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CNN Saturday Morning News
Democrats No On Troop Surge In Iraq; Iraqi Prime Minister Presents A New Security Plan For Baghdad
Aired January 06, 2007 - 7:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, Iraq's prime minister vows tough action to stop the bloodshed in Baghdad. Just a short time ago, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki announced a new aggressive security plan for the Iraqi capital. He says his forces, backed by U.S. troops, will together militias from all factions.
And chilling accts this morning about the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha. The "Washington Post" says according to eyewitnesses, a Marine squad leader gunned down five unarmed civilians from a taxi after a roadside bomb killed one Marine. The paper cites a report from investigators. Four Marines face murder charges in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha.
Another American reportedly kidnapped in Iraq, along with his two Iraqi interpreters. Wire services are reporting tonight that two men believed to be the Iraqis were later found shot dead in Basra. No word yet on the fate of the U.S. contractor. An American embassy spokesman says officials are investigating these reports.
Well, the Bush administration preparing its new strategy for Iraq. Condoleezza Rice playing a big part. The secretary of state will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday to go over that strategy.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And the new chairman of that committee may be running for president himself. Delaware Democrat Joseph Biden says he'll form a committee at the end of the month to pursue his presidential run. Senator Biden made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency back in 1988.
And Senator Sam Brownback is also ready to join the 2008 race. CNN has learned the Kansas Republican will officially announce his candidacy on January 20th. It'll be his first presidential run. We're going to take a closer look at the early entrants and their chances. That's coming up in about 30 minutes.
And the moment you've all been waiting for -- the word of the year for 2006 is Plutoed.
NGUYEN: Huh.
HOLMES: Yes. In reference to Pluto. You remember Pluto. It used to be a planet.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: And we grew up all thinking that it was a planet. Then some -- some big time, smart folks told us...
NGUYEN: Yes, all those (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HOLMES: Yes. They told us last year, hey, it's not a planet. So now if something loses its value, it has been Plutoed.
NGUYEN: Plutoed. I kind of like it.
HOLMES: I do like it.
NGUYEN: So, what's your word of the year?
E-mail us, weekends@cnn.com, and keep it clean, would you?
We'll read some of those responses a little bit later in the newscast.
HOLMES: Now we want to head over to Reynolds Wolf, who oftentimes has his weather segment Plutoed when we run out of time, but not right now, buddy -- good morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. Absolutely. That's not my word of the year either.
My word of the year is -- well, right now it's bacon. It's 7:02. I'm absolutely starving and it sounds fantastic. So that's my word of the year.
NGUYEN: Hey, we've got some video to show you, speaking of bacon, about this huge boar that was caught here in Georgia. You've got to stay tuned for that. You may not want any bacon after seeing this.
WOLF: I can hardly wait. I'm looking forward to it.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In New York's Central Park, it's looking more like spring, with temperatures in the 50s. Cherry blossoms are blooming in the nation's capital months early.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: So, why not hit the golf courses in Ohio?
Yes, it's January.
Can you believe it?
What's behind all this wacky weather?
Well, we have those answers coming up.
In fact, I almost didn't even need a coat coming into work this morning.
HOLMES: Yes, it has been strange.
NGUYEN: It's January.
What's going on?
We're going to ask Reynolds Wolf about that.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes.
Thank you so much for being with us here this morning.
NGUYEN: Up first this hour, President Bush just days away from laying out his new Iraq strategy. Now, he is realigning his military commanders and meeting with members of Congress, but the idea that he may call for sending more Iraq troops -- or troops to Iraq, I should say, is already coming under fire.
Details now from White House correspondent Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president invited senators over to the White House, to give the impression he's in consultation mode ahead of next week's prime time address unveiling his latest Iraq strategy.
But is the president listening?
After all, administration officials say Mr. Bush is likely to call for a surge of about 20,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq, despite sharp disapproval from those same lawmakers.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Both Republican and Democratic senators expressed grave concern about the situation in Iraq. I personally indicated that an escalation of troop levels in Iraq was a mistake.
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: it's not only that many Democrats have some questions about that, many Republicans have questions about a troop surge.
HENRY: The new Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, went so far as to allege the president decided to shake-up his military commanders because he wants yes men around him.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The surge is a bad idea. The president said he was going to listen to his commanders. If he's listening to his commanders, he can't do this. I know he's shuffling some in and out, obviously, because they're not telling him what he wants to hear.
