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CNN Saturday Morning News

Novak Zone: Interview with Armstong Williams; Martha Stewart Likely to Face Jail Time

Aired March 06, 2004 - 09:00 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.

KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Kelli Arena.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Erica Hill. Good to have you with us.

If you're just waking up on the West Coast, it is a little early, 6:00 a.m., so thanks for starting your day off with us.

Let's get you caught up right now. Here's what we have coming up in the next hour.

Down but not out. Martha Stewart vows to appeal the four guilty counts. We have the latest.

ARENA: Asteroids hurtling toward earth? Not quite, but we've got a bona fide asteroid hunter to talk about both calls (ph).

HILL: And want to know the secrets of life? It may be as simple as what's on your plate. We've got the author of "Super Foods" to tell you what to eat to feel your best.

First, though, a look at what's happening this hour.

Blood and confusion, lots of both today when Palestinian gunmen in Jeeps attacked Israeli troops at a crossing from Gaza to Israel. The Israelis returned fire, killing the driver of one Jeep. Then another gunman blew up his Jeep near a Palestinian police post as the shooting continued. When the smoke cleared, four Palestinians were dead, three security officers among them. No casualties on the Israeli side.

Gun battles in Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan troops opened fire on a group of armed men 100 miles south of Kabul. Nine of the suspected Islamic militants were killed. No coalition casualties there, but seven Afghanistan government soldiers died when militants attacked a post near the Pakistan border.

A deal on immigration is one priority of Mexican President Vicente Fox in his meetings this weekend with President Bush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch. Last night, the Foxes and the Bushes dined on Prairie Chapel Ranch bass, which Mr. Bush says he caught himself at the stocked pond next to his house. Attorney General John Ashcroft is still in intensive care on antibiotics at a Washington hospital. Ashcroft was admitted Thursday night suffering from a severe case of gallstone pancreatitis. In his absence, Deputy Attorney General James Comey (ph) is running the Justice Department.

ARENA: Our top story this hour. It's not over yet for Martha Stewart. The homemaking queen says she will appeal her guilty verdicts, and she feels sure she will be exonerated. Stewart was found guilty on all four counts against her in the obstruction of justice trial, and some prison time is likely.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has been following the case. He joins us now from New York. Good morning, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kelli.

And it really was a huge victory for federal prosecutors in this case. As you said, Martha Stewart found guilty on all four criminal charges, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements.

The jury deciding that Martha Stewart and her stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, had lied to federal investigators about the true reason for her sale of ImClone stock. Stewart and Bacanovic had said the reason she sold was that the stock fell below $60 a share, and they had an agreement to sell at that price. But the jury decided the real reason was that Stewart had been tipped that former chief executive of ImClone Sam Waksal was trying to dump his shares.

In court, Judge Miriam Cedarbaum (ph) read the verdict, saying "Guilty" four times. Martha Stewart showing no emotion whatsoever. And then Peter Bacanovic, when his fate was announced, also no emotion.

The true emotion was shown by lead prosecutor Karen Seymour (ph). She was holding back tears as the Judge Cedarbaum was speaking.

Now, one juror did speak after the entire hearing, and the juror said that key evidence came from Martha Stewart's assistant, Ann Armstrong, who testified that Martha Stewart sat down at her assistant's computer and altered a message that she had received from stockbroker Peter Bacanovic saying that ImClone stock would soon begin trading downward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAPPELL HARTRIDGE, JUROR: That was very strong, because that was Martha's way of trying to cover this up about what message Peter left. That was very strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: On Monday, Martha Stewart will be back here in downtown Manhattan. She has to appear before the probation department. They'll give her guidelines until her sentencing date of June 17, and those guidelines may include showing up once a month in the office just to make sure that she's still in the neighborhood.

Now, the maximum, the theoretical maximum Martha Stewart could face is 20 years in prison. That's not going to happen, obviously. According to the federal guidelines, the maximum is closer to three years. Many legal analysts are saying that Martha Stewart could be sentenced to approximately one year in prison, but it really is up to the judge. She has a tremendous amount of discretion.

Now, attorneys for both Stewart and Bacanovic say they intend to appeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD STRASSBERG, PETER BACANOVIC'S LAWYER: It's been a horrible ordeal for Peter, but he is going to make it through. And we will, ultimately, be vindicated in the end.

ROBERT MORVILLO, MARTHA STEWART'S LAWYER: It was a difficult process for all of us. Like Rich Strassberg, we are disappointed at the outcome.

CHERNOFF: Robert Morvillo also said that he feels as if he's lost the first round, and it's on to the next round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Kelli.

ARENA: Allan, how would you describe the defense's strategy then, and even going forward?

CHERNOFF: Well, it really appeared that Robert Morvillo was relying on his oratorical skills, which nobody in the courtroom could deny are really spectacular. He knows how to talk to a jury, and it was a very dramatic presentation.

He was trying to raise questions in the jury's mind especially about the conspiracy charge against Martha Stewart. He was trying to raise some reasonable doubt. He did bring only one witness to the stand, so he really was not relying so much on testimony, but trying to just raise questions in the jury's mind. But clearly it did not work.

Kelli?

ARENA: All right. Allan Chernoff, thanks very much.

Well, there is no question that Martha Stewart's image is tarnished. The lingering question is, will Stewart's conviction scare away advertisers and customers from her merchandise and media business? Well, trading in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia plunged more than 22 percent after the verdict was announced.

Joining us to talk about this is branding expert Samantha Ettus. Thank you for joining us.

SAMANTHA ETTUS, BRANDING EXPERT: Thanks for having me.

ARENA: I wanted to talk to you. You -- we have two separate things here. We have the magazine, "Martha Stewart" magazine living, the media part, and you also have the home products part of this equation. Will they both be affected similarly?

ETTUS: They're both going to be affected, and I think in the short term, we're going to see a huge depth even greater than we've seen already. This is a long-term strategy that Sharon Patrick, the CEO, has to put into place.

And in terms of Martha, the person, a lot of it is going to hang on whether she serves jail time or not. Obviously, it's very difficult to resurrect a brand and a company when the CEO and the face of the company is in jail.

But she stepped down as CEO, you know, in the last year, and she's been very involved. But we'll see her take a back seat regardless of whether she serves jail time or not.

And I believe that we'll see an actual survivor story here in a long-term sense. The brand has a lot of legs, and so I think what we're going to see is a huge dip for a while, and then a real chance to resurrect the brand.

ARENA: But if I like Martha Stewart products, I mean, if I think that they're well made, high quality, you know, do the job, do I -- how much of that really has to do with the person behind them? And I could see the magazine, for example. But products are products, and people look for good prices, they look for good quality, don't they?

ETTUS: I agree. And I think that the reason the products have done so well thus far is that there is a need, and they're serving a need in the market. You know, people feel very passionately about the Martha Stewart brand, either way, on either side of this issue.

And I think what we're going to see is that even the people who are against Martha originally will now see that she's been humbled and see that her sort of perfect image has been tarnished. And I think in some ways it will help even more people identify with her long term. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

ARENA: Right. Well, that -- Right. Well, you said the resurrection thing. I mean, you have someone who's sort of been taken down a few notches and can now maybe people can relate to her a little better. She's become the Everyman.

ETTUS: Right. And there is also a couple of things to look at with the company. There is a couple of hidden assets in the company that not many people have talked about, but the wedding brand is very powerful. The everyday food magazine, which is their new publication, their food line, is becoming big. And I think that there's -- that they're obviously very talented and skilled, the company, at building brands. And so we might see a couple of new brands incubated out of there.

ARENA: Do you know, are there any legal restrictions on her if she is convicted, does serve jail time, in terms of being aligned with the company after this?

ETTUS: Well, certainly no employee can stay with a company if they're serving jail time. You know, she would be forced to resign, as would any employee of a company.

ARENA: Right, but for future endeavors.

ETTUS: For future endeavors, I can't speak to that. I will say that in terms of a case like this, it really is unprecedented. You know, there's a number of personality-driven brands in our society. There is Lillian Vernon, there's Fragic Bakai (ph), Bobby Brown.

But when you look at a company like Lillian Vernon, she built such a huge brand, and it was sold last year, but the company will still thrive. And I think that we might see that and surprise some people with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You know, if they drop the Martha Stewart brand, that's a possibility. The other possibility is have a couple of new spokespeople for the brand, possibly building out some of the brands that they're incubating, as I discussed.

I think there is a lot of potential. And because they're the underdog right now, I think we might see some interesting things happen.

ARENA: All right. Samantha Ettus, thanks very much for joining us.

ETTUS: Thank you.

HILL: Martha Stewart, the brand, didn't develop overnight. You can watch the evolution of the woman and the company on CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." The story of the homemaking maven will air twice today. You can catch it at 5:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

News across America now. A shooting spree, four men are found shot, three of them fatally, in the town of Springfield, Tennessee, north of Nashville. The victims were found in different locations, the wounded man at his downtown business. There are no suspects yet. Motives are unknown.

