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CNN Saturday Morning News

Gas Prices Hit Record High; Sen. Reid Recovers; Water Park Sickens

Aired August 20, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, HOST, CNN SATURDAY: And "Now in the News:" We could learn this hour whether the body of Latoyia Figueroa has been found. Philadelphia police have scheduled a news conference right now, which we will monitor for the latest developments. Human remains were recovered in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania. Police say they have strong reason to believe it is the pregnant woman. She was reported missing a month ago.
Bad weather has delayed until tomorrow the homecoming of the Shuttle Discovery. It left California yesterday atop a Boeing 747 bound for Florida. The aircraft has been hopscotching across the country. This video is from its departure yesterday from Oklahoma. It is currently parked in at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

And replacement mechanics are on the job at Northwest Airlines. The air carrier's mechanics are on strike to protest big pay cuts and layoffs that would have cut their numbers almost in half. Northwest says it plans to operate on its normal schedule despite the strike, but if you have a ticket on Northwest, call the airline before setting out for the airport.

Well, good Saturday morning to you. Good morning, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony.

HARRIS: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Betty Nguyen this morning. Thanks for starting your day us with. Here's a quick look at some other stories coming up this hour. Tainted water: A communicable disease linked to a New York water park is spreading; hundreds, including children, get sick.

Also ahead: Starting over from scratch. An American helps bridge a cultural divide in the Southeast Asia tsunami relief effort.

And talk to CNN: Are you riled up about soaring gas prices? We know Tony is. We have been hearing him all morning. He's hot about it. CNN's J.J. Ramberg will answer your questions at the half hour.

HARRIS: Our top story, at this hour, the leading Democrat in the Senate is told to take some down time. Doctors say the minority leader suffered a mild stroke. CNN Congresional Correspondent Joe Johns has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid appeared in perfect health last month meeting with Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: Judge, welcome to the Democratic side of the United States Senate.

JOHNS: Harry Reid is the most powerful Democrat in the U.S. Senate, soft spoken, but tough and direct, members of his party elected him to lead on Capitol Hill after the former Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, was defeated in his re-election bid.

Reid is 65 and aides said he experienced dizziness and other symptoms of what had been described as a mini stroke on Tuesday, while at his home in Searchlight, Nevada. He went to the hospital at the urging of his wife, Landra, who was with him at the time.

He's a former boxer who's also run 12 marathons. Reid is said to work out five times a week. He doesn't drink or smoke. The news came at a time when the Senate is out of session for its long August recess. Reid had done some traveling, including fund-raisers in a handful of states and a family vacation.

When the Congress goes back into session in September, Reid's staff predicted his condition will not disrupt his work at all on Capitol Hill and that doctors had placed no limits on his activities of any kind.

The news spread quickly. White House Spokesman Trent Duffy said, "The president is glad to hear that Senator Reid is feeling fine and looks forward to working with him this fall." The Senate majority leader, Republican Bill Frist, a medical doctor, said in a written statement that he has spoken with Senator Reid and "he's feeling fine, showing his usual strength of spirit."

The Reid spirit has been credited with creating an affective Democratic communications operation, as well as a surprising amount of party discipline and unity in voting on the Senate floor. Working with what he's got, even though Democrats have little power to control the agenda in the Senate, short of a filibuster.

REID: Thank you very much for being here this afternoon. We're sorry that we don't have a more convenient place, but we don't run the Rules Committee and we go where we find room.

JOHNS: His plain-spoken manner has brought him praise from party loyalists and even gotten him into trouble at times, like when he called the president a loser and a liar.

REID: The president of the United States would not be president of the United States had he not come to Nevada and told the big lie.

JOHNS (on camera): Reid has canceled some public appearances that were scheduled over the remainder of the August break, during which time his staff says he's expected to rest and recover.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And coming up in about ten minutes, we will talk with one doctor about mini strokes; how they can be a warning for bigger health problems.

WHITFIELD: As if you didn't already know, you're shelling out more at the pump. The price of a gallon of gas surged about 19 cents this week alone, setting a record every day. Prices are still shy of an inflated-adjusted record, but they're getting there.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded, $2.60. The nation's most expensive gas is actually in California: $2.80 a gallon on average, but Much higher in some California cities. The cheapest average is in Utah: $2.44.

