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Bush to Focus on North Korea at APEC Summit; Baghdad Car Bombing Kills 5, Gunfight Erupts at Mosque; Questions Raised About Iranian Nuclear Program; Alleged Fake Plastic Surgeon Pleads Not Guilty

Aired November 19, 2004 - 13:00   ET

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

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


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Nuclear dispute. Iran denying accusations by the secretary of state, Colin Powell, about nuclear warheads. We're live in Washington.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Suspected nukes in North Korea. On the president's agenda as he heads to an international gathering in South America. We're live from Santiago, Chile.

O'BRIEN: Who is making sure the pills you take are safe? Questions in the air after an FDA official speaks out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM, BRITISH PRINCE: I think I have, you know, a pretty normal life, you know? Not really, I can say. Sort of fanfare (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: What's a prince to do now that he's graduating from school? William's big decision.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.

O'BRIEN: He really doesn't need a job, does he? I'm Miles O'Brien. Kyra Phillips is off today. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Springtime in Santiago and trade is in the air. Also, the passing stench of tear gas. It's APEC time again, the yearly summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

And from Australia, Brunei, Canada, through Thailand, the U.S. and Vietnam, heads of state are flocking to the Chilean capital for a working weekend.

That includes President Bush, of course, on his first trip abroad since the big election. Mr. Bush's imminent arrival fueled protests on the summit's outskirts today and a march to the streets of downtown Santiago.

We get the latest on the issues and the controversies from CNN's Dana Bash, live there.

Hello, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

And as you mentioned, this, of course, is President Bush's first trip abroad since winning reelection.

It's also his first trip as president to South America, a region that he had said when he first won in 2000 that he wanted to very much focus on, but of course, was detoured in terms of his foreign policy after 9/11.

Now, here in Santiago, he is, as you said, going to have this annual APEC summit of 21 members that are part of the organization. And traditionally, it stresses economics and trade, but the Bush administration over the past several years has tried to put the focus more on terrorism and security.

And for Mr. Bush here, his focus will be on North Korea. And it's interesting to note that perhaps no other foreign policy approach would have been more different had there been a President Kerry coming into office.

He, Senator Kerry, wanted to focus more on bilateral talks and one-on-one discussions with the United States and North Korea. That is something that President Bush has wholeheartedly rejected. He has focused over the past few years on multilateral six-nation talks.

And the members -- the four other members of those six-party talks will be here in Santiago. And Mr. Bush will be having one-on- one discussions with the leaders of Russia, Japan, China and South Korea.

Now, those are countries who many of them -- leaders have been a little bit frustrated, especially South Korea. His president said recently that they want the president and the administration to be much more flexible with North Korea.

But the administration at this point is signaling that they're not interested in doing that. The flexibility, of course, that other parties want is for the United States to have -- to perhaps give North Korea more assurances for security, for food before they agree to fundamentally dismantle their nuclear program.

Now, Miles, as you mentioned, Mr. Bush is greeted -- is going to be greeted here by protesters. That is something, frankly, that this president is perhaps accustomed to at this point, going to world summits around the globe.

This is going to be something that is focused on globalization. We're seeing protesters in the streets here in Santiago, also personally against Mr. Bush, somebody who they think is too focused on war and not enough focused on -- on peace making and human rights around the world.

Now one other thing, Miles, as I mentioned earlier. Many of the members really want to focus, return the focus more to the economy. And there will be a lot of pressure on the president to talk about the dollar. The dollar is quite weak right now. And it is hurting economies around the globe, especially some who are here.

They say that their exports are more expensive, but it also means that the exports for the United States are helped, now that the dollar is weak. So the Bush administration has signaled that they're not likely to change that any time soon -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Dana Bash in sunny Santiago, thank you very much.

Friday prayers in Baghdad led to yet another firefight today after a fiery sermon condemning the siege of Falluja. A short while later, a few miles away, a suicide car bombing took the lives of five Iraqi policemen.

CNN's Nic Robertson watching events in the capital and beyond. He joins us now live -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, that suicide bomber was driving a Mercedes car. It was laden with explosives. He drove it into a police checkpoint in the middle of the afternoon on the east side of Baghdad.