Sheriff's deputies in San Diego County, California, have arrested two 14-year-old boys accused of plotting to kill a teacher who had given one of the boys a failing grade. Investigators found a bag with a pistol and a fully loaded clip in bushes at the Palm Middle School.

Prosecutors have finished questioning prospective jurors in the Terry Nichols murder case in McCowser (ph), Oklahoma. Defense lawyers began grilling the jury panel on Monday. Nichols is charged with 161 counts of first-degree murder in the Oklahoma City bombing. And the state wants the death penalty if he is convicted.

ARENA: In Iraq, the nation's interim constitution is on hold for the weekend. The Iraqi Governing Council was to have signed the document yesterday amid considerable hoopla. But the ceremony was delayed by Shi'ite members who raised objections to one section they thought favored the Kurds. About eight hours later, the council announced it was adjourning until Monday, when it hopes to resolve the issue and sign the constitution.

Prevent or reduce wrinkles, reduce your cholesterol, slow down the aging process! Too good to be true? Well, maybe not. The author of the hot-selling "Super Foods" gives us some tips.

HILL: Ever wonder what happens if an asteroid hits earth? Well, we've got a real live asteroid hunter here to talk about what's happening in a galaxy near you.

And good morning, Atlanta. We'll have your complete weather forecast.

CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARENA: Tell us what you think about the Martha Stewart trial. We're taking your e-mails at wam@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ARMAGEDDON")

BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: ... has asked us to save the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about space, right? Outer space? This is, like, deep blue hero stuff. I'm there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beam me up, Scotty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In January, a similar scenario began playing out in real life. Scientists feared there was an asteroid on a collision course with earth. Now, luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm.

The last close call came back in 2002, when an asteroid the size of a football field came within 75,000 miles of earth. That's less than a third of the distance to the moon.

For more on asteroids, we turn now to the world's foremost asteroid hunter, NASA's David Morrison.

Great to have you with us this morning.

And you a foremost -- one of the foremost asteroid hunters. In fact, you even have one named after you, Asteroid 2410. So it's a pleasure to have you here with us this morning.

DAVE MORRISON, NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE: Thanks, I'm glad to be here.

HILL: Going back to January to this close call that we've been hearing so much about, we're hearing there was a 25 percent chance of this asteroid hitting earth. Is that correct?

MORRISON: For a little while, we thought there might be. This was a byproduct of a survey that NASA supports to look for large asteroids and provide decades of warning of a possible threat. And by a fluke, we thought we might have a very small one very close that was actually headed directly for our planet.

HILL: When you say "very small," what is a small asteroid?

MORRISON: This one was about the size of a medium-sized office building, 30 yards across.

HILL: How much damage would that do if it were to hit earth?

MORRISON: It might do no damage at all. If it came in over the ocean, it would do no damage. Even over land, it would explode pretty high in the atmosphere. But we weren't sure, and we assumed that if it really were coming, people would want some warning.

HILL: I think you're probably right about that. I'll speak for myself on that one. There are reports that a call -- someone was preparing to place a call to the White House, but that's not actually true. What kind of a plan is in place should you see something that is headed for earth?

MORRISON: We haven't really developed a very good plan, because it was such an unexpected and improbable event. But you have to deal with the improbable. The route for informing the government, for those of us who work for NASA, is through NASA headquarters in Washington. I'm not sure where it goes from there, but I don't think they just pick up a phone and call the president.

HILL: You don't dial that red phone that we see in numbers (ph) sitting beside the president's bed, then.

MORRISON: I certainly don't have a red phone here to dial with.

HILL: Going back to the size for a minute, as you said, this one was rather small in asteroid terms and wouldn't have caused much damage were it to hit earth. Is there a danger of a larger asteroid, though, hurtling towards our planet, something we're -- we see as what wiped out the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago?

MORRISON: Yes, there certainly is. The earth shares space with a lot of asteroids and a few comets, and eventually on the time scale of millions of years, many of them will hit the earth. But the probability of it happening this year or next year is very small.

Still, it's something that you need to know about, and the purpose of the Space Guard Survey that astronomers are carrying out is to provide that long-lead warning, tell us what's out there, and see if there's anything there with our name on it.

HILL: And in terms of that long-lead warning, you had mentioned earlier on that you look actually decades out for these warnings.

MORRISON: That's right. And the assumption is that if, by bad luck or good luck, depending on how you look at it, we did find one with 50 years' warning, that the nations of the world would get together and use their space expertise to deflect the asteroid so it wouldn't hit at all. This is the only natural hazard that you can actually stop happening.

HILL: Well, it's good to have you on the case, and we appreciate you taking the time to join us this morning.

MORRISON: Thanks.

HILL: Thanks very much. David Morrison joining us live.

We will have more on space coming up next on CNN, including a look at the evidence that there was once water on Mars. All that coming your way at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

ARENA: Well, mushers, unite. Another Itidarod gets ready to run. It's the longest sled-dog race in the world, and it's getting started less than an hour from now. We'll hit the trail when we come back.

First, picture this. It was the calm before a terrible tragedy. Muslims offered afternoon prayers last Monday during a holy festival at a shrine in Karbala, Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims gathered for the religious holiday.

Then, the following day, a look of sheer terror on the face of this man, moments after several deadly explosions shattered the holy day. One hundred eighty-one people were killed Tuesday in attacks in Karbala and Baghdad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARENA: Well, welcome back. It's time for weather with our pal.

HILL: That's right, our pal, Rob. And it looks like for some folks in some areas of the country, could be a really good Saturday to spend a little extra time in bed.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I think if you live here in Atlanta, it's a good time, because this afternoon. You know, everybody in the crew is, like, Well, what happens when at 10:00 when I get off? You know, is the rain going to be over? And...

HILL: That's all I want to know.

MARCIANO: Yes, exactly.

HILL: So what's is the answer?

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), yes.

MARCIANO: Give it till 11:00 or 12:00, and then you'll be fine.

HILL: OK.

ARENA: OK.

MARCIANO: All right. Here's is the storm that rolled across the midsection of the country yesterday, now pushing to the east. And you can see the rain in Atlanta, you can see the rain across the Carolinas, the rain in D.C., and also the rain up in through New York City.

Much of the central part of the country looking pretty nice, and the desert Southwest, which has seen a lot of rain the past couple days, beginning to dry out as well.

Seventy-three degrees in Phoenix, it'll be 66 degrees in Los Angeles, if you're waking up early with us out West. Fifty-five in St. Louis for a high temperature, and it'll eventually get up to 70 here in Atlanta, 41 degrees in Chicago, and mid-50s in New York.

Here is our weather system. We'll fly underneath it. Again, big blue H in control for dry weather across Dallas. East of New Orleans, you go across parts of southern Alabama and Mississippi into northern parts of Georgia, and we're looking at rainfall slicing out across the Carolinas as well, up through Washington, D.C.

New York City, Boston, you may be a little slower to get out of this thing, probably not till later afternoon before you start to see things dry out. And another little system will come through, it looks like, tomorrow.

All right, let's fly over the Canadian provinces, up north across the Yukon and towards Alaska, where actually they're enjoying a pretty nice day today. It's good news. It is the start of the Iditarod, the 2004 version, where they started in Anchorage and then zigzag across the country, or the country, the state up towards Nome, Alaska.

Takes about -- sometimes takes up to two weeks. And this time of year, they have pretty decent weather. It's one of the reasons they hold it now. Not only that, you got daylight, almost 12 hours of daylight, usually a decent snow pack. Temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska, average between 17 and 33 degrees. Right now, it's 15. Record high is 51 degrees, record lows minus 24.

As far as Nome, Alaska, is concerned, a little bit colder there. The average low is about 1 degree, and average high is about 17, but it can get as cold as minus 46. Dangerous cold temperatures happen when it gets to about minus 20 or minus 30. Looks like it's not going to happen this year.

So the ceremonial start of this year's Iditarod sled dog race is less moments away, or less than an hour, I should say. Some may not know this, but the 2004 race marks the 37th -- 32nd annual edition of this, commemoration of a historic dog sled trail, used to transport mail and supplies from the coast to inland gold miners during the Alaska gold rush. A record 87 teams this year are taking part in the 32nd annual race, and around 15,000 people are expected to cheer on the mushers as they sled through Anchorage today.

Olledoff (ph) weather has affected the Iditarod the past six of 10 years, and it's forced organizers to reroute the historic race last year, and this year, the junior race, which happened last weekend, they had to adjust that trail as well, and weather also playing a factor for this year's race, which starts in just about an hour. We had, they had, organize had to actually move the restart of the race that happens tomorrow just to the north of Anchorage because of lack of snow.

