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CNN Live Saturday

Is There Any Way to Win Cellulite Battle?; Rescue Crews Up Against Clock Trying to Reach Disabled Russian Submarine

Aired August 06, 2005 - 16:00   ET

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

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: So, if you swallow your bubble gum, does it really take seven years to digest? We'll find out if mom was right.
Is there any way to win the cellulite battle? Dr. Lloyd talks to us about the latest therapy, but it's not exercise.

And what do you get when you add a New York cabbie, diamond dealers and a suitcase full of jewelry? Well, you might be surprised. We were.

Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Gerri Willis. All that after this check of the headlines.

Rushing to the rescue, a British robotic undersea vehicle is expected at this hour at a staging site in the Pacific. Seven Russians are trapped in a stranded mini submarine on the ocean floor. Crews have looped cables under the sub and are trying to raise it. We'll have a live report coming up in just a moment.

And tragedy off the coast of Sicily today. Rescue crews are searching for missing passengers after a Tunis Air flight reported engine trouble and went down in the sea. Almost two dozen passengers have been rescued but more than a dozen others died. More on the rescue operation in a moment.

And known widely as a fierce critic of the Iraq War, former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has died. Cook was on an outing with his wife walking on a mountain in northern Scotland today when he collapsed. He was air lifted to a hospital in Inverness where he was pronounced dead.

And on a much lighter note, the crew of the space shuttle Discovery bid goodbye and undocked from the International Space Station today. The shuttle's now on a course to return to earth.

Monday morning at 4:00 Eastern, our Miles O'Brien will bring you live coverage of the shuttle's return.

Up first, two dramatic rescue operations are unfolding on the high seas, both with life and death consequences. The most delicate mission under way right now off the coast of Russia. Rescue crews are up against the clock trying to reach a disabled Russian submarine on the Pacific floor. In the sub are seven crew members and a very limited air supply. American, British and Japanese rescue crews are en route to the site. One team could arrive in minutes. We have two reporters on the story. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow, our Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon.

Let's begin with Matthew. Matthew, how much air do these sailors have left?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question and it's not entirely clear. In fact, there has been a number of reports coming from Russian naval officials over the past several days, the latest one coming just a few hours ago here in the Russian capital Moscow, saying that those onboard the sunken Russian sub had about 24 hours of oxygen left onboard that sunken submarine. But I have to say, it's a kind of thing they said just 24 hours before that as well. So there have been contradictory messages coming from Russian officials about how much oxygen there is onboard this submarine. What we do know is over the past few hours, Russian officials here saying they have again managed to make contact with people onboard, survivors onboard this Russian submarine.

There are seven crew members onboard, as you mentioned. They're making contact either through radio signals or perhaps through some other kind of acoustic signaling as they call it. And so the assumption is at the moment that there are survivors onboard. They're said to be in satisfactory condition by the Russians and the rescue effort is proceeding with that in mind.

WILLIS: Matthew, there's been a lot of focus on how much time it takes to get help there. But once they're there, how long would it take to get that mini sub free of the netting, and then to get those sailors out?

CHANCE: Well, again, it could be an operation that lasts just an hour or perhaps several hours, even longer than that. It's really uncharted territory. What we do know is that both -- Russian rescue workers are there at the scene. British emergency teams have made their way there, being followed closely by a team, of course, from the United States. And from Japan as well.

The British and American teams both have robotic submarines that they're going to be using to cut through the antennae, or the cables or whatever it is that seems to be snagging this mini submarine from Russia on the bottom of the ocean there, in the Barents Sea off the east coast of Russia's very remote far eastern seaboard. When they've done that, Russian authorities say they've already managed to tie a metal line down to the submarine and they're hoping to lift it up to a depth at which naval divers will be able to perhaps work on that submarine and extract any survivors onboard. So at the moment, it's at a depth of about 190 meters, just over 600 feet or so and they want to take it up to about 100 meters, 160 feet (sic) or so, which is a safe depth at which naval divers can operate. Gerri?

