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Only 20 Expected Survivors From Sea Queen in Tsunami; New Justice Department Memo backing Off Narrow Definition of Torture; Bowl Game Mania Is Big Money Maker

Aired December 31, 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, LIVE FROM: Recapping our top story, new chilling images showing the power of those huge waves after Sunday's earthquake. One hundred thirty-five thousand are now confirmed dead, and the death toll expected to rise.
Aid is beginning to arrive in some devastated and remote regions, more on the way. The U.S., today, raised its cash pledge to South Asia tenfold, from $35 million to $350 million.

And it's a somber New Year's Eve in the region. Vigils have replaced celebrations in many places, mourners remembering those who perished in the quake and the tsunamis.

By now, you may have heard about a fully-loaded passenger train swamped by the tsunami in Sri Lanka. First, a chilling hand - excuse me. Here's the chilling firsthand account of one of the survivors of the ill-fated train known as the Sea Queen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHENTH RAVINDRA TSUNAMI TRAIN SURVIVOR: I heard a lot of screaming and shouting and then an almighty crash and bang, and I looked towards the sea, and the horizon completely changed. A wall of water was basically taking up about 85 percent of the horizon. It was moving very quickly towards us.

As you can imagine, everyone around us started screaming incessantly and loads of kids like holding onto me, grabbing any limb that they could find of me. I basically steadied myself onto the carriage because I knew that the force of the wave against the carriage was going to be quite tremendous.

And as I steadied myself, the water came and hit. It pushed the carriage further inland to a point where it got wedged against a house, and from that point, I was able to jump from the top of the train onto the house and up the roof and sort of perch myself at the highest point of the house.

I was sort of having to trudge my way through about waist-level water, and floating on this water was a lot of corpses. So I was having to make my way through there, and the background noise to this was obviously a lot of shouting, a lot of shouting, a lot of panic. I made a conscious effort to look at a blank space in front of me, not really focusing on anything. It was a case of just walking dead straight focused on the plan of getting to as far away from the seashore as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Of 1,200 people on that particular train, only about 20 are believed to have survived.

Well, the Justice Department has issued a new - excuse me, a CNN correspondent, Atika Schubert, was onboard the first small planes to reach the most desperate corners of Indonesia. Here is Atika's remarkable report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(REPEAT ATIKA SCHUBERT PACKAGE ON MEULABOH, INDONESIA)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Justice Department has issued a new memo for interrogating al Qaeda and other terrorist suspects. Joining us live is CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, what is in that memo?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, the Justice Department has released a new legal memo that backs off its narrow definition of torture as excruciating and agonizing pain and no longer asserts that the president has the authority to supersede anti- torture laws or that there's ever a good reason for torture, such as protecting national security.

The 17-page memo from the Justice Department, office of legal council, sets a far different tone, beginning with this sentence. "Torture is abhorrent, both to American law and values and to international norms."

It replaces an August 2002 memo that was later withdrawn, which considered torture to be severe pain that was "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function or even death."

Instead, the new memo concludes that the anti-torture laws passed by Congress equate torture with physical suffering, "even if it does not involve severe physical pain." It would have to be more than mild and transitory, but it could also include mental suffering, and mental suffering would no longer have to last for months or years to be considered prolonged, as the August 2002 document said.

Critics are arguing that that original document set up a legal framework that led to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and in Afghanistan and at the U.S. prison camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Pentagon is insisting that all allegations of torture are being investigated and, when appropriate, are being punished.

Release of the memo comes as the Senate judiciary committee is about to consider the nomination of chief White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general. Gonzales is expected to face some sharp questioning from Democrats on some similar memos that he wrote that critics say appear to justify torture - Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, if I were Lyndie England's attorney, who is that private who was accused, that memo would be very useful, wouldn't it?

MCINTYRE: I would imagine that all of these memos will be things that will be discussed in some of the legal proceedings, as defendants try to make the case.

But one of the important things in here is that it says that, again, there's no good reason, there's no justification for torture, even if it's to protect national security or do something else. Torture is not permitted at all. And so that's why they also, by the way, withdrew any opinion that the president has the ability to supersede torture laws, because they say it's the policy of the U.S. government not to permit torture, so that point is moot.

