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CNN Live Saturday

New Tape From Al Qaeda; Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields End Feud; New Terror Arrests in London; Tropical Storms Hit Both Sides of U.S.

Aired September 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: Next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, a new tape from al Qaeda's second in command. This one also features an American fugitive who converted to Islam.
Plus tracking two powerful storms still posing threats to the U.S. and Mexico.

And what's going on with Tom Cruise this time? The actor apparently shows up at the home of Brooke Shields. We'll tell you what happened.

Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. That and more coming up. First, a quick look at the other stories topping the news.

Iraqis now control the controversial Abu Ghraib prison. The multinational force officially handed it over to Iraq's Ministry of Justice today. It was the site of abuse under Saddam Hussein and later photographs emerged of U.S. guards mistreating inmates. The prison is now empty with all detainees transferred elsewhere.

Technical problems are suspected in a military crash in Afghanistan. Britain's ministry of defense says 14 British troops were killed.

The UN Secretary-General is in Tehran. Kofi Annan is expected to focus on Iran's rejection of a United Nations deadline to stop enriching uranium. The UN resolution to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah was also on the agenda.

British police mount sweeps in London and Manchester. Fourteen men were picked up in London suspected of training and recruiting for terror attacks. Two men were arrested in Manchester in an unrelated terror investigation.

And countdown time at The Kennedy Space Center. The Atlantis crew returns to Florida for a Wednesday scheduled takeoff. Launch plans this week were delayed due to a lightning strike on the launch pad. And Tropical Storm Ernesto.

The number two man in al Qaeda posted a new video on the Internet. Ayman al Zawahiri's message was released just a few hours ago. The video is titled "An Invitation to Islam." And al-Zawahiri specifies that it is meant for Americans and nonbelievers.

In a new twist the tape is introduced by an American man wanted by the FBI in connection with possible terror threats. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is following these developments. He joins us live from Islamabad, Pakistan with more. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Fredricka this American man, a 28-year-old Californian likes to go by the name of Azzam the American. He is Adam Gadahn. But on this particular message he starts off by saying that this is a warning and a call for the people of the United States and all nonbelievers to join Islam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM GADAHN, AL-QAEDA SPOKESMAN: We invite all Americans and other unbelievers to Islam wherever they are and whatever their role and status in Bush and Blair's world order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, after that very brief introduction, Ayman al Zawahiri, the number two from al Qaeda, appears on the message. This was a 48-minute message in total broadcast on the Internet. Forty- three minutes of it were delivered by Adam Gadahn. But on his four- minute speech, Ayman al Zawahiri quotes the Koran and also said that this is a message for Americans and other westerners, he says, to convert to Islam.

In the rest of the message, it is a litany of complaints, of criticisms by Adam Gadahn against the United States accusing the United States of abuses all over the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GADAHN: This ignorance which causes the people of the West to rapturously applaud when Israel perpetrates wholesale slaughter of Muslims in Lebanon and Palestine. And leads them to give their assent to the atrocities their governments commit in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Muslim world. And makes them voice their approval when their armies desecrate copies of the Koran at Guantanamo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, Gadahn left California in 1998. He converted to Islam in 1995. He left California for Pakistan, and he is still believed to be in this country. At least that's where the last intelligence assessment had him positioned. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And Nic, it's still unclear exactly when or where these tapes are coming from. I mean, tape, it looks like two different recordings from al Zawahiri and Gadahn. But at the same time there is at least a reference of at least within the past month?

ROBERTSON: Month, month and a half, because it does refer to Lebanon, to the fighting there. So it does appear to be reasonably recent.

Again, it isn't clear if these two messages were recorded at the same location. It appears to be a different location. The backgrounds are different but certainly the message is the same. They've been spliced together by the same company, production facility that's put together most of the other al Qaeda messages, ah-Sahab (ph).

They've also been located at times believed to be operating out of Pakistan. It is not clear where this particular Internet broadcast was put together. But it is being -- has been put together by ah- Sahab.

The message, very, very clear, a long litany, again, of all the criticisms of the United States. We've heard that time and again from al Qaeda. But Gadahn on this message says bin Laden and Zawahiri carry through their warnings. There's no specific indication of a specific threat, but he does say that we have to fight back, al Qaeda has to fight those who choose to fight us. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson in Islamabad. Thanks so much for that update.