HENRY: That was a reference to General John Abizaid, who publicly opposed a surge, now replaced as head of U.S. forces in the Mideast by Admiral William Fallon. And General George Casey, the lead commander on the ground in Iraq, now replaced by Lieutenant General David Petraeus.
White House Spokesman Tony Snow confirmed the changes, but rejected the charge that the generals were pushed out for opposing a surge.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's inaccurate. That's just flat inaccurate.
HENRY: Fresh off their elevation to power, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Reid fired off a letter to the president, charging a surge is a failed policy, calling instead for Mr. Bush to start a phased redeployment of U.S. troops within four to six months.
The White House has to be more concerned about the static they're hearing from Republicans, like Senator Chuck Hagel, a long time hawk who's called a surge folly. And Republican John McCain, who is warning the president's surge may be too puny.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The worst of all worlds would be a small, short surge of U.S. forces. We've tried small surges in the past, and they've been ineffective because our commanders lacked the forces necessary to hold territory after it was cleared.
HENRY (on camera): John McCain acknowledged even a large surge does not guarantee success. A potential problem for McCain's own White House ambitions and an even bigger challenge for the current occupant of the White House, who is running out of options to turn Iraq around.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: And as Ed was just mentioning, there is a planned change of military commanders in Iraq. Lieutenant General David Petraeus tapped to become the new ground commander there. He still has to be confirmed by the Senate.
But, as CNN's Brian Todd reports, the general looks like he might be an easy sell.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mounting casualties at a key turning point -- will General David Petraeus take the fight to the insurgents any differently than his predecessor, General George Casey, or will the much anticipated surge in troops be a surge to defeat?
LT. COL. ROBERT MAGINNIS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): I see Petraeus as more complex, imaginative, someone that is willing to take risks. He'll do things with a smile, but he's vicious behind-the-scenes.
TODD: Two Army veterans who know this Princeton and West Point educated officer tell us he's got the intellect, background and backbone for what will likely be a very tough new phase of combat.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I do believe he has to take it on a different way and I think he is aggressive enough to do so.
TODD: And by most accounts, Petraeus knows this kind of fight. He led the first efforts to train Iraqi forces and just signed off on a lengthy new Army field manual on counter-insurgency. One key passage: "Killing insurgents, while necessary, by itself cannot defeat an insurgency. Gaining the initiative," it says, "involves securing and controlling the local populace and providing for essential services."
In an Internet article he wrote for the Army a year ago, Petraeus said money is ammunition, a reference to what won him hearts and minds when he commanded U.S. forces in northern Iraq early in the war.
MAGINNIS: I was in Mosul in 2003 when he was there and enthusiastically showed us his cement plant, all the small businesses he started.
TODD (on camera): Those who know him say with that experience in Mosul and in training the Iraqi Army, David Petraeus understands the cultural complexities of Iraq. But one retired officer tells me he wishes Petraeus would have been put in place maybe two years ago and he wonders if it's not too late now.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: we want to tell you about this.
A major embarrassment now for the U.S. Army. It seems they sent out letters in December urging recently retired officers to re-enlist. But 75 of those letters went to the families of Army officers who were killed in Iraq. Another 200 went to wounded officers.
The Army is apologizing for the mistake, saying they accidentally used an old list to generate those letters. The next step, they say, is personally contacting all of those families to offer a further apology.
HOLMES: And in our CNN Security Watch, no more homeland security money to protect popcorn factories or hot dog stands. And the department says it's revamping the grant process to avoid a repeat of last year's problems and a bit of embarrassment.
For example, the list of critical infrastructure sites has been reduced from 200,000 to 2,100 and cities considered at greater risk, like New York and Washington, D.C. will compete for the lion's share of the money. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: All this is about is being pragmatic. I've seen what works in the real world and, you know, if you can demonstrate that we ought to make an adjustment because, in the real world, that's a helpful adjustment, I say absolutely we're going to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The Department of Homeland Security will hand out grants totaling $1.7 billion to cities and states.
NGUYEN: Well, we are watching growing tensions in Somalia this morning, where street riots in the capital of Mogadishu seemed to intensify.
Now, it began with hundreds of Somalis protesting the government's plan to disarm the population. Street riots continued even after the government announced it was postponing its campaign to disarm.
Government officials aren't saying why they postponed that plan, but it does come after Somali protesters blocked roads, burned tires and threw rocks.
