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American Morning
Another Deadly Day in Iraq as Elections Draw Near; Golden Globe Wrap-Up
Aired January 17, 2005 - 08:30 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. 8:30 here in New York. If you're just joining us, welcome here. Soledad is out today. Heidi is here. How you doing?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm doing all right.
HEMMER: Yes? All right?
COLLINS: Big loss yesterday.
HEMMER: Well. Sorry.
COLLINS: We'll get to that later.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Minnesota.
COLLINS: Yes, ugly.
HEMMER: Well, the Iraq elections now less than two weeks away. In a few moments, we'll look at just how dangerous the situation has become there. CNN's Jeff Koinange has covered wars all over Africa. He says nothing has prepared him for this, though. We'll talk to him in a moment from Baghdad.
COLLINS: Also, who's riding high after the Golden Globe awards? We're going to look at the big winners from last night's presentations, including some surprises.
HEMMER: We'll get to that also.
COLLINS: First, though, we want to check the headlines with Carol Costello this morning. Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning to you, as well. Good morning, all of you. "Now in the News," preparations for the upcoming elections in Iraq are taking place this morning here in the United States. Five cities will begin registering names this morning, continuing until next Monday. Detroit, L.A., Nashville, Chicago and Washington. Actual voting will begin on January 28th and continue until the January 30th election in Iraq.
The new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is ordering a stop to violence against Israelis. In a possibly groundbreaking move during today's cabinet meeting, sources say Abbas ordered Palestinian security forces to stop Palestinian militants from attacking Israelis. In response, Israeli commanders say any major Israeli operations in Gaza have been put on hold to give Abbas time to act.
Here in the United States, an amber alert continues for a missing boy and girl, apparently taken at gunpoint by their parents. Police say Alishia Ann Chambers and James Canter seized an 11-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy from their foster family on Saturday. They're believed to be in western North Carolina or east Tennessee. Officials say they are armed and dangerous.
And turning to sports news, the NFL is down to the final four. In New England yesterday, the Patriots absolutely dominated Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, winning 20-3. There was no offense in this game. And the Philadelphia Eagles are heading for their fourth straight NFC championship game with a 27-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings and Randy Moss's hair...
COLLINS: Yes, it's pretty, isn't it?
COSTELLO: I don't know, I think there's extensions. Don't you think they're extensions? I don't know.
COLLINS: But there's the lineup.
COSTELLO: Oh, there's the lineup. So it's New England at Pittsburgh, Atlanta at Philadelphia. Michael Vick was great! Michael Vick was fantastic.
HEMMER: Playing indoors on turf.
COSTELLO: Well, yes, it was warm in there.
COLLINS: All right, Carol, thanks so much for that. We'll check in a little bit later on.
Meanwhile, though, another very deadly day in Iraq as the January 30th election gets closer. Seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in an attack on a checkpoint and seven Iraqi police died at the hands of a suicide bomber. Sunday, two government officials were assassinated in separate attacks.
And veteran CNN war correspondent Jeff Koinange has been reporting in Iraq for several weeks now. He's been in Baghdad and he's there this morning with perspective on the pre-election violence.
Jeff, hello to you.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN WAR CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Heidi. That's right, the violence does continue. It seems it's unprecedented. With less than two weeks to go before that election, it seems to be on the rise across the country, not just in Baghdad but hot spots around the country, from the Sunni triangle to Basra deep in the south. It seems like it's going on incessantly, Heidi.
COLLINS: As we mentioned, Jeff, you have covered several different wars and rebellions in your career. But you mentioned that there is nothing quite like Iraq. Why? KOINANGE: Absolutely, Heidi. I've covered Africa now for a good ten years and I thought I was a veteran coming into this story. But let me give you a quick story. Flying into Baghdad, as the plane was about to descend before landing, the plane -- you felt the plane literally slowing down and that's because when the plane is 28,000 feet, it has to spiral down to the ground in less than 60 seconds to avoid ground-to-air attacks. So the plane spirals down. You get to the ground and you're dizzy at that. Fine, you make it through customs and immigration. I walk out of the airport with my trolley and my bags. These two burly guys meet me and say hey, put the flak jacket on and this helmet, you're coming with us. Fine, sounds decent enough. I get into this heavily armor-plated vehicle and we're driving down the highway.
And you realize right away, you feel the tension. You feel it. The car right next to you could be suicide bombers targeting western journalists, targeting anyone western, anyone related to this U.S.- backed government. By the time we got to the house the first day, I was so tense, the hair on the back of my neck was rising. My heart was skipping a beat each time. It is so dangerous and so unpredictable, unlike anything I've seen in Africa before -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and I'm sure unbelievably frightening, that's the bottom line. When you talk about the journalism behind it, Jeff, what are the particular challenges there in covering the story from Iraq?
