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Hundreds Killed and Injured in Baghdad Violence Today; Hezbollah Supporters Turn out by the Thousands in Lebanon
Aired December 02, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: , CNN ANCHOR: A protest over power and a government on edge. Hezbollah supporters turn out by the thousands. Why leaders in the U.S. are paying close attention ahead in the NEWSROOM.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in the CNN weather center. Hundreds of thousands in Missouri and Illinois are still left without power after a powerful winter storm left heavy snow and ice. Now the temperatures are plummeting.
Find out how cold it will be coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS: , CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was supposed to be a swearing in, not a swearing at. You can bet some swear words flew, not to mention some chairs and a few punches.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: : A presidential inauguration Mexican style. You'll have to see this one to believe it.
Hello and welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
All that and more after this check of the headlines.
In the news, death and destruction gripped Iraq and its capital city today. At least 100 killed and more than 100 others wounded in and around Baghdad.
More from our Nic Robertson in a few moments.
Thousands of Hezbollah supporters filled Beirut's streets. They say they're willing to stay until the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is out of power. The prime minister says he plans to stay put.
A solemn moment near a strip club in New York City. Several hundred people remembering Sean Bell. He was killed after police officers opened fire on his car on what would have been his wedding day.
Bell was buried today in Long Island, a day after his funeral, in the same church where he was slated to be married. Police are investigating the shooting that killed him and left two of his friends wounded.
The woman left at the altar by the shooting speaks out in an exclusive interview only on CNN this Monday. Hear from her and the Reverend Al Sharpton on "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
We begin with an incredibly violent day in the violent land of Iraq. Racked by violence both in Baghdad and around the country, car bombs, ambushes, dozens of bodies in the streets.
Our Nic Robertson brings us up to date.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The bombings took place about an hour before dusk in a busy downtown market -- three different bombs, two in one square, one in another square in rapid succession. From where we stand here we can see huge pools of black smoke coming up for the area.
There were so many casualties, 90 wounded, 51 dead, that they were taken to five different hospitals. And the blast was so big that it destroyed 10 stores in the area and 12 vehicles as well. A very, very deadly attack just coming towards the end of the day when people were perhaps letting their guard down.
Storekeepers would have been preparing to close up shop so they could get home before dark. It occurred around about 4:00.
We also heard from Baghdad police today. They say they have discovered 44 bullet-riddled bodies on the streets of Baghdad today. They say some of them showed signs of torture, some of them had had their hands bound.
This has been in the past an indication of sectarian killings. That's what these deaths appear to be.
Also, the Iraqi army, north of Baghdad today, along with U.S. forces conducted, operations in the town of Baquba. There they rounded up, they say, 43 suspected insurgents. Twenty-five of them, they say, on their most wanted list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: : That was Nic Robertson.
The search continues for ways to end the violence and to stabilize the country. President Bush says Iraq's prime minister is the right guy for the job. And Monday the president plans to meet with a senior Shiite leader.
Kathleen Koch is at the White House with a look ahead -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Iraq's coalition government is complex, multiple alliances and divisions, and the Bush administration is working carefully to try to use its influence to persuade the parties to come together to quell the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice over): It's a new strategy -- reaching out to the multiple players in Iraq's complex government. A senior official says President Bush has extended an open invitation to all senior Iraqi leaders to meet with him at the White House.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're ready to make changes to better support the unity government of Iraq.
KOCH: Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is particularly important since he is the chief rival of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. If Hakim could be persuaded to throw his party's backing behind Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, that would lessen Maliki's reliance on al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Al-Sadr trying to quash Maliki's meeting with President Bush earlier this week by having his delegates in protest boycott the Iraqi parliament.
KENNETH POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: We need to keep in mind that Nuri al-Maliki is not in a very strong political position, and one of the greatest objectives for U.S. policy in Iraq moving forward is that the U.S. needs to start doing things to create the political space in which Nuri al-Maliki might be able to do something that his militia bosses don't want him to do.