Also in Somalia, the hunt for a group of suspects Al Qaeda operatives. They're suspected in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports now from Kenya.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An urgent manhunt is underway in East Africa to capture five top al Qaeda operatives on the run from Somalia since the fall of the Islamic militia government.
CNN has learned that U.S. and African intelligence services are closely cooperating in an effort to find the men before they slip away, with fear that they might plan new attacks.
The U.S. especially wants these two men -- Haroon Faisul (ph) and Sali Ali Salat Naban (ph), both said to be involved in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Authorities believe all five have ties to al Qaeda attacks across East Africa.
Escape routes from Somalia are being sealed off. U.S. intelligence sources believe the men may have been at a known al Qaeda training camp on the Somali-Kenyan border. Two U.S. Navy warships are now patrolling offshore, stopping and searching small boats.
Kenya has sealed its northern border with Somalia. U.S. Navy SEALS have been just south of the border, helping train Kenyan forces. U.S. military sources deny claims that the SEALS were engaging in search operations.
The top U.S. diplomat for Africa has been trying to muster an African peacekeeping force to help Somalia's new transitional federal government. Hunting al Qaeda is a priority.
JENDAYI FRAZER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS: We believe that it's extremely important and we feel that the cooperation between the neighboring countries, with the transitional federal government at the request of the transitional federal government, is quite helpful in trying to prevent those terrorists from fleeing Somali territory into their neighbors'.
STARR: All of this comes as Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, he called for an Iraq style insurgency inside Somalia.
(on camera): This memorial park now stands on the site of the former U.S. Embassy. The al Qaeda bombing here killed hundreds and wounded thousands. Today, here in East Africa, the concern remains that unless Somalia is shut down as a terrorist safe haven, the threat of another attack remains very real.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: All right, Betty, I need you to excuse us for just a second.
NGUYEN: Just for a second?
OK, I'll step aside.
HOLMES: I need to talk to the fellows for just a minute, all right?
NGUYEN: OK.
Yes?
HOLMES: You need to repeat after me, Daniela Cicarelli.
NGUYEN: And why is that?
HOLMES: if you don't know the name, pick up a pen, write it down, take a mental note. But this...
NGUYEN: Just look at the video that we're showing.
HOLMES: Some Brazilian super model whop was caught on tape doing whatever you would like to describe what she's doing there. She's making out, maybe, with her boyfriend. It was on a beach in Spain. And it's creating a kind of a headache for YouTube owner Google.
All those details in about 10 minutes. And, again, Daniela Cicarelli. Make a note.
NGUYEN: I think you got it down.
HOLMES: Make a note.
NGUYEN: I think you have it there, T.J.
Hey, check the calendar, because there's golfing in Ohio, wind surfing on the Great Lakes.
Just where is winter?
We're going to take a look at that straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC FROM "MR. ROGERS")
NGUYEN: Mr. Rogers.
HOLMES: It just happened.
NGUYEN: It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Just check it out.
HOLMES: Yes, both neighborhoods there look pretty good. That's Denver we're seeing. Nice to see Denver with not so much snow on top of it for a change. And New York there on the right. A beautiful day in the neighborhood.
NGUYEN: In the neighborhood.
HOLMES: Here in Atlanta, as well.
Of course, we've got cherry blossoms in bloom, no snow on the slopes, a lot of folks asking just where in the world is winter?
CNN's Mary Snow looks at just what's going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): In New York's Central Park, it's looking more like spring, with temperatures in the 50s. Cherry blossoms are blooming in the nation's capital months early. Skiers in New England have to find snow between the patches of grass. In Ohio, that lack of snow means golfers get a jump start on the season in what would normally be frigid temperatures.
There's been plenty of snow dumped on Colorado.
Why is it so unusually warm in the Northeast?
Scientists say one culprit is El Nino.
BRENDA EKWURZEL, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: It's essentially a warm pool of water in the Pacific that sloshes back and forth on a two to seven year cycle.
SNOW: Forecasters say for the U.S. El Nino means a mild winter in some parts of the country and wetter conditions in others. And others say it's not just El Nino. Some experts, including one at the government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, say global warming plays a part.
TOM KARL, DIRECTOR, NOAA'S NATIONAL CLIMACTIC DATA CENTER: It's playing a large factor. In fact, if you didn't have the increase in greenhouse gasses, we would not be seeing these consecutive, very warm years following one after the other, both here in the U.S. and globally.
