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CNN Live Saturday
Gas Prices Soar Across U.S.; Tropical Storm Skirting U.S. Coastline; Iraqi National To Be Buried at Arlington National Cemetery; Dogs: New Border Patrol Officers; Phil Mickelson Leading PGA Championship
Aired August 13, 2005 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Somber ceremonies -- for the first time ever, an Iraqi is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
And people are ling up to pay $100 million to fly around the moon. I'm going to talk to Dennis Tito who spent $20 million for his space adventure, but he's not going again.
Plus, everyone has cellulite. Dozens of companies are happy to take your money to help you get rid of it. But can you really chase cellulite away? We're going to give you the skinny.
It's Saturday, August 13, and you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Our top story in just a moment, but first stories making news right now.
The U.S. military is investigating chemicals found at an abandoned storage site in Mosul. A military spokesman tells CNN they don't know whether the chemicals were used as weapons. The chemicals can be used alone for industrial purposes or combined to create weapons.
And strong words from President Bush over Iran's nuclear program. Iran cranked up its uranium conversion program this week. But on Israeli TV, the president says Tehran has to shut it down again, otherwise all options are on the table.
Getting on a plane could get easier. The Transportation Security Administration meets later this month to look at a plan to reduce checkpoint hassles for millions of people who fly in the U.S. Travelers, for example, might be able to keep their shoes on. There could be fewer pat-downs, and there's even a proposal to allow small knives.
To our top story now, skyrocketing gas prices putting a major dent in the bank accounts of millions of Americans. Consumers are shelling out more and more money to fill up their cars. And from the West Coast to the East Coast, drivers are grumbling. AAA says the average gallon of self-serve is now a whopping $2.41. Some towns like Champagne, Illinois are on the high end of that average. A gallon of gas there is going to cost you about $2.45. And in St. Petersburg, Florida, a relative bargain with a gallon of gas costing just $2.34.
Wow! So how much are people willing to pay before they make a serious change in their lifestyle? Well, CNN's Dan Simon talked to drivers today in Los Angeles where you really have to drive to get around.
Dan, you know, are you topping out three bucks out there?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm going to show you in a second, but it is really tough going here in California. The state ranks No. 1 in the country for the price of gasoline. Let me get out of the way here and show you what's going on. We are at the Shell Station in Los Angeles, midtown Los Angeles. Look at that, $2.81 for a regular gallon of gas. And there is a three. When was the last time you saw a three -- 3.01 for mid grade and $3.11 for premium. As I said, it is just a nightmare here in California and it all started after the price of crude oil skyrocketed yesterday, nearly $67 a barrel. And that has increased the price of gasoline. And now, the question everyone wants to know is, when is it going to drop?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL GONZALES, AAA PRICE ANALYST: And they're certainly much higher than they've ever been. And this high-priced trend is probably going to continue at least through the Labor Day holiday weekend. After that, traditionally demand falls off and we should see declining prices after Labor Day. But for the next three weeks, you can look for higher prices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: Well, let me show you what some folks are doing. They are going to the Costco store. This is the Costco in Burbank. We just left there a few minutes ago, and long lines there. People are going to Costco because the price of gas is 10 to 15 cents cheaper. So in some cases, you might save you know, six, seven bucks. And we talked to drivers who are wondering what else they can do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's got to change. Everybody's driving habits. With this much of a jump, that's a huge chunk of your budget.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can carpool, carpool. That's what I do. I mean, like, you know, when I can ride with somebody, you know, you should do that because I mean first -- like it saves you money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: And Carol, this is little consolation, but I got to tell you, the price of soft drinks and sports drinks still more expensive than the price of gasoline. If you were to get a gallon of Gatorade, it would come out to $7.40.
LIN: But I don't want a gallon of Gatorade.
SIMON: Exactly.
LIN: Hey, Dan, how much do you think it cost you to drive to work today? SIMON: Well, that's a good question. Fortunately, I live pretty close to work, so not too expensive. But if you work across town, gosh, it could cost you 10, 15 bucks.
LIN: Can you imagine? All right, thanks very much, Dan Simon, out there in a very expensive place to buy gas.
Now, there's a possibility the country could be hit with a blackout like the one that occurred in the Midwest and Northeast two years ago. CNN's Kathleen Koch explains that one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Record summer heat from New York to California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The National Weather Service does have a heat advisory posted for...
