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One Person in Custody After Shooting at Fort Worth Naval Air Station; AIDS in America; Senator Hillary Clinton Positions Herself on Iraq War; Lawsuits Threatened Against Soft Drink Companies

Aired December 01, 2005 - 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: Shots ring out at the Naval air station in Fort Worth, Texas. We know that three people are hurt, but other details are still developing.
Fredricka Whitfield following the story in the newsroom right now -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right.

Well, we know that the -- three reportedly have been wounded. And we also are being told that one person is in custody there at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in West Fort Worth.

You're looking at a live shot right now provided by WFAA.

And outside the gate of the air reserve station is Yolanda Walker, who is with WFAA. And she has just spoken with authorities there.

And, Yolanda, do we know, at this juncture, whether those wounded and the suspected shooter are civilians or otherwise?

YOLANDA WALKER, WFAA REPORTER: Now, it appears that all three persons involved are military personnel. And we're told that the gunman in this case is -- was a disgruntled employee.

He has been transported to the hospital, in critical condition. We don't know his name or what the problem was. We do know that the two injured may not have been severely injured. But one of them, we think, has been transported as well.

We're still waiting on the chief here to come out and give us some more information. And what information we do have came from a Fort Worth police officer. Fort Worth police have been called off of this investigation, because military personnel, they have their own police force. And federal investigators are on the base now.

We're told that this happened somewhere in the ops center, or near the ops center, which is part of the control tower on the base. They were holding traffic coming out of the base for quite some time and had several roadblocks set up. Now they're allowing traffic in and out of the base at this time.

WHITFIELD: And, so, Yolanda, for clarification one more time, are we talking about two wounded or three? WALKER: We're told, initially, that it was three wounded, one being the gunman. And he -- and he may have wounded himself, as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The other two, we're told, the injuries were superficial. But we're hearing that unconfirmed.

WHITFIELD: All right, Yolanda Walker of WFAA, thanks so much for being with us on the phone there.

So, Kyra, of course, involving military personnel, as you heard from Yolanda, now a -- a matter that is being investigated by military and even federal authorities there at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in West Fort Worth. And this is an air station, where -- it is also home to fighter attack and airlift units from the reserve components of the Air Force, the Marines and the Navy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Operation Thunder Blitz launched Tuesday in Iraq along the Tigris River in Southern Baghdad -- hundreds of U.S. troops and Iraqi forces taking part. And, according to the U.S. military, dozens of suspected insurgents have been arrested.

The aim is to stabilize the area before key national elections later this month.

And a tale of two cities in Iraq, Tal Afar in the north, and Fallujah in the heartland, both of them tests of a new Iraqi military that is very much a work in progress. President Bush cites the progress.

But CNN's Nic Robertson reports, the focus in country is very much on the work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Tal Afar two months ago, the battle President Bush touts to show the Iraqi troops are getting better -- the president said 11 Iraqi battalions took the lead, with 5 U.S. battalions in support, and said the Iraqis performed better than in the Fallujah offensive a year ago.

But they were two different battles, Fallujah an all-out offensive, Tal Afar, a dangerous, but more contained large-scale cordon and search. Even with many Iraqi troops, the battle was fought from a U.S. plan, requiring U.S. tanks and helicopters -- in other words, no U.S. troops, no victory.

The next big operation, Steel Curtain, U.S. troops led the way, outnumbered Iraqis six to one. "Uneven" was how President Bush described Iraq's security preparedness. He's in tune with his commanders here.

GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, U.S. ARMY, COMMANDER OF MULTINATIONAL SECURITY TRANSITION COMMAND: Progress is uneven, and -- and it's uneven across the country. It's uneven in units. It's uneven between the army and the police.

ROBERTSON: President Bush said there were 120 Iraqi battalions, 40 leading the fight, 80 fighting alongside U.S. troops. Iraqi battalion commander Colonel Thear is capable of leading the fight.

COLONEL STEVEN SALAZAR, 3RD BRIGADE: He is the most effective counterinsurgency combat leader serving with this brigade task force right now.

ROBERTSON: But Thear lacks even an armored Humvee. He says U.S. forces are planning to downsize significantly at his base, and he wants to expand.

COLONEL ISMAEL THEAR, IRAQI ARMY: We told coalition forces, just, we need like support.

