Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

U.S. Military Helicopter Crashes in Iraq

Aired January 08, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story out of Iraq this morning, a U.S. military helicopter has crashed, all aboard have been killed.
It is Sunday, January, 8, good morning from the CNN Center. It is 10:00 a.m. in Atlanta, 5:00 p.m. in Baghdad. And good morning I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen, we want to thank you for starting your day with us.

"Now in the News," two hours ago doctors in Jerusalem updated Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condition. Doctors say this morning's brain scan show he is improving and if all goes well they'll start bringing him out of a drug induced coma tomorrow. He's still listed in critical condition. We're going to go live to Jerusalem in just a moment.

A strong earthquake rattled southern Greece this morning. People in Athens say the magnitude 6.7 quake rumbled for at least 30 seconds. It was centered about 23 miles underwater, about 120 miles south of Athens. There's No word yet on injuries or damages.

The U.S. military reports five more Marines killed in Iraq this weekend. Three Marines killed during firefights in Fallujah and two others killed by roadside bombs in two separate incidents.

HARRIS: It has been a very deadly weekend for Americans in Iraq, 17 of them have been killed in the past 24 hours. The latest deaths happened when a Blackhawk helicopter like this one crashed just after midnight killing all 12 people aboard. The military says the chopper went down near a town of Tal Afar, which was its destination. CNN's Michael Holmes is following the development from Baghdad for us.

And Michael, good morning to you and what can you tell us about this story?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey good morning, Tony. Those details just really starting to come out. The interesting thing is that this helicopter we knew was listed as missing at Midnight last night and it took 12 hours to find the wreckage and then it changed from missing to crashed. Twelve people, as you said, in total: Four crew, eight passengers, all Americans. What we don't know yet is whether all of those passengers were in fact military. We should assume so, but we don't know for sure. I know that these two Blackhawks -- there were two of them flying between two bases in the area in support of "Task Force Band of Brothers" which is better known perhaps as 101st Airborne, when one of them just basically -- communications were lost and the search began.

When I say that some of them could have been civilians, it's certainly possible. I was on Blackhawk yesterday, for example, coming back from an embed and civilians are shipped around between bases on occasion. We're working that aspect. I can tell you that the weather was bad up there. This was in the northwest of Iraq, 12 kilometers East of Tel Afar, which itself is just east of Mosul in the North, which well known I known around the place. There are 17 dead, as you said, in the last 24 hours, even worse, 28 dead if you count since last Thursday in terms of U.S. losses, here in Iraq -- Tony.

HARRIS: Michael, OK, so we know the helicopter goes down after -- just before midnight and you mentioned that weather conditions recently in the area have been on the choppy side. Is there any sense yet -- I know we're at the earliest stages of this investigation, as to what might have caused this crash?

HOLMES: None at all, Tony. The investigation, as the U.S. military is telling us, is well underway already and has been for a few hours. Now it will be difficult to work out initially what went wrong. I'm sure they will be able to work it out. Yeah you're right, the weather, a bit choppy. My ride down in a Blackhawk yesterday was a bit bumpy, as well. It's been raining; it's been wet, windy. But, we don't know whether that was the reason or indeed what was the reason, but that investigation underway -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK, CNN's Michael Holmes for us in Baghdad. Michael, thank you.

NGUYEN: Doctors say the only survivor of the Sago mine disaster is doing exceptionally well, medically, but still has a long ways to go. Last night Randy McCloy, Jr. was transferred from Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh to one in West Virginia where he can be closer to his family. CNN's Chris Huntington is live in Morgantown, West Virginia with the latest on what's happening there. Chris, we're stand big for a press conference to begin shortly.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's right Betty, we're expecting to hear from doctors here at Ruby Medical Center on campus of West Virginia University. These are doctors that began treating Randy McCloy last Wednesday. Obviously it's a great sign that Randy has returned home to West Virginia strong enough to make the trip last night, as you mentioned, helicoptered out of Allegheny General Hospital last night at about 7:15.