Well, is there any relief in sight or will you keep feeling this pinch? Some would say it's more of a punch.

HARRIS: Punch. Yes. Yes.

WHITFIELD: A big punch at the pump. Coming up at the half hour, CNN's J.J. Ramberg will answer your e-mails on the surging gas prices.

HARRIS: It's a showdown of sorts. Pro-Bush supporters rally against anti-war protesters. The mom who's been camping out near President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch isn't there this morning, but Cindy Sheehan says she plan to come back soon to Camp Casey, named after her son who died in the Iraq war. Joining us now from Crawford is CNN White House Correspondent Dana Bash. And Dana, all right, what is the latest from Camp Casey?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Tony.

Well, the latest is that we really don't know when or if Cindy Sheehan will be returning to Crawford, Texas. As you mentioned, she is still in Los Angeles with her ailing mother who suffered a stroke earlier this week.

Essentially what her spokesman said this morning is that they understand first of all, that the president actually isn't going to be in Crawford. He is going to be traveling to Utah and also to Idaho earlier -- in the beginning of next week.

So, there really is no rush for her to get back here to sort of make the point she has been trying to make, of course, which is not only that she is against the war, but she says over and over that she is demanding a meeting with the president. That's why she's been here.

But some of her supporters are still here in what, as you mentioned, they call Camp Casey, but they do say that they are going to have what they call a low-key day today. Not the kind of protests that we saw -- massive rallies and people here that we saw last weekend -- Tony. HARRIS: Dana, let me just ask, just for a point of clarification maybe for myself: Is this an anti-war rally, an anti-Bush rally or is there much of a difference between the two?

BASH: No. The truth of the matter is, Tony, there really isn't much of a difference between the two at this point and frankly, when you talk to the president's aides, they say that is a primary reason why you haven't seen a bigger sort of push for the president to go out and meet with Cindy Sheehan.

I talked to one of the president's senior advisers earlier in the week who said, "Look, the president did meet once with Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother. What we're seeing now is Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war protester and they understand that the people who have come -- and we've seen them over the last week or two weeks -- many of them are not only anti-war protesters, but they are Democrats who don't support the president.

HARRIS: And Dana, the president is entertaining a special guest today?

BASH: He is. At his ranch today, his 1600-acre ranch, he is going to have the seven-time Tour de France winner and fellow Texan, Lance Armstrong, there. They are going to ride bikes around the president's ranch.

You know, the president, of course, was an avid runner. He can't do that anymore because of a leg injury. So, he has really become a biker. There you see some pictures -- a rare glimpse at the president biking from earlier this week. We almost never get to see that.

You know, there is a lot of talk about President Bush is probably the most fit president. He has a resting heartbeat of 47 beats per minute. But Lance Armstrong is 32 to 34 beats per minute, Tony.

HARRIS: Wow!

BASH: So, it's going to be interesting to see how the two sort of compare when they're riding. But there are two rules apparently when riding with the president. One is the president is in front and the second is no talking.

HARRIS: And no talking?

BASH: But it will also be interesting -- no talking. It will be interesting to see if the two talk about politics, because there is talk that Lance Armstrong is thinking about a future in running for office.

HARRIS: All right. Dana Bash, from Crawford, Texas with the president. Dana, thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: There could can be a break in the case of a missing pregnant woman from Philadelphia. Police found human remains in a nearby town and we've also learned that an ex-boyfriend of Latoyia Figueroa is now in custody. Michelle McCormack of affiliate WPVI has the latest from Chester, Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE MCCORMACK, WPVI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly one month after she was first reported missing, 24-year-old Latoyia Figueroa was found dead in an overgrown lot some 40 minutes south of her West Philadelphia neighborhood. The father of her unborn child seen here, Stephen Poaches, was arrested just blocks away.

With dawn, her father arrived at the scene to pray with family. Unable to speak, he let his cousin, a Philadelphia city councilman, do the talking for him.

JUAN RAMOS, COUSIN: Our hearts are broken and the family, we just want to spend some time here to just take a look at his place where Latoyia unfairly was murdered.