SNOW: Parts of Europe, including the Alps, have had unseasonably warm temperatures. And British climate scientists predict a new milestone for the globe.
WAYNE ELLIOT, BRITAIN'S METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE: There's a high likelihood that 2007 will be the warmest year, globally, on record.
SNOW: Scientists say one year doesn't make a trend. But some say it's part of an overall climate change that is triggering concerns. Some believe the impact can be seen in the U.S. in the past year alone.
EKWURZEL: Within the United States, we had record wildfire seasons, in part because of the large drought conditions in the summer, record temperatures and we burned about 9.5 million acres of our forests. And so these type of trends do have a profound impact.
SNOW: Scientists say the change in climate being seen should serve as a wake up call for how to plan for the future.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds Wolf joins us now.
You know what we're going to ask, right?
WOLF: Bring it on.
HOLMES: Bring it on!
NGUYEN: What is going on here?
WOLF: You know, I'm going to point to El Nino.
NGUYEN: Are you?
WOLF: To me, I mean that's the biggest thing we see. I mean it's cyclical. I mean you have, about every 10 years or so, you see a lot of these changes take place. El Nino has been unusually strong this year.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Well, it wasn't a plane or a bird, certainly not a superhero.
So what was sharing the skies with those planes over Chicago's O'Hare Airport?
Did you see it?
An unidentified flying object maybe?
Look really close. In about 30 minutes we'll see...
HOLMES: I think I see it.
NGUYEN: You do not.
HOLMES: I see it, OK?
NGUYEN: We'll see what landed. Those details in The Water Cooler.
HOLMES: Plus, just two cute to wait.
NGUYEN: Ooh.
HOLMES: The baby says hey, I'm cute, people need to see me now.
We're going to speak with the family that was forced to make a surprise delivery along a Georgia highway.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Surfing the Web this Saturday morning, are you?
Well, let's take a look at what's most popular with you on cnn.com.
HOLMES: And it's not my fault that this is the most popular, but some steamy pictures...
NGUYEN: Well, you did contribute to it, I'm sure.
HOLMES: Well, maybe, but these are steamy pictures we've been telling you about of supermodel -- and actually, it's so steamy it could burn YouTube. The popular video sharing Web site now says it is blocking images and intimate scenes showing top Brazilian model Daniela Cicarelli, again, that Cicarelli, fellows...
NGUYEN: Listen to the music in the background.
HOLMES: It's very nice.
NGUYEN: They've really edited this.
HOLMES: It's tastefully done. NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: But this is her and her boyfriend on a beach in Spain. A Brazilian judge ordered the clip removed back in September, but it kept showing up. So a panel of judges now deciding whether to slap The Tube with a fine for violating that order. And that...
NGUYEN: It kept showing up. Demand, perhaps?
HOLMES: Cicarelli, Cicarelli.
NGUYEN: Yes, you got it.
OK, an alleged high class brothel bust to tell you about, this time in suburban Atlanta. Police say a former "Penthouse" centerfold was one of two women returning -- or running a call girl ring in a million dollar mansion. Residents had complained about scantily clad women, high traffic and loud parties. But the big break came when police were tipped off to a brazen Web site advertisement.
The prosecutor says: "Dates could cost up to $10,000." The women, as you noticed there in that video just moments ago, right there, are out on bail.
HOLMES: Those are the most popular, huh? A brothel and some steamy pictures of a Brazilian model.
NGUYEN: Oh, but this is pretty popular.
Check that out, huh?
HOLMES: This is -- this is strange, too. A lot of people are clicking on this video from suburban Atlanta. A wild boar was shot dead and hanging from the hunter's front yard.
NGUYEN: Wow!
HOLMES: William Coursey says the hefty nine foot long hog weighed 1,100 pounds.
NGUYEN: Can you just imagine what that smells like right about now?
HOLMES: Ugh.
NGUYEN: Yes. You might want to take that out of your front yard. I bet your wife's not too happy about that.
HOLMES: But, Reynolds, that's the bacon he wanted. He's hungry.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's the -- see, Reynolds, you talk about bacon...
HOLMES: Reynolds, we've got some.
NGUYEN: ... there's plenty of it there. And you can get more on all these top stories on our Web site. Just log on to cnn.com/mostpopular.
HOLMES: All right, no speed limit for baby girl Torey (ph).