WILLIS: Matthew Chance, thanks for that report. Now, from the Pentagon, we have Kathleen Koch who will tell us more. Really a race against time here, Kathleen. What are you hearing?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, Gerri, what's happening is, if the Russian effort underway right now fails, first on the scene in about an hour, right around 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time will be this British unmanned submarine. It's called a Scorpio. It will be hoisted with the crane. U.S. Navy divers will help lower it over the side into the water. It's a very delicate process that we are told takes about two hours. As Matthew mentioned, not too far behind, a few hours behind the British unmanned subs will be two U.S. Scorpio subs. They will also then be lowered into place again, that taking several hours.

Navy officials say that they will then use the very bright lights in the video cameras on either one or if need be all three of the vessels to see just what's holding the mini sub in place.

CAPTAIN RUSSELL ERVIN, U.S. NAVY (video clip): Once we have a clear view of the problem, we'll make an engineering analysis on what's the best way to rectify the situation. And most likely, it will be using the hydraulic cutters on the mandible arms to reach out and actually slice those lines, which are fouling the ship, and holding it to the bottom. When that happens, we expect the submarine to come right to the surface, where we can retrieve -- recover her and open the hatches and refresh the air for the crew.

KOCH: Also on the way, two 500-lb atmospheric diving suits and seven civilian divers that that the U.S. Navy have flown to Russia from New Orleans. They will try to extricate the vessel by hand if need be. And finally then, still in transit, according to the Navy is something called a Deep Drone 8000. It's also an unmanned vehicle, though it's larger than the other three. It can dive to a depth of 8,000 feet, those normally used for recovery efforts. Ship salvage and underwater welding.

Now, at this point, there is no estimate as to just what this massive international rescue effort is costing. U.S. Navy officials say right now their focus is simply on rescuing those seven Russian sailors, Gerri.

WILLIS: Makes a lot of sense. Kathleen, tell us, I assume the navy does some training for this. They've got to have some idea of you know, precisely how they're going to go about this, as you were describing. How much time do they spend actually practicing rescue maneuvers?

KOCH: They practice for this sort of thing all the time. U.S. Navy officials we've spoken with say this is why they have this equipment. And the divers train for -- I mean, those who operate these little submersibles train for it constantly. And as a matter of fact, it was earlier this year that there were intense training efforts with the Russians, and with a lot of international submariners around the world for this type of event. So this is not something that any of them were unaccustomed to, or weren't expecting it to happen but were certainly trained for it.

WILLIS: That's good to hear. Kathleen, thank you for that report.

KOCH: You bet.

WILLIS: We'll hear more from Captain Ervin later in the hour. He'll join me in about 20 minutes about what he's hearing about that undersea operation.

And Russia knows from experience how delicate this situation is. Five years ago, Russia's nuclear sub, the Kursk sank in the Barents Sea. All 118 crewmembrs aboard were killed. The tragedy outraged Russians, who criticized the government for waiting too long to ask for outside help.

Search and rescue crews are frantically scouring the waters off the coast of Sicily for more survivors of a passenger plane crash, a Tunis Air flight heading from Bari to the Tunisian island of Djerba went down after reporting engine trouble. Now we're told many were rescued, others were reported dead or missing. Let's go to Rome and CNN's Alessio Vinci. Alessio?

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hell, Gerri. Let me bring you up to date with the latest numbers that we just received from Italian officials down in Sicily, and that is, at this time 23 people have been rescued. Three remain still missing. And we understand at least one of them, if not two, are the crew members and 13 are confirmed dead.

Now, we do not know the reasons why the plane crashed. But according to Italian air traffic controllers, the twin engine turboprop reported engine trouble about 3:20 p.m. local time and the pilot asked to make an emergency landing at the Palermo Punta Raisi Airport.

But eventually, 20 minutes later, without being able to reach that airport, the plane went down about 19 kilometers, or about 10 or 13 miles north of the coast of Sicily. It is unclear at this time whether the plane crashed into the sea, or whether the pilot was able to perform a so-called crash landing.

Now the plane was an ATR 72 operated by an affiliate of Tunisia Air. It was on its way, as you said, from Bari in southern eastern Italy to the popular resort island of Djerba. A popular place for Italian tourists, especially this time of the year, during summer holidays. And we do understand that most of the passengers, if not all, were Italian. Gerri, back to you.

