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U.S. Weapons Reportedly Being Stolen by Insurgents; Bush Campaigns for Georgia Candidate; Santorum Battles for Senate Seat; Tape Released of Recovering Fidel Castro; U.S. Troops Face Challenges Putting Down Insurgents

Aired October 30, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon.

PHILLIPS: Michael J. Fox putting a public face on Parkinson's. Today another famous face speaks out. Janet Reno joins us live to talk about her personal battle. What does she think about the ad controversy?

LEMON: Eight days and counting. Eight. Almost time to vote. Where are candidates spending your contribution? CNN's Drew Griffin investigates the ritzy restaurant tabs.

PHILLIPS: It's the premier university for the deaf. Why has its incoming president been ousted? The pride and protest, live from Galludet.

You're live in the CNN newsroom.

LEMON: April may be the cruelest month, but this October is turning out to be one of the deadliest for U.S. troops since the war in Iraq began. One hundred killed so far this month. Now a new report invites a disturbing question. How many may have been killed by weapons the U.S. itself provided?

CNN's Michael Ware has the story from Baghdad. And, Michael, what's being done to track down weapons reported missing in Iraq?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's very hard to answer. I mean, this report is only just been released. Yet, the fact that weapons going missing is no surprise and no great revelation and, to be honest, it's near impossible to find them once they disappear.

It's rather common these days, I'm afraid to say, to find insurgents carrying American issue weapons. M-16s, M-4s, grenades and even night scopes and infrared scopes.

So, some of that is the result of them reclaiming these things in the wake of attacks, but some of them are the result of them being leaked from within the American supplied security forces -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Now, Michael, I've got to ask you something. U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, he's in Baghdad on an unannounced visit. What is he hoping to accomplish there?

WARE: Well, I think they're looking to national security advisor Hadley is looking to jump start what seems to be a stalled security process. We saw that the plan for the battle of Baghdad, Operation Together Forward, a massive offensive to reclaim the capital from insurgents, militias and death squads really hasn't worked, by the military's own admission.

And that's just in the capital. There's still Anbar province to the west, which is largely dominated by al Qaeda and the Shia militias backed by Iran still control the south.

So there's many, many issues to be addressed here, Don. And I'm sure that Mr. Hadley has come here to try and inject or infuse a sense of insurgency within the Iraqi government.

The primary mission is to establish this commission that President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki thrashed out in the 30-minute video conference on Saturday. This is a joint panel with U.S. officials and Iraqi officials to try, once and for all, despite all the failures to come up with some kind of effective strategy -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Michael Ware reporting from Baghdad. Thank you, sir, for that report.

In addition to the loss of 100 U.S. lives in Iraq this month, the United Nations estimates that more than 100 Iraqi civilians die every week. Today at least six bombs rocked Baghdad and a single attack in Sadr City claimed 26 lives. It happened this morning near a busy market where Shiite day laborers often gather. Officials believe the bomb was left next to a trash can.

PHILLIPS: Eight days to go until the mid-term elections, and as President Bush hit the road to campaign for Republican candidates, there's a new snapshot of his approval rating.

A CNN poll by Opinion Research Corporation shows it still hovers in the 30s. Thirty-seven percent, to be precise. Fifty-eight percent say they disapprove of the way he's handling the job. That's virtually unchanged from two weeks ago.

Rallying Republicans, it's President Bush's mission in Georgia and Texas, and though voters won't cast their ballots until one week from tomorrow, Mr. Bush is already attending events already billed as victory rallies.

CNN's Kathleen Koch traveling with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush came here to Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, for a huge get out the vote rally for Republican candidates here in the state of Georgia. In particular, for former Congressman Max Burns. Burns right now is facing an election year rematch with the Democrat who ousted him by a very narrow margin back in 2004, John Barrow.

Now in a speech to the crowd of roughly 5,000 the president pushed for continuation of his tax cuts and insisted that the Republican Party was the best one to handle the continuing struggles in the war on terror and in Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The democratic approach in Iraq comes down to this, the terrorists win and America loses. That's what's at stake in this election. The Democrat goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican goal is to win in Iraq.

KOCH: National security advisor Stephen Hadley is in Iraq today meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Also, the ministers of defense and the interior, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General George Casey and also U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. The focus of those meetings, the training of Iraqi forces and the transfer of security responsibilities in the country.