O'BRIEN: OK. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon - thank you very much.

Does it really matter who wins college bowl games? Rick Horrow joins us in a few moments to talk about that New Year's tradition. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Let's do some bowling, college football bowling that is. Sports Analyst Rick Horrow is traveling from bowl game to bowl game to bowl game and on and on. He joins us from Nashville. Before we discuss the college bowl system, I'll let Rick explain his rather ambitious itinerary, and we'll ask the important question, why.

Hey, Rick.

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Hey, man. First of all, this is bowl 17 of a 28-bowl game series, the most of any time in history, and it's bowl two of seven for me. We're going to the Peach Bowl, eat some chicken at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl tonight in Atlanta, and then three bowls in three separate cities, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville. Tomorrow...

O'BRIEN: All right. Slow down. Slow down a second. I want to get the map up, Rick, so let's take it slowly here. First of all...

HORROW: Sorry.

O'BRIEN: Charlotte, North Carolina, the Continental Tire Bowl...

HORROW: That was yesterday. And then...

O'BRIEN: ... where the rubber met the road, so to speak.

HORROW: The rubber hit the road.

O'BRIEN: How was that game?

HORROW: Then we're buying hotel space - that was a great game for a lot of different reasons. Boston College, my daughter also goes there, so that's kind of cool.

(CROSSTALK)

HORROW: Tonight - yes, absolutely. Nashville - we're seeing Alabama and Minnesota in a tight game here. And the game...

O'BRIEN: The Gaylord Hotels Music City - I mean when is it too many endorsement names on a bowl, do you think? That might be close.

HORROW: Hey, Miles, we didn't finish the name. It's called the Gaylord Hotels National Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone Tires. Try to get that fit in. The answer is that may be too many. So...

O'BRIEN: Yes, that could be the winner. Ding, ding, ding on that one. All right, and then...

HORROW: We're watching two six-and-five teams here, kind of mediocre, but don't tell that to Alabama and Minnesota. Then we're going to go to the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl tonight in Atlanta.

O'BRIEN: Whoa, back up, back up. Two six-and-five teams? Who cares about two six-and-five teams? This is just about putting cash in their bank accounts or what?

HORROW: You let me go even further. Of the 58 teams, 56 teams, there are 16 of them that have been six-and-five or seven-and-five. And frankly, who cares about it are the alumni and the people who get $750,000 in payout. It's not $17 million per team like, the BCS, but it is significant dollars for these schools. It's fund-raising. It's recruiting, and it's satisfying those alumni.

O'BRIEN: So we are dumbing down the bowls as well, so to speak. All right, Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl right here in Atlanta, Georgia. I've seen some of the faithful here already. I was - as a matter of fact, it took me a long time to get my coffee this morning because of all those 'Canes fans there. But tell me about...

HORROW: Hey, I'm coming over to your - I'm coming over to your house for dinner tonight. When is dinner because we've got a 7:30 kickoff? That's a major bowl with some good ratings, and Chick-Fil-A and the economic impact in Atlanta has been pretty significant. That was part of the building of the Georgia Dome and the economics that go into that.

Then tomorrow, I'm in the studio at 7:00, and then we go to the three games. The first quarter of the Outback Bowl, which is the Steakhouse Bowl in Tampa. Then the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. Then the third one is the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

O'BRIEN: Wait, wait, slow down. You're going too fast on me. You're going too fast on me. HORROW: Sorry.

O'BRIEN: The Outback Bowl, tell me about that one.

HORROW: That's a major economic impact. It's about a $4 million payout.

O'BRIEN: Who is playing?

HORROW: It's larger than the other one.

O'BRIEN: Give us some preview of what's going on on the field?

HORROW: Well, it's LSU, and it's a big game because it's Nick Saban's last game against Iowa, and he's now the coach of the Miami Dolphins to be. And all the spotlight will be can he hold focus with LSU, or is his mind in Miami? In addition to the fact that Capital One has taken over the brand of the bowl, it's no longer the Citrus Bowl. It's no longer the Tangerine Bowl. It's now a bowl named after financial institutions.

O'BRIEN: It's - that's outrageous. Give me the Citrus Bowl back, please. It's a little pet peeve of mine.

All right, now, the Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville used to be just the Gator Bowl. Tell me about that game.

