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CNN Live Sunday
Allawi Chased out of Mosque in Najaf; Louisiana Governor Frustrated with Bush Administration; Crime at Construction Sites; Saddam Hussein's Lawyers seek Trial Delay; Meltdown of Glaciers could cause Water Shortage and Flooding; Expensive Pandas in U.S. Zoos
Aired December 04, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Iraqi politics remain a volatile and dangerous business. CNN was there when a high-profile Iraqi politician was sent running.
Also coming up, a memo from Louisiana to Congress saying the Bush administration cannot be trusted in a crisis such as a major hurricane. A live report from Washington on what else Louisiana's governor has to say.
And later, the giant panda may be endangered in the wild, but in captivity, the species is enjoying a huge baby boom. In a word, it's pandamonium.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Parts of the northeast are getting socked right now by an early season snowstorm. Police in New Jersey are blaming slick roads for deaths of three people. The fast-moving storm also is spreading snow across parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Severe thunderstorms are plaguing parts of the south.
A man who scaled the White House fence faces a charge of unlawful entry. The Secret Service identifies the man as 29-year old Shawn Cox of Arkansas. He penetrated White House property after 12:00 noon today at a time when President Bush was on the premises.
And Harry Potter is working more magic at the box office. For the third straight weekend, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is the top earning movie at more than $20 million.
We will start this hour in Iraq where two more American soldiers have died. As the trial of Saddam Hussein gets set to resume tomorrow and one of the major players in the new Iraq has escaped what he calls an attempted assassination at a mosque south of Baghdad. CNN's Nic Robertson was there when chaos erupted at a campaign stop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the run being chased by an angry mob, not the image former prime minister and parliamentary candidate Ayad Allawi would like to have. His trouble began minutes after he arrived at Iraq's holiest shrine in the city of Najaf. Allah, a secular Shia, was on his way to meet religious leaders but for reasons not entirely clear, anti-Allawi chanting broke out. Within 30 seconds, he was fleeing, later he was to say to save his life.
As Allawi sped away, gunfire erupted, his security shooting back in the direction of the crowd. It's just a few minutes now since Mr. Allawi was chased out of that shrine and it looks like he's leaving town, driving out of Najaf.
As his team stopped to regroup, they realized three people had been left behind. Once underway again, Apache gun ships escorted the convoy. Politician (INAUDIBLE) was one of the three left behind. She made it out OK.
SAFIA AL SOUHAIUL, IRAQI NATIONAL ALLIANCE: When we entered the place from the main gate, we started to see some faces from some forces who were prepared to assassinate Dr. Ayad Allawi.
ROBERTSON: As Allawi and the rest of his team regrouped in the safety of a U.S. base, an Iraqi journalist who fears retribution if he is recognized, told me he was inside the shrine with Allawi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think (INAUDIBLE) because there are gunmen (ph).
ROBERTSON: He believes a militia belonging to firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr was responsible. After a ride back to Baghdad on U.S. helicopters, Allawi seemed to have made a similar assessment.
AYAD ALLAWI, FORMER IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): About 60 people dressed in black carrying machetes and pistols starting chanting against us and it appeared to be an assassination attempt.
ROBERTSON: Allawi's day was meant to be all about building popularity. He casts himself as a secular strongman, able to fix Iraq's security problems. But maintaining that image in the face of these pictures will take powerful rhetoric. Nic Robertson, CNN, Najaf, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Other news out of Iraq now, a top Iraqi official says authorities uncovered a plot to fire rockets at the trial of Saddam Hussein when it resumes tomorrow in Baghdad. In a written statement, the official said the plotters were Sunni Arab insurgents from a group known as the 1920 revolution brigades. The statement is short on details. It does not make mention of any arrests taking place.
The former U.S. attorney general who is helping defend Saddam Hussein says he still has concerns about the defense team's safety. Here are the latest comments from Ramsey Clark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAMSEY CLARK, HUSSEIN DEFENSE TEAM ADVISER: 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)
WHITFIELD: Clark was to meet today with the deposed Iraqi leader to plot legal strategy.
And more now on those two U.S. soldiers killed today in Baghdad. A U.S. official says the killings occurred when a bomb exploded near a military patrol. The official says several soldiers were wounded and two Humvees destroyed.