KOCH: But Hakim backed his own candidate, not Maliki, for prime minister. And his party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, is closely affiliated with Iran.
Hakim has disputed U.S. claims Iran is interfering in Iraq and has called for direct talks between Tehran and Washington. That's one proposal expected from the Iraq Study Group's final report due out Wednesday.
President Bush hinted in his radio address that its advice will be but one factor he'll consider.
BUSH: I look forward to receiving their report next week. I want to hear all advice before I make any decisions about adjustments to our strategy in Iraq.
KOCH: The White House is also awaiting Iraq policy reviews from the Pentagon, the State Department, and the National Security Council. And Mr. Bush will get more ideas on Iraq next month when he meets with Iraq's Sunni vice president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: But Tariq al-Hashimi wants Prime Minister Maliki's government dissolved. Still, that meeting and Monday's with Hakim clearly position the Bush administration to have influence no matter who comes out on top in Iraq -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: : Kathleen, thanks so much, from the White House.
KOCH: You bet.
WHITFIELD: : Well, next hour in the NEWSROOM, the next chapter in Iraq. Carol Lin takes an expansive look at four plausible options for the U.S. in Iraq. Join us at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
And on "THIS WEEK AT WAR," CNN correspondents discussing the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq. They'll also talk about troop deployments and whether Iraq is in a civil war. Join John Roberts tonight at 7:00 Eastern.
Well, winter hits the Midwest hard. So hard that hundreds of thousands are left in the cold and in the dark.
The double wallop of snow and ice left as many as 245,000 Missouri customers without power. Another 220,000 are in the dark in Illinois. It could be days before crews are able to fix broken power lines, and at least 11 deaths in several states are blamed on the snowstorm.
Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center.
And it's cold and it's getting colder in some places.
JERAS: Yes, it really is.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: : Well, here is another twist in that Russian spy poisoning case. The former spy wasn't the only one contaminated. Is there a threat to public safety in Great Britain?
And thousands of government opponents are cramming the streets of Beirut. Who's leading the opposition, and could it make a difference?
Plus, a deadly shooting during a botched drug raid in Atlanta is focusing attention on no-knock warrants. How common are they?
We'll take a look straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: : A second day of protests in Lebanon. Thousands of Hezbollah supporters have set up camp in central Beirut. They're demanding Lebanon's government resign.
CNN's Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): Thousands of government opponents pour into downtown Beirut. The commercial heart of the city paralyzed by noisy but peaceful protests. Scores of large canvas tents suggest they could be here for a long time. The opposition is led by Hezbollah, the armed militant group that fought Israel during the recent war in Lebanon, now waging this political war with words. For now, the opposition is promoting a festive mood of relentless song and dance to try to topple the western-backed government, ridiculing their political adversaries.
But a ring of steel protects the prime minister's office complex, guarded by troops and armored vehicles in case words turn to war. At street level protesters seem to emulate last year's western-supported Cedar Revolution that helped drive Syrian troops from Lebanon. But now the tables are turned.
Many of these demonstrators style themselves on the politics of Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran. They are joined by other pro- Syrian Lebanese parties and a disputed number of Christians who broke ranks with the anti-Syrian government early this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a government that not all the Lebanese have participated in it. This is the most corrupt government that Lebanon ever had.
SADLER: But it is still an elected government that wins strong public support from many western and some Arab states.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the parliament chose the majority of politicians, not the majority of the people.
SADLER: Most here are convinced their mission will succeed and that this is only the start of the political upheaval.
"We will stay here until we take over the prime minister's office," he warns, "and return the Lebanese republic to the people."
It's upheaval that some government supporters claim has taken on a sectarian hue along Muslim Shiite-Sunni divisions. A split that many Lebanese fear could eventually ignite violence.