HORROW: Well, that game is Florida State and West Virginia, well traveled teams, one from Tallahassee and one that will travel anywhere from Morgantown. So that's a big deal for Jacksonville, but that's the key to six weeks of celebration culminating in the Super Bowl there this year. It's about a $40 million economic impact for the city of Jacksonville, and it's part of their stadium package as well.

In addition, by the way, Toyota is happy because 33 percent more Toyotas are sold after these games than the rest of the year. So go ahead and buy it.

O'BRIEN: There you go. All right, and then finally, you're going to finish it up at the Orange Bowl, which is now the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami. All of this - you're not going to see all complete games, of course, right, in some cases?

HORROW: Well, not tomorrow because we've got places to go and things to see, but, you know, we'll explain the whole BCS controversy Tuesday with your people, and then we're going to talk about watching as much of that game as we can. Oklahoma, USC, they theoretically play for the national championship. But by Wednesday morning, Miles, we may have four undefeated teams all claiming that they need to tweak the system.

By the way, it's a $5 billion business, college football, so controversy is good for it. And as for me, CNN wanted its sports business...

O'BRIEN: Wait, wait, wait. I want - let me ask you - I was going to ask you about that question.

HORROW: Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: You're telling me this whole BCS debacle, as some would put it, because not a lot of people like this thing....

HORROW: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... might be good for business?

HORROW: Well, let me tell you why. ABC and FOX have spent $900 million, and now another $300 million totally to preserve the system through 2014. When you are at the water cooler and you talk about whether it's Oklahoma or USC or Auburn or even Utah or Boise State, who may be undefeated come Tuesday or Wednesday, everybody wants a playoff. But they're not going to get a playoff because the system is etched in stone, and the controversy is probably good because people talking means people listening, people buying advertising time, too. And I think that's very important.

O'BRIEN: Ah, yes, stir up a little controversy. All right, Rick Horrow, enjoy your trek.

HORROW: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Check in with us often, and I hope you have a good time. I hope you get to see a little football.

HORROW: I will. I just want to tell you - well, the reason why I'm doing this is because CNN, in its infinite wisdom, wanted its sports business analyst to be a certifiable lunatic, and I fit the bill, man. Good to talk to you.

O'BRIEN: There you go. All right. If the pigskin fits - all right, thanks. Appreciate it.

HORROW: Talk to you soon.

O'BRIEN: Now, we know one bowl game that has special meaning this year, the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. Now is it just still the Cotton Bowl? Is that one of the few? Mike Topple (ph), Is it still just the Cotton Bowl? Wow, isn't that nice? Good job Cotton Bowl, for resisting this corporate whatever it is.

Two years ago, this man was on patrol in Baghdad. Now he's on the Texas A&M team. His story is ahead, next hour on Time Warner's LIVE FROM.

Oh, let's check news around the world, shall we? The south Asian tsunami tragedy is tempering the spirits of some New Year's celebrations around the world. In Hong Kong, the fireworks went on as planned, but political parties have decided to cancel a planned New Year's Day march and, instead, spend the time raising money for tsunami victims.

In Australia, there was a moment of silence to remember the tsunami victims before the fireworks began, Sydney, the first major city in the world to mark the arrival of the New Year.

And thousands of U.S. service members are ringing in the new year on the frontlines of Iraq, where violence is escalating as next month's election draws near. And for many American troops, the tenuousness of the situation makes it difficult to look too far into the future.

But for some soldiers, the desire to look ahead is pretty much irresistible. Chris Lawrence, embedded with the 503rd Infantry in Ramadi, he introduces us to one officer who can't wait to get back home and meet someone very special.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(REPEAT CHRIS LAWRENCE PACKAGE, ONE SOLDIER'S NEW YEAR'S WISH)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: I'm no financial genius. That's why I'm sitting here working for a living.

David Haffenreffer, for years and years, I read all this stuff that said buy index funds. That's the way to go, index funds. And now you're telling me, no, index funds - actually get a good mix in a mutual fund and you'll do better. So I'm confused.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It depends on the year, I guess, Miles, and this year, many mutual fund investors have done better than the best known stock averages, such as the Dow and, as you mentioned, the S&P 500. That's because many people have stakes in funds that hold smaller stocks or shares of companies outside the U.S.

