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The Situation Room

Debate Continues Over Iraq Withdrawal; Holiday Crunch Hits Home; Hillary vs. Condoleezza in 2008?

Aired November 23, 2005 - 16:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information from around the world are arriving all the time.

Happening now, the Thanksgiving rush is on. We're live at major airports and we're watching the roads and the weather.

Stay right here to find out if the going will be smooth or slow or snowy.

Also this hour, new takes on when U.S. troops in Iraq may start to come home. The Pentagon is hinting at a timetable, while protesters are keeping the pressure on President Bush.

And it's hard to imagine a more fascinating matchup. Would voters buy a Condoleezza Rice versus Hillary Clinton presidential race? Even Oprah apparently has an opinion on this one.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Thanks for joining us. Wolf is off today.

At a time when Americans are flocking home for the holiday, many also are wondering when the troops in Iraq can get home.

On this Thanksgiving eve, we have new details on the possible timing, the anti-war protests dogging President Bush and the scorching political climate.

Our reporters are standing by -- chief national correspondent John King, Elaine Quijano is with the president.

But first, our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, what have we got?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, there's still an awful lot of ifs, ands and buts in this entire calculation.

Here's how it goes -- if the violence goes down in Iraq, if the December elections are successful and if the Iraqi security forces can take on more responsibility, well, then U.S. military commanders may then recommend a reduction in troop levels beginning in 2006. It will be gradual. It will be phased. First, about 20,000 troops, extra troops that are now there to deal with the December elections, they would be the first to come home.

Then there is indeed an option to bring the force level down to about 100,000 over the year 2006, but commanders are emphasizing it will be gradual. It will be very phased and it will absolutely depend, they say, on the conditions on the ground, on the situation in Iraq.

But the bottom line now is every military commander we speak to, all of them express concern that the debate, the politics and the rancor about all of this may eventually affect troop morale and worry military families.

And that is something, Ali, that commanders are extremely concerned about on this holiday weekend.

VELSHI: Now, Barbara, in America, this may be a matter of nuance. Because as you said, it depends on a number of things happening before a decision on a pullout is made.

How far have things shifted with the people you are talking to as a result of the pressure on the administration right now? How much further are these generals, say, today than they would have been a week or two ago?

STARR: Well, the generals that we speak to, the senior military commanders are adamant that they will stick with their best military advice, and if the politicians don't like, well, that's too bad; that they will stick with their best military advice.

And ultimately, the bottom line for senior commanders is that a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq, something too hasty, something driven by political concerns rather than military strategy, they say would be a disaster -- that Iraq could implode into civil war.

And that is also a line that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is holding to very, very strongly. It will depend on conditions on the ground. It will be after the December 15th elections that General John Abizaid and General George Casey will make that recommendation to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and then he will go to the president.

That they want it very much to be based on what they really consider their best military advice.

VELSHI: OK.

A decision may be a little more than two weeks away, but as we know, this situation changes rapidly.

We'll see you again in the next hour.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

The situation on the ground is what this is about. And an influential Senate Democrat is on the ground in Iraq right now. He's warning against pulling out of U.S. -- pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq while Iraqi troops are still being trained.

Senator Joe Lieberman says a quick withdrawal could be, in his words, "catastrophic."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

U.S. SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT): The cost of successfully completing our mission here will be large in terms of American lives lost and money spent.

But the cost of failure or defeat here would be catastrophic for us in the U.S., for the Iraqis, of course, and I believe for the entire Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: However, most Americans remain eager to see a troop pullout.

A Harris poll taken earlier this month shows that just 35 percent of the public wants to keep a large number of troops in Iraq; 63 percent say they want to bring most troops home in the next year.

Now, a dozen anti-war protesters were arrested today near the president's Texas ranch. They're back in Crawford now that Mr. Bush is back for Thanksgiving.

Elaine Quijano is with the president in Crawford -- Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali. Good afternoon to you.

President Bush arrived here in Texas last night. He'll be spending the Thanksgiving holiday and the holiday weekend at his ranch. Joining him, of course, the first lady, Laura Bush, and their twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara Bush.

Also we understand, guests for Thanksgiving, the president's parents.

But some unwelcome visitors near the president's property as well. Early this morning, in fact, about two dozen protesters gathered on the road leading to the president's ranch. They set up tents, brought blankets and other gear.