They had a really rough winter the first couple of months of winter. A lot of cold air, lot of snow, they were all psyched. And in the past month, it's warmed up. So I guess you could blame global warming. I'm sure the folks who live across the Northeast who had a record cold winter would argue that.

HILL: Maybe (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with that.

MARCIANO: Exactly.

HILL: If my parents would disagree with you, but...

MARCIANO: Yes, exactly. But they're -- they actually have to truck a little bit of snow in for the streets of Alaska -- of Anchorage today to get that sled...

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: You're just chock full of information today.

MARCIANO: Well, we try to help.

HILL: A wealth of knowledge...

MARCIANO: Thanks for having me.

HILL: ... Mr. Marciano.

ARENA: Oh, I tell you.

MARCIANO: See you guys later.

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HILL: Iditarod, man. Someday I'm going, I tell you.

ARENA: Well, here is a quick check of our top story. Martha Stewart says she will appeal her conviction and fight to clear her name. Most legal analysts predict Stewart will get jail time, but nowhere near the maximum sentence of 20 years. Sentencing is set for mid-June.

Conservative commentator Armstrong Williams gets caught in The Novak Zone next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Looking for something to change your life? Well, how about food? Not just any food, super food. More on that in 15 minutes.

Welcome back. That story is coming up.

First, though, here's a look at what's happening at this hour.

Some U.S. Marines have moved out from the Haitian capital in an effort to provide security in former rebel strongholds in the northern and western parts of the country. The Marines are deployed as part of an international peacekeeping force.

The White House is considering sanctions against Syria in part for its lack of action in stopping anticoalition fighters from entering Iraq. The Bush administration says Syria's support of terrorism could lead to sanctions.

Probable Democratic nominee John Kerry is in the president's home state today for a town hall meeting in Houston followed by a rally in San Antonio. Texans will vote in their Democratic primary on Tuesday. The president, meantime, is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Well, Armstrong Williams is everywhere, it seems. The Republican columnist and radio talk show host can be read and heard in nearly every corner of the country, even back in South Carolina, where he used to rise at 4:30 in the morning to slop the hogs on the family farm.

And now, Armstrong Williams is in The Novak Zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to The Novak Zone. We're in the residence of Armstrong Williams in Washington, D.C. Armstrong Williams, syndicated columnist, television commentator, and radio talk show host.

Mr. Williams, you recently got some national attention when the king of pop, Michael Jackson, asked you for some advice. You had been very critical of Michael Jackson. Why did he go to you for help?

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED RADIO AND TV HOST: I think he was looking for credibility, and obviously, according to him, someone who could be fair. He felt that we were savaging his character, what little that was left of it, in the media. And he felt he should reach out to his harshest critics.

And he called me and asked me would I ever consider talking to him or his camp, and I said no. He said, Well, then, you don't have both sides, and I just appeal to you for fairness and journalistic standards.

NOVAK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), do you have a continuing dialogue with Mr. Jackson?

WILLIAMS: We do communicate. In fact, we're meeting here in Washington within the next two weeks.

NOVAK: Mr. Williams, you have described yourself as a third- generation Republican from South Carolina, where your family was in hog farming. How in the world did you get to be a Republican?

WILLIAMS: Well, my family never left the party of Lincoln. My parents were landowners, and that we were big hog farmers. We call it swine now in the South. It's a little more sophisticated. And my father always said, I'll never forget this, Boy, vote for those Republicans. When the Republicans are in the White House, farmers do far better. And so I always believed my daddy.

NOVAK: You were on the staff of the late Senator Strom Thurmond. You've described him as being one of your mentors. How is that possible for a man who was a white supremacist and ran for president on the white supremacist ticket in 1948?

WILLIAMS: Well, I would not call him a white supremist. You can call him a Dixiecrat. Strom Thurmond began defending blacks in the South during the early '40s against the poll tax. He defended them in court against unfair lynchings when they were accused of raping or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a white woman.

Strom Thurmond, I'd known for almost 15 years that he had a daughter out of wedlock who happened to be an American who is black, and I knew about his contributions and his fondness of her. And Senator Thurmond evolved. I mean, he changed. I mean, he supported the Voting Rights Act. He appointed federal black judges. He supported the Martin Luther King holiday bill. He was a tremendous supporter of historical black colleges and universities.

NOVAK: Mr. Williams, you first became a -- came to national attention supporting Clarence Thomas in the vicious, bitter confirmation fights.

What was that all about?

What does that tell us about America and about black people in America?

WILLIAMS: No, not about black people, but about all people. You know, I worked for Justice Thomas. I was his press secretary for four years. And I knew Anita. I mean, we would go out and have lunch and hang out. I considered her a friend, and she saw him as a father figure.

NOVAK: Anita Hill.

WILLIAMS: Yes, Anita Hill, yes, Anita Hill. And, you know, if I had not been at EEOC at the time and had known Anita or the justice, I would have believed that at least something in those allegations were true, that it just -- no one could just create such an outrageous lie.

But for me as a young boy at the time, 26-years-old when that came about, I realized it was just a big lie. And I could not believe that someone could tell a lie and people begin to believe the lie.

So there was just nothing there. It shows me that people have no regard for the truth. You have to fight for what you believe in. And still, it is still tainting his credibility today.

NOVAK: A few weeks ago, you had a television interview with Vice President Cheney. It was the first television interview he had had for some time. He is under tremendous attack by liberals as a reactionary, as a part of the corporate establishment. What is your opinion of Vice President Cheney?

WILLIAMS: Obviously, Vice President Cheney is someone I have tremendous respect for. He has steely character. You know, we talked about the allegations about Halliburton and, you know, how he made it clear that the media has no interest in searching for the truth, or even telling the truth after they find it. If it makes good ratings and create a lot of fodder, they're willing to print it.

I find him to be very honorable. I will forget Vice President Cheney during 9/11, Mr. Novak, how he calmed the nation. He was the common voice. He made us all feel it was going to be OK, and these attacks would not persist.

And I just think he's a tremendous asset to the president of the United States.

NOVAK: You have a interview running Sunday with Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser to President Bush. Now, you were quite critical in a column of Dr. Rice, on her failing to take some language out that shouldn't have been in the president's State of the Union address of 2003. Are you still critical of her?

WILLIAMS: You know, I asked her about that, and she admitted that she was wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It was a difficult time. Because my own -- my view of it is, I'm the national security adviser. That should never have happened to him. It should never have been the case that he -- we had in a speech that he gave words that the director of Central Intelligence didn't want in that speech. And, yes, I felt terrible about it, and I told him that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: I mean, for the first time since I've known about those famous 11 words, she was very candid, took responsibility, and even talked about in an interview how that came about.

You know, I don't see that as being harsh. I see that as telling the truth. I think we have a responsibility no matter what our politics may be, who we may like to see in the White House. You know, when you're writing and people are trusting your writing and what you're saying, you've got to be honest.

I felt that she was negligent, and I wrote that in my column.

NOVAK: And now, the big question for Armstrong Williams.

Mr. Williams, about 90 percent of your fellow African-Americans vote Democratic when they vote. Do you think the leaders of the Republican Party are doing enough to attract black people to the standards of the GOP?

WILLIAMS: You know, until -- it doesn't -- they do much in terms of outreach, in terms of trying to create positions on Capitol Hill, faith-based initiatives, I mean, appointments. But I think Congressman DeLay said it best. Until they elect more officials like Michael Steel and people like J.C....

NOVAK: Michael Steel's the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

WILLIAMS: Lieutenant governor of Maryland. And J.C. Watts, who is an ex-congressman. Until we can prove to the black elite that black conservatives can be elected in districts where there is a high percentage of black voters, I think then and only then will we gain the kind of credibility that we need in order to have a mass exodus of blacks from that Democratic plantation.

NOVAK: Armstrong Williams, thank you very much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Novak.

NOVAK: And thank you for being in The Novak Zone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: If you haven't had time to keep up with the news this week, that's what we're here for. So let's rewind for you now and take a look at some of the top stories.

The February unemployment rate stays at 5.6 percent, but only 21,000 new jobs were created, falling far short of White House predictions.

Bombings in Baghdad and Karbala kill more than 180 Iraqis. The explosions target Shi'ite Muslims celebrating a holy day.

It was a Super Tuesday for John Kerry, racking up wins in nine more contests. A day later, John Edwards drops out of the race.

And Martha Stewart is found guilty on all four counts she faced in her obstruction of justice trial. It is likely she will serve some time in prison.

Tomorrow, we'll fast forward to the week ahead to tell you which stories will grab the spotlight.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Martha Stewart's guilty verdict. So what about the people who know her best?