So, while the Dow was up nearly 6 percent this year and the S&P 500 up 11 percent, that's with dividends reinvested, diversified U.S. stock funds are up an average of 12 percent, all that according to the folks at Lipper. Those numbers are not going to change much after today's session, with volume extremely light, a very quiet day down here. The market little changed right now. The Dow Industrials are higher by just three points on the day, 10,803. The Nasdaq composite index slightly to the up side. That's the latest from Wall Street.

Coming up, a popular credit card ad campaign may be guilty of fraud. We'll have that story for you coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM - Miles.

O'BRIEN: David, is there anybody down there on the floor?

HAFFENREFFER: Virtually - well, yes. They're standing around a little bit.

O'BRIEN: Do we have a shot? Can we take a shot and show it?

HAFFENREFFER: I don't think we have a floor shot.

O'BRIEN: No, we don't have that shot, but I'm...

HAFFENREFFER: We'll have it for you next hour.

O'BRIEN: I'm surprised they even open up the doors today.

HAFFENREFFER: I know, you and me both.

O'BRIEN: There. You could have been home, too. Sorry, pal. All right - David Haffenreffer, talk to you later.

In the course of a year, most of us say some stupid things - not me, of course - some silly things and some things that are just plain weird. Well, guilty on all accounts. But for most people, the gaffes and laughs aren't caught on tape and watched by millions of people. CNN's Jeanne Moos take a look back at a year of sound bites.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We couldn't let the sound bites of 2004 bite the dust without noting the ones that bit back.

(on camera) The "What Did He Just Say? Award" goes to President Bush.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their -- their love with women all across this country.

MOOS (voice-over): And speaking of practicing love...

(on camera) "Coming Out of the Closet Admission of the Year" goes to New Jersey's governor.

JAMES MCGREEVEY, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I am a gay American.

MOOS (voice-over): His administration spawned a talking doll.

ROBOTIC VOICE: I am a gay American.

MOOS (on camera): There are so many nominees for "Trash Talk of the Year Award" they're just going to have to share it.

(voice-over) From the immortal words of Teresa Heinz Kerry.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: You said something I didn't say, now shove it.

MOOS: To the male anatomy insult that Jon Stewart fired when he got cross on "CROSSFIRE."

TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": You know what's interesting, though? You're as big of a (expletive deleted) on your show as you are on any show.

MOOS (on camera): Arnold Schwarzenegger is the winner of the "Too Much Information Award."

(voice-over) Arnold was asked if his speech at the Republican convention... GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Don't be economic girlie men.

MOOS: ... caused his wife, Democrat Maria Shriver, to punish him.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, there was no sex for 40 days.

MOOS: And while we're on the subject of sex...

(on camera) ... we are pleased to present the "Lifetime Falafel Award" to Bill O'Reilly.

(voice-over) In court documents filed by a former FOX News employee alleging sexual harassment, O'Reilly is quoted describing a shower fantasy in which he mixes up the word "loofah" and instead says "falafel," so that the sentence comes out, "I would take the other hand with the falafel thing and I'd just put it" -- never mind where he put it. It's not fit for a falafel.

(on camera) The "Best Darn Expletive Deleted Award" goes to the vice president...

(voice-over) ... for what Mr. Cheney suggested Senator Patrick Leahy do to himself.

(on camera) The "What's She On Award" is a no-brainer.

(voice-over) Anna Nicole Smith gets the award for how she presented an award.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH, FORMER MODEL: And if I ever record an album.

MOOS: "People" magazine picked a few catch phrases of 2004, among them.

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: You're fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just not that into you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your daddy?

MOOS (on camera): We have to hand the coveted "Index Finger Award" to President Bush.

(voice-over) W's response when confronted by anti-Bush protesters in Canada...

BUSH: I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave with all five fingers.

MOOS (on camera): Several nominees richly deserve the "Can I Rephrase That? Award."

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have.

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": We go on the air with the comedy we have, not with the comedy we want.

MOOS (voice-over): The moral of the year in sound bites, bite your tongue.

HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes!