KOINANGE: Well, Heidi, just going out in the streets is a danger. You have to wear your flak jacket all the time, you have to have security around you. And I got to give CNN a plug here because, obviously, security is utmost here. This story is not worth dying for. No story is worth dying for. And in this war alone, what, close to about 60 journalists have died in the last two years since the war began. That's a heavy toll on this profession. So when you go out, you have to know where you're going, how you're going to go about it, how long you're going to be on the streets, because it's a danger.
The guy selling the cigarettes in the street corner or the newspapers, he could be an informant to the insurgents. So you have to be extremely careful every time you go out. But again, the story still has to be told, Heidi, because what, for four decades now, even more than that, this country has been under a nasty dictatorship. And for the very first time, they're getting their chance to vote. And it's a great story to be told, but a story that has to be told with a lot of care -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and their chance to vote coming up less than two weeks away now. From the sense that you get on the ground there, is there any end at the light of the tunnel?
KOINANGE: There's got to be hope, Heidi. At the end of the day, there's got to be hope. For the first time, people are getting a chance to vote for who they want for, not for who they are forced to vote for. They're getting the chance to vote. And again, this is just the beginning. There's going to be other elections later on in the year. They get to write the chapter of their country right now from this day on. And the dictator who ruled this country for decades is completely out of the picture. That gives them hope that one day maybe this country will rise up from the ashes -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Hopefully light in the tunnel for sure. All right. Jeff Koinange, thanks so much for that -- Bill.
HEMMER: President's second inauguration just three days away. The subject of Iraq certainly will be a focus. And the president was asked about that over the weekend. His comments raising some questions in the eyes of some Democrats.
We'll talk about it this morning with Democratic consultant Victor Kamber, back in Miami. Vic, good morning down there.
VICTOR KAMBER, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Also Cliff May, former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies down in D.C. Cliff, good morning to you as well.
CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: And the "Washington Post," here is the quote when asked about accountability on Iraq. "We had an accountability moment," the president said, "and that's called the 2004 elections. The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq and they looked at the two candidates and they chose me and for that I am grateful."
Victor, is that satisfactory to you?
KAMBER: Well, it speaks once again to the arrogance of this gentleman, the president. He clearly won the election, no doubt about that. Although there is some doubt, but there is no doubt about it, he won. But people didn't vote on the Iraqi war, per se. The country was still split 51/49. The bottom line is he won. There's no mandate. There are still questions about his policies and frankly, he should deal with those questions.
HEMMER: Cliff, does this raise any questions, this quote here, or not?
MAY: Well, I disagree with Victor, but in a way, I disagree with the president I think a little bit, too. I think that -- and I've said this to you and to Victor many times in this show -- elections are about the future, not the past. People who voted for the president didn't do so in order to say that every one of his decisions, every one of his policies they agreed with.
They voted for him because they thought he'd make better decisions in the future than would his opponent. Partly because he'd learned from his experience, from his mistakes, from the steep learning curve that he climbed over the past four years.
KAMBER: I didn't know he admitted to mistakes. I thought the only thing he did was have a few words wrong. That's the problem.
MAY: You and I would say don't admit to your mistakes, because all that will happen is the media will crush you and people like you will crush you. But look, everything's not been perfect, but it's been an unprecedented period since 9/11. This was a war we didn't plan for against an enemy we didn't pay attention to over the past 20 years. Those were mistakes, too, made by other presidents, I might point out, Victor.
HEMMER: Cliff, you disagree with some of the statement, right?
MAY: Some of which statement, the president's statement?
HEMMER: Do you disagree with the statement about Social Security, saying it's on the road to bankruptcy? Democrats are stomping their feet on that one as well.
MAY: I think there's no question about it. And we've known that for a long time. In 1997, at his state of the union, President Clinton said we must preserve Social Security for the future. He pointed that out as one of the things that was in danger. We've all known Social Security was in danger. We can kick this can down the road for a few more years, wait for another president, another Congress, to deal with it, but why not deal with it now? We know it's in danger.
HEMMER: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid saying the president's trying to manufacture a crisis. Is he, Victor?
KAMBER: No question.
HEMMER: Or is the truth that this program needs help?
