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CNN Sunday Morning

`TIME' Names Giuliani Person of the Year

Aired December 23, 2001 - 08:13   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: 2001 was a year of heroes and villains. A factor making "TIME" magazine's selection for person of the year that much more difficult. This morning, "TIME" named New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as its person of the year. There will certainly be many reactions to this selection, especially in New York, a city known for its strong personalities.

CNN's Brian Palmer -- Palmer is there and joins us now with the reaction to Rudy.

Hi, Brian.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. We're actually looking for some of those strong personalities, but I think many of them are still in bed. But the news is out, Rudy Giuliani is the person of the year; "TIME" magazine's person of the year. As you know, "TIME" magazine is a sister organization of CNN. We're all under the AOL-Time Warner corporate umbrella.

Mayor Giuliani was chosen for his forceful and steady leadership of New York City. And one might argue, for the example that he set for the entire country, the world, after the September 11 attacks. Now the selection is made by the managing editor of "TIME" magazine. Some of the selections in the past have been controversial, have been confusing. I think one of the most probably controversial, 1938 and 1942, Joseph Stalin, the dictator of Soviet Union, was chosen as person of the year -- or man of the year back then -- 1938 was Adolph Hitler, which caused consternation around the globe.

Now last year's person of the year was George W. Bush, President George W. Bush. That decision coming on the heels of the Florida election debacle, which some called a debacle. The year before that, "TIME" magazine's choice was Jeff Bezos, a decision that raised a couple of eyebrows. He was the CEO of Amazon.com, a company that arguably changed the way that America shopped. But it was also a company that hadn't made any profit at that point.

Now "TIME" has been selecting person of the year since 1927. The first choice was Charles Lindbergh. One could argue that this year's choice will probably not be as controversial as choices in the past -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I think you're right. Brian Palmer, thank you so much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com