MCCORMACK: Police sources won't say exactly what led them to the area, only that Poaches was picked up with an accomplice, a male friend. The area, they believe, is near a relative's home.

Poaches was also reportedly wearing a bullet-proof vest and had two firearms in his possession when he was taken into custody. Distraught family members gathered around once word got out that a body had been found, but so did perfect strangers. They may not have known Latoyia, but there was this compulsion to somehow protect her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I've been praying for her; that she'd be found one way or another.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that was Michelle McCormack of WPVI, our affiliate there. We're continuing to monitor the news conference involving Philadelphia police and when there are new developments, we'll bring that to you.

HARRIS: And we are keeping an eye on the health of two Prominent Americans this morning, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Both suffered strokes this week. Some of the warning signs, just ahead.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: And the 19-cents-a-gallon jump in gas prices this week has a lot of people asking questions. Some answers for you this morning as CNN Business Correspondent J.J. Ramberg joins us live in a talk to CNN little session we've got coming up.

HARRIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: It's not too late to e-mail your questions to WEEKENDS@CNN.COM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the United States is spoiled in that we think that there's an unending surplus of gas and there isn't. So, you know, something has got to be done. I guess we have to be a little bit more fuel efficient and you know, I'm sure there's going to be some changes in the next 10 to 20 years in order to keep the prices down and you know, keep enough fuel supply for us.

UNIEDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's a lot of intricate things going on that is not necessarily just the administration that can take control over it. So -- but I feel like, you know, the War on Terror did not -- you know, everyone said he was out to get the oil and have control over it and I don't think that's turned out to be the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Our top stories: Philadelphia police will examine human remains found early today. They may be those of 24-year-old Latoyia Figueroa. She was five months pregnant when she vanished more than a month ago.

The price of a gallon of gas gurgles ever upward. The new national average for regular unleaded is $2.60 a gallon.

The Military Base Closing Commission is holding a rare weekend hearing. You're taking looking at live pictures. Defense officials propose closing or downsizing hundreds of U.S. bases. It's the Pentagon's last chance to persuade the commission not to make any changes. Most of the commissioners say the projected 50 billion in savings is probably overstated.

WHITFIELD: First Martin Luther King, Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King, now Senator Harry Reid: Two prominent people recovering from strokes. Aides say Senate Minority Leader Reid feels fine after experiencing a stroke on Tuesday. They say there are no restrictions on his activity and he should be back at work when Congress returns after its summer recess.

According to doctors in Atlanta, Coretta Scott King managed to sit up and speak a few words yesterday. It comes just three days after the 78-year-old suffered a major stroke. Doctors say she can expect a long and difficult recovery.

Joining me now to talk more about strokes is Dr. Marc Siegel, the author of "False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear." He is also with the New York University Medical Center. Good to see you again, Dr. Siegel.

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. You mentioned earlier what Mr. Reid experienced was not considered a mini stroke, but instead it's more like a precursor to a stroke. SIEGEL: Absolutely. It's a warning sign, because what happens is you don't get enough blood flow to the brain for under 24 hours, so the problem that you have reverses itself, which is why he wasn't hospitalized.

You know, in Mrs. King's case, there's permanent damage to the brain that's occurred. Part of the brain dies. In Senator Reid's case, it's a warning sign, at least one out of three of those cases will progress to a stroke.

WHITFIELD: So, how often do folks generally get these warning signs and what do they look for in order to ascertain that, "hey, look I may have a more serious problem on the horizon?"

SIEGEL: Well, that's a very good question. This is a fairly common finding and you want to look at the arteries in the neck to make sure that they're not building up plaque, which can be treated with medication or even removed. And you also look at the heart to make sure that a blood clot isn't forming there.

And you want to look for underlying medical problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, smoking is a very, very strong problem that leads to these problems.

WHITFIELD: And we don't know the exact medical condition of Coretta Scott King or what led up to the stroke this week, but is it likely, just based on your experience of studying these kinds conditions and cases, that she may have experienced any one of those signs leading up to this more serious stroke this week?