Another top story we're following. Storm conditions as in what's left of Ernesto and Hurricane John continuing to cause problems. Hurricane John hits Mexico's Baja California, last night, the peninsula, that is.

The storm caused a lot of flooding and knocked out electrical power. In the U.S., Ernesto left several hundred thousand Virginians without power. The tropical depression dumped nearly a foot of rain in some places.

And in North Carolina 10 inches of rain pushed the Cape Fear River over its banks. The scattered flooding led to several rescues. And we've got reports on both storms straight ahead.

First, let's check in with Bonnie Schneider to see just how these storms are doing. And it seems like they haven't completely lost strength, just some of it.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, Fredricka. Especially John. This is still a hurricane.

And as we look at it affecting the Cabo San Lucas, Baja Peninsula area you can see the storm is still holding together. A Category 1 hurricane. The track shows, though, it is likely to become a depression and be downgraded as early as tonight. Maximum winds are showing a fairly strengthening hurricane there at 75 miles per hour.

Eventually the storm will push off to the west. And it should move over cooler waters in the Pacific. Finally Ernesto, the remnants are making for a soggy holiday weekend for a lot of folks looking to get to the beaches and get away. Out on Long Island, on the Cape Cod area in Massachusetts and all along the Jersey Shore rain continues. Some of the heaviest rain is up towards Upstate New York and that is where we're seeing flood watches and warnings continue through the evening hours. I'll have more on that coming up. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

North Carolina hit hard by Ernesto. Or the remnants of. Kathleen Koch is in Elizabeth City where they have had a lot of problems there, Elizabeth. High water which I see still behind you there.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And what happened here, Fredricka, is this town of roughly 20,000 was hit with quite a one-two punch. Wednesday night a summer storm dropped seven inches of rain here. And then Ernesto followed up in just another 24 hours dropping seven to 10 inches of rain. And there was just simply nowhere for all this water to go.

And so you see this neighborhood behind me, Oxford Heights. It has been completely cut off since yesterday morning. And we actually went in there today with some members of the National Guard who were helping deliver mail, ferry people in and out. I'd like to bring in a gentleman who has been in charge of the national Guard, Captain John Willaby. Tell us about what you found when you came into this neighborhood Thursday night?

CAPT. JOHN WILLABY, N.C. NATIONAL GUARD: Thursday night, there was extensive flooding, between 36 and 40 inches of water. The first call we got was about 3:00 in the morning. People were frantic, wanting to get out of their house. We got water in our house. So we sent a team out there to pull them out of their house. But ever since then, yesterday the water was still high, between 30 and 36 inches of water. People wanted to get evacuated, still getting water in their houses.

KOCH: Now today we went with you on a mission of mercy. You were delivering some packages and some pretty important packages for some of these residents who can't get in or out of here.

WILLABY: Yes, ma'am. A lot of the missions that we've been doing here have been getting people medicine, ferrying them in and out to get groceries. And just plain evacuating people, taking their relatives in to make sure their relatives are fine and that's basically what we've been doing the last couple of days.

KOCH: How would you describe the attitude of the residents? You said initially they were pretty panicked. How has it evolved?

WILLABY: Well, ever since yesterday, and coming around and we're helping all the residents. And they're very appreciative. The people of Elizabeth City are very appreciative. And we appreciate their hospitality here at the National Guard. Now, it's families and employees that actually make the National Guard be able to do their job.

KOCH: Captain John Willaby, thank you so much for joining us and for the good work you're doing here in Elizabeth City.

Now city officials say they really have no way of pumping out this water that has collected in this neighborhood, low lying, very marshy. They say it could be another 24 hours before it dries out for everyone to be able to come and go as they'd like to.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll have to have a lot of patience over the next 24 hours. Thanks very much, Kathleen Koch in Elizabeth City.

And stay with CNN as we track these storms 24 hours a day. And coming up at 4:30 Eastern, Rob Marciano joins us live with more coverage of Ernesto's impact here on the East Coast.

Vigilant justice or a horrible mistake? A father stands accused of murdering a man he thinks molested his 2-year-old daughter. That story next.

Plus Kofi Annan's mission in Iran. Trying to head up a nuclear standoff. Details on the UN chief's trip coming up.