(on camera): With no political give or take from both sides in this mounting struggle for power, there seems to be little hope. The showdown is going to end any time soon.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: : And new developments today in the death of a former Russian spy. Three British Airways planes have been cleared to return to service. They were grounded after traces of the same substance that killed Alexander Litvinenko were discovered onboard.
Meanwhile, members of his inner circle are being closely watched by doctors.
CNN's Matthew Chance has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Doctors say Mario Scaramella remains contaminated but well. Still no trace of the symptoms that ravaged the former KGB agent, Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko's widow, Marina, pictured here in the center, is also said to be healthy despite confirmation she, too, is contaminated with traces of the radioactive poison.
British authorities say the threat to public safety remains low. Only those in close contact with the poison need worry.
Scaramella was close enough, a former consultant on an Italian commission investigating KGB links to Italian politics. He met Litvinenko in a London sushi bar on November the 1st, the day he fell sick. He told Litvinenko he found a secret Russian hit list that included both their names.
MARIO SCARAMELLA, COLLEAGUE OF LITVINENKO: So it was in a couple of papers, and I said, "Alex, I'm here also to ask you a comment (ph), because I received today an alarm in the last few days from a source who visited me."
CHANCE: His contamination raises important questions for investigators. Was he poisoned on purpose at the same time as Litvinenko, or was he just exposed by accident?
(on camera): And so the focus of this complex investigation now seems to be shifting once again to what happened inside this boarded up sushi restaurant in central London.
Litvinenko is known to have had other meetings that day, in particular with two Russians at a hotel a short distance from here. Investigators say at this stage nothing and no one is being ruled out.
(voice over): There's also the question of the contaminated aircraft. British Airways says all three of its planes have now been cleared for service, but neither Scaramella nor Litvinenko are known to have gone anywhere near them.
The suspicion is someone else must have been involved.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: : And Monday, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" will devote a full hour to this mystery. Anderson goes beyond the headlines, examining Polonium-210 and how it became an assassin's weapon. His special, "Poison Plot: The Killing of a Spy," begins at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Time now to go global with more headlines from around the world.
Conflicting signals from OPEC ministers this weekend about cutting oil production. If they do decide to limit supplies at their upcoming meeting, expect a hike in gas and energy prices. Two days after Typhoon Durian slammed ashore, the Philippine government is assessing the damages and counting casualties. Three hundred three people are confirmed dead, 300 more missing. It's the fourth typhoon to hit the country in as many months.
And in Havana, ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is noticeably absent from his own birthday celebration. Castro missed today's military parade held in his honor.
We'll talk live with his daughter, Alina Fernandez, next hour in the NEWSROOM.
And is this man a serial killer? He's under arrest for two murders and under investigation for 20 more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They had the guns and my kid's room was right there. And the guns could have went off and they would have been murdered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: : And knocking, no knock? Search warrants -- another Atlanta family knows the fear of a grandmother killed during a police raid.
And the nation's highest court tackles some controversial cases next week, looking at affirmative action in public schools.
That and more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: : New developments in the shooting death of an elderly Georgia woman. Atlanta's police chief is promising a review of no-knock warrants. Police used that provision when they entered Kathryn Johnston's house.
Another family confronted by police with a no-knock warrant speaks with our Rusty Dornin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For three years, Tia Carter and Alphonso Howard lived in this south Atlanta house, not far from the home of Kathryn Johnston, the elderly woman shot dead by police as they served a no knock search warrant after she fired at officers.
The couple didn't know Johnston, but they say they do recognize the names of the three officers wounded in the shooting at Johnston's house. They were the same officers they say crashed into their home last year, also armed with a no knock warrant.
TIA CARTER, FILED POLICE COMPLAINT: They had a gun. My kids room is right there and the guns could have went off and they would have been murdered.
