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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Taunted on his Trip; FBI Gone Too Far?; Fatal Bus Crash; Tracking Predators; Bush in Uruguay, Anti-Bush Protests in Argentina; Iranian Official Disappears; D.C. Madam Threatens to Open Books
Aired March 10, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. From the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for starting your day with us.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, I'm Melissa Long. Both T.J. and Betty are off this morning. But don't fret, we're here to make sure you're up-to-date on all the news stories this morning.
LEMON: So why don't we get started? Massive protests, taunts of gringo go home. Latin America lashes out at President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a guillotine coming down. There's a child. I remember terrible things happened. I don't want to go there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: A pedophile's deep thoughts, a criminal, but also a patient. Can someone like this be cured? We're asking the tough questions this morning. And also, we're going to show you how you can track sexual predators in your own neighborhood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIANNA KEILAR: To pay for her defense, Palfrey is raising money on her Web site and offering to sell the contact information of her former customers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The alleged madam threatening to expose Washington's playboys. Her client list rumored to hold 10,000 names. Will she go public?
LONG: And then check out this video, it's what we've been talking about around the NEWSROOM this morning. What is that? It's an SUV smashing through the doors of a shopping mall.
LEMON: OK. That's not supposed to happen.
LONG: Going on a little joy ride in the middle of the night? We're going to get to the bottom of that story coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. LEMON: But first we start with this. Chants, taunts and protests. President Bush is getting a less than warm welcome in Latin America today. The president has arrived in Uruguay, where he meets any minute now with that country's president. But beyond the official welcomes, demonstrators are out in full force. Uruguay is the second stop on a tour that will also take him to Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. White House correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president and he joins us via broadband from Anchorena Park, Uruguay -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Don. That's right. President Bush will be having a joint press conference with President Vazquez here at Estancia Anchorena, it is basically a very large ranch. It's a national park, over 3,000 acres of pristine land. Also serves basically as the Camp David, the presidential retreat for President Vazquez.
And in fact it's so pristine we understand that two presidents after their press conference actually may go fishing here. But just across the river in Argentina, much less peaceful. You have the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, still firing up all kinds of protests against Mr. Bush. In fact, last night in Buenos Aires, Chavez was leading the charge, hurling insults once again, he has been stirring up protests really all through Latin America during the seven-day tour for Mr. Bush.
Last night Chavez even referenced that infamous moment at the United Nations when he spoke briefly after Mr. Bush, and commented that he could still smell sulfur. Take a listen to what he said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGO CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): He doesn't even smell like sulfur anymore. He doesn't even have the virtue of smelling like sulfur. No, what the little gentleman exhales is the smell of political death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now yesterday Mr. Bush side-stepped a direct question about Chavez and all of these various protests. The White House does not want to be drawn into a one-on-one with Chavez. They think that will just bring him more attention, which is what he really craves.
Mr. Bush today would much rather talk about Uruguay, talk about trade issues. But it's very difficult to completely ignore Chavez, obviously with all of these protests throughout Latin America. What Chavez is really tapping into is anger throughout Latin America at U.S. policies, claims that the U.S. has not done enough to deal with poverty issues here, economic development.
And while publicly the White House wants to ignore Chavez, I can tell you that privately they are very frustrated with the attention he's getting. In fact, U.S. officials now privately charging a lot of these protests throughout Latin America are not happening spontaneously.
They charge that Chavez has been paying people to go to these protests, trying build up the crowds and show up Mr. Bush -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Ed Henry, we'll be checking back with you. Thank you so much for that report. And make sure you stay with CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 9:00 Eastern, we'll bring you the latest live as President Bush meets with President Tabare Vazquez.
LONG: Now in a rare move, allies and foes alike are meeting in Baghdad today to discuss Iraq's future. The conference brings together the West, the U.N. Security Council and Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria. Iraq's prime minister is appealing for help, warning that the growing sectarian violence in his country could spread across the Middle East.
Meantime, explosions rock the area where the Baghdad peace conference is taking place. Iraqi police say two mortars landed outside the foreign ministry building where delegates are meeting. The building is located near the heavily fortified Green Zone. There are no reports of damage or casualties.
In California, hospital officials say tests have confirmed that two American women were poisoned during a trip to Russia. The Soviet- born mother and daughter are now back at home and being treated in Los Angeles. Not clear how they came into contact with the poison, but Russian officials are investigating. The attorney for the ladies says they think the poisoning was accidental.
Vanished, a high profile Iranian with ties to Iran's nuclear program disappears. Last month he was in Turkey. Today no one seems to know what happened to this prominent former Iranian defense official. But there is plenty of speculation. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports now on a man with many secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixty-three-year- old former Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Ali Reza Azkari, traveled to Istanbul a month ago, then disappeared, leaving behind only questions.
Was he kidnapped? Did he defect? Who was behind it, the Americans, the Israelis? Azkari is a man with many secrets.
MEIR JAVEDANFAR, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST: The United States and Israel are very much involved in trying to find out as much as possible about Iran nuclear program, how, where is it right now, what are the challenges, and when is Iran likely to have a nuclear bomb. And the information that General Azkari would have would fill in some very crucial gaps, I believe.
WEDEMAN: There are, in fact, many other gaps going back many years. A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer in Lebanon in the 1980s and '90s, Azkari may have information about the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, which left 241 dead. Israel would no doubt like to pick Azkari's brains about Hezbollah, an organization he helped develop. Danny Yatom served as head of Mossad, Israel's spy agency.
DANNY YATOM, FORMER MOSSAD CHIEF: Whatever happened, during those years, and had signature of either Hezbollah or Iran, probably was orchestrated by this man.
WEDEMAN: Azkari could also hold information about the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which killed more than 80 people. He may also know the fate of Israeli pilot Ron Arad, shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and believed to have ended up in Iranian custody.
AMIR MENASHE, IRAN WATCHER: If we assume that there are 10 persons in Iran who knows about the fate of Ron Arad, he is one of them.
