[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] On the ground in Iraq. America's new defense secretary getting an in-person briefing this morning, while President Bush gets ready to brief the press.
[John Roberts, Cnn Anchor:] Winter warning. A blizzard blast about to slam a good portion of the United States today.
[O'brien:] And buyer beware, a gift card scam that could make for some very unhappy holidays. Those stories, much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, everybody, Wednesday, December 20. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
[Roberts:] And I'm John Roberts, in today for Miles O'Brien, all this week, in fact. Thanks very much for joining us.
[O'brien:] And thank you for joining us. We appreciate that. We're getting word about President Bush's news conference this morning. He's planning to speak with reporters at a 10 a.m. Eastern conference. Elaine Quijano live at the White House for us. Good morning, Elaine.
[Elaine Quijano, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning to you, Soledad. Well, we had expected some sort of end-of-the-year news conference by President Bush, and now we know it will take place today at 10 a.m., as you said. We are told by an administration official that the president is going to make remarks, first of all, for about 10 minutes or so, and he's going to talk about the consultative process that is underway, looking at a new strategy for Iraq. Now we expect the president, according to this official, to discuss what he told the "Washington Post" about a desire to increase the size of both the Army and the Marines, something looking at that for the long term. Now also the president will talk about the economy, we are told, talking about how it is strong, he believes, and growing. He'll talk about his commitment to work in a bipartisan way, with of course, Democrats poised to take control of Congress next month. He'll also mention that Secretary Gates, of course, his new defense secretary, is in Iraq. But we're only expecting him to talk very broadly about how those deliberations and those consultations, not only with Secretary Gates, but other top officials, are going. And we are told by this official not to expect any announcements, Soledad, on when the president himself might be ready to make an announcement on a change from his Iraq policy Soledad.
[O'brien:] Elaine Quijano. We're going to carry that, of course, live right here on CNN John.
[Roberts:] As we have been reporting this morning, the president's new defense secretary, Robert Gates, is in Iraq right now, arriving there within the past few hours, with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and getting an in-person briefing from the top U.S. commander, General John Abizaid. Senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, the only network correspondent traveling with Secretary Gates, spoke earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
[Jamie Mcintyre, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Soledad. Well, Robert Gates said the first thing he would do when he was sworn in was go to Iraq, meet with U.S. commanders, look them in the eye and ask them about what they really think ought to be done in Iraq. He didn't waste any time doing that. He was sworn in on Monday, got on a plane on Tuesday, arrived early Wednesday morning here in Iraq. And he's already been in meetings now with General Abizaid, the top commander for the Central Command, and general Casey, the top commander on the ground here in Iraq, to talk to them about possible changes in strategy. Of course, a lot of speculation about this proposal that's getting serious consideration from the White House to surge tens of thousands of additional troops to Iraq. The idea would be to essentially get the violence under control and give the government of Nuri al-Maliki a chance to try to make some progress on national reconciliation, which commanders believe is the key to solving the problem here. Gates will meet with Nuri al-Maliki tomorrow. He's going to continue to meet with commanders today. And of course, part of that speculation is fueled by the fact that President Bush has said, yes, he agrees the size of the U.S. military does need to be increased. And while that is a separate issue from providing troops to Iraq, clearly looking at this in the long view, why does the U.S. need a bigger military? Well, because it's going to have a continued demand for troops, either in Iraq or someplace else. So Gates is not yet giving us any idea which way he thinks the strategy ought to go. But clearly a lot of consideration being given to this option to send more troops to Iraq, not fewer.
[O'brien:] That was Jamie McIntyre reporting for us just a little while ago. New message from al Qaeda to the Palestinians this morning. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right hand man, telling Palestinians to reject elections, a call for elections, in favor of holy war. This tape was played on Al Jazeera this morning, and just a short time ago, I asked the Palestinian legislator, Hanan Ashrawi, if the message would carry any weight among Palestinians.
[Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Legislator:] Nobody asked him his opinion, frankly speaking, and nobody wants to listen to his opinion. Palestine has nothing to do with al Qaeda, not in Palestine certainly, and not al-Zawahiri. Palestinians, including Hamas, including the Islamic parties, do not claim any affiliation with or allegiance to al-Zawahiri.
[O'brien:] Hamas and Fatah so far honoring a new cease-fire, sort of, this morning. Ten Palestinians, though, have been killed in factional fighting since Saturday, when the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, called for new elections. And it's going to be Vice President Dick Cheney for the defense. His former chief of staff on trial. A closer look this morning as lawyers for Scooter Libby say they plan to call the vice president as a witness in Libby's perjury trial. The trial is related to the leak that exposed the identity of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame. Joining us this morning from Washington, D.C., chief national correspondent, John King. Good morning, John.
