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E-Mail Trail; Taking the Day Off?

Aired December 14, 2005 - 13:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Congress is obligated to help rebuild New Orleans. That's what Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco tells a House committee investigate the failures before and after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans faces years of repairs. Blanco says her first priority is repairing the city's levees, partly on Washington's dollar.
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GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: In light of the billions of federal dollars poured into New York after 9/11, into California after the earthquakes and into Florida after Andrew, surely we are entitled to no less. If we can rebuild Baghdad, and I saw it with my own eyes, we can surely rebuild the Gulf coast. We're tired of the separation of our families. All of this because the levees failed. Our people are anxious to renew, rebuild and restore. We don't want your pity. We just need a little help.

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PHILLIPS: And New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin is also testifying. He says New Orleans is just being allowed to die as we speak. What did or did not happen after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore? Well, the governor may end up spending more time on something she'd rather not talk about. We're talking about all those post-Katrina e-mails.

Tom Foreman explains.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Democratic governor of Louisiana is in Washington to talk to Congress about the response to Katrina. But it won't necessarily be a warm welcome. The Republican-controlled House committee released this series of e-mails written by her staff and advisers a few days after the storm, which show even as the rescue spun out of the control, they were worried about the governor's clothing and image.

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: We have a lot of work to do. And in this situation, we just need to all work together.

FOREMAN: The messages talk about the need to get the governor shown on TV in more shelters, as long as she doesn't cry or get emotional. Another says, "make sure she's not wearing a suit and make sure she has rough-looking shoes." And one e-mail says, "put her in casual clothes. She looks fired but too comfy. Put the secretaries in caps and jeans. I don't care if they're in the field or not. They should look like they are."

The governor's office gave us no response to the e-mails, but all of this may not be as damaging as it first appears. The woman who wrote that last note, for example, told us she knew the governor and merely sent it as a suggestion

BUSH: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

FOREMAN: And unlike ex-FEMA Director Mike Brown, who actually wrote e-mails about how he looked on TV, there is no evidence the governor herself was involved in any of these exchanges about her appearance.

(on camera): It's no secret that politicians at all levels of government have media consultants to help them look their best at all times. And likely, there would be no fuss over these image e-mails if the initial response to Katrina had been better.

(voice-over): As it is, though, Democrats now say they will use the governor's visits to publicize e-mails they have obtained, these messages, they say, suggest the White House, Homeland Security, and FEMA all knew the day of the storm that New Orleans was collapsing. And they say either through incompetence or indifference, federal authorities moved far too slowly to help.

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PHILLIPS: Once again that was our Tom Foreman reporting.

Meanwhile, we just got these pictures in out of Houston, Texas, via our affiliate, KHOU. Look at this flooding that's taking place. Bonnie Schneider is telling us that Houston received large amounts of rain today. This isn't even from day's prior, but today, heavy rains, causing flooding. You can see here, along the freeway there, not far from downtown Houston. We'll continue to follow the conditions out of Texas. Bonnie will bring us another report later in the hour.

Straight ahead, if Jesus is the reason for the season, why are some of America's biggest churches skipping services on Christmas Day? We'll take a look at both side of a very interesting discussion. We'll be right back.

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PHILLIPS: Well, there's a lot of discussion right now about the political correctness of the word and the celebration of Christmas. From rewriting carols to trimming holiday trees, while some lobby for non-specific language, others insist on keeping Christ in Christmas.

So it may surprise you to learn that some of the largest Christian churches, like Willow Creek Community in Chicago, will not be holding services on Christmas Day, which falls on Sunday this year.

Well, we wanted to know more so we invited two guests to join us. From Chicago, the Reverend Mark Ashton, the pastor -- one of the pastors, I should say, at Willow Creek. And in Grand Rapids, Michigan, John Witvliet from Calvin College, where he's the director of the Institute of Christian Worship. Great to have both of you.

JOHN WITVLIET, CALVIN COLLEGE: Thank you so much.

REV. MARK ASHTON, WILLOW CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCH: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Mark, let's start with you. How did this whole discussion begin? Why did you decide not to have services on Sunday? And we saw a bit of a domino effect. I really don't know who initially made the decision or how it came about, but give us a little background.