In this press conference this morning also expecting to hear from his wife, Anna McCloy, who, in the last day or two has been showing great signs of happiness, Frankly, it's the first time we'd seen her smile over several days. So, obviously the news that she's getting in person from the doctors is encouraging to her. As you mentioned he is showing incremental signs of improvement. I have to stress, he is still in critical condition. He was on the verge of suffering massive organ failure, heart, liver, lungs, all of -- everything in distress because he was so severely dehydrated, but over the last few days he has shown tremendous resilience and strength in recovering from almost all of those major organ system problems.

There was terrific amount of fluid building up in his left lung, which is the lung that was collapsed and that is really had really concerned the doctors, particularly the doctors in the Pittsburgh hospital because that was -- he -- because of that they've had to keep him on a ventilator and because of the ventilator they've had to kept him under very, very heavy sedation in a medically induced coma because being on a ventilator, assisted breathing, involves painful tubes that go down into your esophagus and so, that's one of the reason they've had to kept him on such heavy, heavy medication. The problem, of course, with keeping him on heavy medication is it makes it difficult for the neurologist to fully gauge Randy's cognitive recovery, the degree to which the bit of brain damage that he did suffer is impacting his ability to function.

Now, what they did yesterday is they actually stopped the sedative, brought him into a relative state of wakefulness and he showed positive signs, apparently, the doctors put it, of biting on his tube, other reflexes, other indications that showed them, indeed, as the doctors put it, that he is awake underneath their coma.

So Betty, now he's back here in West Virginia. The care continues. We are going to hear the latest from the doctors this morning. We know, one final thing, last night they did perform one more cat scan, a brain image scan, last night, and that shown improvement, lessening of the swelling in his brain. So, all systems look like they're showing incremental improvement -- Betty.

NGUYEN: That's very good news that he's been improving and so rapidly considering what he's been through. So, the fact he was sent from Pittsburgh to West Virginia means there it will be no hyperbaric chamber treatments?

HUNTINGTON: That's correct, Betty. The doctors there in Pittsburgh -- and that was the main reason he went to the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh was for the specialized high pressure oxygen treatments. They had said all along that they looking to put Randy through anywhere between one and six treatments. He received three treatments, 90-minute treatments in this pressurized chamber, 100 percent oxygen turned up to considerably more pressure than what you would feel at sea level or what you'd fell here in this area of the country. And they felt that that -- the three treatments were sufficient. Again, they stress, this was -- this was in the hope of improving long-term cognitive abilities.

The press conference is about to begin...

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Chris, I'm going to have to interrupt you, because -- yes, the press conference is beginning, as we listen to Dr. Larry Roberts and Anna McCloy, Randy's wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has affected everyone in the state of West Virginia. The miners of Sago mine have family and relatives here and at WVU and at the hospital. And all of us have been impacted by this. All of us join in mourning with the miners and their families, we know the funerals start today and we're in mourning for that as well. We welcome Randy McCloy and his family back here at WVU hospitals last night. We have Dr. Larry Roberts here today, director of the John Michael Moore Trauma Center and Randy McCloy's attending physician. We have Dr. Julian Bailes, chairman of neurosurgery here at WVU, and both of them will be giving an update on Randy's condition. Before we do that, I'd like to ask Anna McCloy to come to the podium, she wants to read a brief statement. She will not take any questions this morning.

ANNA MCCLOY, RANDY MCCLOY'S WIFE: Our entire family is grateful for the thoughts and prayers for Randy. We're glad to have Randy back home in West Virginia where he'll receive the best care and be surrounded by people who care about us and our children which is so important. Our family's private thoughts this morning continue to be with Randy's co-workers and their families. We are thinking of them today and throughout this difficult time. And we ask you to please keep all of the families in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I guess, I'd now like to turn it over to Dr. Larry Roberts. As I mentioned earlier, he's Mr. McCloy's attending physician and director of the trauma center, here. He'll give an update on Randy's condition.