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That's it for this hour. Don't forget, coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, we'll visit with a special aggie, a young man who, until recently, was on the battlefield in Iraq. LIVE FROM's hour of power, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 31, 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, LIVE FROM: Recapping our top story, new chilling images showing the power of those huge waves after Sunday's earthquake. One hundred thirty-five thousand are now confirmed dead, and the death toll expected to rise.
Aid is beginning to arrive in some devastated and remote regions, more on the way. The U.S., today, raised its cash pledge to South Asia tenfold, from $35 million to $350 million.

And it's a somber New Year's Eve in the region. Vigils have replaced celebrations in many places, mourners remembering those who perished in the quake and the tsunamis.

By now, you may have heard about a fully-loaded passenger train swamped by the tsunami in Sri Lanka. First, a chilling hand - excuse me. Here's the chilling firsthand account of one of the survivors of the ill-fated train known as the Sea Queen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHENTH RAVINDRA TSUNAMI TRAIN SURVIVOR: I heard a lot of screaming and shouting and then an almighty crash and bang, and I looked towards the sea, and the horizon completely changed. A wall of water was basically taking up about 85 percent of the horizon. It was moving very quickly towards us.

As you can imagine, everyone around us started screaming incessantly and loads of kids like holding onto me, grabbing any limb that they could find of me. I basically steadied myself onto the carriage because I knew that the force of the wave against the carriage was going to be quite tremendous.

And as I steadied myself, the water came and hit. It pushed the carriage further inland to a point where it got wedged against a house, and from that point, I was able to jump from the top of the train onto the house and up the roof and sort of perch myself at the highest point of the house.

I was sort of having to trudge my way through about waist-level water, and floating on this water was a lot of corpses. So I was having to make my way through there, and the background noise to this was obviously a lot of shouting, a lot of shouting, a lot of panic. I made a conscious effort to look at a blank space in front of me, not really focusing on anything. It was a case of just walking dead straight focused on the plan of getting to as far away from the seashore as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Of 1,200 people on that particular train, only about 20 are believed to have survived.

Well, the Justice Department has issued a new - excuse me, a CNN correspondent, Atika Schubert, was onboard the first small planes to reach the most desperate corners of Indonesia. Here is Atika's remarkable report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(REPEAT ATIKA SCHUBERT PACKAGE ON MEULABOH, INDONESIA)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Justice Department has issued a new memo for interrogating al Qaeda and other terrorist suspects. Joining us live is CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, what is in that memo?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, the Justice Department has released a new legal memo that backs off its narrow definition of torture as excruciating and agonizing pain and no longer asserts that the president has the authority to supersede anti- torture laws or that there's ever a good reason for torture, such as protecting national security.

The 17-page memo from the Justice Department, office of legal council, sets a far different tone, beginning with this sentence. "Torture is abhorrent, both to American law and values and to international norms."

It replaces an August 2002 memo that was later withdrawn, which considered torture to be severe pain that was "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function or even death."

Instead, the new memo concludes that the anti-torture laws passed by Congress equate torture with physical suffering, "even if it does not involve severe physical pain." It would have to be more than mild and transitory, but it could also include mental suffering, and mental suffering would no longer have to last for months or years to be considered prolonged, as the August 2002 document said.

Critics are arguing that that original document set up a legal framework that led to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and in Afghanistan and at the U.S. prison camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Pentagon is insisting that all allegations of torture are being investigated and, when appropriate, are being punished.

Release of the memo comes as the Senate judiciary committee is about to consider the nomination of chief White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general. Gonzales is expected to face some sharp questioning from Democrats on some similar memos that he wrote that critics say appear to justify torture - Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, if I were Lyndie England's attorney, who is that private who was accused, that memo would be very useful, wouldn't it?

MCINTYRE: I would imagine that all of these memos will be things that will be discussed in some of the legal proceedings, as defendants try to make the case.

But one of the important things in here is that it says that, again, there's no good reason, there's no justification for torture, even if it's to protect national security or do something else. Torture is not permitted at all. And so that's why they also, by the way, withdrew any opinion that the president has the ability to supersede torture laws, because they say it's the policy of the U.S. government not to permit torture, so that point is moot.

O'BRIEN: OK. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon - thank you very much.