WEDEMAN: He may also have clues to the whereabouts of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah last summer. Most observers believe Azkari defected for money, lots of it, or...
YATOM: Maybe the way he wants to wash the blood, is by defection.
WEDEMAN: Iranian officials say Azkari was kidnapped by Western intelligence services. Israeli and American officials deny involvement.
(on camera): The only certainty in the case of Ali Reza Azkari is that he has vanished. And observers here suggest more high profile Iranians could disappear under similarly murky circumstances as a full-blown crisis looms over Iran's nuclear program.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, the family of another Bluffton University baseball player is making funeral plans. A fifth baseball player from the Ohio university has died of injuries from that March 2nd charter bus crash in Atlanta. Freshman Zach Arend had been in critical condition, his family by his side, when he died Friday morning. Four other players were killed when their bus careened off an overpass to the interstate below. The team had been on its way to a tournament in Florida. Also killed, the bus driver and his wife. More than two dozen others were hurt.
There are still questions about this fatal bus accident, and CNN's Special Investigations Unit has put together an hour-long special, Drew Griffin is your guide for "Fatal Journey: The Atlanta Bus Crash" at 8:00 Eastern tonight and again at 8:00 tomorrow night only on CNN.
LONG: Not guilty. That is the plea from the accused D.C. madam. But that is not the end of the story, she's now threatening to give up her little black book. CNN's Brianna Keilar reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Alleged madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey left the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Friday after entering a not guilty plea on racketeering and money laundering charges.
DEBORAH JEANE PALFREY, ACCUSED MADAM: The firm, Pamela Martin & Associates, operated as a legal high end erotic fantasy service.
KEILAR: Palfrey says she made her employees sign a contract that said they will not engage in illegal activities while employed at her company, Pamela Martin & Associates.
But the federal indictment against Palfrey says she was heading up a large scale prostitution ring from 1993 to 2006 and that as part of the hiring process, Palfrey had male testers audition prospective female employees to determine the ability of those women to perform the appropriate prostitution activities.
The government has seized Palfrey's assets. Montgomery Blair Sibley, the lawyer for her civil case, says his client is broke.
To pay for her defense, Palfrey is raising money on her Web site and she's offering to sell the contact information of her former customers.
MONTGOMERY BLAIR SIBLEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There are telephone records from 1994 until August of 2006 detailing every call in and out of this service. It conservatively is 10,000. If you do the math, it may be closer to 15,000 telephone calls in and out.
KEILAR: Palfrey has already released a sample page of phone numbers online which CNN blacked out for this story. Her attorney says there are 12 parties who are quote, "seriously interested" in buying the records in their entirety.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, one week after a tornado raked their town, help is now on the way.
LONG: Yes. How the government was able to send trailers to Dumas, Arkansas, even without a disaster declaration.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And not exactly the prettiest day in parts of New York. In fact, take a look at this live image that we have looking northward along the Hudson River. The Upper West Side, we've plenty of clouds there, some scattered showers expected, too. But warmer temperatures, certainly some good news. We'll tell you what you can expect in your neighborhood. Your weekend forecast is all coming up moments away right here CNN SATURDAY.
LEMON: All right, Reynolds. And sex offender John Couey convicted this week. A controversial question, can child sex offenders be cured? We'll talk to one pedophile. That's right. One pedophile about that.
LONG: And then later, this, our video of the morning. Talk about a joy ride, after hours through a mall, right?
LEMONS: SUVs aren't supposed to do that.
LONG: Interesting trip right there. Yes. This, I think, takes window shopping to a whole new level. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Dozens of homes were wiped out by a tornado in Arkansas, and then about 160 miles away, thousands of empty mobile homes bought by the government for disaster use. So just move the mobile homes to the tornado zone, right? Not exactly. CNN's Susan Roesgen explains.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the tornado damage in Desha County, Arkansas. More than 60 homes and businesses were wiped out, and many more damaged. These are some of the 8,000 mobile homes sitting unused about a three-hour drive away. But getting any of these mobile homes to anybody who needs them has been a year-and-a-half long struggle.
(on camera): Hey, come on in. Your tax dollars paid for this mobile home, and 10,000 others just like it.
(voice-over): They're nice, and roomy, and FEMA bought them after Hurricane Katrina at a cost of more than $300 million. Yet, none of those mobile homes can go to Desha County, because FEMA inspectors determined this damage was not bad enough to warrant a presidential disaster declaration.
But under pressure from Arkansas lawmakers, FEMA Director David Paulison found a way to get about 30 used mobile homes and trailers to Desha County, instead. FEMA donated the used housing to another federal agency, which, in turn, is giving them to the State of Arkansas.
As for the 8,000 unused mobile homes in Hope, they're still there, awaiting the next big disaster, a year-and-a-half after Hurricane Katrina.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, it's been one week and we're still getting in video of damage from that tornado that struck Americus, Georgia. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is here -- Reynolds.
WOLF: You know, Don, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. But what about some video? Take a look at this. It's just mind boggling to watch this. This is actually from the security cameras inside that hospital that was struck in Americus, Georgia. You saw just the brief bits of the security camera, again, just showing a standard picture of a hallway and then just oblivion. Just showed the twister coming through.
And this is the devastation that they are still picking up to this day. Here's a wide angle that you see just from the powerful winds that ripped through this place. You know, it is a miracle that there wasn't a greater loss of life in Americus from that huge twister. You know, it's one of many that touched down that day on March 1st, during the overnight hours. Certainly just a horrible thing to see. But as I mentioned, it could be -- it could have been far worse.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Thank you so much for that.
LONG: And now what do you think? Is he a criminal or a patient?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the guy that's going to take the long way around a group of kids in a shopping mall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pedophilia. Punishable, but is it curable? And on that note, are there convicted pedophiles in your neighborhood? I'm Veronica De La Cruz at the .com Desk. Coming up we'll take a look at a Web site that just might surprise you -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Veronica.