KAMBER: Both. But no question. This man does not know how to lead by ideas. He leads by fear, he tries to scare people into action. The fact is healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, much greater concerns, much more in danger of going bankrupt, much more in danger of having problems before Social Security. As a matter of fact, Medicare by 2019 could literally be bankrupt with cutting services. Social Security, we're looking at 2039. Now, having said that, I'm where Cliff is. We do need to deal with it. But let's deal with it from ideas, from the standpoint of substance, not trying to scare people into actions, which is what this president's doing.
HEMMER: Final word, Cliff?
MAY: Look, anytime you decide on the legislative agenda, you have to say what's most important to fix now and what can you put off for later? I think it's high time we fix Social Security. The baby boomers, people like Victor and me, are coming within the next 10 or 20 years to retirement. If Social Security's not fixed, it will be bad for us, bad for the country.
HEMMER: Thank you, Cliff. Thank you, Victor. Enjoy Miami, by the way. It looks great down there.
KAMBER: Thank you. Planetarium today.
HEMMER: Oh yes? Enjoy that. Thanks, you guys. Here's Heidi. COLLINS: It's that time of year in Hollywood when the stars come out big-time, hitting the red carpet and going for the gold. CNN's Sibila Vargas reports on last night's big event, the 62nd annual Golden Globe awards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTRESS: "The Aviator."
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been the year of the biopic in Hollywood, so maybe it was appropriate that a biopic set in Hollywood won best drama, the story of Howard Hughes. Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor in a drama for portraying the dashing billionaire.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: Thank you, thank you, very, very much.
VARGAS: But it wasn't a clean sweep for "The Aviator." Martin Scorsese lost the best director trophy to Clint Eastwood, the man behind "Million Dollar Baby." The crowd gave him a standing O.
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR AND DIRECTOR: Well, thanks.
VARGAS: Hilary Swank won the second Golden Globe of her career for her work in Eastwood's film.
GOLDIE HAWN, ACTRESS: "Sideways."
VARGAS: In the best musical or comedy category, a movie about wine was the toast of the Globes. "Sideways" also won for best screenplay. As expected, Annette Bening won best actress, musical or comedy, for "Being Julia." No surprise, either, when it came to best actor, musical or comedy.
DIANE KEATON, ACTRESS: OK, of course, Jamie Foxx, "Ray."
JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: Can I just tell you that I am having the ride of my life right now. I am having the ride of my life.
VARGAS (on camera): Of course the Globes honor television as well as film. In the TV comedy categories, it was a golden night for the women of Wisteria Lane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Desperate Housewives."
VARGAS (voice-over): The hit ABC show not only won best comedy, it also earned a trophy for co-star Teri Hatcher.
HATCHER: Can I just say, like, a year ago I was in my pajamas in bed watching this show, eating popcorn.
VARGAS: In one of the night's few surprises, "Nip/Tuck" won best TV drama.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Beverly Hills, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And Robin Williams was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press. He received the Cecil B. DeMille award for career achievement -- Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: So, has CBS zeroed in on a replacement for Dan Rather? "The Cafferty File" coming up on that.
HEMMER: Also, proof positive that a toothache isn't always just a cavity. We're paging Sanjay right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We were going to do something different until we heard about this story. "Paging Dr. Gupta" now this morning on this incredible story of a Colorado man who miraculously survived a four- inch nail shot into his brain. In fact, for six days, Patrick Lawler thought it was only a little toothache before going to the dentist and getting the shock of his life.
Sanjay is here now with more on this. I mean, really? He didn't know for six days that this had happened?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This little hospital in Colorado, I just talked to the neurosurgeons out there. This little hospital in Colorado, they said this is the second time this has happened in two years. Two nails in people's heads. This is about a three-and-a-half inch drill bit. Just gives you a sense of how long this is. Let me tell you how this went in. This went in underneath his lip and then actually went up through his hard palate and into his brain.
COLLINS: How do you not feel that, though?
GUPTA: Well, apparently, it went right through all the soft tissue. It hurt. He said he thought he had a toothache, but actually even after lifting his lip, couldn't see it. It was only on some of the X-rays. We've seen the X-rays images, pretty remarkable. There's the nail after it actually came out. There's the nail sitting through just the back of his eye, sitting right into his brain. You need to get an image both from the side and from the front to be able to tell exactly where this thing is sitting. In this case, just behind his right eye. Pretty remarkable.
COLLINS: Unbelievable. But now, we hear about bizarre stories like this, maybe not nails going into the head, but other objects in the head. It seems like in incredibly difficult to remove them, often times more dangerous?