Does it really matter who wins college bowl games? Rick Horrow joins us in a few moments to talk about that New Year's tradition. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Let's do some bowling, college football bowling that is. Sports Analyst Rick Horrow is traveling from bowl game to bowl game to bowl game and on and on. He joins us from Nashville. Before we discuss the college bowl system, I'll let Rick explain his rather ambitious itinerary, and we'll ask the important question, why.

Hey, Rick.

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Hey, man. First of all, this is bowl 17 of a 28-bowl game series, the most of any time in history, and it's bowl two of seven for me. We're going to the Peach Bowl, eat some chicken at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl tonight in Atlanta, and then three bowls in three separate cities, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville. Tomorrow...

O'BRIEN: All right. Slow down. Slow down a second. I want to get the map up, Rick, so let's take it slowly here. First of all...

HORROW: Sorry.

O'BRIEN: Charlotte, North Carolina, the Continental Tire Bowl...

HORROW: That was yesterday. And then...

O'BRIEN: ... where the rubber met the road, so to speak.

HORROW: The rubber hit the road.

O'BRIEN: How was that game?

HORROW: Then we're buying hotel space - that was a great game for a lot of different reasons. Boston College, my daughter also goes there, so that's kind of cool.

(CROSSTALK)

HORROW: Tonight - yes, absolutely. Nashville - we're seeing Alabama and Minnesota in a tight game here. And the game...

O'BRIEN: The Gaylord Hotels Music City - I mean when is it too many endorsement names on a bowl, do you think? That might be close.

HORROW: Hey, Miles, we didn't finish the name. It's called the Gaylord Hotels National Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone Tires. Try to get that fit in. The answer is that may be too many. So...

O'BRIEN: Yes, that could be the winner. Ding, ding, ding on that one. All right, and then...

HORROW: We're watching two six-and-five teams here, kind of mediocre, but don't tell that to Alabama and Minnesota. Then we're going to go to the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl tonight in Atlanta.

O'BRIEN: Whoa, back up, back up. Two six-and-five teams? Who cares about two six-and-five teams? This is just about putting cash in their bank accounts or what?

HORROW: You let me go even further. Of the 58 teams, 56 teams, there are 16 of them that have been six-and-five or seven-and-five. And frankly, who cares about it are the alumni and the people who get $750,000 in payout. It's not $17 million per team like, the BCS, but it is significant dollars for these schools. It's fund-raising. It's recruiting, and it's satisfying those alumni.

O'BRIEN: So we are dumbing down the bowls as well, so to speak. All right, Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl right here in Atlanta, Georgia. I've seen some of the faithful here already. I was - as a matter of fact, it took me a long time to get my coffee this morning because of all those 'Canes fans there. But tell me about...

HORROW: Hey, I'm coming over to your - I'm coming over to your house for dinner tonight. When is dinner because we've got a 7:30 kickoff? That's a major bowl with some good ratings, and Chick-Fil-A and the economic impact in Atlanta has been pretty significant. That was part of the building of the Georgia Dome and the economics that go into that.

Then tomorrow, I'm in the studio at 7:00, and then we go to the three games. The first quarter of the Outback Bowl, which is the Steakhouse Bowl in Tampa. Then the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. Then the third one is the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

O'BRIEN: Wait, wait, slow down. You're going too fast on me. You're going too fast on me. HORROW: Sorry.

O'BRIEN: The Outback Bowl, tell me about that one.

HORROW: That's a major economic impact. It's about a $4 million payout.

O'BRIEN: Who is playing?

HORROW: It's larger than the other one.

O'BRIEN: Give us some preview of what's going on on the field?

HORROW: Well, it's LSU, and it's a big game because it's Nick Saban's last game against Iowa, and he's now the coach of the Miami Dolphins to be. And all the spotlight will be can he hold focus with LSU, or is his mind in Miami? In addition to the fact that Capital One has taken over the brand of the bowl, it's no longer the Citrus Bowl. It's no longer the Tangerine Bowl. It's now a bowl named after financial institutions.

O'BRIEN: It's - that's outrageous. Give me the Citrus Bowl back, please. It's a little pet peeve of mine.

All right, now, the Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville used to be just the Gator Bowl. Tell me about that game.