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Maria Hinojosa in Westport, Connecticut, where Martha Stewart lives. And, just like the rest of the country, well, either you love her or you hate her. We'll have more opinion from small-town Westport, Connecticut, when we come back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Fast food got you feeling less than perfect? A super diet filled with superfoods may change the way you feel. Details when CNN SATURDAY MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO")

JAY LENO, HOST: Anybody want to host a cooking show? They need a host.

Free Martha! Free Martha! Free Martha!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, some are laughing, others are steaming over Stewart's guilty verdict, and many of those feelings are hitting close to home, literally.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa is in Westport, Connecticut, where Stewart lives. She joins us now with details on what folks there are saying. An Maria, I would bet there is plenty being said.

HINOJOSA: There is here at Oscar's Deli, Westport, Connecticut. It's about an hour away from New York City, a pretty wealthy suburb, let's just say, and that's putting it lightly. Slow morning. It's a little rainy and drizzly here.

But, you know, there's the same kind of opinions you're getting most everywhere, which is either you love her or you hate her.

But let's take a look at some of the papers that came out. So in "The New York Times," a pretty subdued kind of reaction, no big headline there, small, harsh blow to a company there. Then you go to "The New York Post," where it's just pretty clear, a big red "Guilty!" Red was the big sign to show she was guilty. And then "The Daily News," well, they really gave it to Martha big, putting her behind the jail there with the curtains.

Of course, a lot of jokes being made on what Martha might do once she gets into prison. Will she, in fact, change her personality and become a little bit softer and, you know, give more to the prisoners?

But just a few minutes ago, we talked to some of the people here, and this is what they had to say about Martha being found guilty on all counts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) she had reason to believe it was about to go through -- go to the toilet, and she wanted to sell it. That seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I think anybody would have done that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a shame, but she brought it on herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's been tough, and she's not the most likable person, although in this other side, I know if I was presented with a similar situation, I don't know if I would have not done the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: The question is, would all of these people lied to federal officials? And perhaps that's the biggest issue Martha Stewart for presenting herself someone as a lot of American values. Well, she lied. And she was found guilty on that. And so far, no one is saying that they would have lied to federal officials.

Well, from Westport, Connecticut, here at Oscar's Deli, back to you, Erica.

HILL: All right, we'll take it. Go enjoy your breakfast, Maria.

HINOJOSA: Sounds good.

HILL: Thanks.

Well, about to eat breakfast? Or maybe you're already thinking of lunch. Whatever the case, first listen to this. There are 14 foods that can help improve your health. Dr. Steven Pratt calls them superfoods and has written a book about them. He joins us from San Diego.

Doctor, welcome so much for joining us.

DR. STEVEN PRATT, AUTHOR, "SUPERFOODS": Good morning. Nice to be with you.

HILL: I am looking at this list here of foods, and very common foods. Why don't you let our audience in on what are these superfoods that they must start eating immediately?

PRATT: Well, there's 14 superfoods, all of which have gold standard research to substantiate that these foods, eaten a certain number of times per week, will actually help lower your rates for all chronic diseases, actually (UNINTELLIGIBLE) extend your health span, maybe even your life span.

So they're all part of...

HILL: And we're not talking weight loss here. We're talking just overall healthy living. PRATT: Well, overall healthy living. But in fact, if you eat these foods, they're calorie sparse but nutrient dense, so actually you will lose weight if you weigh too much. In addition, of course, we're talking about exercise as well.

HILL: Right, well, yes, it's -- there's always that that nobody likes to hear. But how much of a portion of that -- the equation is exercise?

PRATT: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), actually, you know, if you think about most of the time people have been on earth, we had to move ourselves around to get food. It's only recently in history where you could put your hand out and collect all that processed food of high calories and not a lot of nutrition.

HILL: All right. Well, why don't we go through the list? I see that at the top of it is beans. Any kind of beans?

PRATT: Any kind of beans will do. And in fact, and also think about sugar snap peas, green beans. They'll also -- those also count as beans, so any bean is good.

HILL: All right...

PRATT: You only eat about a quarter, a half a cup, maybe four times a week, so we're not talking a whole lot of beans here.

HILL: OK. And we've got blueberries and broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin.

PRATT: Yes, the secret super food. That's, if you want a rosy glow to good complexion, that nice-looking skin, then the carotenoids, the fighter (ph) nutrients in pumpkin will do that for you, alpha- and beta- carotene, loaded with that. So it's a great way.

And also, by the way, pumpkin tastes delicious. You make in a pudding, you can make it in bread, you can make it into all sorts of innovative ways to use pumpkin. It's a very easy food to use once you're used to it.

HILL: The list that our viewers are seeing also included salmon, but you make a distinction, wild salmon.

PRATT: Yes. I think at this point in time, there is too many environmental issues related to farmed salmon for me to recommend that. And I think wild Alaskan salmon is a renewable resource that's endorsed by all the environmental groups. There is plenty of that type of food. It's probably the safest meat source of protein on the planet, really.

HILL: Well, we used to hear an apple a day. You're saying yogurt every day.

PRATT: Well, yogurt's a great food. We have, we forget that as we get older, our GI tract gets less, doesn't absorb food quite as well, so yogurt's a great way keep the GI tract working well as you add on those birthdays.

HILL: And you also have a quick salad that people can make as well. Why don't you go through that for us?

PRATT: Well, the superfoods salad includes some Romaine lettuce, it includes some spinach, includes purple cabbage, includes some chopped-up carrots and celery, things like that. Maybe even a little bell pepper, orange or red or yellow bell pepper, or even green. So it's a very simple, easy salad to make, loaded with nutrition. You can use balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil on that salad, so it's a great way to get a lot of nutrition in a short amount of time.

HILL: All right. Dr. Steven Pratt, thanks so much for joining us.

His book is "Superfoods."

Well, we get your verdict on the Martha Stewart case coming up. What do you think about the outcome?

And good morning, Las Vegas. We'll have your complete weather forecast in just about five minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARENA: Well, "ON THE STORY" is coming up next at 10:00. Ad my friend Kathleen Hays is standing by in Washington with a preview. Kathleen?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kelli.

Only thing could make it better if you were here with us in the studio, and we're "ON THE STORY" from here in Washington to New York to Crawford, Texas, to Baghdad.

Deborah Feyerick gives us the inside word on covering the Martha Stewart case that ended in guilty verdicts Friday.

Kelly Wallace and Dana Bash look at how John Kerry and President Bush are already moving down that campaign trail, and the uproar over images of 9/11 in campaign ads.

And Jane Arraf has the latest from Baghdad, the delay in signing the interim constitution and aftermath of deadly terror attacks this week.

It's all coming up, all "ON THE STORY."

ARENA: All right, Kathleen. Well, I'll be with you in spirit.

Well, it is time for weather again.

HILL: It is. We need to take...

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) flying by. HILL: It is flying by. We need to check out the weather and make sure all the folks who are watching will know what's coming up today. Rob Marciano standing by with that news.

MARCIANO: Hi, guys.

Yes, a lot of folks will be enjoying some sunshine, but a lot of folks will also be dealing with some wet weather, especially if you live on the East Coast, at least this morning. You may get a little bit of a break later on today.

Clear and calm across the central -- well, I shouldn't say calm. The south central part of the country, the north central part really seeing some quite a bit of wind today. Near 90 degrees expected in Florida later on this afternoon.

Let's run through some forecasts for you. Boston and New York and D.C. will see rainfall taper off, probably not until later on this afternoon. Tomorrow will be drier, until about sunset, then another batch of moisture comes tomorrow night.

Fifty-seven in Nashville, 61 tomorrow. Might see a quick shower roll through Nashville later on this morning. And the showers in Atlanta are just about to come to an end.

Fifty-one -- 41 degrees in Chicago, a mix of rain and snow both in Chicago and Detroit tomorrow. Could be an interesting Sunday there. St. Louis looks to be decent. Dallas 66 degrees, 64 tomorrow. Winds across Denver, downsloping winds warming the Mile High City up into the mid-50s. In Phoenix, 73, 81 degrees expected in Phoenix tomorrow afternoon. That's good stuff. The desert Southwest is warming up.

Let's go there, actually, if we could, to Las Vegas. Vegas, baby. KVBC is our affiliate out that way. That, I believe, is a stratosphere, reminiscent of a Toronto or a Seattle skyline. You will see blue sky today with high temperatures approaching 70. It's currently in the upper 40s.

The rest of the West Coast, quickly, Los Angeles 66, some rain across parts of Seattle today. Temperatures in the next couple days will be in the lower to mid-50s.

I enjoyed it, guys. Kelli, I'll see you back here tomorrow, and Erica...

ARENA: You sure will.

MARCIANO: ... I'll see you on "HEADLINE NEWS."

HILL: All right, I will see you there. And enjoy the rest of your weekend, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you guys.

ARENA: Thanks. HILL: All right.

ARENA: Well, it's time now for a quick check of the headlines.

