Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Gunmen Disrupt Arafat Wake; U.S. Military Announces Control Of Falluja, Fight Still Continues; CIA Deputy Director Resigns

Aired November 14, 2004 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Masked gunmen burst into a tent where Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and others had gathered together to mourn the death of Yasser Arafat. Two security guards are killed.
The common cold: What treatments really do work? Tips on how you can survive the sniffles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Switch with me, please. You know, I can find more votes for new ohio. Trust me, I know where to look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And they poked fun at the presidential candidates before the elections. Why should they stop now? Hello and welcome to CNN SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at these headlines.

Central Baghdad rocked by 4 large explosions just after night fall. The blasts came near the Green Zone, where Iraqi government offices and the U.S. embassy are based. No word yet on any damage or casualties.

Under international pressure, Iran agrees to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The announcement came after talks with France, Britain and Germany. The U.S. and other suspect Iran is enriching uranium as part of a covert plan to build nuclear bombs. Iran denies that.

Out with the old and in with the new on Capitol Hill, but not quite yet. Members of the 108th Congress returned for a lame-duck session this week. On the agenda, voting on nine spending bills for the fiscal year that began last month. The new Congress convenients in January.

Up first this hour, the Palestinian leader some predict could follow Yasser Arafat as the head of the Palestinian Authority, escaped with his life today. Mahmoud Abbas was wisked to safety after gunfire broke out at a tent where he and others had gathered to mourn yasser arafat. Matthew Chance joins us now from Jerusalem with details. Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, thank you. And ever since the death of Yasser Arafat, there's been a great deal of concern that the Palestinian attempts to replace Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian people would descend into a sort of political, perhaps violent, power struggle. Well, tonight in the Gaza Strip, we saw an example of just what could happen. And an incident which has heightened those fears.

Gunmen breaking into a mourning tent, which Abu Mazen, the former Palestinian prime minister, and possible successor to Yasser Arafat, was paying his suspect to Yasser Arafat, firing into the air. Abu Mazen escaping with his life. But this was a bad day for those who have been urging restraint and unity among Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): Abu Mazen was in Gaza to pay his respects to Yasser Arafat. He has already been appointed his successor as head of the PLO, and is tipped as favorite for president as well. But these are dangerous types for anyone seeking the mantle of Palestinian leader.

A column of armed militants enters the crowd firing into the air. Members of Fatah, Abu Mazen's own party, here to object to his presence. Abu Mazen is an agent of America they shout.

In the chaos, more shots are fired. And terrified mourners scramble for cover. Abu Mazen is wisked away safely, later playing down what happened here.

ABU MAZEN, FRM. PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As a result of the outbreak of emotion because of Yasser Arafat's death, there was overcrowding and firing in the air, which meant we had to leave, and we left.

CHANCE: But finding a successor to Yasser Arafat is now a pressing need. In Ramallah, Palestinian officials announced leadership elections will be held on January 9, 60 days after the death of their first president, and time enough for chaos to mar the choosing of a second.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Palestinian politics has always been fractured.

A new guard of political figures has emerged to challenge the old. And without Yasser Arafat in the picture to bridge the divide, there's fears that Palestinian politics could descend into a power struggle seem increasingly real, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Matthew, Abu Mazen or Mahmoud Abbas, one and the same, since he's downplaying this incident, is it not being considered an assassination attempt whatsoever?

CHANCE: No, it doesn't seem to have been an assassination attempt, not of the eyewitnesses that we've spoken to, none of the political figures who were at this funeral wake for Yasser Arafat, and even those pictures don't really bear out the idea that it was an assassination attempt. It was clearly a very angry protest. Many members of Abu Mazen's own Fatah political party going there to protest the fact that he was there. And that protest getting out of hand.

We understand at least two people killed, both of them said to be members of the Palestinian Security Forces. Abu Mazen himself, apparently, safe.

WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance, thanks very much for that report.

Well, now to Iraq. We'll have the latest on the battle of Falluja in a moment. But first, here are other developments we're following today. Al Jazeera reports kidnappers have released two female relatives of interim Prime Minster Iyad Allawi. But the network says the group is still holding his male cousin hostage.

In Baghdad, there were at least 4 explosions in or near the Green Zone. Gunfire followed the first explosion. And sirens were heard after the other three. The U.S. military had no information about the blasts.

And in Mosul, a car bomb killed two Iraqi national guardsmen and wounded 3 others late last night. Attacks in the city have forced the U.S. military to shift troops away from Falluja.

The U.S. military says it has liberated Falluja, but U.S. and Iraqi forces continue to hunt insurgents still hiding in that city. Earlier today I spoke on the television with CNN's Jane Arraf who is embedded with U.S. soldiers outside Falluja. I asked her what this stage of the fighting meant for U.S. and Iraqi troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): What that is that they have secured the major sectors of the city. And there is an army unit that has come into the eastern side of the city, north to south, and essentially what they found they've come through, are small pockets of insurgents.

They have brought out the heavy weapons. They started with tanks. They've got air strikes going on. There's still airstrikes as we speak, air strikes over Falluja tonight. There's artillery. They are still targeting the insurgents that are there.

And in this part of the city that we're in now in the south, they found an incredible series of tunnels, of bunkers, some of them stretching for 300, 400 meters that they have targeted with 2,000- pound bombs trying to destroy those. And trying to get rid of the insurgents that are there.

As they do that, as they move through the city, and launch these strikes, the marines are moving in and doing building-to-building searches, street by street. And essentially what that means is making sure there are no insurgents in those houses, which there are in many cases. We were taken into one of the houses yesterday, which actually had 2 dead gunmen in it as well as a variety of weapons. These insurgents have essentially taken over this part of the city. And they are in quite a lot of these buildings -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Was there some surprise among the soldiers and the marines that the insurgents were so organized, that they did have these tunnels, et cetera, that you described?

ARRAF: It has been thought that until you actually get down here, you can't really gauge the extent of the defenses that they set up. And the reason that this battle has gone, in military terms, U.S. military terms, as well as it has, is that the insurgents believed that they were going to come from a different direction, that they were going to come from the south or the east, the U.S. forces were.

Instead, they came from the north, and they were able to difuse a lot of those defenses they set up. As we moved through the north with the army, what we found entire streets that were wired. We found land mines on almost every corner. They have found something like five potential suicide car bombs, car bombs rigged up to explode.

But these were not detonated and a lot of them were because, probably because they bombarded the city for so long and came from a different direction, they were able to difuse that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that was Jane Arraf on the telephone reporting from near Falluja.

Almost 300 Americans have been wounded in the battle of Falluja so far. Many have been sent to the main U.S. military hospital in Europe for treatment. CNN's senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The number of U.S. military casualties arriving here at the Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany doubled this past week, principally because of the fighting in and around Falluja. 419 casualties were medivacked her to Landstuhl the past week. 53 percent of those were U.S. Army casualties, 42 percent U.S. Marines.

The nature of the wounds doctors are seeing are what you would expect, gunshot wounds, additionally burns and also what are called blast wounds, those can be concussions, they could be shrapnel.

The commander of the U.S. military hospital here in Landstuhl is Colonel Rhanda Cornum.

COL. RHONDA CORNUM, CMDR. LANDSTUHL MEDICAL CTR: Well, since November 8, Landstuhl has received 419 patients as of the end of today. Of those, more than half have been battle injuries and more than half have been inpatients. That is higher than we usually have. About 95 percent have been from Iraq, about 5 percent, as usual, are from Afghanistan.

RODGERS: When the U.S. military casualties arrive here at Landstuhl, if the soldiers and marines are well enough, they're given a cell phone to call home. If they're not well enough to make that call, then the military here on the hospital base makes the call for them.

Many of the casualties here we cannot show you. There are at least 37 in intensive care units. They are scarred. Many of them are disfigured. Many of them are also suffering trauma. For reasons of good taste and for reasons of privacy, we cannot show you the worst of what's been arriving here. Walter Rodgers, CNN, Landstuhl, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: U.S. forces look to wrap up their mission in Falluja, but will the city remain in their hands, even after the battle? Our military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange, will weigh in.