SIEGEL: Well, you know, sometimes you get the warning sign before. Like you develop weakness or slurred speech or dizziness, lightheadedness, like in the senator's case. Sometimes you don't get any warning and you actually just have the stroke right away. But if you get medical care very quickly, you can limit the extent of the damage.

WHITFIELD: Now, the doctors for Coretta Scott King say it's going to be a long recovery process. Rehabilitation is something that will be under way soon. She's got to learn how to walk again and almost speak again. Is that indicative or is that fairly common when you're talking about a type of paralysis on the right side of the body?

SIEGEL: That's actually very common, because that's a left-sided stroke and that affects the speaking centers as well. And, you know what's very interesting is that you actually can do very well with rehabilitation, even if you are very afflicted to begin with and have problem understanding speaking or walking, you can get better from that condition.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Marc Siegel at NYU, thanks so much for joining us from New York this morning.

SIEGEL: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Tony?

HARRIS: The Space Shuttle Discovery weighs about 170,000 pounds, so how did NASA get it on top of this jumbo jet? We'll show you.

Plus: Stomach cramps and fever are just some of the symptoms felt by hundreds of people after they left this New York water park. What happened to them and how you can keep it from happening to you. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And time now to check out some of the other stories making news around the world.

WHITFIELD: Palestinians in Gaza have been rejoicing as Israel withdraws from the occupied territory.

HARRIS: And for the details on that and the rest of the international news, let's check in now with Anand Naidoo at the CNN International Desk. Anand, good morning.

ANAND NAIDOO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Thanks and good morning from me. We'll have more from Gaza in a moment, but first I want to go to Jordan. The hunt is still on there for six people after that rocket attack against U.S. warships in the port of Aqaba.

Officials say they're looking for a Syrian and several Egyptians and Iraqis. One rocket missed a U.S. Naval ship, but slammed into a warehouse killing a Jordanian soldier and injuring another. Another landed near a military hospital. A third rocket was fired towards Israel from the same location. A taxi driver was slightly wounded near an Eilat Airport. That's in Israel and a group linked to al Qaeda is claiming responsibility.

Now to Gaza and the Israeli police are saying that the pull-out is almost complete. Troops used bulldozers to break through barricades and evacuate the settlement of Gadid. The operation has been put on hold. It's still on hold for the Jewish Sabbath, but officials say the entire evacuation could be completed by Tuesday of next week. After Gadid, four settlements remain to be evacuated.

Meanwhile on the other side, Palestinians have been celebrating the Israeli withdrawal and Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas declared the pull-out, these are his words, "the fruits of sacrifices of the Palestinians." Militants in the Gaza area, in that territory, have agreed to respect a cease fire at least until the end of the year -- Tony?

HARRIS: Anand, you were talking to me a moment ago about this Sister Lotus. Who is she again and what's her claim to fame?

NAIDOO: Tony, you've got to meet Sister Lotus.

HARRIS: OK. NAIDOO: She's China's first and probably only Internet celebrity. Sister Lotus or to give her her proper name, Shi Henxia -- that took me all morning to practice -- is -- she's a university drop- out, twice over.

She's put literally hundreds of photographs of herself on her Web site and it's wracked up millions of hits. Now, here's the mystery: Nobody knows why she's so popular. She is a very good-looking girl of course, but nobody knows why she's so popular on the Web. It's just one of those mysteries of the Web, but one of her fans is not the Chinese governor. They've banned all, what they term, positive reports of Sister Lotus.

HARRIS: OK.

NAIDOO: But whatever the case, Tony, she's certainly enjoying and basking in this 15 minutes of fame.

HARRIS: In her 15 minutes. It's that winning smile.

NAIDOO: She's got her 15 minutes.

HARRIS: OK. Anand, thank you.

NAIDOO: Thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: In just one week, gas prices jumped 19 cents a gallon. It's an increase that has millions scratching their heads, wondering when it's all going to end. Next on CNN SATURDAY, a chance to get some of your questions answered. CNN Business Correspondent J.J. Ramberg is the guest in this morning's "Talk to CNN." We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The search for a pregnant Philadelphia woman takes a tragic turn. Just minutes ago, police confirmed that remains found in a nearby town are those of 24-year-old Latoyia Figueroa who disappeared last month. Police have arrested her ex-boyfriend.