GUPTA: It can -- it certainly can be. What happens sometimes is that the nail can actually be sitting in one of the blood vessels and the blood vessel won't bleed until you take the nail out or whatever the foreign object is out. So to do the operation, again, we just talked to the neurosurgeons over there. Really, a very big operation to get this done.
They actually have to make an incision across the top of his head and remove chunks of bone from the top of his head, look underneath his brain and see where the nail is actually sitting. At the same time, a doctor is underneath actually pulling the nail out and making sure it comes out without any incident. There's the optic nerve, the nerve that controls your vision sitting right there and the carotid artery is sitting right there as well. Either one of those structures, had they been hit, they could have been a disaster for him. They missed both of them.
COLLINS: Lucky doesn't even describe it, does it?
GUPTA: I know. And he's going to probably be just fine from all this. He's going to be healed and recover very well.
COLLINS: And he's going to be here, believe it or not.
GUPTA: I want to meet him.
COLLINS: Healed and here. We heard from him a little bit earlier in some video this morning. But tomorrow, we do want to remind everybody that Patrick Lawler is going to be our guest on AMERICAN MORNING tomorrow morning.
GUPTA: I'll look forward to it.
COLLINS: Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Yes, thank you.
COLLINS: Bill?
HEMMER: What's in the water out there, Sanjay?
GUPTA: I don't know.
HEMMER: You have two of these?
GUPTA: Twice in two years. We'll have to ask him about that.
HEMMER: We will. Thank you.
CBS reportedly zeroing in on a replacement for Dan Rather. A very familiar face may be at the top of the list. Jack's back with that in "The File" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Here's Jack again.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Bill.
School officials in Palo Alto, California, reconsidering their use of a career day speaker who told a bunch of middle school students that strippers are the ones that make the big bucks. William Freed (ph) told eighth graders at this middle school, Jane Lathrop Middle School (ph) in Palo Alto, that strippers and exotic dancers can earn a quarter of a million dollars a year. These are 13-year-olds. They could probably earn more than that.
The principal said he would send letters of apology home with the students. Despite the uproar, the kids liked this guy, they said he was the most inspiring speaker of any that they had at that career day. The rest of the lineup included a lawyer, a journalist, a pilot and a classical pianist.
The president of Harvard University ought to know better. Lawrence Summers caused an uproar at an academic conference on Friday when he said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason that fewer women succeed in science and math careers.
He did not stop there either. Summers also questioned how much of a role discrimination plays in the lack of female professors in science and engineering at elite universities. One female biologist got up and left early, saying, I would either have blacked out or thrown up.
TIME magazine reporting that CBS has approached "TODAY SHOW" co- host Katie Couric about replacing Dan Rather as anchor of the "CBS EVENING NEWS." Couric still has 16 months left to run on her NBC contract. Although she has not lobbied publicly for the job she has said that a woman should be considered for the post.
Other names rumored on the short list, ABC's Ted Koppel, CBS White House correspondent John Roberts and this guy, my friend, Anderson. We don't have his picture. See, I knew, Ted, this would happen. I knew during the break that this would happen. And that's why I suggested we shouldn't run these pictures.
There's Anderson. And he's actually on the short list. That would be a huge loss for this...
HEMMER: Maybe we ought to get him on our program, ask him about it.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Well, maybe you should.
HEMMER: Stir the pot a little bit.
CAFFERTY: Maybe if he was here live, it would be easier than like putting his picture on the air.
COLLINS: It's a good picture, though. Glad they got it up.
HEMMER: Strippers pay well, strippers?
CAFFERTY: I don't know. All I -- this is everything I have here.
(LAUGHTER) HEMMER: Look, I figured you'd do the research.
CAFFERTY: It's everything I have is on those pages there.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
Top stories in a moment, including the sentencing of the so- called ringleader of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. His parents say he's the scapegoat. Who do they blame? They'll tell us in a moment here after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: President Bush's approval rating up again. TIME magazine's newest poll numbers has the president up to 53 percent from 49 last month. That poll shows Americans are split on Social Security, 45 percent agree with the president the system will go broke and needs immediate repair, 44 percent say the White House warnings are a scare tactic. But slightly 47 percent oppose the private investment proposal and the 44 percent who support it.
Issues of accountability in the Iraq war. The president answers whether or not the White House should be responsible for any mistakes. His answer in a moment here after this, top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The president getting ready for his second term. Now his statements about accountability on Iraq raising questions just three days before his second inauguration.
Reservist Charles Graner sentenced in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal, his parents are out guests today, saying their son was railroaded by the judge.