And Tom Cruise has something to say to actress Brooke Shields. So he heads over to her house to say it in person. What does he say? You have to stick around for that one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New developments in Iraq. Insurgents shot and killed at least 14 Shiite pilgrims from India and Pakistan. Police say the pilgrims were headed to the holy city of Karbala when their bus was ambushed. A new Pentagon report says sectarian violence in Iraq is on the rise and poses a significant threat to the country's stability. It points to a 15 percent jump in attacks over the summer. And an alarming 51 percent increase in Iraqi casualties since the spring.

Today coalition forces transferred control of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison to Iraq. All detainees had been moved to other facilities and the prison stands empty. Abu Ghraib was the site of that U.S. abuse scandal.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is holding talks in Iran today. He's pressing Tehran to compromise with the international community on its nuclear program. Complicating matters, the Iranian president's vow to push ahead with the program despite Thursday's UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment. CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan arriving in Iran today for two days of talks. He's met so far with Iran's foreign minister and also reportedly with the country's chief nuclear negotiator. Today he had very few words for the press. Here's what he had to say.

KOFI ANNAN, UN SECRETARY GENERAL: Very happy to be here in Tehran again. I'm here to discuss the implementation of Resolution 1701, which deals with the situation in Lebanon. And I will also expect to discuss issues of concern to this region and the international community. RAMAN (on camera): Annan there mentioning of course the cease- fire between Lebanon and Israel. Something he is bringing up in Iran because of Iran's close relationship with Hezbollah, as he did in Syria, hoping that Iran will use its influence to try to get this cease-fire to hold, to prevent the arms that are still, it seems, coming into Lebanon.

Now Annan did not mention specifically the nuclear dispute in those comments that Iran currently finds itself in. He did mention that he wanted to talk about broader international concerns. He'll be talking with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tomorrow.

(voice-over): The president today was speaking to crowds and reaffirmed his defiance against the world community saying Iran would not stop its nuclear power, would not relinquish its right to peaceful nuclear energy.

This as the country's war games which have been going on for some weeks now, today pinpointed air strikes, defense thence against those, Iran's military showcasing that on Iranian television, all of this about sustained defiance against the West over Iran's nuclear program.

(on camera): Iran has missed the UN deadline to stop the program. European countries specifically are trying to find a way to resolve this diplomatically. But Iran is standing firm and showing no sign it will back down. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Annan is winning support on one front there. Today Iran's foreign minister offered Tehran's full cooperation on UN Resolution 1701. As Aneesh's report mentioned, it imposed the cease- fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The U.S. and Israel accuse Tehran of supplying Hezbollah of weapons.

Coming up in about five minutes, the story of two neighbors and one strong allegation. Was it a crime of passion or cold blooded murder?

And at 20 past the hour, on the hunt in New York. Two troopers shot in an ambush. An escaped prisoner on the run. We'll have the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Soaring gas prices, eyebrow raising energy bills, we've all felt the pinch this summer. Well, how are skyrocketing energy prices affecting you? All day tomorrow CNN takes a special look at oil prices and what it is costing you. Tune in for energy crunch. Our coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. Eastern and lasts all day.

And now to news across America. The dragnet intensifies for escapee in New York. Police are scouring the countryside for Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. He escaped from jail in April and may be traveling between Pennsylvania and western New York. Authorities suspect Phillips in the ambush of two New York state troopers on Thursday. Both are in critical condition with gunshot wounds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA GIBBONS, NY STATE TROOPER: It's a small group of people that support Ralph Phillips and might be helping him. But if they are, they will be prosecuted. The state police will come knock on their door and they're going to be taken away and they'll be prosecuted.

The majority of people in this community support the state police. And we've seen that time and time again. They continue to support us and there's nothing more that they want than this man under arrest. They know he's dangerous. They've lived here with him. And they're aware of what he can do and they're frightened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Family and friends are mourning the death of Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor. Pennsylvania's governor has ordered flags in that state to be flown at half staff. O'Connor died yesterday from a rare form of brain cancer. He was 61. Pittsburgh's city council president is temporarily serving as mayor until a new election can be held.

Relatives of some of the victims of last weekend's deadly Comair crash are suing the airline. One lawsuit accuses Comair of negligence in the crash of Flight 5991 which killed 49 people. The lone survivor, the co-pilot, remains hospitalized. His condition has been upgraded from critical to serious.