KOCH: So sweltering, the week of July 17 saw the highest nationwide electricity demand in U.S. history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got my AC daily.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daily, all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-four, seven.
KOCH: The weeks following were a close third and second.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a power failure in Northern New York.
KOCH: It has many remembering another hot day, August 14, 2003, the blackout that left more than 50 million people in the dark. Some wonder if history could repeat itself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Americans are very concerned. I've noticed that since I've been here in New York that they have air conditioning running in every building at all times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I just hope it doesn't happen again.
KOCH: The Energy Department warns the nation could lose power again.
DAVID GARMAN, UNDERSECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: We could. The margins are thin and fundamentally, we have the same electricity grid that we had two years ago.
KOCH: A grid that's aging and has seen little investment in new transmission or generating capacity. There have been operational changes, more testing of the electricity system, more training for those who operate it, and better coordination.
CAROL MURPHY, NEW YORK INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR: People like the New York Independent System Operator, those out in the Midwest, New England, in terms of coordination, daily, multiple conference calls to look at system conditions, share information.
LLEWELLYN KING, ENERGY DAILY: What they are doing is looking very carefully at the systems to make sure that there are no cascades, that any malfunction, blackout, tree on a line, truck hits a pole, is contained in a very small region.
KOCH: And the energy bill just signed by President Bush establishes a first-ever mandatory reliability rules that all in the power industry must follow.
JIM OWEN, EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE: Unfortunately, compliance has always been voluntary. So for the first time under this new Energy Act that was just signed into law, those standards will indeed have teeth. There will be sanctions.
KOCH (on camera): But crafting those rules and deciding on the punishment for breaking them could take more than a year. So in the meantime experts urge consumers to save power to avoid losing it altogether.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now to power of a different sort, the forces of Mother Nature. Residents of Wright, Wyoming are checking out the damage after a violent tornado yesterday. The twister grinded away on the ground for 15 minutes, killing two people and destroying dozens of homes. Thirteen people were hurt. But it could have been worse. Town officials say a warning siren probably saved lives.
Well, it was sunny earlier today in Punta Gorda, Florida, but residents were remembering a much different scene. Can you believe it? It was on this day a year ago that Hurricane Charley slammed onto shore with 145 miles per hour winds. And many people are still trying to rebuild.
Tropical Storm Irene looks like it's heading right for the U.S. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has more details from the CNN Weather Center. Of course, this is the untrained eye talking, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, looks can be deceiving, Carol. It kind of looks like the U.S. coastline could be threatened, but we really think it's going to start to take more of a northerly turn here and actually make a nice, little squeeze between the U.S. and Bermuda and kind of follow along on the outside fringes here of our subtropical high. So that's good news. It really looks like Irene won't be affecting the U.S. coast, other than bringing in a bit of rough surf.
Here's the forecast track for you. You can see that curve there. It will be passing maybe within about 300 miles from Cape Hatteras, and I think that's as close as it's going to get. So it will be a Marine interest. That's about it. It's 70-mile-per-hour winds right now could potentially, it could become a hurricane yet. But again, we think we'll be a-OK. We'll keep a close eye on it.
We've got another one to talk about. This one just born in the last hour. This is Tropical Depression No. 10, forecast to become a tropical storm tomorrow. If so, it would be Tropical Storm Jose, really moving into kind of a volatile environment, so not expecting that to hold together very well over the next couple days.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: Will Iraqis ever be able to keep their country secure? Straight ahead, the American in charge of training them talks exclusively with CNN.
And to the moon, if you've got $100 million, we've got the ultimate trip for you.
And want to get rid of your cellulite? Forget the creams and the fad diets, we are getting to the bottom of cutting the fat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: A storage site or chemical weapons lab? That is what U.S. military investigators in Iraq are wondering. Detainees tipped them off to a 1,500-gallon stockpile of various chemicals found near Mosul. The chemicals by themselves are used for industrial purposes, but officials say they could be mixed into weapons. The site looks like it was abandoned six weeks ago. A statement from the military says there's not enough evidence so far to determine what insurgents have been producing, if anything.