Northwest Airlines is bringing in replacement workers this morning. They are filling the shoes of thousands of mechanics who walked off the job at midnight. The strike comes after months of contract talks broke down. Northwest says it plans to keep its schedule normal.

A last pitch by the Pentagon for military base closings. At this hour, defense officials are making their final case to close or downsize dozens of U.S. military bases. The defense base closure and realignment commission votes next week on the sweeping plan. The independent panel will then submit its recommendations to President Bush before September 8th.

Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Betty Nguyen. HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Good morning everyone. A popular water park in upstate New York is bone dry this morning. Have you heard this story? Health officials have shut it down after nearly 1800 people said they got sick after visiting the park. Earlier this morning I talked to Michael Beach who is with the National Center for Infectious Disease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BEACH, NATL. CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE: This is a parasite called cryptosporidium and it causes diarrhea. The unusual feature here is that this is a parasite that's naturally chlorine resistant. So that it bypasses that major barrier that we find in most pools.

HARRIS: So what does that say? You say it is resistant to chlorine, so what are the symptoms when you get this?

BEACH: It's a severe diarrhea that can last for several weeks, abdominal cramping and nausea and so on.

HARRIS: Boy. All right. And you just feel horrible? Is the bottom line on it?

BEACH: Yes.

HARRIS: OK. How long before you start to feel from the moment of exposure to the point at which you start to feel these rather nasty symptoms?

BEACH: It takes on average about a week for people to start getting ill, so they're thinking about what they ate last night, not where they swam last week.

HARRIS: Anything to take to make yourself feel a bit better?

BEACH: There's actually a new drug that's been licensed by FDA called nitonocinite (ph) that can be used.

HARRIS: When you get an outbreak like this, what are the protocols for a water park like the one we are talking about in upstate New York? Do you close the water park right away? Do you test the water first and then close the water park?

BEACH: In the case of cryptosporidium, usually we close the pool and do remediation on that pool water to kill the parasite and then reopen after that.

HARRIS: Some of these illnesses we understand in the New York case date back to June. Does that tell you anything?

BEACH: It absolutely does. It underscores a critical point, which is that we want the public to understand that if they're ill with diarrhea, they don't go swimming and clearly somebody who was ill or a young child visited this park back in July and contaminated the water when they were ill with diarrhea. HARRIS: OK. So the people who are sick or have these symptoms, don't swim in any recreational water. Is that the advice here?

BEACH: No, not at all. Swimming is a great recreational activity. It's a healthy activity. We really want people to understand behavioral changes that needs to go on. You know, swimming as a communal bathing activity and so we essentially are swimming with everybody else. Let's stop swimming when we're ill with diarrhea but there are hundreds of millions of people that swim every year and, you know, they're not all getting ill. There's a handful of tragic outbreaks as we have heard, but we certainly don't want to stop swimming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That was Michael Beach from the National Center for Infectious Disease.

WHITFIELD: Time now to talk to CNN and what are you talking about these days? What else? Gas prices. How expensive it is for everybody.

HARRIS: And probably, well, driving me crazy, you, too. We know it's time to answer your questions because we know you have plenty of them. CNN's J.J. Ramberg has been taking your e-mails and she joins us now. JJ, you ready?

J.J. RAMBURG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I'm ready. Bring 'em on.

HARRIS: We've got the smartest viewers in the land.

RAMBURG: I can take them.

HARRIS: They have loaded us with e-mail questions for you. You want to start first?

WHITFIELD: Sure. This is from Rich. Why is it that we see an automatic raise in gas prices, rise in gas prices, when a barrel bought at today's market price takes months to be turned into gas?

RAMBURG: That's a great question. Actually, usually the lag time from when crude rises or drops to when you actually feel it at the pump is about 10 days or two weeks. But what I've been hearing from a lot of retailers this time is that they are seeing wholesalers jack up those prices right away. The market is so tight right now that we are seeing all sorts of behavior that is raising or lowering prices almost immediately.