Now, from here, the president heads on to Sugarland, Texas, for another huge get out the vote rally. Some 7,000 expected to attend there. I know (ph) spokesman Dana Perino saying that the president this final week of the campaign is going to be heading to the most competitive areas of the country, where turnout will be key.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Statesboro, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Kathleen.

What a difference a weekend makes. Remember these frightening scenes from Friday: a ferocious wildfire out of control roaring across the hills outside Palm Springs. Now firefighters say they stand a good chance of having it under control by tonight.

CNN's Chris Wolfe is on the scene in Beaumont.

And Chris, this has been an amazing turn around in just a few days.

CHRIS WOLFE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Don. Calmer winds have aided this firefighting effort, and fire officials here at the command center have now set up banners for each of the crew members who are caught in that deadly, wind driven burst of flames Thursday morning.

For the four men who were killed, the banners read, "Never forgotten." For the young man who's still hanging on, the banner reads, "We are thinking of you."

Firefighters hope to have the fire contained by this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WOLFE (voice-over): As of Sunday night, some 2,000 Southern California firefighters were winning the battle against the Esperanto wildfire. Containment may be on the horizon, but not before the wildfire burned through more than 40,000 acres and took the lives of four firefighters and left a fifth in critical condition.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Each one of these firefighters did the fighting here. These firefighters are true heroes. Those are true heroes, because these are all people that are risking their own lives to save other people's lives.

WOLFE: Officials declared the fire arson. They've said the person or persons who intentionally set it will be charged with murder. A $500,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Family members of the firefighters who died are asking those responsible to come forward.

JODY MCKAY, SISTER OF FIREFIGHTER KILLED: I don't believe either this person, persons, whoever it was, really intended for it to go the way it did.

There's professionals that can help you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MCKAY: It's a sickness. It's a problem that there is help out there for you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLFE: Family members of one of the fallen firefighters are going to be talking to reporters here shortly. The evacuation order has been lifted, but residents are warned to be extremely careful when returning to their neighborhoods in the fire area.

For now reporting live in Beaumont, California, I'm Chris Wolfe. Don, back to you.

LEMON: Hey, Chris, you mention that they think it's arson. What's the latest on the investigation? Any word on a possible suspect?

WOLFE: Well, I can tell you this, Don. Residents in the area where the fire started report seeing two young men leaving the scene early Thursday morning. Investigators are being very tight-lipped about any -- any evidence they may have collected. They are saying, though, that they have received hundreds of tips so far.

LEMON: Chris Wolfe, Beaumont, California, thank you for your report.

Well, no one disputes that transfats aren't good for you.

PHILLIPS: But who's moving to do something about it? Coming up, Colonel Sanders plays chicken with transfats, and New York, they call for a total ban. The great grease debate, next from the NEWSROOM.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Philadelphia, where the Republicans are in their "ignore the polls" mode. We'll have that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is fighting to keep his job. He is in the battle of his political life against Democratic challenger Bob Casey. And as the race gets down to the wire, accusations are flying.

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken follows the campaign in Philly.

Hey, Bob.

FRANKEN: Hello, Kyra. And the GOP Senate candidate's new motto may be "falling behind, run harder."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Don't let anybody tell you those polls are right. We're going to win this thing on November 7.

FRANKEN (voice-over): The latest polls show Senator Rick Santorum from just under 10 to 16 points behind. But he's the No. 3 ranking Republican in the Senate and important enough that the White House this weekend sent the more popular Bush to campaign for him.

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: And of course, I'm so proud to stand here with Senator Rick Santorum.

FRANKEN: Santorum presents himself as the bulwark against terrorism, hostile world leaders, the rampart protecting conservative values, combatant, but bipartisan, of course.

SANTORUM: Too often this is what it seems like in Washington. But to get things done, you've got to work together.

BOB CASEY JR. (D), PENNSYLVANIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: You're going to see a lot of wild, desperate ads from my opponents.

FRANKEN: State Treasurer Bob Casey, the Democratic challenger, wrestles with the problems of being a favorite. Keeping the enthusiasm up, particularly since he, too, is anti-abortion, much to the consternation of many in his party.

For the most part he's on message, though much lower key than Santorum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened in Washington? Millions of jobs lost, the largest deficit ever, an arrogant government out of touch.

CASEY: Pennsylvania deserves a Senator in step with Pennsylvania.