Iraq will once again be a major focus for President Bush in the week ahead. The president is back at the White House after spending part of his weekend at Camp David. CNN's Elaine Quijano is standing by live for us with more on that. Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Fredricka and of course, a central question in the ongoing Iraq debate continues to be how long should U.S. forces remain in Iraq? The Bush administration has hinted that perhaps, depending on the circumstances on the ground, there could be some kind of troop reduction perhaps as early as next year.
Here in Washington, lawmakers continue to express a wide range of opinions about how a drawdown should take place. Democratic Congressman John Murtha believes now is the time for U.S. troops to hand over security responsibilities to the Iraqis because he feels U.S. forces are paying too high a price. Now others disagree and feel that to leave now would be a mistake. But this debate is taking place as polls show an increase in the number of Americans who disapprove of the president's Iraq policy.
Taking a look at the numbers in fact, in a "TIME" magazine survey last January, 51 percent of people said they disapproved of the way the president was handling Iraq. Now that disapproval number is up to 60 percent. And when asked about U.S. troops in Iraq, 47 percent said the U.S. should withdraw within 12 months regardless of conditions there. Forty percent said troops should remain until the Iraqi government is stable and 8 percent said the U.S. should send more troops.
Now, with less than two weeks until Iraq's highly anticipated parliamentary elections, the Bush administration right now is really trying to step up its efforts to try to get the message across to Americans that the administration does have a plan for winning in Iraq and that plan is working. Now, as the president did last week, the president once again on Monday, on Wednesday rather, will deliver a speech on the war on terror and specifically, Fredricka, focus on Iraq's economy and some of the reconstruction efforts taking place there. Fredricka. WHITFIELD: And in between now with a big night tonight at the Kennedy Center and then Wednesday the speech, what about tomorrow? What's on tap for the president?
QUIJANO: Tomorrow the president will be focusing on the economy. He's going to be visiting a manufacturing plant in North Carolina and expect to hear a lot of what we heard on Friday. The president touting the job numbers out from the month of November, 215,000 new jobs and also expecting to point to unemployment holding at 5 percent. This is an opportunity for the administration to try to claim some credit in an area where they haven't necessarily been able to, but analysts are saying part of it has to do with the political environment that Iraq continues to weigh heavily on people's minds.
WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks so much.
Well, national security adviser Stephen Hadley tells CNN he cannot confirm reports that al Qaeda leader Abu Hamza Rabia is dead. Here's what he told our Wolf Blitzer earlier today on "LATE EDITION".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We've seen the reports out of Pakistan. We are looking at it. We are not in a position at this point to publicly declare that he has been killed. If he has been killed, it's a very good development. He was the chief operational planner for al Qaeda. After the capture of Abu Farraj al- Libbi. He was involved in planning assassination attempts against Musharraf. We believe he was involved in planning attacks against the United States. If he is indeed dead, it's a very good thing for Pakistan and for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Reporters saw pieces of metal at the scene of the explosion where Pakistan says Rabia was killed. The Associated Press reports one of the pieces of metal was inscribed quote, guided missile USA. But Pakistani officials have denied reports that Rabia's death was the result of a U.S. missile strike and CNN cannot confirm whether the shrapnel is from a U.S. missile or whether it is related to Wednesday's incident.
More aftermath from Katrina. Memos, phone logs and e-mails are just some of the documents Louisiana's governor turned over to the government. Wait until you hear what is included.
The threat of global warming is hitting home for some. In Germany, one effect of rising temperatures is shrinking glaciers. We're there on the melting ice.
And sure, they're cute but are they worth the big bucks U.S. zoos are paying to host them? We'll take a closer look at the politics of China's visiting great (ph) panda ahead this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: A beautiful evening shot of the White House, just a few blocks away from the Kennedy Center where tonight, a number of American performing artists are being honored. Among them, Robert Redford, Tina Turner and in attendance will also be the president and the first lady.