Now, elsewhere in Iraq, the violence is raging on. Three attacks in 90 minutes killed two civilians in Baghdad. Seven people were wounded. In one case, a gunman shot dead an oil ministry employee. But Iraq's parliament is still working away at drafting a constitution. Politicians rushing to finish and they are facing a lot of pressure. Monday is the deadline. President Jalal Talabani is confident the draft will be completed on time. "God willing," he says, "the document may even be ready tomorrow."
A top U.S. commander sums up the situation in Iraq as a tough one. Lieutenant General David Petraeus is in charge of training Iraqi forces and he spoke exclusively with CNN's Jane Arraf just weeks before he stepped down from his post.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, MULTINATIONAL SECURITY TRANSITION COMMANDER: Well, I think that the key for Iraq, pretty obviously, is that everyone needs to continue to work together all the way from the senior leaders on down. They've got to continue to make way together. More and more and more, it is Iraqi leaders who are taking this forward. Perhaps last year you could say, well, we owe them this, or we need to provide more of that to them, and we've now done quite a good deal of that. There's much more we need to do. We've built some $2 billion worth of Iraqi security force infrastructure. There's a lot more we need to do, and we will.
We do need to provide them still more equipment and that will continue, certainly more training. There's another 15 battalions or so that are in training right now, and that generation will continue. We have to help them establish their logistics and their sustainment in the combat service support, as it's called, capabilities even a national depot and warehousing, and all the rest get their air force up. The navy is already doing quite well, by the way.
So again a lot more that has to be done, but increasingly, then, as they have the battalions, the brigades, the divisions and so forth, it's going to be Iraqi leaders again at the top levels, in the ministries and so forth that will then take this forward, provide that leadership for all Iraqis, provide the proper direction, ensure that the policies and processes are established and followed, and that they are fair and equitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: General Petraeus is starting a new job next month. He's going to be in charge of training U.S. Army officers.
Well, security and stability are at stake in the Middle East as well, specifically Gaza, where Palestinian security forces are getting ready to deploy after Israeli forces and settlers pull out. Now, it sounds simple enough, but that is far from the fact. Fatah protesters marched up to the borders of the settlements, taunting Jewish residents. In the Gaza and the West Bank combined, some 9,000 Jewish settlers are supposed to evacuate. Some are promising they won't go without a fight, others are already on the move. CNN's John Vause gives us a good sense of the feelings on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This small Jewish settlement of Dugit is probably how Ariel Sharon wanted the disengagement to happen. Here, no one is talking about defiant last stands, resisting the soldiers or police. Just about everyone has either moved out or is about to go. Eli Cohen built this house 14 years ago. He's now taking it apart piece by piece. He doesn't want to leave, but doesn't agree with the more radical protesters who are preparing for a fight.
ELI COHEN, DUGIT SETTLER (through translator): I don't accept their ways. They get in our way, too. They won't change the government's decision.
VAUSE: Like so many other Jewish settlers in Gaza, the people of Dugit knew they were building their dream homes on occupied Palestinian land, but never thought Israel would give it up. Sonia Bazago (ph) says her home cost close to $1 million U.S. dollars. And when she leaves, she wants it bulldozed into the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It will hurt me less than knowing Arabs will live in my house.
VAUSE: The last few days have been frantic, packing boxes, removing everything that isn't nailed down, even some things that are.
(on camera): Most of the houses have now been almost totally stripped bare. Here, even the kitchen sink is gone. Dugit is one of the more secular settlements and many of the Israelis who came here moved not because the belief that God promised this land to the Jews, but rather, for this.
(voice-over): And few believe giving up their slice of paradise will improve security for Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not fair to leave this place without complete peace.
VAUSE: But come Monday, Dugit will be a ghost town. Its 100 or so settlers resigned to reality, resentful they have to go, but most likely all gone nonetheless.
John Vause, CNN, Dugit settlement, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Our "News Around the World" continues with a state of emergency in Sri Lanka. Police are searching door to door for the assassins who murdered the country's foreign minister. Tamil Tiger Rebels deny they killed him, but a government spokesman calls the denial difficult to accept.
Air traffic is slowing -- slowly returning to normal at London's Heathrow Airway. British Airways got more than 80 percent of its flight off the ground today after a two-day strike stranded more than 100,000 passengers.
