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CNN Sunday Morning
Hussein's Trial Resumes Tomorrow; Bush's Poll Numbers Remain Low
Aired December 04, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And "Now in the News," former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark gets on Saddam Hussein's defense team, and his first question before the court tomorrow will be: "Who will defend me and the other members of the team?" Clark says he wants to address security in light of the killings of two of Hussein's lawyers.
Clark plans on having his first real dialogue with the former dictator later today. Hussein's trial resumes tomorrow. We caught up with Clark on his way back to Baghdad. A live report just ahead.
And what's going on in Iraq? Is it helping President Bush very much when it comes to public opinion?
The latest "TIME" magazine poll shows his low approval ratings have changed little since FEMA's post-Katrina fiasco. Fifty-three percent of respondents disapprove of the way Mr. Bush is doing his job, while 41 percent approve.
President Bush and the first lady will host this year's recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. And it is quite a guest list. Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Robert Redford and Julie Harris are among those being recognized for their lifetime achievements in the arts. Tonight's gala will be taped and shown on television later this month.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Can you get it together over there?
HARRIS: Well, I don't...
NGUYEN: Are you ready? It's time to go.
HARRIS: Buttoning down a little bit.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, December 4.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.
It is 7:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, 4:00 a.m. out West. We want to thank you for being with us today.
Tony's getting together, but we do have news for you. Coming up this hour, the e-mail trail, before and after Hurricane Katrina struck. Thousands of e-mail messages fly around the Louisiana governor's office, and as you will see, some of them are unbelievable.
Also, the cost of building a new home goes up and up, and not because of the new stuff that is going in, but because of the new stuff that is coming out.
And uncertain and anxious times in this holiday season. Are you one of those who makes it worse than it should be? The doctor is in the house to help you stop overdoing it.
HARRIS: Former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark is back in Baghdad today. Clark is advising Saddam Hussein's defense team. The trial of Hussein and seven co-defendants is set to resume tomorrow.
CNN's Aneesh Raman was on the flight with Clark as he headed back to Baghdad from Jordan. Aneesh joins us now from the Iraqi capital.
I can't wait to hear what you two talked about. Aneesh, good morning.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. An early flight. We left around 6:00 a.m. local, so both of us were still lacking in the conversation department. But I asked Clark what we could expect tomorrow.
It seems legal deja vu is set to take place. The third time the high Iraqi tribunal will convene, and for the third time the defense will likely put forth for another delay. Clark was vehement in saying that the situation on the ground makes it near impossible for this trial to go forward, a security situation that has left so far two Iraqi -- two defense lawyers on Saddam Hussein's defense team assassinated in the weeks between the second -- the first trial session and the second one.
He spoke to cameras on the way into that flight. He is set to address the court tomorrow, something he wanted to do last week. He previewed the statement, a statement that is centered on security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMSEY CLARK, HUSSEIN LEGAL ADVISER: It's dangerous for them every day. It's more dangerous every day that they appear in court. So we want that protection in place, and then we'll address the legality of the court. The court has no authority or power to proceed until it's established that it's legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: Now, Clark is set to meet with the other defense attorneys later today. Also set to meet with Saddam Hussein to talk strategy.
I also asked Clark why he was doing this, why he was involved. And Tony, he said that this process has to be fully legitimate for it to even matter and that it's key that, despite Saddam Hussein and what many Iraqis will see as an open and shut case, besides the fact that he's on trial, this process has to be seen as legitimate.
And he was back in the U.S. last week. He said those he saw in New York voiced support for what he is doing. But a huge task ahead, this court in an incredibly difficult position. They will likely hear the defense motion tomorrow, but they will also be hearing the vocal cries of a majority of Iraqis who want this trial to begin in earnest, as soon as possible -- Tony.
HARRIS: So, Aneesh, another motion for delay. I have to ask you, are we getting specifics from Ramsey Clark as to what he wants for the team in terms of security?
RAMAN: Well, essentially, here's where things stand. The government has said that it offered special security to the defense team. The U.S. military's acknowledged that as well.
The defense team, though, has serious concerns as to whether or not that security is enough. They want their own security devised by themselves, not known to anyone but themselves. They see a threat not just from outside the government, but perhaps from within.
And so what Clark will do is present a security situation that the defense team is OK with, see whether that can be brought into place. How long that will take is unclear, how long the court is willing to adjourn for that to take place is unclear. But essentially, what he wants is a day set aside for hearings of defense motions...
HARRIS: Yes.
RAMAN: ... something that has sort of worked its way into normal trial proceedings thus far -- Tony.
HARRIS: And it also sounds like what he wants is a check for defense as the defense team designs it. Does that make sentence?
RAMAN: Exactly.
HARRIS: Yes.
RAMAN: And so, yes, it is essentially security that the defense is confident in, not security that's being provided, whether or not they choose to accept it. And so that becomes the impasse that we're in.
HARRIS: OK. Aneesh Raman for us in Baghdad.
Aneesh, thank you.
Like Ramsey Clark, international law expert Michael Scharf also opposes the Iraq war, but Scharf has said he expects Clark is more interested in criticizing U.S. involvement in Iraq than in defending Saddam Hussein. We'll talk with Michael Scharf about that in about 30 minutes. And President Bush is getting ready for his second speech in a series of how he intends to win the war in Iraq. In his first speech last week, he defended his strategy for victory in Iraq.
So our e-mail question for you this morning: How do you define victory in Iraq? Send us your thoughts, weekends@cnn.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, if you could have one of the FEMA reps meet you in the lobby to further answer your question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait a minute. I have a suggestion for you. I have property at 6403 Franklin Avenue (ph), a sale of a house. Go tear that down, and they put five trailers there!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, despite all of the frustration that you see there, please come home. That was New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's message to hurricane evacuees now living in Georgia. In a town hall meeting in Atlanta, Nagin says it is time for the evacuees to come back to The Big Easy, but he admits the road to recovery will be long and it will be difficult.
Now, some evacuees told him they're still unhappy with relief efforts and they need more help to get back on their feet.
Meanwhile, we are learning this morning about what was going on behind the scenes in the Louisiana governor's office as Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. Documents released Friday seem to suggest Governor Kathleen Blanco and her staff were unprepared, unorganized and focused on the governor's public image while New Orleans was in chaos.
In one e-mail, Governor Blanco suggests responding to Mayor Ray Nagin's heated criticism by dropping prepared leaflets by air. This before food and water airdrops had even begun. Her press secretary disagreed, saying, "I don't believe it's appropriate given the urgent nature and need to drop food and water."
And just one day after Katrina made landfall, Puerto Rico offered to send in troops to assist in rescue and recovery efforts, but the response from Louisiana was slow. Here is what a Washington lobbyist's message to a Blanco aide said: "I don't know what to do, and they keep calling me to get the latest as the troops are literally on standby to be deployed."