Well, the mayor of New Orleans sees himself as a lightning rod for the anger and frustration people feel over losing their homes in hurricane Katrina. Ray Nagin held a town hall meeting yesterday in Atlanta with displaced residents of his city, now taking up residence in Georgia. It's been part of his push to get people to come back and rebuild. Earlier today, Nagin said these meetings promote healing. He also said that in some ways, the challenge has been tougher than the aftermath of September 11th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: This is not like 9/11. You know, Giuliani could kind of go out, do his thing, go home, have a good meal, come back and meet the press and you had bin Laden as the enemy. People could vent their anger toward bin Laden. There's nowhere to vent their anger. I see my role as so much of a psychological absorption ball if you will. And I think it's therapeutic for people to kind of vent their anger because now the anger is turning into optimism and a determination to come back to New Orleans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: There has been a lot anger and frustration among officials as well. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's irritation with the White House is revealed in documents that she has now given to Congress. CNN's Gary Nurenberg joins now from Washington with the details. Gary.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello Fredricka. These documents were sent to congressional committees that are investigating the response to hurricane Katrina and were compiled by Louisiana officials, accompanied by a narrative they wrote that praises their boss, the governor and that criticizes the Federal government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG (voice-over): The day-by-day account posted on the governor's Web site quotes Blanco on Saturday August 27th predicting a severe storm and writing the president that quote, Federal assistance will be necessary. By Monday, the 29th after Katrina struck, Blanco was telling the president in a phone call, we need your help, we need everything you've got. After a helicopter tour on Tuesday the 30th, Blanco complains about Federal response. The narrative says when the expected and promised Federal resources have still not arrived on Wednesday, Blanco places an urgent morning call to the White House, but can't reach President Bush or his chief of staff.
Later that day, she does talk to the president and stresses the situation is extremely grave. By Friday, the frustration level rises. She writes the president that quote, even if these initial requests had been fully honored, these assets would not be sufficient. She asks for firefighting support, military vehicles, generators, medical supplies and personnel and more.
Five days after one request to the White House for a shopping list of Federal help, Blanco's staff gets a memo from a presidential aide saying the president never got the letter. Quote, we found it on the governor's Web site, but we need an original for our staff secretary to formally process the requests. Worried Republicans were blaming Blanco, her chief of staff wrote quote, Rove is on the prowl, a reference to presidential aide Karl Rove. Blanco said in one memo, I believe my biggest mistake was believing FEMA officials who told me that the necessary Federal resources would be available in a timely fashion.
And there are some politics here, too. Angry at Washington's criticism of Kathleen Blanco, one of her aides wrote in the days after the hurricane quote, Bush's numbers are low and they're getting pummeled in the media for their inept response to Katrina and are actively working to make us the scapegoats, end quote, 100,000 pages of documents Fredricka and we're just getting started.
WHITFIELD: Wow, OK, so these pages have been sent to Congress. But then what is Congress expected to do now with these documents?
NURENBERG: As you know, both the House and the Senate have investigating committees to try to figure out exactly what went wrong and what went wrong after Katrina hit. There will be hearings at the beginning of the year, some reports probably by the middle of the year.
WHITFIELD: And I wonder since Blanco has passed on these documents, is it expected that the mayor of New Orleans will be doing the same or has something similar to provide?
NURENBERG: Well, congressional committees are trying to assemble all of the verbiage they can from whatever sources they can. Probably important for us to add that over the weekend, the White House said it hasn't read the Blanco version yet.
WHITFIELD: All right, Gary Nurenberg in Washington, thanks so much.
One of the sweetest signs of recovery in Louisiana is the pending reopening of the badly damaged Domino sugar refinery in St. Bernard Parish. The plant is one of the largest sugar processors in the U.S. When flooding knocked it out of commission, the price of sugar jumped one-third. Domino now says it will restart the refinery on December 12th with about 300 workers. So good news for a lot of folks there.
Other news across America now, a fatal shooting yesterday at a casino in Lake Tahoe. One man was killed and two deputies wounded. Exactly who pulled the trigger and why is still not clear. A woman was taken into custody for questioning however.
You might not think of New Jersey as a haven for black bears, but this one at a golf course underscores how common they have become in residential areas. At sunrise Monday, a six-day hunting season opens for black bear in northwest New Jersey. Animal rights activists went to court on Friday in an unsuccessful attempt to stop that hunt.