We're told there were three police cars in that checkpoint when he got right into their vehicles. He detonated the explosive. Five policemen were killed, four wounded, and six civilians also wounded in that very big explosion.

A little earlier, as you say, just outside of one of Baghdad's main Sunni mosques in an area of Baghdad, the Azamiyah neighborhood, a staunchly anti-American neighborhood, that mosque.

An incident precipitated outside following prayers; resulted in two people being killed, seven wounded.

Now what eyewitnesses say happened were that a group, perhaps 200 to 300 of the Iraqi National Guard, backed up by U.S. troops, arrived outside the mosque at the end of prayers.

Then, this particular witness said that people there believed that the security forces had come to arrest the imam and two of his deputies. It is not clear what happened, apart from the fact that shots were fired. Two people who'd been attending the prayers were killed and seven people wounded.

This comes just days after Iraqi government officials arrested some imams, religious preachers from mosques in Mosul for anti- government rhetoric during their prayers -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic, bring us up to date on what's going on in Falluja. Obviously, relief has to be high on the list of priorities right now.

ROBERTSON: There are some civilians coming out onto the streets, small numbers carrying white flags. They're afraid that they may still get caught up in the ongoing offensive operations by U.S. troops, who are still searching pockets of insurgents, although the -- although the exchanges of fire and those conflicts dropping off.

But it is still not entirely secure. The residents of the city, who have been -- who fled the city have not returned yet.

But the government of Iraq says that when they do, in their next food ration they will get $100 to help compensate and get them through the initial -- their initial period back in Falluja.

The government is committed to rebuilding Falluja. Water supplies have been damaged, electricity supplies in some part of the city damaged.

And also, people will be able to apply for compensation for damage to their properties. But as yet, the situation is secure, according to U.S. officials, but still not entirely stable. And those few residents who are there coming out looking for humanitarian aid supplies -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks much -- Carol.

LIN: Miles, right next door to Iraq, Iranian nukes, at least the questions of them, and questions about U.S. intelligence. A potentially volatile combination that's back on the front burner, with unproven claims from a dissident group and explosive assertions from the U.S. secretary of state.

Here's CNN's national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this is all generating a good deal of controversy at this point in this town.

Knowledgeable sources tell CNN there are questions about the reliability of the source of the intelligence that Mr. Powell referred to Wednesday when he spoke of evidence that Iran is working on delivery systems for nuclear weapons.

At the same time U.S. officials are angered by a "Washington Post" report quoting two unnamed sources and saying the information Secretary of State Powell shared with reporters Wednesday came from an unvetted single source, a walk-in.

While declining to say whether the "Washington Post" report is accurate or not, one U.S. official said, quote, "Public discussions of the details of the human source of intelligence is irresponsible and a remarkably bad idea."

Some are talking of a leak investigation on this matter.

The "Post" article said that a walk-in source approached U.S. intelligence earlier this month with more than 1,000 pages of Iranian drawings and technical documents, including a nuclear warhead design and modifications to enable Iranian ballistic missiles to deliver an atomic strike.

Now the Iranians last month did test a new Shahab III missile, which is said to have a range of 2,000 kilometers, and that's the missile that would presumably have a bomb put on it if that -- if a bomb were to be developed.

In Chile, Secretary Powell spoke to a major television network there about his comments on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I made a statement yesterday that said we have some information -- I've seen some information, and the dissidents have put out more information -- that suggests that the Iranians are also working on designs one would have to have for putting such a warhead into a missile.

This shouldn't be brand new news. This shouldn't surprise anybody. If they have been working on a nuclear weapon and designed a warhead, certainly, they were also trying to figure out how they would deliver such a warhead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Back before the Iraq war, of course, it was Powell who went to the United Nations to discuss intelligence evidence suggesting Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and that evidence now appears to have been wrong.

Officials are now expressing dismay that Powell may once again have been let down by less than sure intelligence. But other officials are even more dismayed that he mentioned what they say was supposed to be highly classified information.

So a fair amount of controversy about this one, Carol.

LIN: David, so what's next? How is the United States going to figure out whether Iran really is making nuclear weapons?