Connecticut police investigating a fatal stabbing death are now looking at new allegations. Jonathan Edington is a lawyer accused of stabbing his neighbor. But police say Edington may have been in a rage after learning his daughter was allegedly molested by the victim. Tom Foreman has the story from Fairfield. It first aired on CNN's ANDERSON COOPER 360.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The violence began with a phone call. Police say Jonathan Edington had just been given deeply troubling news by his wife about their 2-year-old daughter and a neighbor. So police say Edington went next door, confronted Barry James, and stabbed him repeatedly.

CAPT. GARY MCNAMARA, FAIRFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: Mr. Edington just prior to the incident, received information leading him to believe Mr. James had sexually assaulted his daughter.

FOREMAN: Police say James lived with his parents, and his mother called for help, but by the time officers arrived, he was dead, a kitchen knife nearby. They say they found Edington back in his own kitchen, trying to wash blood from his shirt. He's been charged with murder and released on a $1 million bond.

JONATHAN EDINGTON, MURDER SUSPECT: Don't ask questions. I can't answer them.

FOREMAN: Neither family is talking publicly about the incident, but authorities say Edington is a 29-year-old attorney. They say eight years ago at a college in upstate New York, he was charged with disorderly conduct, dangerous behavior, and harassment after he trashed a Planned Parenthood display, yelling, "How many babies have to die?" But other than that, he has no police record.

James was 58. He was arrested in 2001 for driving under the influence of alcohol, and police say just weeks ago, he drove his vehicle through the back of his own garage into a neighboring house.

(on camera): Edington this past spring reported that James sexually exposed himself through a window. Police believe it was accidental, not a crime. Still, lately, several neighbors say James was behaving erratically.

DARELL MAYNARD, NEIGHBOR: Allegedly making obscenities to the kids going by. So I mean, he's had some troubling behavior over the last month that I know of.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Police are investigating all the claims, including that allegation by Edington's wife that their daughter was sexually abused by Barry James. Of course, James never knew of her formal accusation to police. It was filed after he had been killed.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: ANDERSON COOPER 360 airs weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 Pacific right here on CNN.

New terror arrests overnight in London. The story next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Plus a major breakthrough in the fight to cure cancer. An emotional story you won't want to miss.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in Richmond Virginia, where the sun is out now. But the water is left behind in this neighborhood. 250 -- 240 homes evacuated. Those residents still not allowed to come back here. We'll tell you why in a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And here's what's happening right now in the news. A new videotape message from al Qaeda lieutenant Ayman al Zawahiri. The 48-minute tape was posted on an Islamic Web site. It includes an introduction from a Californian convert to al Qaeda who is wanted by the FBI.

Technical problems are suspected in a crash of a NATO airplane in Kandahar, Afghanistan earlier today. Fourteen British service members on board died. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in Iran. He's hoping to get Iranian support to cut off weapons supplies to Hezbollah. Annan also wants to talk about Iran's nuclear program.

And new pictures of Fidel Castro. Right there it shows him looking better a month after abdominal surgery. The 80-year-old Castro is currently hosting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The crew for the space shuttle Atlantis say they're ready for liftoff now scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Bad weather shelved two previous planned launches. The crew will deliver and install solar panels on the International Space Station.

As Ernesto moves north, it leaves flooding in its wake along the Eastern Seaboard. These pictures are from Richmond Virginia. More than 200,000 Virginians are still without power.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is still able to go live for us from Richmond with more on that.

MARCIANO: Hi, Fredricka. A tremendous amount of rain, as you mentioned on the eastern part of the state. That kind of include Richmond, it's really eastern central. The sun is out now and the rain is gone but the flooding in spots remains. This is an area in town known as Battery Park. It is a neighborhood, as well as a park. Behind me is one of a few homes that's completely flooded by this flooding. The question is what led to this?

Well, they had storms before Ernesto. Then they had the tremendous amount of rain during Ernesto and now we're told with drainage, there's a problem with the sewer drain and the sewer drain is actually backed up. So a combination of weather and a very old infrastructure here has led to this. Look at how expansive this is. These are tennis and basketball courts.

This is actually called Arthur Ashe Tennis Courts here because Arthur Ashe, the great tennis player, learned how the play right in this park. He's from Richmond. It goes back, if you take what you're seeing on camera right now and multiply it by at least five, if not eight times, that is the expanse of real estate that we're talking about here. They actually have to pump this out.