Plus, CNN's Nic Robertson inside Falluja to bring us a day in the life of Charlie Company.

And the CIA's deputy director announces he is stepping down. Is the nation's spy agency in disarray?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We're focusing, again, on the battle of Falluja. After a week of fighting, the U.S. military says the city is liberated from insurgents, but pockets of militants still remain. And will Falluja stay under control? Joining me now is Retired Brigadier General and CNN military analyst David Grange. He's currently the chief operating officer of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Good to see you.

DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, the fighting may be wrapping up doesn't necessarily mean that the battle for Falluja is over.

GRANGE: That's right, Fredricka. They have liberated the city from the insurgents, from tyranny, which has taken place to some extent, as you've heard. But it's going to take awhile to secure the entire area. And it won't be a one-time clearing operation. Insurgents will continue to arise out of the population, or infiltrate where they can to continue to cause problems so it will take awhile.

WHITFIELD: And we heard in Jane Arraf's report moments ago, while they're going house to house, room to room, they're also finding in addition to citizens of Falluja, they're also still finding some insugents who who have stayed behind, who may not be fighting, but they're there. So will the strategy still be that U.S. military may scale back its numbers, or will they maintain the same number of U.S. marines and soldiers in Falluja?

GRANGE: Well, some of the heavy weaponry may pull out of Falluja, but there will be a lot of ground forces, Marine or Army, probably Marine foot soldiers in the area. And they are going to have to use the Iraqi military to do the vetting process to determine who is friend or foe. And that will take awhile, because some of the insurgents as you just stated will melt into the population.

WHITFIELD: So this operation might not be considered successful could it, without the cooperation of the Iraqi soldiers as well?

GRANGE: The Iraqi soldiers and the Iraqi government, who authorized the operation to begin with. But it is successful for one, liberating the city. The other is the psychological effect it has on taking the key, the primary safe site away from the insurgents and the terrorists, which Falluja was. It was a symbol. And so this is a credibility blow to the insurgents and terrorist forces.

WHITFIELD: Well, what might be the strategy of maintaining some control of Falluja, so that it doesn't get reclaimed by the insurgents? Because this is really the second pass, isn't it, of Falluja of U.S. troops coming in and trying to get rid of the insurgency.

GRANGE: Well, second major go around, I think it's actually been three times. One was just as they were patrolling in and out in the early days after the fall of the regime. But there will be a combination of Iraqi and U.S. forces on the ground for awhile, so that reemerging of terrorist or insurgents does not happen.

But nation building, reconstruction will start immediately, and it already probably has in some areas to try to show the people that the Iraqi government, the coalition is there to bring the place back to normalcy, provide the care and the life support systems that are needed and prepare for the elections in January.

WHITFIELD: Well, since the insurgency leadership is believed to have left before these troops even moved in, and that they may have gone on to another city, reestablished, perhaps even recruited, is this mission still considered mission accomplished?

GRANGE: I think so. You know, the liberation of Afghanistan without getting bin Laden was a mission success. Bin Laden is a mission in itself itself. Zawahiri is a mission in itself.

And by the way, these senior terrorist leaders, insurgent leaders move around from city to city all time. They just didn't leave Falluja because of the attack, they were in and out of Falluja for quite some time, going to a series of safehouses, follow what they call rat lines.

WHITFIELD: And with many of the 200,000 residents who might be making their way back to Falluja, getting an all clear so to speak, won't it be difficult for these coalition and Iraqi forces to discern who is part of the insurgency returning and who are among those citizens?

GRANGE: It will be difficult. But again, it's key to have local informants, which I'm sure that they have, and the Iraqi forces to help with that process. And they'll categorize them. Some will be, OK, this san insurgent, this is definitely an OK person, this person is a maybe. And they'll be watchful. So, it's quite extensive.

WHITIFIELD: All right. Retired Brigadier General David Grange, thanks so much for joining us as always.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Here at come is the CIA in disarray? It's been a year of upheaval at the nation's spy agency and deputy director John McLaughlin has announced his retirement. But a CIA spokesman denies reports that he's stepping down amid internal strife.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House with more on that -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka. The announcement of John McLaughlin's retirement is not really a surprise, neither is the timing. But in a statement released Friday, McLaughlin pointing out that his departure, he says, was a purely personal decision.

He is a 32-year veteran of the agency. And recently, for a few months, he was acting director after George Tenet resigned. But coinciding with his announcement, are questions now being raised about the environment at the CIA under the new director, the man that President Bush said was the right man for the job, Porter Goss, who at the the Washington Post and the New York Times reporting that tensions are mounting between Goss and his staff as well as long time career spies.

The articles cite unnamed former intelligence officials as saying that officers aren't quite sure what to make of him. Yet one top Democrat says it's not him, but what she says is his partisan staff that's causing friction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he should make better choices and at least sprinkle in some experienced old hands with the staff that he's brought over. I think the administration will try to correct that in the next weeks. They have to, given this state of publicity. The agency seems in freefall in Washington, and that say very, very bad omen in the middle of a war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: So, the issue now, what effect, if any, will those tensions have on the U.S.'s terrorism fight at a time when the president has said that intelligence reforms are badly needed? Well, some point to the past CIA failures, including the bad intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and they say that changes will not hurt the U.S.'s terrorism fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The aggressiveness with which we will continue to fight the war on terror for freedom and liberty and democracy throughout the world, will not be affected in any way by any sort of personnel changes here or reorganization of the intelligence functions of entities here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now the CIA is not commenting, but others are pointing out that changes are always difficult at any government agency, Fredricka. It's likely as we hear about more changes, the story will continue to develop and stay in the headlines in the days to come -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Elaine, it sounds like the criticism is being launched mostly at the political background of his staff and not necessarily on Porter Goss specifically?

QUIJANO: It is at least in part. What we should also tell you, though, of course, Porter Goss was a Republican chair for the House Intelligence Committee and he was harshly critical of CIA. So, there's a lot of baggage that some people within the CIA see attached to Porter Goss. And so a lot of that obviously not helping the staff and everyone else to gel there.

WHITIFIELD: Is there any inside talk of anticipation of any other higher ups that might be stepping down?

QUIJANO: There has been. The the Washington Post citing specifically the case of deputy director of operations Steven Cappas. And unclear at this point what exactly his situation is. Some reports saying that perhaps the White House wants him to stay, other reports saying that perhaps the White House wants him to leave.

But in any case, there is at least that name floating around out there, and of course, as other developments happen, people wondering what else might be in store -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks so much.

Also at the White House and beyond, a health scare for vice president Dick Cheney. One day after going to the hospital for shortness of breath, his wife talks exclusively to CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

And the Democrats licking their wounds following election day. What could John Kerry have done differently? CNN's Bill Schneider. As the losing team lements.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: News from across America now, New Jersey's new governor will be sworn in later today, but Richard Cote won't officially replace Governor James McGreevey until Tuesday. In August, McGreevey announced, he was stepping down after he is gay, and had an extramarital affair with a man.

An autopsy is planned for the rapper ODB, who died unexpectedly yesterday. The 35-year-old was a founder of the rap group Wu Tang Clan. The singer had a history of legal trouble, including recent imprisonment for drug possession and escaping a drug treatment facility.

In Miami, hospital officials say paint ball attackers have struck almost a dozen people in their eyes. Two of the victims have lost total vision in one eye. One victim says he was struck while leaving a bus stop behind a Miami Dade County mall.

Vice President Dick Cheney, his wife says he's ready to go to work tomorrow. One day after Cheney experienced shortness of breath, Lynne Cheney says he's feeling fine.