FRANKEN: And as with so many campaigns at this stage, the candidates have their themes down pat.

CASEY: I'm Bob Casey, and I approve this message.

SANTORUM: I'm Rick Santorum, and I approve this message.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: What can we say? For the rest of the campaign here we can expect a no holds barred campaign -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What are Republicans basing their hopes on there in Pennsylvania?

FRANKEN: Well, pretty much here and everywhere, they have the very sophisticated, very successful get out of the vote campaign that works on election day. They get their supporters out, and that's what they're counting on here. It's going to be that or they're facing defeat.

PHILLIPS: Bob Franken, we'll be talking again, thanks.

Now, with eight days to go to the mid-term elections, stay up to date with the CNN political ticker. The daily service gives you an inside view of the day's political stories. See for yourself at CNN.com/ticker.

LEMON: On patrol and under attack. American troops on a difficult and dangerous mission in Iraq. A first-hand view from the front lines ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, someone is trying it put rumors of his death to rest. Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro steps out with new pictures and a new message.

CNN's Morgan Neill reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cuban leader Fidel Castro doesn't have it wonder what they'll say about him when he's gone. He's already heard it time and time again.

Rumors of Castro's death pop up whenever he's out of the public eye, and by now he knows how to dispel those rumors. In a new video broadcast on Cuban television Saturday evening, Castro appears to have relished the opportunity.

"Now when our enemy has declared me dying or dead," he says. "It gives me pleasure to send this little video to my countrymen and friends around the world."

Wearing a track suit in the colors of Cuba's flag, he is seen walking and reading aloud from the day's newspaper.

While he looks better than he did in his last appearance six weeks ago, the Cuban leader is still thin and his walking is obviously labored.

(on camera) Castro was forced to hand over power to his brother, Raul, on July 31 following what the state said was surgery to stop intestinal bleeding. But even before the procedure, he showed the effects of his age. The leader, now 80 years old.

(voice-over) In the streets of the capitol, most people said they hadn't seen the new video. There were a few who had.

"His ability to keep going is impressive," says Yadira (ph). "He's passed through his illness very well."

Manuel, a cab driver, says, "He looks good. The problem is the United States and the American mafia. They're playing with his life and saying he's dead and it's all a lie."

Cuban officials insist Fidel Castro is recovering and will reassume the presidency.

Many observers are looking toward December 2, the date set by Castro for a belated birthday celebration as the day he could make his first public appearance since surgery.

But, for now, the ailing leader's content to jab at his opponents.

"Now we'll see what they say. They're going to have to bring me back to life," he said.

At least until the next set of rumors come around.

Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, there have been some big Internet deals lately, but Yahoo! hasn't joined the party. Now it may be making a push for one of the Web's best-known properties.

Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange with the details.

Hey, Susan.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hard work, long hours, little sleep and always a target. All part of the job for the Army's 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.

CNN's John Roberts rode with some of the soldiers as they patrolled dangerous territory just north of Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has been a tough year for the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade, trying to bring peace to the towns and villages north of Baghdad. So far in October alone, they've lost 15 soldiers to insurgent attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll continue to come here.

ROBERTS: The commanding officer, Col. Jim Pasquarette, says his unit has grown up quickly.

COL. JIM PASQUARETTE, U.S. ARMY: Every one is an individual tragedy. I write letters home to parents and spouses and talk to some of them on the phone when I get a chance. It's changed me.

ROBERTS: The tragedies deeply wound every one of these soldiers, and yet they carry on against a threat Pasquarette says has only increased since they took over this area.

PASQUARETTE: I knew this was going to be a challenge. Counterinsurgency is the most difficult thing you ever want to do. It's the hardest thing I ever have done as an Army officer in 23 years.

ROBERTS: On top of the insurgency, in recent weeks, sectarian violence has enveloped this area, dividing Sunnis and Shiites. Some towns turned into ghost towns; others completely leveled.

LT. COL. ROCKY KMIECIK, U.S. ARMY: A small Shia farming village and with the sectarian violence in the area, the village was literally destroyed and the people driven out or killed.

ROBERTS: But as the violence escalates, the militias are gaining influence. Sunnis don't trust the Iraqi police and believe militias are their only source of real protection.

When the Americans round up four gunmen in the Sunni town of Kudis (Ph), a crowd gathers to protest.

