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CNN Live Today

PGA Championship Gets Bonus Day Because of Weather; Gaza Pullout

Aired August 15, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are just past the half hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening now in the news. Officials say 28 suspected Taliban fighters have been killed in southeastern Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan troops are stepping up a campaign against the militants ahead of next month's legislative elections.
Gas prices have shot up 20 cents over the last three weeks. Motorists are now paying a record average $2.50 a gallon for regular unleaded. Prices remain below historical highs when you factor in inflation.

Washington State firefighters are up against a 49,000-acre blaze today. The fire is the largest burning on the U.S. mainland. More than 100 homes have been lost. Crews are hoping cooler weather that's coming in will beat back that fire.

And in Chicago today, a funeral for Ebony and Jet creator, John H. Johnson. Former President and fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton is among those eulogizing the media giant today. Clinton awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996.

PGA Championship gets a bonus day today because of weather. Will this turn into a playoff even later in the day?

Our Larry Smith is in Springfield, New Jersey with the latest.

Hey, Lar.

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Daryn. How are you?

Well, we can report that it's all over. We thought it would be a grind, we come it would come down to the very end, and it turns out we were right. Here is how it happened, the final round being completed today after weather suspended play on Sunday, 87th PGA Championship.

Now Phil Mickelson began the week in a six-way tie for first place after one round of play on Thursday, and he made that stand up. In a three-way tie with one hole to play, Mickelson put his third shot on 18 right here, about a foot and a half from the cup, and then knocked in the birdie putt for the dramatic victory. A round of 74 for Mickelson in the final round as he gets his second career major victory, four under par for the tournament, Steve Elkington, the Australian and the Dane Thomas Bjorn, both were in the clubhouse at three under par waiting for Mickelson's round. And they turn out, they come in a second-place tie. Davis Love III and Tiger Woods both tie for fourth at two under par.

And so Phil Mickelson, here it is, wins his second career grand slam title. He's the sixth man to do that in the Tiger Woods era, which began back in 1996. And now the sixth different winner of this PGA championship, the final major of the season in the past six years.

By the way, last year's champion, Vijay Singh, bogeyed two of his final three holes, and so he finished even par for the day. But Phil Mickelson, again, all smiles, with his family, his wife, Amy, as he celebrates victory here at the PGA -- Daryn.

KAGAN: You know, weather is not the only reason this had to get so interesting, come down to the wire. Phil Mickelson made it a little bit more interesting than he had to, falling apart a little bit after a very strong start.

SMITH: Well, he did. But the thing is, this Baltusrol course, it was a survival of the fittest, and that's kind of what we expected going through. His birdie putt, by the way, was only the second one that we saw in very limited play this morning. He bogeyed earlier in the day to fall back to the crowd at three under par, and then came up with a dramatic shot that he needed. Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn had their chances on 18, which played as the easiest hole on the course the entire week, but it was Mickelson who made the shot when it counted.

And he walks home with his second major of his career.

Thank you, Larry.

A lot more news ahead. We'll get to that after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Getting back to our top story now, the pullout from Gaza. Thousands of Jewish settlers getting eviction notices. They must depart by midnight Tuesday. And when they leave, there are issues to consider. For one, their departure will have a likely, profound effect on the local economy.

CNN's Hala Gorani took the informal survey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over the last five years, Abu Abdallah has had to fire 90 percent of the workers of his beachfront restaurant in Gaza. Haifa Restaurant is across the road from the Jewish settlement of Nezarim. Road closures and military incursions virtually wiped out business here.

ABU ABDALLAH, GAZA RESTAURANT OWNER: The intifada here has destroyed the economy because we are very close to Nezarim. So the people can't come to eat here, to enjoy food and to eat. And the road is closed all the time.

GORANI: Abu Abdallah says a small handful of customers are coming back.

(on camera): But if the Israeli disengagement will help businesses like Haifa Restaurant, the economy as a whole, experts say, won't improve unless trade can flow easily across the border, like here at the Karney Crossing (ph), east of Gaza City.

(voice-over): That's because most of Gaza's GDP relies on trade of textiles and agricultural products.

MOHAMMED SAMHOURI, PALESTINIAN ECONOMIC ADVISER: If your borders are controlled by someone else, you cannot compete in this world. You cannot get your products to their final destination on the right terms, at the right price, at the right quality. That is not the case right now.