Of course, we here at CNN will continue to follow this developing story and bring you more details as we get them.
Coming up in our 9:00 a.m. hour, we're going to talk with New Orleans city councilwoman Jackie Clarkson.
HARRIS: A new Hampshire woman's two-and-a-half-year nightmare is finally over. Authorities have identified the bodies of two children buried in Ohio as her son and daughter. The father of 14-year-old Sarah Gehring and 11-year-old Phillip confessed to shooting his children to death in 2003. He told investigators he then drove to Ohio and buried their bodies in a shallow grave.
A dog walked by. Its owner found the corpses Thursday near Hudson in northeast Ohio. The children's mother says she is relieved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERI KNIGHT, MOTHER: This has just been something -- I described it earlier today to a friend. It's like a ball and chain, that it's just been this unbelievable burden not having them found. And so that does feel like somewhat of a relief.
It's tough. But it's better than not knowing where they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Their children's father, Manuel Gehring, hanged himself last year while in jail.
NGUYEN: In other stories making news "Across America" today, the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family says it is pulling its money out of Wells Fargo. The group cites what it calls the bank's support of gay groups. A Wells Fargo spokesman says the bank is proud to be a diverse organization.
HARRIS: Take a look at this. This 202-foot tall feed tower in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is no pushover. Demolition crews hoped explosives would bring down the tallest building in the state...
NGUYEN: They hoped.
HARRIS: ... but the concrete tower dropped only slightly. Now it's leaning, as you can see there. So what do you do?
NGUYEN: Well, it's not over yet.
HARRIS: You go back to the drawing board.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HARRIS: Come up with plan B.
He's a minister, a civil rights worker, and a former presidential candidate. Now the Reverend Al Sharpton could become an actor.
NGUYEN: Really?
HARRIS: Sharpton tells the "New York Daily News" he is in talks with CBS to do his own sitcom. He said one episode may involve one of his TV children becoming a Republican. The working title? "Al in the Family."
NGUYEN: Oh, my. OK. Stay tuned for that. Well, have you ever driven past a construction site and wondered, hmm, how easy it would be for someone to help themselves to everything that is stacked up outside? A lot of people do more than just wonder about that. We have a CNN investigation next.
HARRIS: Plus, people are scrambling to buy the best gifts and throw the best parties for the holidays, but trying to outdo the Joneses could be an addiction?
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: If you build it, they will come. Construction thieves, that is. It is a growing problem for builders and homeowner, and the new face of this crime wave will probably surprise you.
CNN's Randi Kaye has the story in our investigative unit spotlight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This crew is really cleaning up at this construction site near Houston, Texas, but they're not a construction crew. They're construction thieves.
MARK STEPHENS, HOUSTON PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: You see some crazy stuff.
KAYE: Houston private investigator Mark Stephens spends his nights huddled in the bushes or hiding behind binoculars in a car. He's built a business on the construction theft boom and has the tapes to prove it.
STEPHENS: It really is a nationwide epidemic.
KAYE: Steven's tape library will make any homebuilder cringe. Appliances, furnishings, front-end loaders, plywood, there one minute, gone the next.
STEPHENS: I hid out in a house and watched them load 80 sheets of that plywood. Eighty sheets took them less than two minutes.
KAYE: Stephens caught this guy stealing a tree, then chased him first on foot, then by car.
STEPHENS: They took a 30-gallon (ph) oak tree and -- you notice it was raining -- they dug it out of the ground. They got landscaping materials, and they're just dragging it down the street.
KAYE: When it was over, Stephens got the tree back. The man was never formally charged, but was fired from his job as a salesman for a homebuilder.
(on camera): Some of these thieves will pay the price in the end, but guess what? So will you. The National Association of Homebuilders says construction theft costs the industry $4 billion a year. That adds about 1.5 percent to the cost of building a home, money right out of your pocket.
Michelle Ellisor's new home outside Houston was a target for construction thieves. Just before her family moved in, their dream home was hit. Their air-conditioner stolen.
MICHELLE ELLISOR, HOMEOWNER: Yes, we were like, "Really?" Because they're so big, and there's two of them. And so you're thinking, now, how did they get that out, and nobody seeing them?
KAYE: Like most construction theft cases, the thieves struck in the middle of the night. No lights, no witnesses, no chance of getting caught. The contractor replaced the $3,000 air conditioners at his own expense since the Ellisors hadn't moved in yet. But the experience still haunts the family.
ELLISOR: Now I'll always have thoughts of maybe someone is lurking around.
KAYE: Stealing air conditioners isn't cool, and Mark Stephens, a 19-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, doesn't like to see criminals get away. Watch this sting. Stephens set up night-vision cameras and baited a trap at this construction site with two shiny, new air conditioners. The bad guys bit the first night.
STEPHENS: He came through the vacant lot and he walked underneath the camera. The camera was set perfect. And here goes one air conditioner. And they go back for the second one and then they're gone. Took them what, 20 minutes, 15 minutes?
KAYE: Turns out they install air conditioners for a living. Stephens tracked down one of the thief's addresses and caught him on tape again, removing the stolen air conditioner from his own garage, preparing to install it at another home.
STEPHENS: They're selling it to, you know, families that, you know, have no idea that's stolen. But the they're charging full price. So, they're making a killing, you know. They're really making a killing.
KAYE: Stephens' videotape landed the guy in jail, charged with theft.
STEPHENS: Open up the back for me.
KAYE: And jail is also where this yuppie couple spent the night, after Stephens caught them driving their Range Rover, stealing sod.
STEPHENS: You know this is stealing, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KAYE: The dentist and his wife had about $100 worth of grass in their SUV. STEPHENS: You live in what, a $200,000 home, at least. And you're driving a Range Rover, but you're stealing grass? Why not just plant some more grass?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we -- I know, there is no excuse. I just -- I've been playing with construction. I even talked to the Evergreen Houston (ph) today. I mean, I know, I'm sorry. It's wrong. I'm sorry. I just -- can we write a check to the trim maker?
KAYE: Not even a check could buy them out of this trouble. They pleaded guilty to theft and got probation. Now stealing sod may sound trivial, but the cost of construction theft add up. Georgia builder, Don Gale:
DON GALE, BUILDER: They broke into a house. They came in here about 10:00 o'clock at night, broke into a house and they stole cabinets, countertops, light fixtures, some heating and air parts. It was probably a $12,000 to $20,000 theft.
KAYE: And it's not just the cost of replacing what is stolen. Builders like Gale also have to repair the damage thieves cause when they break into the home and rip out what they want.
(on camera): How do you feel knowing that people are coming in and doing this? Do you feel violated? Are you angry?
GALE: It could take somebody a small as myself and put us out of business. It's difficult. You can't claim virtually every theft on insurance or you're going to become uninsurable.