The vice president underwent several hours of tests as a precaution, which aides say show no problem with his heart. Mrs. Cheney blames his symptoms on a common affliction at this time of year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNNE CHENEY, VICE PRES. CHENEY'S WIFE: I guess it's a bad cold. We all had this kind of thing when we were on the campaign plane. You have been around campaigns enough to know that, you know, you see lots of people, lots of people get sick on a campaign plane. You pass it around. And our whole family had a pretty bad cough, you know, cold kind of thing. Dick didn't get it until after the campaign was over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITIFELD: Cheney has had four heart attacks. His most recent was in 2000, just before he assumed the vice presidency. And we'll have more on the common cold a little later on in this hour.

Elsewhere in Washington it's orientation time. Less than two weeks after Americans went to the polls, newly elected members of Congress are in town to check out Capitol Hill. Their work begins officially in January.

Meanwhile, the current Senate and House are to come in on Tuesday for a lame duck session. Lawmakers have a lot of pressing work to tackle, including spending bills for the fiscal year that began last month.

And we haven't heard much from John Kerry since he lost the presidential election. Several theories are floating around as to why he lost. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider talked to some people who ought to know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Democrats trying to deal with their loss should talk to someone who has been there, like Michael Dukakis, the Democrat who lost to a guy named Bush in 1988.

MICHAEL DUKAKIS, FRM. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's only when you go through a campaign like that that you realize just how difficult it is not only to address the issues but to give people a sense of who you are. I maen, if I had a nickel everybody who came up to me since 1988, and said, you know you're nothing like the guy we were watching on television.

SCHNEIDER: Dukakis has an opinion of what happened to John Kerry, who was once his lieutenant governor.

DUKAKIS: I don't think George Bush won this thing because of gay marriage or evangelical Christianity, he won it, in my judgment, on the national security issue.

SCHNEIDER: Another Democratic former candidate has a different opinion.

BILL CLINTON, FRM. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With regard to the gay marriage issue, it was an overwhelming factor in the defeat of John Kerry.

SCHNEIDER: Dukakis believes Democrats still have the advantage on economic issues. President Bush had better be mindful of that.

DUKAKIS: If the president of the United States the mandate of this election was cutting taxes for the super rich for the third time, he's delusional.

SCHNEIDER: Dukakis was criticized for failing to fight back when he was confronted with the Willie Horton attack ads in 1988. Some critics say Kerry made the same mistake when he was confronted with the swiftboat veterans ads.

DUKAKIS: He should have said to the president of the United States, stand up and get those off the air. You know they're baseless. And if you don't, it goes directly to your character.

SCHNEIDER: Then Dukakis had second thoughts about whether he has standing to criticize Kerry.

DUKAKIS: Should he have done that? I'm the last in the world to make that judgment.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): Dukakis is told me he thought Kerry missed an opportunity. When Bush called him a flop flopper, Dukakis wondered why Kerry didn't do a better job painting Bush as a world champion flip-flopper: on nation building, on weapons of mass destruction, on illegal material in Africa, on the department of Homeland Security, on the 9/11 commission, all flip flops. Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Our top stories now in the news. At least 10 people sent to the hospital after a tour bus crash in Virginia. The bus, carring students from Massachusetts, crashed this morning on the George Washington Memorial parkway just outside Washington. The crash sheared off most of the right side of the bus's roof.

New Palestine liberation organization chief Mahmoud Abbas escapes gunfire in a Gaza tent where thousands gathered to mourn the death of Yasser Arafat. Witnesses and medical sources say two security guards were killed and at least ten other people wounded. Abbas downplayed the incident, but witnesses say the gunmen were members of a Fatah clan opposed to Abbas.

And Arabic language television network Al Jazeera reports kidnapers released two women relatives of Iraq's interim prime Menster Iyad Allawi but the network reports a male cousin is still being held hostage. Kidnapers had threatened to kill Allawi's relatives unless the Fallujah offensive was called off.

It's an idea that President Bush supports, letting Americans manage their medical care, instead of contributing to an insurance plan at work. Is that such a great idea?

And speaking of your health, what are you taking to treat your cold? Are you sure it's working? In our "Living Well" segment, tips to survive the sniffles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know he's in the White House dancing every night. Take that, Michael Moore.

WHITFIELD: And late night laughs from the week following the presidential election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The week-long offensive in Fallujah is winding down. U.S. forces are going door to door, trying to smoke out what they say are the last pockets of resistance. Military commanders say the fight has gone more smoothly than anticipated. But it hasn't always felt that way on the ground. As our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports, he's embedded with U.S. forces in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For this marine gunner, resupplying Charley Company was never going to be easy. A high speed dash through Fallujah's dangerous streets, head-long into a firefight. [ gunfire ] resupplying Charlie Company, abruptly switching to reinforce bravo company. There, foot patrol, pinned down by insurgent gunfire, incoming rounds whistle and snap overhead. Bullets ricochet off the armored supply vehicle. Suddenly a call, marines injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're getting casualties. We're going to leave.

ROBERTSON: Reinforcement turns into Medivac. A race back to base, resupplying Charlie Company no longer the objective. Better luck on the next run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, give me some people and grab this [ expletive ] and bring it inside.

ROBERTSON: Charlie Company marines rush to get their water, food and ammunition out of harm's way. For their commander the focus now on insurgents bypassed in the initial phase of the assault.

CAPT. THOMAS TENANT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The threat that they pose right now is that they hold the ground. We don't know where they are. They can continue to snipe at us and fire RPGs.

ROBERTSON: Resupply, Captain Tenant's marines race for cover on route to the next objective. Plans worked out as they go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we do end up clearing rooms, if we have to take over and clear rooms, you guys are throwing frag in every room we go to.

ROBERTSON: Explosives to clear the way. Two of Charlie Company killed by insurgents lying in wait in a house, just a few days before. Pass the body of a man believed to be an insurgent, progress is cautious. Holding up in a house along the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, I want a scope up top. Anderson has got us covered back there. We're good.

ROBERTSON: The strains of battle, etching their wearying patterns on the face of Charlie Company. No flagging, though, on the final push for their objective, an Iraqi school. As promised no risks taken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear the hole!

ROBERTSON: Marines rush forward. No insurgents found.

CT. TRAVIS FULLEN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: One of our biggest concerns right now actually is not enemy being in the building. It's a building being booby trapped.

ROBERTSON: Later, under cover of darkness, detainees being sent back to base for questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Charlie Company, needs it tomorrow.

ROBERTSON: And a call for much needed supplies. As day breaks relative quiet after a night of sporadic explosions, time to repair, refresh, and reflect on their first taste of battle.

TENANT: I never gone through anything like this with one of my friends before, and I definitely know that we're all a lot closer now. ROBERTSON: Unpredictably and seemingly out of nowhere, they take fire, a day to be like the one before, maybe. More objectives to be taken, more time for Charlie Company and the firing line. Their losses so far cutting deep but not hindering their mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Broken-hearted, disappointed, but with the mission at hand, you can't grieve too much now. You just save it and you bereave when you get out of here safely.

ROBERTTSON: For Charlie Company Fallujah was never going to be painless. Nic Robertson, CNN, with Charley Company in Fallujah, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pat Tillman died in the war on terror, killed in combat duty in Afghanistan last April. Now his ala mater Arizona State University is honoring the former football hero who stood tall on and off the field. His number 42 football jersey was retired at a halftime ceremony last night and here's a look at that emotional tribute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We honor the memory and accomplishments of Pat Tillman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Earlier this month, Tillman received the same honor at his high school alma mater, Leland High in San Jose California, not only retired his number but also named the field after him. His jersey pads and helmet were displayed where he last wore them on the field, celebrating a touchdown.

Pat Tillman was killed apparently by friendly fire on April 2 2nd, while on patrol in Afghanistan. He was 27 years old.

It's a plan that would replace traditional employer-paid health care. The idea that you would manage your own health care coverage. Could health savings accounts wind up making Americans more sick?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A little over an hour from now, more news coming up on "CNN Live Sunday" hosted by Carol Lin. She is here now.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: See Fred looks very calm because actually we were actually debating this issue about the use of Tasers against children, a 12-year-old and 6-year-old in Florida, lots of questions about the circumstances. The bottom line the police used Tasers on these kids. Susan Candiotti has the interview with the 12- year-old about what happened and at 10:00 tonight, it's our hot topic, whether police should be able to use Tasers on children.