They're trying to do that, but they're just having a hard time getting all this water and what not out of here. Two hundred and forty homes evacuated yesterday. Still not allowed to come back. They have to be inspected one by one by the Public Health Department. So that remains to be an issue. It will be a slow go. There's a shelter that has opened up for these folks. And as of right now, 60 people have taken advantage of that. Around the state, including parts of North Carolina, there are still 145,000 people without power.

During the height of the storm there were 600,000 people. We had a tremendous amount of rain. It was not a hurricane, but still had winds gusting in excess of 60 miles an hour and that certainly is enough to take down trees and power lines and the utility companies have had a tough go of it. The rain has moved out. It is actually a beautiful day.

Most of the flooding has receded except right here in this particular neighborhood in Richmond which continues to be a problem spot, Fredricka. They hope to have this mess cleaned up here in the next couple of days, but it's not draining all that quickly. Ernesto, just a tropical storm, but certainly quite a bit of headaches left behind.

WHITFIELD: Packing a big punch, what a mess. All right, thanks so much, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: I did, too. I learned a lot thanks to you guys. Thanks so much.

Topping our security watch, British police arrest 14 men in London. They're suspected of training and recruiting for terror attacks. Officials say these raids are unrelated to the recent trans- Atlantic airplane terror arrests. CNN's Robin Oakley has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Following months of surveillance, 16 men have been arrested by British police on suspicion of terrorist offenses. Fourteen were arrested in south London, a number at Halal (ph) Chinese restaurant. Residents said as many as 40 police were formed, some of them armed.

ROSS CLARK, RESIDENT: A load of police officers in full raid gear, with their head gear, (INAUDIBLE) just run into the restaurant. They were standing around some people, but I only say them standing around one person really. And the man in that home, a Muslim man with a beard.

OAKLEY: The owner said some of those taken away were regular customers.

MEHDI BELYANI, RESTAURANT OWNER: They just told me we are sorry for this. We have to (INAUDIBLE) suspicious to some of the customers. We have to talk to them. But they stopped everyone to eating.

OAKLEY: Police say the latest arrests are in connection with the recruitment and training of terrorists. They said there was no link with the alleged plot in August to blow up airliners on route from Britain to the United States or the London subway bombings in July, 2005. In an unrelated raid, police arrested two men in Manchester in northern England after three houses were searched.

A number of vehicles were taken away for examination. Again, police said there was no link to the August airliner plot. Peter Clark, Scotland yard's anti-terror chief, continues to urge the British public to remain on guard against the threat of home grown terrorism.

PETER CLARKE, DEPT. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER: The threat from terrorism is real. It is here. It is deadly and it is enduring.

OAKLEY: Now Mr. Clarke is revealed in a BBC interview to be aired Sunday that thousands of Muslims in Britain are watched as potential terrorist sympathizers. Not necessarily involved directly in plots, but as people who might support or encourage acts of terrorism. With the focus very much on terrorist training, police confirm Saturday they were searching a school in East Sussex. The Jameah Islamiyah Secondary School near Tundridge Wells (ph), but Sussex police said nobody had been taken into custody.

(on camera): While the latest arrests seem to involve the more general background of possible preparation for terrorist acts, rather than any relation to specific plots, they will further heighten public alarm. And the comments from Peter Clarke, that literally thousands of Muslims are being watched as possible terrorist sympathizers, will do nothing to help community relations.

Robin Oakley, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

Sometimes we take the marvels of medicine for granted. Well, not this man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a celebration. A celebration of life. It was the beginning of my daughter's life, her new life and the beginning of my new life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A breakthrough in the fight against cancer, next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Also, it looks like diet is a bad word in America, especially if you live in the south. The results of a new obesity study when we come right back.

Plus, he criticized her publicly, now Tom Cruise is asking Brooke Shields for forgiveness. Find out what happened, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Painful prices at the pump, soaring energy bills. We've all felt the pinch this summer. All day tomorrow CNN takes a special look at oil's price surge and what it's costing you as a whole. Tune in for Energy Crunch. Our coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. Eastern and continues all day.

The dreaded C word, cancer. It can spread fear among the strongest of us. But increasingly the disease is being beaten. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has one very unique success story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Mark Origer shared the dreams of many fathers I've met, to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. But melanoma almost took that away from him. He was diagnosed with the deadly skin cancer in 1999. After an operation, it went away. But it came back three years later. And by 2004, his doctors in Wisconsin could find nothing that would slow its spread. It moved into his liver.