HARRIS: We'll get back to that, but I want you to think about why this market is so tight because we need to talk about that. Here is the next question from Mac. Is there really an oil shortage, J.J. or is this an artificially generated inflation?

RAMBURG: You know, we all remember that gas crunch in the '70s right, when we were waiting in line. What we are experiencing right now is actually quite different from that. What happened then was it was a supply issue. There was not enough gas to go around because it was artificially -- the supply was down.

There was more oil at the pump. Now it's quite different. Demand has risen so much, it's not just demand here in America. We consume about a quarter of the world's oil a day (INAUDIBLE), but it's also China and India, so much demand that the oil suppliers are pumping oil as fast as they can. It's just not enough.

WHITFIELD: All right. Which leads us to this question -- from a person who goes by the acronym of FCVC or initials, what happened to the oil reserve? Why doesn't Bush just tap into the reserve to help out?

RAMBURG: The oil reserve is there. It's actually about to be filled to the top next year, but what the administration says, they have been criticized for not tapping into the reserve. This time also in 2004 when we started to see gas and oil prices go up though, not nearly like what we're seeing now. What they say is look, this isn't meant to just change prices at the oil market. It's not meant to move oil prices. We want to have this in case there is some sort of catastrophic disruption to supply and we're going to save it until that.

WHITFIELD: Right. Now is not that time.

HARRIS: Fred, J.J., have you seen these percentages on what is factored into a gallon of gas?

RAMBURG: Yes.

HARRIS: Can you break it down?

RAMBURG: I did a story on that earlier this week and it's interesting because where is this money going? $2.60, where is it going? I did my calculations at the beginning of the week when it was just $2.55 a gallon. What you see is about 56 percent of what we pay, that's $1.43 goes into crude oil. That's why the price of crude affects the price of gas so much. Refining is a big part of this also. We had a lot of refinery issues this summer too, which is why that may be higher. That's about...

WHITFIELD: A couple fires.

RAMBURG: Exactly, all sorts of stoppages. Distribution and marketing takes about 7 percent or 7 cents sorry. That's the individual stations marketing their brand. And then taxes, 44 cents. That's different. There's Federal excise tax of 20 cents a gallon and then on top of that there's state taxes. There's city taxes. There are local taxes. Something I always say if that looks high to you, just be happy you are not in Europe where they pay about 70 percent in taxes.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, despite that breakdown...

HARRIS: This is high and we live here. It's high at $2.55.

WHITFIELD: It is high. HARRIS: Sorry, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Even higher there.

HARRIS: I'm a little outraged by this I apologize.

WHITFIELD: $7 a gallon at one point this year. Any way, so Paul in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, J.J. asks this -- I work at a gas station, (INAUDIBLE) then he asks the question. I work in a gas station. I'm always being asked the same question every day by my customers -- when are the gas prices going to come down?

The answer I give them is I don't know. I just wonder why this country has gotten itself into this position for one. Is it because of the Iraq war or is it something else? It doesn't seem to make much sense to me or to my customers. Do you have the answer for him?

RAMBURG: Again, it is this demand issue. Demand has increased and we are in the summer driving season when demand is at its highest. As far as when are prices going to come down, there's this conventional thinking that gas prices go down after Labor Day when the summer driving season is over.

There's some thought that this year that may not happen in the same way that it happens every other year because the supply is so tight that when refineries start switching over to heating oil, that's going to keep supplies of gas still pretty tight and if demand stays even relatively high to what it is now, prices are going to stay high.

HARRIS: J.J., what is the new floor for gas prices? Will we ever see gas at $1.75?

RAMBURG: Wouldn't that be nice?

HARRIS: Will we ever see $1.75 a gallon again?

RAMBURG: We might. There's so many factors that go into this. And in part, it's, are we finding other alternatives for gas? There is a certain point at which gas will be so expensive and crude will be so expensive that it makes money to invest in alternative fuels. We are not quite there yet.

People are still spending money on gas, still spending money on oil. If you look at demand this year versus last year, in spite of these record high prices, demand is up.

HARRIS: Did she answer my question?

RAMBURG: I think I said maybe.

HARRIS: OK, OK.