WHITFIELD: And very different circumstances involving the 6- year-old and the 12-year-old. LIN: Yes the 6-year-old with a broken piece of glass threatening other adults, 12-year-old allegedly drunk, disorderly, but how hard is it to control these kids? You got to ask yourself.

And also we are going to be talking about this new wonder pill, a new diet pill apparently it is a miracle pill that may also help you stop smoking.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh.

LIN: I don't know, too good to be true. I'm going to be talking with the chief researcher.

WHITFIELD: All right be looking into that. All right thanks a lot Carol.

Health care, well, it's one of the hot topics during the presidential campaign. President Bush supports a plan where Americans take ownership of their medical care, with new health savings accounts passed into law nearly a year ago, but are Americans ready to take hold of their health care destiny? Kathleen Hays has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush wants you to take ownership of your health care, with health savings accounts or HSAS. These are tax-free accounts workers can use to pay for health insurance and out-of-pocket medical bills. They replace traditional employer-paid health care plans. Money not used in one year rolls over to the next, so that cost-consensus consumers can build a health care nest egg.

TDEVON HERRICK, NATL. CTR. FOR POLICY ANALYSIS: The whole idea is, going from a rent your health carrier to year to own your health care, just like IRAs, just like owning your own home, the balance of American people would be better off if they, in fact, had those funds and controlled it and they'd be wiser consumers to boot.

HAYS: Advocates say HSAS give consumers incentives to shop around, find the best price on routine office visits or forego an expensive new drug when an old reliable generic might be just as good. Shopping for health care bargains may not appeal to those who would still prefer the security of employer-provided health care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband was ill, we had small copays, his entire treatment was taken care of. It was one aspect of the illness that we never really had to deal with, was the money aspect.

HAYS: Critics say HSAS favor healthy people over the elderly and the sick, some of the biggest health care spenders. They also fear that HSAS will encourage people to avoid going to the doctor in order to build up the money in their accounts, and that could backfire.

RON POLLACK, FAMILIES USA: People are going to try to save money on primary care, and they may not get the care that they should be receiving up front, when an illness begins or the onset of pain occurs, but it might mean that, because they deferred primary care at some later time, a health problem or disease has spread, and so it may result in substantially increased costs for specialty kind of care.

HAYS: Regardless of which side you're on, experts say most people aren't ready to manage their health care, let alone their own private health savings accounts.

HAYS (on camera): According to a recent study, only 10 percent of consumers are putting aside money for medical bills, this, despite the fact most Americans expect their out-of-pocket health care costs to keep rising in the future. Kathleen Hays, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, when you get a cold, what do you take? Nothing? Everything? Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us next to tell us what we should be taking. Doc.

DR. BILL LOYD: Fredricka, whether you live in an undisclosed location or on Main Street, you're not immune from the common cold. Find out what really works when CNN SUNDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time for CNN's "Living Well." And today's focus is that pesky, common cold. Colds are the number one reason why people visit their doctors. Here's another startling statistic. Americans that succumb to the cold more than 1 billion times a year, this week on "Living Well" Dr. Bill Lloyd is here with steps to survive the snivels. Good to see you Dr. Lloyd.

LLOYD: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well it seems like it gets cold outside and many more of us get the cold. Is it weather related?

LLOYD: I don't think so. I think it's something we learn from our mothers. You're out playing in the yard and your mother screams, Fredricka put a coat on or you'll get a cold. Colds are actually viruses and when the cold weather comes it drives us indoors and we're closer to other people who may already be infected. So an important way to prevent the cold, stay away from other people who are sniveling.

WHITFIELD: All right still no cure. So what do we do is it starve a cold, feed a fever, any of that true?

LLOYD: I never get that one straight. Do you starve it or feed it? I'm not sure either.

WHITFIELD: I never get it right either.

LLOYD: You know, Fredricka colds are made up of these Corono and rhino virus, over 200 different varieties. Trying to cure a cold is like trying to counter identity theft who is cranking out counterfeit credit cards with every single purchase. It's almost impossible to do. So instead we have to rely on remedies and the very best remedy you can do to make yourself feel better when you have a cold is get plenty of fluid. You know it's dehydration that makes you feel pumped when you have a cold.

Also you want increase the amount of humidity around wherever you are whether you're in bed or trying to work with your cold. Watch out for hidden amounts of sugar in cold remedies. Common cough syrups are loaded with glucose and dextrose, that is particularly important for diabetics and families with diabetic children. Many are attempted to try antibiotics and go to the medicine cabinet and look for some leftover tetracycline when they have a cold. Skip the antibiotics they won't work against the viruses and they could cause complications.

And don't forget to get some rest. You're not going to feel better until you recharge your batteries, drink plenty of fluids and get the rest you need to overcome that common cold.

WHITFIELD: Huh, now, what about the herbal remedies? I for one, swear by the zinc lozenges. I swear they have to be working because it doesn't seem like my cold gets any worse when I start taking to them. Is it a panacea?

LLOYD: Many fascinating stories about Zinc you are right, there is zinc glauconitic, which is the one most people support. Interestingly in the studies where they gave people zinc and let them get the cold on their own they got better, they had shorter and simpler and much easier to cope colds. However in studies where they inoculated people with the cold virus the zinc didn't seem to make a difference.

Here is what I tell people when they talk about herbal remedies if it works for you, and the product is safe, then go ahead and enjoy the experience. But many people don't experience the benefit of using zinc. I'd encourage anyone who wants to try it, go ahead, if it makes a difference and it makes for a simpler cold season, it's an inexpensive remedy that can keep you well.

WHITFIELD: OK, well yesterday we learned something new about the common cold in the case of Vice President Dick Cheney, who went to the hospital, experiencing some shortness of breath, and apparently the White House was saying, well, he had been nursing a cold for some time and that it really may be related to that. So does this mean that there are some of us who are much more vulnerable when it comes to catching a cold, whether it's because of maybe medicine we're taking or whatever our other medical history might be?

LLOYD: You are more prone to catch a cold if you're standing next to someone who already has a cold. Now as soon as we heard about the vice president having shortness of breath, didn't everybody think, oh, my gosh, he's having another heart attack. Sure enough all he had was the common cold. That's an important point. People who have complex medical issues like heart disease or diabetes can get into trouble when they try to manage their own cold, and they load up on over-the-counter remedies that may have ingredients that interact with other medications they're taking. So if you have long standing health problems and you come down with a little shortness of breath, go ahead and call the doctor and find out what's really going on.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD: OK.

When CNN LIVE SATURDAY returns --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ski in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congress Secretary Don Evans has also resigned. This took Bush by surprise.

WHITFIELD: It doesn't seem to matter who is in the oval office. They're fodder for comedians anyway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For a brief period after election night it looked like the late night comics would have trouble having something funny to say about the presidential election. Not to worry. The late night laughs live on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, Kerry was a weird lookin' dude. I mean Herman Munster had nothing on this guy. That chin kept going and well -- oh.

JAY LENO: Hey, hey.

DAVID LETTERMAN: And also, commerce secretary Don Evans has resigned, and this really took Bush by surprise. He had no idea we had a commerce secretary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need a job for public defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'd be good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to invade a couple of countries. New Zealand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How could Colorado go red? I ski in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know he's in the White House dancing every night. Ha ha take that, Michael Moore.

LETTERMAN: Pennsylvania Avenue right in front of the White House, has been reopened. Yep. However, it will remain closed to John Kerry. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Switch with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Switch with me. Please. You know, I can find more votes for you in Ohio. Trust me, I know where to look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's going to do it for us. "Next@CNN" is straight ahead. Here is Dan Sieberg with a preview.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead on "Next @ CNN" did electronic voting open the doors to fraud and cheating on November 2? We will check out some of the theories. And pristine Canadian forest 12 times the size of California faces an uncertain future. Those stories and a lot more coming up right after a check of the headlines from the CNN newsroom.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired November 14, 2004 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Masked gunmen burst into a tent where Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and others had gathered together to mourn the death of Yasser Arafat. Two security guards are killed.
The common cold: What treatments really do work? Tips on how you can survive the sniffles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Switch with me, please. You know, I can find more votes for new ohio. Trust me, I know where to look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And they poked fun at the presidential candidates before the elections. Why should they stop now? Hello and welcome to CNN SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at these headlines.