President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox are meeting for the second straight day in Crawford, Texas. They are expected to focus on President Bush's immigration proposals as well as holding trade discussions.

And it took the jury just 12 hours of deliberations to find Martha Stewart guilty on all four counts. Following the verdict, WCBS in New York City decided to pull the TV show "Martha Stewart Living" from its air. And "The New York Times" reports other stations across the country may follow suit.

Well, all morning, we have asked you to weigh in on the Martha Stewart verdict. Here are a couple of the responses that we have received.

HILL: We've been hearing things from all around the country. Felisicia in Chesapeake, Virginia, says, "The prosecutors did an excellent job. I applaud the jurors. They saw a coverup, and so did everyone else. Martha committed a felony, and she deserves a felony sentence. I just hope she gets the maximum. Hey, maybe she'll come out with a new line of prison wear," one of the many prison jokes we're hearing about about Martha Stewart.

ARENA: Oh, they're going to get back, they're going to get bad.

Well, we also heard from Phyllis in California, who says, "No, I think it is a railroading of a rich, powerful woman for a very minor infraction of the law. Considering the Enron and WorldCom top executives still have not been tried or found guilty of their terrible deeds that have hurt of hundreds of people, this is a travesty of justice."

Well, we've got plenty more for you today, so keep it right here. Up next, it's "ON THE STORY," followed by "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" at 11:00, with a profile on Martha Stewart and a closer look at Scott and Laci Peterson. And at noon it's "CNN LIVE SATURDAY." We'll go live to Texas for the latest on that meeting between President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox.

HILL: That's a busy day.

ARENA: Yes, very busy day.

HILL: And how. It's been a pleasure working with you.

ARENA: Same here, same here.

HILL: And we'll both be back a little bit later in the day...

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HILL: ... to continue updating you on the day's top stories. But for now, we'll leave it here. I'm Erica Hill.

ARENA: I'm Kelli Arena. Have a great day, and stay tuned. "ON THE STORY" coming up next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Stewart Likely to Face Jail Time>

Aired March 6, 2004 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Kelli Arena.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Erica Hill. Good to have you with us.

If you're just waking up on the West Coast, it is a little early, 6:00 a.m., so thanks for starting your day off with us.

Let's get you caught up right now. Here's what we have coming up in the next hour.

Down but not out. Martha Stewart vows to appeal the four guilty counts. We have the latest.

ARENA: Asteroids hurtling toward earth? Not quite, but we've got a bona fide asteroid hunter to talk about both calls (ph).

HILL: And want to know the secrets of life? It may be as simple as what's on your plate. We've got the author of "Super Foods" to tell you what to eat to feel your best.

First, though, a look at what's happening this hour.

Blood and confusion, lots of both today when Palestinian gunmen in Jeeps attacked Israeli troops at a crossing from Gaza to Israel. The Israelis returned fire, killing the driver of one Jeep. Then another gunman blew up his Jeep near a Palestinian police post as the shooting continued. When the smoke cleared, four Palestinians were dead, three security officers among them. No casualties on the Israeli side.

Gun battles in Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan troops opened fire on a group of armed men 100 miles south of Kabul. Nine of the suspected Islamic militants were killed. No coalition casualties there, but seven Afghanistan government soldiers died when militants attacked a post near the Pakistan border.

A deal on immigration is one priority of Mexican President Vicente Fox in his meetings this weekend with President Bush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch. Last night, the Foxes and the Bushes dined on Prairie Chapel Ranch bass, which Mr. Bush says he caught himself at the stocked pond next to his house. Attorney General John Ashcroft is still in intensive care on antibiotics at a Washington hospital. Ashcroft was admitted Thursday night suffering from a severe case of gallstone pancreatitis. In his absence, Deputy Attorney General James Comey (ph) is running the Justice Department.

ARENA: Our top story this hour. It's not over yet for Martha Stewart. The homemaking queen says she will appeal her guilty verdicts, and she feels sure she will be exonerated. Stewart was found guilty on all four counts against her in the obstruction of justice trial, and some prison time is likely.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has been following the case. He joins us now from New York. Good morning, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kelli.

And it really was a huge victory for federal prosecutors in this case. As you said, Martha Stewart found guilty on all four criminal charges, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements.

The jury deciding that Martha Stewart and her stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, had lied to federal investigators about the true reason for her sale of ImClone stock. Stewart and Bacanovic had said the reason she sold was that the stock fell below $60 a share, and they had an agreement to sell at that price. But the jury decided the real reason was that Stewart had been tipped that former chief executive of ImClone Sam Waksal was trying to dump his shares.

In court, Judge Miriam Cedarbaum (ph) read the verdict, saying "Guilty" four times. Martha Stewart showing no emotion whatsoever. And then Peter Bacanovic, when his fate was announced, also no emotion.

The true emotion was shown by lead prosecutor Karen Seymour (ph). She was holding back tears as the Judge Cedarbaum was speaking.

Now, one juror did speak after the entire hearing, and the juror said that key evidence came from Martha Stewart's assistant, Ann Armstrong, who testified that Martha Stewart sat down at her assistant's computer and altered a message that she had received from stockbroker Peter Bacanovic saying that ImClone stock would soon begin trading downward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAPPELL HARTRIDGE, JUROR: That was very strong, because that was Martha's way of trying to cover this up about what message Peter left. That was very strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: On Monday, Martha Stewart will be back here in downtown Manhattan. She has to appear before the probation department. They'll give her guidelines until her sentencing date of June 17, and those guidelines may include showing up once a month in the office just to make sure that she's still in the neighborhood.

Now, the maximum, the theoretical maximum Martha Stewart could face is 20 years in prison. That's not going to happen, obviously. According to the federal guidelines, the maximum is closer to three years. Many legal analysts are saying that Martha Stewart could be sentenced to approximately one year in prison, but it really is up to the judge. She has a tremendous amount of discretion.

Now, attorneys for both Stewart and Bacanovic say they intend to appeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD STRASSBERG, PETER BACANOVIC'S LAWYER: It's been a horrible ordeal for Peter, but he is going to make it through. And we will, ultimately, be vindicated in the end.

ROBERT MORVILLO, MARTHA STEWART'S LAWYER: It was a difficult process for all of us. Like Rich Strassberg, we are disappointed at the outcome.

CHERNOFF: Robert Morvillo also said that he feels as if he's lost the first round, and it's on to the next round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Kelli.

ARENA: Allan, how would you describe the defense's strategy then, and even going forward?

CHERNOFF: Well, it really appeared that Robert Morvillo was relying on his oratorical skills, which nobody in the courtroom could deny are really spectacular. He knows how to talk to a jury, and it was a very dramatic presentation.

He was trying to raise questions in the jury's mind especially about the conspiracy charge against Martha Stewart. He was trying to raise some reasonable doubt. He did bring only one witness to the stand, so he really was not relying so much on testimony, but trying to just raise questions in the jury's mind. But clearly it did not work.

Kelli?

ARENA: All right. Allan Chernoff, thanks very much.

Well, there is no question that Martha Stewart's image is tarnished. The lingering question is, will Stewart's conviction scare away advertisers and customers from her merchandise and media business? Well, trading in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia plunged more than 22 percent after the verdict was announced.

Joining us to talk about this is branding expert Samantha Ettus. Thank you for joining us.

SAMANTHA ETTUS, BRANDING EXPERT: Thanks for having me.

ARENA: I wanted to talk to you. You -- we have two separate things here. We have the magazine, "Martha Stewart" magazine living, the media part, and you also have the home products part of this equation. Will they both be affected similarly?

ETTUS: They're both going to be affected, and I think in the short term, we're going to see a huge depth even greater than we've seen already. This is a long-term strategy that Sharon Patrick, the CEO, has to put into place.

And in terms of Martha, the person, a lot of it is going to hang on whether she serves jail time or not. Obviously, it's very difficult to resurrect a brand and a company when the CEO and the face of the company is in jail.

But she stepped down as CEO, you know, in the last year, and she's been very involved. But we'll see her take a back seat regardless of whether she serves jail time or not.

And I believe that we'll see an actual survivor story here in a long-term sense. The brand has a lot of legs, and so I think what we're going to see is a huge dip for a while, and then a real chance to resurrect the brand.

ARENA: But if I like Martha Stewart products, I mean, if I think that they're well made, high quality, you know, do the job, do I -- how much of that really has to do with the person behind them? And I could see the magazine, for example. But products are products, and people look for good prices, they look for good quality, don't they?

ETTUS: I agree. And I think that the reason the products have done so well thus far is that there is a need, and they're serving a need in the market. You know, people feel very passionately about the Martha Stewart brand, either way, on either side of this issue.