DR. LARRY ROBERTS, RANDY MCCLOY'S ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: Thank you, Bruce. Thank you, everybody. My voice is slightly improving. First, in the continuum of care we're provided to Randy, we are very grateful to our colleagues up at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for the contribution they made to his care. We established contact with them with Dr. Tony Zekos (ph) and his medical team that he assembled. They took fantastic care of Randy, they did what was the intended plan which was to give him three days of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We accomplished that. We brought him back to West Virginia and now we're providing his continued ongoing care which was our treatment plan all along. So again, my heartfelt thanks to the Allegheny General Hospital and specifically Dr. Zekos (ph) who did a marvelous job in every aspect.

We had chance to see Randy as of last night and then throughout the night and then this morning and we would consider his condition still critical. However, he's shown some signs of improvement. We -- I made a point the other day that we have to look at Randy as whole person, not as individual organ systems, however, as we look at the vital functions of internal organs that does represent, in many ways, the improvement that we're seeing and his heart is behaving extremely well. The liver is functions well, the kidneys have not recovered, but this is not unexpected. Yesterday he received hemo-dialysis to filter the blood which will be a normal function of the kidney. We'll get that again today and probably everyday until the kidneys hopefully do make a recovery.

And so his -- I think up at Allegheny General was comment about his ability to coagulate blood and his blood was actually thinned by the muscle breakdown and that has completely stabilized, now in the course of this disease and we're very pleased with that. The one aspect, and Dr. Bails is here with is, who has been involved in his care since the beginning, and I'm very grateful, Joanne, thank you. The neuralgic status is stable at the moment. We have not seen a significant change. One thing that we have noticed is perhaps some improvement in his CT scans which we're performing on a regular, on an ongoing basis. I'll let Dr. Bails comment on the particular findings of his neuralgic exam...

NGUYEN: You have been listening to doctors in West Virginia talk about the status of Randy McCloy. One important part was the brain and what we've just learned is that it is stable. What they've learned from all of their research and their tests that so far the brain is stable, but there has been no significant change although the CT scan looks a little more positive. Of course, his wife Anna McCloy is very happy to have her husband home back to West Virginia near family and friends, but she did mention that her heart is with co- workers today -- Randy's co-workers as funerals get underway in West Virginia for the miners lost in that explosion. Of course, we're going to stay on top of this and bring you the latest developments as they happen.

HARRIS: And Betty, several new developments to tell you about this morning on the condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In a briefing two hours ago, Sharon's doctors said they see signs of improvement, enough to allow them to start bringing Sharon out of a drug induced coma tomorrow. For what this means, we go to CNN's Wolf Blitzer who joins us now from Jerusalem.

And good morning to you, Wolf. I have to say, it looks like tomorrow is shaping up to be a pivotal day not only for Ariel Sharon and his family, but for the whole of Israel.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You're absolutely right, Tony. There's no doubt that they'll only really be able to have a clear picture of his brain activity after he's weaned off of those drugs that have put him in this induced coma condition. The CAT scans themselves, the scans that have been providing results have been somewhat slightly encouraging, according to Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef who briefed reporters a little while ago, here in Jerusalem. He says that the scans show continued signs of improvement as far as lack of fluid in the brain, over fluid, the bloods if you will, the hemorrhaging the other day caused that emergency series of surgeons -- of surgery. Normal blood pressure, not running a fever, he remains in critical, but stable condition, the prime minister of Israel, but as you point out, they're only going to be able to determine the full extent of the damage of the injury after they get him off the drugs that induced this coma and if there are no eventful events -- eventful occurrences overnight they'll begin that process tomorrow.

In the meantime Israeli cabinet continues to convene. The acting prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, convened the cabinet, here in Jerusalem, earlier today. They symbolically, pointedly, left Sharon's seat vacant, right there, showing that he remains the prime minister. Olmert is the acting prime minister, but the work of the Israeli government goes on. Ehud Olmer, later at a news conference, stressing positive developments in Israel's economy over the last year. So, they're trying to show that business does continue as usual.