KMIECIK: What the crowds over there will say is that these four are totally innocent. They are here only to protect the citizens of the town, and they've committed no crimes.

ROBERTS: It's frustrating for these soldiers, who are trying to build confidence among people, that militias are not the future of Iraq.

PASQUARETTE: It is frustrating, as a commander. When you see how they operate and they -- when they are effective on those days, if takes a lot of talking to your soldiers to explain why we have to continue to do this, why it's important in the long run.

ROBERTS: The violence will last far longer than these troops will be in country. The 1st Brigade is scheduled to rotate home next month, many of them wondering if they'll have to come back.

John Roberts, CNN, with the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, in Taji (ph).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, the military won't confirm it, but a missing U.S. soldier may have been snatched while visiting his Iraqi wife. Several Iraqis have stepped forward claiming to be his in-laws. They say the soldier, an Iraqi-American, was supposedly taken by members of the Mehdi Army militia.

According to the family, the couple was married three months ago. U.S. troops are officially forbidden from marrying citizens of the countries where they're fighting.

PHILLIPS: Another day, another scene at the trial of Saddam Hussein. Hussein's chief defense lawyer walked out of court today after the chief judge refused to grant his list of demands.

This trial stems from a 1988 poison gas attack on the Kurds. Prosecutors say that Hussein and his co-defendants, including the man known as Chemical Ali, are responsible for the deaths of 180,000 people, most of them civilians. Hussein and seven co-defendants could hear a verdict Sunday on another case linked to a botched assassination attempt in Dujail.

LEMON: Well, torture and terror suspects. The vice president recently asked if dunking suspects in water during questioning is a no-brainer if it saves lives. Cheney said it's a no-brainer to him, but the White House says that's in no way an endorsement of waterboarding, when a suspect is made to believe he's about to drown.

Cheney's wife, Lynn, also defended her husband on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER".

He had this exchange with a radio talk show host. Listen it this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT: Well, it's a no-brainer for me. But, for awhile there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture, that's not what we're involved in.

BLITZER: It made it sound, and there's been an interpretation to this effect that he was in effect confirming that the United States used this water boarding, this technique that has been rejected by the international community that simulates a prisoner being drowned, if you will. And he was in effect supposedly confirming that the United States has been using that.

LYNNE CHENEY: That is a mighty house that you're building on top of that mole-hill there. A mighty mountain. This is a complete distortion -- he didn't say anything of the kind.

BLITZER: Because of the dunking -- using the water and the dunking.

CHENEY: I understand your point. It's kind of the point of a lot of people right now to try to distort the Administration's position. And if you really want to talk about that, I watched the program on CNN last night which I thought, it's your 2006 Voter program which I thought was a terrible distortion of the both the president and vice president's position on many issues. It seemed almost straight out of Democratic talking points -- using phrases like domestic surveillance, when it is not domestic surveillance that anyone has talked about or ever done. It's surveillance of terrorists. It's people that have Al Qaeda connections calling into the United States. So, I think we're in a season of distortion and this is just one more.

BLITZER: But there have been some cases where innocent people have been picked up and interrogated, held for long periods of time and then simply said never mind, let go and they're let go.

CHENEY: Well, are you sure these people are innocent?

BLITZER: They're walking around free right now. Nobody has arrested them.

CHENEY: You made a point last night of a man who had a bookstore in London where radical Islamist gathered, who was in Afghanistan when the Taliban were there, who went to Pakistan. I think you might be a little careful before you declare this as a person who has clean hands.

BLITZER: You're referring to the CNN "BROKEN GOVERNMENT" special...

CHENEY: I certainly am...

BLITZER: This is the one John King reported on?

CHENEY: Well, right there, right there Wolf, broken government. Now, what kind of stance is that? Here we are -- we're a country where we have been mightily challenged over the past six years. We've been through 9/11, we've been through Katrina. The president and the vice president inherited a recession. We're a country where the economy is healthy. That's not broken. This government has acted very well. We've had tax cuts that are responsible for our healthy economy. We're a country that was attacked five years ago. We haven't been attacked since. What this government has done is effective. That's not broken government. So, you know, I shouldn't let media bias surprise me. But I worked with CNN once. I watched the program last night, and I was troubled.

BLITZER: All right. Well, that was probably the purpose, to get people to think, to get people to discuss these issues.

CHENEY: All right. Wolf, I'm here to talk about my book. But if you want to talk about distortion.