And I think what we're going to see is that even the people who are against Martha originally will now see that she's been humbled and see that her sort of perfect image has been tarnished. And I think in some ways it will help even more people identify with her long term. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

ARENA: Right. Well, that -- Right. Well, you said the resurrection thing. I mean, you have someone who's sort of been taken down a few notches and can now maybe people can relate to her a little better. She's become the Everyman.

ETTUS: Right. And there is also a couple of things to look at with the company. There is a couple of hidden assets in the company that not many people have talked about, but the wedding brand is very powerful. The everyday food magazine, which is their new publication, their food line, is becoming big. And I think that there's -- that they're obviously very talented and skilled, the company, at building brands. And so we might see a couple of new brands incubated out of there.

ARENA: Do you know, are there any legal restrictions on her if she is convicted, does serve jail time, in terms of being aligned with the company after this?

ETTUS: Well, certainly no employee can stay with a company if they're serving jail time. You know, she would be forced to resign, as would any employee of a company.

ARENA: Right, but for future endeavors.

ETTUS: For future endeavors, I can't speak to that. I will say that in terms of a case like this, it really is unprecedented. You know, there's a number of personality-driven brands in our society. There is Lillian Vernon, there's Fragic Bakai (ph), Bobby Brown.

But when you look at a company like Lillian Vernon, she built such a huge brand, and it was sold last year, but the company will still thrive. And I think that we might see that and surprise some people with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You know, if they drop the Martha Stewart brand, that's a possibility. The other possibility is have a couple of new spokespeople for the brand, possibly building out some of the brands that they're incubating, as I discussed.

I think there is a lot of potential. And because they're the underdog right now, I think we might see some interesting things happen.

ARENA: All right. Samantha Ettus, thanks very much for joining us.

ETTUS: Thank you.

HILL: Martha Stewart, the brand, didn't develop overnight. You can watch the evolution of the woman and the company on CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." The story of the homemaking maven will air twice today. You can catch it at 5:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

News across America now. A shooting spree, four men are found shot, three of them fatally, in the town of Springfield, Tennessee, north of Nashville. The victims were found in different locations, the wounded man at his downtown business. There are no suspects yet. Motives are unknown.

Sheriff's deputies in San Diego County, California, have arrested two 14-year-old boys accused of plotting to kill a teacher who had given one of the boys a failing grade. Investigators found a bag with a pistol and a fully loaded clip in bushes at the Palm Middle School.

Prosecutors have finished questioning prospective jurors in the Terry Nichols murder case in McCowser (ph), Oklahoma. Defense lawyers began grilling the jury panel on Monday. Nichols is charged with 161 counts of first-degree murder in the Oklahoma City bombing. And the state wants the death penalty if he is convicted.

ARENA: In Iraq, the nation's interim constitution is on hold for the weekend. The Iraqi Governing Council was to have signed the document yesterday amid considerable hoopla. But the ceremony was delayed by Shi'ite members who raised objections to one section they thought favored the Kurds. About eight hours later, the council announced it was adjourning until Monday, when it hopes to resolve the issue and sign the constitution.

Prevent or reduce wrinkles, reduce your cholesterol, slow down the aging process! Too good to be true? Well, maybe not. The author of the hot-selling "Super Foods" gives us some tips.

HILL: Ever wonder what happens if an asteroid hits earth? Well, we've got a real live asteroid hunter here to talk about what's happening in a galaxy near you.

And good morning, Atlanta. We'll have your complete weather forecast.

CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARENA: Tell us what you think about the Martha Stewart trial. We're taking your e-mails at wam@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ARMAGEDDON")

BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: ... has asked us to save the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about space, right? Outer space? This is, like, deep blue hero stuff. I'm there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beam me up, Scotty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In January, a similar scenario began playing out in real life. Scientists feared there was an asteroid on a collision course with earth. Now, luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm.

The last close call came back in 2002, when an asteroid the size of a football field came within 75,000 miles of earth. That's less than a third of the distance to the moon.

For more on asteroids, we turn now to the world's foremost asteroid hunter, NASA's David Morrison.

Great to have you with us this morning.

And you a foremost -- one of the foremost asteroid hunters. In fact, you even have one named after you, Asteroid 2410. So it's a pleasure to have you here with us this morning.

DAVE MORRISON, NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE: Thanks, I'm glad to be here.

HILL: Going back to January to this close call that we've been hearing so much about, we're hearing there was a 25 percent chance of this asteroid hitting earth. Is that correct?

MORRISON: For a little while, we thought there might be. This was a byproduct of a survey that NASA supports to look for large asteroids and provide decades of warning of a possible threat. And by a fluke, we thought we might have a very small one very close that was actually headed directly for our planet.

HILL: When you say "very small," what is a small asteroid?

MORRISON: This one was about the size of a medium-sized office building, 30 yards across.

HILL: How much damage would that do if it were to hit earth?

MORRISON: It might do no damage at all. If it came in over the ocean, it would do no damage. Even over land, it would explode pretty high in the atmosphere. But we weren't sure, and we assumed that if it really were coming, people would want some warning.

HILL: I think you're probably right about that. I'll speak for myself on that one. There are reports that a call -- someone was preparing to place a call to the White House, but that's not actually true. What kind of a plan is in place should you see something that is headed for earth?

MORRISON: We haven't really developed a very good plan, because it was such an unexpected and improbable event. But you have to deal with the improbable. The route for informing the government, for those of us who work for NASA, is through NASA headquarters in Washington. I'm not sure where it goes from there, but I don't think they just pick up a phone and call the president.

HILL: You don't dial that red phone that we see in numbers (ph) sitting beside the president's bed, then.

MORRISON: I certainly don't have a red phone here to dial with.

HILL: Going back to the size for a minute, as you said, this one was rather small in asteroid terms and wouldn't have caused much damage were it to hit earth. Is there a danger of a larger asteroid, though, hurtling towards our planet, something we're -- we see as what wiped out the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago?

MORRISON: Yes, there certainly is. The earth shares space with a lot of asteroids and a few comets, and eventually on the time scale of millions of years, many of them will hit the earth. But the probability of it happening this year or next year is very small.

Still, it's something that you need to know about, and the purpose of the Space Guard Survey that astronomers are carrying out is to provide that long-lead warning, tell us what's out there, and see if there's anything there with our name on it.

HILL: And in terms of that long-lead warning, you had mentioned earlier on that you look actually decades out for these warnings.

MORRISON: That's right. And the assumption is that if, by bad luck or good luck, depending on how you look at it, we did find one with 50 years' warning, that the nations of the world would get together and use their space expertise to deflect the asteroid so it wouldn't hit at all. This is the only natural hazard that you can actually stop happening.

HILL: Well, it's good to have you on the case, and we appreciate you taking the time to join us this morning.

MORRISON: Thanks.

HILL: Thanks very much. David Morrison joining us live.

We will have more on space coming up next on CNN, including a look at the evidence that there was once water on Mars. All that coming your way at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

ARENA: Well, mushers, unite. Another Itidarod gets ready to run. It's the longest sled-dog race in the world, and it's getting started less than an hour from now. We'll hit the trail when we come back.

First, picture this. It was the calm before a terrible tragedy. Muslims offered afternoon prayers last Monday during a holy festival at a shrine in Karbala, Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims gathered for the religious holiday.

Then, the following day, a look of sheer terror on the face of this man, moments after several deadly explosions shattered the holy day. One hundred eighty-one people were killed Tuesday in attacks in Karbala and Baghdad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARENA: Well, welcome back. It's time for weather with our pal.

HILL: That's right, our pal, Rob. And it looks like for some folks in some areas of the country, could be a really good Saturday to spend a little extra time in bed.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I think if you live here in Atlanta, it's a good time, because this afternoon. You know, everybody in the crew is, like, Well, what happens when at 10:00 when I get off? You know, is the rain going to be over? And...

HILL: That's all I want to know.

MARCIANO: Yes, exactly.

HILL: So what's is the answer?

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), yes.

MARCIANO: Give it till 11:00 or 12:00, and then you'll be fine.

HILL: OK.

ARENA: OK.

MARCIANO: All right. Here's is the storm that rolled across the midsection of the country yesterday, now pushing to the east. And you can see the rain in Atlanta, you can see the rain across the Carolinas, the rain in D.C., and also the rain up in through New York City.

Much of the central part of the country looking pretty nice, and the desert Southwest, which has seen a lot of rain the past couple days, beginning to dry out as well.

Seventy-three degrees in Phoenix, it'll be 66 degrees in Los Angeles, if you're waking up early with us out West. Fifty-five in St. Louis for a high temperature, and it'll eventually get up to 70 here in Atlanta, 41 degrees in Chicago, and mid-50s in New York.

Here is our weather system. We'll fly underneath it. Again, big blue H in control for dry weather across Dallas. East of New Orleans, you go across parts of southern Alabama and Mississippi into northern parts of Georgia, and we're looking at rainfall slicing out across the Carolinas as well, up through Washington, D.C.