WHITFIELD: Putting you on the spot J.J. Stephanie in Nova Scotia says this - "Hey, what about us? We are paying about 3.30 U.S. per gallon for regular unleaded. Nobody has mentioned the heating oil for this winter yet, although you kind of alluded to it a bit. We live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and right now heating oil is approximately $2.24 U.S. per gallon. For a lot of people it will come down to making a choice between being warm and eating."

RAMBURG: That's a problem. We have been concentrating so much on gas because of the summer driving season and obviously heating oil is not an issue yet, that we haven't been paying that much attention but the government just put out a report that said they expect the average heating oil bill to be 16 percent higher this year than it was last year. And again, that's an estimate. If it's a very cold winter, we could see those prices even higher.

HARRIS: Boy, $3.

RAMBURG: Sobering, isn't it?

HARRIS: Three dollars, four dollars a gallon here in the states?

WHITFIELD: For gas. Let's hope not.

HARRIS: J.J.?

RAMBURG: For gas?

HARRIS: Yes.

RAMBURG: Listen, if there's a catastrophic event of some type -- oil traders that I talked to all week say the supply is so tight right now that if something happens -- they're very concerned about the situation in Iran. They're very concerned about some sort of terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. If something like that happens, those oil prices are going to go sky high and gas prices are going to go, you know, sky high following them.

HARRIS: J.J., thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right. That's good. That's talk to CNN. I think we have one other comment. Do we have that?

WHITFIELD: There we go, from Mary.

HARRIS: All right. She says I'm a transplanted Bostonian now living in Nova Scotia, Canada. If you think your prices are extreme -- didn't we just read that?

WHITFIELD: She had a similar thought like Stephanie.

HARRIS: OK. All right. Does this make you feel better? All right. We're in the same boat. I guess that's what Mary is getting at. J.J., thank you. That was great fun. Thank you very much, another opportunity for you to "Talk to CNN" next Saturday morning. Now, if your week was more about deadlines than headlines, some of the news may have slipped past you. Let's take a quick look at some of the headlines you may have missed. Tuesday, experts say a computer worm brought down P.C.s at the U.S. Senate and several major news organizations.

The worm made its way through a vulnerability in a Microsoft software application. At least 125 corporate systems were affected, making the attack one of the worst this year. Still, the impact was fairly minimal. Authorities are still trying to figure out who's responsible.

Also, Tuesday, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr suffered a stroke and a mild heart attack. 78-year old Coretta Scott King will be hospitalized for at least another week in Atlanta. Her doctor says she will undergo extensive rehabilitation.

And as we just mentioned with J.J. Ramburg, gas prices hit another record high Friday pushing the average cost of a gallon of unleaded self serve to $2.60 per gallon. Experts are not ruling out the possibility that prices could hit $3 a gallon before the end of summer, Fred. Tomorrow, we will fast forward to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the spotlight.

WHITFIELD: It's been nearly eight months since a tsunami devastated Indonesia. And as you can imagine, recovery efforts are still under way but they're slow going.

HARRIS: Yes. Next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, one man's mission to bring relief to the thousands left homeless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that if he could, he would.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Middle East (INAUDIBLE) are just forcing, keeping the prices higher than they probably need to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Politics I just got interested in, so I'm going to pay attention. But I think (INAUDIBLE) the government is corrupt and they want to take my money all the time! See I got every last drop (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Makes you want to holler, jump up and down. Marvin Gaye reference this morning? Our top stories this morning, the price of gasoline set new records every day this week jumping about 19 cents overall. The national average for a gallon of regular self-serve unleaded gas stands at $2.60.

Police in Philadelphia say they have discovered the body of a missing pregnant woman. Latoyia Figueroa was five months pregnant when she went missing in July. Police are planning to charge her ex- boyfriend with murder. And the Drug Enforcement Agency says it has broken up three international methamphetamine drug rings. The rings supplied more than 50 pounds of meth and other drugs each month. Agents also seized $5.5 million and dozens of weapons. The raid came on the heels of the Bush administration announcing a new initiative on Thursday to combat meth use.

WHITFIELD: The tsunami that devastated south Asia eight months ago has receded as a major news story, but life is far from normal along the Indian Ocean coastline.