KAYE (voice-over): Some builders have resorted to electronic surveillance at construction sites and fancy gadgets and expensive equipment like front-loaders to prevent thieves from starting them up.
But the fact is, more homes are being built everyday. That sounds like job security for construction crooks, unless of course, private investigator Mark Stephens is lurking nearby.
STEPHENS: The easiest way to catch a crook is to figure out where he's going and get there first, and that's what I do.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Grayson, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We will have another investigative unit spotlight for you next Sunday morning.
NGUYEN: Well, if you're just joining us, here are some of the top stories this hour.
Saddam Hussein's newest defense adviser, Ramsey Clark, wants protection for the defense team. The former U.S. attorney general notes two of Hussein's previous lawyers have been killed. Clark also says security is the first issue he is going to raise before the court tomorrow when the former dictator's trial resumes. Hurricane Katrina and the continuing storm of controversy. E- mails released by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco suggest that sometimes her office was more concerned with PR than with actual relief efforts. The documents were requested by a House committee investigating preparation and response to the hurricane.
And a cool day is on tap for many across the country. Yes, cool is an understatement, I think. Snow and a mix of winter weather may be in store for many in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, as well as the Great Lakes and Rockies.
Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider's forecast is just ahead in a few minutes.
So here's a question for you. Do you often feel guilty? Do you carry a to-do list in your pocket? If you answered yes to any of these questions -- there's three of them on the screen right now -- you may have a performance addiction. Yes, an addiction.
We'll tell you what it is and how you can -- or how it can spoil your holidays, plus what you can do about it. That's next on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Good morning and welcome back.
We are prone to judge the success by the idea that our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than the quality of our service and the relationship to mankind. That's kind of unfortunate. But the eternal words of Martin Luther king Jr., they could not be more appropriate at this time around the holidays, when many people try so hard to impress others going overboard with gifts, parties, dinners.
You know, many of us go to them during this time of year. But in the end, it is all about your performance or your relationships. That's kind of a question.
Here to talk about that, Dr. Arthur Ciaramicoli is the author of "Performance Addiction: The Dangerous New Syndrome and How to Stop it From Ruining Your Life." He joins us now from Boston.
Boy, you know, this is something that we kind of know is out there, doctor, but we don't really put a word on it. But I like what you call it, "Performance Addiction," because people are truly addicted to this. I mean, they want it to be the perfect party, the perfect gift, the perfect everything around the holidays.
How dangerous is that?
DR. ARTHUR CIARAMICOLI, AUTHOR, "PERFORMANCE ADDICTION": Well, it is dangerous, Betty, because performance addiction is the belief that perfecting appearance and achieving status will secure love, respect and happiness. And unfortunately, it's an irrational belief system that's hardwired early in life, and then it's reinforced by cultural expectations, especially American cultural expectations. And performance addicts associate money with love, and that's the problem during the holidays, for sure.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's a really big problem, because, I mean, do people really believe, though, if I give you a really nice gift, doctor, you're going to forget all the bad things I said and did to you during the year?
Well, I'll give you an example, Betty, from last year. I was in a holiday store, a jewelry store, looking for a ring for my wife, and I came across this ring. I was looking at it, the salesperson came up to me, and after we chatted for a bit, I said, "How much is the ring?" She said, "Seven thousand dollars."
NGUYEN: That's a nice ring.
CIARAMICOLI: I said, "Oh, my god. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money." And she looked over and she put her hand in my hand and she said, "How much do you love your wife?"
NGUYEN: Oh, that's a salesperson for you, isn't it?
CIARAMICOLI: Yes.
NGUYEN: So did you get the ring?
CIARAMICOLI: I did not.
NGUYEN: Oh, OK. You held off. You didn't have that performance addiction.
CIARAMICOLI: But that would be a hard one for a performance addict to resist.
NGUYEN: Yes, especially if your wife is standing right next to you.
CIARAMICOLI: Yes. Yes.
NGUYEN: So, let's talk about this performance addiction. How do you know if you have it? Because all of this want -- I mean, of course it's just natural to want the holidays to be nice. But how do you know when you go from that to being addicted to wanting to please others?
CIARAMICOLI: Well, performance addicts are driven by the two myths in American society. One is the obsessive pursuit of money they believe will bring them happiness and love. And we know from many credible studies that self-worth does not equal -- net worth does not equal self-worth.
The other part, the other driver is beauty, that they're obsessively driven to perfect their body and their appearance. And of course that doesn't lead to happiness or love either. What it leads to is addictive behavior. And we have the highest rates of eating disorders in the civilized world, according to the World Health Organization.
NGUYEN: Right. Well, and you've got a whole list of questions. We have a few of them up on the screen.
"Did you often feel guilty?" "Do you often wonder how much money other people make?" That's one of them.
That's an interesting one. Why is that one of the questions?
CIARAMICOLI: Well, I think that performance addicts are always comparing and contrasting themselves to other people.
NGUYEN: Oh, how they measure up, yes.
CIARAMICOLI: Yes. And unfortunately, they do the same to their spouses and their children. And that's where it really hurts, because we're passing it on to another generation.
NGUYEN: I got you. OK.
Now, I have to admit, I have taken your quiz. I got the book here, took the quiz.
CIARAMICOLI: Yes?
NGUYEN: All 74 questions. And I thought I was going to score a lot higher than I did, because I'm kind of a perfectionist. I want it to all be nice and wonderful, you know, that little fantasy. But I didn't do too bad. I only have a mild case of it.
CIARAMICOLI: Well, that's not bad at all.
NGUYEN: Yes. I was really impressed with that, and I did try to answer as truthfully as possible.
CIARAMICOLI: Yes.
NGUYEN: But if you do have a severe case, how do you go about correcting it?
CIARAMICOLI: You have to recognize what really brings love and respect in life, and that is quality of relationships, developing your relationship skills, especially the capacity for empathy, because empathy allows us to read other people accurately and enter into the world of other people's experiences. If you have empathy, if you have high interpersonal skills, you unquestionably are going to be more successful professionally and more successful personally. Because it teaches you how to maintain intimate relationships, but in the corporate world, people who have the highest relationship skills are the best leaders and the best managers.
NGUYEN: You know, it just seems to easy. I'm going to read some of the other things to do about it.
Balance your work and personal life. We had that up, also. Also, discover how remarkable it is just to be ordinary.
There's nothing wrong with being ordinary. CIARAMICOLI: Well, I think the issue with being ordinary, Betty, is that performance addicts don't understand that self-worth is so critical. Self-worth equals other -- other -- it helps you to be available to other people. And they put it in a secondary category. They don't realize that exercising on a daily basis, keeping your good nutrition on a daily basis, sleeping well...
NGUYEN: Right.