ASHTON: Sure. Yes. We think Christmas is a huge, big deal. You know, the idea of God becoming a human being and being in our midst is seriously worth celebrating. So what we're doing is we're having eight identical Christmas services that happen the week preceding Christmas, culminating on Christmas Eve, where we expect over 50,000 people to come together in a large group together for Christmas.

What we found is that the vast majority of people prefer to do the corporate or large group celebrations on the days preceding Christmas. And then we've created a special experience for people to have in their homes the day of Christmas with a special Christmas DVD that we've put together particularly for the opportunity for families to celebrate Christmas together in their homes.

PHILLIPS: So you're keeping it all alive. So, John, what's wrong with that? You say no matter what, Christmas service should take place on Sunday?

WITVLIET: Well, I first want to say that what's happening at Willow Creek is tremendous -- and they are demonstrating the kind of innovation that is very significant for connecting with all kinds of people in different settings and contexts.

But I think what we also see here is a very different attitude towards the calendar and how Christians mark time. And I think it's important to know that there are some Christian traditions -- Catholic, Episcopal, other mainline Protestants -- that place a great deal of emphasis on the Christian calendar, per se. And then other Protestant traditions, especially the more evangelical traditions that have downplayed the externals of the calendar.

And, in fact, Willow Creek and many other evangelical mega churches are simply operating here out of their own de-emphasis of these historic Christian practices, really trying to innovate in ways that connect with people. And it's important, I think, to realize that there are just these two very different points view in the Christian community about how to mark time, how to keep the calendar.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that. Because we've been doing research. A couple of things I want to touch on, OK. First of all, no one really knows the exact day of Jesus' birth. We were doing a little history or a little fact-checking, I guess you could say.

The orthodox -- the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Rite Church chose January 6, the day named epiphany, meaning appearance, the day of Jesus' manifestation. So if really we don't know the exact day of Jesus' birth, then why even have this discussion specifically about Sunday and about the 25th? Mark?

ASHTON: Yes, since about the third century, people have been celebrating Christmas on December 25th. And there has been some disagreement among people as to when the actual birthday of Jesus is. But I think the reason to celebrate it is that we've chosen a particular day to celebrate what's probably the greatest thing that's ever happened in the history of the world. And that is, God becoming a human being. So whether we're on the exact right day or not, I think the important thing is we're celebrating this monumental moment.

PHILLIPS: And, John, you know, you brought up history. And once again, I want to bring one thing up that we found. "Christianity Today" wrote a really interesting article.

For the church's first three centuries, Christmas wasn't even in December or on the calendar at all. It said here that "the celebration of Christ's birth was usually lumped in Epiphany" -- January 6th, like we mentioned, "one of the church's earliest established feasts. And some church leaders even opposed the idea of birth celebration.

If you looked at Origen -- you know, one of early Christian leaders -- he preached that it would be wrong to honor Christ in the same way Pharaoh and Herod were honored, that birthdays were for pagan gods." A little interesting part of history there.

WITVLIET: Well, and not only that, but the Puritan tradition in early America, in its strong emphasis on Sunday observance, downplayed these particular days like Christmas and other days in the Christian calendar, trying to simplify things and just focus on the observance of Sunday. And that actually does relate to a dynamic here.

The significant thing about this discussion, or what is surprising from the historical point of view, in a way, is not that churches are not worshipping on Christmas Day, but that churches are canceling services on Sunday. And, again, that reflects a different appreciation for or way of acknowledging the calendar, that we see.

PHILLIPS: Well, and Mark, go ahead and mess with that little IFB there. I know that's sometimes a pain, John. Maybe we can -- someone can help you get that situated in your ear so it won't bother you. But Mark, if we biblically wanted to look at the day of Sunday, like John brings up, Revelations 1:10, Mark 16:9, it talks about the Lord's day, it talks about the Resurrection, which is the reason behind celebrating, you know, Jesus' birthday on a Sunday.

ASHTON: Yes, yes, and we think that celebrating Jesus in general on Sundays -- the Resurrection, Sunday's the day that it happened and that's the way, the reason why we choose Sunday as our day to celebrate Jesus -- is very important.

But in the Bible, in places like Acts 2:46, we see that even the early community experienced their worship and community both in large group gatherings all together and also in small group gatherings from home to home. So what we're doing is we're doing a large group gathering to celebrate Jesus the week before, and then we're encouraging people in their homes, home to home, to be able to have a celebration on the day.

