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CNN Live Saturday
Government Lands Major Drug Bust; Northwest Mechanics Strike; Gas Prices Still on The Rise; Hunting IEDs on The Frontlines; What Are The Warning Signs of a Stroke?; American Intelligence Meltdown
Aired August 20, 2005 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's enough contraband to fuel the habits of nearly two million drug users. Now, it's all in the hands of the DEA. Ahead this hour, how the international drug bust went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go home, you scab!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Mechanics for Northwest Airlines hit the picket lines, so will your next flight make it on time?
And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open the hood! Trunk! Open them up!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: The hunt for improvised explosive devices. We are going to take you on patrol in Iraq. It is August 20, and you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
Good evening from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Coming up this hour, we are going to continue CNN's special coverage of high gas prices, including a story about a school district that raised the price of lunch because of fuel costs. And I'm going to have your top story in just a moment, but first these are the stories making news right now.
In Jordan, several arrests after Friday's attempted rocket attack on U.S. warships. A senior Jordanian official says the arrests may lead to the people responsible. Three rockets missed two American ships docked at Aqaba.
In Ramadi, Iraq, thousands protest against the way a new constitution is being drafted. There yet another Monday deadline. Religion and the role of the central government are the biggest stumbling blocks.
And in Cologne, Germany, Pope Benedict spoke to Muslim leaders, warning them about the spread of terrorism. The pope said mutual respect has to be part of the fight against intolerance and violence. Pope Benedict is in Germany for the World Youth Day festival.
That is what's happening right now, and this is our top story: President Bush announces a war on methamphetamine, and suddenly a major government drug bust goes down. But the White House tells us the timing is purely coincidence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our goal is to prevent and treat them all. Now, one size doesn't certainly fit all.
LIN (voice-over): Just one day after the Bush Administration announced its new drug strategy to combat methamphetamine abuse, a big bust spanning from Los Angeles to the Dominican Republic. It reads like a laundry list -- 3,200 pounds of cocaine, 55 pounds of meth, 15 pounds of heroine, 10,000 doses of ecstasy, 200 pounds of marijuana and $5.5 million in cash. All seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA says it has broken up three major Mexican and Colombian drug transportation rings after a ten-month investigation dubbed "Operation Three-Hour Tour."
STEPHEN G. AZZAM, DEA ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT, CALIFORNIA: They were manufacturing the stuff, and got it in Mexico, bringing it across with traditional shipping routes used, you know, to smuggle cocaine, heroin, marijuana, for distribution here. They had their own distributors.
LIN: The more than 160 people arrested are suspected of being involved in 27 distribution groups in the U.S. from Los Angeles, New York, New Haven, Connecticut, Des Moines, Iowa as well as the Dominican Republic and Colombia.
MATTHEW WHITAKER, U.S. ATTORNEY, DES MOINES: It's all part of a Los Angeles-based distribution organization and a national takedown.
LIN: The DEA says the ring smuggled enough contraband into the country to fuel the habits of nearly 2 million users for a month. The bust comes at a time when the Bush administration calls methamphetamine the most dangerous drug in America and has laid out a strategy that includes increased funding for treatment programs for the highly addictive drug.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: They also seized dozens of weapons during the drug ring bust, including a 50-caliber assault rifle with armor-piercing ammunition.
Now, to the first major airline strike in seven years. Northwest mechanics walked off the job this morning rather than accept pay cuts and layoffs. Replacement workers are taking their place, and some key unions will not be joining the picket lines. Northwest has hubs in Minneapolis, Memphis and Detroit. Rod Maloney from affiliate WDIV is following developments in Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are officially on strike against Northwest Airlines.
ROD MALONEY, WDIV REPORTER (voice-over): Just after midnight the mechanics'' union pulled the trigger on the strike the membership so dearly wanted, but the excitement lasted about three minutes until the word came that Northwest's Flight Attendants Union voted to cross the mechanics' picket line, a devastating blow to the mechanics. They counted on the 10,000 flight attendants to shudder the airlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very disappointing. It's -- we would sure like to have them. The pilots hit the ground first. They hit the ground second.
MALONEY: Jennifer Judd is the flights attendants' local representative, who personally encouraged her membership to sympathy strike. She admits her membership's vote surprised her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's extremely disappointing. I think our flight attendants really need to realize that Northeast Airlines is out to break the unions. They're a union-busting company and that's exactly what they're trying to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go home you scabs!
MALONEY: So then the sun came up this morning and picketers manned the line with the knowledge they are on their own. And they took their frustration out on replacement mechanics who spent a couple hours working on a Northwest DC-9 just yards away from the picket line.