CIARAMICOLI: ... and fostering the intimate relationships in your life, that's not ordinary. It's actually -- it's incredibly remarkable. How many people do you know that can keep all of those behaviors in check on a daily basis?
NGUYEN: Yes, that's hard. You almost have to be a performance addict to be able to keep all that in order.
CIARAMICOLI: Well, you want to do it in a balanced way, not in a perfectionistic way.
NGUYEN: Got you. Doctor, we appreciate your time. And happy holidays to you.
CIARAMICOLI: Thank you very much, Betty.
NGUYEN: Take care.
CIARAMICOLI: Same to you.
NGUYEN: Tony.
HARRIS: And I'm Grinchy. I'm Grinchy about it.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You are?
HARRIS: Yes, I'm a little Grinchy about it.
SCHNEIDER: Why is that?
HARRIS: You give what you give. You give all you can, and that's it.
SCHNEIDER: That's it?
HARRIS: And just enjoy it. If you don't like it, I'll see you next year.
SCHNEIDER: All right. If you don't like it, they can return it.
HARRIS: That's right.
Hi, Bonnie. Good to see you this morning.
SCHNEIDER: Good to see you as well.
(WEATHER REPORT) NGUYEN: Keep our eye on it. Thank you, Bonnie.
Well, we're going to talk about some stories now in the news. The contents of thousands of e-mails which Louisiana's governor turned over to Congress revealed a political storm over hurricane Katrina. They show as the catastrophe turned into a public relations nightmare, aides for Governor Kathleen Blanco spent more time polishing her image. At one point the governor suggested dropping a prepared statement into New Orleans from the air.
Iraqi troops have taken 55 people into custody in connection with yesterday's deadly attack. Nineteen Iraqi soldiers were killed when their patrol was attacked north of Baghdad. Today a candidate for this month's election was fatally shot while driving his car and a car bomb killed two civilians in the capital city so a lot of violence going on there.
Also, here is one of the most popular stories on cnn.com. Twenty-year-old heiress Athina Onassis is a married woman. The granddaughter of the late Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis exchanged vows with a 32-year-old Olympic equestrian from Brazil. Onassis is one of the world's richest women with a fortune estimated Tony $2.7 billion, with a "B" dollars. You can read more about it on cnn.com/mostpopular.
HARRIS: Stopping the killing of Saddam Hussein's defense team, former U.S. Attorney general tries to get proper protection. Details when we return.
NGUYEN: And later this hour, what exactly killed an al Qaeda leader in Pakistan? Some local residents think they know the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The trial of Saddam Hussein resumes yet again tomorrow. It was delayed last week so the court can find replacements for two defense lawyers who were murdered. Now former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has joined Hussein's defense team to ensure those associated with the case never meet that same fate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMSEY CLARK, FMR US ATTY GEN: The chief lawyer has got six kids and a wife out there and they're very vulnerable. You've got investigators and they're supposed to go around where it's dangerous and find evidence and find witnesses. You've got witnesses that you have to bring in. How can you ask a witness to come in, when there's a death threat?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So where does the trial go from here? Let's ask Michael Scharf, there he is, legal adviser to the Hussein tribunal and director of the Fredrick Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University. He joins us this morning from Cleveland. Good to see you Michael. MICHAEL SCHARF, HUSSEIN TRIBUNAL LEGAL ADVISER: Hey, Tony, good to be on.
HARRIS: Let's start with, it looks like Ramsey Clark is going to go in tomorrow and ask for another delay. Does that sound about right to you?
SCHARF: Yes and he's got a variety of reasons. One is he's still not satisfied with the security arrangements and the second is they want to know the identities of four of the five judges who have not yet been disclosed to the defense team.
HARRIS: What is that about?
SCHARF: Well, in order to protect trial participants, they decided to only disclose the chief judge's identity and the chief prosecutor's identity. But since the judges are actually serving also as a jury, the defense has a right to know who these people are so that they can try to have them removed if they have any biases. Now, I happen to know, because I trained --
HARRIS: You worked with folks, yeah, yeah.
SCHARF: Yeah, but they've been carefully vetted and when their identities are disclosed, which I assume they will be shortly, Saddam Hussein's defense team will be satisfied with them, but this is a motion that they are going to be bringing tomorrow and they say if they don't get immediate results, they will appeal it to the nine- member appeals chamber.
HARRIS: So the reason for not revealing the names of the judges is for security purposes, is that correct?
SCHARF: Yeah, they were afraid that if the defense team and the defendants knew who the judges were they'd put a hit on them and there really is a lot of security concerns. In the news, you know, one of the people who were running for office just last night was assassinated and that's somebody who had a whole group of body guards surrounding him and so it's very tough to ensure the security of these people.
HARRIS: You know what, Michael, it also sounds like what Ramsey Clark wants for this defense team is security. They want to design the security detail that they think will work best to protect them, and then they want the tribunal to pay for it.
SCHARF: Yeah and ultimately that's the kind of compromise that can be worked out. The most important thing is to get the trial back on track.
HARRIS: Yeah.
SCHARF: And there's about $100 million allotted to the tribunal. Eighty percent of that goes to security, so there's plenty of money for this. They just have to get the right arrangements that everybody can be satisfied with. HARRIS: You think it's off track now?
SCHARF: I do think it will be back on track. We'll see some witnesses testifying this week. There will be some eyewitnesses, their stories I think will be very compelling but then they're going to postpone it again because they don't want the trial to run up against the elections. So there are going to be some positives in this trial and the media and the public are going to get used to seeing this not as a smooth, seamless trial but as one that starts and stops.
HARRIS: So we are going to get beyond the sense, now that we're in what, the opening statement portion of this trial from the prosecution. Will we actually get some witness testimony?
SCHARF: Well, we moved beyond opening statements. We had our first witness last week.
HARRIS: Oh, yeah.
SCHARF: ...the witness who testified by videotape, but then you'll have live witnesses this is week testifying and things will start ramping up.
HARRIS: I got ask you this, slow and steady does a lot for leaving the appearance, doesn't it, that this is a fair trial. So all of these delays might not be a bad thing in the final analysis.
SCHARF: Well, ultimately, Judge Amin is bending over backwards to give everything that the defense is asking for, so that there are no allegations that this is an unfair trial and the real trial of this particular case (INAUDIBLE) is not a very complicated trial. It shouldn't last, as far as actual trial dates, more than 20 or 30 days. So they can afford to have a couple of pauses and it will still be over quite quickly.
HARRIS: And you fully expect he'll be found guilty?
SCHARF: Well, the evidence is quite compelling, even the first witness and most of the media sort of missed ...
HARRIS: Including me.
SCHARF: .. of Saddam they missed analyzing the actual statements of this witness, but the witness really started to establish the hierarchy of command and started to prove that Saddam Hussein and the other defendants were responsible for this atrocity.