Latin America lashing out, protesters stalk President Bush in Brazil and beyond. The latest ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Good morning to you on this Saturday. Sentenced as a criminal, but treated as a patient. A convicted pedophile is talking about his recovery and whether or not cure is possible. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
"STEVEN," CONVICTED PEDOPHILE: It involved several young male boys over a period of time, from the time I was about 20 to 47, 48 years old. And it wasn't a continuous thing. It was something that went like a broken tire, flat tire in a car. You would go along and things would be OK, and then you would hit the flat spot, and you would abuse.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no doubt this man is a pedophile. The bigger question, is he a criminal or a patient? STEVEN: I'm the guy that's going to take the long way around a group of kids in a shopping mall.
GUPTA: Steven, who has asked for his name to be changed and to be interviewed in silhouette, spent three years in prison, after being convicted of acts of pedophilia as a crime. Since then, he has being treated for pedophilia as an illness.
Admittedly, it is blurry. Increasingly, we medicalize bad behavior. Alcoholism, violence, even murder may all be due to imbalances of chemicals in the brain. But the risk is, we may let criminals pay a lesser price for monstrous deeds or punish patients for whom treatment could prevent future crimes.
STEVEN: It's not a disease, as it's, you know, a bacteria or a virus. It is a mental illness. OK? It's a cognitive dysfunction that people can get. Is somebody born with it? Some people might be born with it.
GUPTA: As for Steven himself, he's not sure whether he was born with it. He is sure that, for almost 30 years, he molested more than a dozen children.
It was only the combined force of the police, court, and prison that could break Steven's cycle of abuse. Pedophilia has been a diagnosable mental illness for decades, simply defined as an abnormal sexual attraction for children.
And while there are no brain scans or blood tests to confirm the diagnoses, there is a battery of treatments, ranging from psychotherapy, to antidepressants, to forms of chemical castration with antiandrogens, aimed at reducing testosterone and sex drive.
DR. PAUL FEDOROFF, PSYCHIATRIST: The aim of treatment in pedophilia is not for people to stop having sex, but rather to modify their sexual interest, so that they become non-criminal.
GUPTA: Steven's course involved two strategies, antidepressants, to curb sex drive, and psychotherapy, to understand why he has abused. Now, nearly eight years after being convicted, he says he no longer thinks of children sexually.
STEVEN: I don't spend enough time thinking about them to have fantasies. So, it's like a guillotine coming down. There's a child. I remember terrible things happened. I don't want to go there. Clank. Done. Out of it. Let's change our thought pattern, go someplace else.
GUPTA: But can treatment work for everyone? Can pedophilia ever really be cured? Many are cautious, including Dr. Gene Abel, director of behavioral medicine at Emory University.
DR. GENE ABEL, DIRECTOR OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Rheumatoid arthritis never goes away. Congestive heart failure is never cured. Diabetes is never cured. This is not cured. This behavior -- inappropriate behavior, is not cured. We just help the person stop this behavior.
STEVEN: I would say, when you get to the definition of cured being, I don't want to, I don't feel like it, and I have no interest, if that's your definition of cured, then you have got a lot of people out there that have been cured.
If your definition of to be cured, never, ever having had a pedophilic thought in your life, then there is no cure. An alcoholic is not a drunk if he never drinks again, all right? Is he cured? Well, might as well be.
GUPTA: As far as pedophiles go, though, for now, at least, they will be treated as both patients and criminals.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We continue with this theme. Sexual predators are everywhere. How can you protect your children? CNN's Veronica De La Cruz at our .com Desk has been looking into that and has found some useful Internet tools for parents.
Veronica, what did you find?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, Don, one of the most interesting and helpful sites that I have found this morning is called familywatchdog.us. Now it was created as a direct result of the Jessica Lunsford murder in Florida. She was only 9 years old when she was abducted, sexually assaulted and buried alive just a short distance from her home. As you probably know, John Couey was convicted this past week of killing the 9-year-old. The death penalty phase of his trial begins on Tuesday.
Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father, spoke with CNN's Larry King after the conviction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")
MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: There was no remorse from this man or whatever you want to call it. I mean, no remorse at all.
LARRY KING, HOST: How do you explain that to yourself?
LUNSFORD: Welcome to the world of sexual offenders and predators. They don't care. They have no value for anything but their self.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Which brings us back to this, Don, familywatchdog.us. I'm going to go ahead and show you how you can bring it up. You can search the site here by typing in your address. We're going to use the CNN Center. Once you click, a map will appear and that map will be filled with tiny dots. Let's zoom in so you can get a better shot.
Here's the legend. Now, all the red dots, that is where you would find a child molester. And here's the CNN Center. The yellow dots, that stands for a rapist, sexual battery is in blue, and the green, that is another sexual offense.
Now the other way that you can search, and once you click on one of these dots, is like this. Let's use John Couey as the example. Once you click on one of the dots, what you'll find is the person's address, as well as their mug shots, any aliases, all of their past convictions, a complete description, all of their vitals, as well as any tattoos. And their criminal history.
So that's just a quick overview, and I'm going to have much more on tracking these sexual predators throughout the morning, including efforts by some communities to identify publicly these people by using a different colored license plate. So that's completely controversial. But we're going to be talking about it coming up this morning -- Don, Melissa.
LEMON: And that's very interesting. Because many of those people get their victims from the Internet so it's good you go there, tracking tool right there for you. Thank you so much for that, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
LONG: One of the other big stories we're following today, the president's travels. He is in Latin America.
And straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, why some Latin Americans are just not happy to see him there.
LEMON: And how about $1 million for fighting off extraterrestrials? I don't know if that's an extraterrestrial? Is that one? Oh, that's pork. What other so-called pork spending measures is Congress tucking away? Well, we'll have a look for you right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
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LEMON: Supermarket rampage, terrifying moments captured by a cell phone video.
LONG: And massive protests, taunts of gringo go home. Latin America is lashing out at President Bush.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How much of your money should be spent on a rail line linking two small towns in Alaska, or protecting the United States from an alien invasion? All of that is coming up in the "CNN Reality Check."
Good morning, everybody, I'm Joshua Levs. We're going to take a look at pork barrel politics.