DORNIN: The search warrant says an informant told police he bought $30 of marijuana at Howard's house and there were weapons. The informant's words were enough for the magistrate to grant a no knock warrant, the same magistrate who granted the no knock warrant at Johnston's house. It took five days to serve the warrant at Howard and Carter's house. Officers say they yelled "police" before breaking down the door with a battering ram.
ALPHONSO HOWARD, FILED POLICE COMPLAINT: If you look here, you can see that I was in the front master bedroom.
DORNIN: Howard says he ran down the stairs to get his three young children. Guns drawn, officers handcuffed him. The informant had described the drug dealer as a big man with a gold tooth.
(on camera): The suspect didn't look anything like you?
HOWARD: No ma'am. No ma'am, this is a guy that was with faded hair, gold teeth, younger guy about 35. I'm 44 years old right now.
DORNIN (voice-over): Howard says the police refused to show him the warrant, thoroughly searched the house, then left three hours later. Police took away his legally registered guns and noted in an incident report that traces of cocaine were found. A private investigator hired by the couple's attorney says no drug connection was ever made.
JAMES MERCIER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: He was never charged. He was never arrested, no drugs were found in the house.
DORNIN: Howard filed a complaint with the city two days later. That was 18 months ago. Now he says he plans to sue.
Atlanta Police declined an interview, citing the pending litigation, but issued a statement saying Howard's complaint "was investigated and there was not enough information." Howard still wonders about how good the police work was given how long it took them to serve the warrant.
HOWARD: Exactly. They would have seen there was kids and all. It wouldn't have been no reason to come in here at 10:00 at night. Them drug dealers don't go to bed at 10:00 at night.
DORNIN: No laughing matter for Atlanta's African-American community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared to death.
DORNIN: Where people are still angry about what happened to Kathryn Johnston and where the police chief is now promising to review no knock warrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone is telling a lie.
DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta. (END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: : Well, it could be the beginning of closure for several families. A man arrested at a homeless shelter could be a serial killer with crimes dating back to the '90s.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People tell me that I look better, that my skin is clearer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: : And it's a controversial therapy, but some heart patients swear by it. What is chelation and how does it work?
We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: : A look at our top stories.
An especially violent day in Iraq. At least 100 people dead, 100 more wounded in a wave of violence. There were shootings, ambushes and this bombing of a busy Baghdad marketplace. Three car bombs went off there, killing 51 people.
Thousands of supporters of Hezbollah protesting in Beirut demanding the ouster of their prime minister. Fouad Siniora says he will not step down. The central issue in the dispute, Hezbollah officials' demands for more government power.
Back here in the U.S., wintry weather is blamed for at least 11 deaths nationwide. Right now parts of Missouri and Kansas are under states of emergency. The severe conditions have caused numerous power outages and even travel delays.
And despite the cold, a fiery rally fueled by anger in front of a Queens club, where an unarmed man was fatally shot by police last weekend hours before his wedding. Protesters say it's an obvious case of excessive force.
Sean Bell's fiancee speaks out in an exclusive Larry King interview on Monday. Don't miss a very emotional "LARRY KING LIVE" only on CNN.
Louisiana police, investigating 22 unsolved murders have arrested a man in connection with two of the deaths. All were -- all of the victims, rather, were male. Some had been sexually assaulted and all were strangled or suffocated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Friday night, officials in south Louisiana arrested a man they believe could be a serial killer who spent ten years preying on homeless people in the area. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this particular time, he is the target.
WHITFIELD: They plan to charge 42 year-old Ronald Jay Dominique with two murders in Jefferson Parish.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MALE: Do we suspect that he is good for more than the murders that he is being booked with?
Yes, we do.
WHITFIELD: As many as 20 more murders, in fact.
At this point police won't say Dominique has an attorney, and he hasn't publicly responded to the charges. But they do describe Dominique as being cooperative. Police say since March of 2005, a multi-agency task force, including the FBI, has been investigating a string of similar killings thought to be the work of an unknown serial killer dubbed the Bayou Strangler by local media. The homicides date back to 1997 and span six Louisiana parishes.