HARRIS: Michael Scharf, good to see you as always. Thanks for your time this morning. Be careful getting home in this snowstorm in Cleveland.
SCHARF: Thanks a lot.
NGUYEN: Well, you might recall, it's a road map or you might call it a road map for victory in Iraq. President Bush is getting ready for his second speech in a series on how he intends to win the war in Iraq. The president will speak in Washington Wednesday about efforts to rebuild Iraq's shattered economy. Now he kicked off his series last week with an address at the U.S. Naval Academy and there he focused on the training of Iraq security forces.
Spotlighting what he sees as progress in Iraq hasn't helped President Bush's approval rating though. A new "Time" magazine poll shows only 41 percent of respondents approve of the way the president is doing his job; 53 percent disapprove. That is about the same rating Mr. Bush got in September, after the government was slammed for mishandling the hurricane Katrina relief effort.
HARRIS: The military has identified the 10 Marines who is died in Thursday's insurgent attack. One of those was Robbie Martinez of Splendora, Texas. Ted Oberg from CNN affiliate KTRK has reaction from the home front.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY HUNT, ROBBIE MARTINEZ'S FATHER: My wife answered the door, and it was two sergeants from the United States Marine Corps, and I heard my wife call my name and it, I could tell by the sound that something was wrong.
TED OBERG, KTRK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robbie Martinez's father got the knock on the door. A Marine's father never needs to hear the next words to know what's happened.
HUNT: Every time you saw a caption on the bottom of the screen or you heard of a bombing or the Marines dying, your heart stops.
OBERG: Martinez, a Cleveland High School graduate in 2003, was just 20 years old, already on his second tour in Iraq. The Marine infantryman spent seven months on the Syrian border in 2004. He went back into Iraq and into Fallujah in June of this year. On a dawn foot patrol outside Fallujah, Martinez and nine other marines were killed when a roadside bomb exploded next to them.
DAVID CINO, ROBBIE MARTINEZ'S UNCLE: You'd never think it would happen to you or your family, but it did, and it's hard.
OBERG: Robbie Martinez shouldn't have been in Fallujah. He was supposed to come home to the states next Monday. If the Marines hadn't changed plans, Robbie would have been in Kuwait packing up to come home. Instead the Marine Corps extended Martinez's tour for a month and a half, most likely to help control Fallujah as Iraqi elections approach. He had no choice but to stay, although it must have been terribly hard. Robbie had big plans, we're told. He was set to propose to a young woman in Splendora over the holiday.
MIKE OGDEN, CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: Robbie was one of those students that you loved to have around school. Robbie was not a Valedictorian-type. He was not an all-American athlete but Robbie was one of those kids that just, that you just felt good around.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: Well, if you're just joining us this morning, good to see you. Grab a cup of coffee and stay awhile. Betty's here. Time now to fast forward to the week ahead and check on stories that will be making headlines. Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launches another overseas trip, this time to Germany, Romania, Ukraine and Belgium. She's scheduled to hold her first talks with new Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.
Thursday a clemency hearing is scheduled in California for Stanley "Tookie" Williams, one of the founders of the Crips gang. He's facing execution for the killings of four people in 1979. Since his conviction, Williams has spoken out and written about the dangers of gang life and his supporters say he should be spared. He's scheduled to die by lethal injection on December 13th.
Also, Thursday the Olympic torch starts its journey from Rome to Torino, Italy. It will travel through 20 regions and 100 provinces of Italy. There will be a 10,000 torch bearers covering nearly 6800 miles Betty. The torch will arrive in Torino for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 winter games on February 10th.
NGUYEN: It will be here before you know it.
All right. We've heard many things, bomb blasts, missile strike, accidental explosion. Just what killed a top al Qaeda leader in Pakistan? That remains shaded by the cat and mouse game of international intelligence. But one story does surface from residents who were on the ground in the Pakistani village. CNN's Elaine Quijano has the latest on what and who killed Abu Hamza Rabia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. intelligence officials are celebrating what they see as a major blow to al Qaeda. The death of Abu Hamza Rabia, the head of operations for the terrorist group. His death on Wednesday was confirmed this weekend by U.S. and Pakistani officials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today there was a report in one of the newspapers about the killing of the head of al Qaeda operations, Hamza Rabia, can you confirm that?
PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN: Yes, indeed, 100 percent.
QUIJANO: CNN obtained this photo showing Pakistani tribesmen purportedly holding a piece of a missile pulled from the debris at a possible al Qaeda safe house that was destroyed. CNN has not independently verified the authenticity of the photo but a close up does show words in English. Yet what is not clear, exactly how Rabia died.
MAJ. GEN. SHAUKAT SULTAN, SPOKESMAN, PAKISTANI ARMED FORCES: I said that in the information we have that probably it was an accidental explosion that resulted in his death.
QUIJANO: Pakistan's information minister says Rabia was killed in an accident as he worked with explosives at a house in Pakistani's northern (INAUDIBLE) tribal area. But some media reports suggest instead the blast was a deliberate strike by a hellfire missile like this one, launched from an unmanned CIA predator drone. Former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin says Rabia was a major figure within al Qaeda's organization.
JOHN McLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Here is someone who would be well-known to bin Laden, who would be involved in any plotting against the United States or our allies and very directly involved in recruiting people to carry out those plots. So this guy is a very big fish.
QUIJANO: U.S. intelligence officials are not commenting on possible U.S. involvement, and no comment from the White House, where President Bush Saturday met with top advisers in the oval office before leaving for Camp David. The president did receive his usual briefing, but it's not known whether that included details on Rabia's death.
(on-camera): One former analyst says the reports of a missile strike are plausible, adding that if true, it's likely the strike would have to be authorized by President Bush himself. Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Here now, more of the morning's top stories. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark says he's outraged more isn't being done to protect lawyers representing Saddam Hussein. Clark joined the dictator's defense team as an adviser. He'll push for more security when the trial resumes tomorrow.
President Bush is planning another speech on Iraq. On Wednesday he'll outline efforts already under way to rebuild the country's economy.
And newly released documents suggest Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's staff spent a lot of time in the days following hurricane Katrina polishing her image and fumbling through requests for aid. The Blanco administration turned over 100,000 thousands pages of internal documents to Congress. Several committees are conducting investigations into mishaps following Katrina.
And don't forget our e-mail question this morning, how do you define victory in Iraq? E-mail us your thoughts weekends@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Holiday music for us.
NGUYEN: Sounds pretty nice.
HARRIS: You'll like this story. This is a good one. Theirs was a fantasy flight to a winter wonderland, courtesy of U.S. Airways, a group of young cancer patients and their family members boarded the jet with the windows shut. The children had no idea where they were going Betty. The plane taxied around New York's La Guardia airport almost an hour before it finally stopped at a terminal, didn't take off. The terminal was decorated as the North Pole, Santa, and his elves greeted each and every one of the children with gifts.