Central Baghdad rocked by 4 large explosions just after night fall. The blasts came near the Green Zone, where Iraqi government offices and the U.S. embassy are based. No word yet on any damage or casualties.

Under international pressure, Iran agrees to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The announcement came after talks with France, Britain and Germany. The U.S. and other suspect Iran is enriching uranium as part of a covert plan to build nuclear bombs. Iran denies that.

Out with the old and in with the new on Capitol Hill, but not quite yet. Members of the 108th Congress returned for a lame-duck session this week. On the agenda, voting on nine spending bills for the fiscal year that began last month. The new Congress convenients in January.

Up first this hour, the Palestinian leader some predict could follow Yasser Arafat as the head of the Palestinian Authority, escaped with his life today. Mahmoud Abbas was wisked to safety after gunfire broke out at a tent where he and others had gathered to mourn yasser arafat. Matthew Chance joins us now from Jerusalem with details. Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, thank you. And ever since the death of Yasser Arafat, there's been a great deal of concern that the Palestinian attempts to replace Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian people would descend into a sort of political, perhaps violent, power struggle. Well, tonight in the Gaza Strip, we saw an example of just what could happen. And an incident which has heightened those fears.

Gunmen breaking into a mourning tent, which Abu Mazen, the former Palestinian prime minister, and possible successor to Yasser Arafat, was paying his suspect to Yasser Arafat, firing into the air. Abu Mazen escaping with his life. But this was a bad day for those who have been urging restraint and unity among Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): Abu Mazen was in Gaza to pay his respects to Yasser Arafat. He has already been appointed his successor as head of the PLO, and is tipped as favorite for president as well. But these are dangerous types for anyone seeking the mantle of Palestinian leader.

A column of armed militants enters the crowd firing into the air. Members of Fatah, Abu Mazen's own party, here to object to his presence. Abu Mazen is an agent of America they shout.

In the chaos, more shots are fired. And terrified mourners scramble for cover. Abu Mazen is wisked away safely, later playing down what happened here.

ABU MAZEN, FRM. PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As a result of the outbreak of emotion because of Yasser Arafat's death, there was overcrowding and firing in the air, which meant we had to leave, and we left.

CHANCE: But finding a successor to Yasser Arafat is now a pressing need. In Ramallah, Palestinian officials announced leadership elections will be held on January 9, 60 days after the death of their first president, and time enough for chaos to mar the choosing of a second.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Palestinian politics has always been fractured.

A new guard of political figures has emerged to challenge the old. And without Yasser Arafat in the picture to bridge the divide, there's fears that Palestinian politics could descend into a power struggle seem increasingly real, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Matthew, Abu Mazen or Mahmoud Abbas, one and the same, since he's downplaying this incident, is it not being considered an assassination attempt whatsoever?

CHANCE: No, it doesn't seem to have been an assassination attempt, not of the eyewitnesses that we've spoken to, none of the political figures who were at this funeral wake for Yasser Arafat, and even those pictures don't really bear out the idea that it was an assassination attempt. It was clearly a very angry protest. Many members of Abu Mazen's own Fatah political party going there to protest the fact that he was there. And that protest getting out of hand.

We understand at least two people killed, both of them said to be members of the Palestinian Security Forces. Abu Mazen himself, apparently, safe.

WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance, thanks very much for that report.

Well, now to Iraq. We'll have the latest on the battle of Falluja in a moment. But first, here are other developments we're following today. Al Jazeera reports kidnappers have released two female relatives of interim Prime Minster Iyad Allawi. But the network says the group is still holding his male cousin hostage.

In Baghdad, there were at least 4 explosions in or near the Green Zone. Gunfire followed the first explosion. And sirens were heard after the other three. The U.S. military had no information about the blasts.

And in Mosul, a car bomb killed two Iraqi national guardsmen and wounded 3 others late last night. Attacks in the city have forced the U.S. military to shift troops away from Falluja.

The U.S. military says it has liberated Falluja, but U.S. and Iraqi forces continue to hunt insurgents still hiding in that city. Earlier today I spoke on the television with CNN's Jane Arraf who is embedded with U.S. soldiers outside Falluja. I asked her what this stage of the fighting meant for U.S. and Iraqi troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): What that is that they have secured the major sectors of the city. And there is an army unit that has come into the eastern side of the city, north to south, and essentially what they found they've come through, are small pockets of insurgents.

They have brought out the heavy weapons. They started with tanks. They've got air strikes going on. There's still airstrikes as we speak, air strikes over Falluja tonight. There's artillery. They are still targeting the insurgents that are there.

And in this part of the city that we're in now in the south, they found an incredible series of tunnels, of bunkers, some of them stretching for 300, 400 meters that they have targeted with 2,000- pound bombs trying to destroy those. And trying to get rid of the insurgents that are there.

As they do that, as they move through the city, and launch these strikes, the marines are moving in and doing building-to-building searches, street by street. And essentially what that means is making sure there are no insurgents in those houses, which there are in many cases. We were taken into one of the houses yesterday, which actually had 2 dead gunmen in it as well as a variety of weapons. These insurgents have essentially taken over this part of the city. And they are in quite a lot of these buildings -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Was there some surprise among the soldiers and the marines that the insurgents were so organized, that they did have these tunnels, et cetera, that you described?

ARRAF: It has been thought that until you actually get down here, you can't really gauge the extent of the defenses that they set up. And the reason that this battle has gone, in military terms, U.S. military terms, as well as it has, is that the insurgents believed that they were going to come from a different direction, that they were going to come from the south or the east, the U.S. forces were.

Instead, they came from the north, and they were able to difuse a lot of those defenses they set up. As we moved through the north with the army, what we found entire streets that were wired. We found land mines on almost every corner. They have found something like five potential suicide car bombs, car bombs rigged up to explode.

But these were not detonated and a lot of them were because, probably because they bombarded the city for so long and came from a different direction, they were able to difuse that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that was Jane Arraf on the telephone reporting from near Falluja.

Almost 300 Americans have been wounded in the battle of Falluja so far. Many have been sent to the main U.S. military hospital in Europe for treatment. CNN's senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The number of U.S. military casualties arriving here at the Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany doubled this past week, principally because of the fighting in and around Falluja. 419 casualties were medivacked her to Landstuhl the past week. 53 percent of those were U.S. Army casualties, 42 percent U.S. Marines.

The nature of the wounds doctors are seeing are what you would expect, gunshot wounds, additionally burns and also what are called blast wounds, those can be concussions, they could be shrapnel.

The commander of the U.S. military hospital here in Landstuhl is Colonel Rhanda Cornum.

COL. RHONDA CORNUM, CMDR. LANDSTUHL MEDICAL CTR: Well, since November 8, Landstuhl has received 419 patients as of the end of today. Of those, more than half have been battle injuries and more than half have been inpatients. That is higher than we usually have. About 95 percent have been from Iraq, about 5 percent, as usual, are from Afghanistan.

RODGERS: When the U.S. military casualties arrive here at Landstuhl, if the soldiers and marines are well enough, they're given a cell phone to call home. If they're not well enough to make that call, then the military here on the hospital base makes the call for them.

Many of the casualties here we cannot show you. There are at least 37 in intensive care units. They are scarred. Many of them are disfigured. Many of them are also suffering trauma. For reasons of good taste and for reasons of privacy, we cannot show you the worst of what's been arriving here. Walter Rodgers, CNN, Landstuhl, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: U.S. forces look to wrap up their mission in Falluja, but will the city remain in their hands, even after the battle? Our military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange, will weigh in.