ROBERTSON: Iraqi soldiers being trained by Lieutenant Colonel Ross Brown are a long ways short of Colonel Thear's readiness.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROSS BROWN, TRAINING IRAQI SOLDIERS: When did he last clean his weapon? No, that's the answer. But look at that weapon. What did he clean it with?

ROBERTSON: It's a daily battle for Brown, getting the unit he mentors ready to fight alongside U.S. soldiers.

BROWN: They didn't do too much work yesterday. They didn't do too much work the day before. They haven't done too much work since they have been here.

ROBERTSON: President Bush didn't say how many Iraqi troops are at level-one readiness, units capable of planning and carrying out counterinsurgency operations on their own.

DEMPSEY: And I don't know what the particular number today is on level one.

ROBERTSON (on camera): As expected, President Bush didn't detail precise conditions for U.S. withdrawal. Iraqis we talked to said, even if he did, they wouldn't believe him. But what President Bush did do was send a very clear message to the insurgents: The U.S. won't withdrawal until the Iraqis are ready.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: America's highest-ranking soldier stuck to the White House battle plan today at National Defense University, a day after President Bush released his national strategy for victory in Iraq, one based largely on standing up a credible Iraqi military.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace confronted the issue of American troop strength. Too much or too little?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GENERAL PETER PACE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The question I get most often is -- about security and security forces -- is: "Don't we need more troops?"

The answer is: "We need more Iraqi troops. And we are working on that."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, regardless of what President Bush says, or the Joint Chiefs chairman, or any other administration official, Democratic Senator John Kerry is show no sign of letting up in his criticism of Mr. Bush's Iraq war policy.

Kerry was on hand with Mr. Bush today at a White House event honoring Rosa Parks. At first, it was all smiles and a handshake. But, once the ceremony was over, Kerry went on the attack, saying that more of the same in Iraq will just prolong the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: If you just continue along the road we're going now, without a more concrete transfer of responsibility, a -- a -- a target schedule, by which you begin to turn over provinces, by which you specifically begin to shift the responsibility, I think a lot of people fear that it's going to be more of the same.

So, I'm not asking even for the specific timetable of withdrawal. I'm asking for a specific timetable of transfer of authority, of transfer of responsibility, of the shift and the setting of the benchmark specifically that allow us to bring our troops home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Kerry also says the president is ignoring the realities on the ground in Iraq, as military leaders have described them to Congress.

Not inevitable and not acceptable, President Bush's perspective on HIV infects and AIDS -- as many as 40,000 new cases in the U.S. alone every year. On World AIDS Day 2005, we know that some 40 million people around the world are living with HIV. The U.N. estimates that more than half of those, some 26 million, live in Africa, a million or more in America. More than three million people have died of AIDS worldwide this year alone.

And, despite all the spending, research and cutting-edge treatments, the World Bank says 2005 will be the worst year ever for HIV infections and AIDS deaths.

One group of Americans is particularly vulnerable to the -- to the scourge and the stigma. And you may be surprised to learn which.

Here's CNN's Ali Velshi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IDA BYTHER-SMITH, HIV POSITIVE: I was literally dying.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ida Byther-Smith remembers her shock the day she took a routine blood test and found out she had HIV.

BYTHER-SMITH: You made a mistake on my name when I walked in, so I know you got the wrong person.

VELSHI: But it was true. Seventeen years ago, she was infected by her husband, who left her for another man. After a long period of shame and silence...

BYTHER-SMITH: I thought I was going to cut my wrists.

VELSHI: ... Ida told her family, forgave her husband, and nursed him for three years, until his death. She now works to prevent AIDS among African-American women, a highly vulnerable group, according to the Centers For Disease Control.

HIV is the leading cause of death in African-American women age 25 to 34. Black women are 21 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than white women. And 76 percent of all women are infected through heterosexual sex.

BETHSHEBA JOHNSON, LUCK CARE CENTER: Your viral load is really out of control. And...

VELSHI: On the front lines is Bethsheba Johnson, a nurse who runs a clinic for AIDS patients on Chicago's South Side.

JOHNSON: Hey.

VELSHI: She says, every day, she sees why HIV cases are up among African-American women.

JOHNSON: We don't like to think of our -- our partners as being bisexual or gay. We don't want to think of our men possibly incarcerated having sex with other men. It -- it's just a lot denial: "My man wouldn't do that."

VELSHI: Health officials believe some ex-offenders go back and infect their wives and girlfriends. Other men may have multiple sex partners, putting women at risk. Bethsheba says women still assume that AIDS is just a gay white male disease.