And a story from the golden age of Hollywood, winning Hollywood gold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIDMAN: "The Aviator."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: A standout, the Golden Globes last night, and we will recap all the winners and losers this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 17, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. 8:30 here in New York. If you're just joining us, welcome here. Soledad is out today. Heidi is here. How you doing?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm doing all right.
HEMMER: Yes? All right?
COLLINS: Big loss yesterday.
HEMMER: Well. Sorry.
COLLINS: We'll get to that later.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Minnesota.
COLLINS: Yes, ugly.
HEMMER: Well, the Iraq elections now less than two weeks away. In a few moments, we'll look at just how dangerous the situation has become there. CNN's Jeff Koinange has covered wars all over Africa. He says nothing has prepared him for this, though. We'll talk to him in a moment from Baghdad.
COLLINS: Also, who's riding high after the Golden Globe awards? We're going to look at the big winners from last night's presentations, including some surprises.
HEMMER: We'll get to that also.
COLLINS: First, though, we want to check the headlines with Carol Costello this morning. Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning to you, as well. Good morning, all of you. "Now in the News," preparations for the upcoming elections in Iraq are taking place this morning here in the United States. Five cities will begin registering names this morning, continuing until next Monday. Detroit, L.A., Nashville, Chicago and Washington. Actual voting will begin on January 28th and continue until the January 30th election in Iraq.
The new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is ordering a stop to violence against Israelis. In a possibly groundbreaking move during today's cabinet meeting, sources say Abbas ordered Palestinian security forces to stop Palestinian militants from attacking Israelis. In response, Israeli commanders say any major Israeli operations in Gaza have been put on hold to give Abbas time to act.
Here in the United States, an amber alert continues for a missing boy and girl, apparently taken at gunpoint by their parents. Police say Alishia Ann Chambers and James Canter seized an 11-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy from their foster family on Saturday. They're believed to be in western North Carolina or east Tennessee. Officials say they are armed and dangerous.
And turning to sports news, the NFL is down to the final four. In New England yesterday, the Patriots absolutely dominated Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, winning 20-3. There was no offense in this game. And the Philadelphia Eagles are heading for their fourth straight NFC championship game with a 27-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings and Randy Moss's hair...
COLLINS: Yes, it's pretty, isn't it?
COSTELLO: I don't know, I think there's extensions. Don't you think they're extensions? I don't know.
COLLINS: But there's the lineup.
COSTELLO: Oh, there's the lineup. So it's New England at Pittsburgh, Atlanta at Philadelphia. Michael Vick was great! Michael Vick was fantastic.
HEMMER: Playing indoors on turf.
COSTELLO: Well, yes, it was warm in there.
COLLINS: All right, Carol, thanks so much for that. We'll check in a little bit later on.
Meanwhile, though, another very deadly day in Iraq as the January 30th election gets closer. Seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in an attack on a checkpoint and seven Iraqi police died at the hands of a suicide bomber. Sunday, two government officials were assassinated in separate attacks.
And veteran CNN war correspondent Jeff Koinange has been reporting in Iraq for several weeks now. He's been in Baghdad and he's there this morning with perspective on the pre-election violence.
Jeff, hello to you.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN WAR CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Heidi. That's right, the violence does continue. It seems it's unprecedented. With less than two weeks to go before that election, it seems to be on the rise across the country, not just in Baghdad but hot spots around the country, from the Sunni triangle to Basra deep in the south. It seems like it's going on incessantly, Heidi.
COLLINS: As we mentioned, Jeff, you have covered several different wars and rebellions in your career. But you mentioned that there is nothing quite like Iraq. Why? KOINANGE: Absolutely, Heidi. I've covered Africa now for a good ten years and I thought I was a veteran coming into this story. But let me give you a quick story. Flying into Baghdad, as the plane was about to descend before landing, the plane -- you felt the plane literally slowing down and that's because when the plane is 28,000 feet, it has to spiral down to the ground in less than 60 seconds to avoid ground-to-air attacks. So the plane spirals down. You get to the ground and you're dizzy at that. Fine, you make it through customs and immigration. I walk out of the airport with my trolley and my bags. These two burly guys meet me and say hey, put the flak jacket on and this helmet, you're coming with us. Fine, sounds decent enough. I get into this heavily armor-plated vehicle and we're driving down the highway.
And you realize right away, you feel the tension. You feel it. The car right next to you could be suicide bombers targeting western journalists, targeting anyone western, anyone related to this U.S.- backed government. By the time we got to the house the first day, I was so tense, the hair on the back of my neck was rising. My heart was skipping a beat each time. It is so dangerous and so unpredictable, unlike anything I've seen in Africa before -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and I'm sure unbelievably frightening, that's the bottom line. When you talk about the journalism behind it, Jeff, what are the particular challenges there in covering the story from Iraq?
