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Iraqis Arrest Militia Leader; Pentagon to Increase Recruiting; Oklahoma Recovering from Wintry Storm

Aired January 19, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live from the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips.

Can Michael Devlin be connected to more kidnappings? Which cases are police looking at closer? And what are they looking for to make a connection?

LEMON: Snow and ice, adding insult to injury. A second winter blast is crippling parts of the southwest. More on the storm's track from our severe weather center.

WHITFIELD: And China's blast into space. Why is the rest of the world so concerned? CNN's Jamie McIntyre with more from the NEWSROOM.

First, this hour, in Baghdad, signs that Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki may have gotten the message. Time and again, he's promised to take on Shiite militias, only to back down. It's too early to tell for sure, but that may be changing.

Here's CNN's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraq is already being put to test as it does try to move forward with this new Baghdad security plan.

Overnight, Iraqi special forces with their coalition counterparts arrested a man whom the United States says is responsible for torturing, kidnapping and murdering Iraqi civilians. He was detained just outside of Sadr City in a midnight raid at a mosque.

Now, Al-Sadr's bloc has identified him as being the director of their main office located in Sadr City. That is the Mehdi militia stronghold, saying that he is Abdul al-Hadi Darraji.

Now the Iraqi government is being put into a tricky position. Al-Sadr's bloc is trying to pressure Nuri al-Maliki to release this man. However, according to Nuri al-Maliki's new promises, he has said that there will be no political interference in military operations and that no militia will be operating outside of the law.

So far, according to Ali Daba (ph), one of the spokesman for the Iraqi government, it does appear that they will be sticking to that rule, that they will be fulfilling that promise and that al-Darraji will be fully investigated.

However, with the efforts from Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc to try to secure his release, how Nuri al-Maliki continues to play this one will be a clear indication of just how serious he is when it comes to sticking to his new plan to secure this country.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Let's get you to Pentagon now. CNN Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

I understand that they just got out of a briefing and they were talking about the strain of U.S. troops, Jamie?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The Pentagon, Don, is moving ahead with its plans to increase the side of the U.S. military, something authorized by President Bush and announced by Defense Secretary Gates earlier this month.

The Pentagon goal is to increase the number of ground troops in the U.S. military by 92,000. What they want to do is add 65,000 soldiers to the Army. And then an additional 27,000 Marines to the Marine Corps, which is the smaller of the two services.

How are they going to do it? Well, they insist that they can do this, despite the fact that there's a deadly war going on in Iraq, by recruiting more people and retaining more people.

They say the big challenge in recruiting is not so much the people they're trying to convince to have a life of service in the armed forces, but their parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CHU, UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Our real challenge out there isn't the young people, I would argue, it's parents, coaches, teacher, the older members of your contingent, who were asked by a young person, "Well, Mom, Dad, should I do this," too often get a sour and unsupported answer.

So our real challenge is convincing the American public, which views the military as its most respected institution, as you know, that military service is not someone else's job. It's everyone's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Obviously, the challenge they've got is not so much the respect for the military but the fear on parents' parts that their sons or daughters would be going into deadly conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, they say they do expect to be able to recruit as many as 7,000 additional soldiers each year, based on their experience so far. And the Pentagon notes that both the Marine Corps and the Army met their recruiting goals for last year, despite the fact that it was one of the deadliest and dangerous years in Iraq -- Don.

LEMON: And Jamie, what about the China -- China missile test?

MCINTYRE: Great consternation here about the fact that China, last week, used a medium-range missile to shoot one of its own satellites down out of the sky, showing that they have the capability to knock out a low-earth orbit satellite.

And this, the United States says, violates the spirit of cooperation that it has been trying to foster with China over the negotiation about how things will be done in space.

It also, obviously, poses a risk to U.S. military satellites. The military relies on those satellites for communication, for satellite guidance of smart bombs and moving troops around on the field, and also reconnaissance and surveillance.

So some people fear that this was a demonstration by China that, if there were ever to be a conflict between the U.S. and China, say, for instance, over Taiwan, one of the first things China might do is try to shoot down the satellites that the U.S. military relies on.

LEMON: Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre. Thank you so much for that, Jamie.

Despite those signs of al-Maliki becoming more assertive, he still has detractors. Among them, Senate Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who recently returned from Iraq and spoke with CNN's John Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, do you have any faith that he is the guy who can -- who can bring Iraq back to a state of security?

