars, to just under $15 per month.

This move will buy the number one rental chain -- undercuts the price offered by its competitor, Netflix and Wal-Mart. This latest discount makes Blockbuster the cheapest of the three major rental services on the web. You might recall that Blockbuster recently got rid of late fees, with some strings attached.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT) O'BRIEN: All right, David Haffenreffer, thank you very much. Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, Martha Stewart's holiday message from prison. It's not so nice. What she says her fellow inmates are missing, after the break.

PHILLIPS: And you see them on cars everywhere. You may even have one or two yourself. Those yellow support our troops ribbon magnets. We go inside the company that makes these visual reminders of our soldiers and hear the motivation behind them.

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