Despite the pickets lining the departure terminals and the doorways, the airline ran largely as it does on any day. We found a handful of cancellations on the board, still, many passengers found what they hoped for, working planes. Karen Lucas of Woodhaven is off to California.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel sorry for the mechanics. I understand what they're trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, at the same time, I've had my tickets for quite a while, so changing right now really wasn't an option for me.
MALONEY: And yet, with all the activity around the airport, she leaves with a twinge of concern.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It might be a little difficult to get back.
MALONEY: And of course, other airlines fly from Metro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're glad we're on Continental.
MALONEY: And finally, Northwest Airlines spokeswoman, Andrea Fischer-Newman, says for all the excitement, the airline is doing just what it said it would. ANDREA FISCHER-NEWMAN, NORTHWEST AIRLINES SPOKESWOMAN: The scheduled pull-down from the summer to the fall schedule took place today, which provides you with spare aircraft. So you may seem some planes being fixed that are not necessary for today. You may see them pulled into service. It's all working just like it should work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Now, travel on Northwest had been smooth most of the day until an incident at Detroit. At the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, four tires blew out on a jet as it was landing. There were no injuries. A Northwest spokeswoman says it's too early to speculate on the cause.
And here is some more information about Northwest Airlines. It is the world's fourth largest carrier and employs 40,000 workers. Northwest operates more than 1,500 flights to 750 destinations every day. And it flies to 49 states and the District of Columbia as well as Asia and other world destinations, so the impact of the strike could be huge.
Well, it may not seem like much, just 19 cents, but when you're talking about something as essential as gas, every penny counts. AAA says gas is at an average of $2.60 a gallon nationwide this weekend, and that's just for regular unleaded. Prices jumped 19 cents this week, setting a record each day. Though the price would have hit -- have to hit actually $3.12 to top the inflation-adjusted high set back in 1981. Now, during the past year, prices have spiked about 73 cents, and that is an increase of 39 percent.
Well, make no mistake; those record gas prices are hitting some people very hard. For those with modest incomes, it may mean finding new ways to make ends meet. JJ Ramberg explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JJ RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Iris Bolta, filling up her tank is a draining experience.
IRIS BOLTA, FEELS THE GAS PRICE PINCH: I have to rearrange my budget. And now, I'm short. Whatever I switch around, I'm short, so this time I was very short in food.
RAMBERG: To make ends meet, Bolta is now coming to this food pantry on Long Island where she picks up donated groceries. Food pantry director Lorraine Whiffen says Bolta is not alone. She's seen a 40 percent jump in the number of people needing assistance just since May, which she attributes to the spike in gas prices.
LORRAINE WHIFFEN, ISLAND HARVEST: Because they're needing to fill the gas at the pump so that they can get to work or get their children to daycare, they need to cut back on the money they spend at supermarkets. RAMBERG (on camera): With the price of gas rising so quickly, it's not surprising that some people are having to slow down spending in other areas. And some major discount retailers are saying they're already taking a hit.
(voice-over): Earlier this week, Wal-Mart posted its lowest earnings growth in nearly four years, blaming high energy costs that eat into its customers' budget.
LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: There is a slice of the consumers out there, a slice of this country which is really under the gun, and these are lower income families. One out of every 5 people out there is feeling that right now.
RAMBERG: Analysts say prices may drop when the summer driving season ends. Iris Bolta will be watching closely.
BOLTA: I am praying that they go back down because I'm not the only one that's suffering. Everybody is going through my same thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMBERG: But Carol, keep in mind, there may not be relief this winter even if the gas prices go down, because then we get into the season where people start to have to buy heating oil. A government report just came out yesterday that said that it expects heating oil prices to increase by at least 16 percent this year -- Carol.
LIN: Hey JJ, have you heard of -- I don't know whether it's radio stations or people starting websites to try to, you know, give people tips on where to get the cheapest gas. Is that having any affect on folks and whether they can get cheaper gas?
RAMBERG: You know, the woman that we interviewed in the piece says that she does go around and look for where she can find the cheapest gas. There is -- if you go www.gasbuddy.com, that's a way you can find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood. And I know there are a lot of people who check on websites like that.
LIN: You bet. OK, that's nationwide and Canada, right?
RAMBERG: It is.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much, JJ.
For more special coverage of the rising costs of gas ahead in this hour, including what one school district is doing to keep the tanks in the buses filled. No, the students aren't having to pay a fare, but it's close.