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: I don't have any faith.

ROBERTS: No faith in al Maliki?

CLINTON: Whether there's a gap between his intentions and his will and capacity is the real problem. Or whether he's doing what he intends to do to sort of Mark time and further, you know, the dominance of his sectarian supporters. It's hard to tell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And you can see the full interview with Senator Clinton on "This Week at War" with John Roberts. That's tomorrow at 7 p.m. Eastern and again on Sunday at 1 p.m.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, Defense Secretary Robert Gates touched down unannounced in Iraq today, again. In his second trip there in less than a month, Gates met with a host of military commanders, including the head of the British contingent in Basra. Echoing President Bush, Gates said failure in Iraq is not an option. Gates returns to Washington this evening and is to brief President Bush tomorrow, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who toured the Middle East this week.

LEMON: More snow and bitter cold. But what about ice? It still coats parts of southeast Oklahoma. Can they handle yet another wintry blast?

CNN's Reggie Aqui is in the town of Krebs, just east of McAlester.

What can you tell us?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This portion of southeast Oklahoma is still recovering from last week's ice storm. In fact, you'll see the icicles are still clinging to the trees, many of them down and many of these icicles still affecting the power lines.

The mayor here in Krebs expects anywhere from 80 percent to 100 percent of the people who live here won't have power for the rest of the day. He's very concerned about what's going to happen for this next round of storms, whether or not that's going to be just as powerful as it was last time.

We did have a chance to talk to a business owner here in Krebs. He runs a barber shop. He tells us he believes that Oklahomans are strong and can get through this together.

FLOYD HENDERSON, BARBER SHOP OWNER: Slept here last night and woke up this morning and the power's out again. They said two towers went down, or two more towers went out or something. Something happened to them. I don't know what it was.

But they're hoping to get it back on again today sometime. So you just deal.

AQUI: FEMA and the Red Cross have descended upon the up towns that we are surrounded by. They are here for the long haul. And they're ready for it to get worse before it gets better. The Red Cross has already opened up several shelters for those who have no heat at home.

Reggie Aqui, CNN, Krebs, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Chilly and stormy. Another weekend to stay indoors, at least for some of us. Reynolds Wolf is in the weather center. Hi, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Don't you love coming to me for bad news?

WHITFIELD: Sorry. WOLF: It's just a horrible thing. Unfortunately...

WHITFIELD: But we know you're going to bring sunshine in the end as well.

WOLF: My heart be still. There we go.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WOLF: And trust me, one to three inches possible for Krebs, Oklahoma. That's a lot of snow. Much more than they want to deal with. Let's get back to you.

WHITFIELD: You don't want to hear anything like that. Instead, what you want is a plane ticket to, say, Miami.

WOLF: No question.

WHITFIELD: Eighty degree temperatures. Incredible.

WOLF: You could sit all the way in the back. You don't even need an aisle seat for that.

WHITFIELD; Exactly.

WOLF: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot, Reynolds.

Well, the British, my friend, they're blowing in the wind. And they aren't the only ones as wicked weather does a number on people across Europe. Details on a destructive storm straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Relieved by his return, yet anguished by the pain he suffered, the parents of Shawn Hornbeck talk about riding an emotional roller coaster. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Shawn Hornbeck, Shawn Devlin. Two names, one boy who spent four years as an abducted child, leading a double life. It's been a week since Shawn and his family were reunited. And details of his ordeal are starting to come to life.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports he had a girlfriend and the two went to a school dance last month. There are many questions. And CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" anchor Soledad O'Brien posed a difficult one to Shawn's parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": There are many people who assume that there was some kind of sexual abuse involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. O'BRIEN: Do you think that that's the case?

PAM AKERS, MOTHER OF SHAWN HORNBECK: It's a question that no parent -- every parent is going to go through their mind. That's one of the questions I will be asking Shawn when the time is right and when he feels that he can talk about it.

But I don't want everybody to think that he had this perfect life with this guy. There's no way he had a perfect life with this guy. Shawn was happy at home. He had a good home. I know he wanted to be at home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Shawn's parents say they do think their son was sexually abused. Michael Devlin has been charged with kidnapping, but not sexual abuse. You can watch Soledad's entire interview on CNN.com/Pipeline.

WHITFIELD: He admitted doing favors in exchange for gifts, meals and golf trips from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Now former Ohio congressman Bob Ney is headed to prison.