NGUYEN: Oh, no. Mom and dad actually had to pull over on a major highway in Georgia because little Torey (ph) couldn't wait to come into this world. We'll introduce you to the family right here in our studio in about 24 minutes.
HOLMES: Plus, we'll stick with the theme of speed. Even if the presidential election is still two years away, it feels like many political household names already traveling at high speeds on the campaign highway. Our reality check with Josh Levs, coming up in about 10 minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time in 12 years, Democrats take control of both houses of Congress. And Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the House.
At cnn.com, we've profiled Speaker Pelosi and other women who have made milestones in U.S. politics.
Nancy Pelosi is a representative for the 8th Congressional District of California, where she was reelected 10 times.
As speaker of the House, Pelosi is second in the line of succession to the presidency, just after the vice president.
As she takes up her new position, she vows to lead the most honest and open Congress in history.
Other women have also made history in politics. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives. In 1925, Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming was the first woman governor. Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female Supreme Court justice in 1981. And in 1984, New York Democrat Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice presidential running mate of Walter Mondale for the presidency.
You can read more online at cnn.com/us.
For the Dot-Com Desk, I'm Veronica de la Cruz.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: "Now in the News": Iraq's prime minister vows tough action to stop the bloodshed in Baghdad. Just a short time ago Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a new aggressive security plan for the Iraqi capital. He says his forces, backed by U.S. troops, will target militias from all factions.
Chilling new accounts this morning about the killing of Iraqi civilians in Hadithah. "The Washington Post" says, according to witnesses, a Marine sergeant gunned down five unarmed civilians from a taxi after a roadside bomb killed one Marine. The paper cites a report from investigators. Four Marines face murder charges in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Hadithah.
Also, in Iraq, wire services reporting an American and two Iraqi interpreters have been kidnapped in Basra. The bodies of two men believed to be the Iraqis were later found shot dead. No word yet on the fate of the U.S. contractor. An American embassy spokesman says officials are investigating the reports.
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden ready to join the 2008 presidential race. The veteran democrat expected to form a committee at the end of the month to pursue the presidency. That is about the same time Kansas Senator Sam Brownback will join the crowd as well. The conservative Republican formed his exploratory committee last month. He's expected to officially kick off his campaign January 20th.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Slain Denver Broncos quarterback Darrent Williams will be buried today in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. Friends and family remembered him last night as a charismatic man who escaped tough streets but never forgot his routes. The 24 year old was killed in a drive-by shooting, in Denver, early New Year's Day.
Check this out. A close call at Denver International Airport. Some Frontier Airlines pilots are being credited for avoiding a collision. Their jet was about to land when it came within 50 feet of a smaller charter plane that had inadvertently entered the runway. The Frontier crew aborted the landing.
Let's get you over to Reynolds Wolf for a quick check of the weather. Folks in Denver still dealing with snow.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, just like out of nowhere, it went from seven minutes down to two minutes to, what, like seconds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yeah, she's talking about contractions -- actually. Talking about a trip to the hospital cut short by a baby that just could not wait. You will hear from the Georgia ho who gave birth along the highway. That's 20 minutes away. They are coming here.
NGUYEN: In studio, with baby. She just had this child not too long ago, days in fact.
HOLMES: No one else is pregnant, so we think they'll get here OK. Don't have to stop and have babies on the way. Welcome back to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: Of course, the pressure is on President Bush. Everybody is waiting to hear his new strategy for Iraq. And there's no shortage of critics, including plenty in the new Congress. We get more from CNN Special Correspondent Frank Sesno.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY MORNING (voice over): There have been storm clouds before. A few years ago with things were looking bleak, this president rebounded. They called him the "Comeback Kid".
Now time it running out for this president. And at this point, George W. Bush may be the "last chance kid". Facing a last chance to shape policy at home and abroad. He's not talking that way, of course.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Together we have important things to do.
SESNO: And he wrote in "The Wall Street Journal" there's plenty of time, fully a quarter of his presidency left. In Congress, the new House speaker accepted the gavel.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: In the spirit of partnership, not partisanship.
SESNO: But no one in this town thinks that will last very long. And nowhere is the last chance more important than in Iraq.
The focus is on troop strength, up, down, by how much? But the real issue, military experts say, is not how many, but toward what end. What will they do? And what else is happening? So the White House is positioning the president's pending Iraq initiative in the broadest terms. It will be strategic, they say, not just about a troop surge, a term they hate.