KOINANGE: Well, Heidi, just going out in the streets is a danger. You have to wear your flak jacket all the time, you have to have security around you. And I got to give CNN a plug here because, obviously, security is utmost here. This story is not worth dying for. No story is worth dying for. And in this war alone, what, close to about 60 journalists have died in the last two years since the war began. That's a heavy toll on this profession. So when you go out, you have to know where you're going, how you're going to go about it, how long you're going to be on the streets, because it's a danger.
The guy selling the cigarettes in the street corner or the newspapers, he could be an informant to the insurgents. So you have to be extremely careful every time you go out. But again, the story still has to be told, Heidi, because what, for four decades now, even more than that, this country has been under a nasty dictatorship. And for the very first time, they're getting their chance to vote. And it's a great story to be told, but a story that has to be told with a lot of care -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and their chance to vote coming up less than two weeks away now. From the sense that you get on the ground there, is there any end at the light of the tunnel?
KOINANGE: There's got to be hope, Heidi. At the end of the day, there's got to be hope. For the first time, people are getting a chance to vote for who they want for, not for who they are forced to vote for. They're getting the chance to vote. And again, this is just the beginning. There's going to be other elections later on in the year. They get to write the chapter of their country right now from this day on. And the dictator who ruled this country for decades is completely out of the picture. That gives them hope that one day maybe this country will rise up from the ashes -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Hopefully light in the tunnel for sure. All right. Jeff Koinange, thanks so much for that -- Bill.
HEMMER: President's second inauguration just three days away. The subject of Iraq certainly will be a focus. And the president was asked about that over the weekend. His comments raising some questions in the eyes of some Democrats.
We'll talk about it this morning with Democratic consultant Victor Kamber, back in Miami. Vic, good morning down there.
VICTOR KAMBER, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Also Cliff May, former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies down in D.C. Cliff, good morning to you as well.
CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: And the "Washington Post," here is the quote when asked about accountability on Iraq. "We had an accountability moment," the president said, "and that's called the 2004 elections. The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq and they looked at the two candidates and they chose me and for that I am grateful."
Victor, is that satisfactory to you?
KAMBER: Well, it speaks once again to the arrogance of this gentleman, the president. He clearly won the election, no doubt about that. Although there is some doubt, but there is no doubt about it, he won. But people didn't vote on the Iraqi war, per se. The country was still split 51/49. The bottom line is he won. There's no mandate. There are still questions about his policies and frankly, he should deal with those questions.
HEMMER: Cliff, does this raise any questions, this quote here, or not?
MAY: Well, I disagree with Victor, but in a way, I disagree with the president I think a little bit, too. I think that -- and I've said this to you and to Victor many times in this show -- elections are about the future, not the past. People who voted for the president didn't do so in order to say that every one of his decisions, every one of his policies they agreed with.
They voted for him because they thought he'd make better decisions in the future than would his opponent. Partly because he'd learned from his experience, from his mistakes, from the steep learning curve that he climbed over the past four years.
KAMBER: I didn't know he admitted to mistakes. I thought the only thing he did was have a few words wrong. That's the problem.
MAY: You and I would say don't admit to your mistakes, because all that will happen is the media will crush you and people like you will crush you. But look, everything's not been perfect, but it's been an unprecedented period since 9/11. This was a war we didn't plan for against an enemy we didn't pay attention to over the past 20 years. Those were mistakes, too, made by other presidents, I might point out, Victor.
HEMMER: Cliff, you disagree with some of the statement, right?
MAY: Some of which statement, the president's statement?
HEMMER: Do you disagree with the statement about Social Security, saying it's on the road to bankruptcy? Democrats are stomping their feet on that one as well.
MAY: I think there's no question about it. And we've known that for a long time. In 1997, at his state of the union, President Clinton said we must preserve Social Security for the future. He pointed that out as one of the things that was in danger. We've all known Social Security was in danger. We can kick this can down the road for a few more years, wait for another president, another Congress, to deal with it, but why not deal with it now? We know it's in danger.
HEMMER: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid saying the president's trying to manufacture a crisis. Is he, Victor?
KAMBER: No question.
HEMMER: Or is the truth that this program needs help?