And Cubans are celebrating or not President Fidel Castro's birthday today. The world's longest ruling leader turned 79 years old. Castro has not been so healthy lately, but his -- he's shown no interest in stepping down.
And coming up, sniffing out trouble along America's borders -- you are going to see how dogs are trained to keep you safer.
And next, for the first time ever, an Iraqi is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Every week we like to bring you some of the more personal stories from the frontlines, and what could be more personal than a funeral for a loved one. Today's service for three Marines in Ohio is a stark reminder of the cost of war. For some who don't make it back from Iraq, their final resting place is Arlington National Cemetery. And now, for the first time, an Iraqi is buried there. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On this day, an American general and an Iraqi general have come together to bury the remains of four U.S airmen and an Iraqi pilot killed in an air crash north of Baghdad in May: Major William Downs, Captain Jeremy Fresques, Captain Derek Argel, and Staff Sergeant. Casey Crate. Captain Ali Abass is the first Iraqi National to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He and the U.S. team were scouting potential landing locations when they crashed. Colonel Kenneth Rodriquez knew three of the airmen.
COL. KENNETH RODRIGUEZ, U.S. AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPS.: I was thinking two things. First of all, I was thinking about the loss of these great warriors, and -- because the three guys that belonged to me, I knew very well. And then, the other thing I was thinking about is looking at the family sitting there in the front row and how much they've sacrificed. It's sobering.
STARR: All the families have had separate services, but some of the remains from the crash could not be identified even using DNA, so the Air Force insisted that they be buried at Arlington in a single casket. Iraqi General Kamal Abdul Sadr (ph), the commander of the Iraqi Air Force handed Iraq's flag to the family of Captain Abbas.
More than 60 foreign nationals have been interred at Arlington. Now, an Iraqi Air Force captain joins 184 Americans buried here, having died in the war on terror.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Welcome back, I'm Carol Lin, and here's a quick look at what's happening right now in the news.
The U.S. military tells CNN it doesn't know yet if chemical weapons or chemicals found at a storage site in Iraq were intended to be turned into weapons. The chemicals have common industrial purposes, but they could be mixed into chemical weapons.
Israeli settlers are scheduled to begin their withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank Sunday night at midnight. Many Palestinians are portraying the pullout as a victory. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the withdrawal will improve Israel security.
And the high price of gas is starting to hit home. AAA says the price of self-serve unleaded now stands at $2.41 a gallon. A new poll finds that two-thirds of Americans expect high gas prices to cause them financial problems in the months ahead.
There is a state of the emergency along New Mexico's border with Mexico, that is how Governor Bill Richardson describes it. He declared an emergency so money gets freed to battle crime on a 54-mile stretch of the Mexican/New Mexico border. And he toured an area in the helicopter and met with Mexican governors to talk about border security and insist something has to be done to stop drug trafficking and illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: The federal government and the Congress are doing nothing. And in New Mexico, we've got border smuggling of people, we've got smuggling of drugs, we've got kidnappings, murders, we've got cattle destruction, and there's very little response from the border patrol. They're doing a good job, but they don't have the resources.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Well, hang on, here's Mexico's reaction to the state of emergency declaration. The Foreign Ministry says, "It's important to point out that the government of Mexico has been working consistently along the entire border, together with the government of the federal border entities, in dealing with various problems linked to criminal activities."
Now, one weapon in the arsenal to secure U.S. borders is furry. CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve looks at canine enforcement training.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, Boom. Let's go, Boom. Let's go. Let's go.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Kyra (ph), a Belgian Malinois, searching for drugs is a game of hide and seek with play and praise as a price.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay! Oh, good girl. That's my baby! Play with this towel. Play a big, good game with her, and that makes her want to work some more. This here, I mean, we could do this all day. She would never get tired, you know, never get tired.
MESERVE: Kyra (ph) has learned to search out concealed humans as well as drugs during a 13-week course at the Customs and Border Protection Canine Enforcement Training Center in Front Royal, Virginia. Soon she and her handler, Billy Ross (ph), will be helping guard the nation's southern border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd rather have this one than another human for a teammate. I mean we work so good together and I don't have to worry about him calling in sick, you know. He's always there. He's always with me. Whenever I need something, he's there.
MESERVE: Not every dog is cut out for this work. Sometimes good candidates are found in animals shelters, with the help of a tennis ball.