Also, from husband and father-to-be to cold-blooded killer, we are going to go inside the mind of Scott Peterson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's in his gut? It's in his pocket right now. Watch him, watch him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: And on patrol in Iraq: hunting for explosives, danger is everywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Every week, we like to bring you the more personal stories from the frontlines and today, the hunt for IEDs. They're called improvised explosive devices, and they kill or maim more U.S. troops than any other weapon in the insurgents' arsenal. Our Alex Quaid is embedded with the Marine platoon whose primary mission is to get rid of the homemade bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX QUAID, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It begins with breakfast at Abu Ghraib prison and ends with a -- this is just another day for the Marines of Dragon Platoon, a weapons company from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
GUNNERY SGT. JEFF DAGENHART, U.S. MARINE CORPS.: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! Well, welcome to frigging Iraq.
QUAID: Their mission started before dawn. Gunnery Sergeant Jeff Dagenhart and his men hunt IEDs, improvised explosive devices.
DAGENHART: So everybody keep their head down.
QUAID: They've hit 22 in two weeks, but only minor injuries so far.
DAGENHART: There's no frigging smiling today, all right? Everybody got me? Frigging bunch of weirdoes.
QUAID: On patrol, daylight breaks. Gunny Dagenhart is already suspicious.
DAGENHART: What's in there?
QUAID: This is how his Marines battle the insurgency, searching for hidden explosives, one car, one person at a time. Next on their beat...
DAGENHART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) request permission to enter friendly mines. QUAID: ...Abu Ghraib prison. We go inside the wire, behind blast barriers and under watch towers. I talk with Dagenhart while his Marines go to chow.
(on camera): What is it that you're checking for? What is the daily...
DAGENHART: The vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.
QUAID: What is that?
DAGENHART: It's usually just like they pack the wheel wells full of C-4, TNT, maybe a couple of 155 shells or 125 tank round shells.
QUAID: So the actual vehicle becomes the bomb?
DAGENHART: It is a bomb. We've ran across three here in the last week.
Roger, we just left Abu Ghraib. This is where all the -- all the bad stuff originates around here.
QUAID (voice-over): The Marines call this area a car bomb factory and say insurgents blend in with the locals.
DAGENHART: Kalashnikov?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
DAGENHART: How many?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One.
DAGENHART: Show me.
QUAID: They search house to house.
DAGENHART: Check upstairs.
You can't trust anybody, even if they're nice and offer you tea. You'll go up on the roof and find 50 weapons.
QUAID (on camera): This lady has offered tea already.
DAGENHART: Yes. You go into some of these houses and see pictures of Osama bin Laden, and you're like, yes, OK. There's al- Zarqawi. We start checking a little bit more.
QUAID (voice-over): He hopes his platoon's presence keeps bomb builders off-guard.
DAGENHART: Open the hood! Trunk! Open them up!
QUAID: Without a translator, it's volume and gestures.
DAGENHART: Hey, what's your hurry? What's your hurry? Frigging slow down! Slow! Slow down!
QUAID: It may seem funny, but it's deadly serious. This crater is from an IED, improvised explosive device...
DAGENHART: That hit us yesterday.
QUAID: ...which is why the Marines also train Iraqi recruits.
DAGENHART: Lots of booms lately. Boom! Boom! Twenty-two in two weeks, twenty-two. Language barriers, it's all good, right?
QUAID: They race to where something has been sighted.
DAGENHART: Fasten your seat belts, gents. Oh, shoot! Johnson, keep your eyes down, a-hot, look to your left. White guy or possible shell. Look hard left. I'll look right. Shell, shell, shell, find me a shell. QUAID: Between here and those cars, maybe an IED.
DAGENHART: Find me a green bag. Keep your head down. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! No hole dug, no nothing. The trigger man is going to be to our right over here, and I see a car. Let's go ahead and eyeball that and then have your gunner scan to the right to see if you see a trigger man.
QUAID: They see something between the traffic.
DAGENHART: There's a dude standing what where the -- where that supposed IED is. Can you tell if he's got anything on him? What's he holding there, Smith? Can you see it? I don't know. What's in his gut? He's in his pocket right now. Watch him, watch him.
QUAID: Dagenhart zeroes in on him.
DAGENHART: See how he's holding his frigging shirt?
QUAID: His finger on the trigger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's looking at something.
DAGENHART: Yes, he is.
QUAID: It turns out to be just a shepherd.
DAGENHART: A guy playing shepherd over here with some sheep, and he's standing right where the IED -- where the supposed IED is.
QUAID: This typical day is only halfway through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Tomorrow, Alex Quaid continues her riveting look at the hunt for IEDs in Iraq. You can catch it right here at 6:00 Eastern.
In the meantime, the U.S. launched the war in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, yet none has been found. For the first time, hear about the conversations that took place behind closed doors, ahead in this hour.