Yet a new county ordinance basically bans camping and parking alongside the road in certain areas. So the local McLennan County sheriff's deputies warned the demonstrators several times before moving in and arresting about a dozen of them.

Now, roughly a dozen or so other protesters decided they would move on before being arrested, but among those who was arrested was the sister of Cindy Sheehan. Now, Cindy Sheehan, of course, the anti-war activist whose son Casey was killed in Iraq and who first brought her protest here to Crawford last August.

Now, Sheehan is expected to be here later this week.

Until then, demonstrators are also maintaining a presence near the president's ranch at a spot where they're allowed to be, a spot that they have now dubbed Camp Casey. It's a private property where they have gotten permission to camp out.

But Cindy Sheehan has continued to argue for a complete U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, an idea that has gotten renewed attention after comments from Democratic Congressman John Murtha.

But the Bush administration, Ali, as you know, continuing to insist that pulling out too quickly would be a mistake, in their view -- Ali?

VELSHI: Elaine, you mentioned Cindy Sheehan.

Back in August, those demonstrations that we were seeing then, those gatherings at Crawford -- how is this different from that? Have they got the wind at their sails now that public sentiment seems to be shifting?

QUIJANO: Well, right now it's definitely scaled back.

But as I said, she's not here yet. Her sister Dee Dee (ph) is here. And at this point what they really are looking at is not just sending a message to President Bush, we should say, about the Iraq war but also to the local McLennan County commissioners who imposed this ordinance. They very well knew that the area where they were going to be protesting today, that they could, in fact, be in jeopardy there.

But at the same time, they are determined. They also have their signs up that say they want President Bush to come out and meet with Cindy Sheehan, but at this point they don't have the numbers near where they were back in August when Cindy Sheehan was here -- Ali?

VELSHI: Elaine, thanks for that. We will check in with you later.

Elaine Quijano in Crawford, Texas, with the president.

Well, there has been a perceptible change in the tone from the Bush administration on the subject of the troop pullout from Iraq, when it can begin, if it will begin.

Our chief national correspondent John King got that sense when he sat down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday.

John, how real is this shift in tone that we're hearing?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Quite dramatic, Ali. The administration now much more open and much more optimistic about not only the possibility but the planning to bring at least some U.S. troops home beginning early next year.

You mentioned that sitdown with the secretary of state yesterday. I asked her a question about administration critics, and she in the answer -- unsolicited in the answer, I had not mentioned specifically bringing troops home -- Condoleezza Rice brought it up in quite an optimistic tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I suspect that the -- that American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they're there for all that much longer, because the Iraqis are continuing to make progress in function, not just in numbers, but in their capabilities to do certain functions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, that optimistic tone there is quite striking and her forward, open-speaking about bringing troops home quite striking in that it's different from how the president has tended to talk about this.

The president has actually bristled when he's asked about, "When will you bring the troops home?" He says setting any specific timetable, even discussing it in public could send the wrong signal to the enemy, essentially allow the enemy to hunker down knowing U.S. troops were leaving.

Listen to the president's tone -- having heard the secretary of state, listen now to the president just a few days ago at a U.S. military base in South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So long as I'm the commander-in-chief, our strategy in Iraq will be driven by the sober judgment of our military commanders on the ground.

We will fight the terrorists in Iraq. We will stay in the fight until we have achieved the brave -- the victory that our brave troops have fought for.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, administration officials across the board say those ifs that Barbara Starr discussed at the top of the show are still in place. It all depends on the December elections going well, on the Iraqis being better trained and ready to take over security, more progress in the political environment as well.

And yet, Ali, those ifs have been in place for quite a long time and it is because of those ifs the administration has refused to show a signal that it is planning to bring the troops home soon.

Now we know there's a plan circulating, perhaps as many as 60,000 next year, and we also have concessions from senior administration officials in private conversations.

One of the reasons they are more open in being willing to talk about this, is that they understand they have a dramatically changed political environment, the war is unpopular, and the president is under a lot of public pressure from Democrats and some private pressure from Republicans to be much more specific about an exit strategy.

VELSHI: All right, John, so the president has set this very high standard, the victory in Iraq standard. Meanwhile, we have to make a shift. The White House has to make a shift to the -- maybe it makes sense to start bringing people home.

What's the strategy, so that they go from the president's seemingly hard line to what you got from Secretary Rice, without looking like they were pushed into this or pressured by the Democrats?

KING: The strategy is to insist they are doing this for the right reasons, not the political reasons, to insist that they are doing it because, as the president has consistently, the goal of having all the troops there is to get more progress toward democracy.