Even some of Sharon's critics within the Israeli political establishment, including the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who bolted from his government a few months ago to go back to lead the Likud in the scheduled elections for the end of March, I spoke with the former prime minister just a while ago, here in Israel, and he spoke very glowingly of Ariel Sharon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FMR. ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think that there is something that I feel that every Israeli feels and probably many friends of Israel around the world that Ariel Sharon led so many battles for the security of Israel, is now making the great battle for his life and we all are united in prayer that he succeeds. I think that's what people want to hear and want to see that he makes it through this terrible ordeal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And so that's it. The former prime minister, all of the political factions here in Israel, Tony, sort of uniting right now. I suspect though, that that won't last very long. It's going to get very intense, the political campaigning here in advance of the end of March -- March 28 elections. Back to you.

HARRIS: OK, Wolf Blitzer for us from Jerusalem. Wolf, thank you.

And just programming note here, Wolf will keep you updated on Sharon's medical condition and what this means to Israel's future later this morning on "Late Edition" along with the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Wolf will speak with Israel's vice premier Shimon Peres. That's two hours from now, here on CNN.

NGUYEN: Doctors for Iraq's Baby Noor are gearing up for surgery tomorrow. And up next, we'll get a personal perspective on raising a child with spina bifida from former CNN anchor Judy Woodruff.

HARRIS: And later, there have been new developments in Tom DeLay's political future. We will get a live update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And checking our top stories this morning, Randy McCloy, the only survivor of the mine disaster, is back in West Virginia. Just minutes ago doctors there said his condition is improving, but McCloy remains in critical condition. McCloy was flown to a hospital in Morgantown last night so he could be close to family. McCloy had been getting special oxygen treatments in Pittsburgh.

Doctors in Jerusalem say a brain scan taken this morning shows Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is improving, but he's still in critical condition. Doctors plan to start bringing Sharon out of a drug induced coma tomorrow. That will enable them to evaluate any brain damage. A strong earthquake shook Greece this morning. U.S. scientists say the quake has a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 and was centered underwater about 12 miles south of Athens. The tremor was felt as far away as Cairo, Egypt, that about 745 miles to the southeast. No injuries have been reported.

NGUYEN: Tony, Baby Noor is scheduled to undergo potentially life saving surgery here in Atlanta, tomorrow. You may recall, the 3- month-old Iraqi girl is suffering with a severe form of spina bifida, where her spinal column did not close before birth. Baby Noor, her father, and grandmother arrived in Atlanta last weekend. And doctors at Children's Health Care will perform that surgery for free. Former CNN anchor, Judy Woodruff's 24-year-old son has spina bifida. And Judy knows firsthand life may be like for Baby Noor and her family. She joins us now from Washington.

So good to see you again, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF, FMR. CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, it's great to see you too, Betty. Thank you for having me on.

NGUYEN: Well, we appreciate you sharing your story so we can understand what the Baby Noor's parents are getting ready to endure and what's ahead in this road to recovery. First of all, talk to us about your son, Jeffrey. When did you find out that he had spina bifida?

WOODRUFF: Betty, we -- Jeffrey was diagnosed about a month before he was born. I had a sonogram, which as you know, is when they do sound waves of the mother's uterus, and it was determined that he might have spina bifida at that point and he may have what's called hydrocephalus. This is when you have additional cerebral spinal fluid, this is the fluid that washes the brain and spinal column. They knew before he was born that he might have this. When he was born in September of 1981 that's when we knew for sure. It is crucial that when a baby is born with spina bifida that there be surgery as soon as possible to close up the opening in the back because, Betty, what it is, spina bifida essentially means that the spinal column did not form properly and that part of the spine -- the spinal cord is literally outside the body.

NGUYEN: And with the Baby Noor, she's 3-months-old already.

WOODRUFF: She is. That's right.

NGUYEN: There's time that has passed. Are you concerned about whether the surgery can do the trick?

WOODRUFF: Well, you know, it's impossible for me to say because I'm not there and I haven't spoken with the doctors. I've read what the doctors have said. They say they seem to be optimistic that they'll be able to do the surgery to close up, to take this sack which is literally on the baby's back, open it up, put the spinal cord back inside, cover it with muscle and tissue and give that baby as good a set of prospects as you can imagine. It is more delicate, it's more risky at this stage, but the doctors say they think they can do a good job.