ENSOR: Well, they're continuing to watch everything they can watch, and obviously there are -- there are sources, human and otherwise, that they can avail themselves of.

But the clock is ticking. Next week the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, board of governors meets in Vienna to decide whether or not to refer Iran's case to the U.N. Security Council.

Of course, three European governments have made a tentative deal with Iran, under which that wouldn't happen. Iran would get trade and other benefits in exchange for allowing inspectors to make sure they're not enriching uranium.

But the point is, now you have these officials saying, Mr. Powell included, that it's not just enriching uranium. It's also developing the kind of nuclear warhead designs that would be necessary to have a bomb and put it on a missile. So...

LIN: Right.

ENSOR: ... it's really getting quite complicated.

LIN: You bet. All right, David. We'll be watching this story throughout next week. Thank you.

So many dollars. So little time. With members of Congress itching to gavel their lame duck session to a close, the biggest hurdle remains a catch-all spending bill that's now weeks overdue.

It finances the entire federal government, except for Pentagon and homeland security, to the tune of some $388 billion. Votes may come in both houses by tomorrow.

Not a nickel of this would be possible, absent votes last night and a presidential signature today elevating America's statutory debt limit. The new cap now: $8.18 trillion, $800 billion higher than it was yesterday.

Imagine having that borrowing power, Miles.

O'BRIEN: I wouldn't mind it.

Patients of a Miami plastic surgeon find out the truth a little too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER ARONFELD, PATIENT'S ATTORNEY: When Mr. Baez finally woke up from this procedure, he had two full female breasts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Whoa! Golly! All right. The man who performed the procedure is now under arrest, as well he should be, apparently. The rest of the story is just ahead. We are keeping you abreast of current events, folks.

And how do you turn your boss from Dr. No into a yes man? Some tips on getting your way on the job.

And if you thought your e-mailbox was chock full of spam, wait until you hear about the man who gets four million spams a day. I bet you could guess who he is if you thought about it. Find out who's constantly hitting the delete key -- well, actually, he has his people do that. A little later on LIVE FROM.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: How far is too far in the quest for physical perfection? Popular reality shows like "Extreme Makeover" have pushed the envelope, and dramas like "Nip and Tuck" have taken it even further.

But CNN's John Zarrella has a true story that beats just about everything you may have seen before.

Heads up. This report is not for the squeamish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a medical procedure that brings new meaning to the world "malpractice." Police say the plastic surgeon in this video, Reinaldo Silvestre, was only pretending to be a doctor.

He gave the patient, a body builder seeking a more muscular chest, tranquilizers meant for animals. And his choice of medical instruments? A kitchen spatula.

ARONFELD: When Mr. Baez finally woke up from this procedure, he had two full female breasts and had to walk around that way for several months until the female breasts could be removed.

ZARRELLA: Five years ago, allegations of Frankenstein-like surgeries by Silvestre rocked beauty-fixated Miami Beach.

It wasn't that he was a bad doctor. Police say he wasn't a doctor at all.

Police think Silvestre came from Cuba about a decade ago, and they think he may have served as a nurse in the Cuban army. Before he could face trial, Silvestre disappeared. A tip led investigators to Central America, where they say he set up shop again.

ED MORENO, BUREAU OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITY: Mr. Silvestre was, in fact, practicing medicine in Belize and also teaching at a local university, medical -- to medical students.

ZARRELLA: Police arrested Silvestre in Belize, training medical students how to pass U.S. medical entrance exams. Extradited, he now awaits trial on charges of assault and practicing medicine without a license.

For Mileidi Pimienta, who says Silvestre mangled her breast implant operation, the emotional scars and desire to get even are still fresh.

MILEIDI PIMIENTA, PATIENT (through translator): Personally, I'd love to give him breast implants.

ZARRELLA: Information about doctors is readily available with a quick call to a state hotline. Investigators say Silvestre's patients could have avoided the pain if they had only checked.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Today Reinaldo Silvestre's lawyers filed a written plea of not guilty in a Miami circuit court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Up next on LIVE FROM, will the next pill you take help you or hurt you? Questions being raised about whether the approval process really weeds out dangerous drugs.

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very bizarre.