A federal judge today sentenced Ney to 30 months, three months longer than prosecutors had asked for. The judge called Ney's corruption a, quote, "serious abuse of the public trust."

Ney will still be eligible for his congressional pension. The National Taxpayers Union says he'll stand to receive $29,000 a year when he turns 62, nine years from now.

The fallout from the Mark Foley page scandal carried over into the new Congress, and today the House took action. Members voted unanimously to overhaul the program, giving both parties equal say. A former page and a parent will be added to the program's oversight board.

Last year, you'll remember, then Congressman Mark Foley was found to have sent improper e-mails and messages to former pages. Leaders were criticized for allegedly trying to keep things quiet.

LEMON: You may remember ethical misdeeds were a huge issue in midterm elections last fall. Last night, the Senate voted 96-2 to ban free gifts and trips from lobbyists. The bill would also deny congressional pensions to lawmakers convicted of serious crimes. Both parties are calling the vote a win for Congress and the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: On the short term this is going to be difficult, because we're going to have to get used to these provisions that are in this piece of legislation. But in the long term, we'll all be thankful that these steps have been taken. This legislation will remove even the appearance of impropriety from the work that's done in this chamber. Mr. President, this is not a time for declaring victory. This is for legislation. Legislation is the art of compromise, the art of consensus building. There has been a victor in all this, when this matter is completed. And that's the American people.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: I congratulate all senators for an extraordinary accomplishment under very difficult circumstances on a broad bipartisan basis. And the patience that was exhibited to allow us to get to this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And a vote was held up today over a Republican amendment that both sides finally agreed to take later. The ethics package goes back to the House later next month.

WHITFIELD: So why are some ministers throwing the book at the president of the United States? There's a Methodist to the madness over plans for the George W. Bush presidential library. Details on that, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And millions of refugees at risk. Now even aid workers threaten to leave the war-torn region of Darfur. Next in the NEWSROOM, a live interview about the last-ditch effort to stop the bloodshed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Congress is one step closer to doing away with billions of dollars in tax breaks for big oil. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about how the industry is reacting to all of this -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I think you know, Don.

Oil companies today are united in their opposition to the bill, which was the last of six high priority measures passed under the Democrats' first 100 hours in control.

Lawmakers approved a bill yesterday that would scrap nearly $6 billion in tax breaks for big oil and slap energy companies with a conservation fee for deep water drilling. All told, the legislation could produce as much as $14 billion in additional revenue. Most of that money would be used to promote renewable and alternative fuels.

Well, ConocoPhillips says it's disappointed in the vote and says it was, quote, "more about lawmakers making a political statement than about creating an energy policy that addresses consumers' needs," unquote.

The measure now heads to the Senate, where its future is less certain. Democrats, of course, have only a slim majority there -- Don.

LEMON: You know what? I want to ask you real quick about this. It hasn't affected home, yet, right? The home heating oil or the prices there?

LISOVICZ: Well, I mean, we've talked about this a lot, that one of the big stories of the year is that oil prices have come down so dramatically this year. And one of the reasons why is that we've had a mild winter, so there's not so much need for home heating oil.

So you're seeing energy companies pressured, because their profits are just not going to be as high. And that's something that we've talked about with the relatively mild winter, swelling inventories, because there's not so much demand.

But here's something new: less use of crude oil around the world. A new report from the International Energy Agency shows oil consumption in industrialized nations fell last year, the first time that's happened in more than two decades.

The report indicates that business and consumers are finally cutting back on how much energy they use in reaction to persistently high prices.

Just today, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, opened the first a new line of energy efficient stores. It will use 20 percent less energy than its traditional supercenters. And Wal-Mart has said its the biggest user of energy in the world.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: And that's the latest from Wall Street. Coming up, Toyota is recalling hundreds of thousands of vehicles. I'll tell you which models are affected -- Don and Fred.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. I asked you that because we're going to talking to Gerri Willis, Susan, about how to keep those home heating costs down this winter. Yes.

LISOVICZ: Well, if we have a mild -- if we have a mild winter that will help, as well.

LEMON: That will help a lot, right? That's the ultimate answer. Susan Lisovicz, always a pleasure. We'll check back with you next hour.