BLITZER: We can talk about your book.

CHENEY: What is CNN doing, running terrorists tape of terrorists shooting Americans. I mean, I thought Duncan Hunter asked you a very good question and you didn't answer it -- do you want us to win?

BLITZER: The answer, of course, is we want the United States to win. We are Americans. There's no doubt about that. Do you think...

CHENEY: Then why are you running terrorist propaganda.

BLITZER: With all due respect, with all due respect -- this is not terrorist propaganda. This is reporting the news, which is what we do. We're not partisan.

CHENEY: Where did you get the film?

BLITZER: Look, this is an issue that has been widely discussed. This is an issue that we've reported on extensively. We make no apologies for showing that. That was a very carefully considered decision, why we did that. And I think, and I think...

CHENEY: Well, I think it's shocking.

BLITZER: If you're a serious journalist, you want to report the news. Sometimes the news is good. Sometimes it isn't so good.

CHENEY: But, Wolf, there's a difference between news and terrorist propaganda.

BLITZER: If you put it in context, that's what news is. We said it was propaganda. We didn't distort where we got it. We didn't distort anything about it. We gave it the context.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Lynne Cheney appearing on "THE SITUATION ROOM." With just eight days to go until the election the primetime edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" is expanding two hours. Paula Zahn will join Wolf Blitzer tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right on CNN.

Well, it's down to the wire in Maryland. It's a battle for a Senate seat where political attacks have gotten personal.

CNN's Gary Nurenberg has an update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An NAACP forum in Baltimore Saturday.

STEELE: A lot of talk, no delivery.

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A talk show Sunday... BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND SENATE CANDIDATE: Look on his Web page. Try to find his positions on Iraq -- 168 words. That's all he devotes.

NURENBERG: The campaigning for an open Maryland Senate seat between Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele and Democratic Congressman Ben Cardin has become increasingly personal.

(on camera): Is it a fair reading to say that you guys don't like each other?

CARDIN: It's fair to say that we differ on the issues dramatically.

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: George Bush and Michael Steele would put limits on the most promising stem cell research.

NURENBERG (voice over): It seemed personal when a Michael J. Fox criticizing Steele for his position on stem cell research was rebutted by Steele's sister who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Cardin should be ashamed.

NURENBERG: In his television ads...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Steele has been working for George Bush.

NURENBERG: ... in campaign literature, in every speech...

CARDIN: Well, he was recruited by George Bush.

NURENBERG: ... Cardin tries to link Steele to President Bush.

STEELE: All I have heard for the past year of this campaign is George Bush, anti-George Bush...

NURENBERG: In blue state Maryland, Steele rarely mentions the president, rarely mentions he is a Republican...

STEELE: We've spent a lot of time focused on labels. And when we focus on the labels nothing gets done.

NURENBERG: ... and tries to distance himself from this party.

STEELE: When my party is wrong I'm not standing with it. I'm not voting with it.

NURENBERG: And there is this...

STEELE: You've got an African-American candidate running against a white candidate.

CARDIN: I think the African-American vote is going to be critical.

NURENBERG: Cardin defeated black Democrat Kweisi Mfume in the primary.

NORM ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INST.: It was a close contest and the white Democrat won. Now with a black Republican, the Republicans have been hopeful that they can crack through with the minority vote.

NURENBERG: Some disappointed black Democrats may skip voting in the Senate race.

A Sunday "Washington Post" poll gives Cardin an 11-point lead. But political analyst Charles Cook now labels the race a tossup.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Michael J. Fox is turning out to be a powerful weapon in a number of campaigns in this midterm election. The actor is in Ohio, today stumping for Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. Fox has Parkinson's Disease and is an outspoken advocate for embyronic stem cell research. He's aggressively campaigning for five Democrats who also support it, like Brown. Today Fox took aim at Brown's opponent, Republican Senator Mike DeWine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: The stem cell policy of President Bush, a policy supported by Senator DeWine has been a rejection of the promising future of medical science. Well, forgive me for this, but it's time we get back to our future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: This election isn't the first time Fox has publicly supported a candidate. He also campaigned for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race.

She's also a public figure living with Parkinson's Disease. Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will join us live in the NEWSROOM to talk about her experiences with the disease that affects millions of people in the United States. That's today at 300 p.m. Eastern.