JOHNSON: Or, "It just won't happen to me," if you're young. "I'm invincible."

BYTHER-SMITH: I wasn't a prostitute. I wasn't a gay white man. I wasn't on drugs. People think they can see HIV. You can't see HIV.

VELSHI: For Ida, the answer lies in empowering African-American women. That means educating themselves and practicing safe sex...

BYTHER-SMITH: You have got to confront something before you can fight it. We have got to acknowledge that this is happening.

VELSHI: ... and never have a false sense of security.

BYTHER-SMITH: We need to look in the mirror and say, this is the face of HIV.

Ali Velshi, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the part of New Orleans hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina is open today -- and today only -- so that residents can see what is left of their homes and remove their most cherished belongings.

We are talking about the city's lower Ninth Ward. It was largely demolished by the breach of the London Canal -- London Avenue Canal, rather. And, up until today, the only access the residents had was a one-day bus tour. Three months now since Katrina roared ashore, this is how it looks, overturned cars, neighborhoods converted into fields of debris, homes moved from their moorings and buried under rubble.

In the words of one resident, and probably many more, "Everything is gone." Once again, this is the scene today in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

Also in New Orleans, a suburban shopping mall has removed a Yuletide display that may have been a little too realistic. The snow- covered scene had a train that ran through neighborhoods where homes were covered with tarps surrounded by rubble and marked as condemned. Officials at Lakeside Shopping Mall in Metairie said, most people seemed to like it. But, to some, it apparently cut too close to the bone.

The designer, Frank Evans, he spoke this morning to CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")

FRANK EVANS, HOLIDAY DISPLAY DESIGNER: I think, when people come back to New Orleans -- you know, people are coming back every day.

And the people go through a grieving process, and the people who have been here the longest, they -- you know, they finally looked at the display and said, you know, I don't want to cry anymore; I just laugh about it.

And some people weren't to that point yet, I guess, and it -- it might have upset them. So, you know, I had family members. My daughter lost her whole house. She helped me build the display, and she enjoyed it. You know, she -- she thinks it's funny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Evans says he has received requests to mount his display elsewhere. And don't forget to check out "AMERICAN MORNING," of course, at its new time, 6:00 a.m.

A political balancing act -- Senator Clinton states her case on the U.S. role in Iraq, why she criticizes the president's strategy, but still defends her vote to authorize the war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: President Bush's Naval Academy Speech this week kicks off a major effort to convince Americans that the president has a winning strategy in Iraq.

When we asked people if the U.S. has a plan for victory in Iraq, just 41 percent said yes. Fifty-five percent said no. But most people, almost 60 percent, reject a specific timetable for withdrawal. They say they don't want the troops brought home until U.S. goals are achieved.

As for the big question of whether the war in Iraq will make the U.S. safer in the long run, it's a close call. Forty-eight percent say yes. Forty-three percent say no.

Sagging support for the U.S. mission in Iraq is complicating life for Democrats such as Hillary Clinton. Her vote to authorize the war puts her out of step with left-leaning party activists. And those same activists have a big say in who Democrats will nominate for the White House.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Any vote that might lead to war should be hard, but I cast it with conviction.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was then, Senator Hillary Clinton voting to authorize the war in Iraq, positioning herself as a pro-military Democrat.

This is now, Senator Clinton, a likely White House contender, defending her vote, but also trying to keep the pressure on a president politically weakened by the war.

H. CLINTON: They are not willing to look at the facts and the evidence. And that is not good for us, and it's not good for our brave men and women who serve us.

FEYERICK: In a letter to supporters, Senator Clinton says -- quote -- "I take responsibility for my vote. And I, along with a majority of Americans, except the president and his administration to take responsibility for the false assurances, faulty evidence and mismanagement of the war."

She straddled a similar line in a CNN interview last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE," APRIL 20, 2004)

H. CLINTON: No, I don't regret giving the president authority, because, at the time, it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States. And, clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Senator Clinton isn't the only Democrat with the "I voted for the war" dilemma that keeps them from pouncing quite as hard as their anti-war colleagues. John Kerry tried to finesse the issue in 2004. He failed to win the White House.

(on camera): Clinton and other presidential prospects are in a race to find the right balance on Iraq before the possible showdown for the Democratic nomination.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Once again, that was our Deborah Feyerick.