KENT WAGER, CANINE TRAINING CENTER: I'm just looking for that dog in an animal shelter that's strictly looking at that tennis ball, could care less about me, could care less about anybody. They want to come out and play. They want to retrieve.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Find it! Good boy!
MESERVE: Fetch with a simple rolled towel is the foundation for training. When a small bag of marijuana is attached, the dog associates the smell with play and wants more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MESERVE: After only seven days, dogs are sniffing out marijuana in packaging. Over time their repertoire will expand. The dogs learn to distinguish a driver or a passenger in a vehicle from someone hiding inside by getting a towel reward for ferreting out the stowaway.
(on camera): Since 9/11, the demand for dogs appropriate for training has become so great that customs and border protection has begun breeding its own.
(voice-over): So far, the program has produced more than 21 litters, each one so precious that a closed-circuit camera monitors an expectant mom 24 hours a day.
WAGER: I'd say there's never enough dogs ever, ever.
MESERVE: Never enough because of what they produce on the job. Last year alone, seizures of more than 1 million pounds of narcotics and more than 40,000 concealed humans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good girl!
MESERVE: Billy Ross (ph) will tell you a dog is better than any detection machine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys don't break down. We have machines on base, and they break down. And, you know, if it rains or if it's lightning sometimes the machines don't pick up stuff. These guys' noses are always working, always working.
MESERVE: And what a bargain, all they need is training, food, and a whole lot of love.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good girl! Let's go home. Let's go.
MESERVE: For CNN's America Bureau, Jeanne Meserve, Front Royal, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliability news about your security.
Well, space travel is not just for astronauts anymore. Space Adventures says this week it's going to begin offering trips to the moon, maybe as soon as 2008. For a cool $100 million, you'll get to ride 300,000 miles out into space, around the moon and hopefully back. Eric Anderson is the CEO of Space Adventures, which has already sent tourists to the international space station. And with him is Dennis Tito, the first space tourists who went back in 2001 to the international space station.
Dennis, good to see you.
Eric, thanks for being here.
Dennis, so $100 million -- I mean you spent $20 million to go to the international space station. Why not up the ante?
DENNIS TITO, FORMER SPACE TOURIST: Well, that's a lot more and I'm five years older. So I think if I was younger and wealthier, I would be very interested.
LIN: You think that makes a difference?
TITO: What, being older?
LIN: Yes. I mean only five years. I mean the next space tourist in October is 60 years old, the same age that you were when you went to the international space station.
TITOR: Right. But the mission is probably several years off and, you know, as you get older, there are potential problems passing the medical, so you have to commit a lot of money. And I'd just rather watch and enjoy someone else go.
LIN: Oh, my goodness! The next trip in October, which is nothing compared, Eric, to what you're offering to future space tourists. I mean $100 million. Why is it so much more expensive than the trip to the international space station?
ERIC ANDERSON, CEO, SPACE ADVENTURES: Well, the biggest reason why it's more expensive is because we're using an extra propulsion module to give the Soyuz spacecraft -- so we're using the same spacecraft as we used to take people to the space station, but we're going to dock it with an extra propulsion module, which will give it enough energy, provide it with enough fuel to go all the way around the moon and come back. So it's quite a bit more expensive.
LIN: A lot more expensive, but you still have people signing up?
ANDERSON: We actually have had a lot of interest in this. And Greg Olson, for example, the gentlemen who is flying to the space station on October 1 this year, following in Dennis Tito's footsteps, is very interested in this program. And we'll see. I think, frankly, for an opportunity to do something as historic as going around the moon, you know, it is expensive, and it's something only a couple thousand people could afford, but it's well with it.
LIN: Dennis, it seems crazy. I mean crazy that you can go out in space, go around the moon, and come back. What was the most memorable part of your trip to the international space station? TITO: Well, my best moment was nine minutes after liftoff when I first went into orbit and experienced weightlessness, looked out the window and saw the curvature of earth and the blackness of space. And at that time, I knew that I had achieved my 40-year dream and nothing will beat -- top that in my life.
LIN: Do you have any advice for Greg who's going up in October?
TITO: Just enjoy it as much as I did, take a lot of photographs, and if he likes opera, listen to opera.