New York City, Boston, you may be a little slower to get out of this thing, probably not till later afternoon before you start to see things dry out. And another little system will come through, it looks like, tomorrow.

All right, let's fly over the Canadian provinces, up north across the Yukon and towards Alaska, where actually they're enjoying a pretty nice day today. It's good news. It is the start of the Iditarod, the 2004 version, where they started in Anchorage and then zigzag across the country, or the country, the state up towards Nome, Alaska.

Takes about -- sometimes takes up to two weeks. And this time of year, they have pretty decent weather. It's one of the reasons they hold it now. Not only that, you got daylight, almost 12 hours of daylight, usually a decent snow pack. Temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska, average between 17 and 33 degrees. Right now, it's 15. Record high is 51 degrees, record lows minus 24.

As far as Nome, Alaska, is concerned, a little bit colder there. The average low is about 1 degree, and average high is about 17, but it can get as cold as minus 46. Dangerous cold temperatures happen when it gets to about minus 20 or minus 30. Looks like it's not going to happen this year.

So the ceremonial start of this year's Iditarod sled dog race is less moments away, or less than an hour, I should say. Some may not know this, but the 2004 race marks the 37th -- 32nd annual edition of this, commemoration of a historic dog sled trail, used to transport mail and supplies from the coast to inland gold miners during the Alaska gold rush. A record 87 teams this year are taking part in the 32nd annual race, and around 15,000 people are expected to cheer on the mushers as they sled through Anchorage today.

Olledoff (ph) weather has affected the Iditarod the past six of 10 years, and it's forced organizers to reroute the historic race last year, and this year, the junior race, which happened last weekend, they had to adjust that trail as well, and weather also playing a factor for this year's race, which starts in just about an hour. We had, they had, organize had to actually move the restart of the race that happens tomorrow just to the north of Anchorage because of lack of snow.

They had a really rough winter the first couple of months of winter. A lot of cold air, lot of snow, they were all psyched. And in the past month, it's warmed up. So I guess you could blame global warming. I'm sure the folks who live across the Northeast who had a record cold winter would argue that.

HILL: Maybe (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with that.

MARCIANO: Exactly.

HILL: If my parents would disagree with you, but...

MARCIANO: Yes, exactly. But they're -- they actually have to truck a little bit of snow in for the streets of Alaska -- of Anchorage today to get that sled...

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: You're just chock full of information today.

MARCIANO: Well, we try to help.

HILL: A wealth of knowledge...

MARCIANO: Thanks for having me.

HILL: ... Mr. Marciano.

ARENA: Oh, I tell you.

MARCIANO: See you guys later.

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HILL: Iditarod, man. Someday I'm going, I tell you.

ARENA: Well, here is a quick check of our top story. Martha Stewart says she will appeal her conviction and fight to clear her name. Most legal analysts predict Stewart will get jail time, but nowhere near the maximum sentence of 20 years. Sentencing is set for mid-June.

Conservative commentator Armstrong Williams gets caught in The Novak Zone next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Looking for something to change your life? Well, how about food? Not just any food, super food. More on that in 15 minutes.

Welcome back. That story is coming up.

First, though, here's a look at what's happening at this hour.

Some U.S. Marines have moved out from the Haitian capital in an effort to provide security in former rebel strongholds in the northern and western parts of the country. The Marines are deployed as part of an international peacekeeping force.

The White House is considering sanctions against Syria in part for its lack of action in stopping anticoalition fighters from entering Iraq. The Bush administration says Syria's support of terrorism could lead to sanctions.

Probable Democratic nominee John Kerry is in the president's home state today for a town hall meeting in Houston followed by a rally in San Antonio. Texans will vote in their Democratic primary on Tuesday. The president, meantime, is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Well, Armstrong Williams is everywhere, it seems. The Republican columnist and radio talk show host can be read and heard in nearly every corner of the country, even back in South Carolina, where he used to rise at 4:30 in the morning to slop the hogs on the family farm.

And now, Armstrong Williams is in The Novak Zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to The Novak Zone. We're in the residence of Armstrong Williams in Washington, D.C. Armstrong Williams, syndicated columnist, television commentator, and radio talk show host.

Mr. Williams, you recently got some national attention when the king of pop, Michael Jackson, asked you for some advice. You had been very critical of Michael Jackson. Why did he go to you for help?

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED RADIO AND TV HOST: I think he was looking for credibility, and obviously, according to him, someone who could be fair. He felt that we were savaging his character, what little that was left of it, in the media. And he felt he should reach out to his harshest critics.

And he called me and asked me would I ever consider talking to him or his camp, and I said no. He said, Well, then, you don't have both sides, and I just appeal to you for fairness and journalistic standards.

NOVAK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), do you have a continuing dialogue with Mr. Jackson?

WILLIAMS: We do communicate. In fact, we're meeting here in Washington within the next two weeks.

NOVAK: Mr. Williams, you have described yourself as a third- generation Republican from South Carolina, where your family was in hog farming. How in the world did you get to be a Republican?

WILLIAMS: Well, my family never left the party of Lincoln. My parents were landowners, and that we were big hog farmers. We call it swine now in the South. It's a little more sophisticated. And my father always said, I'll never forget this, Boy, vote for those Republicans. When the Republicans are in the White House, farmers do far better. And so I always believed my daddy.

NOVAK: You were on the staff of the late Senator Strom Thurmond. You've described him as being one of your mentors. How is that possible for a man who was a white supremacist and ran for president on the white supremacist ticket in 1948?

WILLIAMS: Well, I would not call him a white supremist. You can call him a Dixiecrat. Strom Thurmond began defending blacks in the South during the early '40s against the poll tax. He defended them in court against unfair lynchings when they were accused of raping or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a white woman.

Strom Thurmond, I'd known for almost 15 years that he had a daughter out of wedlock who happened to be an American who is black, and I knew about his contributions and his fondness of her. And Senator Thurmond evolved. I mean, he changed. I mean, he supported the Voting Rights Act. He appointed federal black judges. He supported the Martin Luther King holiday bill. He was a tremendous supporter of historical black colleges and universities.

NOVAK: Mr. Williams, you first became a -- came to national attention supporting Clarence Thomas in the vicious, bitter confirmation fights.

What was that all about?

What does that tell us about America and about black people in America?

WILLIAMS: No, not about black people, but about all people. You know, I worked for Justice Thomas. I was his press secretary for four years. And I knew Anita. I mean, we would go out and have lunch and hang out. I considered her a friend, and she saw him as a father figure.

NOVAK: Anita Hill.

WILLIAMS: Yes, Anita Hill, yes, Anita Hill. And, you know, if I had not been at EEOC at the time and had known Anita or the justice, I would have believed that at least something in those allegations were true, that it just -- no one could just create such an outrageous lie.

But for me as a young boy at the time, 26-years-old when that came about, I realized it was just a big lie. And I could not believe that someone could tell a lie and people begin to believe the lie.

So there was just nothing there. It shows me that people have no regard for the truth. You have to fight for what you believe in. And still, it is still tainting his credibility today.

NOVAK: A few weeks ago, you had a television interview with Vice President Cheney. It was the first television interview he had had for some time. He is under tremendous attack by liberals as a reactionary, as a part of the corporate establishment. What is your opinion of Vice President Cheney?

WILLIAMS: Obviously, Vice President Cheney is someone I have tremendous respect for. He has steely character. You know, we talked about the allegations about Halliburton and, you know, how he made it clear that the media has no interest in searching for the truth, or even telling the truth after they find it. If it makes good ratings and create a lot of fodder, they're willing to print it.

I find him to be very honorable. I will forget Vice President Cheney during 9/11, Mr. Novak, how he calmed the nation. He was the common voice. He made us all feel it was going to be OK, and these attacks would not persist.

And I just think he's a tremendous asset to the president of the United States.

NOVAK: You have a interview running Sunday with Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser to President Bush. Now, you were quite critical in a column of Dr. Rice, on her failing to take some language out that shouldn't have been in the president's State of the Union address of 2003. Are you still critical of her?

WILLIAMS: You know, I asked her about that, and she admitted that she was wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It was a difficult time. Because my own -- my view of it is, I'm the national security adviser. That should never have happened to him. It should never have been the case that he -- we had in a speech that he gave words that the director of Central Intelligence didn't want in that speech. And, yes, I felt terrible about it, and I told him that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: I mean, for the first time since I've known about those famous 11 words, she was very candid, took responsibility, and even talked about in an interview how that came about.

You know, I don't see that as being harsh. I see that as telling the truth. I think we have a responsibility no matter what our politics may be, who we may like to see in the White House. You know, when you're writing and people are trusting your writing and what you're saying, you've got to be honest.

I felt that she was negligent, and I wrote that in my column.