He spent almost half his life in prison, but now at the age of 21, he's getting a second chance. The story of Nathaniel Abraham. That's next in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And millions of refugees at risk. Now even aid workers threaten to leave the war-torn region of Darfur. Up next in the NEWSROOM, a live interview about last ditch efforts to stop the bloodshed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips.

A country at war with millions of civilians caught right in the middle. Can anything be done to save Sudan's Darfur region when even aid workers are afraid to stay? We're going to talk with the Save Darfur Now coordinator, Ambassador Larry Russell (ph). You're in the NEWSROOM.

But first, convicted as a child, freed as an adult. Nathaniel Abraham turned 21 today. That means he's free after a decade in custody. Abraham killed a man in Pontiac, Michigan, back in 1997 when he was just a sixth grader.

CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff has the story of Abraham's crime, his sentence and the release.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nathaniel Abraham is one of the youngest Americans ever charged with murder as an adult. He was 11 years old. His mother will never forget that day 10 years ago.

GLORIA ABRAHAM-HOLLAND, NATHANIEL ABRAHAM'S MOTHER: He was only 11. He really didn't understand the seriousness of the crime that he was being charged with. He couldn't even understand a lot of the terminology that was even being used in the courtroom.

CHERNOFF: Nathaniel shot and killed 18-year-old Ronnie Green Jr. with a single shot to the head. The defense claimed it was an accident.

ABRAHAM-HOLLAND: It's just an unfortunate accident with a child playing with a gun.

CHERNOFF: But prosecutors claim that Nathaniel, who had been in trouble with the law before, had intentionally killed Green and argued for a first degree murder charge and for him to be sentenced as an adult.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First degree murder, not guilty. Guilty of the lesser offense of second degree murder.

CHERNOFF: He could have faced a term of up to life without parole, but the judge chose to sentence the young boy as a juvenile. Which meant Nathaniel would be released after ten years in a juvenile facility on his 21st birthday. He's working on going back to college, getting a job and getting his life back on track.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very exciting. He wants to -- he is ready to get on with his life. And is very grateful for a second chance.

CHERNOFF: A chance after ten years of detention he feels he deserves. But that the young man he killed will never have.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, the faculty isn't sold, but SMU's Southern Methodist University in Dallas is believed to be on the very short list for George W. Bush's presidential library. A letter is being circulated on SMU's campus condemning the president's policies and a small group of Methodist ministers has launched an online petition urging SMU to step out of the running. So Mr. Bush seems to favor the university over any other location.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now I'm leaning heavily toward SMU. I understand there are some who have reservations. And my admonition to them, or my advice to them is just, you know, understand that a library, an institute, would enhance education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: SMU is Laura Bush's alma mater. The president is expected to make a final decision soon.

Harsh words about the vice president from a former vice president. Walter Mondale says Dick Cheney stepped way over the line, promoting his own priorities instead of supporting President Bush. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Mondale says Cheney has substituted his own policies for the president's and pressured government agencies on behalf of his own agenda.

A Cheney spokeswoman says Cheney was elected twice and is committed to protecting Americans.

Wolf Blitzer speaks to former President Carter and former Vice President Mondale later today in the "CNN SITUATION ROOM." That's at 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

WHITFIELD: Frightening, chaotic, dire, and getting more so by the day in Darfur. This desert region in Western Sudan has seen only violence between ethnic rebels and government backed militias for almost four years now. Villages burned, more than 300,00 people slaughtered, close to 3 million forced to flee. They're only lifeline, aide workers from the United Nations who themselves are under attack and now threatening to pull out.

Ambassador Larry Rosen now with the Save Darfur coalition, just back from his first visit there as part of a joint delegation. He joins now from Washington. Good to see you ambassador.

AMB. LARRY ROSEN, SAVE DARFUR COALITION: Thank you, Fredricka, for having me.

WHITFIELD: You, along with the former ambassador, and with New Mexico Governor Richardson, along with others with others as part of this delegation, went to Darfur, this being your first journey. What were your expectations? And what was the reality once you hit the ground?

ROSEN: Well, the expectations that we had were just as you described, that there's been a tremendous amount of violence and we expected to see the aftermath of that violence and the continuing evidence of that violence. And Fredricka, that's what we did see out there.

We visited a refugee camp that had had 25,000 people in it in July and now it has 43,000 to 55,000 in it. There was a great deal more guns around. We were hearing talk of the rebel groups fragmenting and of the violence generalizing, unabated government violence.

