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'New You Resolution'; Ladies Step on Ice Today in Winter Games in Torino

Aired February 21, 2006 - 11:30   ET

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The twins are getting fit seven weeks into our "New You Resolution." Mark and Stewart Rasch are hitting their strives. They checked in with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a checkup.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This week, the twins are in a New York state of mind.

MARK RASCH, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: Here with are, 7:00 in the morning, Central Park.

GUPTA: Mark traveled to New York City for business but he still got up early to squeeze in a morning run.

M. RASCH: In my pre-new you days, right now I'd be sitting there looking at the inside of my eyelids dreaming about a nice croissant and a hot cup of coffee.

GUPTA: And he's found some new workout techniques.

M. RASCH: Most hotels have a health club where you can work out. And I've actually learned to visit them and work out at least on the treadmill. And while I'm doing that I'm not hitting the breakfast buffet.

GUPTA: We also met him for lunch in between appointments.

M. RASCH: The old Mark would have come to a place like this and gotten probably a Cuban sandwich or a BLT sandwich.

GUPTA: Mark has lost 14 pounds so far.

M. RASCH: For the eight weeks, I'm probably about three pounds from my goal.

GUPTA: Meanwhile, Stuart traveled to the Big Apple for pleasure.

STUART RASCH, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: My wife and I are going to celebrate our anniversary. We're going to go down to Madison Square Garden and see the Billy Joel concert.

GUPTA: But he's also been celebrating some new you milestones.

S. RASCH: I feel a little bit better on the treadmill. I don't get winded and I don't feel short of breath and I don't feel as tired.

GUPTA: And learning to eat healthy on the run.

S. RASCH: I eat plain almonds and raisins. And I'll keep that in my pocket.

GUPTA: And he's seeing the difference.

S. RASCH: I can see that I have lost weight when I look at myself in the mirror or when I look at my face.

GUPTA: He has got just four more pounds to go.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, for "The New You Resolution."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: If you want to find out what else the "New You" participants are doing to slim down and tone up, just log on to CNN.com/newyou. Among other things, you can keep up with our participants progress and weigh in with your thoughts in our buddy log.

The Olympics, are they inspiring you to take up a new sport? We'll look at one of the most popular events of the Winter Games, lady's figure skating. I'll have a chance to talk with a young women who knows the sports very well, gold medalist, Tara Lipinski. She's made it to our studio in L.A., and we'll talk with her coming up.

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KAGAN: The ladies step on the ice today the Winter Games in Torino. Sasha Cohen is the top American hopeful in the women's figure skating competition, but Emily Hughes is getting a lot of attention as well. She's the one who has replaced the injured Michelle Kwan.

CNN's Larry Smith has the preview from Torino.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sasha Cohen, she's the new darling of American figure skating. The 21-year-old has been called the world's most gifted skater , and may be ready to strike gold in her second Olympics.

SASHA COHEN, U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPION: I'm coming in, you know, as a much more experienced athlete, person. I've learned how to handle myself in competition, and I've learned how to better prepare, physically, emotionally, mentally for competitions.

SMITH: But Cohen she has a reputation of coming up short on the big stage. Before skating to the U.S. nationals crown last month, a competition Michelle Kwan also missed due to injury, Cohen had never won a major world or national title, earning her the nickname the "Silver Bell." COHEN: Trough experience, you learn what works and what doesn't work. You learn what thoughts to think and what not to think. Just to let things bounce off, let the emotions aside and just to work hard.

BRIAN BOITANO, 1988 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: This will be the true test. All the pressure's going to be focused on to her as Michelle Kwan's not in the competition. So now, everything's going to be on Sasha's -- . everybody is going to think that Sasha is the only opportunity that we'll have for a Gold medal and possibly a medal, even.

COHEN: I have many goals in my life in skating. And I'd love a national title, a world title, and Olympic title. See if we can knock all three out this year.