This will be the third set of elections. If they go well, the president will say, progress means we can start thinking about coming home. If more Iraqis are trained, he will say, "I have always said, when the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."

What's interesting is that he's been reluctant to talk about the troops coming home until those standards were met. Now they're willing to talk about it, as those standards are, the administration says, "close to being met."

Look for the president, if things go well in December, as Barbara noted, the generals will come to brief the defense secretary, look for them to come to the White House, as well. Perhaps late December, most likely the middle of January, and then by the State of the Union address, the president, if all goes well -- and again, it's a big if -- will start saying, "we're going to start bringing some troops home."

VELSHI: John King, senior national correspondent. Thanks for joining us, we'll talk to you afterwards. John King joining us.

Now coming up, holiday airline traffic from coast-to-coast. Are you going to be delayed? Are you delayed right now? We are live at airports in New York and Los Angeles.

We're also keeping a tab on the roads. Will your drive be hampered by snow? A weather update coming up.

And, lots of people know them simply by their first name, Hillary and Oprah. We'll tell you what one has to do with the other, and with Senator Clinton's political future.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: And more than 37 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home, during this Thanksgiving holiday. Now if you're stuck at the airport or in traffic, it might actually feel like all 37 million of them are right there with you.

Check out the flight information board at LaGuardia Airport over here. We have a number of on-time flights, which is good news. But you'll see in yellow there, a number of delays as well. We are live at LaGuardia.

We've also good a camera that had a look at flight status board at LAX, Los Angeles airport. The airlines there, busier than normal, as well. And we'll be hearing from travelers at LAX about how things are looking.

Now, the airlines say that there are crowds, there are long lines, and some delays. We are going to be following that at scene the airports and at -- on the roads across the country. A lot of this is being caused by weather.

Let's have a look at the FAA's chart of all of the flights in the air right now, all of the planes in the air right now. When you look at this board, this is over on the right-hand side of your screen. You can't even tell that that's a flight chart, because it is so crowded with flights in the air. Things are pretty crazy out there. That is, however, normal for Thanksgiving air, for Thanksgiving Eve.

Now in the roads, it is especially slow-going for drivers in Maine, also in the Midwest and other parts of the nation where snow has been falling. Gas prices are down from record highs. Many Americans aren't filling up and they've decided to take that drive for the holiday weekend.

They'll be paying about 37 cents more per gallon than they were at the same time last year. Now, we have reporters stationed at big airports on the East and West Coast. Chris Lawrence is at Los Angeles Airport, LAX.

Allan Chernoff is at LaGuardia. Let's start on the East Coast, Allan is in New York. Allan, how's it going at LaGuardia?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The airport was very busy yesterday afternoon, busy even this morning. And as you can see, we do have a little bit of a crowd, people looking at the board over here. And these are the folks getting ready to go through security.

There are some delays. We've got delays of an hour out to Cleveland, out to Detroit, and more delays on arrivals. A good number of arrival delays, which is typical for LaGuardia, more than an hour from Cleveland. Houston, St. Louis, and Miami, also one-hour delays. But nothing catastrophic at this point. Frankly, I've had a lot of trouble finding anyone here who is upset with the situation. Thanksgiving evening, of course, people anticipating that they probably would have to wait a little bit before getting their flight out for tomorrow's big feast. Ali?

VELSHI: Allan, we'll keep checking in with you at LaGuardia.

Let's take it to Los Angeles. Chris Lawrence is at LAX, where -- another busy airport for people going home.

Chris, what's the situation at LAX looking like?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, Ali, it's not that bad at all. I mean, here at the drop-off point, cars are moving pretty well. And I've seen this area, too, where sometimes you've got stacked two, three across. So, nothing like that out there today.

Funny thing, too, because even though the gas prices are dropping, we're still paying more now, than we were in other Thanksgiving's past. You would think is might push a lot more people into flying, but folks here at LAX tell us that a lot more families are taking the entire week off. So, it's stretching out that travel, making it so not everyone is trying to get out on the day before Thanksgiving.

Also, you've got about the same number of people flying this year as last, about two million people this week. But they've added more security lines. Probably that case in a lot of airports around the country. Same number of people, more security lines, you get through a lot faster.