NGUYEN: Oh, that is terrific!
Speaking of winter wonderland, look at this, some parts of New York are seeing a true wonderland, lots of snow, and I don't know if the citizens of Syracuse are feeling warm and fuzzy about all this pre-winter weather but they are certainly used to it. The National Weather Service is predicting, listen to this Tony, up to three inches of new, new snow today on top of all that.
HARRIS: You live in Syracuse, right, you're going to get snow. You're going to get snow.
NGUYEN: They should know it by now right Bonnie?
SCHNEIDER: They should but I have a feeling that some folks aren't happy about it. It's early in the season.
NGUYEN: Yeah, when they're shoveling it off of the driveway.
SCHNEIDER: And more snow is coming, not today, but tonight for Syracuse. We're not done yet. In fact, take a look at the radar. You'll see snow in upstate New York and snow in New York City this morning. That's right, we have snow falling but not for long. You can actually see this rain/snow line down here through southern sections of New Jersey. So a lot of this certainly will change over to rain like it is right now in the Jersey shore in Atlantic City and maybe down through Washington D.C. We had some rain this morning but overall, it could be a whole lot worse.
Now as we check things out to the south, you'll see that we're also dealing with rain and some thunderstorms in the Atlanta area, just south of the city and that is causing some airport delays. We have airport delays for ground stop, not too bad right now, but a ground delay for about 30 minutes at La Guardia airport due to snow. This is just the beginning if you're going to be traveling in the next couple of days. We're expecting another snowstorm to work its way across parts of the northeast, but today what we're looking at some snow for Boston, highs at 36. That change over to rain will occur there as well and as we slide further to the south, you'll be watching for some more changes as well, be looking for some rain and some snow mixing it up for Philadelphia today, mostly rain with highs right at had 43 degrees.
To the south we go, we'll be looking at temperatures that will be pretty mild in many locations, about 46 degrees in parts of Atlantic City and then further to the south, we've got 48 in Washington D.C. Some showers are expected intermittently, a little bit more rain for the coast, but some heavier downpours for Nashville and for Atlanta where thunderstorms are happening right now. And for Florida, a little milder, not looking bad at all. Miami is back up to 81 degrees, 77, partly cloudy skies in Tampa. So warmer to the south but we'll be watching more on this potential coastal storm that will develop Monday into Tuesday. I'll have more on that in just a bit. Betty, Tony.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Bonnie.
HARRIS: New next hour, is this a Christmas tree or a holiday tree? We're going to see, do you think there's a place for political correctness this season?
NGUYEN: I don't know. You get it every year now.
HARRIS: We sure do.
We'll explore the issue in our "faces of faith" next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Now in the news, hello winter. A little early. It's an inch but not unexpected, of course, for parts of New York. This is Syracuse. The snow is there, and that's what's happening. Snow is falling here and in other parts of the north. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider will have a complete weather update for you in just a couple of minutes.
In the Middle East, an Israeli helicopter fires a missile at this building in Gaza City. The Israeli military says the building was being used by Palestinian militants who launched attacks against them. The air strike follows the withdrawal of settlers and troops from Gaza earlier this year.
And tonight in the nation's capital, Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Robert Redford and a few other superstars, Julie Harris, will be recognized at the 28th annual Kennedy Center honors award ceremony. Honorees are being recognized for their lifetime contribution to the arts and American culture.
Another e-mail trail, but this time it's from the Louisiana governor's office. New details emerging about what went on as Katrina rushed ashore.
Good morning, everyone, from the CNN center. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is December 4.
NGUYEN: Feeling like December outside, yes.
HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Want to thank you for being with us.
We have that story in just a moment, but first the latest in the Saddam Hussein trial.
That trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow in Baghdad. Former U.S. Attorney general Ramsey Clark is advising Hussein's defense team. Clark spoke to Aneesh Raman earlier today on flight from Jordan to Iraq and Aneesh joins us live in Baghdad with the details on that. We'll get to that in just a moment. First thing I want to ask you about, something that's crossing the wires right now, Aneesh, about a plot to attack the trial starting on Monday.
What do you know about that?
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty, I just got off the phone with Iraq's national security adviser, Dr. Mowaffaq Rubaie. He says Iraqi police have uncovered a plot to attack the location of Saddam Hussein's trial, set to resume tomorrow.
They did so by finding a number of long range mortars being positioned in a suburb of Baghdad. They found evidence that the insurgent group had a very high level GPS tracking system.
He wouldn't get into what specific evidence they had that linked planning to the trial of Saddam, set to begin again tomorrow. But he said that it was clearly linked, according to the evidence that they have.
Now, how significant this is, well, overall, it's always expected attacks of some sorts could occur around this trial. Security outside the courtroom is now affecting the proceedings within.
Twice delayed this trial because of security concerns. The first time that the court met on October 19, they adjourned for some 40 days. The defense had asked for a three-month delay, saying that they did not have sufficient time to review the evidence; they did not have sufficient training; and the security was a concern, as well.
And then, when they met last week the trial was adjourned for one week because two defense lawyers had been killed. The defendants were given time to find new counsel.
So we expect that security issue again to come into the courtroom setting tomorrow. Again, he defense could likely push for a delay. But this court is faced with a very vocal public here who want this trial to begin in earnest, Betty.
NGUYEN: You spoke with Ramsey Clark on that flight this morning, very early this morning. Did he give you any more insights, besides the fact that we understand he's probably going to ask for that delay?
RAMAN: Well, we understand, according to him, that he hopes to make a statement to the court tomorrow. He was to have done so last week. The court didn't allow it. And in that statement, Mr. Clark said he would raise centrally the issue of security for the defense attorneys. He would also raise the issue of the legality of the court itself.
He spoke to some cameras before he boarded the flight in from Amman. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMSEY CLARK, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's dangerous for them every day, but it's more dangerous every day that they appear in court. So we want that protection in place, and then we'll address the legality of the court. The court has no authority or power to proceed until it's established that it's legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: So essentially we're at an impasse in terms of these proceedings. The defense wants to create its own security and have it implemented by the government. The government says it has offered special security to the defense. The defense lawyers have turned it down; they don't think it's suitable.
How that impasse is resolved is yet to be seen. Whether it further delays this trial we'll find out tomorrow, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes. It's been quite a ride as this trial gets under way, stops and gets back under way. I want to ask you something unrelated to the trial, though. I'm hearing that two soldiers have been killed.
RAMAN: We're just getting word essentially from the U.S. military that about 2 p.m. local time two U.S. soldiers were killed in southeastern Baghdad, the result of a roadside bomb that detonated.
It comes on a day where a Shia politician was killed days after a Sunni politician. All of this, officials say, is something we could see an increase in as we head towards that critical date, December 15, when the country goes to the polls -- Betty.