KAMBER: Both. But no question. This man does not know how to lead by ideas. He leads by fear, he tries to scare people into action. The fact is healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, much greater concerns, much more in danger of going bankrupt, much more in danger of having problems before Social Security. As a matter of fact, Medicare by 2019 could literally be bankrupt with cutting services. Social Security, we're looking at 2039. Now, having said that, I'm where Cliff is. We do need to deal with it. But let's deal with it from ideas, from the standpoint of substance, not trying to scare people into actions, which is what this president's doing.
HEMMER: Final word, Cliff?
MAY: Look, anytime you decide on the legislative agenda, you have to say what's most important to fix now and what can you put off for later? I think it's high time we fix Social Security. The baby boomers, people like Victor and me, are coming within the next 10 or 20 years to retirement. If Social Security's not fixed, it will be bad for us, bad for the country.
HEMMER: Thank you, Cliff. Thank you, Victor. Enjoy Miami, by the way. It looks great down there.
KAMBER: Thank you. Planetarium today.
HEMMER: Oh yes? Enjoy that. Thanks, you guys. Here's Heidi. COLLINS: It's that time of year in Hollywood when the stars come out big-time, hitting the red carpet and going for the gold. CNN's Sibila Vargas reports on last night's big event, the 62nd annual Golden Globe awards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTRESS: "The Aviator."
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been the year of the biopic in Hollywood, so maybe it was appropriate that a biopic set in Hollywood won best drama, the story of Howard Hughes. Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor in a drama for portraying the dashing billionaire.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: Thank you, thank you, very, very much.
VARGAS: But it wasn't a clean sweep for "The Aviator." Martin Scorsese lost the best director trophy to Clint Eastwood, the man behind "Million Dollar Baby." The crowd gave him a standing O.
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR AND DIRECTOR: Well, thanks.
VARGAS: Hilary Swank won the second Golden Globe of her career for her work in Eastwood's film.
GOLDIE HAWN, ACTRESS: "Sideways."
VARGAS: In the best musical or comedy category, a movie about wine was the toast of the Globes. "Sideways" also won for best screenplay. As expected, Annette Bening won best actress, musical or comedy, for "Being Julia." No surprise, either, when it came to best actor, musical or comedy.
DIANE KEATON, ACTRESS: OK, of course, Jamie Foxx, "Ray."
JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: Can I just tell you that I am having the ride of my life right now. I am having the ride of my life.
VARGAS (on camera): Of course the Globes honor television as well as film. In the TV comedy categories, it was a golden night for the women of Wisteria Lane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Desperate Housewives."
VARGAS (voice-over): The hit ABC show not only won best comedy, it also earned a trophy for co-star Teri Hatcher.
HATCHER: Can I just say, like, a year ago I was in my pajamas in bed watching this show, eating popcorn.
VARGAS: In one of the night's few surprises, "Nip/Tuck" won best TV drama.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Beverly Hills, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And Robin Williams was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press. He received the Cecil B. DeMille award for career achievement -- Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: So, has CBS zeroed in on a replacement for Dan Rather? "The Cafferty File" coming up on that.
HEMMER: Also, proof positive that a toothache isn't always just a cavity. We're paging Sanjay right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We were going to do something different until we heard about this story. "Paging Dr. Gupta" now this morning on this incredible story of a Colorado man who miraculously survived a four- inch nail shot into his brain. In fact, for six days, Patrick Lawler thought it was only a little toothache before going to the dentist and getting the shock of his life.
Sanjay is here now with more on this. I mean, really? He didn't know for six days that this had happened?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This little hospital in Colorado, I just talked to the neurosurgeons out there. This little hospital in Colorado, they said this is the second time this has happened in two years. Two nails in people's heads. This is about a three-and-a-half inch drill bit. Just gives you a sense of how long this is. Let me tell you how this went in. This went in underneath his lip and then actually went up through his hard palate and into his brain.
COLLINS: How do you not feel that, though?
GUPTA: Well, apparently, it went right through all the soft tissue. It hurt. He said he thought he had a toothache, but actually even after lifting his lip, couldn't see it. It was only on some of the X-rays. We've seen the X-rays images, pretty remarkable. There's the nail after it actually came out. There's the nail sitting through just the back of his eye, sitting right into his brain. You need to get an image both from the side and from the front to be able to tell exactly where this thing is sitting. In this case, just behind his right eye. Pretty remarkable.
COLLINS: Unbelievable. But now, we hear about bizarre stories like this, maybe not nails going into the head, but other objects in the head. It seems like in incredibly difficult to remove them, often times more dangerous?
GUPTA: It can -- it certainly can be. What happens sometimes is that the nail can actually be sitting in one of the blood vessels and the blood vessel won't bleed until you take the nail out or whatever the foreign object is out. So to do the operation, again, we just talked to the neurosurgeons over there. Really, a very big operation to get this done.