Good thing, too, because a lot of these airlines are really starting to enforce their policy on cutoffs. So, you know, what you want to do is, they're all different, some 15 minutes, some an hour. What you want to do is call ahead to your airline, find out what time the cutoff is. Save you the hassle of actually getting out here and finding out you didn't check in on time.

If you've got access to a home computer, just go ahead and print that boarding pass out. But again, taking a look at the big board, we've got a few arrival delays, coming out of the Midwest from, like, Chicago O'Hare, but when you're talking about departures out here from the West Coast, everything right now looks to be on time.

VELSHI: You're getting arrival delays from cities where there is some weather problem, and there are some delays. It's kind of interesting that, at least with the West Coast not hit by cancellations and weather problems, it looks like things are going pretty smoothly. The airlines say as many people are traveling this year as last. It's interesting, because the scene behind you doesn't necessarily look like Thanksgiving Eve.

LAWRENCE: No, it's funny, Ali. I just flew back in here from Seattle yesterday, and it was way more crowded yesterday than it was today. I've been -- that security line up there is not long at all. I've been in this airport, flown out this terminal so many times where that security line was backed up all the way to the escalator. Nothing like that today.

VELSHI: All right, Chris Lawrence and Allan Chernoff. Chris is at LAX, Allan is at LaGuardia, we will be checking in with them over the course of the next hour, almost two hours.

This is the place to check if want to know how airports are doing. We have coverage at airports. Now, for more on holiday travel and some holiday weather, let's turn to our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton. Abbi, what are you looking at?

ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Ali, you can check on these conditions on the roads if you've got a relative coming in or if you're about to hit the road yourself, by going online.

We're looking at a series of state department of transportation Web sites here. Many of them, like this one in New Jersey, have live streaming traffic cams. You can pinpoint the area you want to look at and go right there.

Now, look at some of the areas where there is snow on the ground, snow falling right now. Going here to buckeyetraffic.org, this is traffic cams around Ohio. This is the area around Columbus. You can zoom in there, find the area you want. This is I-70 here, looking at some of the conditions right there.

Many of the states have these maps. You can look along the area that you're specifically interested in. Click on the camera to the road that you're looking at. This is around Charlotte right now, where you can see the road's pretty busy right now -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Abbi, we'll keep checking in on the weather and the situation on the roads now.

Things are going to slow you down either at the airports or on the roads. The weather might be one of those things.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

VELSHI: And we will continue to check in with our reporters at the airports. We'll check the conditions on the road and the weather around the country.

If you are traveling home for this holiday season, stay with us. CNN is the place to be.

THE SITUATION ROOM has live coverage.

Still ahead, new bird flu developments -- the deadly virus has claimed another human life. Those details next.

Plus, religion and sports. Should special areas be set aside for those who want to pray? The controversy in today's culture wars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (NEWS BREAK)

VELSHI: Here's what's happening right now in the "Culture Wars."

The Indiana Supreme Court today upheld the state's abortion waiting period law. Now, it requires women seeking an abortion to get in-person counseling about medical risks and alternatives. It was a 4-1 vote. The state high court ruled that the law did not place a material burden on any constitutional right to an abortion or the right to privacy.

In Massachusetts, supporters of a ban on gay marriage say they've collected more signatures than they need to get the proposed amendment on the ballot in 2008. They're planning to turn their petitions in before tomorrow's deadline. The state legislature has given its initial approval to a gay marriage ban, but that measure would legalize civil unions. The proposed measure would not.

A follow-up to a story we told you about in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Officials at Giants Stadium in New York say a special area will be set aside there for people who wish to pray. Now, several Muslim fans seen praying at the stadium in September were detained and questioned by the FBI. Stadium officials say they took the complaints about that seriously.

Up next, the politics of the Iraq mission.

The president's been feeling the heat. But do Democrats have a battle plan?

And are Americans ready for an all-female presidential race?

Our Bill Schneider has been looking at the Rice versus Clinton polls and he's been listening to Oprah Winfrey.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Tomorrow, millions of Americans will gather with loved ones to enjoy hearty meals for Thanksgiving. And if the dinner conversation turns to politics, a likely topic could be the state of the war in Iraq.

So here to talk about that are radio talk show host Bill Press and Terry Jeffrey, the editor of weekly "Human Events."

Gentlemen, good to see you.

TERRY JEFFREY, HUMAN EVENTS: It's good to be here.

