Panel debates Time 'Person of the Year'

NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Nominees for Time's 2005 Person of the Year include Hurricane Katrina and its responders, President Bush, U2's Bono and terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Media bigwigs like CNN's Anderson Cooper, NBC's Brian Williams and political consultant Donna Brazile met in New York Monday to brainstorm the biggest newsmaker of 2005, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Most agreed few humans could rival the hurricane, which Williams pointed out "laid bare so many cracks and fissures in our system."

Brazile voted for the hurricane's first responders while WorldCom whistleblower and Time 2002 Person of the Year, Cynthia Cooper, proposed Gulf Coast cleanup man, Gen. Russell Honore, the newspaper said.

Bush was the magazine's choice for the second time last year.