So we saw a lot of evidence of the humanitarian catastrophe taking that's been taking place, as you said, in Darfur for four years now.

WHITFIELD: And these thousands of people that you talk about, that you saw in the refugee camps, they have been victimized over and over again. The fear is they will be victimized again, especially with the threat of U.N. Aid workers and any other NGO group that may be there pulling out because of their safety reasons.

ROSEN: That's absolutely the case. Just two days ago, 14 U.N. Agencies that are working in Darfur said that they really can't carry on their work under the security conditions. And also given the many restrictions that have been placed on them by the government.

When governor Richardson was in Khartoum last week with our delegation, he talked to president al Bashar about this. President al Bashar made a number of commitments to improve security, to push back in areas where only the Janjaweed militia and not rebels are operating and to generally ease the red tape that prevents aid workers from doing all the work they need to do.

We haven't seen compliance with those things so far. We certainly think it's important the governments press the government of Sudan to do that and bring pressure to bear quickly.

WHITFIELD: So is it your view that President Bashar, or at least the Sudanese government, has been part of the problem, because that has been the accusation we've heard time and time again that they're actually -- that government is actually helping to continue suppress the people so helping to embolden the militias, the Janjaweed, who are responsible for a lot of the killing, the raping, and the pushing of people into these refugee camps and across borders.

ROSEN: Well, the government is not only allowing this to happen, but the government has been providing weapons and really in a sense, creating this Janjaweed militia. The government has been dealing with the rebellion in that part of Sudan by essentially taking the war to the innocent civilian population, destroying villages and driving men, women and children out of these villages into these large refugee camps.

When we were in Darfur, we were told that there are over 60 official refugee camps and probably perhaps another 35 to 40 unofficial camps. And each one of these camp has anywhere from 20,000 to, in one case, 160,000 people living in it. And they're living in the conditions that we see on the screen that you're showing.

WHITFIELD: So you set the stage for us. And if now there is some potential that Sudanese president Bashar may possibly become president of the African Union and there's been worldwide pressure on the African Union to do more, then you're not painting a very hopeful picture at all for this Darfur region are you?

ROSEN: Well there are -- no, I mean, clearly, it's a very difficult situation that needs very urgent attention. You mentioned the possibility that President al Bashar could become the head of the African Union. This would be extraordinarily ironic and bizarre. The African Union is the organization that has been called upon to send peacekeepers, up until now, and also lead the diplomacy to try and develop a long-term sustainable peace.

And here you would, now, in a sense, have the Fox guarding the hen house, in charge of the African Union. But even beyond that, Fredricka, there are other steps that are needed in terms of getting effective credible U.N. Peacekeepers into Darfur so that they can protect the civilians. And also moving forward a political process between the rebel groups and the government. Something which is entirely possible. The issues are not beyond human endeavor to resolve.

But obviously, this needs very, urgent engagement by the U.N., the African Union, by our own government and by other governments coming in behind them.

As in all such contacts, this is not only a question of diplomacy, but very often, diplomacy has to be accompanied by pressure on leverage points. And the vehicles to do that are out there and the governments need to take this seriously.

WHITFIELD: It's going to take world team work.

ROSEN: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Ambassador Larry Rossen of Save Darfur Coalition, joining us from Washington, thanks so much for your time.

ROSEN: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: And say the word Guantanamo and you think of GITMO, the prison camps, U.S. troops and enemy combatants. But there is another Guantanamo just down the road but a world away. Our Morgan Neil paid a visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORGAN NEIL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, vigilant U.S. soldiers are on patrol. They're guarding what the Bush administration says are some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. But on the other side of the security fences 16 miles away, the Cuban town of Guantanamo, that sense of peril seems distant. Most taxis are pulled by horses. The rhythm of life unhurried.

But that doesn't mean people don't think about the U.S. base.

"They're imperialists, the most powerful country in the world." Says Alberto. "And we are a country just 90 miles away building something they don't like. So we always have to maintain our revolutionary fervor."

The neighborhood barber, who like everyone here, has to struggle with an unpredictable supply of electricity, says all he knows about the U.S. base comes from the Cuban media.

"They say there's a lot of torture there, that they torture the prisoners that they bring from other countries. They say they're prisoners of war. President George Bush has repeatedly denied allegations of torture."

Guantanamo once played host to U.S. soldiers on a weekend pass, looking for a good time. Many of these old shacks once served as bordellos. No more.