If someone gives you a penny for your thoughts and you offer your two cents, who gets the other penny? Tom Delay's here (ph). That's who. You can see him wandering all over Charlotte, North Carolina picking up loose change. Don't laugh. He finds about $1,000 a year in this way.
And in South Dakota, this was the tallest building in South Dakota. Before today, it's still one of the tallest. That wasn't the plan but it is the case. The aging feed mill proved it was just no pushover, despite high explosives strategically placed around the base. Crews are expected to finish off the job with the crane. At least, that's their hope.
Blustery conditions hit the northeast this weekend causing hundreds of accidents in New Jersey. In fact, traffic on the turnpike was reduced to 45 miles an hour.
Will the winter weather affect your morning commute? That story straight ahead. Have you ever driven past a construction site and wondered how easy would it be for someone to rip off all the stuff that's stacked up outside? Not that you'd want to do that, but given security, that's been the question. We'll investigate when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: If you build it, they will come, construction thieves that is. It's a growing problem for builders and homeowners. And the new face of this crime wave will surprise you. Every week, we share with you the best of CNN reports and interviews. CNN's Randi Kaye has this story.
(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, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: When 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: Really is a nationwide epidemic.
KAYE: Stevens' tape library will make any home builder cringe. Appliances, furnishings, front end loaders, plywood, there one minute, gone the next.
STEPHENS: I hid out in the house and watched them load 80 sheets of that plywood. 80 sheets. It 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 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 he was fired from his job as a salesman for a home builder.
(on-camera): Some of these thieves will pay the price in the end, but guess what, so will you. The National Association of Home Builders 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: We were like really, because they're so big and there's two of them. So you're thinking, 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: I always had thoughts of maybe someone's 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. Here goes one air-conditioner. Go back for a 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 families that you know, have no idea that it's stolen. But 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. 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 MALE: Yes.
KAYE: The dentist and his wife had about $100 worth of grass in their SUV.
STEPHENS: You live and work in a $200,000 home at least and you're driving a Range Rover but you're stealing grass? Why not just buy some more grass?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we -- I know there's no excuse. I just -- I (INAUDIBLE) talked to the evergreen (INAUDIBLE). I mean, I know, I'm sorry. It's wrong. I'm sorry. I'm just -- can't we write a check to the trim maker (ph)?
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 costs of construction theft add up. Georgia builder Don Gale.
DON GALE: They broke into a house, they came in here about 10:00 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's stolen. Builders like Gale also have to repair the damage thieves cause when they break into the home and rip out what they want. How do you feel knowing people are coming in and doing this? Do you feel violated? Are you angry?
GALE: It could take somebody as small as myself and put us out of business. It's difficult. You can't claim virtually every theft on insurance or you become uninsurable.
KAYE: 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 every day. That sounds like job security for crooks unless of course private investigator Mark Stephens is lurking nearby.
STEPHENS: The easiest way to catch a crook is figure out where he's going and get their first and that's what I do.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Grayson, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Remarkable stuff. There are some things you can do to protect your new home site. Ask to have appliances delivered in an unmarked truck. Wait until the last possible moment to have appliances delivered and to have your builder store materials somewhere where they can't be seen from the road. Just some advice. Saddam Hussein will be back in court tomorrow morning with former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark by his side. Will this be a quick trial? A preview straight ahead.
And later, China loans its panda bears to the United States, but the cuteness comes with a very hefty price tag. What it costs to keep the bears filled with bamboo is still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look now at top stories and a live look of the entrance of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., ahead of tonight's annual gala for the arts. President Bush will be there as awards for lifetime achievement are given to actor Robert Redford, singers Tina Turner and Tony Bennett.
A man who scaled the White House fence faces a charge of unlawful entry. The Secret Service identifies the man as 29-year-old Shawn Cox of Arkansas. He penetrated White House property after 12:00 noon today at a time when President Bush was on premises.
Gasoline prices have taken another dip but that may be it for now. A new survey released today showed the nationwide cost of a gallon of gas dropped 11 cents over the past two weeks. But the survey's author says higher crude prices and higher consumer demand are likely to start to send prices back up.
And chaos erupts at a political event in Iraq. Former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was chased by a mob from a Shiite mosque in Najaf. Allawi says shots were fired from the crowd. He sped away in a convoy with overhead protection from the U.S. military helicopters, as well.