VELSHI: Bill, this has been an interesting, interesting week for Democrats. Congressman Murtha, really a lot of attention surrounding him, but now we've got Senator Lieberman, also a Democrat, in Iraq on the ground right now. And one of the things he said today was that most of the people in Congress of both political parties know that we've invested a lot here in Iraq, we want it to be completed successfully, because it's important to our security and our progress in the war against terrorism.

Do the Democrats really need a mixed message right now?

BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: We're a big-tent party, Ali, you know? I mean, there's room for people to support the war, room for people who say, hey, the war's gone on long enough, it's time to bring them home.

I think Joe Lieberman is wrong; I think John Murtha is right. Joe Lieberman supported the war in the beginning. I think what's interesting is I think even Joe Lieberman now is out of sync with the administration.

I mean, as you just showed at the top of the hour, the Bush administration is feeling the heat. They're starting to talk about -- Condi Rice is talking about, "We're going to soon be bringing troops home." And Joe Lieberman is over in Iraq saying, "No, no, no. We've got to keep them here."

I think Joe better come home and watch THE SITUATION ROOM and get up to date.

VELSHI: Terry, I don't know who wins the award for mixed messages this week, because, as Bill said, the president and his secretary of state are sending different messages.

JEFFREY: Well, I think they are, but I think that Joe Lieberman is a responsive voice in this debate. He's the guy who sponsored the original resolution for Congress to authorize the war to go into Iraq.

Once we made that commitment as a country, I think we had to follow through to the point where there's a stable government on the ground in Baghdad that doesn't threaten us or its neighbors.

I think this week there's been significant progress towards that in Cairo, where the Arab League conference put together Sunnis, who have backing the insurgency there, and Shiites, who are going to dominate the next government. They seemed to come together in a fairly amiable way. And once they do that, we can get our troops out of there.

PRESS: What they did say, though, is they said there should be a time -- they want foreign troops -- that's us -- out of Iraq. Now, the president always said, when the new government says, "We want you out," we'll leave, all right? They've said it, all right? Let's do it.

JEFFREY: All of them are saying that -- they're not saying -- they don't want troops out immediately. They want a stable political situation. The other good thing is they seem to be isolating Zarqawi. Even the Sunnis that have been backing the insurgency, they're drawing a distinction between people who are combatants fighting the United States and Zarqawi, who they describe as a terrorist.

Now, if we can get those Sunnis into an agreement with the Shias, where they can form a stable government, then our troops can come home. And I think everybody wants that to happen at the soonest possible moment.

VELSHI: Let's take it back to what the administration might want to do about getting their agenda back on. Senator Barack Obama yesterday in Chicago -- and he's been commenting a lot on what's been going on in the last week in Congress -- said, "I think the president could take the politics out of this one once and for all if he would simply go on television and say to the American people, 'Yes, we made mistakes. Yes, there are things I would have done differently, but now that I'm here I'm willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats to find the most responsible way out.'"

Bill, what should the president do? Is this good advice for the president?

PRESS: I think the president should do exactly what Barack Obama says. Go on television and say, "Look, we went with the best of intentions, but clearly we made a mistake. Things are not working there, but the good news is the Iraqi government has now taken over, and we're going to start bringing our troops home. And here's our timetable for doing so."

That's what the president ought to do. Unfortunately, I think he is genetically incapable of ever admitting he made a mistake about anything.

JEFFREY: No, the principle mistakes that were made here were mistakes of intelligence. We've had two investigations, the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, the Robb-Silberman investigation, that said the intelligence was wrong but it was not politically manipulated.

We had members of both parties -- we had the administration, including Democrats in Congress, who authorized the war. The key now is getting a political situation in Iraq that allows us to bring our troops home. Until that political situation is there, we can't bring the troops home.

PRESS: I must say that -- we hear that over and over again -- it is simply not true: The Senate did not even pick up yet and begin their investigation into whether or not the intelligence was manipulated, Terry.

And the Robb-Silberman Commission...

(CROSSTALK)

PRESS: ... the chairman of it said: Our job was not to look into the possible manipulation of intelligence, but just into the intelligence itself.

We know more and more now that what the White House was given, the American people were not told and the Congress were not told. The White House cherry-picked the intelligence that went to the Congress.

JEFFREY: Wait a minute. No, that's just not true. The Robb- Silberman -- I invite people to read it.

PRESS: I've read it!

JEFFREY: Everybody can look at it on the Internet. The Robb- Silberman commission says that the presidential daily briefs, which are the format the president got the intelligence in, had the same problems as the national intelligence estimates that that went to Congress, only in a more magnified manner.