Investigators believe Dominique moved around in the area in which the bodies were found. Authorities won't say exactly what the cases have in common, but they describe the crime scene where the body of Manuel Reid (ph) was found in 1999. Dominique is expected to be charged with raping and strangling Reid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the particular Manuel Reid case, you already know that he was found without -- partially clothed, without his shoes, and he was found in a dumpster.
WHITFIELD: The task force investigation led police here to a homeless shelter, where Dominique has been known to stay. The manager said Dominique checked in Wednesday, unaware he was already under 24- hour police surveillance. He was taken into custody Friday night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (on camera): Other news across America: a rather creepy side effect from the rotting debris left by Hurricane Katrina: rats. They have heavily infested abandoned houses in St. Bernard Parish so much so that Louisiana officials are giving six pounds of rat poison to dozens of homeowners every day.
Arizona Senator John McCain may be one step closer to announcing a bid for the White House. Speaking in Philadelphia today, he told a crowd to expect a decision in a few weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: My dear friends, could I just say this to you in the utmost sincerity, I would very much like to be president of the United States. I will make a final decision -- I would make a final decision after sitting down with my otherwise reluctant family over the holidays.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: He wants it, but still not sure.
A nasty winter storm, dumping snow and ice on parts of the Midwest. Streets in Oklahoma are slick with sleet and ice. And fog is adding to the mix in Tulsa, making driving rather dangerous.
The Supreme Court hears two cases Monday that examine what role race can play when assigning kids to public schools. Seattle and Louisville have plans in place to assure racial diversity among students, but some say those plans are unconstitutional.
Here's CNN's Gary Nurenberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seth? You guys awake?
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seventeen year- old Seth Dubois (ph) wakes up in his mostly white Louisville neighborhood and spends about an hour and a half on buses to go to a very good school in a mostly black Louisville neighborhood.
HOWARD BRIM, JUNIOR, BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL: I get up at 5:00.
NURENBERG: Sixteen year-old Howard Brim wakes up in his mostly black Louisville neighborhood and spends about an hour and a half on buses to go to a very good school in a mostly white Louisville neighborhood.
BRIM: Sometimes it's worth the sacrifice. I mean, Ballard High School has a much higher education standard than my home school.
NURENBERG: Those long trips get Howard and Seth to the good schools their parents chose for them. But in order to maintain Louisville's goal of schools with black populations of at least 15 percent but no more than 50 percent, other students have to be turned away because of their race.
DEBORAH STALLWORTH, PARENT OPPOSING SCHOOL PLAN: I'm asking for equity here. I'm asking for fairness here.
NURENBERG: Deborah Stallworth is among the parents, black and white, suing to end the plan.
TEDDY B. GORDON, LAWYER FOR LOUISVILLE PARENTS: It's about actual discrimination that white kids who want to go to their neighborhood schools that are better performing schools are denied entrance into that school solely because of their color.
NURENBERG (on camera): The Supreme Court ruled three years ago racial quotas are unconstitutional, but said at the college level race could be one factor in admissions decisions. As with so much of what it does, the court will be balancing competing interests.
ED LAZARUS, SUPREME COURT LEGAL ANALYST: There's going to be judgment calls about which kinds of programs use race too much versus those that use it in a satisfactory way to achieve a goal that a majority of the court has said is a compelling state goal, which is the idea of diversity in schools.
NURENBERG (voice-over): Bussing fights plagued Louisville and other school districts in the '70s, and the question for the court remains: what role can race play when deciding where kids can go to school?
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, it's a very slow, very delicate process. Doctors in Saudi Arabia continue surgery at this hour on conjoined twins. The 11 month-old girls are from Iraq. And at last report, surgeons had separated the girls at the chest, liver, and colon, but were still working on the twins' urinary system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ABDULLAH AL RABEEAH, CHIEF SURGEON: There is significant risk. We said the risk is between 15 to 50 percent. However, from what we have seen, they are stable. They are responding very well to the surgery. We are optimistic things will go well. Certainly they have to be in the intensive care unit for several days. And we have to watch them day by day. But we are optimistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And doctors say the biggest risk now is infection.