After two delays, the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co- defendants is to resume tomorrow in Baghdad. Perhaps unaccustomed to western style justice, many Iraqis are expressing impatience. Some believe Hussein should have been punished already for the alleged killings of 140 Shiite Muslims, among other alleged crimes. But as CNN's Aneesh Raman reports, the former leader has learned to work the system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The case against Saddam Hussein, many here see it as open and shut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAMAS RIDHA, ADVISER TO IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: The Iraqi people wish to see a short tribunal to a big turn around, shorter turn around for Saddam Hussein to be executed sooner than later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: But for the court trying Hussein, the legal process getting more complicated by the day. And as they reconvene, there is little doubt another showdown will ensue between the Iraqi High Tribunal and Hussein's defense team.
At the first session, defense lawyers asked for a three-month delay citing insufficient access to evidence and a lack of training. They were granted 41 days and Hussein got a chance to question the legitimacy of the court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM HUSSEIN, FORMER IRAQI DICTATOR (through translator): I don't acknowledge neither the entity that authorized you nor the aggression because everything that's based on falsehood is falsehood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: At the second session last week, the defense asked again for a delay, citing the assassinations of two defense lawyers. They were granted one week, but the issue is far from resolved. Likely to work its way back to court on Monday with former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, officially part of the defense team, planning to make a statement centered on security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMSEY CLARK, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's dangerous for them every day. It's more dangerous every day that they appear in court. So we want the protection in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: The government says it's offered the defense lawyers special security but the lawyers have concerns, saying it's insufficient, creating an impasse and testing the patience of the Iraqi people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"I do not think that Saddam will be executed and also he will not be tried. This is just a show in front of the Iraqi people," says this man.
"This trial will be adjourned for many times," says this policeman. "There will be at least four or five trials and then he will be punished."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN (on camera): Security will be a key concern Monday, not just inside the trial, but outside as well. Iraqi security forces on Sunday said they uncovered a plot to attack the courtroom with mortars and delay proceedings indefinitely.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Members of the former September 11 Commission are saying America is not well prepared for another terrorist attack, and they believe another one will happen. The members are releasing a report tomorrow to evaluate how well the government followed their recommendations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS KEAN, CHAIRMAN, FORMER 9/11 COMMISSION: We're going to grade everybody. We're not going to grade the President. But what we've said is that we have not moved forward to the extent we should. We've made some progress, very little progress in some areas. It's not a priority for the government right now. You don't see the Congress or the president talking about the public safety as number one, as we think it should be. And a lot of the things we need to do really to prevent another 9/11 just aren't being done by the president or by the Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley says President Bush is committed to enacting most of the commission's recommendations.
And icy roads cause a number of accidents across Idaho in recent hours. Several miles of Interstate 84 had to be shut down after an SUV flipped a semi truck. Police were able to reopen the road after several hours of cleanup.
And some treacherous weather from Syracuse, New York and further south. We're looking at a few different pictures from Syracuse, New York where they've been experiencing a lot of snow to icy road conditions, across parts of New Jersey where three deaths are blamed on icy road-related traffic accidents.
Meanwhile, the season's first major snowstorm in Illinois has dumped two to four inches in Chicago. And Monica McNeal has much more detail on all of these conditions across the board.
Boy, it's a mess out there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Wow, treacherous weather all over the map.
Thanks so much, Monica.
While delegates meet in Canada at an international conference on climate change, protesters are trying to dramatize what's at stake. About 7,000 marchers hit the streets of Montreal yesterday. Similar marches were planned in dozens of other countries. In Germany, in the meantime, hikers along the Austrian border say the effects of global warming are already very real. Here's CNN's Chris Burns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (off-camera): At the Zugspitze Glacier on the German Austrian border, retired truck driver, Erhardt Otto takes one more hike before the winter snows.