Now, Hillary Clinton's husband, the former president, is also weighing in on Iraq. In an exclusive view with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Bill Clinton says that, while he disagreed with the decision to invade Iraq, he opposes a hard deadline for the pullout of U.S. troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't want to set a fixed timetable if that led to chaos, the establishment of permanent terrorist operations in the Sunni section of Iraq, and long-term greater instability in the Middle East.

So, whether you were for it or against it, it seems to me, you should all be praying that it succeeds. I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You can see the complete interview with former President Bill Clinton tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." That's at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific.

Straight ahead on LIVE FROM, soft drinks at school, a report of slumping sale as beverage-makers brace for a possible lawsuit. We will debate it straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Holy cats. It's been quite an adventure for a Wisconsin kitty that ran away from home and wound up in Paris.

Emily's adventure apparently began when she strayed from home and ended up in a container of paper bails that got shipped to Belgium. She wound up in France, where workers used her tags to track down her vet in Wisconsin. Curiosity may have killed a lesser cat, but Emily is heading home today in high style. Continental Airlines packed up -- or picked up the tab, rather, for the tabby. Emily is flying business class from Paris to Newark, and then home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Another pet adventure to report, but this one leaves its owner in the doghouse. A Houston woman made three calls to 911 operators to report that her cat was stuck in the sewer. Each time, she was told the fire department doesn't rescue cats. So, the fourth time she called, the woman said, her 2-year-old baby was stuck in the sewer.

After much grappling, crying and scratching, the rescue team brought up Baby, Baby the kitty, that is. Obviously, a keen judge of human emotion, Baby hit the eject button as soon as she gained a tactical advantage. Her owner was left holding nothing but a police ticket for making a false report.

The IRS is warning taxpayers about a new scam.

Susan Lisovicz joining us live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about it -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

No shortage of scams, ever, but some are more effective than others. A couple of weeks ago, the IRS announced it had $73 million in unclaimed refunds. Unfortunately, that news seems to have given some Internet thieves a bad idea.

They're sending out e-mails that claim to be from the IRS, saying, you have a refund coming to you. It says, all you have to do to get the check is fill out a form which includes your Social Security number, your bank account, and other highly personal information in what is called phishing.

The thieves, of course, are just trying to steal your identity. The real Web site for the IRS.gov -- IRS.gov. If you think you're due a refund, go there.

Now let's go to Wall Street. Stocks are in rally mode, kicking off the month of December with a bang -- investors cheering some positive economic news that indicates steady growth, without much in the way of inflation.

Let's check the Big Board right now. The Dow industrials continue to hold triple-digit gains, up 109 points -- the Nasdaq doing even better, on a percentage base, up 34 points, or 1.5 percent -- advancers beating decliners by a 3-1 margin here at the NYSE in heavy volume.

And that's the latest from Wall Street.

Stay tuned for more of CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking some stories around the world now, in Seoul, South Korea, at least three people are dead in a huge fire fed by shoes. Sixteen more were hurt in the early-morning glaze. A Seoul news agency says that more than 250 firefighters were called to the six-story building, home to more than 200 shoe stores and dozens of apartments.

It took four-and-a-half-hours to put that fire out because of the large number of synthetic shoe materials feeding those flames.

A seriously ugly scene on the streets of the South Korean capital -- angry Rice farmers, about 5,000 of them, locked horns with riot control police in Seoul. The farmers are angry at the opening of Korea's rice market to outside competition. It's a hugely divisive issue. And public protest in Korea is growing daily.

Shall we dance? Researchers from a Japanese university have come up with the PBDR. That's the partner ballroom dance robot. And they say omnidirectional wheels, four sensors and manipulators make her -- or it -- ready to dance with a human partner. Either way, that's just one of the robots at one of the biggest international robot exhibitions under way in Tokyo.

Well, soft drink sales at America's schools are fizzling, yet, the American Beverage Association is positively bubbly, no doubt because of threatened legislation and litigation, not unlike the monetary shocks that hit the tobacco industry. In their report released today, the beverage-makers say that sales of non-diet soft drinks in schools dropped by 24 percent over the past two years. That's compared to surging sales of sports drinks, up nearly 70 percent, bottled water, up 23 percent, and fruit juice, up 15 percent.

The news comes as lawyers prepare a tobacco-style lawsuit, claiming that soft drink companies are using caffeine to hook children on their products.

Joining us now from Washington, Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, and, from Boston, attorney Richard Daynard, director of the Obesity and Law Project at Northeastern University.