But the Senate Intelligence Committee report and the Robb- Silberman report said that there were no intelligence analysts anywhere in the U.S. intelligence community who said their conclusions were coerced or were pressured by politicians or influenced by politicians.

PRESS: That's not -- if I can, that's not...

JEFFREY: They honestly came to the wrong conclusion.

VELSHI: Guys...

PRESS: But I have to say that's not the same as saying: The White House did not manipulate the intelligence. They did not look out -- the White House did cherry-pick the intelligence.

VELSHI: You guys have made complicated issues. You've given it some clarity. And hopefully, others are watching that are taking some good advice from both, as well.

PRESS: Happy Thanksgiving.

VELSHI: Bill Press, radio talk show host, and Terry Jeffrey, the editor of "Human Events." Thanks so much, gentlemen.

JEFFREY: Good to be here.

PRESS: All right, great.

VELSHI: Coming up, when Oprah Winfrey talks, millions of people listen. So what will people think of her unofficial endorsement of a well-known politician for president? We'll tell you who Oprah could be putting her money on.

And he's a long-term senator. He's run for president. And now he's the foreman of a jury. We'll tell you about Senator Kerry's latest job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: This just in to CNN, and it is a good news story: Mardi Gras will go on in 2006.

We are just getting in from New Orleans at a live conference that Mardi Gras will take place over eight days in 2006. It will take place on February the 18th and the 19th. That's a Saturday and a Sunday. It will restart again on February the 23rd and then run until February the 28th, which is, of course, the end of Mardi Gras, the end of Lent.

Mardi Gras will take place in 2006, an eight-day Mardi Gras. The parades, which are a centerpiece of Mardi Gras, will take place. This has been something that business leaders and New Orleans citizens have been hoping would happen almost as a marking point for the regeneration of New Orleans.

That announcement coming out of New Orleans now, just in to CNN: Mardi Gras will take place in 2006.

Now, if a major party were to nominate a woman as its presidential candidate, it would be huge. And if both parties did it, it would be a mega-moment in political history.

Now, many supporters of Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton are hoping that such a thing is a possibility, and that may include none other than Oprah Winfrey. Now, to make sense of this all, here's our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.

What a story, Bill.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It is indeed. Well, Ali, to paraphrase something David Letterman once said when he hosted the Academy Awards, Oprah, Hillary, Hillary, Oprah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Senator Hillary Clinton and TV host Oprah Winfrey. According to the Gallup poll, they are the two most admired women in America. They had a very interesting and possibly politically significant encounter at the International Emmy Award ceremony Monday evening.

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Thank you. I hope you do us a privilege and run for office. Thank you...

(APPLAUSE)

... president of the United States.

SCHNEIDER: Was that an endorsement? Not clear, but Oprah Winfrey has a huge following, particularly among women. The question is whether it could translate into votes.

Right now, Senator Clinton is leading in the polls for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. The leader among Republicans at this early point, Senator John McCain.

What would a Hillary Clinton-John McCain race look like? The CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll pitted the two frontrunners against each other among registered voters nationwide. The result: McCain leads Clinton by 10 points.

Why? Men. Men give McCain a huge lead over Clinton. Women are divided. Maybe an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey could make a difference. If she were to rally women to support Hillary Clinton, the race could become a lot closer.

Some Republicans are trying to get Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to run for president. Rice is the fourth most admired woman in the country after Laura Bush.

What would a Rice versus Clinton race look like? Clinton, by nine points. Why? Women.

In a race between the two women contenders, women voters prefer the Democrat by 16 points. And men, they just can't make up their minds. Maybe Oprah could help them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: When Oprah endorses a book, it instantly becomes a best-seller. It would be interesting to see what would happen if she endorsed a politician -- Ali?

VELSHI: This will be a good one to watch. Bill, thank you so much for being with us. Bill Schneider joining us now from Washington.

Now, the current president's ratings are on our "Political Radar." A new poll shows that just 36 percent of Americans approve of the way that Mr. Bush is doing his job; 58 percent disapprove. Now, that is unchanged from the American Research Group poll last month. It's also in line with several other surveys.

The president's brother is faring somewhat better in the polls. More than half of Florida residents give Governor Jeb Bush a great or good approval rating for his seven years in office. The Quinnipiac polls shows that slightly fewer than half say he's done a so-so or bad job.