LEMON: And searching for a killer from within. We'll tell you about the latest advances against cancer's No. 1 killer. Details ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Lung cancer is the No. 1 cause of all cancer deaths but a new study raises new hopes.

CNN's Judy Fortin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A brisk walk is a gift for 66-year-old Thelma Brussel, a former two-pack-a-day smoker who was afraid her lung cancer diagnosis was a death sentence.

THELMA BRUSSEL, LUNG CANCER SURVIVOR: I am alive and there are so many people who are not.

FORTIN: Five years ago Brussel's doctor insisted on a CT scan, knowing she had been smoking 50 years. Sure enough, it detected a malignant tumor, which she promptly had removed.

BRUSSEL: I am considered surgically cured.

FORTIN: The recent deaths of Peter Jennings, a smoker, and Dana Reeve, who was not, remind us most aren't so lucky. Six of ten people diagnosed with lung cancer die within a year, chiefly because they don't know they have it until it's too late.

DR. CLAUDIA HENSCHKE, RADIOLOGIST: Usually when a cancer is diagnosed based on symptoms, it's a late stage cancer.

FORTIN: Compelling new research gives hope for surviving lung cancer. A "New England Journal of Medicine" study finds using annual CT screening, lung cancer can be detected at it earliest stage, when it's most curable in 85 percent of patients. And when caught early and treated promptly, 92 percent of stage one patients survive a decade or longer.

HENSCHKE: This essentially turns lung cancer from being a highly deadly disease where essentially 95 percent of people who develop lung cancer ultimately die of it to it being a curable disease.

FORTIN: So, will your doctor start prescribing an annual CT scan for you if you smoke? Not yet. The American Cancer Society says the study shows promise, but before ruling on its effectiveness and making recommendations it will require results from ongoing trials. Questions remain about false positives, findings on CT scans that appear to be lung cancer but aren't. Exposing a patient to unnecessary and sometimes dangerous procedures. And cost effectiveness -- a CT scan costs hundreds of dollars and often is not covered by insurance.

DR. DAVID JOHNSON, VANDERBILT CANCER INSTITUTE: This is not a test that should be recommended routinely to patients with a smoking history. It remains an individual decision for an individual patient and his or her physician.

FORTIN: Brussel believes smokers should be screened.

BRUSSEL: I would not be alive today. It's that simple.

FORTIN: Judy Fortin, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Alright, now, let's talk about fat. The fat is in the fire and it's also under fire. Coming up Colonel Sanders plays chicken with transfats and New York may call for a total ban. Great grease debate next up in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Happy birthday. She's 120 years old and she is looking good for 120.

LEMON: She looks really good. She's had a little work though, remember '86 they repaired the torch and did some other repairs to her. She was shutdown for a little bit.

PHILLIPS: After 9/11, we couldn't go up there because they were concerned about security issues, 305 feet tall. That is one strong woman.

LEMON: Yes, is that here or at Ellis Island -- give me your humbled masses yearning to be free -- is that the Statue of Liberty? Somebody keep me honest here.

PHILLIPS: Are you going to sing?

LEMON: No, no, no.

PHILLIPS: 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated her. Came from France. Relations has taken quite a different turn with France lately, but that's a whole other story.

LEMON: There's also some controversy about whether it's actually in New York or New Jersey. You know, but, oh, well. We love her no matter where she is right? Alright, speaking of the northeast, the Statue of Liberty is in the New York and the northeast, lights out over the weekend in the northeast. A weekend windstorm brought down trees and power lines from Maine to Pennsylvania. At the height of the storms more than 100,000 homes and businesses were without power. Most of them in Maine and upstate New York. Major airports are just now getting flights back on schedule and the dangerous storms also blamed for at least two deaths. The winds are still howling today and our Jacqui Jeras, there she is looking live right down on it. She is here to tell us just how bad is it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: There we go, thank you.

He is apparently a fine driver.

PHILLIPS: But he looked a little too young. How passengers busted a Florida teen who decided to take over a bus route. His store coming up in the NEWSROOM.