They actually have to make an incision across the top of his head and remove chunks of bone from the top of his head, look underneath his brain and see where the nail is actually sitting. At the same time, a doctor is underneath actually pulling the nail out and making sure it comes out without any incident. There's the optic nerve, the nerve that controls your vision sitting right there and the carotid artery is sitting right there as well. Either one of those structures, had they been hit, they could have been a disaster for him. They missed both of them.
COLLINS: Lucky doesn't even describe it, does it?
GUPTA: I know. And he's going to probably be just fine from all this. He's going to be healed and recover very well.
COLLINS: And he's going to be here, believe it or not.
GUPTA: I want to meet him.
COLLINS: Healed and here. We heard from him a little bit earlier in some video this morning. But tomorrow, we do want to remind everybody that Patrick Lawler is going to be our guest on AMERICAN MORNING tomorrow morning.
GUPTA: I'll look forward to it.
COLLINS: Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Yes, thank you.
COLLINS: Bill?
HEMMER: What's in the water out there, Sanjay?
GUPTA: I don't know.
HEMMER: You have two of these?
GUPTA: Twice in two years. We'll have to ask him about that.
HEMMER: We will. Thank you.
CBS reportedly zeroing in on a replacement for Dan Rather. A very familiar face may be at the top of the list. Jack's back with that in "The File" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Here's Jack again.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Bill.
School officials in Palo Alto, California, reconsidering their use of a career day speaker who told a bunch of middle school students that strippers are the ones that make the big bucks. William Freed (ph) told eighth graders at this middle school, Jane Lathrop Middle School (ph) in Palo Alto, that strippers and exotic dancers can earn a quarter of a million dollars a year. These are 13-year-olds. They could probably earn more than that.
The principal said he would send letters of apology home with the students. Despite the uproar, the kids liked this guy, they said he was the most inspiring speaker of any that they had at that career day. The rest of the lineup included a lawyer, a journalist, a pilot and a classical pianist.
The president of Harvard University ought to know better. Lawrence Summers caused an uproar at an academic conference on Friday when he said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason that fewer women succeed in science and math careers.
He did not stop there either. Summers also questioned how much of a role discrimination plays in the lack of female professors in science and engineering at elite universities. One female biologist got up and left early, saying, I would either have blacked out or thrown up.
TIME magazine reporting that CBS has approached "TODAY SHOW" co- host Katie Couric about replacing Dan Rather as anchor of the "CBS EVENING NEWS." Couric still has 16 months left to run on her NBC contract. Although she has not lobbied publicly for the job she has said that a woman should be considered for the post.
Other names rumored on the short list, ABC's Ted Koppel, CBS White House correspondent John Roberts and this guy, my friend, Anderson. We don't have his picture. See, I knew, Ted, this would happen. I knew during the break that this would happen. And that's why I suggested we shouldn't run these pictures.
There's Anderson. And he's actually on the short list. That would be a huge loss for this...
HEMMER: Maybe we ought to get him on our program, ask him about it.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Well, maybe you should.
HEMMER: Stir the pot a little bit.
CAFFERTY: Maybe if he was here live, it would be easier than like putting his picture on the air.
COLLINS: It's a good picture, though. Glad they got it up.
HEMMER: Strippers pay well, strippers?
CAFFERTY: I don't know. All I -- this is everything I have here.
(LAUGHTER) HEMMER: Look, I figured you'd do the research.
CAFFERTY: It's everything I have is on those pages there.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
Top stories in a moment, including the sentencing of the so- called ringleader of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. His parents say he's the scapegoat. Who do they blame? They'll tell us in a moment here after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: President Bush's approval rating up again. TIME magazine's newest poll numbers has the president up to 53 percent from 49 last month. That poll shows Americans are split on Social Security, 45 percent agree with the president the system will go broke and needs immediate repair, 44 percent say the White House warnings are a scare tactic. But slightly 47 percent oppose the private investment proposal and the 44 percent who support it.
Issues of accountability in the Iraq war. The president answers whether or not the White House should be responsible for any mistakes. His answer in a moment here after this, top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The president getting ready for his second term. Now his statements about accountability on Iraq raising questions just three days before his second inauguration.
Reservist Charles Graner sentenced in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal, his parents are out guests today, saying their son was railroaded by the judge.
And a story from the golden age of Hollywood, winning Hollywood gold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIDMAN: "The Aviator."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: A standout, the Golden Globes last night, and we will recap all the winners and losers this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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