LIN: Why? Does that help you somehow in your journey?
TITO: Well, I'm an opera fan, so I brought some Opera CDs with me.
LIN: Do you ever regret $20 million? I mean, you could have -- you know you could have solved poverty in Africa, you could have cured cancer for $20 million, God only knows.
TITO: As far as I'm concerned, that's the best money I've ever spent in my life.
LIN: Really? Eric, what kind of people pony up $100 million?
ANDERSON: Well, again, there is -- you have to be very, very wealthy, in the top fraction of one percent, but you know there are many people who have $100 million yachts and $100 homes and $100 million hobbies.
LIN: I don't know many of those people.
ANDERSON: Well, they are out there. And frankly, this is real exploration. This is historic. We're going to do -- we're going to do something that inspires millions and millions of people around the world. It's not just a joyride. It's really something that shows that private citizens can go to space, too. And one day, 50 years from now, it might be $100,000 to go around the moon. But it's never going to get that if someone doesn't come first and pay $100 million to get this whole thing started.
LIN: Yes. So give me a profile of the person or the people who might go up in 2008.
ANDERSON: People who are explorers by nature, certainly people who have several hundred dollars million net worth, people who can commit six months to go through the training, people who want to make a significant impact in history, people who love the idea of space exploration, people who want to inspire people from around the world to go and live their dreams and do something new, just like Dennis Tito did.
LIN: Dennis, how -- did the trip change you?
TITO: Absolutely. Just accomplishing a life dream in itself was very satisfying. But I lived my space flight every day and that's probably one of the reasons I don't need to go to the moon. I enjoy it. It's paying back dividends all the time.
LIN: All right. A warning though for the people who are going to be going up, I mean , they have to go through some training, right? I mean it's not just like -- it's not like buying an airplane ticket and boarding the flight.
ANDERSON: It's a real project. They have to commit themselves to training although, as Dennis can tell you, the training is actually, frankly, a lot of fun and you know, you learn a lot about the history of space and space mechanics, and the workings of the spacecraft. It's a project though. It's certainly not a trip to the beach.
LIN: Yes. Dennis, any last words on that one?
TITO: Well, the training was the toughest part, but I learned a lot in that process, and it added really to my experience in life.
LIN: All right. By the way, Dennis, how's the food on the Russian spacecraft?
TITO: Well, the American food was pretty good. And I don't know if you're going to get American food on this lunar flight, so that might be a disadvantage.
LIN: Well, Eric, I think for $100 million, it should be a fully catered affair, don't you think?
ANDERSON: The food will be fine. They'll be OK with the food.
LIN: OK. Eric Anderson, CEO of Space Adventures, Dennis Tito, thanks very much.
All right, well, do you want to be one of the beautiful people if you plan on staying on earth? A new website will let you know whether or not you are going to be one of the candidates. There's our Jeanne Moos. She tried out.
And these guys have some beautiful muscles and one of them is the new Mr. Afghanistan. Find out who coming up.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS: I'm Larry Smith at the PGA Championship. Coming up, we'll tell you how Thomas Bjorn did, what Tiger Woods had hoped to, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: I'm Larry Smith at the 87th PGA Championship in Springfield, New Jersey, Baltusrol Golf Club, where the final major of the year has suddenly become a real competition. Phil Mickelson came in as a -- with a three-shot lead but has come back to the field as he bogeyed three of his first six holes. He stands right now though at 16 under par -- make that, I'm sorry, six under par through 16 holes. He is tied, however, with Davis Love II, who won his only career major at the PGA Championship eight years ago. He is also still on the course at six under par. Love trying to win his second career major. Now, earlier in the day, it was Tiger Woods coming on strong with a round of 66, but it could have been much lower than that. He pared the final three holes where he could have gone birdie, birdie, eagle. But Tiger, with everyone else coming back, certainly, very much now in the hunt at even under par, currently six shots off the pace.
A record tie today as well, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn tied a record for the lowest round ever at a major, seven under par, 63. He stands at five under par. But once again, the leaders on the course right now, Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III, each at six under par.
Stay with us, CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Here's some "News From Across America:" former President Jimmy Carter went cruising on the Navy's most heavily armed nuclear submarine. The vessel is named for the former commander in chief; it's the USS Jimmy Carter. Carter served on a sub during his time in the Navy.