Plus, CNN's Nic Robertson inside Falluja to bring us a day in the life of Charlie Company.

And the CIA's deputy director announces he is stepping down. Is the nation's spy agency in disarray?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We're focusing, again, on the battle of Falluja. After a week of fighting, the U.S. military says the city is liberated from insurgents, but pockets of militants still remain. And will Falluja stay under control? Joining me now is Retired Brigadier General and CNN military analyst David Grange. He's currently the chief operating officer of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Good to see you.

DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, the fighting may be wrapping up doesn't necessarily mean that the battle for Falluja is over.

GRANGE: That's right, Fredricka. They have liberated the city from the insurgents, from tyranny, which has taken place to some extent, as you've heard. But it's going to take awhile to secure the entire area. And it won't be a one-time clearing operation. Insurgents will continue to arise out of the population, or infiltrate where they can to continue to cause problems so it will take awhile.

WHITFIELD: And we heard in Jane Arraf's report moments ago, while they're going house to house, room to room, they're also finding in addition to citizens of Falluja, they're also still finding some insugents who who have stayed behind, who may not be fighting, but they're there. So will the strategy still be that U.S. military may scale back its numbers, or will they maintain the same number of U.S. marines and soldiers in Falluja?

GRANGE: Well, some of the heavy weaponry may pull out of Falluja, but there will be a lot of ground forces, Marine or Army, probably Marine foot soldiers in the area. And they are going to have to use the Iraqi military to do the vetting process to determine who is friend or foe. And that will take awhile, because some of the insurgents as you just stated will melt into the population.

WHITFIELD: So this operation might not be considered successful could it, without the cooperation of the Iraqi soldiers as well?

GRANGE: The Iraqi soldiers and the Iraqi government, who authorized the operation to begin with. But it is successful for one, liberating the city. The other is the psychological effect it has on taking the key, the primary safe site away from the insurgents and the terrorists, which Falluja was. It was a symbol. And so this is a credibility blow to the insurgents and terrorist forces.

WHITFIELD: Well, what might be the strategy of maintaining some control of Falluja, so that it doesn't get reclaimed by the insurgents? Because this is really the second pass, isn't it, of Falluja of U.S. troops coming in and trying to get rid of the insurgency.

GRANGE: Well, second major go around, I think it's actually been three times. One was just as they were patrolling in and out in the early days after the fall of the regime. But there will be a combination of Iraqi and U.S. forces on the ground for awhile, so that reemerging of terrorist or insurgents does not happen.

But nation building, reconstruction will start immediately, and it already probably has in some areas to try to show the people that the Iraqi government, the coalition is there to bring the place back to normalcy, provide the care and the life support systems that are needed and prepare for the elections in January.

WHITFIELD: Well, since the insurgency leadership is believed to have left before these troops even moved in, and that they may have gone on to another city, reestablished, perhaps even recruited, is this mission still considered mission accomplished?

GRANGE: I think so. You know, the liberation of Afghanistan without getting bin Laden was a mission success. Bin Laden is a mission in itself itself. Zawahiri is a mission in itself.

And by the way, these senior terrorist leaders, insurgent leaders move around from city to city all time. They just didn't leave Falluja because of the attack, they were in and out of Falluja for quite some time, going to a series of safehouses, follow what they call rat lines.

WHITFIELD: And with many of the 200,000 residents who might be making their way back to Falluja, getting an all clear so to speak, won't it be difficult for these coalition and Iraqi forces to discern who is part of the insurgency returning and who are among those citizens?

GRANGE: It will be difficult. But again, it's key to have local informants, which I'm sure that they have, and the Iraqi forces to help with that process. And they'll categorize them. Some will be, OK, this san insurgent, this is definitely an OK person, this person is a maybe. And they'll be watchful. So, it's quite extensive.

WHITIFIELD: All right. Retired Brigadier General David Grange, thanks so much for joining us as always.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Here at come is the CIA in disarray? It's been a year of upheaval at the nation's spy agency and deputy director John McLaughlin has announced his retirement. But a CIA spokesman denies reports that he's stepping down amid internal strife.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House with more on that -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka. The announcement of John McLaughlin's retirement is not really a surprise, neither is the timing. But in a statement released Friday, McLaughlin pointing out that his departure, he says, was a purely personal decision.

He is a 32-year veteran of the agency. And recently, for a few months, he was acting director after George Tenet resigned. But coinciding with his announcement, are questions now being raised about the environment at the CIA under the new director, the man that President Bush said was the right man for the job, Porter Goss, who at the the Washington Post and the New York Times reporting that tensions are mounting between Goss and his staff as well as long time career spies.

The articles cite unnamed former intelligence officials as saying that officers aren't quite sure what to make of him. Yet one top Democrat says it's not him, but what she says is his partisan staff that's causing friction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he should make better choices and at least sprinkle in some experienced old hands with the staff that he's brought over. I think the administration will try to correct that in the next weeks. They have to, given this state of publicity. The agency seems in freefall in Washington, and that say very, very bad omen in the middle of a war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: So, the issue now, what effect, if any, will those tensions have on the U.S.'s terrorism fight at a time when the president has said that intelligence reforms are badly needed? Well, some point to the past CIA failures, including the bad intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and they say that changes will not hurt the U.S.'s terrorism fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The aggressiveness with which we will continue to fight the war on terror for freedom and liberty and democracy throughout the world, will not be affected in any way by any sort of personnel changes here or reorganization of the intelligence functions of entities here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now the CIA is not commenting, but others are pointing out that changes are always difficult at any government agency, Fredricka. It's likely as we hear about more changes, the story will continue to develop and stay in the headlines in the days to come -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Elaine, it sounds like the criticism is being launched mostly at the political background of his staff and not necessarily on Porter Goss specifically?

QUIJANO: It is at least in part. What we should also tell you, though, of course, Porter Goss was a Republican chair for the House Intelligence Committee and he was harshly critical of CIA. So, there's a lot of baggage that some people within the CIA see attached to Porter Goss. And so a lot of that obviously not helping the staff and everyone else to gel there.

WHITIFIELD: Is there any inside talk of anticipation of any other higher ups that might be stepping down?

QUIJANO: There has been. The the Washington Post citing specifically the case of deputy director of operations Steven Cappas. And unclear at this point what exactly his situation is. Some reports saying that perhaps the White House wants him to stay, other reports saying that perhaps the White House wants him to leave.

But in any case, there is at least that name floating around out there, and of course, as other developments happen, people wondering what else might be in store -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks so much.

Also at the White House and beyond, a health scare for vice president Dick Cheney. One day after going to the hospital for shortness of breath, his wife talks exclusively to CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

And the Democrats licking their wounds following election day. What could John Kerry have done differently? CNN's Bill Schneider. As the losing team lements.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: News from across America now, New Jersey's new governor will be sworn in later today, but Richard Cote won't officially replace Governor James McGreevey until Tuesday. In August, McGreevey announced, he was stepping down after he is gay, and had an extramarital affair with a man.

An autopsy is planned for the rapper ODB, who died unexpectedly yesterday. The 35-year-old was a founder of the rap group Wu Tang Clan. The singer had a history of legal trouble, including recent imprisonment for drug possession and escaping a drug treatment facility.

In Miami, hospital officials say paint ball attackers have struck almost a dozen people in their eyes. Two of the victims have lost total vision in one eye. One victim says he was struck while leaving a bus stop behind a Miami Dade County mall.

Vice President Dick Cheney, his wife says he's ready to go to work tomorrow. One day after Cheney experienced shortness of breath, Lynne Cheney says he's feeling fine.

The vice president underwent several hours of tests as a precaution, which aides say show no problem with his heart. Mrs. Cheney blames his symptoms on a common affliction at this time of year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNNE CHENEY, VICE PRES. CHENEY'S WIFE: I guess it's a bad cold. We all had this kind of thing when we were on the campaign plane. You have been around campaigns enough to know that, you know, you see lots of people, lots of people get sick on a campaign plane. You pass it around. And our whole family had a pretty bad cough, you know, cold kind of thing. Dick didn't get it until after the campaign was over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITIFELD: Cheney has had four heart attacks. His most recent was in 2000, just before he assumed the vice presidency. And we'll have more on the common cold a little later on in this hour.