Great to have you both with us.

SUSAN NEELY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION: Thank you.

RICHARD DAYNARD, DIRECTOR, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY OBESITY AND LAW PROJECT: Pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Richard, you have been quoted as saying, "Having a soda machine in a school is a little like having a cigarette -- literally like having a cigarette machine in school."

Can you really compare the addiction of tobacco to the addiction of caffeine?

DAYNARD: Well, caffeine is obviously less addictive.

But the similarities are that, in both cases, you're exposing kids to a product, and particularly a product in the context where a -- a lot of those kids are going to use it, and, as a result, become much more likely to develop a chronic disease early in life.

The evidence with sodas is that, for those kids who drink one or more sodas a day, on average, at school, they're 60 percent more likely to become overweight or obese.

And we know from lots of epidemiological studies and all kinds of other clinical studies that obesity is leading to an epidemic of childhood disease and of early onset diabetes and a whole bunch of other very debilitating diseases.

PHILLIPS: So, Susan, do you agree with those reports and the fact that drinking lots of soda could lead to something like diabetes, and other health problems and obesity? And what do you think of litigation, these lawsuits going forward and being compared to the big tobacco lawsuits that have gone forward already?

NEELY: Well, let me just state the obvious. Soft drinks are not tobacco. Caffeine and nicotine -- caffeine is not even in the same universe as nicotine. I think that's just common sense out there. Litigation is not the answer to a complex social problem.

I agree with Dick. Our industry agrees with Dick. We have a serious national challenge with childhood obesity, but targeting one product when we all, and certainly children, consume all kinds of food and beverages just isn't the solution.

What our study shows is that, in fact, on average, high school kids are consuming just one soft drink a week. That's not consistent with your data. And in the meantime, as you pointed out, our kids are taking advantage of all of the choice that our companies are offering. They're drinking bottled water. They're drinking juice. They're drinking diet soft drinks as well as full calorie soft drinks.

So, the bottom line is we don't have a problem here as it relates to soft drinks, and certainly litigation is not the answer to a complex social problem.

PHILLIPS: Do you think that litigation is the answer, Richard?

DAYNARD: Well, litigation is certainly one answer. It has obviously persuaded Susan's organization that at the very least they have to mount a big public relations campaign. Our hope is that it will persuade them one step further which is just pull the sugared sodas out of those machines.

As she says, they sell other things in the machines. They don't have to sell the sugared sodas even if most kids are not drinking one or more sugared sodas a day, a lot of kids are. And why should we be exposing them to these risks? It's totally unnecessary.

PHILLIPS: Susan, let me read two more things to you, Susan, this one coming from the "Lancet." Reported that Harvard researchers found a correlation between 12-year-olds who drank soft drinks regularly and their tendency to become overweight. The research also found that the risk of obesity increased as the number of daily servings of sweetened beverages did.

Also, in 2002, a report from the federally mandated Institute of Medicine found that people consuming lots of added sugars were more likely to be deficient in micronutrients such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, as well as various vitamins. So why not just take the soda pop out of the schools and move on?

NEELY: Well, there's lots of studies out there. There was a recent one that came from the University of Maryland, a peer review study, that says -- looked specifically, using government data, on consumption of soft drinks in schools and said there's no correlation to body mass index and the consumption of soft drinks in schools. So there's a lot of studies of there.

What do us moms and dads know? Common sense is kids need a balanced diet and they need exercise. That's the -- that's what's going to solve the obesity crisis and that's what we're trying to do our part in helping as a company.

PHILLIPS: But isn't this a bit of a temptation though? Think about it. When you're that age, yes, your mom's telling you need to be healthy and make sure you run and P.E. and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You know, but if the machine is there, the kid is probably going to go for the Coke versus the orange juice.

NEELY: Well, but just talking to you about our study that says that's not, in fact, the case at all. Soft drinks consumption of full calorie soft drinks is down. Consumption of the other things our companies make is up. So kids, in fact, are choosing choice.

One of the reasons that our industry unanimously adopted a policy as it relates to school vending though, is to speak to the concerns parents like many of us have, which is we want more control over what our younger kids have available during the school day.

So we have a policy that says only juice and water for elementary school kids. Middle school kids it's lower calorie, nutritious beverages during the school day. But parents tell us for high school kids, they're old enough to drive a car, they should have selection of choices and our survey says -- the study that just came out from an independent economist says that's exactly what kids are choosing.

