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CNN Live Today

Torture Allegations in Shiite Government; Research Shows Meditation Increases Brain Activity

Aired November 16, 2005 - 11:35   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On to the Supreme Court watch now. Judge Samuel Alito is making his round on Capitol Hill again this morning. The nominee has courtesy calls scheduled with six senators today. His first stop was the office of Maine's Olympia Snowe. The meetings come as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says he has significant concerns about him. Senator Reid says the emerging picture of Alito explains why the extreme right wing is, as he puts it, "popping champagne corks."
New American casualties to tell you about this morning. The military says three U.S. soldiers have been killed north of Baghdad. A roadside bomb was the culprit. And in western Iraq, a suicide car bomb took the life of a Marine. The military says that Marine was involved in combat operations when he lost his life.

Still in Iraq, a prominent Sunni party is calling a day for an international investigation. It claims the majority Shiite government is torturing Sunnis.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): CNN was recently given these shocking images of brutalized Iraqi prisoners. The video came from the deputy governor of Diyala Province, just north of Baghdad. He got a tip about police torture and took a cameraman to record what he found. Victims showed welts, apparently from beatings. The date on the tape indicated the video was shot back in August.

(on camera): And now in Baghdad, an apparently similar case of torture has been discovered at a ministry of interior facility by the U.S. military. When out searching for a 15-year-old boy, they entered a building containing many detainees, some of whom they said required medical attention. According to an Iraqi police officer at the scene, many had suffered torture.

(voice-over): While the police and U.S. military won't say where the building is in Baghdad, Iraq's deputy minister of interior confirms the abuse of prisoners, saying he is shocked, but says it's the worst torture he has seen.

HUSSEIN KAMAL, DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating. One or two detainees were paralyzed and some had their skin peeled off various parts of their body.

ROBERTSON: U.S. troops have taken control of the premises, detaining several non-prisoners found at the facility. The U.S. is also providing medical care for some of the apparent torture victims. The Iraqi government says many of the prisoners appear not to have been fed.

The deputy interior minister blames a lack of resources for the abuses.

KAMAL (through translator): A major problem we face is that there are not enough places to contain these detainees after the preliminary investigation is through with them.

ROBERTSON: On Baghdad streets, rumors are rife about renegade ministry of interior death squads carrying out sectarian killings.

Interior ministry officials say they are aware those rumors are circulating, but vigorously deny them. Still, interior ministry officials now say they want a full investigation into the torture cases they say they found in Baghdad.

Iraq's prime minister wants answers, too. He's formed an investigative committee.

IBRAHIM AL JAFARI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The committee will start today to look at this situation, investigate it and report back what happened and how we got to where we are today.

ROBERTSON: If the new mood of self-examination in the Iraqi government is sustained, the public may well learn more about the abuses, not only in Baghdad, but also in Diyala Province and dispel the swirling rumors and restore confidence in the security forces.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Now, the latest torture claims do not involve U.S. troops, but U.S. interrogation tactics in Iraq, Afghanistan and at the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been questioned repeatedly. President Bush stated flatly last week, quote, "We do not torture."

But the vast majority of the American people don't take Mr. Bush's words at hand. Three-quarters of them say, yes, the U.S. has tortured prisoners, according to our CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll. And well over a third, 38 percent, feel it's OK for the U.S. to use torture against terror suspects. A majority, 56 percent, disagree.

Well, here's what's making news overseas this morning. French lawmakers are voting on extending a state of emergency for three months as weeks of rioting appear to be losing steams. Fewer cars were set on fire overnight, mostly outside of Paris. Eight thousand, 973 vehicles have been torched since the unrest began October 27th. Many cite frustration among suburban youth over unemployment and discrimination.

Protests in southeastern Turkey turned deadly. Four people were killed in two days of violent clashes between Kurdish demonstrators and police. Kurds have been taking to the streets for about a week now. They're upset over reports the nation's security forces may have been behind a recent bombing targeting a Kurdish militant.

Did looted art from Italy end up at a prominent museum here in the U.S.? A former curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is now on trial in Rome. Marion True is accused of receiving stolen goods and artifacts. She denies the charge. The trial resumed today after nearly a four month break. It has put a spotlight on what some have called the seedier side of the international art trade.

Now you know what time it is. Zen time. Exhale, breathe out, let all of your worries just exit your body right about now. Are we feeling relaxed yet? Well, this can this help make you and your brain healthier? The link between health and meditation, next on CNN LIVE TODAY.

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WHITFIELD: Well, heading into our "Daily Dose" of health news now, it's time to now close your eyes. Do as I say, not as I do. Take a deep breath and just take a moment now. Ahh. All right. Feel better?