And the wife of the Civil Rights pioneer suffers a stroke. Now, comes word that a U.S. Senator has suffered a form of a stroke as well. I'm going to take a close look at the warning signs and risks of this potential killer when CNN LIVE SATURDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Two prominent Americans are in the news today after similar health concerns. Senate Majority Leader -- Minority Leader, excuse me, Harry Reid's office has announced he suffered a mild stroke earlier this week. And Coretta Scott King's doctors say she's begun physical therapy a few days after a much more serious and debilitating stroke. Now, the news has many people asking about the risks and warnings signs for strokes. So Dr. Wendy Wright, we have her here today. She's an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Emory University.
Good to have you.
DR. WENDY WRIGHT, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
LIN: Our best wishes, of course, to Coretta Scott King's family. And I want to ask you about her situation in just a moment, but what was shocking to us was Senator Harry Reid. I mean here, he has something called a T.I.A. One of his spokespeople is calling it a mini stroke. What is that?
WRIGHT: Well, actually, a T.I.A. or Transient Ischemic Attack is a small interruption of blood flow that's temporary. The blood cells can't function properly because they don't have blood supply, but oftentimes the blood flow will be restored and the brain cells will go on to function normally.
LIN: So that's explains that -- he said he's going to be back at work on September 6.
WRIGHT: Exactly.
LIN: Just like that.
WRIGHT: Right, right, whereas a stroke or even a mini stroke, the blood supply, unfortunately, does not -- cannot be restored in time to see that those brain cells -- the brain cells die off. Oftentimes, they'll it a mini stroke if the symptoms are very, very mild. But a stroke itself -- it implies that the brain cells have died.
LIN: OK. Well, in his case, he's someone who, you know, ate right. He exercised regularly. I mean what do you have to do to prevent a stroke from happening?
WRIGHT: You have to ask your doctor what your risk factors are, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and family history are all risk factors for these things. Some of them can be modified, and some of them can't: older age, certain ethnic backgrounds will put you at a higher risk.
LIN: So...
WRIGHT: You must ask your doctor what your risk factors are and if they can be modified.
LIN: ... so your family history plays more a part almost than lifestyle when it comes to stroke?
WRIGHT: Well, it certainly can, absolutely, especially if high cholesterol and diabetes and strokes run in the family, definitely so.
LIN: How do you know you're having a stroke?
WRIGHT: Well, you know you're having a stroke by some of more common symptoms -- are weakness, usually on one side of the body, sometimes weakness on the face, dizziness. You can have headache. You can have difficulty with slurring of your speech or inability to speak.
LIN: Well, some people might call that a hangover, so...
WRIGHT: They may.
LIN: ... it's more serious than that...
WRIGHT: Absolutely.
LIN: It's very distinct.
WRIGHT: It's very distinct. It happens very suddenly, and you must seek medical attention immediately because the only treatments that are available are available for a very short time window, usually about three to six hours depending on the kind of stroke.
LIN: So you do have time to call 911?
WRIGHT: So you do have time to call 911, but most Americans, probably only 1 or two percent of Americans make it to medical attention in time to receive treatment.
LIN: Because they probably blow it off. They say, oh, I'm...
WRIGHT: That's right.
LIN: ... maybe I'm catching the cold or the flu.
WRIGHT: Exactly. And also, they're from a generation where there were no treatments for a stroke. These are more recent developments. And people need to know that treatments are available.
LIN: Coretta Scott King, 78 years old, heart attack and stroke...
WRIGHT: Yes.
LIN: ...but her spokesperson says that she's expected to make a full recovery. Is that possible?
WRIGHT: Well, it's certainly possible. Oftentimes, when somebody has a heart attack, they will have lack of blood flow to the heart, which is exactly the same thing as a stroke, just lack of the blood flow to the brain, and then blood clots can form in the heart. Those clots can shoot up to the brain and cause a stroke, but the body knows that that clot isn't supposed to be there. It can try to clear that clot out. Also, other parts of the brain can help to make up for that loss of function. So hopefully, she will make a good recovery.
LIN: She's in physical therapy right now, so she could expect to be walking normally again and...
WRIGHT: She certainly may have. Obviously, I haven't taken care of her, but she should -- the stroke victims can recover from these problems with proper rehabilitation.
LIN: All right, Dr. Wright, that's good news indeed for the family. Thank you very much.
WRIGHT: Yes. Thank you for having me.
LIN: Well, President Bush who likes to ride bikes for fun paired up today with someone who achieved international fame riding bikes for a living. Lance Armstrong joined Mr. Bush for a ride at the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas. The seven-time Tour de France champion and the president cycled for about 17 miles, and the White House photographer managed to catch the president in the lead there. Now, they took only one 10-minute break during their two-hour outing. Mr. Bush gave Secret Service members and other staff who had to come along on the ride, a present for their efforts. They got a t-shirt that said "Tour de Crawford."