NGUYEN: In your experience with your son Jeffrey, who is now 24- years-old, what kind of limitations did this cause? Was the surgery successful for your child?

WOODRUFF: Well Betty, it was absolutely successful. They did surgery on Jeff when he was 15 hours old. He wasn't day old when they closed up the opening in his back. Jeff was fortunate. His opening, the spinal damage was lower in the back, meaning that the injury was limited to the lower part of his body. Jeffrey was later able to walk as a -- at 13 months and so forth, but for an opening in the spine that is higher, that means there's more involvement. It may be, we don't know about the Baby Noor's condition, I've read that the soldiers who were there with the Georgia National Guard who found her and her family said that she was not moving her legs normally, so this may mean -- may mean that she's not able to walk. Of course, we hope that that's not the case. But yes, there are complications with walking and with bladder and bowel control with, frankly with learning disabilities as these children get older. It's a whole complex set of issues that make for a lot of -- it's a lot of heartache, frankly, for a family.

NGUYEN: Yeah, a lot of sleepless nights for a mother that stood by your son through the thick and thin of all of this, going through all the doctor's appointments and hearing all of the news both good and bad. Your heart must go out to this family. What kind of advice would you have for them?

WOODRUFF: Well, I see that the father and the grandmother have accompanied Baby Noor to Atlanta. And I would just say that no, I'm sure they are grateful to have had the American soldiers, American troops and now American doctors performing this surgery. And, but I think going forward it will be a long haul. I would hope that they will be able to get the kind of medical attention in the future that this baby is going to need as she grows up as a toddler and goes to school. I would hope that there will be medical care in that country which means, of course, we hope there's the kind of stability in Iraq that would make that possible.

NGUYEN: We talked about the possible limitations that this can cause. But, if the surgery is successful can a child with spina bifida have a normal life expectancy?

WOODRUFF: Yes. And Betty, it depends so much, again, on how severe it is. Because, if it is a milder form of spina bifida and the child is able to walk and get around and doesn't have as many learning issues in school, there can be a very -- a quite normal life. But the higher that opening is and the more involved it is, some of the children are in wheelchairs for their entire life. And then it is matter of, you know, what are the opportunities and that raises questions, I think, about our society and how much are we open to individuals who are limited in their ability to get around. I mean, even in this country that's an issue.

NGUYEN: Well, and that's something that you are working to bring about awareness, also you're supporting spina bifida research. I want you to talk to us about that, what you are doing specifically and how people can help.

WOODRUFF: Well, there's an organization, Betty, called the Spina Bifida Association of America which does everything in its power to educate Americans about spina bifida and I just want to get in a quick word here about folic acid. This is something that research has identified over the last 10 or 20 years if women take enough of this, all women of child bearing age should get at least 400 micrograms of folic acid every day and if there's a history of spina bifida in the family, even much more than that. But they know if you take folic acid you can reduce the incidents of spina bifida by as much as 70 percent, so that's crucial. We want to get that word out above all.

NGUYEN: Yes, prevention can be key. Judy Woodruff, thank you for sharing your story and all you learned through the ordeal with your son. And we wish him the best of luck and you, too.

WOODRUFF: Thank you. And we wish Baby Noor all the luck in the world. Thanks Betty.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. Have a good day. Thank you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: You too.

NGUYEN: And you can learn more about Baby Noor's surgery. Dr. Roger Hudgin is the neurosurgeon how will perform tomorrow's planned operation. He's going to be a guest on CNN LIVE SUNDAY at 4:00 Eastern this afternoon.

HARRIS: And up next, we'll get a check of the weekend weather forecast. And whether is also making news as Shanon Cook previews "Going Global." Good morning, Shanon.

SHANON COOK, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony. Japan is experiencing record levels of snowfall and this has led to dozens of deaths and countless injuries. I'll share details when CNN SUNDAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right, we got a bit of a warm-up in the southeast, but we still need rain.