Senator John Kerry took on a new leadership position this week. He's a jury foreman. The panel he served on found the city of Boston negligent in a car crash involving a city worker but refused to order damages for the plaintiffs. Several of the jurors praised Kerry's handling of the deliberations. They say he went out of his way to make sure that everyone's opinions were heard.

Well, coming up next, Congressman Jack Murtha was vocal and visible in his call for a quick troop pullout from Iraq. But is he shying away from his stand on his website? We'll check the situation online.

And we're keeping tabs on the holiday traffic at the airports and on the roads before you head out for Thanksgiving. Stay tuned. We'll have it all covered here in THE SITUATION ROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Those beautiful wreaths adorning the entrance to Union Station in Washington, D.C. A lot of traffic. AAA says 37 million people getting away from home. That's L.A. traffic, although I'm not entirely sure it looks like a whole lot worse than L.A. traffic usually is, but even in L.A.

Thirty-seven million people across the country traveling more than 50 miles from home. That's according to AAA. We are keeping you up to date on the traffic situation on the roads, in the air, on the trains. Stay with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Congressman John Murtha, who last week called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, has been criticized by a number of high-profile Republicans. But are some people taking the criticism a step further by targeting Murtha's official website?

Our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner, has more. She's got the story online. Jacki, what's going on, on Murtha's website?

JACKI SCHECHNER, INTERNET REPORTER: Well, Ali, Congressman Murtha learned an interesting lesson the hard way this week. If you're going to use your website to reach out to constituents, you have to be fully prepared for the fact that someone might hijack it.

Here's what happened. About noon yesterday he put up a poll to find out how people felt about troop deployment in Iraq. The idea was to collect some information, to get a database, to be able to reach back out to some people.

Well, it went up at noon. And about an hour-and-a-half later, the poll was gone. That led to some speculation online, especially at Free Republic -- this is a conservative forum -- that Murtha wasn't getting the numbers he was looking for and that's why he took the poll down.

Well, that's not the case. We spoke to his office today. And essentially what happened, the poll went away because somebody found out about it and jammed the poll with the same answer over, and over, and over again.

How they know? Because the person used the same name. So essentially, for all of those politicians out there who are venturing into the online world and starting to use the Internet to reach out, it's probably a good idea to get somebody onboard who knows how Internet community really works -- Ali?

VELSHI: Jacki, just a quick question. Is there something you can do about that if you're putting a poll online? Are there methods to make sure that somebody can't do what they apparently did to Murtha's website?

SCHECHNER: There actually are. There are things that you can put in to place, methods that you can put into place, that allows for one person to have one vote online. But you've got to get a tech guy, an I.T. guy, to get in there and program that for you.

VELSHI: Everybody should have a tech and I.T. guy. Jacki, good to talk to you. We'll catch up with you a little later. Jacki Schechner.

Zain Verjee joins us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at some other stories that are making news.

What are you looking at, Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm looking at Africa's first democratically elected female president. She's going to be inaugurated in Liberia in January.

Sixty-seven-year-old Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf today was officially declared the winner of elections that were held in the war-ravaged nation earlier this month. She says she's going to end the long chapter of violence, 14 years of civil war that country suffered, and also deal with corruption in Liberia.

She called on women across Africa to help govern their countries. One of her main challenges will be to create jobs. There's something like 80 percent unemployment in Liberia.

CNN's Jeff Koinange will join us live from Monrovia, 7:00 Eastern, in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Thousands of people are flocking to a remote region, Ali, in Nepal to see a teenage boy who some say is the reincarnation of Buddha. The 15-year-old has reportedly been sitting motionless, meditating in the jungle for six months with no food and no water. An estimated 10,000 people visit the site daily. Nepalese authorities say they're investigating claims that has had nothing to eat or drink since May. His followers reportedly keep him out of public view at night.

And we want to show you some live pictures from the brand-new Georgia aquarium in Atlanta. It's just minutes from here. People have been lining up throughout the day for a first look at the $300 million facility, which opened to the public today.

Visitors say this is an underwater paradise. It holds 8 million gallons of water and more than 100,000 fish, making it the largest aquarium in the world.

And tomorrow, families across America will serve Stove Top stuffing alongside their Thanksgiving turkey, but word coming in today that a woman who was instrumental in developing the popular brand more than 30 years ago has died; 74-year-old Ruth Siems passed away after suffering a heart attack earlier this month. She's credited with discovering that bread crumb size is the key to an instant stuffing that tastes like the real thing.