All right, well, while the president pedals around Texas on a bike; the country is feeling a sharp pinch at the pump. Prices are skyrocketing and it's taking a bite out of some kid's lunches.
Also, do you have change for those pills? Prescription drugs now just a vending machine away. Has convenience gone too far this time?
And a gruesome ending in the search for a missing pregnant woman in Philadelphia. You are watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Welcome back, I'm Carol Lin. And here's a quick look at what's happening right now in the news.
Northwest Airlines says only a few flights have been canceled since union mechanics walked off the job over pay cuts and job security. This afternoon, four tires blew out on a Northwest jet as it landed in Detroit. Now, there were no injuries. An airline spokeswoman said it's too early to speculate on the cause of the blowouts.
And a source close to the investigation of last weekend's plane crash in Greece confirms that blood found in the cockpit of Cyp jet belonged to a male flight attendant and the body of a female attendant was found in the cockpit wreckage. There has been speculation that a flight attendant unsuccessfully tried to fly the plane after the pilots lost unconscious.
Space shuttle Discovery is on stop over at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. A modified 747 is given the shuttle a ride home from California all the way to Cape Canaveral. NASA is waiting for a break in the weather. The next chance comes tomorrow.
And record prices at the pump are affecting just about everyone. And we mean everyone. Even some school kids in Virginia are learning about it firsthand. Their lunches are getting pricier this year due in part to gas prices. Sumi Das explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sticker shock at the gas pump, a reality drivers may be learning to cope with. But are kids and parents expecting hikes at the school cafeteria? In Fairfax County, Virginia, they are.
PENNY MCCONNELL, REGISTERED DIETICIAN: The elementary students paid $1.70 for a lunch last year, and it's going to $1.90 this year.
DAS: Higher gas prices account for the nickel of the 20 cent rise. Increasing costs for food and employee health benefits are also factors. Parents say they worry this could be the start of a trend.
THERESA WILSON, PARENT: I'm expecting that next year they're probably going to try to increase the prices a lot more. And there are a lot of families that just won't be able to afford it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.
DAS: Inside and outside the school, surging oil prices are seeping into operating costs and affecting at least one program, Fairfax County school officials say, has to keep running, buses.
LINDA FARBRY, FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA, PUBLIC SCHOOLS: The cost of diesel fuel increased about 44 percent two years ago. Last year, it increased 40 percent. And that's a dramatic increase when you use 3.4 million gallons of gas.
DAS: By joining with other government organizations in the area, the school district is able to buy gas for a relatively favorable $1.85 a gallon.
FARBRY: The budget increase that we have planned for this year is $1.1 million over what we had budgeted last year due to the cost -- the increase in cost of fuel. That could pay for 18 teachers.
DAS: It could also pay for school construction and other essentials.
FARBRY: The cost of schoolbooks that we purchase is increasing because of fuel costs. The cost of the food that we bring into the system to serve the students is increasing because of the fuel costs. Those are hidden costs, but they are extremely serious and they have impacted our prices dramatically.
DAS (on camera): Fairfax County school officials say they're hoping for another mild winter. Any savings in heating bills could be put towards resources for the classroom.
Sumi Das, CNN, Falls Church, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: That is the ominous sound of an approaching tornado, and it tops our news across America. That twister was part of a strong storm system that hit central Kansas yesterday. Trees and power lines got the worst of it, some were flattened by the tornado, others got knocked down by the storm's high winds.
The 21-year-old son of Georgia's lieutenant governor is behind bars tonight, charged with felony DUI. Police say Fletcher Taylor's car flipped over on a South Carolina road killing the passenger. Officers say Taylor's breath smelled of alcohol. His father, Mark Taylor, is planning to run for governor in Georgia next year.
And police in Pennsylvania have found the body of a pregnant woman who had been missing for more than a month. The remains of 24- year-old LaToyia Figueroa were discovered in a wooded area outside Philadelphia yesterday. Police have arrested her ex-boyfriend and say he will be charged with murder.
And the murder trial of Scott Peterson, it was a family tragedy that became a media spectacle but not so much -- not much has been reported about Scott Peterson's early life and the events that made him who he was. Well, a new book by a forensic psychiatrist, Keith Ablow, reveals new information about the man convicted of killing his wife and unborn son. It is called "Inside The Mind of Scott Peterson," and Dr. Ablow joins me now from New York.
Dr. Ablow, good to have you. I'm sure at every cocktail party you go to; people have to say to you, why did he do it? I mean how could this man who seemed to have the perfect life kill his wife and unborn child?