Elsewhere in Washington it's orientation time. Less than two weeks after Americans went to the polls, newly elected members of Congress are in town to check out Capitol Hill. Their work begins officially in January.

Meanwhile, the current Senate and House are to come in on Tuesday for a lame duck session. Lawmakers have a lot of pressing work to tackle, including spending bills for the fiscal year that began last month.

And we haven't heard much from John Kerry since he lost the presidential election. Several theories are floating around as to why he lost. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider talked to some people who ought to know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Democrats trying to deal with their loss should talk to someone who has been there, like Michael Dukakis, the Democrat who lost to a guy named Bush in 1988.

MICHAEL DUKAKIS, FRM. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's only when you go through a campaign like that that you realize just how difficult it is not only to address the issues but to give people a sense of who you are. I maen, if I had a nickel everybody who came up to me since 1988, and said, you know you're nothing like the guy we were watching on television.

SCHNEIDER: Dukakis has an opinion of what happened to John Kerry, who was once his lieutenant governor.

DUKAKIS: I don't think George Bush won this thing because of gay marriage or evangelical Christianity, he won it, in my judgment, on the national security issue.

SCHNEIDER: Another Democratic former candidate has a different opinion.

BILL CLINTON, FRM. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With regard to the gay marriage issue, it was an overwhelming factor in the defeat of John Kerry.

SCHNEIDER: Dukakis believes Democrats still have the advantage on economic issues. President Bush had better be mindful of that.

DUKAKIS: If the president of the United States the mandate of this election was cutting taxes for the super rich for the third time, he's delusional.

SCHNEIDER: Dukakis was criticized for failing to fight back when he was confronted with the Willie Horton attack ads in 1988. Some critics say Kerry made the same mistake when he was confronted with the swiftboat veterans ads.

DUKAKIS: He should have said to the president of the United States, stand up and get those off the air. You know they're baseless. And if you don't, it goes directly to your character.

SCHNEIDER: Then Dukakis had second thoughts about whether he has standing to criticize Kerry.

DUKAKIS: Should he have done that? I'm the last in the world to make that judgment.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): Dukakis is told me he thought Kerry missed an opportunity. When Bush called him a flop flopper, Dukakis wondered why Kerry didn't do a better job painting Bush as a world champion flip-flopper: on nation building, on weapons of mass destruction, on illegal material in Africa, on the department of Homeland Security, on the 9/11 commission, all flip flops. Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Our top stories now in the news. At least 10 people sent to the hospital after a tour bus crash in Virginia. The bus, carring students from Massachusetts, crashed this morning on the George Washington Memorial parkway just outside Washington. The crash sheared off most of the right side of the bus's roof.

New Palestine liberation organization chief Mahmoud Abbas escapes gunfire in a Gaza tent where thousands gathered to mourn the death of Yasser Arafat. Witnesses and medical sources say two security guards were killed and at least ten other people wounded. Abbas downplayed the incident, but witnesses say the gunmen were members of a Fatah clan opposed to Abbas.

And Arabic language television network Al Jazeera reports kidnapers released two women relatives of Iraq's interim prime Menster Iyad Allawi but the network reports a male cousin is still being held hostage. Kidnapers had threatened to kill Allawi's relatives unless the Fallujah offensive was called off.

It's an idea that President Bush supports, letting Americans manage their medical care, instead of contributing to an insurance plan at work. Is that such a great idea?

And speaking of your health, what are you taking to treat your cold? Are you sure it's working? In our "Living Well" segment, tips to survive the sniffles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know he's in the White House dancing every night. Take that, Michael Moore.

WHITFIELD: And late night laughs from the week following the presidential election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The week-long offensive in Fallujah is winding down. U.S. forces are going door to door, trying to smoke out what they say are the last pockets of resistance. Military commanders say the fight has gone more smoothly than anticipated. But it hasn't always felt that way on the ground. As our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports, he's embedded with U.S. forces in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For this marine gunner, resupplying Charley Company was never going to be easy. A high speed dash through Fallujah's dangerous streets, head-long into a firefight. [ gunfire ] resupplying Charlie Company, abruptly switching to reinforce bravo company. There, foot patrol, pinned down by insurgent gunfire, incoming rounds whistle and snap overhead. Bullets ricochet off the armored supply vehicle. Suddenly a call, marines injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're getting casualties. We're going to leave.

ROBERTSON: Reinforcement turns into Medivac. A race back to base, resupplying Charlie Company no longer the objective. Better luck on the next run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, give me some people and grab this [ expletive ] and bring it inside.

ROBERTSON: Charlie Company marines rush to get their water, food and ammunition out of harm's way. For their commander the focus now on insurgents bypassed in the initial phase of the assault.

CAPT. THOMAS TENANT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The threat that they pose right now is that they hold the ground. We don't know where they are. They can continue to snipe at us and fire RPGs.

ROBERTSON: Resupply, Captain Tenant's marines race for cover on route to the next objective. Plans worked out as they go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we do end up clearing rooms, if we have to take over and clear rooms, you guys are throwing frag in every room we go to.

ROBERTSON: Explosives to clear the way. Two of Charlie Company killed by insurgents lying in wait in a house, just a few days before. Pass the body of a man believed to be an insurgent, progress is cautious. Holding up in a house along the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, I want a scope up top. Anderson has got us covered back there. We're good.

ROBERTSON: The strains of battle, etching their wearying patterns on the face of Charlie Company. No flagging, though, on the final push for their objective, an Iraqi school. As promised no risks taken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear the hole!

ROBERTSON: Marines rush forward. No insurgents found.

CT. TRAVIS FULLEN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: One of our biggest concerns right now actually is not enemy being in the building. It's a building being booby trapped.

ROBERTSON: Later, under cover of darkness, detainees being sent back to base for questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Charlie Company, needs it tomorrow.

ROBERTSON: And a call for much needed supplies. As day breaks relative quiet after a night of sporadic explosions, time to repair, refresh, and reflect on their first taste of battle.

TENANT: I never gone through anything like this with one of my friends before, and I definitely know that we're all a lot closer now. ROBERTSON: Unpredictably and seemingly out of nowhere, they take fire, a day to be like the one before, maybe. More objectives to be taken, more time for Charlie Company and the firing line. Their losses so far cutting deep but not hindering their mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Broken-hearted, disappointed, but with the mission at hand, you can't grieve too much now. You just save it and you bereave when you get out of here safely.

ROBERTTSON: For Charlie Company Fallujah was never going to be painless. Nic Robertson, CNN, with Charley Company in Fallujah, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pat Tillman died in the war on terror, killed in combat duty in Afghanistan last April. Now his ala mater Arizona State University is honoring the former football hero who stood tall on and off the field. His number 42 football jersey was retired at a halftime ceremony last night and here's a look at that emotional tribute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We honor the memory and accomplishments of Pat Tillman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Earlier this month, Tillman received the same honor at his high school alma mater, Leland High in San Jose California, not only retired his number but also named the field after him. His jersey pads and helmet were displayed where he last wore them on the field, celebrating a touchdown.

Pat Tillman was killed apparently by friendly fire on April 2 2nd, while on patrol in Afghanistan. He was 27 years old.

It's a plan that would replace traditional employer-paid health care. The idea that you would manage your own health care coverage. Could health savings accounts wind up making Americans more sick?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A little over an hour from now, more news coming up on "CNN Live Sunday" hosted by Carol Lin. She is here now.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: See Fred looks very calm because actually we were actually debating this issue about the use of Tasers against children, a 12-year-old and 6-year-old in Florida, lots of questions about the circumstances. The bottom line the police used Tasers on these kids. Susan Candiotti has the interview with the 12- year-old about what happened and at 10:00 tonight, it's our hot topic, whether police should be able to use Tasers on children.