NGUYEN: It's not too far away. Aneesh Raman, thank you for that update.
Here is our e-mail question for you this morning: how do you define victory in Iraq? Big question. Lots of answers we want to get from you this morning. Tell us what you think. E-mail Weekends@CNN.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about me? Because I work. I ain't on welfare. I ain't on food stamps. I ain't on section 8. I can't get nowhere. I'm sick of it. I want the help and ain't nobody threatening FEMA. This is a working hand and I'm sick and I'm here (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but I got to get on. I've done had it. I'm finished. I just need somewhere. I want to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To you, mayor, you need to ask...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You can feel that. Frustrations boil during a town meeting of New Orleans evacuees in Atlanta. That happened yesterday. About 2,200 displaced residents showed up to vent their concerns and anger to Mayor Ray Nagin.
Many said they're frustrated at the pace at which aid is getting to storm victims and slow rebuilding efforts. After three months of living in another city, many said they're still unable to return home and don't have the money to rebuild.
Today we're getting a picture of a political storm that went on behind the scenes in Louisiana's government during and after Hurricane Katrina, more than 1,000 documents Governor Kathleen Blanco sent to Congress last week. Well, among them some interesting e-mails.
A week after the hurricane, things reached a boiling point between Louisiana and the White House, when President Bush made plans to visit Louisiana without telling Blanco.
Blanco's aides questioned why the president would make a visit while she was out of the state visiting evacuees in Houston. In an e- mail, one of Blanco's aides said, quote, "The White House will be thrilled that she left the state. They will eat us for lunch. She cannot snub POTUS." POTUS is an abbreviation for president of the United States.
When Blanco got word that Puerto Rico wanted to send more than 1,000 National Guard members trained in hurricane relief, Blanco's Capitol Hill lobbyists e-mailed the governor's aides saying, "I don't know what to do and they keep calling me to get the latest as the troops are literally on standby to be deployed."
Coming up in an hour, a New Orleans councilwoman joins to us talk about what New Orleans is doing to get residents to return and rebuild.
NGUYEN: Making news a cross America this morning, a New Hampshire woman will soon travel to Ohio to retrieve the bodies of her two children. Teri Knight says the discovery of their bodies lifts a tremendous emotional burden. Knight's ex-husband, Manuel Gehring, confessed to the abduction and killings in 2003 before he committed suicide. The bodies were found last Thursday by a woman walking her dog in Ohio.
Bullets flying across a Nevada casino leave one dead, two sheriff deputies injured. The shootout happened in a high stakes lounge just off the main casino at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. Gamblers were seen running for the doors. And questions remain, such as who fired first and what led to the confrontation?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Oops! That's not the way it's supposed to go. That thing is supposed to come all the way down. Explosives failed to implode the 202-foot tower tall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Look at that. Looks like the leaning Tower of Pisa there.
Crews will now try the low-tech way, going back to the old drawing board. A giant wrecking ball and crane will be brought in on Thursday.
You don't see that very often, though, Tony.
HARRIS: No.
NGUYEN: Usually it comes down like clockwork, just the way they planned it but not this time.
HARRIS: You see what happened was...
NGUYEN: Right.
HARRIS: Bonnie Schneider is upstairs in the CNN Weather Center and she is tracking some snow moving across the northeast this morning.
NGUYEN: That's coming down.
HARRIS: Yes. Bonnie.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Get the gloves, coat, mittens all out. You'll need it.
HARRIS: Time to get to some breaking news.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
HARRIS: And this just in to CNN: as you know, CNN's Nic Robertson, our chief international correspondent, has been traveling as we get ready for elections in a couple of weeks here in Iraq, and he has been traveling with former prime minister, Ayad Allawi.
Nic Robertson is on the phone with us right now, where we understand that while Nic was traveling with the former prime minister, on the campaign trail, shots were reportedly fired.
Nic, you're on the line with us. What can you tell us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, a moment ago in the holy city of Najaf to meet with some of the religious leaders as part of his election campaign, he went into the religious shrine. He was praying inside the religious shrine when a crowd began to grow around him chanting slogans. The crowd grew in number and in strength, and he was chased from the shrine. With (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shooting at him (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
HARRIS: I think we're totally, well, we're going to lose Nic completely. Nic, are you there? We'll try it one more time. I think he's gone.
Let's give it just another second. Nic, are you there? ROBERTSON: Yes, Tony. I'm here.
HARRIS: OK.
ROBERTSON: This line may be hard. I don't know how much you can hear from me. As Ayad Allawi was chased from the holy shrine by that crowd, gunfire broke out. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) security team (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and whisked him away from there, and a lot of Iraqi police, a lot of Iraqi army in the area. A lot of gunfire erupted.
It wasn't clear to me if there was anyone shooting back at Mr. Allawi. But I spoke to members in his delegation, other politicians. They told me that they believed that this was an assassination attempt on Mr. Allawi by some of the extreme religious militias here, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. I think we get the gist of that on the campaign trial, Ayad Allawi in a mosque to visit an imam, and a crowd gathers and then there is -- a crowd gathers and then there is gunfire.
So what we'll do is -- and the reporting that we're getting from Nic seems to indicate that this may have been, in fact, an assassination attempt on the former prime minister. So what we'll do is we'll recap this and we'll try to get a clean line with Nic and pull this whole story together for you.
We'll take a break and we'll come back with more CNN SUNDAY MORNING. we apologize for that. Right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Following breaking news now. It appears an attempt has been made on the life of Iraq's former prime minister, Ayad Allawi.
CNN's chief international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is on the line with us, and we believe we've cleared up this line.
And Nic, if you would, why don't you start at the beginning of your reporting here and tell us what you know?
ROBERTSON: Tony, Ayad Allawi, the former prime minister, went to one of the holy cities in Iraq, Najaf, to meet with religious leaders to try and build support in his political campaign.
As he was inside the holy shrine praying, a crowd gathered, chanting slogans against him. As I watched, he was chased by a large crowd from the mosque. They were throwing their shoes at him, which is a very derogatory thing to do here in the Middle East.
As that crowd swelled around him and forced him, ejected him from the shrine, that's when the gunfire began. He -- Mr. Allawi had had a lot of security present, Iraqi police, Iraqi army as well as his own private security. Many of those gunmen began to fire in the air. It wasn't clear if they were shooting at gunmen who were Targeting Mr. Allawi or they were just shooting in defense of him to they and get him out of the area. His convoy of vehicles, which must have been about 15 vehicles, turned in their tracks in the street, screeching down the road with -- I could smell the rubber burning and bullet casings were flying around us as he drove out of the town as the security convoy tried to get him away from the danger.
And within a few minutes Apache helicopters were deployed overhead to secure Mr. Allawi's convoy until he got back to a secure compound, Tony.
HARRIS: Wow. OK. So Nic, where was he actually campaigning? Was this in a Shiite area, in a Sunni area? Can you tell us that?