DR. KEITH ABLOW, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST/AUTHOR, "INSIDE THE MIND OF SCOTT PETERSON: And what I tell them, at the few cocktail parties that I go to, is that his story really goes back to 1945, with the murder of his maternal grandfather for about $600, and that set in motion a chain of dominoes that literally crushed him psychologically?
LIN: What happened?
ABLOW: What happened is in the wake of that murder, his mother, Jackie Peterson, was taken by her mother and put in an orphanage. So his mom lost her dad to murder, lost her mother because her mother decided she couldn't parent her, and she was separated from her siblings. She comes out of that orphanage never the same. She has three lovers. She gives away her first two children. She tries to give away her third. Then, she marries Lee Peterson and has Scott.
LIN: Now, are you saying it's his mother's fault that he turned into a killer?
ABLOW: Not even close. What I'm saying is all of these events conspired to create an environment, which for Scott Peterson, suggested to him that he had to make himself devoid of real emotion. By the time he's a kid, Lee Peterson, his dad, told me we never had to discipline Scott.
LIN: Yes, he was the perfect child. So what's wrong with that?
ABLOW: He was perfect, because he was already gone. He was already psychologically suffocated. You don't want a kid who you never have to discipline and never have to correct. That means that child is psychologically already No. 1, very frustrated and tremendously enraged about it.
LIN: OK. But you -- the scenario that Amber Frey described in their early courtship, I mean this -- you know, the flowers, the phone calls, the champagne and strawberries, you know, this is a guy who seemed to know what love and romance was about.
ABLOW: Well, only as you would know it from a movie. This is a guy imitating a person, a person imitating a person, wearing a perfect mask of sanity but underneath it, again, very afraid emotionally, very psychologically destructive. And in fact, it's true, champagne and strawberries and yummy cookies for every date. In fact, when he's arrested for murder, one of the three calls that this guy makes from the prison is to whom? It's to a couple that he promised some of his special cookies to. Right. In other words...
LIN: Strange.
ABLOW: ... it's very strange. In other words, he's not responding like a normal person.
LIN: Yes.
ABLOW: He didn't in the early interviews that he gave either.
LIN: Yes. Remember ordering a, you know, a cheeseburger and fries and talking so casually when he's getting the news that his wife had been killed -- or missing, rather.
ABLOW: Well, when you think of that, when you think of him getting the death penalty and receiving it so stoically, think of Jackie Peterson emerging from that orphanage, which by the way, has been called a "cesspool of pedophilia," and is the subject of many lawsuits that are just coming out, saying it was a great place.
Well, you know what, the truth is that the denial in this family...
LIN: Right.
ABLOW: ...wore thin.
LIN: And you could -- you actually talked to a lot of people in the family, but you haven't yet been able to talk to Scott Peterson. If you were to sit down across the table from him, what would you ask him? What would you want to know?
ABLOW: I'd want to -- what I would say to Scott Peterson is, I know who you killed. Now I'd like to hear from your perspective who killed you? Who took you from a newborn and developed in you the capacity to have so little empathy for people that you would come to destroy your wife and unborn child? This couldn't have been your life plan. I don't believe there's the bad seed in the world.
LIN: Yes.
ABLOW: Nobody emerges on the planet with an evolving life plan to kill people.
LIN: And a man so shielded like that, how do you think he's taking his imprisonment?
ABLOW: Well, because he's wearing a mask, he's taking it just fine. In fact, he told Anne Byrd, his half-sister, "Listen, you know San Quinton is an historic building. How many people get to live in a landmark like that?"
LIN: That is sick.
ABLOW: And he also -- he said, you know, "It's such a small cell, when I get out, I'll just get a studio apartment, if the appeal works, and I'll go to Home Depot and buy everything I need."
LIN: You know, that's a troubled man and I don't mind the fact that he's behind bars. Dr. Ablow, thank you.
ABLOW: Thank you very much.
LIN: Well, he called the case against Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction a "slam dunk," but as the world knows now, former CIA director George Tenet was wrong. So we are going to take an in-depth look at the political fallout from America's intelligence blunders in the run-up to the Iraq War.
And you like a little meat with your salads? Well, you might be a flexitarian. What's that? Stay tuned. We're going to have a new definition for the newest word in dieting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: In our "World Wrap" tonight, forced evacuations of Israeli settlers from Gaza are on hold today for the Jewish Sabbath. They're expected to resume tomorrow, but sporadic violence is still being reported. Israeli troops say Palestinian militants fired a mortar shell that damaged a greenhouse just north of Gaza today. No injuries were reported.