MARK ORIGER, CANCER PATIENT: I was just pretty much devastated when I found out that I did not respond. Right around that time my daughter got engaged and I knew there was going to be a wedding coming up and so there was concern. I wanted to be there.

GUPTA: And the chance of that happening wasn't very good. But then Mark's dreams intersected with the dreams of a doctor half way across the country. Dr. Steven Rosenberg is a cancer fighting pioneer at the National Institutes of health in Bethesda, Maryland. When he was a young doctor in Boston, he saw a patient fight off cancer without any treatment.

DR. STEVEN ROSENBERG, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE: And it got me to thinking about the fact that here this patient's body had learned how to destroy his own cancer and I spent the last 25 years trying to figure out how to make that happen again.

GUPTA: Not with a knife or chemotherapy, or even radiation, but by reaching deep inside the body and teaching the human immune system to kill cancer all on its own.

A remarkable idea. And one that doctors put to the test in clinical trials with Mark and 16 other patients diagnosed with melanoma. The doctors took some of their immune cells, called lymphocytes, the warriors of the immune system and added the genes of a virus that would seek out tumors, attach to them, and destroy them.

In 15 patients, the treatment didn't work. But in two so far the cancer appears to have completely disappeared. Mark was the first and this week when we met him, more than a year and a half after the treatment, he found out he's still cancer-free.

ROSENBERG: Mark is, as you know, is one of the first patients to respond to this new treatment. So we're thrilled, I know he is.

ORIGER: Yes, absolutely.

GUPTA (on camera): How does it feel to be the first?

ORIGER: It feels unique, it does. It feels like quite an honor.

GUPTA (voice-over): Although the approach is still in clinical trials, the results are published in the journal "Science."

DR. STEVEN ROSENBERG, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE: This is a highly experimental treatment that we've used in only a few patients, but it represents a proof of the principle, for the first time to my knowledge, that you can actually genetically manipulate the human body and cause disease regression.

GUPTA: And, yes, Mark's other dream also came true as well. On September 17, 2005, he walked his daughter, Katie, down the aisle, virtually cancer-free.

ORIGER: It's a celebration. A celebration of life. It was the beginning of my daughter's life, her new life, and the beginning of my new life. I think I shook more through it than anybody.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Dr. Rosenberg should know by September 15th if the FDA has approved another clinical trial with an even more powerful gene therapy. He also is looking to expand his treatment to lung cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. For more information on clinical trials and how to qualify for them, visit www.ClinicalTrials.gov.

Well America is getting fatter. The nation's waistline put on a few more inches back in 2005. And a state by state survey says that 31 states registered an increase in obesity among adults. Some experts say beating the problem is not just a matter of personal choice anymore. They say it is time for the government and even the food industry to step in to help.

Joining us now to talk about this, Dr. Bill Lloyd. Good to see you. So what's the food industry and the government supposed to do?

DR. BILL LLOYD, UNIV. OF CALIF.-DAVIS MED. CTR.: Fredricka, this is the second report from a non-partisan health advocacy group called Trust for America's Health. What they're saying is getting fat and eating too much isn't simply a personal choice. It costs our country about $117 billion every year and we all know about the excess problems related to high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes related to that health crisis in obesity.

If there were some other disease that were killing this many people every year, there would be riots in the streets demanding action from our government to do something. That's what happened with smoking over the past 40 years. And some now say it's time to do the same for obesity.

WHITFIELD: In what way? What should or would the government do?

LLOYD: Oh, there's plenty of things that both local and state governments can do.

WHITFIELD: How?

LLOYD: If you simply look at the factor that can account for obesity in America, you'll figure it out. First of all, food choices. Compared to 25 years ago food that is sold to us now is more calorie dense and often less nutritious. We have limited time to cook because of our traffic problem. Maybe we need better highways. Also, there's too much physical inactivity.

Maybe our work schedule keeps us from going to the gym or maybe we live in towns that have unsafe outdoor conditions or don't have safe sidewalks so people can't get out and walk after dinner. So there's so many ways in which government can get involved in helping us make smarter choice and hopefully live longer.

WHITFIELD: And so what's the explanation we're hearing as to why nine out of ten of those states on the list that are dealing with an obesity problem in a most prevalent way happen to be in the south?

LLOYD: I've done a lot of research on this, Fredricka and the answer is biscuits and gravy, no, not really.