WILLIS: I want to ask you a quick question, Alessio. Were there any reports of eyewitnesses or survivor accounts? Have we heard from anyone?

VINCI: We are beginning to read some survivors' accounts in the Italian news agencies here. Let me share with you one of them from a young man which particularly struck me. And that is he first saw one of the two engines stop working, he said, and then actually the propeller blocked. And at that time, he said that the flight attendant told everybody to remain calm, because the plane was about to land in Palermo.

At that time, he said at that time the second engine stopped working. And he said that's when the plane began its nosedive. Now, if indeed this account is confirmed, it means that the plane basically crashed nose down into the sea. And it's quite amazing to think that if that is indeed that is what happened, that 23 people, at least, survived. Gerri?

WILLIS: Alessio. It's a chilling account from that survivor. Thank you for the report.

Sixty years ago today the U.S. military launched the world's first nuclear attack when it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. We'll show you what today's generation of Japanese thinks of America's action.

And military action under way in western Iraq. We'll tell you what the Pentagon is doing now to neutralize the insurgency.

Plus this.

JOHN DYER, SON KILLED IN IRAQ (video clip): I keep wanting to reach back and change things and say, no, son, you can't go into the Marine Corps. I think that would have killed him. He may have lived to be 80 and I think for him not to reach for his dreams would have killed him just as much as that bomb in Iraq.

WILLIS: We'll remember the men lost this week in the war in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: The fight for Iraq is intensifying with developments on both military and political fronts. Iraqi leaders hold critical talks tomorrow to work out disagreements on the country's constitution. Now, a draft of the document is supposed to be finished in just nine days. But hoping to derail that process, the insurgents, who set off car bombs -- a car bomb in Baghdad today intending to hit a U.S. military convoy. Three Iraqi civilians were wounded instead. Insurgents also shot and killed two government officials, one Iraqi political leader and a guard for Iraqi lawmaker. All in the course of about an hour last night.

And on the military front, U.S. forces are continuing their offensive in the extremely dangerous western region of al Anbar. The operation is called "Quick Strike" and is targeting insurgents and foreign fighters in an area where 22 U.S. Marines were killed this week.

To many Americans, the sudden surge of deaths in Iraq has brought the war home as never before. And that's especially true in Ohio. CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A marine colonel recently told CNN there's no preparation for looking into the eyes of a father and mother and telling them their son was killed in action. That horrible ritual repeated more than 20 times this week for the families of young marines, killed in separate attacks within the span of three days in northern Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America, my home, sweet home TODD: In downtown Cleveland, city officials tried to offer solace with a vigil service. In this area, the pain is especially severe. One marine unit, the 3rd battalion, 25th regiment has reserve centers in Ohio where at least 13 of the marines killed were assigned. At this service, Columbus, Ohio Mayor Michael Coleman mourns his neighbors and prays for his son, a lance corporal still with that unit in Iraq.

MAYOR MICHAEL COLEMAN, COLUMBUS, OHIO: Stay with them now and forevermore. May we always support our troops particularly in these difficult times. May God bless them now and forevermore. Let us remember them.

TODD: They remember Lance Corporal Timothy Bell of Westchesterfield, Ohio. 22 years old. Nephew of a major league baseball manager. Killed when a roadside bomb struck his amphibious vehicle near Haditha. A marine through and through, says his dad, who recalls a final wrenching image of his son.

TIM BELL, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: The last time I saw Timmy is when I dropped him off before he left for Iraq. And as I turned away he grabbed me and he said, hey dad, hold on a second. I want you to wear this ring. But I want it back when i get home. It's a marine ring. So I guess I'll be wearing it.

TODD: Nineteen-year-old Lance Corporal Christopher Dyer, killed in the same explosion told his dad, don't worry. I'm going to come home. Now a father's anguish is almost too much to bear.

DYER: I keep telling myself, he put more into those 19 1/2 years than I have in my 51. I keep wanting to reach back and change things and say, no, son, you can't go into the Marine Corps. And I think that would have killed him. He may have lived to be 80, and I think for him not to have reached for his dreams would have killed him just as much as that bomb in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: In our "Living Well" segment today, battling those ugly pockets of cellulite. If you're searching for a non-surgical method to get rid of the unwanted fat, there is a new treatment you may want to think about. It's called mesotherapy. What is it and how does it work? Dr. Bill Lloyd with the University of California-Davis Medical Center is joining me to talk about this anti-cellulite technique. Okay, Dr. Bill. Fill me in. What is this?