It's not so much the size of the gathering that matters or whether there's a pastor present or not, but that people are celebrating God in their hearts and setting aside that time to make sure that he's the central focus of what's happening.

PHILLIPS: Well, the question came up, too, you know, why the 25th? Why is Christmas on December 25th? And according to our research -- and we found this through "Christianity Today" and a number of other articles -- that the eventual choice of December 25th, perhaps as early as 273, was because the convergence of the church's identification of God's son, Jesus Christ, with the celestial sun.

On December 25th, there were already two festivals, the Natalis solis invicti, which was the Roman birth of the unconquered sun -- S- U-N. And then the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian sun of righteousness. And then a couple days later, winter solstice.

So it's sort of interesting that this day was picked. So if it came down to it, John, right, doesn't necessarily have be on the 25th?

WITVLIET: There are -- it's a wonderful story there about the dynamics of history and the ways those days were chosen and the way that the church tried to connect with existing cultural observances and Christianize them.

And looking for those connecting points is something that a church like Willow Creek and other large churches have tried to do, as well, But to really focus on the explicit Christian content. And I certainly applaud them.

I think one of the significant points that I'd like to make is that there are many people in our cultural context for whom home and family is not a satisfying experience. They're estranged from family, they're lonely. And I think it -- in some churches -- I think Willow Creek's very thoughtful about the way they enfold people and connect people with small groups. It's a very exemplary thing. But I worry about the churches nationwide who haven't taken into account the dynamics of what life is like for so many people at home.

PHILLIPS: Mark, just final thoughts, because we've got to wrap it up. But it's true, a lot of people, it's a hard time during the holidays, especially when you're alone. Sometimes you look forward to that Christmas Day service.

ASHTON: Yes, absolutely. And we would want to say that we want to celebrate the churches that have decided to do the Christmas Day services. We think that for many churches, that's just a fantastic decision.

And our desire is to try and say how can we maximize the opportunity for worship during the Christmas season, the week before and the day of, and have made this decision for ourselves. But we're so glad for the other churches that have made the opportunity on Christmas Day for people to worship in their particular places of worship.

PHILLIPS: Reverend Mark Ashton and John Witvliet, appreciate your time, guys. Interesting.

WITVLIET: Thank you.

ASHTON: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, you probably think of Bambi when you hear the word deer, right? Well, some of their victims are painting a very different picture of these seemingly timid creatures. That's straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

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PHILLIPS: Another story coming to us out of Los Angeles right now, a fire, I believe.

Fredricka Whitfield working it for us in the newsroom -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Right, Kyra.

First, they are telling us that in downtown Los Angeles, a bus accident involving a catering truck, and now, not too far away, we've got a building that is on fire there in downtown Los Angeles. The only thing we're able to determine right now is you have a number of fire officials on the scene. They've hooked up a number of ladders to some of the upper floors, even. We've gotten a peak at some of the firefighters inside the building looking out. We don't know enough about this building, or exactly where downtown this fire is taking place. When we do get a little bit more information about this building, how severe this fire just might be and the firefighting efforts, we'll be able to bring that along to you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, thank you so much. We'll monitor those live pictures, via our affiliate KABC, keep checking in with you.

Meanwhile, the King is back. Oh, yes, "King Kong" dropped in on the nation's theaters just after midnight last night. Here's a little glimpse of what it took to bring the gorilla of a movie back to the big screen.

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TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The epic three-hour remake of King Kong costs about $207 million to make. That makes it about 20 times more expensive than the original 1933 version, which cost about $10 million in today's money. Of course, the price of a movie ticket was only 15 cents back then. Director Peter Jackson raked in $20 million himself. That's the most ever paid to a director in advance of production. And yes, that is Peter Jackson. He's lost about 70 pounds since he won the Oscar last year for the final installment of lord of the rings. His secret, he says he simply switched from burgers to yogurt and musely.

King Kong apparently lost some weight as well. In the 1933 version, Kong was described as 50 feet tall. While in today's remake, he as only 25 feet tall. The rest is Hollywood magic.

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PHILLIPS: Louisiana's governor returns to Capitol Hill with a list of requests and complaints in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. What's her number-one priority? We'll tell you when we come back.

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