ROBERTSON: It's a very religious Shia area. Mr. Allawi is a secular Shia, and he's known here for being a strong man and being able to build support across the sectarian divide. What he wanted to do was win those critical religious Shia votes, and he'd done that to come to meet some of the religious Shia leaders.
Now when I spoke to some of the other politicians who were accompanying Mr. Allawi, part of his -- part of his campaign team today, they told me that they believed this was an orchestrated assassination attempt on Mr. Allawi. They said that they believed it had been orchestrated by some of the religious Shia militia that exist in Iraq at this time
HARRIS: And I know -- I'm sorry if I get you too far afield here. Do we know why that might be the case?
ROBERTSON: It's not clear, Tony, why this happened. It's quite possibly -- it's quite possibly an effort to try and discredit Mr. Allawi...
HARRIS: Yes.
ROBERTSON: ... to make him not appear to popular in this particular area, indeed put him off campaigning in this town. This is -- the elections now, unlike earlier in the year, put people in power for the next four years. This is tremendously important.
And it appears at this stage that we've had political assassinations. So far one of Mr. Allawi's fellow politicians on his -- in his party was assassinated just three or four days ago. So the stakes are very high. And people are playing for these high stakes at this time, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson for us. Nic, thank you. We're going to take a break. We'll continue to follow this story throughout the morning, of course. A quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: In this morning's "Faces of Faith" a nativity scene on a Michigan family's front lawn has become the latest battlefront over political correctness this holiday season. Now, is it crossing the line? That's the question.
Our faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the first silent night the Samona household has had in awhile. They and their nativity scene have been at the center of a Christmas controversy.
BETTY SAMONA, NATIVITY SCENE OWNER: I started crying. How can I take the nativity down? How can I take the mother of God, Mary, down? Really, I was surprised.
GALLAGHER: Surprised to receive a letter from the neighborhood association, demanding that the Samonas remove the creche in their front yard or face a fine. For these Iraqi immigrants, who came to the United States three decades ago in search of freedom, the letter hit hard.
B. SAMONA: We're here in a free country. We are American citizens. We got shocked when we received the letters, you know, how this has happened.
GALLAGHER: The homeowners association that governs this Novi, Michigan, suburb said the Samonas were in violation of a rule that prohibits lawn ornaments, but the letter did not mention any of the other lawn ornaments, nothing about removing Santa, or Winnie, or Minnie, just, quote, "Please remove the nativity scene display."
JOSEPH SAMONA, SON: A lot of people who don't celebrate Christmas have Winnie the Pooh or have Santa Claus. You know, it's just what Christmas is, but they specifically commented on the nativity scene.
GALLAGHER: Battles like this have been playing out across the country in what some are calling a war on Christmas.
For instance, in the center of Chicago, this is not a Christmas tree. Officially, it's a holiday tree. In Boston, it was a holiday tree until there was such a huge raucous, the mayor declared...
THOMAS MENINO, BOSTON MAYOR: It will be a Christmas tree as long as I'm around.
GALLAGHER: In stores like Target and Wal-Mart, shoppers are generally greeted with "Happy Holidays," although both stores say it's up to the individual greeter.
(on camera) Here in the Time Warner lobby where CNN's offices are just upstairs, the holiday decorations are striking. Over here, a Kwanzaa table and on this side the menorah and right in between them, a Christmas tree? No. A snowflake tree.
(voice-over) To some, it's a flat out conspiracy to take Christ out of Christmas, death by political correctness. Not surprisingly, the usual suspects are fighting back.
REV. JERRY FALWELL, CHAIRMAN, FAITH & VALUES COALITION: Breaking man's law enables us to keep God's law.
GALLAGHER: The Reverend Jerry Falwell has a battalion of lawyers poised and ready to keep the Grinch from stealing Christmas, but not everyone is buying it.
REV. BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: There's no one trying to eradicate Christmas in the United States. This is mainly a fund-raising gimmick for a couple of right of center interest groups.
Anybody who wants to put up a private display on their front lawn or wear a T-shirt or a hat or a pin to school has my full support, even if the message is religious. No one's trying to stop individual people from exercising their right to celebrate Christmas.
B. SAMONA: Merry Christmas and happy new year to you.
GALLAGHER: Which brings us back to the Samonas. Their story has a happy ending. The neighborhood association sent a letter of apology saying, "We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or distress this confusion has caused you and your family." That means the Samonas can keep their creche.
J. SAMONA: We did accept the apology, after we received it. That still doesn't mean we're not upset.
GALLAGHER: Upset, but willing to forgive.
FRANK SAMONA, NATIVITY SCENE OWNER: Christmastime is all about love and care and forgiveness, so we do forgive them. And we put this behind us, and we want to move on with our lives.
GALLAGHER: Now that's the Christmas -- I mean holiday spirit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And that was CNN's Delia Gallagher. Want to remind you that you can catch "Faces of Faith" every Sunday morning right here at 8 a.m. on CNN.
Well, come back home. That is what New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is telling his citizens, but is the city ready for them to come back to? In our 9 a.m. Eastern hour, a New Orleans city councilwoman weighs in on why some parts of the Big Easy seem to be left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the hours after the 1996 bombing in Atlanta's Olympic Park, security guard Richard Jewell was recognized for his courageous act.
RICHARD JEWELL, SECURITY GUARD: We got about 150 people off the grass area right directly in front of the bomb before it exploded. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One person was killed in the bombing and more than 100 were injured. Jewell was credited with saving lives and was instantly hailed as a hero, but his 15 minutes of fame turned into what he claimed a nightmare.
Jewell was wrongly linked to the bombing and became the target of incessant media scrutiny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did do you it?
JEWELL: No, sir, I didn't do this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve weeks later, he was cleared by the FBI. Jewell turned the table on several media outlets, including CNN, and filed a series of lawsuits, in which many of them settled.
Nine years later, Eric Rudolph confessed to the Olympic Park bombing, and Richard Jewell finally feels vindicated.
JEWELL: It begins a new chapter of my life with, hopefully, some closure in the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jewell is now a police officer in Pendergrass, Georgia.
JEWELL: Fireman, EMS, police officers, we just want to be remembered for doing a good job. That's what I did that night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Time to get your e-mail responses. Here's the question one more time for you. How do you define victory in Iraq?
Rebecca says, "Victory is a welcome home parade for all of our soldiers."
HARRIS: And this is from Lateef from Japan, who writes, "Victory in Iraq can be defined as that time, day or whenever the insurgents in Iraq stop carrying out suicide bombings or when there is absolute peace in Iraq. But will that day ever come to pass?" is the question. Thank you, Lateef.
NGUYEN: Yes. Keep sending them in, Weekends@CNN.com. We'll read them on the air.
Up next, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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