NGUYEN: We need rain and winds to die down especially for those wildfires.

HARRIS: We do. Bonnie Schneider is upstairs in the CNN Weather Center. Good morning, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Hey look warming up. We're trying to give people a break on the home heating costs this winter.

NGUYEN: I paid my bill the other day. Woo! Sky high.

HARRIS: See, see. It'll get you. All right Bonnie, thank you. HARRIS: And let's get a check on what's happening around the globe today.

NGUYEN: The World Health Organization has confirmed the first human deaths from the deadly Asian strain of bird flu outside of East Asia. Shanon Cook is monitoring that story from our International Desk and joins us now.

Is this development sparking new concerns that this pandemic is imminent?

COOK: Well, hey Betty -- it certainly is a serious concern for Europe that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has reached Turkey and that more people there are actually getting sick. We just learned that three new human cases of bird flu have been confirmed by health officials in Turkey's capital. But earlier, the United Nations special enjoy on bird flu, I want to point out, said there's no indication of the beginning of a pandemic. He warned thought that there's a serious need to stay away from sick poultry. Three children have died in Avian Flu in eastern Turkey. The WHO confirms that two had the deadly H5N1 strain and two more children are now being treated for the virus in the hospital. The WHO has confirmed that one of those has the deadly HTN1 strain.

To Germany now where hundreds of mourners packed a church in the southern city of Bad Reichenhall on Saturday. They came to remember the victims of Monday's ice rink collapse; 14 children and adult were crushed to death when the roof of the rink collapsed after heavy snow. Authorities are checking to see if it is in fact snow that caused the disaster.

And staying on topic of snow, Japan is experiencing its heaviest snowfall on record. We've learned that at least 63 people have died and 1,000 people have been injured since the snow started falling a month ago. Some of those injuries caused by people shoveling snow. In some areas northwest of Tokyo, snow has piled up to 10 feet. And among the fatalities two women that died when their home collapsed under the weight of the snow -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Shanon, we thank you for that. A lot of snow causing a lot of problems. Thank you.

COOK: You bet. Thank you.

HARRIS: Congressman Tom DeLay makes a dramatic announcement about his political career. We'll get some reaction just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And that jockeying for position has already begun within the GOP after former republican House majority leader Tom DeLay's decision not to seek his former top spot. The embattled Texas lawmaker says the job is too important to be" hamstrung by personal distractions." DeLay faces felony charges involving campaign finances. CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano has more on the aftermath of DeLay's exit from the leadership picture. Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Tony. That's right, after being battered by two political scandals, Congressman Tom DeLay decided the time had come for him to step down for good as House majority leader. Now of course it was last fall when congressman DeLay first stepped aside from his post. He thought temporarily after being indicted in Texas on charges relating to campaign finances case. But he had vowed to come back. However the political environment changed dramatically this week after Jack Abramoff, a once powerful lobbyist, pled guilty to three charges including conspiracy to bribe public officials.

Now republicans in general, and DeLay in particular, were rocked by the news as well as Abramoff's agreement to testify against lawmakers. With that as a backdrop and congressional midterm elections in November, some republican had feared DeLay had become the face of GOP ethics problems. Nevertheless, on the Texas charges DeLay has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM DELAY (R), TEXAS: In the 21 years I have been in Congress, I have always acted in an ethical manner within the rules of the House and the laws of our land and in time, once again, will bear that -- bear out that truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, as for the White House, it was just last month that President Bush said that he believed Tom DeLay was innocent. Now, he also said that he hoped DeLay would return as majority leader. This weekend, however, a much different tone out of the White House, a spokeswoman Erin Healy (ph) saying, quote, "We respect Congressman DeLay decision to put the interest of the American people, the House of Representatives, and Republican Party first. We look forward to continuing to work with Speaker Hastert and all House Republicans to build at upon the important accomplishments we have achieved on behalf of the American people to make America safer and more prospers."

Now, what is next for republicans? House speaker Dennis Hastert says he expects a leadership election to take place the week of January 31 that when House members return for the State of the Union Address -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, OK. So, that begs the question, Elaine, any front runners to replace DeLay?