Having spent holidays here for the past 20 years, he doesn't need a scientist to tell him what he sees, that the glaciers here are melting away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERHARDT OTTO, TRUCK DRIVER (through translator): It is sad because something is missing. Nature is going away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: In Switzerland, works crews have tried with some success to protect some slopes with fabric. Across the Alps and mountain ranges around the globe, the story is similar. Some call glaciers the canary in a coal mine. Scientists suggest the canary is dying, signaling more trouble ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILFRED HAGG, UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH: Almost everywhere on every continent the glaciers are shrinking. And in the Alps, for example, they have lost half of their mass and one-third of their area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: The World Wildlife Federation says its just one example of how Europe is being hit by global warming. While not all researchers agree, many do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEFAN RAHMSTORF, POTSDAM INSTITUTE FOR CLIMATE IMPACT: Glaciers have receded worldwide because the global mean temperature has increased by about .7 degrees centigrade in the last century. This arises predominantly due to our emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Other examples of global warming, in Argentina, the country's most popular glacier has collapsed.
(on camera): Since the mid-19th Century, researchers say glaciers, like this one, have shrunk by up to 90 percent and could likely disappear over the next few short decades. Whether or not it's because of global warming, the potential repercussions are not only environmental, but human.
(voice-over): The primary reason, glaciers are a vital water supply for many people around the world like those living around Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro, whose snowcap is steadily melting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAGG: If the glaciers disappear or shrink to a extreme degree, they will get very strong shortage of water for irrigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: In a recent edition of the scientific journal, "Nature," researchers at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the University of Washington have also documented concerns about a potential water shortage.
The fight over water sources, or the quest to control glaciers, could also become sources of international tension.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAGG: This was completely on the territory of Kurdistan, but now China has moved its border to the west so that the upper part of this catchments (ph) belongs to China now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Glacial meltdowns could also cause flash floods. Lakes, like this one in Tibet, threaten to flood areas below them.
How to stop the meltdown? Some scientists say there are no immediate answers, but reducing emissions now and getting more countries to reduce emissions even further could, in the long run, save the canary in a coal mine.
Chris Burns, CNN on the Zugspitze Glacier, Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In our world wrap tonight, a new law takes effect in Britain tomorrow. It allows civil partnerships. The law gives gay and lesbian couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.
Twenty-year-old heiress, Athina Onassis, has married a Brazilian Olympic equestrian. Onassis married Alvaro Afonso de Miranda, yesterday on a Sao Paulo estate. Reports say they celebrated with friends, family and 1,000 bottles of champagne.
Can't find a date for the big gala? Well, Japanese engineers to the rescue, called the PBDR, partner ballroom dance robot. Yeah. They're serious about it. The sophisticated robot is designed to waltz with a human partner.
And from the desert nation of Dubai, the Middle East's first indoor ski slope. The new park includes areas for snowboarding, bobsledding, even a snowball target range. Plus special machinery to create 6,000 tons of real snow for something that at least looks and fees like it.
Well, he was once a notorious gang leader, and now he's the author of children's books, and on death row. But does this killer deserve to live? You've been reading up on Tookie Williams. Ahead, the most popular stories on CNN.com And later, it's pandemonium. Oh, aren't they cute? A lot of cubs all in one place. But guess what, they're not cheap. Not cheap to get and not cheap to house. We'll explore the costs.
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WHITFIELD: The buzz around the CNN water cooler today, one of the Oldest Christmas cards in the world has sold at auction for $16,000. It's attributed to Britain's Sir Henry Cole, who is credited with inventing the Yule tradition. The card was printed in 1843.
The Guinness Records people have confirmed this giant sock at the University of Central Arkansas is the world's biggest Christmas stocking. It measures nearly 54 feet and was stuffed with thousands of toys that will be donated to needy children around the state. That's nice.
Well, every holiday, a town in Sweden builds a giant goat of straw. And almost every year, vandals seem to torch it. Only ten goats have made it to Christmas intact since 1966. This one survived just a couple of days before someone set is on fire late Saturday. How rude.
It's time to check our "Web Clicks" this Sunday. What stories are getting your attention on the Web site? Let's go to CNN.com, right now.
First up, California death row inmate, Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who is scheduled to die December 13th. Supporters say he deserves clemency for his anti-gang efforts. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a hearing later this week.
Also popular at CNN.com, a man scaled a fence at the White House earlier today. President Bush was inside at the time. But the Secret Service quickly arrested the man. He's identified as Shawn Cox of Arkansas. He's expected to appear in federal court tomorrow.