In Madrid, an emotional state funeral today for 17 Spanish soldiers. They died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan Tuesday. It was NATO's largest single loss of life in Afghanistan. The soldiers were part of a security force preparing for next month's parliament elections.
And in Iraq, something we report all too often, a roadside bomb has killed another U.S. soldier. This one was on the southern outskirts of Baghdad. The soldier was an M.P. with the 42nd Military Police Brigade.
Now prior to the start of the war, scuttlebutt had it that Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, but months of searching turned up nothing. As our national security correspondent David Ensor reports that's just one of the mistakes in what some are calling a U.S. intelligence meltdown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): May 1, 2003, the president declares that major combat in Iraq is over. But Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, the primary reason for going to war, have not yet been found. George Tenet asks David Kay, who then was the chief U.N. nuclear inspector after the Gulf War, to take charge of the search.
DAVID KAY, FORMER CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: When I took on this job, I had a set of conditions to do it because I was essentially taking on the moral hazard, as I referred to it, for the CIA. That was, it was a CIA conclusion that there were weapons.
ENSOR: Once Kay is in Iraq, it's almost immediately clear to him that the WMD stockpiles he and his 1,000-strong team are searching for are not there. The illuminant tubes are an early signal.
KAY: When we got in, we found that they really were part of a rocket program.
ENSOR: The bioweapons labs described by Curveball don't exist. In private e-mails, Kay begins to warn Tenet that the evidence is falling apart.
COL. LARRY WILKERSON, FORMER STAFFER FOR SECRETARY OF STATE: George actually did call the secretary and said, "I'm really sorry to have to tell you. We don't believe there were any mobile labs for making biological weapons." This was the third or fourth telephone call. And I think it's fair to say the secretary and Mr. Tenet at that point ceased being close. I mean, you can be sincere and you can be honest and believe what you're telling the secretary, but three or four times on substantive issues like that, it's difficult to maintain any warm feelings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: That is just a glimpse. You can catch more of David Ensor's look inside the intelligence meltdown in "CNN PRESENTS'" special report "DEAD WRONG" tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
All right, are you a vegan, a vegetarian? How about a flexitaraian? Do you even know what that is? It's a common way of dieting explained ahead in our "Fountain of Youth." but first here's Joe Johns to tell us what's ahead "ON THE STORY" -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, HOST, "ON THE STORY": We're "ON THE STORY" from Washington, New York, Texas, Los Angeles and the Middle East. Ben Wedeman has the biggest news of the week, Israel's historic pullout from Gaza. He'll have the very latest.
Plus, Kelli Arena goes on the story at the FBI academy. Do you have what it takes to be a 21st century g-man?
And Alex Quaid embeds in Iraq with the Dragon Platoon. See what it's like to be a Marine on their mission. All that, plus your questions coming up, all "ON THE STORY" moments away.
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LIN: In our "Fountain of Youth" segment tonight, eating healthy can make you feel and look better. For many people that means eating only plant-based food, but becoming a vegetarian isn't for everyone. Now, if you want to cut down on the amount of meat in your diet instead of cutting it out completely, then you might consider becoming a flexitarian. And if you're wondering what that means, then well, here's the woman to ask. Samantha Heller from "Health" magazine joins me now from New York.
Samantha, what is a flexitarian?
SAMANTHA HELLER, "HEALTH" MAGAZINE: You know it sort of sounds like a fitness trend or all sorts of other crazy things and actually, it was voted the most useful new word by the America Dielectric Society a couple of years ago.
Now, flexitarian is pretty much what you said. It's someone who has mostly plant-based or vegetarian diet, but who eats meat occasionally. And you know all the different words, vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian, lacto, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), they all have slightly different meanings and there's a wide variation even within those definitions.
LIN: You bet. OK. I mean flexitarian, to me, just sounds like someone who is eating pretty healthy. I mean what's the difference?
HELLER: Well, a flexitarian -- it is. It's someone who just only eats meat or animal products occasionally and most of their diets is based in vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and all the healthy things we want people to eat. And in fact, it would probably be a healthier way or direction for us in which to go to help reduce our risk of many chronic and degenerative diseases.
LIN: All right, so -- OK, you know when this becomes a problem, Samantha? It becomes a problem when you hold a dinner party, and someone's got the peanut allergy, and someone doesn't like walnuts and you know, someone wants to eat -- you know doesn't eat anything with a face. So what are you supposed to serve a flexitarian if you invite a flexitarian over for dinner?
HELLER: Well, certainly, they'll be happy with a vegetarian meal. You know you don't have to have meat or fish at any meal. So you make a really vegetarian lasagna or a pasta dish or you could serve, you know, vegetables and whole grains, and legumes. You could make some great -- even tortillas or tostadas and wraps with things. You don't have to serve meat to a flexitarian.