(on camera): Before the revolution this is where American soldiers came when they were on leave. Neighborhood residents say this very intersection was full of soldiers drinking, looking for women and listening to romba music.

(voice-over): People in the town say the base used to help their sluggish economy. But they also tell stories of drunken soldiers run amok in this town. And it had a reputation as being a giant red light district.

"They gave a lot of people jobs," says Alberto. "That's the positive part. But the social part was bad. And those marines had a pass, it was a mess." At least that's what he heard.

Even so, Guantanameros, as they're known in Cuba, remain closely tied to the United States. In fact, the driver of this '59 Ford is back here visiting from the U.S., where he's hoping to become a citizen, bring his wife over. It seems nearly everyone here has family in the States.

AUDIO FROM CAR RADIO: We rock with U2 --

NEILL: On the radio station, American -- music broadcast from the U.S. base. People here say they'd be curious to visit the base 16 miles down the road. The most common reason they give: they hear it has great shopping.

Morgan Neill, CNN, Guantanamo, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The public face of Islamic extremism in Britain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One day, you will conquer Rome. One day, one day, you will conquer the White House!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Christiane Amanpour investigates "The War Within," straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And China blows one of its own satellites to smithereens. So why are U.S. officials going ballistic? We'll launch into that discussion next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Coffee -- the new power drink of exercise enthusiasts? Maybe. Maybe a small amount. And a preliminary study indicates caffeine may help relieve those achy muscles that follow an intense workout. Very interesting. Researchers at the University of Georgia say participants reported significantly less pain when they drank about two cups of coffee. That was before working out. The study only included nine women. So, men, you may be out of luck. No one knows whether men would get that same benefit.

WHITFIELD: I guess that also means you burned a lot more calories, with the caffeine boost -- you're like `n-n-n-n.'

All right, well, losing your purse -- well, that's a headache, but carrying it can also be a back ache. Doctors and physical therapists are sounding the alarm about those heavy handbags. While they may be fashionable, they can throw your frame out of alignment. The docs have been -- the docs, rather, say they've been seeing neck, shoulder and back problems all caused by too much stuff being schlepped around in a big bag.

Well, damage control at Consumer Reports: Just two weeks after sounding an alarm about unsafe infant car seats, the magazine now admits the real flaw may have been in its own tests. It issued a retraction, after hearing from government experts who reviewed the magazine's data.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE MASON, NAT'L HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMIN.: I absolutely do not believe that it was deliberate. But what they did wrong was essentially confuse the physics of a front impact crash with a side impact crash. These are very different crashes to recreate.

If you're trying to simulate a front impact crash, you're trying to simulate a car essentially driving into a wall and coming to a complete stop. But if you're simulating a side impact crash, you need to take into account that both the striking car and the struck car tend to be pushed along together and so it's a much slower stop and the physics are very different. And they really didn't run their test properly. When we calculated what they had done, we realized they were simulating crash tests at speeds somewhere between 70 and 80 miles per hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Consumer Reports is standing behind other parts of its car seat story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN WEINE, CONSUMER REPORTS SPOKESMAN: There were many components to Consumer Reports' car safety story. First and foremost, and we say this in all of our long-standing reporting on car seats, any car seat is better than no car seat at all.

Second, we've been urging for years for the government to adopt side crash tests for car seats, which it seems from the government's reaction to our story they are moving in that direction, and we applaud that. Third, we have called for the recall of two car seats, one from Evenflo because it failed our federal crash standards, and the second from Eddie Bauer because it could not be installed properly by our technicians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Consumer Reports promises to investigate what went wrong with the tests.

LEMON: Charged in two kidnappings, now a potential suspect in two more: Police in Missouri look at other missing boy cases, with Michael Devlin in mind. Details straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Young girls and violence:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Little girls are said to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice. But if they are, what are these girls in New York made of?

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WHITFIELD: CNN's Gary Tuchman finds out, straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: The famous line about hell and women scorned was used more than 300 years before the first girl on girl fight appeared on the internet. Now they're everywhere. And some believe it's not just a matter of more cameras and more video sharing sites but more violent girls.

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on the new generation of teenage brawls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little girls are said to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

But if they are, what are these girls in New York made of?

And what about these girls in California?

And these in Pennsylvania.