HORROW: Well, that game is Florida State and West Virginia, well traveled teams, one from Tallahassee and one that will travel anywhere from Morgantown. So that's a big deal for Jacksonville, but that's the key to six weeks of celebration culminating in the Super Bowl there this year. It's about a $40 million economic impact for the city of Jacksonville, and it's part of their stadium package as well.

In addition, by the way, Toyota is happy because 33 percent more Toyotas are sold after these games than the rest of the year. So go ahead and buy it.

O'BRIEN: There you go. All right, and then finally, you're going to finish it up at the Orange Bowl, which is now the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami. All of this - you're not going to see all complete games, of course, right, in some cases?

HORROW: Well, not tomorrow because we've got places to go and things to see, but, you know, we'll explain the whole BCS controversy Tuesday with your people, and then we're going to talk about watching as much of that game as we can. Oklahoma, USC, they theoretically play for the national championship. But by Wednesday morning, Miles, we may have four undefeated teams all claiming that they need to tweak the system.

By the way, it's a $5 billion business, college football, so controversy is good for it. And as for me, CNN wanted its sports business...

O'BRIEN: Wait, wait, wait. I want - let me ask you - I was going to ask you about that question.

HORROW: Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: You're telling me this whole BCS debacle, as some would put it, because not a lot of people like this thing....

HORROW: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... might be good for business?

HORROW: Well, let me tell you why. ABC and FOX have spent $900 million, and now another $300 million totally to preserve the system through 2014. When you are at the water cooler and you talk about whether it's Oklahoma or USC or Auburn or even Utah or Boise State, who may be undefeated come Tuesday or Wednesday, everybody wants a playoff. But they're not going to get a playoff because the system is etched in stone, and the controversy is probably good because people talking means people listening, people buying advertising time, too. And I think that's very important.

O'BRIEN: Ah, yes, stir up a little controversy. All right, Rick Horrow, enjoy your trek.

HORROW: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Check in with us often, and I hope you have a good time. I hope you get to see a little football.

HORROW: I will. I just want to tell you - well, the reason why I'm doing this is because CNN, in its infinite wisdom, wanted its sports business analyst to be a certifiable lunatic, and I fit the bill, man. Good to talk to you.

O'BRIEN: There you go. All right. If the pigskin fits - all right, thanks. Appreciate it.

HORROW: Talk to you soon.

O'BRIEN: Now, we know one bowl game that has special meaning this year, the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. Now is it just still the Cotton Bowl? Is that one of the few? Mike Topple (ph), Is it still just the Cotton Bowl? Wow, isn't that nice? Good job Cotton Bowl, for resisting this corporate whatever it is.

Two years ago, this man was on patrol in Baghdad. Now he's on the Texas A&M team. His story is ahead, next hour on Time Warner's LIVE FROM.

Oh, let's check news around the world, shall we? The south Asian tsunami tragedy is tempering the spirits of some New Year's celebrations around the world. In Hong Kong, the fireworks went on as planned, but political parties have decided to cancel a planned New Year's Day march and, instead, spend the time raising money for tsunami victims.

In Australia, there was a moment of silence to remember the tsunami victims before the fireworks began, Sydney, the first major city in the world to mark the arrival of the New Year.

And thousands of U.S. service members are ringing in the new year on the frontlines of Iraq, where violence is escalating as next month's election draws near. And for many American troops, the tenuousness of the situation makes it difficult to look too far into the future.

But for some soldiers, the desire to look ahead is pretty much irresistible. Chris Lawrence, embedded with the 503rd Infantry in Ramadi, he introduces us to one officer who can't wait to get back home and meet someone very special.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(REPEAT CHRIS LAWRENCE PACKAGE, ONE SOLDIER'S NEW YEAR'S WISH)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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O'BRIEN: I'm no financial genius. That's why I'm sitting here working for a living.

David Haffenreffer, for years and years, I read all this stuff that said buy index funds. That's the way to go, index funds. And now you're telling me, no, index funds - actually get a good mix in a mutual fund and you'll do better. So I'm confused.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It depends on the year, I guess, Miles, and this year, many mutual fund investors have done better than the best known stock averages, such as the Dow and, as you mentioned, the S&P 500. That's because many people have stakes in funds that hold smaller stocks or shares of companies outside the U.S.