There will be new leadership, a new general in charge in Iraq, a new admiral at CENTCOM and new ambassador at Baghdad.
The president also wants hard decisions and hard commitments from the Iraqis. A nearly two hour videoconference call with the prime minister, just yesterday, a last chance. Because they can talk partnership all they want, but the political tide is coming in fast. The new Congress, an anxious public, and presidential politics already at warp speed. The last chance kid loves sports. And he has his eye on the game clock. Frank Sesno, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We do want to talk politics now, presidential politics. McCain, Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, you see them all there. There's so much talk surrounding these folks, you would think the election is just around the corner, but it's still almost two years away. How does all of this media attention play into the race for the White House? Well, Joshua Levs joins us with his CNN "Reality Check".
Good morning.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY MORNNG: Good morning. Welcome back. We missed you last weekend.
NGUYEN: Thank you. Thank you.
LEVS: People were saying, hey, "Reality Check" guy, where did Betty go? Here she is, folks. Got her back.
Good morning to all of you.
Yes, we're going to talk about the presidential race today. You know they call it the presidential horse race but this right now is the very, very early stage. What we wanted to do here was look back -- follow me here -- to four years ago at this time, to some of the early talk about the last presidential race. And we're going to show you how that panned out. But we're going to start with the recent clip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice over): And so it begins.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: We'll have more on the presidential horse race. Does Senator John McCain have the right stuff to beat the field? And what about Barack Obama?
(TRUMPET BLARE, HORSE TRACK)
LEVS: It's true, the horse race has begun. But hold your horses. Let's look back to this time four years ago when the Democratic slot was up for grabs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why Al Gore is already leading in the so- called invisible primary.
LEVS: The former VP soon announced he wasn't running. The other folks getting the media attention did turn out to be major players in the race.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, since those are the two names floating to the top of the poll, stack Edwards up against those two.
LEVS: But relatively little attention was going to a man who would rewrite the race.
CROWLEY: And 22 percent of registered Democrats picked the former Vermont governor as their fav.
LEVS: A year later, Howard Dean had come from behind taking political observers by surprise. Of course, his campaign ultimately collapsed. Yes, we're showing that scream again.
HOWARD DEAN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yeah! LEVS: And in the end, the nominations went to two men, among the handful of contenders, who have indeed stuck out two years before the election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So, does this mean that we can start predicting right now who's ultimately going to win? Huh-uh. But in most the presidential races of the past 30 years the party nominees, indeed, turn out to be people with big name recognition out of the midterm elections. So, Betty, it turns out that momentum early actually is a really big plus.
NGUYEN: So maybe those names we just put up there, not too long ago, could be the ones. We'll see.
LEVS: We'll keep an eye. We'll see.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: All right, thank you, Josh. We want to turn to Reynolds again. He's keeping an eye on the weather for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: She is only just a few days old but this Georgia baby is already making headlines. We're going to explain next.
HOLMES: And a reminder to you about our e-mail question, the experts picked "Plutoed" as the word of the year.
NGUYEN: Which means?
HOLMES: Yes, there are experts, actually, that do this.
It means that something loses its values, like the planet Pluto getting "Plutoed". What's your pick of word of the year of 2006? E- mail us at weekends@cnn.com. We'll read some of your responses here a little later in the newscast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWAYNE ROGERS, DELIVERED HIS BABY ON I-75: By the time I said, "What do I do?" -- I mean, I had the whole baby in my hands. She just cried out in a little loud whine --
(BABY WAILS)
D. ROGERS: Well, about like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Aw, perfect, right on cue. I tell you, this baby is a miracle, seven pound, seven ounce, Tori Isabelle Rogers just couldn't wait for her parents to get to the hospital. Delivered on the side of a major interstate in Georgia. What a way to arrive in the world!
HOLMES: And they have arrived now in our studio. We're joined by the Rogers family, Dwayne, Patti, the new baby, of course, Tori, and also their son, Tyler.
Welcome to you all. Thanks for being here. Glad to see you made it just fine on the highway without issues. Tell us how this was working out. You were trying to time it out. You left home. You thought you had plenty of time to get to the hospital. What happened?
PATTI ROGERS, DELIVERED HER BABY ON I-75: Basically, when I had woke up, I all of a sudden started feeling a few contractions and we started timing them. They were about seven minutes apart. So I had called my doctor's office, and they returned the call saying when they're about five minutes apart, head to the hospital.