Can I respond to Dick's point too about the data? Our trend data is for the period of 2002 to 2004. That shows this broadening of students' preferences, as long with consumer preferences, started long before trial lawyers ever got the notion that they should target the soft drink industry.

PHILLIPS: Richard, I'll let you respond. She has a pretty strong case there.

DAYNARD: Well, I don't think so. The -- I think the -- there's a lot of talk about -- correct talk about school policies and the policies clearly have come in overwhelmingly after the talk about litigation, at least, has brought the issue of the relationship between all of those sodas and childhood obesity right to the fore. Until about three years ago, most school boards didn't know anything about that. I think the soda companies did know about it. They were following literature closely. School boards are made up of laypeople, and made up of, you know, parents who have no particular expertise.

What's happened is the discussion about the litigation in the press has begun to focus people on this and has focused Susan's organization on at least talking about the thing, but they haven't done it. They haven't done what the simple thing they could do which is just pull these sodas out.

There's -- sure, they may be a movement away from it. But 45 percent -- by their own figures, 45 percent of the sodas, of the products being sold by their machine are full sugar soft drinks. And they don't need to do that.

PHILLIPS: Richard, well, but Susan brings up a good point, too that, you know, nowadays students can just leave campus during lunch and go get a hamburger, french fries, and buy a large Coke. So if the soda is there not on school grounds they can still go off and get it.

DAYNARD: Yes, they can go off and get a pack of cigarettes, too, most probably. But the school shouldn't be offering it. They shouldn't be putting it right in the students' face. And Coke shouldn't be and Pepsi shouldn't be in there pushing it on a group that they know are underage. They are, you know, high school students.

These are people who have to be in school, maybe they're allowed by school policies to head off when they don't have classes. But most of the time they have to be there. And these machines are right in their face. And 45 percent of the products these machines are selling are unhealthy for the kids.

PHILLIPS: Well, Richard Daynard and Susan Neely, we will follow up and see what happens, of course, with this litigation and hopefully have you both come back and talk about what happens. Thank you very much.

NEELY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead a California court hands down a decision on Tookie Williams. The death row inmate says that he's reformed and his supporters believe he deserves clemency. The court's decision and what comes next, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The California Supreme Court won't reopen the death penalty case of Stanley "Tookie" Williams. The co-founder the Crips street gang is scheduled to be executed in less than two weeks for four murders in 1979. During a rally calling for clemency for Williams yesterday, Williams called from prison. Actor Jamie Foxx held a cell phone up to a microphone so Williams could address the rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY "TOOKIE" WILLIAMS, DEATH ROW INMATE (on phone): I believe that regardless of whatever happens to me, whether I'm alive or executed, that all of you will remember me and this isn't a good- bye. The fact of the matter is, I'm preparing for life, not death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well 50 years to the day after Rosa Parks refused to give her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man, President Bush signs a bill authorizing a statue of Parks at the U.S. Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By refusing to give in, Rosa Parks showed that one candle can light the darkness. Like so many institutionalized evils, segregation ultimately depended on public accommodation. Like so many institutionalized evils, once the ugliness of these laws was held up to the light, they could not stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rosa Parks died October 24th at the age of 92. CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman takes a look at her legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): December 1, 1955, Montgomery, Alabama. A seamstress, Parks was on her way home, sitting in the so-called colored section of a crowded bus. Several white passengers got on, but she refused to give up her seat.

ROSA PARKS, DECEASED CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn't move at the beginning, but he said: y'all, let me have those seats. When the other three people moved and I didn't.

TUCHMAN: Driving the bus was the same man who ejected her from a bus 12 years earlier. Parks was arrested and fined $14. She recalls as the officer took her away, she asked: why do you push us around? The officer's response: I don't know. But the law is the law and you're under arrest. In protests, a new minister in town organized what would become a 381-day bus boycott. That minister was 26-year- old Martin Luther King Jr.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., DECEASED CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: This is a nonviolent protest. We're defending our moral and spiritual forces, using the method of passive resistance.