So, while the Dow was up nearly 6 percent this year and the S&P 500 up 11 percent, that's with dividends reinvested, diversified U.S. stock funds are up an average of 12 percent, all that according to the folks at Lipper. Those numbers are not going to change much after today's session, with volume extremely light, a very quiet day down here. The market little changed right now. The Dow Industrials are higher by just three points on the day, 10,803. The Nasdaq composite index slightly to the up side. That's the latest from Wall Street.

Coming up, a popular credit card ad campaign may be guilty of fraud. We'll have that story for you coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM - Miles.

O'BRIEN: David, is there anybody down there on the floor?

HAFFENREFFER: Virtually - well, yes. They're standing around a little bit.

O'BRIEN: Do we have a shot? Can we take a shot and show it?

HAFFENREFFER: I don't think we have a floor shot.

O'BRIEN: No, we don't have that shot, but I'm...

HAFFENREFFER: We'll have it for you next hour.

O'BRIEN: I'm surprised they even open up the doors today.

HAFFENREFFER: I know, you and me both.

O'BRIEN: There. You could have been home, too. Sorry, pal. All right - David Haffenreffer, talk to you later.

In the course of a year, most of us say some stupid things - not me, of course - some silly things and some things that are just plain weird. Well, guilty on all accounts. But for most people, the gaffes and laughs aren't caught on tape and watched by millions of people. CNN's Jeanne Moos take a look back at a year of sound bites.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We couldn't let the sound bites of 2004 bite the dust without noting the ones that bit back.

(on camera) The "What Did He Just Say? Award" goes to President Bush.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their -- their love with women all across this country.

MOOS (voice-over): And speaking of practicing love...

(on camera) "Coming Out of the Closet Admission of the Year" goes to New Jersey's governor.

JAMES MCGREEVEY, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I am a gay American.

MOOS (voice-over): His administration spawned a talking doll.

ROBOTIC VOICE: I am a gay American.

MOOS (on camera): There are so many nominees for "Trash Talk of the Year Award" they're just going to have to share it.

(voice-over) From the immortal words of Teresa Heinz Kerry.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, JOHN KERRY'S WIFE: You said something I didn't say, now shove it.

MOOS: To the male anatomy insult that Jon Stewart fired when he got cross on "CROSSFIRE."

TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": You know what's interesting, though? You're as big of a (expletive deleted) on your show as you are on any show.

MOOS (on camera): Arnold Schwarzenegger is the winner of the "Too Much Information Award."

(voice-over) Arnold was asked if his speech at the Republican convention... GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Don't be economic girlie men.

MOOS: ... caused his wife, Democrat Maria Shriver, to punish him.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, there was no sex for 40 days.

MOOS: And while we're on the subject of sex...

(on camera) ... we are pleased to present the "Lifetime Falafel Award" to Bill O'Reilly.

(voice-over) In court documents filed by a former FOX News employee alleging sexual harassment, O'Reilly is quoted describing a shower fantasy in which he mixes up the word "loofah" and instead says "falafel," so that the sentence comes out, "I would take the other hand with the falafel thing and I'd just put it" -- never mind where he put it. It's not fit for a falafel.

(on camera) The "Best Darn Expletive Deleted Award" goes to the vice president...

(voice-over) ... for what Mr. Cheney suggested Senator Patrick Leahy do to himself.

(on camera) The "What's She On Award" is a no-brainer.

(voice-over) Anna Nicole Smith gets the award for how she presented an award.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH, FORMER MODEL: And if I ever record an album.

MOOS: "People" magazine picked a few catch phrases of 2004, among them.

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: You're fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just not that into you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your daddy?

MOOS (on camera): We have to hand the coveted "Index Finger Award" to President Bush.

(voice-over) W's response when confronted by anti-Bush protesters in Canada...

BUSH: I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave with all five fingers.

MOOS (on camera): Several nominees richly deserve the "Can I Rephrase That? Award."

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have.

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": We go on the air with the comedy we have, not with the comedy we want.

MOOS (voice-over): The moral of the year in sound bites, bite your tongue.

HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes!

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That's it for this hour. Don't forget, coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, we'll visit with a special aggie, a young man who, until recently, was on the battlefield in Iraq. LIVE FROM's hour of power, after this.

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