QUIJANO: Well, two names emerging as likely candidates. First of all the person that was the No. 3 representative, Roy Blunt of Missouri. He's actually been filling in on an interim basis as House majority leader since Tom DeLay stepped aside. Now, at the same time though, he could facing a challenge from a Republican from Ohio, John Boehner, perhaps hearing that he could announce his candidacy this weekend. We'll see, we'll have to wait and likely to be other candidates, as well. But those are the two names that are emerging as the frontrunners right now.

HARRIS: White House correspondent Elaine Quijano. Elaine, thank you.

NGUYEN: Looking ahead to stories that will make headlines this is week. Baby Noor is scheduled for surgery tomorrow in Atlanta. She's the Iraqi infant who was found by U.S. troops searching for insurgents. The 3-month-old was born with a severe form of spina bifida and experts say she could die if left untreated.

Also Monday confirmation hearings begin for Supreme Court justice nominee Samuel Alito. Alito is the president's pick to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. CNN will provide extensive live coverage of those proceedings.

And Wednesday German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with President Bush at the White House. It is her first visit to the U.S. since becoming Germany's first female leader. Items on the agenda, boosting transatlantic ties and advancing freedom and prosperity around the world.

Well, 2006 has already brought us a lot and we mean a lot of wild weather, and just a few weeks into it. Just ahead we'll find out if there's anything unusual going on to cause it.

HARRIS: Let's see, and -- now there you go, that's New York City. Good morning, New York. We'll have your complete weather forecast in about, oh, four minutes or so with CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: In case you are just joining us, here's a look at our top stories this morning. Southern Greece is recovering from a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. European experts say the quake's epicenter was 23 miles under the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. The quake rattled Athens felt as far away as Egypt, more than 700 miles away. No reports of major damage or injuries.

Critical, but stable and improving, that is the latest medical update from doctors treating 77-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He's recovering from multiple surgeries following a Wednesday stroke. Doctors say they'll have a better idea on Sharon's brain swelling tomorrow when they begin taking him off a drug induced coma.

And a Frenchman held hostage in Iraq is now free thanks in part to the U.S. and Iraqi military. The man, going to put his picture up here, shown on Arab television in newscasts there was kidnapped December 5 in Baghdad. His captor fled when U.S. and Iraqi soldiers came upon a farmhouse where he was being held.

HARRIS: I seen that picture of -- a -- what do you think, Joe, can we see that picture of New York City again. Great New York harbor, Lady Liberty.

NGUYEN: Very nice. Look at that. Sun shining. HARRIS: We're getting a bit of a warm-up?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, it didn't start off so nicely this morning in New York, so it's nice to see that change.

HARRIS: Shaping up. Shaping up.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SCHNEIDER: Bill Nye the Science guy joins us from New York to explain all this wacky weather.

Bill Good morning.

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Good morning. Good morning.

SCHNEIDER: It's an amazing year. All of these extreme, especially this is past week we saw flooding, we saw fires, we have still a tropical system that just died out two days ago. What's the science connection between these weather events happening at the same time?

NYE: Well, I don't know if there really is a short-term one. But, what fascinates me, and I hope everybody, is that the world's getting warmer. What you can argue about how many humans are to blame, but the world's getting warmer, and then if you have systems, atmospheres and oceans that cause weather that are driven by heat, than you'd expect that these storms -- these storm systems would get bigger and more powerful. Now, you cannot -- it would be quite a stretch to suggest that these individual tornadoes and individual storms and individual dry spells in the Midwest are caused by global warming this year, right now, that's extraordinary. You can't prove that.

SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I know.

NYE: If you are wondering about it or if you're a betting person, wondering what will happen in the future, you would expect as the world gets warmer these storms would become more severe. So, this could be an indicator of a serious situation.

SCHNEIDER: Is it, though, unusual to see all of the events happening simultaneously, fire in one part of the country, floods in another. That seems to me a little unusual?