And want to know what everyone else is reading today? Point and click your way to CNN.com/mostpopular. The top ten stories on our web page are right there for you.
And other top stories at the top of the hour, Carol Lin, you'll be bringing that to us.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you.
LIN: Good to see you too. For the next two hours, we've got some special features. For the next 28 days, right up to New Year's Eve, we are going to be inviting politicians and community leaders on to our program to say specifically what are they going to accomplish in the coming week for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
WHITFIELD: Kind of their New Year's resolutions?
LIN: You bet. And my guest tonight is Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.
And also, coming up in the following hour at 6:00, a debate about what to do about illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border. One Congressman wants to build a fence, a $2 billion fence. That's his solution. We're going to debate that. And he is my guest.
WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be looking forward to all that. Thanks so much, Carol.
LIN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you.
Well, they're popular and they're extremely high maintenance, apparently. Up next, pandas are a hot commodity for a few of the nation's zoos, but are they worth the price?
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WHITFIELD: The lovable and endangered panda, it is notoriously hard to breed but there are some success stories. A new cub recently debuted at Washington's National Zoo. And a breeding center in China has seen 16 births since July.
But, while they may be very cute and very cuddly, panda's are also very expensive to take care of. In one of our Best of Reports from earlier this week, CNN's Brian Todd reports, some people are starting to ask if American zoos are paying too much for the privilege of keeping pandas.
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He's just a fantastic little bear.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tai Shan, four and a half months old, 21 pounds. But here are some other vital statistics on the newly debuted giant panda cub. He costs $100,000 a month for the first six months of life. His parents cost $10 million over ten years. That's how much the National Zoo in Washington pays the Chinese government just to keep these creatures.
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DENNIS KELLEY, CEO, ZOO ATLANTA: The program for its first ten years has been great for the pandas, but this expense is too much for just four zoos to bear.
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TODD: Dennis Kelly, CEO Of Zoo Atlanta, crunched the numbers for the four U.S. zoos that keep giant pandas, Atlanta, Washington, San Diego and Memphis.
He says last year, their revenues attributed to the giant panda's were $3.8 million. The cost? $10.4 million. Most of those costs, paid directly to the Chinese government as fees for the pandas, and for conservation programs to save the species. The rest goes for food and maintenance, all paid for by the zoos.
And here's another thing China gets. The pandas back. All these animals, even the ones born in U.S. zoos remain the property of the Chinese government. Those rules come under separate lease agreements these zoos have with China; agreements that also call for any profits made by the zoos to be put right back into conservation.
Dennis Kelly is trying to make the deals a little more equitable.
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KELLY: We want the costs that we pay, for conservation in China, to be much more in line with what we believe is being paid by other zoos outside the United States.
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TODD: Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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WHITFIELD: But I'll agree, they are so cute. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Carol Lin is up next with more of "CNN LIVE SUNDAY."
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UNIDENTIFIED CNN ANCHOR: Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University may have accidentally discovered the successor to the light bulb. He was working with quantum dots, which are tiny nanocrystals that produce distinct colors. Bowers was making them smaller and smaller.
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MICHAEL BOWERS, STUDENT, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: As you change the size of the quantum dot, the color changes. The smaller you make them, the bluer they get.
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CORRESPONDENT: But this time the unexpected happened.
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BOWERS: Instead of blue or violet, we got white. Our reaction was shock and awe.
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CORRESPONDENT: Bowers was the first person to make the quantum dots glow white without expensive chemical treatments. What this could mean is that, one day, instead of using light bulbs, a quantum dot mixture added to an electrically conductive polymer or paint could be painted on a ceiling or wall or even a table, making it into a light source.
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BOWERS: Any surface that could either emit UV light or be electrically conductive has the potential to become a light source with this type of material. I think that there is a trend out there right now for the replacement of our lighting sources. I would love to be a part of that.
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LIN: An example of Iraqi democracy at work ends in gunfire. We are going to show you the amazing video.
And the telling tale of e-mail. We've got an inside look at what really went on between the Louisiana governor and the White House during the Katrina chaos.
Plus this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At that point I realized, I have just been molested. I have just been violated.
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LIN: She says her doctor molested her during an exam. And she is not the only woman complaining. So why is that doctor still practicing?
It is December 4th, and you're watching CNN.
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