SMITH: Yet even as Cohen emerges from Michelle Kwan's shadow, she has been dwarfed by the media attention focused on Kwan's replacement, Emily Hughes. Hughes paid close attention four years ago in Salt Lake City when big sister Sarah surprised all to win figure skating gold.

EMILY HUGHES, FIGURE SKATER: Whenever I got to experience the Olympics, being on the outside, and now that I'm going to skate and she's on the outside, I think that helped me coming into this Olympics.

MICHELLE KWAN, SILVER & BRONZE MEDALIST: She'll make the country proud. I'm sure she's been working really hard, running through her programs. And she's ready.

HUGHES: I'm definitely a different person than Sarah is. But you know, she's my sister and everyone is going to compare us sooner or later. So, you know, I don't think it's too bad being compared to an Olympic gold medalist.

SMITH (on camera): Let's not forget about 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner of the United States, one the youngest athletes in these games. While she is not expected to make her mark until Vancouver in 2010, she is just the second American woman ever to perform a triple axle. And landing one of those could land her on the podium, as well.

Larry Smith, CNN, Torino.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And now to someone who is very familiar with Olympic figure skating, but she'll be watching this year, not participating. Tara Lipinski won the gold for the U.S. in 1998, becoming the youngest individual gold medalist ever at the Winter Games.

And she joins me live now from Los Angeles. Tara, good morning.

TARA LIPINSKI, 1998 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Good morning.

KAGAN: This is the second Winter Olympics since you won gold. Is it strange, though, to be watching as a spectator and not getting on the ice?

LIPINSKI: It isn't. For me, it's so exciting. I think every time that I watch the Olympics, it's a special event. And it's something that -- like when I'm home and the music comes on, I'm like oh, my gosh, the Olympics. It's pressure-filled, but it's so special. And it's something in my heart that I will never forget, and I still love to watch.

KAGAN: Any of the particular skaters you're rooting for or you think has an inside edge, so to speak, to kind of use a skating pun there?

LIPINSKI: I think that it's going to be exciting. I think that you have good Americans. I think it's going to be fun to watch Kimmie and it's going to be fun to watch Emily, because they're young and exciting. And then you have Sasha, who is always exciting. But then you also have Irina Slutskaya, who is like strong and a powerhouse. So I think it's going to be...

KAGAN: And old lady. I think, what, she's like 27 years old. She's like ancient, right?

LIPINSKI: Oh, no. No, she's not. She's good. She's very good.

KAGAN: She is. She is. She's been on the skating scene for a long time. Any advice for the young women today?

LIPINSKI: I think just to stay focussed. There's a lot of, you know, attention now that like Michelle's gone, like, who's going to do it? Who's the right one to win? And I think it may be good. It may be, like, the right person is just going to pop up now. So I don't know, I think you just have to go out there and have fun and not focus on, you know, other people and just really enjoy the experience.

KAGAN: And even though this news is over a week old, your comments about Michelle Kwan? Leaves without the gold medal, and yet I don't think anything to apologize for, with all her world titles and her national titles. And yet you beat her when you got your gold medal. So a long-time competitor of yours as well.

LIPINSKI: No, she was. She was a long-time competitor. We went back and forth for three years. It was great competition at that Olympics. It was tough competition. I mean, she skated amazing. I was very nervous. So -- and she's a legend in figure skating. So I am lucky that I had the chance to compete against her.

And I think that -- I think she will -- whatever she does next is -- she will be fine at and she will do great at, just as she has done in the past. And I think just because things have progressed the way they have, she has stayed in the sport this long and she has achieved so many other things. You know, the world titles and the national titles.

KAGAN: And you've shown there is life after skating with your acting career. And I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us this morning. LIPINSKI: Oh, no problem.

KAGAN: Gold legend Tara Lipinski. Tara, thank you.

And a reminder, if you want to brush up on figure skating terminology or learn more about let's say, curling, check out our interactive guide to the games at CNN.com/olympics.