GORANI: This Gaza factory makes floor tiles. Its biggest market used to be Israel. But owner Sameh Khozendar tells me his trucks are sometimes held up at the border for three days and that the Israeli pullout probably won't change things much.

SAMEH KHOZENDAR, KHOZENDAR SONS COMPANY: If we cannot bring it easily from outside to our factory and easily to expert our goods to the West Bank and Israel, it will not change anything.

GORANI: Back at Haifa Restaurant, though, there is optimism in the air. When the settlers go, so will the roadblocks and the insecurity.

ABDALLAH: I feel that we will return back to work way and we have prepared for that.

GORANI: Preparing for the future by hiring back five waiters. And Abu Abdallah is having a new sign put up at the door. In Arabic and English, the words read "welcome."

Hala Gorani, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We've been watching very closely the situation in Baghdad with a key deadline coming today. It looks like it has been extended yet again, as they try to come up with some kind of working constitution.

Let's check in with our Aneesh Raman in Baghdad -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we've just been told a few moments ago from the spokesman for the speaker of the national assembly that this 8:00 p.m. local time meeting that was the original delay from 6:00 has now been postponed another two hours. Emerging is discussion of a delay of some sort in this process, extending the deadline by a few days, by a few weeks, some even suggesting a month. Now another two-hour delay, though, in this process, a late night ahead for Iraqi politicians, as they try to hammer out a compromise and avert a political crisis -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Aneesh, what if they get to midnight with no agreement on an extension on the constitution? Very serious repercussions.

RAMAN: It is. That is the essential question. The three things that they have options for today is, one, having a draft at some point today, go to the national assembly. The second is drafting a new law that would give them an extension. But the third one is the one that is worrisome for anyone involved in this political process. It would essentially mean that this government by virtue of the transitional law would be dissolved. It would become a caretaker government, and in mid-December, new elections would elect a new national assembly, and this entire process would start over again. Everyone is keen to avert that. So what is likely to happen is a delay of some sort. We're seeing activity behind me, an announcement likely to come. But we're expecting something to happen today. We're just not sure, Daryn, what it will be.

KAGAN: You'll be watching for us. Aneesh Raman, live from Baghdad. Aneesh, thank you.

British health officials are trying to convince teenagers that smoking stinks. So their new anti-smoking ads are embedded with the sharp stench of tobacco. The National Health Service is handing out several hundred thousands of the smelly leaflets. Similar antismoking ads are appearing in popular women's magazines like "Cosmopolitan."

Women around the world are fighting a battle against a common enemy, cellulite.

Now American women are experimenting with a controversial treatment that European women have been using for year.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has details in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Women hate it, that ugly, bumpy, dimply cottage cheese fat under the skin, usually on the hips and thighs, known as cellulite. Some women opt for plastic surgery and liposuction, but other women who don't want to go under the knife and deal with all that downtime are now trying to combat cellulite with another option called mesotherapy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready? If it hurts, let me know.

COHEN: This procedure, developed in Paris in the 1950s, is the injection of a cellulite cocktail into the target area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mesotherapy involves injection of medications under the skin to affect some changes, such as cellulite removal, reduction of fat, toning and tightening the skin. It requires weekly treatments. And for the cellulite, it's going to take 10 to 15 treatments. So they have to be willing to come in quite often.

COHEN: Even with thousands of dollars in potential expense and weekly injections, some women do swear by this relatively non-invasive procedure.

Dale Rossington, a backup singer for the rock group Lynrd Skynrd is happy with her mesotherapy results.

DALE ROSSINGTON, MESOTHERAPY PATIENT: Suddenly, you see the definition that you thought you weren't going to find again, and you start to see, again, that last little bit that you just really thought wasn't going to go away, that you'd kind of given up in, and you talk to yourself about growing old gracefully, but you know, you didn't really want to. And after those six or seven, then you start to see it just subtly. It's a subtle difference, so you have to be a little more patient.

COHEN: The cocktail is a blend of drugs, including some used to treat heart ailments and asthma. Each drug is approved by the FDA, using them in combination is not, and there's no standardized formula for the cocktail; physicians mix their own. And there have been reported cases of skin irritations and infections. Plastic Surgeon Vincent Zubowicz refuses to recommend mesotherapy to his patients.