O'BRIEN: ... a mother's deathbed confession leads to a gruesome discovery about Dad.

And NASCAR revs up for the season-deciding race this weekend. The champion will cross our finish line for the LIVE FROM interview on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: They're raising the white flag at the United Nations, diplomats scrapping attempts to draft a treaty that will call for a total ban on cloning.

While most member nations at the U.N. support a ban on reproductive cloning, they -- cloning of human babies, there is disagreement over whether to allow cloning for stem cell and other research.

It's likely the U.N. will draft a weaker, non-binding declaration.

Many see this as big blow to the Bush administration. The president, as you may recall, called for a total ban on human cloning when he addressed the United Nations last August.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council had a rare meeting today outside Manhattan, in Nairobi, Kenya. The council left the U.N.'s New York headquarters for the first time in 14 years to monitor peace negotiations with members of Sudan's rival Arab and Christian factions.

Apart from an ongoing civil war, the U.N. hopes to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Hunger and disease have claimed nearly two million lives there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DANFORTH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Sudan must become a nation that respects human rights and that replaces violence with political dialogue. This process must proceed with dispatch, without posturing, without grandstanding, without empty words.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIN: Which brings us to news around the world right now.

Spanish police have re-arrested an Al-Jazeera television correspondent linked to al Qaeda. Tayseer Allouni was indicted in September 2003, accused of belonging to a terrorist group. He was released on bail a month later for a heart condition.

But judges ordered Allouni back to the slammer, fearful he might go on the lam.

Allouni, a Spanish national, strongly denies the charges, but if prosecutors prove their case, he faces 12 years in prison. The trial is set for February.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, what does the removal actually say? Russian media reports portraits of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Il, are disappearing from public places around the country.

But North Korean officials are strongly denying those reports, saying the story is part of the U.S. plot to overthrow Kim's government.

And some "buona fortuna" (ph) last night in R, at least at last night's MTV Europe awards, winning best group, best song and best video for "Hey Ya!" Usher nabbed two awards of his own for best male artist and best album.

O'BRIEN: Yes, whenever he speaks, we listen. We may not understand, but of course, Rhonda speaks the language of Greenspan. Greenspeak, as they call it. So she'll help decipher what he is saying and what it means to us now.

Hello, Rhonda.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 19, 2004 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Nuclear dispute. Iran denying accusations by the secretary of state, Colin Powell, about nuclear warheads. We're live in Washington.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Suspected nukes in North Korea. On the president's agenda as he heads to an international gathering in South America. We're live from Santiago, Chile.

O'BRIEN: Who is making sure the pills you take are safe? Questions in the air after an FDA official speaks out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM, BRITISH PRINCE: I think I have, you know, a pretty normal life, you know? Not really, I can say. Sort of fanfare (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: What's a prince to do now that he's graduating from school? William's big decision.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.

O'BRIEN: He really doesn't need a job, does he? I'm Miles O'Brien. Kyra Phillips is off today. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Springtime in Santiago and trade is in the air. Also, the passing stench of tear gas. It's APEC time again, the yearly summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

And from Australia, Brunei, Canada, through Thailand, the U.S. and Vietnam, heads of state are flocking to the Chilean capital for a working weekend.

That includes President Bush, of course, on his first trip abroad since the big election. Mr. Bush's imminent arrival fueled protests on the summit's outskirts today and a march to the streets of downtown Santiago.

We get the latest on the issues and the controversies from CNN's Dana Bash, live there.

Hello, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

And as you mentioned, this, of course, is President Bush's first trip abroad since winning reelection.

It's also his first trip as president to South America, a region that he had said when he first won in 2000 that he wanted to very much focus on, but of course, was detoured in terms of his foreign policy after 9/11.

Now, here in Santiago, he is, as you said, going to have this annual APEC summit of 21 members that are part of the organization. And traditionally, it stresses economics and trade, but the Bush administration over the past several years has tried to put the focus more on terrorism and security.

And for Mr. Bush here, his focus will be on North Korea. And it's interesting to note that perhaps no other foreign policy approach would have been more different had there been a President Kerry coming into office.

He, Senator Kerry, wanted to focus more on bilateral talks and one-on-one discussions with the United States and North Korea. That is something that President Bush has wholeheartedly rejected. He has focused over the past few years on multilateral six-nation talks.