We've been following a developing story out of Capitol Hill. A lot of people concerned about port security and the United Arab Emirates running a company that would manage the port security in a number of major American ports.

Let's go to Capitol Hill and our Ed Henry with more on that story -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. That's right. The political pressure on President Bush to block this port deal just multiplied big time. The Republican Senate Majority leader, Bill Frist, has just announced that he's demanding President Bush order a further, more extensive review of this port deal. If not, Frist warns, he will introduce legislation of his own blocking the deal,preventing foreign governments from taking over U.S. ports.

He says in a press release that just came out, quote: "Recent reports that a company based in the Middle East is seeking to purchase the operating rights to several U.S. ports raises serious questions regarding the safety and security of our homeland. The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter."

He goes on to complain about the lack of congressional involvement in this process, saying that he wants to assert more congressional oversight here. I spoke briefly with Senator Frist's office. They say they're acting on their own. They did not get any heads up that the president is going to order a review. Instead, they are trying to get on record where they are on this matter.

And what's quite interesting is that we were talking earlier today about rank and file Republicans and Democrats, lawmakers in both parties, denouncing this deal, saying it needs to be stopped. But this is the first leader, someone with some real clout in the president's own party, the Senate majority leader, now saying this deal needs to be stopped, there needs to be further review. And that is obviously going to ratchet up the pressure on this White House -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed, and there's bipartisan criticism on this. This is not just a Republican or Democratic outcry.

HENRY: That's right. And I mean, obviously, this is a populist issue. It's easy for lawmakers in both parties, frankly, to beat up on this. Because it looks, you know -- as Tom Ridge, the former homeland security secretary, who defended the White House somewhat on CNN, did acknowledge that when you look at it, as he put it, the optics just don't look good politically. And he urged the White House, urged the Bush administration to put out more information.

As you know over the weekend on CNN's "LATE EDITION," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said most of the process is classified. He couldn't give up more details. And I think even supporters of the administration like Tom Ridge are trying to make clear that the administration has to get more information out there.

And now you're hearing it from another very prominent Republican, Senate Majority Leader Frist saying you've got to have further review here, that just on the face of it, it's a problem. It needs further review. And that's certainly going to put even more pressure on the White House.

Again, even as maritime experts are saying, look, this is really not a security problem. The U.S. Coast Guard still will be patrolling these ports. They will still be enforcing U.S. maritime laws. Given the political pressure right now, this is something the White House is obviously going to take another look at -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed Henry in Washington, D.C., thank you. We'll be checking back with you for developments on that story. We have more news ahead. I'm back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: This just in to CNN. We're getting more information about the three men that have been arrested with connections to Toledo, Ohio. We're now learning that apparently they allegedly were trying to plot and plan attacks on U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

With more on that, let's bring in our Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Daryn.

They were indicted by a federal grand jury for just that and are expected to make their first court appearance today in Ohio. Two of the men are naturalized U.S. citizens. One is a permanent resident of the United States. Their names are Mohammed Zakee Amawi (ph), Marwan Oswan Al Hindi (ph) and Wasim Musloom (ph). The three men all lived in Toledo, within the last year.

According to the indictment, Daryn, which was unsealed just a little bit ago, they are charged with recruiting others to train for a violent jihad against the United States. They went to a shooting range to practice shooting. They also were practicing to make explosives.

We are getting that indictment in piece by piece, Daryn, as I talk to you. But we can confirm that all three were indicted by a federal grand jury. The charges include conspiracy to kidnap, kill, maim and injure persons outside the United States and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kelli Arena, thank you.

Once again, we expect that news conference in about an hour and a half, 1:30 p.m. Eastern. You'll see parts of that live here on CNN.

We're going to check in on weather, and do that after this break.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY, and then I'll be back with the latest headlines from the U.S. in about 20 minutes.

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