And, Ali, you'll be cooking the real thing tomorrow, won't you?

VELSHI: Oh, for sure. In fact, I'm going to go home right after the show and continue stuffing and doing whatever one does to a turkey.

VERJEE: He cooks, he anchors, he does business...

VELSHI: Never mind that Ruth Siems got credit for it. I'm a business journalist. I hope she got paid for it. Zain, good to see you. We'll check in with you again.

VERJEE: Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: Zain Verjee in Atlanta.

Still to come, the senator is now a governor-elect of New Jersey. So when Jon Corzine moves to the statehouse, he gets to pick who moves into his Senate seat. Our political analyst, Carlos Watson, has been watching some fascinating options.

And with the snowy roads and icy road conditions in parts of the East, could your Thanksgiving dinner be cold by the time you get home? We'll have the latest update on the latest travel conditions out there. Stay with us. You're watching THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: New Jersey Governor-elect Jon Corzine has some thinking to do this Thanksgiving. He needs to choose someone to replace him in the Senate when he takes over the statehouse. Our political analyst, Carlos Watson, is following this story, and he's got some news on Corzine's options, whether or not it could be a big surprise.

Carlos, good to see you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Ali.

VELSHI: What's the story here? Jon Corzine, as any governor who vacates his seat or has a Senate vacancy to fill, gets to make a choice, and he might have some interesting things up his sleeve?

WATSON: Could be a blockbuster story, Ali. Whether or not you like politics, you may love this story. There are lots of really good, solid choices. A number of members of Congress, Representative Bob Menendez, Congressman Rob Andrews, even the acting governor, Dick Codey.

But if now Governor-elect Jon Corzine does what I think he may end up doing, we'll see this story on Oprah. He may choose to replace him not a man but a woman, and not just any women, one of the most respected state senators in New Jersey, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Nia Gill, a 57-year-old African-American grandmother who's a little bit of a Jimmy Stewart figure, in that she's repeatedly been an independent and kind of voice for reform in New Jersey.

Could be a big story, if the first minority female in the U.S. Senate, at least in the last several years, joins it thanks to Jon Corzine. VELSHI: Carlos, what's the advantage of being named to a vacant Senate seat? Does that necessarily give you a leg up? Do you get the benefit of being an incumbent when you then decide to run the next time around?

WATSON: On one hand, you would think so, Ali. But interestingly enough, over the last 37 years, there have been 30 replacements. And of those 30 replacements, everyone from the person who replaced Walter Mondale when he became vice president to the person who replaced John Heinz when he died in a plane crash, only 10 of those 30 have won.

So it's not a given that you're necessarily going to win. But make no mistake about it: If you've got the seat -- and particularly if you're an unusual person, someone like Nia Gill, as I said, a lawyer for 22 years, a grandmother, but someone who's written a lot of important legislation in New Jersey -- she's the kind of person, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, like John McCain, like Barack Obama, like Hillary Clinton, who the public would love her human interest story.

You could end up seeing a lot of credit going to Jon Corzine. And you could end up seeing a lot of very personal stories about her.

VELSHI: A few seconds left, Carlos. One of the things about her -- you said Jimmy Stewart-like, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." She has put herself a little outside the Democratic establishment in New Jersey from time to time. To name her might be going against party establishment. What does that get Jon Corzine?

WATSON: Well, I think it could help Jon Corzine in a couple of ways. Remember, she almost was run off the Democratic ticket by Democrats who thought she was too independent, which in New Jersey means "honest."

But Jon Corzine could say, "A, I'm in favor of good government." That could help his own standings. B, he could say, "Look, I chose the best candidate to run against Tom Kean, who's likely to be the Republican candidate and is good at getting crossover votes, next year, and so I gave you someone who can pick up women."

And then look at this, Ali. If Jon Corzine ultimately runs for president, 2008, 2012, could you imagine, if he has a female, much less an African-American female, introducing him at every stop, introducing him in every commercial?

It will be political dynamite. It'd be the kind of thing that you here about Harvard Kennedy School case studies, much like Ronald Reagan saying, "I own this microphone" or Richard Nixon going to China. It'd be a big deal.

VELSHI: Carlos Watson joining us, our political consultant. Thanks, Carlos.

WATSON: Very good to see you. Have a good one.

VELSHI: It's 5:00 p.m. in Washington, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive at one place at the same time.

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