Well, imagine cleansing your bloodstream for better health. Well, thousands of Americans swear by something called chelation therapy. But many doctors aren't so sure. Now the government is stepping in with a $30 million study to see whether it does indeed work.
CNN's Drew Griffin investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bud Moore remembers the exact moment his life changed.
BUD MOORE, HEART PATIENT: Thanksgiving Day '94, I had severe arm pain.
GRIFFIN: The problem wasn't his arm. It was his heart. One artery had a 75 percent blockage, another 95 percent.
MOORE: So they recommended either bypass surgery or angioplasty. I chose angioplasty.
GRIFFIN: This singer/songwriter hoped the procedure, using a balloon to open his blood vessels, had put his troubles behind him. After a week he was back in the hospital. The angioplasty hadn't worked. His doctor recommended another angioplasty, but Moore turned to something he had read about in a book, chelation.
He's going strong now, 12 years later at age 78. The National Institutes of Health reports about 60,000 people a year use chelation, paying up to $200 a treatment. It involves an amino acid molecule that make up protein taken intravenously. Patients sit for two and a half hours while the amino acids drip into their veins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People tell my I look better, that my skin is clearer.
GRIFFIN: They do this two or three times a week for several months, then keep up maintenance chelations, usually once or twice a year.
Chelation has been used for decades as a treatment for lead and mercury poisoning. The amino acid molecules bond to those heavy metals in the bloodstream and carry them out of the body.
Advocates for alternative medicines figured if chelation can clear heavy metals out of the bloodstream, it should clean stuff like cholesterol and plaque out of arteries.
Dr. William Richardson, a licensed doctor who practices holistic medicine in Atlanta, says he's seen the proof.
DR. WILLIAM RICHARDSON, ATLANTA CLINIC OF PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE: I've observed patients improve in their -- how far they can walk without getting pain. And usually, they actually get rid of their pain completely.
GRIFFIN: But there's one big hitch: there have been only a few minor medical studies, and no clinical trial has ever shown that chelation works.
DR. RAYMOND GIBBONS,AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: In the small studies that are available, there was not any benefit from chelation therapy.
GRIFFIN: In fact, says Dr. Raymond Gibbons, the president-elect of the American Heart Association, there is proof from one of these small studies that chelation might damage people's kidneys and bone marrow, which is why he says he knows of no credible cardiologist in the country who recommends chelation for heart trouble.
GIBBONS: We believe that we should do the things that are of proven benefit, and in coronary artery disease we have many therapies that we know work, lifestyle change, drugs, and in some patients, revascularization. And that's where our focus ought to be.
GRIFFIN (on camera): So with the American Heart Association recommending against using chelation therapy and two small clinical trials showing it absolutely doesn't work, what the federal government did is a little bit surprising. They launched the second largest study of alternative medicine, spending $30 million to decide if chelation works.
(voice-over): Why?
Dr. Gervasio Lamas, who has led the study since 2002, says it's because too many Americans are using it without any proof.
DR. GERVASIO LAMAS, DIRECTOR, NIH STUDY: 60,000 a year was one estimate. And so we have, really, a public health need to provide an answer.
GRIFFIN: How could so many people get involved in a treatment that hasn't been scientifically proven? With the growth of alternative medicine, more patients are searching for their own medical solutions on the Internet and in advertisements, solutions that may be a waste of money and could be causing long-term harm.
LAMAS: In general, I think that patients who have had a heart attack should follow evidence-based medicine, which means those are the medicines that have, in clinical trials, have been shown to be beneficial. In a few years, maybe chelation will be added to that. Or maybe it won't.