WHITFIELD: And very different circumstances involving the 6- year-old and the 12-year-old. LIN: Yes the 6-year-old with a broken piece of glass threatening other adults, 12-year-old allegedly drunk, disorderly, but how hard is it to control these kids? You got to ask yourself.

And also we are going to be talking about this new wonder pill, a new diet pill apparently it is a miracle pill that may also help you stop smoking.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh.

LIN: I don't know, too good to be true. I'm going to be talking with the chief researcher.

WHITFIELD: All right be looking into that. All right thanks a lot Carol.

Health care, well, it's one of the hot topics during the presidential campaign. President Bush supports a plan where Americans take ownership of their medical care, with new health savings accounts passed into law nearly a year ago, but are Americans ready to take hold of their health care destiny? Kathleen Hays has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush wants you to take ownership of your health care, with health savings accounts or HSAS. These are tax-free accounts workers can use to pay for health insurance and out-of-pocket medical bills. They replace traditional employer-paid health care plans. Money not used in one year rolls over to the next, so that cost-consensus consumers can build a health care nest egg.

TDEVON HERRICK, NATL. CTR. FOR POLICY ANALYSIS: The whole idea is, going from a rent your health carrier to year to own your health care, just like IRAs, just like owning your own home, the balance of American people would be better off if they, in fact, had those funds and controlled it and they'd be wiser consumers to boot.

HAYS: Advocates say HSAS give consumers incentives to shop around, find the best price on routine office visits or forego an expensive new drug when an old reliable generic might be just as good. Shopping for health care bargains may not appeal to those who would still prefer the security of employer-provided health care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband was ill, we had small copays, his entire treatment was taken care of. It was one aspect of the illness that we never really had to deal with, was the money aspect.

HAYS: Critics say HSAS favor healthy people over the elderly and the sick, some of the biggest health care spenders. They also fear that HSAS will encourage people to avoid going to the doctor in order to build up the money in their accounts, and that could backfire.

RON POLLACK, FAMILIES USA: People are going to try to save money on primary care, and they may not get the care that they should be receiving up front, when an illness begins or the onset of pain occurs, but it might mean that, because they deferred primary care at some later time, a health problem or disease has spread, and so it may result in substantially increased costs for specialty kind of care.

HAYS: Regardless of which side you're on, experts say most people aren't ready to manage their health care, let alone their own private health savings accounts.

HAYS (on camera): According to a recent study, only 10 percent of consumers are putting aside money for medical bills, this, despite the fact most Americans expect their out-of-pocket health care costs to keep rising in the future. Kathleen Hays, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, when you get a cold, what do you take? Nothing? Everything? Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us next to tell us what we should be taking. Doc.

DR. BILL LOYD: Fredricka, whether you live in an undisclosed location or on Main Street, you're not immune from the common cold. Find out what really works when CNN SUNDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time for CNN's "Living Well." And today's focus is that pesky, common cold. Colds are the number one reason why people visit their doctors. Here's another startling statistic. Americans that succumb to the cold more than 1 billion times a year, this week on "Living Well" Dr. Bill Lloyd is here with steps to survive the snivels. Good to see you Dr. Lloyd.

LLOYD: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well it seems like it gets cold outside and many more of us get the cold. Is it weather related?

LLOYD: I don't think so. I think it's something we learn from our mothers. You're out playing in the yard and your mother screams, Fredricka put a coat on or you'll get a cold. Colds are actually viruses and when the cold weather comes it drives us indoors and we're closer to other people who may already be infected. So an important way to prevent the cold, stay away from other people who are sniveling.

WHITFIELD: All right still no cure. So what do we do is it starve a cold, feed a fever, any of that true?

LLOYD: I never get that one straight. Do you starve it or feed it? I'm not sure either.

WHITFIELD: I never get it right either.

LLOYD: You know, Fredricka colds are made up of these Corono and rhino virus, over 200 different varieties. Trying to cure a cold is like trying to counter identity theft who is cranking out counterfeit credit cards with every single purchase. It's almost impossible to do. So instead we have to rely on remedies and the very best remedy you can do to make yourself feel better when you have a cold is get plenty of fluid. You know it's dehydration that makes you feel pumped when you have a cold.

Also you want increase the amount of humidity around wherever you are whether you're in bed or trying to work with your cold. Watch out for hidden amounts of sugar in cold remedies. Common cough syrups are loaded with glucose and dextrose, that is particularly important for diabetics and families with diabetic children. Many are attempted to try antibiotics and go to the medicine cabinet and look for some leftover tetracycline when they have a cold. Skip the antibiotics they won't work against the viruses and they could cause complications.

And don't forget to get some rest. You're not going to feel better until you recharge your batteries, drink plenty of fluids and get the rest you need to overcome that common cold.

WHITFIELD: Huh, now, what about the herbal remedies? I for one, swear by the zinc lozenges. I swear they have to be working because it doesn't seem like my cold gets any worse when I start taking to them. Is it a panacea?

LLOYD: Many fascinating stories about Zinc you are right, there is zinc glauconitic, which is the one most people support. Interestingly in the studies where they gave people zinc and let them get the cold on their own they got better, they had shorter and simpler and much easier to cope colds. However in studies where they inoculated people with the cold virus the zinc didn't seem to make a difference.

Here is what I tell people when they talk about herbal remedies if it works for you, and the product is safe, then go ahead and enjoy the experience. But many people don't experience the benefit of using zinc. I'd encourage anyone who wants to try it, go ahead, if it makes a difference and it makes for a simpler cold season, it's an inexpensive remedy that can keep you well.

WHITFIELD: OK, well yesterday we learned something new about the common cold in the case of Vice President Dick Cheney, who went to the hospital, experiencing some shortness of breath, and apparently the White House was saying, well, he had been nursing a cold for some time and that it really may be related to that. So does this mean that there are some of us who are much more vulnerable when it comes to catching a cold, whether it's because of maybe medicine we're taking or whatever our other medical history might be?

LLOYD: You are more prone to catch a cold if you're standing next to someone who already has a cold. Now as soon as we heard about the vice president having shortness of breath, didn't everybody think, oh, my gosh, he's having another heart attack. Sure enough all he had was the common cold. That's an important point. People who have complex medical issues like heart disease or diabetes can get into trouble when they try to manage their own cold, and they load up on over-the-counter remedies that may have ingredients that interact with other medications they're taking. So if you have long standing health problems and you come down with a little shortness of breath, go ahead and call the doctor and find out what's really going on.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD: OK.

When CNN LIVE SATURDAY returns --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ski in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congress Secretary Don Evans has also resigned. This took Bush by surprise.

WHITFIELD: It doesn't seem to matter who is in the oval office. They're fodder for comedians anyway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For a brief period after election night it looked like the late night comics would have trouble having something funny to say about the presidential election. Not to worry. The late night laughs live on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, Kerry was a weird lookin' dude. I mean Herman Munster had nothing on this guy. That chin kept going and well -- oh.

JAY LENO: Hey, hey.

DAVID LETTERMAN: And also, commerce secretary Don Evans has resigned, and this really took Bush by surprise. He had no idea we had a commerce secretary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need a job for public defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'd be good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to invade a couple of countries. New Zealand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How could Colorado go red? I ski in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know he's in the White House dancing every night. Ha ha take that, Michael Moore.

LETTERMAN: Pennsylvania Avenue right in front of the White House, has been reopened. Yep. However, it will remain closed to John Kerry. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Switch with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Switch with me. Please. You know, I can find more votes for you in Ohio. Trust me, I know where to look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's going to do it for us. "Next@CNN" is straight ahead. Here is Dan Sieberg with a preview.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead on "Next @ CNN" did electronic voting open the doors to fraud and cheating on November 2? We will check out some of the theories. And pristine Canadian forest 12 times the size of California faces an uncertain future. Those stories and a lot more coming up right after a check of the headlines from the CNN newsroom.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com