TUCHMAN: Black people walked, rode taxis, and organized car pools. The boycott severely damaged the transit company's finances. It ended when a Supreme Court ruled segregation on public transportation illegal. Parks lost her job at a department store because of her activism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: After her death, Rosa Parks became the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. Today's tributes for Rosa Parks included a ceremony in Montgomery, Alabama, where she made her mark on history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here to pay tribute to Mrs. Rose L. Parks.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with the new meaning.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are reaching out for the daybreak of freedom and justice and equality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today I want to ask you, where do we go from here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This 50th anniversary event marking the Montgomery bus boycott's movement is such an event to put to memory for any adult or child.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up on LIVE FROM, it's a new way to celebrate the holiday season. Now if we could just pronounce it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silent Chrismakahhakwanzakah night. Holy Chrismahanukwanzakah night. Chrismakahhakwanzakah is calm. Chrismakahhakwanzakah is bright. My new phone vibrate and tickle me. Holy, it play MP3.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You can see New York City does a lot of things to get spruced up for the holidays, from special window displays to wreaths on the taxis. But it's not until this signature moment, the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. This year, it's a 74- foot Norway spruce, adorned with 30,000 colored lights. The tree has been a tradition in New York since 1933. And this year, children displaced by Hurricane Katrina got to take place in that big celebration.

Here in LIVE FROM, we're not afraid of sophisticated verbiage. In fact, we often seek out obscure terminology, tongue twisters and palindromes -- or palindromes, rather. But even we are having a tough time with a verbal concoction intended to make the holidays all- inclusive. It's Chrismahanukwanzakah, an all-purpose grab bag of glee.

Virgin Atlantic Chief Richard Branson explained it's this way to be somewhat stunned? Well, he tried to explain it to the somewhat stunned comrade of mine, Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I see that sign behind you, with those long letters out there, what's going on? Is this political correctness run amok?

RICHARD BRANSON, CHAIRMAN, VIRGIN GROUP: No. We just are having a fun day, where on the 13th of December, we're having a new day for all religions, where they can celebrate Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah. Which is basically a day where Jews, Christians, Muslims cans all celebrate their holiday together. So, slightly tongue-in-cheek.

BLITZER: Is it a Christmas tree or holiday tree from your perspective?

BRANSON: It's a holiday tree. But it's a special tree, where, instead of Christians all waiting until December 25th and having their celebrations on their own, and Jews have their celebrations on their own. There's just going to be one day a year for everyone to celebrate together.

It doesn't matter what creed, what religion you are. And, you know, you never know. It might catch on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Branson's even set up a special Chrismahanukwanzakah Web site, which offers all-purpose greetings such as this one from a Hindu Santa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Silent Chrismahanukwanzakah night, Holy Chrismahanukwanzakah night. Chrismahanukwanzakah has come, Chrismahanukwanzakah is bright. My new phone vibrate and tickle me. Holy kukamala (ph), it play mp3! Can I have some chutney, please? Can I have some chutney, please?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wolf, I can't get enough of that guy! Wolf, you had to fine that as humorous as I did.

BLITZER: That is high quality... PHILLIPS: I've got tears in my eyes.

BLITZER: ... high quality entertainment, Kyra. Really strong stuff you got there.

PHILLIPS: Hey, you know what? You had this in THE SITUATION ROOM yesterday, pal.

BLITZER: You're absolutely right.

PHILLIPS: We're trying to follow up. I want to hear you say Chrismahanukwanzakah.

BLITZER: I can't say it anymore. Not happening. But Merry Christmas to all of our viewers. Thanks very much.

And Coming up at the top of the hour, Bill Clinton on the war in Iraq. Anderson Cooper has an exclusive interview.

Plus, the ups and downs of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's bringing on a top Democrat and facing a life and death decision.

Also, the bite of a bedbug lawsuit. A hotel gets nipped by tourists who have gotten bitten.

And window washers hanging in the balance and in high winds. Find out what happened. All that coming up right at top of the hour here in THE SITUATION ROOM, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf, we'll be watching.

Well, before you head out to pick up your holiday gifts, listen up. Some of those stocking stuffers or presents that you want to put under the tree might not be as safe as you think.

CNN's Christine Romans tells us why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Six million necklaces and zippers recalled today made in China, with lead. They've been sold in the U.S. for three years.

HAL STRATTON, CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMM.: These particular products have accessible lead, leachable (ph) lead that come out. The concern is lead poisoning.

ROMANS: Parents had no way to know they were dangerous. A massive recall and a holiday warning from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Customs and Border Protection. They're working to keep dangerous and counterfeit toys out but say parents must do their part to keep kids safe.

VERA ADAMS, CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION: If a popular toy, a stuffed toy, a puzzle cube, a scooter, or an electronic game is for sale for a too-good-to-be-true price, it probably is too good to be true.