LONG: Look forward to it. Thanks, Josh.
And good morning to you, once again. I'm Melissa Long.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for waking up with us this morning.
LONG: Mm-hmm. And as we've been mentioning, he's being taunted on his trip to Latin America. President Bush is in Uruguay right now to talk trade with that country's president, but away from the official meetings and greetings, you have more protests. Demonstrators took to the streets in Uruguay, and crossed the river there in Argentina. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez staged a huge anti-Bush demonstration.
Now the president is due in Colombia Sunday, but anti-American protesters are not waiting. Yesterday students battled riot police in Bogota, and CNN's Karl Penhaul was in the thick of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A homemade explosive rocks a police riot truck. Hundreds of masked students run for cover as water cannons douse them. The chant is "Yankees out!"
These running battles last through the afternoon in protest to at U.S. president George Bush's planned visit to Colombia on Sunday.
FERMIN, STUDENT PROTESTER: So we fight not only for the Bush visit. It's also because we believe that a new Colombia is possible, that a new Latin America is possible.
PENHAUL: The interview abruptly ends as tear gas fired by the police rains down on campus.
FERMIN: We're fighting men.
PENHAUL: Radical students of Bogota's biggest public university normally reject contact with the media, but months ago I met some of their leaders, and on this rare occasion, they agreed to show me the protests from their perspective. Despite that acceptance, it's a chaotic scene, making it impossible to do an on-camera standup.
"He's coming to sell us out. We're fighting against Bush's visit," this student says. A team of his masked comrades launch fireworks through PVC pipes. Another group takes aim by the wall, where I'm taking cover, too.
Police and the government accuse communist rebels of infiltrating Colombia's university campuses. The students, though, reject the terrorist tag. They describe themselves as a mixture of communist sympathizers, anarchists, leftists and nationalists. Today, they're united with one aim: "This is a demonstration of Colombian dignity. We will not become the slaves of U.S. imperialism," he says.
Washington funds Colombia's war on drugs and against communist guerrillas with around $700 million a year. Critics like these students say that's meddling.
Police battled through the afternoon to contain the riot to the campus. Violence flared on nearby street corners. The teargas began to clear, the riot trucks pulled back, leaving the students to chant, "Victory!"
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Bogota, Colombia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: In the nation's capital, a landmark legal victory for opponents of gun control. A federal appeals court struck down a law barring residents of D.C. from keeping handguns in their homes. The law was ruled a violation of the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms. The ruling said the amendment's guarantee applies to individuals, as well as members of militias.
LONG: Here's a question you don't ask every day. How bad is the pork? Talking about the pork barrel spending. It's a public interest research group that has released a report this week announcing just how much public money is going to lawmakers' pet projects.
LEMON: Well, an uproar last year led many politicians to promise reform. But has that happened? CNN's Joshua Levs is here with a "Reality Check" for us -- Josh.
LEVS: Hey, good morning. Good morning to you, and good morning to you guys. You might remember, remember the November elections? Do you remember what happened right afterwards? All these Republicans were doing mea culpas specifically about this issue. They were saying we understand, park barrel politics played a major role here, we're going to change. And meanwhile the Democrats were saying, we're going to use our newfound power to make sure that there are changes.
Well, this week Washington itself had something of a reality check and here's what we found out. There has been improvement, but plenty of pork is still getting served.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): Let's start in outer space where aliens better not try to attack Earth, because we've got a million dollar defense appropriation for this telescope, searching for extraterrestrials.
There's also more than a billion dollars for F-22 fighter jets that the Government Accounting Office says aren't need. More than a million for research into extending the shelf life of vegetables. And 4 mil for a rail line linking two towns in Alaska.
A public interest group calls it pork barrel spending and says that's not all, folks. The total for 2007, more than $13 billion. But this is good news, sort of.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The congressional pay book this year is the smallest it has been since 1999.
LEVS: Citizens Against Government Waste credits a handful of Republicans like Senator Jim DeMint who helped block some appropriations bills at the end of the last Congress, and the group thanks Democratic leaders in the new Congress who put a moratorium on earmarks, including Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who has been accused of bringing home lots of pork in the past.
So how did some pet projects of individual lawmakers get through? They were added to two bills that were enacted by the last Congress, defense and homeland security. Democrats are vowing to slice the pork, and Republicans know the stakes. Senator John McCain says it's why they lost control of Congress.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (D-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because of our failure to control spending, and the earmarking, which led then to corruption which then led to members of Congress going to jail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So the question right now is whether this Congress is going to make some serious changes? Will it enact reform that will prevent pork barrel spending from happening a whole lot in the future? Or will we, instead, see a move backwards?
It was interesting, you just saw Senator John McCain there. He also said this week that sometimes inside Congress, the fight against pork barrel spending faces retaliation from lawmakers who are used to, Melissa, as they say, bringing home the bacon.
LEMON: Bringing home the bacon.
LEVS: You got it.
LEMON: Joshua Levs, all right. Thank you very much for that report. We appreciate it, Josh. And if you have been paying attention you should know the spring time change is coming -- it's coming early, in three weeks. And you know what -- it's coming three weeks early, but I still have not...
LONG: Well, we'll be sleep-deprived tomorrow morning.
LEMON: Yes. I still haven't fixed my BlackBerry or my cell phone or any of that stuff.
LONG: Have to do that.
LEMON: Reynolds Wolf, what am I going to do? What's a man to do?
WOLF: I'm with you, man. But I'm also one of those guys who, you know, the light is still blinking on my VCR at home. I still haven't... LEMON: You still have a VCR?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: I'm telling you, man, I'm a cave man. I'm a cave man. Hey folks, take a look at this bit of trivia we've got for you. We're going to give you the answer coming up. But it has to do with Daylight Saving Time. Take a look. Here you go. This structure has 450 clocks and takes one man 16 hours to change them for Daylight Saving Time. Now is it, A, the Taj Mahal, is it B, the Empire State Building, could it be C, Windsor Castle, or is it D, Bill Gates' mansion in Washington? All right. We'll have the answer coming up, plus a quick look at your forecast, it is all moments away on CNN SATURDAY.