DR. VINCENT ZUBOWICZ, PLASTIC SURGEON: So you have a technique where there has been no objective evidence of it being effective, yet a good deal of objective evidence showing that there's potential complications, and some of them quite severe. So if it were an effective alternative, I'd open a mesotherapy booth in my office and go to work. But I'm convinced that it doesn't work, and I'm not going to risk my patients' health with something that's unproven.

COHEN: And there is a bottom line to any fat reduction program.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I think, whether you're doing liposuction or the mesotherapy, it's very important to eat right and exercise to make it work, and to keep it off long term.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: For a dose of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: There are only two days in the weekend, maybe three if you stretch it. So you want to make the best of them. "Weekend" magazine lists seven great cities for a weekend trip. Which one to choose? The seven cities stretch coast to coast and showcase different styles, atmospheres and tastes. "Weekend" magazine editor- in-chief Susan Wyland is here to help you decide, from the Time Warner Center in New York City.

Good morning.

SUSAN WYLAND, "WEEKEND" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Congratulations on the beautiful new magazine.

WYLAND: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: Let's look at some of the cities you picked. Some seem kind of obvious choices, so let's see what you and your writers came up with that make them a little bit different. First, right where are you, in New York City.

WYLAND: New York. Well, you know, the lights are always brighter on Broadway, as they say, and there's a number of great new shows to see this year. Monty Python's "Spamalot" is hugely popular. Hugh Jackman in "Wicked." And also, the hot place that everybody wants to go -- my sister is here visiting, and she's there right now -- is the Museum of Modern Art, which is newly expanded. We've got twice the size of galleries that they had before. They've got, you know, Monet's water lilies and "Starry Night," Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is back home where it belongs. So it's one of the first places on everyone's agenda.

KAGAN: I like to visit my sister in New York City, as well. We have that in common. Let's talk about Boston to the north. The 375th anniversary of this fine city.

WYLAND: Yes, Boston is celebrating big-time this year. They're celebrating still their World Series win of last season, but it is their 375th birthday. And one of the really great things to do in Boston is to walk the Freedom Trail. This is a two-and-half mile trail that takes you past lots of historic sites, from colonial times to the American Revolution. And you should bring comfortable shoes when you go to Boston, but like a lot of big cities, Boston is really best experienced on foot.

KAGAN: Seattle, one of the most beautiful cities, as we head to the West Coast.

WYLAND: Seattle's a spectacular city. I just love it there. I mean, amazing architecture. There's a fabulous new library there, the Seattle Public Library, built by a Dutch architect, Rem Koolhaas. It's a library for the wireless age, and, of course, it being Seattle, you can even take your latte in there with you.

There also -- another great place in Seattle, especially if you have teens -- Frank Gehry designed a building called the Experience Music Project. And this is an interactive pop music museum. And also, the place not to miss, my favorite place, is the Pike Place Market, which is an amazing market, with -- you see flying fish. It's a great scene, it's great food. There's great restaurants there. Really, a lot of fun.

KAGAN: Here in Atlanta, you might throw the grits or the biscuits.

WYLAND: Yes, you might. Well, Atlanta, you know, it's like attention shoppers. Atlanta is shopping heaven.

KAGAN: It is. WYLAND: There are -- as you know, there are more than 50 malls in the metropolitan area. And there is in the sort of Little Five Points neighborhood, as I understand it, a little bit of a more artsy neighborhood, you can even buy clothing by local area designers. And, also, if you're in the mood for something a little more historically oriented, Atlanta is, of course, the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and you can visit his childhood home and the place where he was raised there.

KAGAN: And if I can throw one other thing, the CNN tour. Come down and see us.

WYLAND: Yes, you certainly could do that.

KAGAN: You missed that. New Orleans, eat and drink.

WYLAND: Absolutely. I mean, New Orleans has history and New Orleans has culture, but let's face it, most people go to New Orleans to party. There are more than -- this is the restaurant city to all of America and there are more than 3,000 restaurants. There are places to choose from. It's also a spectacular place to hear music late into the night. I think New Orleans could rival New York for the title of city that never sleeps.

KAGAN: All right. We'll let them battle that out late into the night. Other cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles. We'll let the viewers check that out for themselves. The magazine is "Weekend." Susan Wyland, editor in chief. Thank you...

WYLAND: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: ... for making time. Appreciate it.

And we're going to check our business news, coming up in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me for these two hours. I'm Daryn Kagan. The news continues here on CNN. In fact, international news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY, with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. I will see you tomorrow morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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