And the members -- the four other members of those six-party talks will be here in Santiago. And Mr. Bush will be having one-on- one discussions with the leaders of Russia, Japan, China and South Korea.

Now, those are countries who many of them -- leaders have been a little bit frustrated, especially South Korea. His president said recently that they want the president and the administration to be much more flexible with North Korea.

But the administration at this point is signaling that they're not interested in doing that. The flexibility, of course, that other parties want is for the United States to have -- to perhaps give North Korea more assurances for security, for food before they agree to fundamentally dismantle their nuclear program.

Now, Miles, as you mentioned, Mr. Bush is greeted -- is going to be greeted here by protesters. That is something, frankly, that this president is perhaps accustomed to at this point, going to world summits around the globe.

This is going to be something that is focused on globalization. We're seeing protesters in the streets here in Santiago, also personally against Mr. Bush, somebody who they think is too focused on war and not enough focused on -- on peace making and human rights around the world.

Now one other thing, Miles, as I mentioned earlier. Many of the members really want to focus, return the focus more to the economy. And there will be a lot of pressure on the president to talk about the dollar. The dollar is quite weak right now. And it is hurting economies around the globe, especially some who are here.

They say that their exports are more expensive, but it also means that the exports for the United States are helped, now that the dollar is weak. So the Bush administration has signaled that they're not likely to change that any time soon -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Dana Bash in sunny Santiago, thank you very much.

Friday prayers in Baghdad led to yet another firefight today after a fiery sermon condemning the siege of Falluja. A short while later, a few miles away, a suicide car bombing took the lives of five Iraqi policemen.

CNN's Nic Robertson watching events in the capital and beyond. He joins us now live -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, that suicide bomber was driving a Mercedes car. It was laden with explosives. He drove it into a police checkpoint in the middle of the afternoon on the east side of Baghdad.

We're told there were three police cars in that checkpoint when he got right into their vehicles. He detonated the explosive. Five policemen were killed, four wounded, and six civilians also wounded in that very big explosion.

A little earlier, as you say, just outside of one of Baghdad's main Sunni mosques in an area of Baghdad, the Azamiyah neighborhood, a staunchly anti-American neighborhood, that mosque.

An incident precipitated outside following prayers; resulted in two people being killed, seven wounded.

Now what eyewitnesses say happened were that a group, perhaps 200 to 300 of the Iraqi National Guard, backed up by U.S. troops, arrived outside the mosque at the end of prayers.

Then, this particular witness said that people there believed that the security forces had come to arrest the imam and two of his deputies. It is not clear what happened, apart from the fact that shots were fired. Two people who'd been attending the prayers were killed and seven people wounded.

This comes just days after Iraqi government officials arrested some imams, religious preachers from mosques in Mosul for anti- government rhetoric during their prayers -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic, bring us up to date on what's going on in Falluja. Obviously, relief has to be high on the list of priorities right now.

ROBERTSON: There are some civilians coming out onto the streets, small numbers carrying white flags. They're afraid that they may still get caught up in the ongoing offensive operations by U.S. troops, who are still searching pockets of insurgents, although the -- although the exchanges of fire and those conflicts dropping off.

But it is still not entirely secure. The residents of the city, who have been -- who fled the city have not returned yet.

But the government of Iraq says that when they do, in their next food ration they will get $100 to help compensate and get them through the initial -- their initial period back in Falluja.

The government is committed to rebuilding Falluja. Water supplies have been damaged, electricity supplies in some part of the city damaged.

And also, people will be able to apply for compensation for damage to their properties. But as yet, the situation is secure, according to U.S. officials, but still not entirely stable. And those few residents who are there coming out looking for humanitarian aid supplies -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks much -- Carol.

LIN: Miles, right next door to Iraq, Iranian nukes, at least the questions of them, and questions about U.S. intelligence. A potentially volatile combination that's back on the front burner, with unproven claims from a dissident group and explosive assertions from the U.S. secretary of state.

Here's CNN's national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this is all generating a good deal of controversy at this point in this town.