And there's a frog invasion in the Montana town that goes by the name Big Sandy. Recent rains have turned the town green in more ways than one you might say. Some of the locals consider the invaders a nuisance, but others seem to think they're plain cute.
And speaking of green, a kid who found a wallet stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash was honored this week at Hermosa Beach, California. Twelve-year-old Jeffrey Little received a commendation for turning in the wallet turned in police. The wallet was lost by a man on his way to Las Vegas. And believe it or not, it had over $19,900 in it, all accounted for.
Well, just the mere mention of the word brings a cringe to the faces of women and maybe even some men out there all over the world. Cellulite, a skin condition so hated, people will do just about anything to get rid of it and that includes spending thousands of dollars on anti-cellulite creams and procedures. But do any of them work? Well, in our "Fountain of Youth "segment, "New Beauty" magazine covers the latest advances in dermatology and plastic surgery. And editor at large, Marie Kueshel joins me now from Chicago to talk all about this.
Marie, if I lost 20 pounds, would I get rid of my cellulite?
MARIE CZENKO KUESHEL, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "NEW BEAUTY": No, actually you wouldn't, Carol, because it's a myth that cellulite is a result of excess weight or fat. Cellulite is actually a condition of the connective tissues between the skin and fat of the body. So it may change the appearance of it a little bit. It may be a little less pillowy if you've lost some weight, but it won't get rid of it in any way.
LIN: So what about the creams? I mean I could spend a 100 bucks on a jar of anti-cellulite cream and just rub it on my thighs. Does that do anything? KUESHEL: Well, you know what; creams can do something to improve the look of the surface skin. It can make it look a little more taut, a little more toned. The moisture within can help the skin to just look more supple. That in itself can help the appearance of cellulite, but it won't change the actual anatomical composition of the fibrous bands beneath the skin that are causing the condition.
LIN: Ok, so while we have women across America crying right now, Marie, what's the solution? I mean is there a solution?
KUESHEL: There are a couple different solutions. This year the FDA approved two lasers, the triactive laser and the velosmooth (ph) laser, both which have some promising results in treating cellulite. They're not a cure, but they are a good treatment that can really visibly improve those results. It takes multiple treatments and it takes some follow-up with those laser treatments, maybe once every six months or once a year once you achieve your goal.
LIN: Does it hurt?
KUESHEL: The other thing is -- you know what? It doesn't really hurt at all. As a matter of fact, it's very similar to the laser hair removal type of sensation we have, actually even less of a sensation than that.
The other thing that is really more of a cure because it is a permanent solution for those much deeper pitted cellulite type looks, there's a procedure called subcision. It's a noninvasive surgical procedure -- I should say it's an outpatient surgical procedure. It is invasive in that a nocor (ph) needle, an empty needle, is placed beneath the skin to loosen those fibrous bands that are pulling down, creating the deep dimples. The permanent solution, one treatment, can really produce vast, vast improvement.
LIN: Now, that sounds like it hurts and it sounds like it's expensive.
KUESHEL: It's actually not that expensive, about $1,500 to $3,000 for a subcision treatment of, say, both sides. It is a permanent solution. So while you might spend $150 to $300 for one of the laser treatments, you may have to have 10 to 12 treatments before seeing promising results. Subcision under local anesthesia is really a very comfortable procedure. You might have some swelling and bruising for a week to two weeks afterwards, but you'll get up and walk out of the doctor's office without any unnecessary significant pain.
LIN: All right. So when can you put on the bikini then?
KUESHEL: When you can put on the bikini, technically, with the laser treatments, it'll take many, many treatments, many weeks, many months to see some results. With subcision, within four weeks, all the swelling and all the bruising should be down and you'll be looking wonderful.
LIN: Ouch! OK, Marie, maybe we could make cellulite fashionable. We were talking about that in the newsroom and trying to come up with a plan for that. That sounds a little less painful and a lot cheaper to me. But beauty...
KUESHEL: Make it a good characteristic.
LIN: There you go. It's a characteristic, you know, like Barbra Streisand's nose. You know she loves her nose. Marie, thank you much.
KUESHEL: Absolutely. Thank you.