But we decided we would go ahead and head anyway because we're further out. And by the time we got to the vehicle, they were already coming at about two minutes apart. So as we were driving to the hospital, right on the interstate, it just went from two minutes to seconds. And I told my husband, I said, she's coming. I said, I don't think we're going to make it.
And so I just was holding on to the grip bar there and the next thing I know, I could feel her start exiting. And my husband had to pull off the road and take over to --
NGUYEN: I can only begin to imagine. Dwayne, what was going through your mind? You're trying to drive this vehicle safely. And, of course, probably not at the speed limit to the hospital. Then all of a sudden your wife says, "We got to pull over. The baby is coming."
What happened then, in your eyes and what was going through your mind?
D. ROGERS: Oh, jeeze, it was like I said, I really didn't have time to think. She just kept saying, "Oh, it's coming, it's coming!"
I was like, "No, it's not! No, it's not! We're going to make it, it will be all right."
I kept trying to console her and tell her everything was fine. And I looked down and I saw the baby's head, you know, sticking out a little bit. I told her, look and see. And, you know, like I said, I just pulled over on the side of the road and, I mean, I just -- I guess nature took over. It did.
NGUYEN: And no one stopped to help, right?
D. ROGERS: No. When I pulled off the interstate, I kind of pulled -- you know, not into the emergency lane but off of the emergency lane down into the middle of the median, into the grass area, which is quite a distance across to the other side of the interstate. And I just kind of pulled off in a safe area.
You know, dialed 911 -- as soon as I pulled off, I had 911 dialed, I threw my phone up on the dash, and the lady come on the phone and she just, you know, was instructing me on what I needed to do.
HOLMES: I thought I saw you guys. I was on the highway, too, that day. I thought I saw you, but then I saw a baby and I didn't want any part of that.
D. ROGERS: You just kept on going.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: No. Well, give us an idea, Mom, Patti, what is that -- I hear, at least that having a baby is not too comfortable anyway about.
P. ROGERS: No.
HOLMES: But having one in a vehicle on the side of the road, could you believe what was happening?
P. ROGERS: No, I honestly couldn't. I thought, well, this really isn't happening at the time. And I kept thinking, I really -- I need to try not to have her so I can get to the hospital and get the epidural. Because I am not one that can really tolerate a lot of pain, or so I thought. And -- but it was very -- it was painful, but somehow I think your adrenaline kicks in and something blocks some of the pain in your mind. And it was -- and before I know it, when I saw her, all the pain seemed to vanish pretty quickly.
NGUYEN: Of course.
P. ROGERS: And the good thing is that it was rather fast. So it really --
NGUYEN: Yes, about an hour, right?
P. ROGERS: Exactly. So had I really made it to the hospital, it could have taken hours.
NGUYEN: She is just so beautiful. Maybe we can get another picture of Tori, there.
P. ROGERS: Thank you.
D. ROGERS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: I know, Dwayne, that you have said that when all this was happening, all you could think of was your mom. Talk to me about that.
D. ROGERS: Well, just, my mother had passed away quite a few years ago. And just always said if I had a little baby girl I'd name her after my mother. That's what we did. She's just a blessing, you know. Just really is. It's a heart warming feeling, it really is. I can't really describe it.
NGUYEN: Beside the fact that she was born on the side of a freeway, you wouldn't want to change anything?
D. ROGERS: No, no. I mean -- no, I wouldn't have it any other way, really. If I had more kids to come, I mean, it wouldn't bother me to deliver every one of them.
NGUYEN: But not on the side of the freeway, right?
D. ROGERS: Not on the side of the freeway, no, ma'am.
NGUYEN: Let's just make that abundantly clear.
D. ROGERS: That's not really too comfortable. But it's not a bad place for it to happen because the EMTs, the fire department, I mean, those guys were awesome. I mean, they really were.
NGUYEN: When they arrived, what happened? Did they pat you on the back?
D. ROGERS: They pat me on the back. And they were congratulating me, hey, thanks for doing our job for us, you know. And they were saying, it was their first call they were out on, for the year. And they said it was one of the best calls you could really ever have for a first call of the year especially on 75, in that area.
NGUYEN: Yes, well, you have a beautiful family.
D. ROGERS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Let me just tell you, you're such troopers for coming in today.