NYE: Well, I'm not an expert on that, but I would say it is not that unusual, I mean, especially if you go back -- if you have records that go back a few centuries. I don't think people used to compare the snowfall in Tokyo with dry conditions in the North American Midwest until now -- until we had media all around the world where we can view the events simultaneously.

But, if you are the kind of person that likes to look to the future, and I think we all are, you know, it seems reasonable as the world gets warmer these events will become more pronounced. Now, the business in northern California with heavy rains and so on, the heavy rain events are not that uncommon, but what has happened is we increased -- the human population there. We've paved over more and more wet lands and we have built very big structures on more and more unstable hillsides. The hillsides that have been geologically unstable for a long, long time, thousands of years, and now we're build on those places and so it's starting to catch up with us. Now, you can panic, but know we can all just take steps every time one of these things happens, we can realize that we need to be more careful with how we build structures and especially how we pave over or destroy or alter very -- in a big way alter wetlands in a big way. And this is big problem in northern California and of course it was a big problem in New Orleans, still is a big problem -- or not just New Orleans, that whole area.

SCHNEIDER: Right, and we also had, speaking of New Orleans, a record breaking year when it came to tropical systems and hurricanes, the Tropical Storm Zeta being the 27th storm and the longest running storm going all the way into January, which is so unusual. From a science perspective looking ahead to 2006, we're know we're looking, unfortunately, to another strong hurricane year with a lot of named storms, but what is your prediction for this year, for 2006?

NYE: Well, if it's -- well, gee, what is my prediction? Well, yes. It looks to me that these hurricanes have these long cycles of 30 or 40 years, so my understanding -- am really, it's really is quite limited with regard to this stuff that we have at least one more heavy year and maybe two more heavy years and then it would calm down again. But, I think, overall if you're going worry about things as the world gets warmer you would expect these cycles to be stronger and you might even expect more frequent hurricanes. In other words some of the tropical storms that didn't use to make it to a category hurricane will now make it. So, even if that's not true, even if that prediction turns out to be wrong, what are we, as what I like to call "voters and taxpayers" going to do about it? I mean if it's not this year, then it'll be 30 years from now. And 30 years is not that's not that long when you're build big buildings and highways and stuff.

SCHNEIDER: That's true. Well, thank you so much, Bill Nye.

NYE: Well, thank you.

SCHNEIDER: We appreciate having you on this morning.

NYE: Oh yes...

SCHNEIDER: A lot of wacky weather out there. That's for sure.

NYE: It's a powerful year, yeah.

NGUYEN: That's why he's called the science guy.

HARRIS: We're gong to take a break. When we come back, we'll hear what you are saying to us about the current state of politics. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It's time now to check in with Howard Kurtz in Washington to sate what is ahead in CNN's "Reliable Sources."

Hi Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN "RELIABLE SOURCES": Hi Betty. Coming up, Ted Koppel and his first television interview since announcing his post- ABC plans. Will he still be able to do the kind of serious journalism that became a hallmark at "Nightline."

Plus the media's mining disaster. Are the press and the cable networks responsible for the badly botched reporting on the fate of those doomed miners?

And Tom DeLay's downfall and also Bill O'Reilly and David Letterman in not-do funny confrontation on the air. It's all ahead on "Reliable Sources."

NGUYEN: Yeah, I heard that got a little rough. Howard, thank you, looking forward to seeing the show.

HARRIS: Everybody was a little uncomfortable watching that. All morning long, we've been asking for your thoughts on our email question. How will the corruption scandals impact the way you vote? Now, this is an unsigned email, but it probably expresses the sentiment of a lot of folks out there.

"It's time to clean house. They have lost touch with the real world. Our middle class is disappearing and our officials are making millions."

NGUYEN: Don Richardson says, "I will not vote for any candidate who takes more than a ham sandwich from his/her mother during the campaign and thereafter. If no candidate can run clean I will not vote."

HARRIS: That's all of our time. Coming up at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN, Wolf Blitzer has the latest on Jerusalem on "Late Edition."

NGUYEN: "Reliable Sources" with Howard Kurtz is next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com