LIN: All right.
HELLER: You know they only -- you know they eat it occasionally.
LIN: OK, so when do I know it's OK to serve meat to a flexitarian and not insult them?
HELLER: Well, that's such a good question, and the best thing to do is ask them, see how they feel about it.
LIN: Do you feel like eating meat this week? I mean is that -- is it as simple as that? I mean when do they decide? It just sort of sounds like a vegetarian who likes to cheat.
HELLER: Well, it does sort of sound like a vegetarian who likes to cheat. And I think the reason that word came about is that so many people said, "Well, I'm a vegetarian, but occasionally I eat chicken, and fish, and meat." And people were saying that's not a real vegetarian because a real vegetarian doesn't eat chicken, or fish, or meat, or animal products of that kind. And a vegan doesn't eat dairy products or meat. So there are gradations within that. And the best thing to do is ask the person, do you have any dietary restrictions, you know is there anything I need to know before we have our party.
LIN: Yes. Best to eat out, I think. What about you, Samantha? What are you?
HELLER: I'm a vegetarian, actually.
LIN: You are? OK? Well, I hope I wasn't too hard on the vegetarians.
HELLER: No, no, not at all. The thing is -- even the America Heart Association and USDA, we know that moving towards being a flexitarian is a healthy diet. We want to really reduce our intake of saturated fats, that artery clogging fat that comes in foods, so the low non-fat versions are so good for us.
LIN: All right. So when would you ever eat meat then?
HELLER: Personally, I don't.
LIN: OK, so nothing with a face, right?
HELLER: Now you know, I've said it on TV. Nobody knew that before.
LIN: You know we broke news on CNN once again.
HELLER: You did.
LIN: Samantha Heller, thanks very much, "Health" magazine.
HELLER: My pleasure.
LIN: All right, well, everyone waits -- hates to wait in line especially at the pharmacy. Well, that could soon be a thing of the past thanks to some new technology. It's a step forward with some machinery you already know. CNN's Dan Simon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started with ATMs and took off from there. Airlines caught on, so did movie theaters, drastically reducing ticket lines. What's next? You're looking at it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome. Please swipe your APM card or press the prescription number button to enter your prescription number.
SIMON: It's called an APM. You heard right, automated pharmaceutical machine, and it can soon be headed to your drugstore. This one is being tested in San Diego.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please sign the signature pad.
SIMON: The machine eliminates the need to stand in line at the counter. Just punch in your phone number and PIN, and the pills pop out.
WILLIAM HOLMES, DISTRIBUTED DELIVERY NETWORKS: It can take you out of a 20 or 30 minute wait in line for less than one minute then from the machine to pick up your prescription.
SIMON (on camera): So this is where it all happens?
HOLMES: This is the manufacturing area for final assembly and tests.
SIMON (voice-over): But humans aren't totally out of the equation, says William Holmes, whose company is making the machines. The pharmacist still fills the bottles as usual, and has to load in the packages. But from there, it's all machine. Bar-code technology makes sure the right medicines are dispensed, and of course, the APM gladly accepts your credit card for payment. Yes, good for those short on time, but Holmes says the APMs have a second mission.
HOLMES: There's an acute shortage of pharmacists. Some people say as many as 12,000 open positions remain unfilled today. Whenever there's a labor shortage, typically in this country, automation has stepped in to fill the gaps.
SIMON (on camera): But whether the drug machines gain as much acceptance as ATMs, for example, remains to be seen. First, state pharmacy boards would have to give the green light.
(voice-over): And some might be unwilling to do so. There's concerns the machines cut out the normal consultations between pharmacist and patient, and that they could mistakenly dispense the wrong package. But advocates believe they're actually more reliable than people, and as for the interaction, really no need for it, they say, since the machines dispense refill prescriptions only. Still, a screen prompt asks whether you'd like to talk with a pharmacist anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please take your receipt. Thank you. We appreciate your business. SIMON: Saving time with technology, now, only if they had a machine at the DMV.
Dan Simon for CNN, San Diego.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Imagine that.
That's all the time we have for this hour, but coming up next, "ON THE STORY," CNN's frontline correspondents take you inside the stories of the week, then at 8:00 Eastern, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes you inside the war on cancer. "Taming The Beast" looks at one medical center uses cutting edge methods to fight the disease. It's a fantastic hour.
And at 9:00, broadcasting legend, Art Linkletter talks to Larry King for the hour.
And I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern and our talk tonight, dramatizing the events of 9/11, should it be done? Hollywood is weighing in. Let us know what you think. A check of the hour's headlines is next.
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