Knowledgeable sources tell CNN there are questions about the reliability of the source of the intelligence that Mr. Powell referred to Wednesday when he spoke of evidence that Iran is working on delivery systems for nuclear weapons.

At the same time U.S. officials are angered by a "Washington Post" report quoting two unnamed sources and saying the information Secretary of State Powell shared with reporters Wednesday came from an unvetted single source, a walk-in.

While declining to say whether the "Washington Post" report is accurate or not, one U.S. official said, quote, "Public discussions of the details of the human source of intelligence is irresponsible and a remarkably bad idea."

Some are talking of a leak investigation on this matter.

The "Post" article said that a walk-in source approached U.S. intelligence earlier this month with more than 1,000 pages of Iranian drawings and technical documents, including a nuclear warhead design and modifications to enable Iranian ballistic missiles to deliver an atomic strike.

Now the Iranians last month did test a new Shahab III missile, which is said to have a range of 2,000 kilometers, and that's the missile that would presumably have a bomb put on it if that -- if a bomb were to be developed.

In Chile, Secretary Powell spoke to a major television network there about his comments on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I made a statement yesterday that said we have some information -- I've seen some information, and the dissidents have put out more information -- that suggests that the Iranians are also working on designs one would have to have for putting such a warhead into a missile.

This shouldn't be brand new news. This shouldn't surprise anybody. If they have been working on a nuclear weapon and designed a warhead, certainly, they were also trying to figure out how they would deliver such a warhead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Back before the Iraq war, of course, it was Powell who went to the United Nations to discuss intelligence evidence suggesting Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and that evidence now appears to have been wrong.

Officials are now expressing dismay that Powell may once again have been let down by less than sure intelligence. But other officials are even more dismayed that he mentioned what they say was supposed to be highly classified information.

So a fair amount of controversy about this one, Carol.

LIN: David, so what's next? How is the United States going to figure out whether Iran really is making nuclear weapons?

ENSOR: Well, they're continuing to watch everything they can watch, and obviously there are -- there are sources, human and otherwise, that they can avail themselves of.

But the clock is ticking. Next week the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, board of governors meets in Vienna to decide whether or not to refer Iran's case to the U.N. Security Council.

Of course, three European governments have made a tentative deal with Iran, under which that wouldn't happen. Iran would get trade and other benefits in exchange for allowing inspectors to make sure they're not enriching uranium.

But the point is, now you have these officials saying, Mr. Powell included, that it's not just enriching uranium. It's also developing the kind of nuclear warhead designs that would be necessary to have a bomb and put it on a missile. So...

LIN: Right.

ENSOR: ... it's really getting quite complicated.

LIN: You bet. All right, David. We'll be watching this story throughout next week. Thank you.

So many dollars. So little time. With members of Congress itching to gavel their lame duck session to a close, the biggest hurdle remains a catch-all spending bill that's now weeks overdue.

It finances the entire federal government, except for Pentagon and homeland security, to the tune of some $388 billion. Votes may come in both houses by tomorrow.

Not a nickel of this would be possible, absent votes last night and a presidential signature today elevating America's statutory debt limit. The new cap now: $8.18 trillion, $800 billion higher than it was yesterday.

Imagine having that borrowing power, Miles.

O'BRIEN: I wouldn't mind it.

Patients of a Miami plastic surgeon find out the truth a little too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER ARONFELD, PATIENT'S ATTORNEY: When Mr. Baez finally woke up from this procedure, he had two full female breasts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Whoa! Golly! All right. The man who performed the procedure is now under arrest, as well he should be, apparently. The rest of the story is just ahead. We are keeping you abreast of current events, folks.

And how do you turn your boss from Dr. No into a yes man? Some tips on getting your way on the job.

And if you thought your e-mailbox was chock full of spam, wait until you hear about the man who gets four million spams a day. I bet you could guess who he is if you thought about it. Find out who's constantly hitting the delete key -- well, actually, he has his people do that. A little later on LIVE FROM.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: How far is too far in the quest for physical perfection? Popular reality shows like "Extreme Makeover" have pushed the envelope, and dramas like "Nip and Tuck" have taken it even further.

But CNN's John Zarrella has a true story that beats just about everything you may have seen before.