LIN: All right, there's one person who doesn't have to worry about his body. It's Mr. Afghanistan. The 23-year-old businessman won the first-ever body building title in the war-torn country today. He beat out 47 other competitors. Look at those thighs. They're as big as my head. Bodybuilding has become a favorite sport in Afghanistan. In fact, it's so popular that Arnold Schwarzenegger is among the most widely recognized western celebrities there. Who knew they had the time?
All right, so what defines beauty? A new dating website has set its own standards. Does our Jeanne Moos make the cut?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All you beautiful people...
CARLY SIMON, MUSICIAN: You're so vain...
MOOS: ...you probably think this website is about you.
C. SIMON: One eye in the mirror...
MOOS: Maybe both eyes if you think you belong on an Internet dating service called beautifulpeople.net.
(on camera): Look at that! How am I supposed to compete with that?
(voice-over): Only beautiful people are allowed on, chosen by the beautiful people who are already members, some so perfect their washboard abs inspired laughter. Only one in 10 get in. We wondered what does it take to join the beautiful people.
(on camera): What we need is a guinea pig. Not him, me!
(voice-over): In a fit of journalistic excess, I volunteered. First off, the makeup room, where they sprayed ever pore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And maybe some false eyelashes?
MOOS (on camera): No, we're not going that far.
(voice-over): A beautiful photo...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excellent. MOOS: ...is a must if you want to be among the beautiful people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good, I like that little head tilt.
MOOS: Datingheadshots.com specializes in taking pictures that look good on Internet sites. Photo finished, it was time to fill in the application with a little help from my colleagues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to lie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to lie on this one too.
MOOS (on camera): We are?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
MOOS: "Select body type," uh-oh: slim, average, toned, athletic, muscular, cuddly or ample.
(voice-over): Next, we had to write a profile.
(on camera): Outgoing but reclusive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, that's not going to work.
MOOS (voice-over): We opted for over the top. Basically I'm here because I'm hot.
(on camera): Take my temperature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
MOOS (voice-over): We then had to choose from dozens of photos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too nice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's to I'm too sexy for my whatever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm too sexy...
MOOS: Into cyberspace I went, stacked up against cleavage and chiseled bodies, and exposed, exposed, exposed flesh. Guys vote on female applicants, women vote on men.
GREG HODGE, BEAUTIFULPEOPLE.NET: Is it elitist, yes, it is, because our members want it to be. Is it lookers, yes, it is because our members want it to be. It is PC, no, it's not, but it's honest.
MOOS: And did I mention you have to pick a user name? Mine was feastyoureyes. For three days, they feasted. You can check out your rating in progress on a bar graph. Remember, take my temperature?
(on camera): The temperature is plummeting.
(voice-over): Though nine out of 10 are rejects, that didn't soften the sting in the final e-mail. The members of Beautiful People did not find your profile attractive enough, but a producer up in "SHOW BIZ" got in.
AMY SCHULMAN, CNN "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I do think it's kind of rude. It's mean. It's mean. And I do feel bad.
MOOS: Beautiful people have feelings, too.
(ON CAMERA): How old have you?
SCHULMAN: I'm 27 and a half.
MOOS: She's gotten e-mails from two guys and even a woman who called her "absolutely stunning" and offered to exchange numbers.
(on camera): So what's a rejected guinea pig to do? Maybe start my own website, beautifulguineapigs.com. Dark-haired beauty with chestnut highlights, soft brown eyes, loves heavy petting.
CHRISTINA AGUILERA, MUSICIAN: I am beautiful no matter what they say...
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Don't worry, Jeanne, we love you.
That's all the time we have at this hour. Coming up next, President Bush's working vacation at Crawford and why hundreds could go free at Guantanamo Bay. It's all "ON THE STORY."
Then at 8:00 Eastern, "CNN 25," an in-depth look at the prominent sports legends and playmakers who have defined the game in the past 25 years. At 9:00 on Larry King, a look back at the life and legacy of legendary newsman Peter Jennings. And at 10:00 Eastern, they found him not guilty, but now two jurors have changed that minds about Michael Jackson. We're going to have a talk about what is going to happen to that man's freedom. And should laws be changed for jurors who have a change of heart? I'm going to explore those issues tonight at 10:00 Eastern on "CNN SATURDAY NIGHT."
A check of the hour's headlines and then "ON THE STORY."
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