American Kurt Kaler is with "Save the Children" and is helping Indonesians start over. It remains a huge task, compounded by another devastating quake that hit northern Sumatra in March. CNN photo journalist Desmond Garrison provides a window into the struggle to do some good in a place that needs as much as it can get.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE OF KURT KALER, SAVE THE CHILDREN: With an earthquake or a tsunami it takes you back to zero, ground zero. I started Save the Children 10 days after the tsunami hit. When the tsunami came, the water rose up to where these clumps of mud are. And then in the last one, the water went back again. But actually the island went up. That was a meter under water.

It's an old tale that everybody's grandmother told them about, and that is in 1907, when the water recedes, you run up the mountain because that means a tsunami is coming. But it's interesting the psychological effect that actually would save them from the tsunami the first time is actually causing them to stay up in the mountains in rather unpleasant circumstances. Basically their livelihoods have to be rebuilt.

Is this your hand phone number, Jess?

My main goal is to set up the warehouses, transportation and long-term camping facilities in each of these provinces.

There is no connection anymore from Cinabon (ph) to the north of the island so we have to do the set-up and logistics operation with warehousing and marine-based transportation.

(INAUDIBLE) is an island. We needed ships, and we needed them relatively quickly. In Indonesia we have traditional cargo ships called the boogies (ph), which are wooden cargo ships and these are used for transporting goods all over the islands of Indonesia.

The households get a 40-item kit of all sorts of materials that you need in a household. So there's buckets and there's soap and there's shampoo and there's toothbrushes and there's children's clothes and blankets and there's towels. There's a small stove. There's a few pots. There's plastic cups, plastic plates. It's a camping kit. It's a soul thing. It's not every day that you get the opportunity to actually do something that is -- that's really good. And it brings up an energy in you, you know, it takes everybody up to a higher level. I don't know, surveying the higher cause.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Remarkable. Boy, is it going to take a long time to get things back to some normalcy.

HARRIS: I was just thinking that, you're right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. If you would like to help in the ongoing relief efforts, you can find out how at www.SaveTheChildren.org.

HARRIS: Could a mid-August cool down be in order? The word from meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is next.

WHITFIELD: Then you've seen this incredible picture of the space shuttle getting a piggy back ride. Ever wonder how they get the shuttle on the back of that plane? Well, so did we and we figured it out for you. We will show you the pictures coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Space Shuttle Discovery will get a ride back to its home port, but not today. The shuttle is piggy backed on a jumbo jet for the flight from the California desert to Florida, but stormy weather brewing in the southeast is delaying that departure. And as you can see, the shuttle is raised up by or raised rather by this huge derrick. And the jetliner is rolled underneath. The same device that attaches the shuttle to its giant orange fuel tanks that you also see.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Stay with us. "ON THE STORY" is coming up next.

HARRIS: But first, we say good-bye to a friend. We are grieving. We lost one of our CNN Saturday morning family members this past week. Glen Clonts, a dedicated writer died of a heart attack while battling cancer. A Korean war vet, Glen was also a true journalism veteran, 20 years at NBC news in Chicago and 18 years here at CNN.

Away from here, Glen loved the Georgia mountains and hiking, his garden and he was an avid reader. He was also a strong supporter of the visual arts community in Atlanta. We miss him. Glen Clonts was 87.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. "THE TURNAROUND" with Ali Velshi begins in 60 seconds, but first, a check of the headlines now in the news.

Space Shuttle Discovery is delayed on its trip home to Florida atop a giant 747. Weather is keeping the shuttle grounded in Louisiana. Discovery landed in California on its return to earth earlier this month.

The first major airline strike since 1998 is under way. But Northwest Airlines says it plans to fly its usual schedule with replacement workers filling in for more than 5,000 union mechanics. They walked off the job yesterday over failed contract talks.

There's a break in the case of a missing pregnant woman in Philadelphia. Police say Latoyia Figueroa's body was discovered this morning and they have charged her former boyfriend with murder in connection with the case.

More on this story coming up on "CNN LIVE SATURDAY." More news coming up in 30 minutes. "THE TURNAROUND" with Ali Velshi begins right now.

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