MOORE (singing): When I get ready to leave don't let me hear you grieve. Don't tell...
GRIFFIN: So how do you explain that to Bud Moore? He says he is feeling great since undergoing chelation. By the way, Bud also tells us he has significantly changed his diet, eats mostly vegetables instead of meat now, is exercising more and is generally leading a less stressful life.
Still, like many true believers in alternative medicine, he's convinced it's the chelation that's working. He thinks he's living proof.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So what do other medical experts think about patients trying chelation? We'll talk to our Dr. Bill Lloyd with his point of view.
Hey, Dr. Bill.
Plus, it was a real political battle when Mexico's new president was sworn in.
You are in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, crisscrossing the globe as the diplomatic sands shifts in Iraq and in Washington, D.C. The top diplomat lands a domination as "Time Magazine's" person of the year. ROMESH RATNESAR, WORLD EDITOR, "TIME": Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, I think has emerged the pivotal figure in the Bush administration's national security team. As secretary of state, she's come into her own and she's developed a level of influence within administration that I think only the vice president possibly can match.
Her main accomplishment is sort of shifting the rhetoric of the administration's foreign policy away from this kind of unilateralist, "with us or against us" approach that we saw first term. And we could see next year or the year after Condoleezza Rice really being thrust to the forefront as the U.S. tries to deal both with managing some kind of withdrawal from Iraq and also dealing with the threats from Iran and North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Some more now on the controversial alternative treatment called chelation and whether it has a place as a legitimate medical treatment.
Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us now from the city of roses, Portland, Oregon.
Good to see you.
DR. BILL LLOYD, UNIV. OF CALIF.-DAVIS MED. CTR.: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So real quick for those who perhaps didn't see the piece that focused on chelation, exactly how does it work?
LLOYD: Drew Griffin's report very clearly framed the controversy between traditional healers and alternative healers. Many alternative healers, in fact, are licensed physicians.
Chelation has been around in ordinary medicine for many decades. For people with problems involving toxicity, heavy metal exposure, even nuclear materials exposure -- that Russian spy could have used a little chelation.
But now alternative healers for the past 20 years have been saying there's some other things we could do to help people with problems like heart disease and even autism.
The problem is, Fredricka, these alternative healers haven't shown us the biology. They haven't shown us how chelation would actually work to achieve those goals.
WHITFIELD: And that's why it hasn't been widely accepted?
LLOYD: It's all about proven benefit. In order for it to make it into mainstream medicine, it has to go through a rigorous scientific approach. There has to be a prospective study. You have to think about what you want to do and then go forward and do it, not go back and look in 30 years of old medical records, but start today. Design a study that's going to involve multiple different teaching centers, that's going to involve informed volunteers. It'll be randomized and controlled and the safety of the patients will be of utmost concern during the entire time. So our federal government, they've invested $30 million in it.
WHITFIELD: OK, in fact, I was going to ask you a little bit more about the federal government. While the FDA has been reticent about embracing it, now there is some embracing of chelation, that maybe it really does cleanse the blood. Maybe there really are some good benefits from it.
LLOYD: The open-mindedness comes to the approach of "Why don't we go ahead and study it?" This is the era of evidence-based medicine, as Drew Griffin's report had said. So rather than just bash it, let's spend some money and maybe once and for all get to the answer. We may be surprised with the answer we get. Who knows, maybe they're right. Many people were right about acupuncture. And as you know, Fredricka, acupuncture has entered mainstream medicine. Maybe there will be a place for chelation, but only if there's a proven benefit.
WHITFIELD: All right. And so is it still rather hard to find many doctors who are actually using this blood-cleansing therapy?
LLOYD: There are licensed physicians that are using chelation to treat problems like heart disease with the idea that it either absorbs or dissolves the cholesterol or the calcium that's in the walls if the plaque. It hasn't been shown how that could work, because all that damage that I've described is in the wall of the blood vessels, not inside the hole or the lumen (ph) of the blood vessels, where the drug is. So they can't explain how the active drugs in chelation would get into the walls of the blood vessels to reduce heart disease. That's an important part that they need to answer in such a prospective study the NIH is going to undertake.