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LEMON: Plus this, a cell phone camera catches a crime. But you may be surprised to find out where it all happened.
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LONG: This 6-year-old boy is the focus of a search this morning in southeast Georgia. The Glynn County police and other law enforcement agencies are searching for him. Police say the last time anybody saw Christopher Michael Barrios Jr., he was on a swing set in a mobile home community. This was Thursday before nightfall and when he didn't come home his parents called police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did it because I had fear that somebody wanted to kill me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: This bizarre story out of Las Vegas. That's Jerry Gomez. Police say he was caught on a cell phone camera. We're going to show it to you in a minute right here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SCREAMING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Running after employees (ph) in this grocery store with a knife. Witnesses say he didn't say a word while he was running around that store, slashing at people. Four people were treated for injuries. Gomez faces charges of attempted murder. LEMON: Well, we have a recall to tell you about now, Dodge Durangos, Jeep Libertys, and the new Dodge Avenger all being recalled by Chrysler. We're talking nearly half a million vehicles. The manufacturer says some models have a circuit that could overheat and catch fire.
And while most of us are planning to spring forward an hour on Sunday, northern Indiana, Pulaski County will do double time. Here's why. That county did not observe Daylight Saving with the rest of the state. But now they're going to do that. That's starting tomorrow. They've got to be like everybody else.
Well, tonight, you'll be losing an hour of sleep. But tomorrow you'll get an extra hour of sun.
LONG: Mm-hmm. Reynolds Wolf was telling us earlier that he has yet to update his VCR. So don't forget to try the clocks...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Do you still have the old Betamax or you know, what's going on there?
LONG: The eight-track at home?
WOLF: You've been in my house lately. You've been in my place. You've seen what I've been up to. That's right. It's next to the horse and carriage and all that kind of thing, that's how I get to work, don't you know?
(LAUGHTER)
LONG: That's actually kind of romantic.
WOLF: Hey, we do what we can. Hey, take a look at this. We are talking about Daylight Saving Time. Again it's Daylight Saving. "Savings" are things you put in a bank. "Saving" is what you're going to do tonight when you spring forward. Take a look at today's trivia question. Here it is. I'm going to step out of the way. This structure has 450 clocks, my goodness that's a lot of them. And it takes one man 16 hours to change them for Daylight Saving Time. OK. Is it A, Taj Mahal? Is it B, Empire State Building? C, Windsor Castle? Or is it D, Bill Gates' mansion in Washington? OK. Your answer is, Windsor Castle. How about that?
LEMON: Well, I thought it might be that because the Empire State Building -- because it's probably automatic.
WOLF: Yes. I would think so. And I would think that at Bill Gates' place, he would have a lot of things automated. I mean, he's Bill Gates.
LEMON: And the Taj Mahal probably doesn't have any clocks.
WOLF: I think you're probably...
LONG: Maybe one.
WOLF: ... right about that.
LEMON: Maybe one. Maybe a big sundial.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: That's the one I can't do. I can never get the watch.
WOLF: Yes. Well, this is actually a sundial, really. It's a sundial that goes with my horse and carriage and Betamax, as you mentioned. There you go.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: The big laserdisc, that big.
WOLF: There you go.
LEMON: Thank you so much.
WOLF: You bet, buddy. All right.
LONG: Actually, you need to be careful with your computers, too, with this Daylight Savings Time -- Saving Time, excuse me. Cnn.com is your Internet resource for news and video on demand. CNN's Veronica De La Cruz is here to tell us what everybody's logging on to read more about this morning.
Good morning, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Good morning, Melissa. And your BlackBerry. Don't forget to set your BlackBerry.
LONG: Absolutely. Did that already. Did you do it yet?
DE LA CRUZ: Not yet. Working on it. All right. Let's take look at the most popular stories right now. We start with this. Brad Delp, the lead singer of the '70s and '80s band Boston has been found dead in his home in New Hampshire. Delp was 55 years old. Foul play is not suspected.
And India for number two, and Hugh Grant's ex-wife Elizabeth Hurley, apparently a scuffle broke out at Hurley's Hindu wedding in India. The clash was between security personnel and reporters. Hurley married an Indian businessman on Friday.
And for number three we go to Illinois where a suburban plane crash has killed two people. The small plane went down on a city street in Munster, Indiana, which is near Chicago.
And you can get all the details online at cnn.com/mostpopular. Melissa, I'll send it back to you.
LONG: Thanks very much. The stories really covering the gamut this morning. Appreciate it. We're going to show you a view now of the Grand Canyon that not everybody thinks is so grand. I think this is amazing.
LEMON: I'd be a little scared to walk out on there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's 4,000 feet down. You look over there at the Empire State Building, that's 1,200 feet up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four thousand feet, that's way too long to think about before you hit at the bottom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: CNN's Jeanne Moos considers skywalking straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
LEMON: Would you do it?
LONG: I would, absolutely. You wouldn't?
LEMON: I don't know. We'll see. Talk about joy rides, how did this SUV right there get into, of all places, a mall? Need a new outfit maybe. We'll see, coming up, CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
LONG: I don't think he got the outfit, though.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's talk about the new Grand Canyon Skywalk. Look at that. Oh, my gosh. Whew. It scared me on video. I don't know if I would do it. The chance to walk on air, or a bridge too far. Depends on how you look at it. Our Jeanne Moos checks out the view from above.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS (voice-over): It's like no other U-turn you've ever taken. A U-turn in the sky above the Grand Canyon. A see-through sidewalk made of glass, meant for tourists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I don't think I'd go on that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would soil myself.
MOOS: That's no way to talk about the just-installed Grand Canyon Skywalk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like walking in the air.
MOOS: A private developer built the Skywalk. But the Hualapai tribe owns it since it's on the Indian reservation. The Indians blessed the project when the Skywalk was finally pulled into place by trucks and cables.