DR. BILL LLOYD, UC-DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER: Hi, Gerri.

Mesotherapy has been around for about 50 years in Europe and it's gaining popularity in the United States. It's a series of injections that's designed to get rid of cellulite. Now cellulite is the fat that collects right beneath the skin's surface unlike the large, pendulous fat that you get that you can quickly get rid of by exercising and diet. This fat tends to stay. And so a lot of people are looking for a solution to get rid of the orange peel appearance around their hips and other body parts due to cellulite.

So injections by mesotherapy is one method that's being proposed.

WILLIS: Now you say it is being proposed, But does it work?

LLOYD: Well, that's the big mystery. We need to turn Nancy Grace loose on mesotherapy, because we have got different people telling different stories. Doctors who perform mesotherapy with injections claim their patients get marvelous results. But medical groups like the American Society of Plastic Surgeons tells us there's no scientific basis for it. That is, there is no clinical studies to show that it's dangerous, that it works or what you put underneath the skin really makes any difference.

WILLIS: Right. You said it's a series of injections. I read on the Web today that it's actually hundreds of needles you're talking about?

LLOYD: You're right. Hundreds of injections. Usually administered with a little electric gun. The needles are very sharp, and not very, very deep. And it takes multiple sessions. Each session is going to run you about $500. And most mesotherapists recommend eight to 10 sessions in order to get the desired look, if in fact it works. Now, Gerri, after investing $5,000, I think the psychology there would encourage you to say hey, I look fabulous, don't I?

WILLIS: $5,000. I was going to ask you what are the downsides, but I hear $5,000 I hear hundreds of injections. So if you don't like needles, stay away. But are there any other downsides? I understand it's really a cocktail of materials you're putting into your body. What do we know about how that affects your body over the long term?

LLOYD: Well, what we know is the FDA hasn't approved any of those substances. It can include a product called lecithin (ph), which is a powerful chemical. They say it dissolves the fat. Non- steroidals, verbals (ph), herbals, botanicals and even bronchodilators. That's right, medication we normally give for asthma patients like aminophylline are now being injected under the skin under the theory that it's going to make the fat disappear. This is not acupuncture. Acupuncture is proven science and they've done the studies and it works. But this is a different kind of needle and we really don't know what the outcome is going to be.

WILLIS: What is safer, liposuction or mesotherapy?

LLOYD: Well, liposuction serves a different purpose. Liposuction is inserted beneath the skin to go after those pockets of fat that we talked about in the beginning. You can't get inside the skin with liposuction, so there's some other alternatives. In addition to good old popular diet and exercise, some therapists try to offer wraps, like putting a tourniquet around your body so after you remove the wrap, the cellulite will be gone.

There is a variety of all types of topical lotions and medications. You may have heard about thigh creams that supposedly dissolve the fat. And as you mentioned already, focused liposuction, maybe what you have is actually a pocket of fact not really cellulite. So ask a qualified plastic surgeon. This one particular area, might it be a good spot for focused liposuction?

WILLIS: Dr. Bill, what do you recommend? What is the answer to the question? Particularly women suffer with.

LLOYD: I could never recommend a procedure or a technique that already hasn't been proven. And that's the case with mesotherapy. I'm going to encourage everyone to be proud of their lives, to enjoy a good lifestyle, to exercise regularly, to make the right choices about your diet, and if you have a little orange peel now and then, just live with it and enjoy your life.

WILLIS: Dr. Bill, thanks for that. I guess it's all diet and exercise at the end of the day.

LLOYD: As always. We'll talk again soon.

WILLIS: Thank you.

The U.S. military rushes into action to help a stranded Russian sub. Up next, I'll speak with a navy captain about the rescue mission and why Russia needed to call on the world for help.

Plus, life after the atomic bottom as the Japanese remember the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. Sixty years later we'll take a look at the issue from both sides of the Pacific.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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