D. ROGERS: No problem.
NGUYEN: Especially, after having beautiful Tori, and we appreciate your time and we appreciate your time, and sharing your story.
D. ROGERS: Thank you for having u.
NGUYEN: She's just precious. Look at her smiling, there.
HOLMES: Again, thank you all so much for being here and congratulations on the new baby. Thank you.
P. ROGERS: Thank you.
D. ROGERS: Thank you.
HOLMES: Ah, we will go from that to -- hard to make a transition from that. You just feel so good about that story.
We're going to talk about the French here. Who says the French are consumed by fine wine and fine cheese?
NGUYEN: Well, there is, you know, the UFO frenzy. The French space agency takes sightings online. That's in the "Watercooler" coming up in just a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Yep. T.J.'s favorite sound.
HOLMES: Yes, yes, yes.
NGUYEN: Means time to take a quick trip to the "Watercooler."
HOLMES: This is when we get you caught up on unusual news items you may have missed.
NGUYEN: You would think in the era of cell phone video that someone at O'Hare Airport would have documented November's unexplained UFO incident.
HOLMES: According to "The Chicago Tribune" several United Airlines employees reported some kind of object hovering before a concourse, for a few minutes, before zooming off -- actually straight up into the air -- they said.
NGUYEN: Yes, folks in the control tower, though, say they did not see anything unusual and nothing showed up on radar. Well, the FAA dismisses the report as an optical illusion caused by lights in clouds.
HOLMES: I'll go with that. No lack of video for an object from space in New Jersey. This chunk of heavy metal reportedly punched a hole through a through a roof and got stuck in a wall.
NGUYEN: Take a good look. Geologists at Rutgers University say it's a genuine meteorite. Police have named it Freehold Township, after the town where it landed.
HOLMES: And France had its share of UFO reports over the years; about 1600 separate incidents since the mid-1970s, to be exact.
NGUYEN: According to Reuters, the French space agency plans to post all of those reports on its web site for the public to see. It's supposed to happen in the next few weeks, but as you see you need to know how to read French in order to see what is all said.
HOLMES: I can't remember my French.
NGUYEN: I took Spanish, have no clue.
HOLMES: We were asking you all today, as well, about what is your word of the year? The experts -- I didn't know there were experts for this.
NGUYEN: Apparently. There's a job for everything, right?
HOLMES: They picked the word "Plutoed". You know, Pluto got kicked out of the solar system. We asked you what your word was. We got a few responses here. First, we got, "Bushwacked" from Philip in Colorado. NGUYEN: And "surge" is it, not much wit but it is a hit." We did hear a lot of that this year, surge. That is from Irene in Singapore.
HOLMES: This one -- it's kind of funny: "polonium". You remember this bad stuff.
NGUYEN: Not a funny story, though.
HOLMES: Yeah. Says, "When I go out to eat I say, and go easy on the polonium, I'm on a diet."
NGUYEN: Ah.
HOLMES: Kind of funny, but realistically, guys.
NGUYEN: That's referring to the former Russian spy who was killed in that polonium. It's hard to say. That word, poisoning, and we'll get more on that as we hear more about that story.
That's the word there. Let us know if you have other words in your vocabulary that you think has been the word of the year. You can always e-mail us at CNN.com.
Here's another for you this morning: "weather".
HOLMES: Yes, the whole country asking what's up with the wacky winter weather? If you want to call it winter. There's more snow in western Colorado. The Big Apple feels more like summer. Our weather guru -- he's a guru now? Reynolds Wolf coming up later.
Also coming up steamy video of a Brazilian supermodel burns up the Internet but it's the web giant YouTube feeling the heat. We have the scoop, hot scoop that is coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: "Now in the News": Another American reportedly kidnapped in Iraq, along with two Iraqi interpreters. Wire services report that two men believed to be the Iraqis were later found shot dead in Basra. No word yet on the fate of the U.S. contractor. An American embassy spokesman says officials are investigating the reports.
Outrage over the Saddam Hussein hanging, angering Iraq's prime minister. Nouri al-Maliki is saying, in a speech this morning, that the execution was a domestic matter for the people of Iraq. He also says he could be forced to reconsider relations with any country critical of the execution.
Also, in news today, the Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. A statement from the Chicago-based religious group says Farrakhan is recovering after 12 hours in surgery. No word on what kind of surgery. Now, last year, Farrakhan issued a statement saying he is seriously ill, but ...
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