ROBERT BRAVO JR., MGR. GRAND CANYON WEST: You pull those pulleys and the bridge will start extending over the rim of the canyon.
MOOS: We're talking three inches of glass floor, high atop a more traditional observation deck, the top of the Rock, above Rockefeller Center. Just a picture of the Skywalk sent shivers through some.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got butterflies just thinking about it, actually.
MOOS (on camera): Butterflies thinking about it. It's 4,000 feet down. You look over there at the Empire State Building, that's 1,200 feet up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four thousand feet. That's way too long to think about before you hit at the bottom.
MOOS (voice-over): It's enough to give you vertigo. The Grand Canyon Skywalk doesn't open until later this month, when the first ceremonial steps on the Skywalk will be taken by one of the first astronauts to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. But instead of a giant leap for mankind, critics think the Skywalk is a giant leap backwards.
ROBERT ARNBERG, SKYWALKER OPPONENT: Nothing more than a thrill ride, pursuing the almighty dollar, a blemish on the face of that canyon.
MOOS: This is one blemish many seem eager to pop.
(on camera): You would it? Everyone would do it?
GROUP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, heck, yes. That would be sweet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would do it in a heartbeat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you imagine the depth of it? It would be fantastic.
MOOS (voice-over): The Indians say they need the tourist dollars the Skywalk will attract. It will cost more than 25 bucks to walk this glass plank. At least they'll loan you special booties to protect the glass.
(on camera): They're going to give people little footies to wear so that you don't scratch the glass. Slip, also. Slip, I can see you're nervous.
(voice-over): Hey, why stop at handing out booties?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd have to take a valium or something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to have a parachute on, you have got to have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'd have to have some kind of straps on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do they give you wings?
MOOS: To get a view better than this you'd have to be Thelma and Louise.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: That's amazing.
LEMON: Exactly. Well, amazing or kind of wacky. I don't know if I'd do it, because you know what, this stuff shifts too much, the ground. And I know too many architects to know that sometimes they go a little wacky.
LONG: I mean, I'd be concerned about the structure and whether or not something would slip, you're right. But hey, it's adventure, right? Twenty-five bucks for an adventure?
LEMON: I don't know about all of that.
LONG: Actually kind of an outrageous story right there. More outrageous stories now. I want to show you some video from Augusta, Georgia. And you are awake, you are, in fact, seeing an SUV there slamming through the glass doors of the shopping mall. And this is after hours.
LEMON: That would have been bad enough, but the driver just keeps trucking. You can see that first this way, then that way, then through the food court.
LONG: Look at that. You don't see that every day.
LEMON: And finally, out of another set of locked doors.
LONG: Well, actually, after he passed out the locked doors, mall security was waiting for him outside. That man is sitting in jail this morning charged with DUI and a number of other offenses. And I was reading about $1,000 in costs related to the mess he made.
LEMON: A thousand dollars? That doesn't seem like a lot. Because, you know, a lot of money, looks like he did a lot of damage. All right. You have also heard of people stuffing their mattress with money. Well, not this one. That's because it cost a small fortune, $50,000 to be exact. Must be a good, good night's sleep. Model not included.
LONG: You would hope, well, you would hope. Oh, this model is not included?
LEMON: No.
LONG: Oh, OK. The mattresses are handmade in Sweden with luxury materials sold only by a handful of the most exclusive shops in the U.S. And guess what? The clock is ticking, there's a deadline, you really need to get one before the price goes up next month to $60,000. But if you're interested, and you just can't fork over the $50,000 and $60,000, apparently there's an economy version for $20,000.
LEMON: Oh, wow. Pennies.
LONG: Yes, not the same, though, right?
LEMON: Well the FBI is under fire for obtaining more phone and bank reports than it initially reported. What's being done about that and will there be consequences?
LONG: Plus that spare tire around your middle? Might be related to...
LEMON: What about it?
LONG: I didn't say anything about you. That may be related to just how much sleep you're getting. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains in 30 minutes.
LEMON: And CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
I'm Don Lemon.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Melissa Long.
Both T.J. Holmes and Betty Nguyen are off today, hopefully getting a good night's sleep, very long into the morning hours.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
The president is traveling and aiming to bring some American goodwill on his trip to Latin America, but as you see, the protesters, they don't want to hear it. The message from some -- "Gringo, go home."
LEMON: Gone without a trace. South Georgia police asking for the public's help this morning to find a missing 6-year-old boy.
LONG: And this terrifying video from a cell phone of a suspect allegedly stabbing people inside a grocery store.
LEMON: But first, we start with the president and the protests. Angry demonstrators against President Bush on his Latin -- latest Latin American stop. Right now Mr. Bush is in Uruguay talking trade with the country's president, but away from the official meetings and greetings, more protests. Much of the anti-Bush sentiment being fueled by President bush's nemesis, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Our Ed Henry is live from the president's location this morning, and he joins us from Anchorena Park, Uruguay -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Don.
Later this hour Mr. Bush will have a joint press conference with President Vasquez here at Estancia Anchorena. It's a very large ranch, over 3,000 acres. It's a national park in Uruguay, but it also serves as a presidential retreat, sort of like Camp David.
In fact, we're told that the two presidents after the press conference may even go fishing together. It's that pristine, that serene.
But much less peaceful across the river in Argentina. That's where, as you mentioned, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has been holding protests, a very large, enormous rally last night, demonstration against Mr. Bush. All kinds of insults being hurled at the American president, including Chavez charging that Mr. Bush is just now discovering poverty after seven years in office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): On the other side of the river is a little gentleman from the north. And we're going to give him a great hello!
Gringo, go home!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, yesterday, Mr. Bush sidestepped a direct question about Chavez and his influence in the region, and also all of these various insults, the anti-American rhetoric we've been hearing really for months leading up to this seven-day tour for Mr. Bush. Mr. Bush today would obviously much rather talk about Uruguay, talk about trade issues with President Vasquez at this joint press conference later this hour, but it's difficult for him to completely ignore Chavez.