ROMANS: As imports from cheap labor markets soar, poor quality and counterfeit toys make their way onto store shelves. Last year, two-thirds of recalled products were made in China. Toys make up almost 10 percent of counterfeit goods seized at our border. This year $8.5 million in counterfeit toys -- double last year.

ALAN TONELSON, U.S. BUSINESS & INDUSTRY COUNCIL: As a society, we have to decide whether we want the cheapest possible consumer goods or the safest possible goods for our children. If we continue to rely so heavily on Chinese production, it is certain we can't have both at the same time.

ROMANS: Regardless of where it comes from, what Customs doesn't catch and isn't recalled could end up in your home.

ALISON CASSADY, U.S. PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP: The Consumer Product Safety Commission does not test all toys. Most toys on stores shelves are safe, but some toys still are not adequately labeled, some toys still are too loud for children, and some toys still contain toxic chemicals.

ROMANS: Like these six million lead-tainted trinkets.

Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And for more information about the recall of the zipper tags and necklaces, you can log on to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site. That address is CPSC.gov.

Still ahead, could Queen Elizabeth soon be out of a job? We've got that story. The news keeps coming. More LIVE FROM, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So, is the sun continuing to set on the British Empire? The prime minister of Barbados says a referendum will be held next year to make the Caribbean Island a republic. Barbados actually gained its independence from Britain in 1966, but still recognizes Queen Elizabeth as the official head of state. If the referendum passes, it would create president and mean one less ceremonial job for the queen.

Ali, what's all -- what's going on with the all down arrows by the automakers? I seem to remember, and you know how I follow these things, car sales in September were great.

VELSHI: They were great.

PHILLIPS: Why the drop? Tell me, teach me. What gives?

VELSHI: The deals were -- the deals ended. You remember, since 2001, everything's great deals, no interest, low interest, we're going to just leave the car, drive off the lot with that?

PHILLIPS: I took advantage of one of those deals, actually.

VELSHI: Well, good thing you did. Because so did a whole lot of other people in September when they finally believed they were coming to an end. October saw really rough sales, so then a lot of the American dealerships reintroduced those -- some of the incentives. Didn't work.

Massive drops. Look at what the American automakers, the big three, suffered in November versus last year. Ford, down 18 percent. General Motors down 11 percent. And DaimlerChrysler's U.S. cars down 3 percent.

Now, if you look at why that's happened, over at Ford the trucks and SUV side of things, down 22 percent. GM's trucks and SUVs down 16.7 percent. Now you'd say because of gas people are buying fewer of these big cars. Except, Kyra, Toyota reported almost 10 percent increase in sales in October of all cars and 5.5 percent increase in trucks and SUVs. So, you know, one wonders that if the sales go away, if there's no deal, Americans are saying, no deal to American cars.

PHILLIPS: Well, and we've been talking so much about the layoffs and, you know, trying to keep up with quality of cars from overseas. I mean, it's in people's minds that, you know, you're going to get a better car overseas and here...

VELSHI: Took a long time to get that into people's minds. The one thing that was safe was the big truck, you know F-150, the Ford. Probably see a few of those around.

PHILLIPS: Sure. We see a lot of those in the south, Ali.

VELSHI: Exactly. Well, you know what, Toyota is building its big Tundra pickup in a plant in the South, in San Antonio. And Sunday, they're getting all of their suppliers who are at that plant together -- 2,000 jobs on offer. So Toyota's getting ready to say, look, it's an American-built truck, built in America by Americans. The American automaker is getting hit again, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's Chumpa Chetta (ph). You know, with "Car and Driver" magazine. Oh yes? Did I make you think of something?

VELSHI: Yes. Well, what I was going to say is that for the first time since 1981, if this trend continues, cars are going to outsell trucks in the United States.

PHILLIPS: Really?

VELSHI: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well, I was going to say, what Chumpa (ph) was saying is that when we've been talking about these layoffs and people losing jobs -- I'm actually losing my IFB (ph) here, I can't hear you, there we go -- that, especially in places like Detroit, when people have depended on these factory jobs for so long, and their kids and their families that -- I mean, this has been a way, if they haven't gone to college, to be able to work. And that it's changing all across America.

VELSHI: It is changing dramatically. And this story's not going to go away, Kyra, although I know you have to today. So good to see you, and I will talk to you again tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: Have a great day.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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