WHITFIELD: all right. Thanks so much. Dr. Bill Lloyd, always good to see you.
LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.
WHITFIELD: All right.
And Carol Lin is here with more on what's to come in the NEWSROOM throughout the evening.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up in the 5:00 hour, Fred, in the back half-hour, we are going to take a special opportunity to show people what the next chapter may very well in Iraq. Does it mean more troops? Does it mean total withdrawal? Does it mean segregation of the country? We have four CNN correspondents who devoted themselves to answering those questions, so we're going to have a special report then.
WHITFIELD: Great. LIN: And then at 10:00 tonight, I interviewed former supermodel Iman, who is now a super-humanitarian. I mean, she's building an AIDS treatment clinic in south Africa. But I had a chance to ask her about all of these celebrities who are coming out for World AIDS Day -- right, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ludacris is now attaching himself to the cause -- and whether that helps or hurts. This is what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAN, SUPERMODEL: We need from Aunt Gina to Angelina to help us with this. You know, I don't care where it comes from. At least, I really want somebody to help us to stop the dying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: She was talking about the fact she doesn't care who talks about it, as long as someone's talking about it. She is so passionate, Fredricka, that I was so impressed with her. I mean, she says being a mother now -- she has a six year-old daughter -- really has made -- it's shaped her world view. And she believes that her work to raise money for drugs for children with AIDS in Africa and developing countries will be her legacy. She's 51 years old, too.
WHITFIELD: She looks dynamite. She's done a great job of using her celebrity to really benefit a lot of people and we've heard her said over and over again, you know, being from Somalia, she wants to give back to her homeland.
LIN: She's doing just that.
WHITFIELD: All right, Carol Lin, thanks so much.
Well, chairs were thrown. You remember seeing these pictures. Fists were flying as well. It was no ordinary swearing in, not by a long shot. This is taking place in Mexico City.
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WHITFIELD: It may not look like it, but it was supposed to be a presidential inauguration. But as Jeanne Moos shows us, the fiesta quickly turned ugly.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was supposed to be a swearing-in, not a swearing at, but you can bet some swear words flew, not to mention some chairs and a few punches here on the floor of Mexico's Congress. Hold on to your hats, hold on to that guy. This is what happened as the winner of Mexico's disputed presidential election was supposed to take the oath of office, when the opposition tried to spoil his day.
The losers whistled, the winners chanted. All that shoving happened in vivo, live on Mexican TV for all to see. All this action makes inauguration day in the U.S. seem wimpy. U.S. presidents have to contend with say a half-naked streaker protesting or an egg tossed at the presidential limousine.
But they were trying to toss each other at Mexico's inauguration. The first President Bush was on hand for the Mexican ceremony, and look who else was invited? It's good action Arnold said when reporters asked what he thought of the brawling. It was as if Arnold was striding in to terminate the fighting.
As the New Mexican president's motorcade headed for Congress, it boar a striking resemblance to a certain bronco chase barely escaping a fender bender. President Felipe Calderon finally entered the building and quickly took the oath of office, who donned his sash and ordered the podium removed. Who says democracy is dignified. It looked like moving day at this inauguration.
They managed to sing the national anthem, then after staying a total of about five minutes, President Calderon was whisked away. One thing you can say about the Mexican brawl, it was tame compared to the Taiwanese brawl or the Russian brawl. What's a little gentle shoving compared to the infamous Czech politician slapped?
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, it's the question on the minds of many. Where is Cuban leader Fidel Castro?
The guest of honor sat out all of this week's birthday celebrations. His exiled daughter, well she talk to Carol Lin in the next hour. --
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
The day's top stories coming up next.
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