Chavez is tapping into anger throughout Latin America at U.S. policy. A lot of people alleging that the U.S., the Bush administration in particular, has not done enough to try to end poverty in this region -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Ed Henry joining us via broadband from Uruguay.
Thank you so much for that report.
(NEWSBREAK)
LEMON: The tables turned a bit for the FBI. The organization finds itself accused of a serious misuse of power. At issue, how the FBI uses its power under the Patriot Act.
CNN's justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The FBI is under heavy fire improperly and at times illegally using powers under the Patriot Act.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: The question should and must be asked, how could this happen? Who is accountable? And the answer to that is I am to be held accountable.
ARENA: But this time, sorry may not be enough.
Senator Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the FBI has gone too far and is threatening action.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Perhaps take away some of the authority which we have already given to the FBI, since they appear not to be able to know how to use it.
ARENA: The anger is over the FBI's so-called national security letters used to get bank, phone and Internet records without first going to a judge. The inspector general says the FBI issued many more of these letters than it reported, that the bureau issued improper requests and sometimes gathered information on the wrong individuals. And when agents broke the rules? Well, the FBI didn't always report it.
MUELLER: I should have provided the appropriate training, education and internal oversight.
ARENA: The report did not find any criminal misconduct, just a lot of sloppy work. But it provides fuel for critics already concerned that our civil liberties are being trampled.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We all want to stop terrorists, we all want to stop criminals. But the FBI work for us, the American people, not the other way around.
ARENA (on camera): Robert Mueller says he's already started making improvements, and the attorney general is urging patience. But there is a trust issue here, and it's going to be hard to overcome.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Not guilty. That's the plea from an accused Washington madam. Deborah Palfrey charged with money laundering and racketeering. The charges stem from her now-defunct escort service.
The federal indictment says Palfrey was heading up a large-scale prostitution ring. The government seized her assets. Now Palfrey says she's broke and she's threatening to sell her big black book to help pay legal fees. She says it lists the phone records of more than 10,000 of her past clients.
LONG: Some new information to share with you this morning about that helicopter tour that ended in tragedy in Hawaii. The pilot and three of his six passengers were killed when the chopper crashed. Authorities say the passengers were married couples from New York, Arkansas, and California. One spouse from each couple died.
Federal investigators have arrived to try and determine the cause of that crash. We've also learned that the tour company has grounded all its flights until Monday.
Another crash. This one a small plane. It happened on a street in Indiana.
Two people on that plane were killed, but apparently no one on the ground was hurt. Police say the twin-engine plane went down nose first near a parking lot last night, just barely missed hitting cars and buildings. The crash scene is in suburban Chicago, about a mile from an airport along the Indiana-Illinois state line.
LEMON: Another tragic turn in that fatal bus crash in Atlanta. A fifth baseball player from Bluffton University has died of his injuries. Freshman Zach Arend had been in critical condition since the crash one week ago yesterday. His family was by his side.
Four other players were killed when their charter bus careened off an overpass to the interstate below. Also killed, the bus driver and his wife. More than two dozen others were hurt.
Well, the question everyone is asking, could this tragedy have been avoided?
CNN Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin takes a revealing look this weekend in an hour-long special.
Here's a sneak peek.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is not until you actually approach this split in the road that you're directed to exit left or stay straight on southbound 75. For reasons we will never know, Jerry Niemeyer steered his bus left, on to this exit ramp. He apparently didn't realize it.
(on camera): It's at this moment Kyle King, seated four rows behind the driver in this seat, is listening to music half asleep, and hears the only warning.
KYLE KING, BUS CRASH SURVIVOR: And I woke up to the bus -- the driver's wife screaming.
GRIFFIN: Jean Niemeyer was sitting in the front with her husband.
KING: She said something like, "This isn't the exit or the on- ramp," or something, and then I remember the bus driver saying something. Then I actually heard the tires squeal of him trying to get it back on control. GRIFFIN: Despite being on a clearly marked exit ramp, stop signs ahead, and a "Stop Ahead" warning painted on the pavement, Atlanta police say bus driver Jerry Niemeyer hit the intersection without braking. His bus blew through the stop sign, across four lanes of traffic, and headed straight for a retaining wall.
MAJ. C.W. MOSS, ATLANTA POLICE: We don't have any evidence on the roadway suggesting that the bus had attempted to stop. There were no skid marks laid down that we were able to determine. As to the reason for that, that remains under investigation. We hope we'll ultimately get an answer to that.
GRIFFIN: This skid mark of wheels turning right is the only evidence of Niemeyer's futile attempt to avoid disaster.
A.J. RAMTHUN, BUS CRASH SURVIVOR: I woke up as soon as the bus hit the overpass' wall, and that's when I looked up, and the bus landed on the left side, which is the side I was sitting on. And I just looked out and saw the road coming up after me. And that's all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, you can catch Drew Griffin's special investigation in its entirety this weekend. "Fatal Journey: The Atlanta Bus Crash," airs tonight and Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
LONG: It is 8:10 in the morning here on the East Coast. And I know you're probably sitting down to enjoy breakfast. But before you pop something in the toaster, another food recall, and this one involves bread this morning.
LEMON: And that peanut butter recall from a few weeks ago, well, it is expanding.
That story is ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, guys.
We're here in the CNN newsroom, and we're going beyond the headlines in medical news this week. We're looking for solutions in the veterans health crisis. Peter Gaytan of the American Legion will be joining us to answer viewer e-mail questions.
And sleep, it's the issue this weekend as we lose an hour and move forward. Could lack of sleep make you gain weight? Tune in for that.
So, for your booster shot of medical news, don't touch that remote. See you in "HOUSE CALL" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Talk about driving home the message. There's one state that wants to tag convicted sex offenders' cars with fluorescent green license plates. Lots of opposition to this, as you can imagine. We're going to talk with a convicted sex offender who says this is just as extreme as Jews wearing the star of David in Nazi Germany. We're going to hear more from him live in our next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Let's continue to talk about this. Veronica de la Cruz is at the .com/DESK. She's been scouring the Internet for sites that aim to protect children, protect families from sexual predators.