And wait until you hear what Borat had to say to our CNN correspondent who interviewed him about his new movie. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Well now a story about a boy and a bus. Most teens dream about driving a car, right? But a Florida boy is apparently drawn to a different set of wheels. 15-year-old Ritchie Davis is charged with grand theft auto and driving without a license after allegedly stealing this bus. And it had been parked and awaiting sale at an auction. The Seminole County sheriff's department says the boy drove it along a public transit route and made the appropriate stops and collected fares. A passenger finally called 911 after he noticed the driver's youthful looks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look into his face and it's the face of, I initially thought was a 12 or 13-year-old kid. Not weaving, you know, he wasn't coming close to cars, he was using his turn signals. He knew how to operate the bus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Apparently it's not the first time the boy has shown a love for bus driving. Authorities say he's already accused on probation for taking a tour bus and driving passengers around.

LEMON: Well you either love him or you hate him. You maybe know him as Ali G, or Sacha Baron Cohen, or the star of the film that's getting a lot of international buzz. The point is, if you don't know the name Borat by now, you soon will. Our Becky Anderson gave him a list of CNN questions. Check out what he told her when they sat down in London recently.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest media onslaught, which followed stunts outside the White House and the Kazakh embassy in the U.S., began on Monday, with the film's Hollywood premiere.

Next, the circus moved to Europe. And on a wet Wednesday, the Borat camp came to London. Meanwhile, in Oxford, the Kazakh ambassador in the U.K. was defending his nation.

ERLAN A. IDRISSOV, KAZAKHSTANI AMBASSADOR TO UK: If someone believes that he is a civilized person, well, it's up to you. I don't think that he is -- Borat Sagdiyev is a nice person. Sacha Baron Cohen has created a grotesque to mock many imperfections in this society.

ANDERSON (on camera): No shaking of hands?

(voice-over): And finally on Friday, it was my turn to meet the man himself.

(on camera): So just who is Borat Sagdiyev?

SACHA BARON COHEN, COMEDIAN: I am son of Asimbala Sagdijev and Boltok The Rapist. I am former husband of Marlian Tulliakbi, who was daughter of Urriana Tulliakbi and Boltok the Rapist. I am from Keczek, which is a town in Kazakhstan. It is located three miles north from the fence of Jewtown. And Kazakhstan is locate between Tajikstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. She is my sister.

ANDERSON: Listen, I am a great fan of yours. As a journalist, tell me, how did you get your job, how did you get to where you are now?

COHEN: It was not easy. I was educate in Astana University where I studied English, journalism and plague research. I developed two new ones, which killed over five million goats in Uzbekistan. But before this, I didn't just jump into the journalisms. You don't do it. As you know. I was originally an icemaker, and then I was a gypsy catcher...

ANDERSON: This is all good experience for being a journalist. I mean, there's some great stories in that in itself. What's the best assignment you've ever had?

COHEN: You are jumping and going too close to me, woman.

ANDERSON: I'm so sorry.

COHEN: Yes, keep back.

ANDERSON: I'll get back in the cage or maybe -- I left my cage outside but ...

COHEN: Yes, that's ...

ANDERSON: I'll get back in that later.

COHEN: I will put you in my cage later. You will not run far.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Ouch. The sheer wrongness of it all. Should anyone be allowed to do this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can I be like you?

COHEN: What's up vanilla face?

ANDERSON: This is pure anarchy, it's craziness, but it is also very funny.

(on camera): Let me talk a little about Pamela Anderson, because you went to America effectively to find her. What made you so desperate to find Pamela Anderson?

COHEN: She is a very beautiful woman. Wow! Yes? Very nice. She is unlike any Kazakh woman I have ever seen. Pamela only had teeth that grow on inside of her mouth. And she have more hair on her head than on her back.

ANDERSON (voice-over): At this point in time, I was told there was only time for last question. Perhaps it was the surreal nature of it all, but I found myself asking one of the most peculiar questions I have ever asked as a journalist.

(on camera): Let me just ask you, I wondered whether there was any opportunity for me. I've got plow experience, I've got no retardation in the family and I'm not Jewish. Any chance that you and could I have a little ...

COHEN: Well, I don't want to go on wrong track, because last time I buy a wife, she was very good for first three years and then suddenly she started grow hair on her chest, voice became very deep. Borat, Borat. And her -- how you say -- did not work well.

ANDERSON (voice-over): His backward behavior and outlandish humor go beyond satire, laughing slightly nervously, I wound it up. Becky Anderson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a campus erupts with celebration. These students say they've won an important victory. It wasn't on the athletic field, but for an entire culture. Is it a resolution for the stand-off at Gallaudet. The next hour of CNN's NEWSROOM starts right now.

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