[John King, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Soledad. This decision guarantees a remarkable legal and political drama when Libby's trial gets under way in the middle of next month. Now presidents have testified in criminal proceedings before. Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton, to name two. But historians say this will be the first time a sitting vice president is called as a witness. And remember, this vice president is someone who has vigorously defended the administration's right to keep high-level discussions secret. And yet in this case, sources tell us he is more than willing to try to help his former chief of staff, a man Mr. Cheney praised when I tried just a few months ago to get him to talk about a few months his role in the case.
[Dick Cheney, Vice President Of The United States:] I'm not going to comment on the case. It's I may be called as a witness. Scooter Libby, obviously, one of the finest men I've ever known. He's entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I have not made any comments on the case up to now, and I won't.
[King:] Some in Washington put it this way: Scooter Libby was to Dick Cheney what Karl Rove is to President Bush. And the defense is hoping that Mr. Cheney supports Libby's main defense theme: the false and inaccurate statements he made to the CIA leak prosecutors were not deliberate lies but instead faulty memory, because he was so overwhelmed at work. But Cheney as a witness also gives the prosecutors an opportunity to get what would be an unprecedented account, under oath, of how top White House officials responded back in 2003 when Ambassador Joseph Wilson started all this with a "New York Times" essay accusing the president of hyping the case for war. Those are notes Mr. Cheney scribbled on that article. They're part of the court record now, and they show that he knew Wilson's wife worked at the CIA, though both the president and the vice president insist there was no calculated plan to get revenge by disclosing Valerie Plame Wilson's identity. But Soledad, high courtroom drama coming up in just a few weeks.
[O'brien:] Sure to be. John King for us this morning. Thanks, John.
[King:] Thank you.
[O'brien:] John.
[Roberts:] A new poll of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan shows some changing opinions on gays in the military. Seventy-three percent of military personnel questioned said they are comfortable serving with gays and lesbians. That's a big change from a 1993 poll where only 13 percent said they were OK with gay colleagues. The poll also found nearly 1 in 4, 23 percent of service members, knew for sure that someone in their unit was lesbian or gay, including 21 percent in combat units. Among those who did know a gay colleague, few said their presence undermined morale. Blizzard warnings for a big chunk of America this morning. Heavy snows coming to the plains and parts of the Rocky Mountains. Up to 20 inches expected in Denver by tomorrow. Chad Myers in the CNN Weather Center, tracking the storms. Morning, Chad. Chad, was that my son who e-mailed you from Boulder, because he's traveling out of there today?
[Chad Myers, Cnn Meteorologist:] No, it was it was an e-mail I get. His name is Bill. And he also said, "Good thing I stocked up on beer yesterday." So but I don't think your son is named Bill.
[Roberts:] No, but I expect he probably stocked up on beer, too. Thanks, Chad.
[Myers:] All right.
[Roberts:] In Oregon, the search on Mt. Hood for two missing climbers is already scaled back and might even be halted because of the weather today. The sheriff says photos found in a camera near Kelly James' body show that the men were not well prepared to survive this long in the extremes. CNN's Chris Lawrence reports from Hood River, Oregon.
[Chris Lawrence, Cnn Correspondent:] For more than 100 hours they scoured this mountain with Black Hawks, a Chinook and a C-130.
[Sheriff Joe Wampler, Hood River County, Oregon:] Now, the big search probably is over.
[Lawrence:] Dozens of rescue climbers have been ordered to stand down, and the helicopters grounded. Search teams recovered the body of Kelly James, but there's still no sign of his two climbing partners.
[Angela Hall, Missing Climber's Sister:] And we also ask those many thousands of people around the world who have so graciously and passionately offered their prayers to Brian and Nikko to continue to pray for them, now more than ever.
[Lawrence:] Through letters they left behind and evidence in the ice, this story emerges. James, Brian Hall and Nikko Cooke climbed the more challenging north side of Mt. Hood, packing lightly for a quick climb. They summitted the mountain about 11 days ago, but at some point James dislocated his shoulder.
[Wampler:] I think an injury threw that schedule all off and left them in a position of now what are we going to do in desperation?
[Lawrence:] Search teams found evidence they dug a snow cave and huddled together and then, maybe the next morning, Hall and Cooke grabbed ice axes and left the cave to get help.
[Wampler:] Where did they go?
[Lawrence:] It's a question they can't answer. There are places to hide in a crevasse that drops 2,500 feet. Already covered by new snow, the footprints just disappear. [on camera] That doesn't mean they're giving up. An avalanche team will still investigate. Fixed wing aircraft will still fly by. But even the sheriff is asking the question, how long can anyone last in this environment? Chris Lawrence, CNN, Hood River, Oregon.
[O'brien:] Well, the Discovery crew is ready to head home. Weather, though, might not cooperate. The shuttle is now unhooked from the International Space Station. The forecast, though, looking very iffy for a landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They only have one extra day to spare. Discovery has got to return by Saturday because they're running low on fuel. Coming up, banning transfats from French fries and other treats. An entire state might be ready now to follow New York City's footsteps. And the man accused of trying to blackmail Yoko Ono enters a plea in the case and makes some accusations of his own. More on that straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.