Disturbing girl-on-girl violence is increasingly prevalent on TV and the Internet, which makes you wonder how much more is taking place that is never captured on camera.

Doctor Howard Spivak of Tufts University is the author of "Sugar and Spice and No Longer Nice."

DR. HOWARD SPIVAK, TUFTS UNIVERSITY: Yes, girls are becoming more violent. And this is a trend that seems to have been escalating over the past probably five to 10 years.

TUCHMAN: An FBI crime report indicates that over the most recent 10-year period, common assaults among boys were slightly down. But among girls, they were up a startling 24 percent.

Dr. Spivak believes cultural influences have much to do with these numbers. Violent video games are one of those influences, he says. So are movies like "Kill Bill," with a female killer. And "Mean Girls," which lives up to its name. Impressionable girls, says Dr. Spivak, are vulnerable to these messages.

SPIVAK: We're seeing entire movies and TV programs revolving around a physically aggressive women heroes or heroines who are essentially doing the very same things that male heroes have done in the past. It's not self defense. It's problem solving where violence is the primary chosen strategy.

TUCHMAN: The violence is troubling, but some experts say so is some of this research.

PROFESSOR DARRELL STEFFENSMEIER, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: For 150 years now we've been having similar kinds of stories. The sky is falling. This generation is worse than the previous one. These are real attention grabbers.

TUCHMAN: Penn State Sociology Professor Darrell Steffensmeier has written that more awareness and better surveillance have increased arrests. But that does not mean the incidents themselves have increased.

STEFFENSMEIER: Now, it doesn't mean that girls violence can't be serious, but we're talking about trends and whether girls' violence is greater today than in the past. And the best conclusion I think we have from all the evidence is probably not.

TUCHMAN: The sharpest minds can argue over whether girls have gotten more violent over the years. There's no argument, though, that the sugar and spice moniker does not fit all.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A home away from home for soldiers and their families to heal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just not having to worry, being able just to be here and see for my own eyes that he's walking, see for my own eyes that he's getting better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We will tell you about the Fisher House and how you can support it. That's ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The war within. A clash for control of the voice of Islam in Britain. Well, this weekend, CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour looks at the radicals spouting hate and the teachers, imams, and others who are struggling to make the voice of modern Islam heard above the den. Here's a preview of her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANJEM CHOUDARY, ISLAMIC ACTIVIST: One day you will conquer Rome.

One day, one day you will conquer the White House.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anjem Choudary is the public face of Islamic extremism in Britain. His group, Amwar Jaroun (ph) disbanded before the British government could outlaw it under its new anti-terrorism rules. But that hasn't shut Choudary up.

CHOUDARY: Who are thyself, Islam or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Prophet Muhammad. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) deserves capital punishment.

AMANPOUR: That was Choudary's inflammatory rhetoric just days after Pope Benedict's controversial speech about Islam.

CHOUDARY: Pope Benedict, you will pay.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Pope Benedict, you will pay.

CHOUDARY: The Mujahadeen are on their way.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: The Mujahadeen are on their way.

AMANPOUR: Outside Westminster Cathedral, British Catholics looked on in disbelief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can stand outside our church and abuse us and abuse our religion and abuse people we hold dear, with absolute impunity.

AMANPOUR: The simple question to the Christians is, do you condemn what the pope said? Do you condemn the pope?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he said...

(CROSSTALK)

AMANPOUR: Yes or no?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If any of us was to amble up to, you know, the mosque at Regent's Park and say anything in regards to Allah or Mohammad or what have you. Best case, though, they take away the police for inciting racial hatred. Worst case scenario, attacked by a bunch of thugs wearing towels on their heads.

AMANPOUR: Even away from the bully pulpit, Choudary, who is a lawyer, not a cleric, continues to advocate extremist views, like calling for Sharia, Islamic law for Britain.

CHOUDARY: All of the world belongs to Allah, and we will live according to the Sharia where we are. This is a fundamental belief of the Muslims. You know, if I was to go to the jungle tomorrow, I'm not going to live like the animals.

AMANPOUR (on camera): Basically, a lot of what you're saying is, it's my way or the highway. I mean, how does that kind of logic fit into a democratic state like the one we live in now and like the one you live in? You live here by choice. Do you not believe in Democracy?

CHOUDARY: No, I don't at all. We believe that people must live according to the Sharia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: "The War Within" from CNN's special investigations unit premiers Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

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