WHITFIELD: Oh, really, it's not? I'm thinking it is the food choice.

LLOYD: I think it has more to do with the economy than anything else.

WHITFIELD: Really?

LLOYD: If you track the performance of schools in the south where they do have health education plans and physical education plans but no enforcement and the disproportionate poverty in the south, you will find that not only are the south the fattest states, they're also the states that lead in serious chronic health diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.

So by paying more attention to the economic needs, you know, if you want fresh foods and vegetables, everyone wants to eat them, but if you don't have a budget for it or if there is not a store nearby where you can buy quality fruit and produce, then you can see all the slogans in the world, you'll never lose a pound.

WHITFIELD: All right, all great advice. Thanks so much Dr. Bill Lloyd.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD: Incentive for all of us then. Carol Lin here. Well maybe not for you.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: I was eating my Fruit Loops before the show.

WHITFIELD: Fruit Loops, not bad.

LIN: I think there's some vitamins in there.

WHITFIELD: All right what's ahead for the rest of Saturday?

LIN: Well, a couple of pretty terrific hours coming up. We're going to be picking up where you left off. We've got an interview with the state troopers on the manhunt for Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. He's accused of shooting two state troopers, ambushing them yesterday. He's on the run. They say he's armed and dangerous. So we're going to get the latest on this manhunt.

And then at 6:00 a really terrific story. A viewer up in the Midwest saw a Katrina victim, a profile of a Katrina victim right here on CNN. So what did he do?

WHITFIELD: Opened up his or her home?

LIN: Built her a home.

WHITFIELD: What?

LIN: I'm not kidding you, he built her a home. She was left with one dining chair after Katrina. So, it is really a terrific story, a feel good story, but also he says that if more Americans did this, then that would solve the problem.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

LIN: But I don't think a lot of Americans could afford it.

WHITFIELD: I would say it would be nice if everyone had the ability to do something like that.

LIN: He had some humble beginnings though. That's what's kind of interesting. He really connected with this woman in that way.

WHITFIELD: Well that's a real story of inspiration.

LIN: You bet, a couple of busy hours.

WHITFIELD: All right thanks, Carol.

Well, there has been a new development in the feud between these two, Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields. Hear what the actor is saying now. That's next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. But first, in today's Life After Work series, the story of a Virginia man who was all fired up about life in his mid-60s.

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VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Retirement is a hot commodity for 65-year-old Richard Bush. Bush creates pottery from scratch in his (INAUDIBLE) farm studio in Leesburg, Virginia. He learned his craft by taking classes and workshops in the late '80s.

RICHARD BUSH, POTTER: What started out as just kind of a casual hobby turned into the first kind of a passion and then I have to admit it became kind of an obsession.

MORRIS: Bush worked as a magazine editor for more than 30 years. In 1997 he had a unique opportunity from his company.

BUSH: As luck would have it, I was offered a chance to retire early, and so even got a little bit of a jump start on what had become a bit of a fantasy. The idea was to have a studio and a showroom and a place where people could come and buy things, quite a few things that are new. I make a lot of vases, cylinders that are used for cooling wine, espresso sets, mugs, plates, you name it. I just absolutely love coming downstairs in the morning and rolling out some clay and getting on the wheel.

MORRIS: Bush says you can find him working about seven days a week.

BUSH: When you love what you do you just want to keep doing it as much as you can.

MORRIS: Valerie Morris, CNN, New York.

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WHITFIELD: Well, a truce has been declared between two feuding celebrities. Brooke Shields says Tom Cruise has apologized for criticizing her use of anti-depressants. Shields took the medication to fight post-partum depression after the birth of her first daughter. Cruise criticized her on "The Today Show" last year, saying depression should be treated with exercise and vitamins. Then last night on "The Tonight Show," Shields says Cruise came to her house on Thursday and she says Cruise was contrite.

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BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: He apologized for bringing me into the whole thing and for everything that happened. And through it all, I was so impressed with how heart felt it was.

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WHITFIELD: Well Cruise and Shields may have made up, but he is still out of favor with Paramount. The studio broke its relationship with the star last week, calling causing his recent off-screen behavior unacceptable.

And this just in, off the Mexican Baja Peninsula, Hurricane John, which was a category one until moments ago, now downgraded to a tropical storm. Our Bonnie Schneider will be joining us in the next hour to bring us up to date on the strength still of now tropical storm John. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Carol Lin is up next.

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