Heads up. This report is not for the squeamish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a medical procedure that brings new meaning to the world "malpractice." Police say the plastic surgeon in this video, Reinaldo Silvestre, was only pretending to be a doctor.

He gave the patient, a body builder seeking a more muscular chest, tranquilizers meant for animals. And his choice of medical instruments? A kitchen spatula.

ARONFELD: When Mr. Baez finally woke up from this procedure, he had two full female breasts and had to walk around that way for several months until the female breasts could be removed.

ZARRELLA: Five years ago, allegations of Frankenstein-like surgeries by Silvestre rocked beauty-fixated Miami Beach.

It wasn't that he was a bad doctor. Police say he wasn't a doctor at all.

Police think Silvestre came from Cuba about a decade ago, and they think he may have served as a nurse in the Cuban army. Before he could face trial, Silvestre disappeared. A tip led investigators to Central America, where they say he set up shop again.

ED MORENO, BUREAU OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITY: Mr. Silvestre was, in fact, practicing medicine in Belize and also teaching at a local university, medical -- to medical students.

ZARRELLA: Police arrested Silvestre in Belize, training medical students how to pass U.S. medical entrance exams. Extradited, he now awaits trial on charges of assault and practicing medicine without a license.

For Mileidi Pimienta, who says Silvestre mangled her breast implant operation, the emotional scars and desire to get even are still fresh.

MILEIDI PIMIENTA, PATIENT (through translator): Personally, I'd love to give him breast implants.

ZARRELLA: Information about doctors is readily available with a quick call to a state hotline. Investigators say Silvestre's patients could have avoided the pain if they had only checked.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Today Reinaldo Silvestre's lawyers filed a written plea of not guilty in a Miami circuit court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Up next on LIVE FROM, will the next pill you take help you or hurt you? Questions being raised about whether the approval process really weeds out dangerous drugs.

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very bizarre.

O'BRIEN: ... a mother's deathbed confession leads to a gruesome discovery about Dad.

And NASCAR revs up for the season-deciding race this weekend. The champion will cross our finish line for the LIVE FROM interview on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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O'BRIEN: They're raising the white flag at the United Nations, diplomats scrapping attempts to draft a treaty that will call for a total ban on cloning.

While most member nations at the U.N. support a ban on reproductive cloning, they -- cloning of human babies, there is disagreement over whether to allow cloning for stem cell and other research.

It's likely the U.N. will draft a weaker, non-binding declaration.

Many see this as big blow to the Bush administration. The president, as you may recall, called for a total ban on human cloning when he addressed the United Nations last August.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council had a rare meeting today outside Manhattan, in Nairobi, Kenya. The council left the U.N.'s New York headquarters for the first time in 14 years to monitor peace negotiations with members of Sudan's rival Arab and Christian factions.

Apart from an ongoing civil war, the U.N. hopes to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Hunger and disease have claimed nearly two million lives there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DANFORTH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Sudan must become a nation that respects human rights and that replaces violence with political dialogue. This process must proceed with dispatch, without posturing, without grandstanding, without empty words.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIN: Which brings us to news around the world right now.

Spanish police have re-arrested an Al-Jazeera television correspondent linked to al Qaeda. Tayseer Allouni was indicted in September 2003, accused of belonging to a terrorist group. He was released on bail a month later for a heart condition.

But judges ordered Allouni back to the slammer, fearful he might go on the lam.

Allouni, a Spanish national, strongly denies the charges, but if prosecutors prove their case, he faces 12 years in prison. The trial is set for February.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, what does the removal actually say? Russian media reports portraits of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Il, are disappearing from public places around the country.

But North Korean officials are strongly denying those reports, saying the story is part of the U.S. plot to overthrow Kim's government.

And some "buona fortuna" (ph) last night in R, at least at last night's MTV Europe awards, winning best group, best song and best video for "Hey Ya!" Usher nabbed two awards of his own for best male artist and best album.

O'BRIEN: Yes, whenever he speaks, we listen. We may not understand, but of course, Rhonda speaks the language of Greenspan. Greenspeak, as they call it. So she'll help decipher what he is saying and what it means to us now.

Hello, Rhonda.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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