This little respite may not just clear your head. It could also sharpen your mind. Researchers now say meditation appears to boost brain activity.

Joining me to talk more about this mind-body connection is a Sara Lazar. She's a research scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Good to see you, Sarah.

SARA LAZAR, MASS. GENERAL HOSPITAL: Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, sounds as though this is a breakthrough. That mainstream medicine is now embracing homeopathic methods, as well?

LAZAR: Yes, I guess so.

WHITFIELD: Well, explain to me why, based on your study, have you learned that meditation really has a calming effect and perhaps even may boost brain power?

LAZAR: Right. Well, what we found was that people who have been practicing Buddhist insight meditation have thicker cortex in some parts of their brain than people who don't meditate.

WHITFIELD: Now, let's talk...

LAZAR: And... WHITFIELD: OK, let's talk about the methods of meditation. Because , you know, it seems as though there are lots of different definitions of what constitutes real meditation and how long. Based on your study, how long do you need to meditate? And what are the methods of doing it?

LAZAR: Well, these people in particular practice something called insight meditation, which is a form of meditation where you just watch your breath. As you inhale and exhale, you just watch the sensations associated with it. They practice on average about 40 minutes a day. And we have people with as little as one year of experience and as many as 30 years of experience.

WHITFIELD: Really.

LAZAR: And what we saw was that -- yes, there's a wide range. And what we saw is that it was -- the thickness was correlated with the amount of practice they had. So even people with a just few years of practice had bigger cortex.

WHITFIELD: Really? So even with this wide-range conclusion from your study, it doesn't necessarily mean that this has to be a practice of your lifetime. You can pick it up later on in life...

LAZAR: Right.

WHITFIELD: ... and still, perhaps, enjoy some of the very same benefits as a lifelong person meditator?

LAZAR: Definitely, yes. We need to do the studies to test that conclusively, but it does suggest that every hour counts, and that, you know, everything counts.

WHITFIELD: All right, so...

LAZAR: We also...

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

LAZAR: Some of the practitioners, three of the practitioners also practiced yoga. And it looked like they were also receiving benefits from doing yoga. So it looks like it's not just this particular type of meditation.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And what are some of the other benefits that you learned from those conducting the study. Getting involved with yoga, while it may boost brain power, what did it do to people's stress level?

LAZAR: Well, unfortunately, we didn't test that in this particular study. Though there have been other studies which have shown that meditation can decrease stress. It can also decrease anxiety and depression. And it has beneficial effects for a variety of other illnesses.

WHITFIELD: And now that you have this conclusion to your study, how do you try to convey this to the general populace that this is something that everyone needs to either learn how to practice or improve, if they are already practicing?

LAZAR: Well, I don't know that you can improve. I mean, I think just doing it and having a practice that you enjoy doing is the important thing. And I think -- I would say the most important thing is to just find a practice you enjoy. So if you try one and you don't like it, try something else.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know, it's interesting you come out with this study when just this past weekend, the Dalai Lama was here in the United States, in Washington during a neuroscience convention. And not everyone liked the notion of meditation and science coming together. And, in fact, there were a number of neuroscientists who signed petitions saying they didn't want him to speak about this.

Why is it that some are willing to embrace meditation and others are not, as a true form of science and real medicinal benefits?

LAZAR: Well, some of the science has been not quite as rigorous as it should be. And so I think that has hampered some of the efforts of people to -- who are doing good science. Also, I think there was some political motivation behind some of those people who signed it, concerning the Dalai Lama being the leader of Tibet. And also, you know, I think some people just like controversy.

WHITFIELD: All right. And so your best recommendation, Sara Lazar -- your meditation can just be simply a moment of silence, or does it have to be attached with an omm?

LAZAR: No, not at all. These practitioners do not use a mantra. These practitioner just watch the breath: inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. It's sometimes referred to as mindfulness meditation or insight meditation. Again, we think that whatever form you choose to practice will probably be beneficial.

WHITFIELD: All right. We all have the tips now. Sara Lazar, thank you so much.

LAZAR: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we're all going to now breathe in and breathe out throughout the day. To get your daily dose of health news online, logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, special reports and a health library. The address is CNN.com/health. You can omm, still, if you want to.

Alright, well, a tough segue here. A terrifying night of severe weather as dozens of tornadoes sweep across the Midwest. Is more violent weather a possibility today? A live weather updates straight ahead.

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(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: We've seen a lot of stormy weather in the past 24 hours.

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WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Daryn Kagan. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY" with Michael Holmes and Zain Verjee, after a quick break.

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