Good morning, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN PIPELINE ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Melissa. I wanted to share a few statistics about sexual predators that you might not know.
I found these statistics on familywatchdog.us. That is the Web site.
Now, according to the site, one of five girls and one of six boys will be molested before their 18th birthday. And listen to this. Ninety percent of all sexual assaults against children are committed by someone whom the victim knew.
The typical sexual predator will assault 117 times before being caught. And the re-arrest rate for convicted child molesters is 52 percent.
Again, that Web site is familywatchdog.us. And I want to tell you about it.
It was created after Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, raped, and buried alive in her neighborhood. Now, coming up in the 10:00 a.m. hour, I'm going to show you exactly how to use the site and also search for these registered sex offenders in your area.
In the meantime, we want to talk more about what Melissa was just talking about, this bipartisan effort in the Ohio legislature which could make the state the first to require convicted violent sex offenders and child predators to place these fluorescent green license plates on their cars.
Now, do you think this is going to work? Is it a good idea? Is it even fair?
You can send us your e-mail to weekends@cnn.com.
And I'm sure we're going to get a lot of pretty good ones. And we're going to be sharing those with you coming up.
Back to you.
LONG: And again, Veronica, if people want to follow along as you do your next report, it's familywatchdog.us.
DE LA CRUZ: That's right, yes.
LONG: Thanks, Veronica.
LEMON: Well, there is some irony here, of course, because of the name. The supermarket company Safeway is recalling bread sold in parts of California and Nevada because apparently it is not safe to eat. The company says loaves may contain wire fragments.
Now, if you've purchased any bread from Safeway with the dates March 15th or 17th on the label, obviously don't eat it and contact the store for refund information.
And remember the ConAgra peanut butter recall we told you about just a couple weeks ago? Well, now ConAgra Foods recall of its Peter Pan and other peanut items will apply to products made since October, 2004. The FDA is warning consumers not to eat any Peter Pan Peanut Butter or any Great Value Peanut Butter beginning with the 2111 product code.
LONG: OK. Here's another recall. This doesn't deal with anything in your pantry, though. This deals with what's in your garage, cars.
Dodge Durango, Jeep Liberty and the new Dodge Avenger, they're all being recalled this morning by Chrysler. This recall affects nearly half a million vehicles. The manufacturer says some models have a circuit that could overheat and catch on fire.
LEMON: Saving time, but is it saving energy? Will setting our clocks ahead early this year make a difference?
LONG: And if you spring forward, do you fall back on your dieting goals? Interesting connection there. Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta's coming up with the surprising connection between losing sleep and gaining weight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you come out, Sarah's going to be using weight, but you can come out to a side lunge. Try it Sarah.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you want to look great from the rear, side lunges are key in an age- defying glute workout.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lunge to effectively work them even harder. Let's do one more.
COHEN: Running stadium stairs are also great for lifting and toning the glutes, because the secret to a tight rear end is training all of the muscles that surround the gluteus maximus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you truly want to make your glutes age- defying, when you lunge out for stadium steps, you want to keep the back straight. The eyes are on the horizon. The eyes are up. And of course, that 90-degree angle. COHEN: Lunges or leg presses are great substitutes when stairs aren't available. You can add resistance with a medicine ball or a body bar for maximum lower body results. A healthy mix of cardio and weight training incorporating squats, lunges, and leg presses can help you achieve great glutes.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Good morning on this Saturday.
Are you ready to spring forward? You have to, whether you're ready or not.
It's time to set your clocks ahead. You are actually encouraged to do it before going to bed this evening. And if you're not pleased with the earlier start to the Daylight Saving Time this year, you're not alone.
CNN's Bob Franken reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The airline industry calls the early jump ahead an onerous challenge. It messes up schedules, particularly overseas. But literally, down-to- earth farmers don't like it either. Of course, they never did like Daylight Saving Time.
They already get up early enough. And it confuses their cows. It upsets the milking schedule.
It can also really play havoc with Saturday night-Sunday morning's bar time. So if you are among those who are not pleased, blame this guy.
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It lowers the number of traffic fatalities when the hour of daylight is moved to the evening. It helps people who have trouble seeing because in the light they can move around in the evening much more freely. It helps with the issue of energy savings.
FRANKEN: Congressman Ed Markey bases his conclusions on those energy reductions on studies done in the 1970s. But many U.S. government officials are skeptical, pointing out that was then. This is now.
CRAIG STEVENS, ENERGY DEPT.: Today we have energy efficiency, today we have conservation. Today we have better technologies and better appliances. So I think we're all going to be curious to see when this is all over in November, to see what the difference is.
FRANKEN: The law requires that in November, the Energy Department will begin to study whether the extended Daylight Saving Time really did make much of a difference. But according to Congressman Markey, it's an idea whose time has come -- an hour early, of course.
MARKEY: In addition, it also brings a smile to people's faces.
FRANKEN: Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know that spare tire around your middle?
LONG: Oh, you look good.
LEMON: Do you want to see?
It might be related to how much sleep you're getting. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how, straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
LONG: Not sure if you've seen this dramatic new video yet. It was just released of last week's deadly tornado.
LEMON: Oh my goodness.
LONG: It touched down in south Georgia. This is what remains of that hospital.
LEMON: And coming up next hour, a new idea -- special colored license plates for sex offenders, a way to keep your children safe so they know how to avoid. And would it work? That's the question. And is it fair?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: What is this? Well, if necessity is the mother of invention, then laziness is the father. This is a mini fridge for the couch potato.
LEMON: Yes, I love that. On command, the fridge will catapult a cold one right into your hand. And you don't even have to get up.
The inventor is a recent college grad who was homesick for dormitory life. The fridge dispenser holds up to 10 cans, can fling one up to 20 feet.
LONG: That's putting that engineering degree to work.
LEMON: That could be a little dangerous, too, depending on, you know, if it goes the wrong place. You've got to be a good catcher.
LONG: Is there any reason the producers put this story before Reynolds Wolf?
LEMON: I think there's something going on here. A little message.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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