NEWS LITE : CLINTONS HOST CHILDREN'S PARTY.

'Twas five days before Christmas and at the White House, not a child was stirring - until the cat showed up.

In the golden glow of thousands of Christmas tree lights, President Clinton treated Washington-area schoolchildren to a round of ``Jingle Bells'' and his annual reading of ``A Visit From St. Nicholas (The Night Before Christmas)'' on Friday.

The president, specially outfitted with a Santa Claus necktie, even acted out bits of the story with little gestures as first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton nodded along to the poem's cadence.

But it was Socks, the presidential cat, who starred.

Some four dozen children, who sat primly on the East Room floor and, at the president's cue, chimed in with the tale's familiar words, hopped to their feet and mobbed Clinton when Socks was finally delivered by an aide.

``Wait! Wait! Wait! One at a time,'' Clinton called as the children, most in their Sunday best, pressed toward the black-and-white cat cradled in the president's lap. Four military social aides scrambled unsuccessfully to put the children into a line.

For Davis Elementary first-grader Emmanuel Hill, the cat was a surprise favorite. ``I liked that we got to see Socks. She's a nice cat,'' he said.

Stroke recovery going smoothly

for Velvet Fog

Mel Torme is making encouraging progress four months after his stroke, a spokesman said Friday in Los Angeles.

The 71-year-old singer was moved to a rehabilitation wing Thursday, Rob Wilcox said. ``He was up and walking with the aid of a physical therapist and a rail on the wall. Everyone is thrilled with that.''

Although the Velvet Fog won't be home for Christmas, his spokesman said the singer was buoyed by news that his latest album, ``An Evening with Mel Torme,'' entered the Billboard jazz charts at No. 25. Torme recorded the album just two weeks before his stroke.

Lovebirds Winger, beau hitched

The urban cowgirl has found another gentleman.

Debra Winger has married a second time, this time to actor and longtime boyfriend Arliss Howard in a quiet ceremony over the Thanksgiving holiday. Her spokesman, Allen Eichhorn, also said Winger is pregnant.

``They are expecting a baby in June,'' Eichhorn said Friday.

Winger, 40, starred in ``Terms of Endearment,'' ``An Officer and a Gentleman'' and ``Urban Cowboy.'' She has a 9-year-old son by her first husband, actor Timothy Hutton.

Howard, 41, had roles in ``Full Metal Jacket'' and ``For the Boys.''

The couple met on the set of the 1993 romantic comedy ``Wilder Napalm'' and have been together ever since. They live in New York.

Actor finds musical film

role a rush

Geoffrey Rush is not really a frenetic, piano-playing prodigy, but he plays one in the movies.

Critically acclaimed for his portrayal of eccentric pianist David Helfgott in ``Shine,'' Rush is still getting used to Hollywood.

``I didn't see myself as a film actor,'' the Australian stage star said in Friday's USA Today. ``I was quite happy as a theater actor who had cornered the market playing wacko, marginalized, extreme characters.''

The real Helfgott suffers from a mental condition that causes sometimes unintelligible speech and rapid movement. Rush said the pianist ``laughed a lot'' when shown a video of the movie.

``He found me terribly amusing as him, which is great,'' Rush said. ``And he cried a lot. Afterward he said, `This is the best film I've seen since ``Ben-Hur,'' ' which I think is classic.''

Academy sings Collins' praises

Phil Collins was named the 1997 MusicCares Person of the Year for his philanthropy, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced. Collins participates in The Prince's Trust concert, which donates to charities for children and the homeless. He also regularly donates portions of money he makes from concerts to shelters and homeless charities. Collins, a seven-time Grammy winner, will be honored at a tribute in New York during the week of the Grammy Awards in February.

Franklin bust acquired by

art museum

In a coup worthy of its subject, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has purchased for nearly $3 million the most famous likeness of Benjamin Franklin, a marble bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, the great portrait sculptor of the 18th century.

The bust was purchased by dealer Richard Feigen for an anonymous buyer - declared Friday to be the museum - at a Dec. 6 auction at Sotheby's in New York. It was the highest price ever paid for a work by the French artist.

At the time, there was speculation about who had bought the 20-1/2-inch tall marble bust, carved by Houdon in 1779 when Franklin, then 73, was America's minister to France.

Museum Director Anne d'Harnoncourt unveiled the bust Friday at a ceremony in the rotunda of its European art gallery, where it will remain on display.

The museum said the purchase was made through support from a private foundation, which it did not name, and from money from its endowment and gifts being made by individual donors to a newly created Fund for Franklin.

This is one of two marble busts Houdon did of Franklin. An earlier one is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A third bust, of terra cotta, is owned by the Louvre.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Daniel Raycrow sits between President and Hillary Clinton after the annual reading of Christmas poetry at the White House.

Associated Press

(2) Mel Torme: Up and exercising