NOVAK: And now, the big question for Armstrong Williams.

Mr. Williams, about 90 percent of your fellow African-Americans vote Democratic when they vote. Do you think the leaders of the Republican Party are doing enough to attract black people to the standards of the GOP?

WILLIAMS: You know, until -- it doesn't -- they do much in terms of outreach, in terms of trying to create positions on Capitol Hill, faith-based initiatives, I mean, appointments. But I think Congressman DeLay said it best. Until they elect more officials like Michael Steel and people like J.C....

NOVAK: Michael Steel's the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

WILLIAMS: Lieutenant governor of Maryland. And J.C. Watts, who is an ex-congressman. Until we can prove to the black elite that black conservatives can be elected in districts where there is a high percentage of black voters, I think then and only then will we gain the kind of credibility that we need in order to have a mass exodus of blacks from that Democratic plantation.

NOVAK: Armstrong Williams, thank you very much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Novak.

NOVAK: And thank you for being in The Novak Zone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: If you haven't had time to keep up with the news this week, that's what we're here for. So let's rewind for you now and take a look at some of the top stories.

The February unemployment rate stays at 5.6 percent, but only 21,000 new jobs were created, falling far short of White House predictions.

Bombings in Baghdad and Karbala kill more than 180 Iraqis. The explosions target Shi'ite Muslims celebrating a holy day.

It was a Super Tuesday for John Kerry, racking up wins in nine more contests. A day later, John Edwards drops out of the race.

And Martha Stewart is found guilty on all four counts she faced in her obstruction of justice trial. It is likely she will serve some time in prison.

Tomorrow, we'll fast forward to the week ahead to tell you which stories will grab the spotlight.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Martha Stewart's guilty verdict. So what about the people who know her best?

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Maria Hinojosa in Westport, Connecticut, where Martha Stewart lives. And, just like the rest of the country, well, either you love her or you hate her. We'll have more opinion from small-town Westport, Connecticut, when we come back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Fast food got you feeling less than perfect? A super diet filled with superfoods may change the way you feel. Details when CNN SATURDAY MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO")

JAY LENO, HOST: Anybody want to host a cooking show? They need a host.

Free Martha! Free Martha! Free Martha!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, some are laughing, others are steaming over Stewart's guilty verdict, and many of those feelings are hitting close to home, literally.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa is in Westport, Connecticut, where Stewart lives. She joins us now with details on what folks there are saying. An Maria, I would bet there is plenty being said.

HINOJOSA: There is here at Oscar's Deli, Westport, Connecticut. It's about an hour away from New York City, a pretty wealthy suburb, let's just say, and that's putting it lightly. Slow morning. It's a little rainy and drizzly here.

But, you know, there's the same kind of opinions you're getting most everywhere, which is either you love her or you hate her.

But let's take a look at some of the papers that came out. So in "The New York Times," a pretty subdued kind of reaction, no big headline there, small, harsh blow to a company there. Then you go to "The New York Post," where it's just pretty clear, a big red "Guilty!" Red was the big sign to show she was guilty. And then "The Daily News," well, they really gave it to Martha big, putting her behind the jail there with the curtains.

Of course, a lot of jokes being made on what Martha might do once she gets into prison. Will she, in fact, change her personality and become a little bit softer and, you know, give more to the prisoners?

But just a few minutes ago, we talked to some of the people here, and this is what they had to say about Martha being found guilty on all counts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) she had reason to believe it was about to go through -- go to the toilet, and she wanted to sell it. That seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I think anybody would have done that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a shame, but she brought it on herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's been tough, and she's not the most likable person, although in this other side, I know if I was presented with a similar situation, I don't know if I would have not done the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: The question is, would all of these people lied to federal officials? And perhaps that's the biggest issue Martha Stewart for presenting herself someone as a lot of American values. Well, she lied. And she was found guilty on that. And so far, no one is saying that they would have lied to federal officials.

Well, from Westport, Connecticut, here at Oscar's Deli, back to you, Erica.

HILL: All right, we'll take it. Go enjoy your breakfast, Maria.

HINOJOSA: Sounds good.

HILL: Thanks.

Well, about to eat breakfast? Or maybe you're already thinking of lunch. Whatever the case, first listen to this. There are 14 foods that can help improve your health. Dr. Steven Pratt calls them superfoods and has written a book about them. He joins us from San Diego.

Doctor, welcome so much for joining us.

DR. STEVEN PRATT, AUTHOR, "SUPERFOODS": Good morning. Nice to be with you.

HILL: I am looking at this list here of foods, and very common foods. Why don't you let our audience in on what are these superfoods that they must start eating immediately?

PRATT: Well, there's 14 superfoods, all of which have gold standard research to substantiate that these foods, eaten a certain number of times per week, will actually help lower your rates for all chronic diseases, actually (UNINTELLIGIBLE) extend your health span, maybe even your life span.

So they're all part of...

HILL: And we're not talking weight loss here. We're talking just overall healthy living. PRATT: Well, overall healthy living. But in fact, if you eat these foods, they're calorie sparse but nutrient dense, so actually you will lose weight if you weigh too much. In addition, of course, we're talking about exercise as well.

HILL: Right, well, yes, it's -- there's always that that nobody likes to hear. But how much of a portion of that -- the equation is exercise?

PRATT: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), actually, you know, if you think about most of the time people have been on earth, we had to move ourselves around to get food. It's only recently in history where you could put your hand out and collect all that processed food of high calories and not a lot of nutrition.

HILL: All right. Well, why don't we go through the list? I see that at the top of it is beans. Any kind of beans?

PRATT: Any kind of beans will do. And in fact, and also think about sugar snap peas, green beans. They'll also -- those also count as beans, so any bean is good.

HILL: All right...

PRATT: You only eat about a quarter, a half a cup, maybe four times a week, so we're not talking a whole lot of beans here.

HILL: OK. And we've got blueberries and broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin.

PRATT: Yes, the secret super food. That's, if you want a rosy glow to good complexion, that nice-looking skin, then the carotenoids, the fighter (ph) nutrients in pumpkin will do that for you, alpha- and beta- carotene, loaded with that. So it's a great way.

And also, by the way, pumpkin tastes delicious. You make in a pudding, you can make it in bread, you can make it into all sorts of innovative ways to use pumpkin. It's a very easy food to use once you're used to it.

HILL: The list that our viewers are seeing also included salmon, but you make a distinction, wild salmon.

PRATT: Yes. I think at this point in time, there is too many environmental issues related to farmed salmon for me to recommend that. And I think wild Alaskan salmon is a renewable resource that's endorsed by all the environmental groups. There is plenty of that type of food. It's probably the safest meat source of protein on the planet, really.

HILL: Well, we used to hear an apple a day. You're saying yogurt every day.

PRATT: Well, yogurt's a great food. We have, we forget that as we get older, our GI tract gets less, doesn't absorb food quite as well, so yogurt's a great way keep the GI tract working well as you add on those birthdays.

HILL: And you also have a quick salad that people can make as well. Why don't you go through that for us?

PRATT: Well, the superfoods salad includes some Romaine lettuce, it includes some spinach, includes purple cabbage, includes some chopped-up carrots and celery, things like that. Maybe even a little bell pepper, orange or red or yellow bell pepper, or even green. So it's a very simple, easy salad to make, loaded with nutrition. You can use balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil on that salad, so it's a great way to get a lot of nutrition in a short amount of time.

HILL: All right. Dr. Steven Pratt, thanks so much for joining us.

His book is "Superfoods."

Well, we get your verdict on the Martha Stewart case coming up. What do you think about the outcome?

And good morning, Las Vegas. We'll have your complete weather forecast in just about five minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARENA: Well, "ON THE STORY" is coming up next at 10:00. Ad my friend Kathleen Hays is standing by in Washington with a preview. Kathleen?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kelli.

Only thing could make it better if you were here with us in the studio, and we're "ON THE STORY" from here in Washington to New York to Crawford, Texas, to Baghdad.

Deborah Feyerick gives us the inside word on covering the Martha Stewart case that ended in guilty verdicts Friday.

Kelly Wallace and Dana Bash look at how John Kerry and President Bush are already moving down that campaign trail, and the uproar over images of 9/11 in campaign ads.

And Jane Arraf has the latest from Baghdad, the delay in signing the interim constitution and aftermath of deadly terror attacks this week.

It's all coming up, all "ON THE STORY."

ARENA: All right, Kathleen. Well, I'll be with you in spirit.

Well, it is time for weather again.

HILL: It is. We need to take...

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) flying by. HILL: It is flying by. We need to check out the weather and make sure all the folks who are watching will know what's coming up today. Rob Marciano standing by with that news.

MARCIANO: Hi, guys.

Yes, a lot of folks will be enjoying some sunshine, but a lot of folks will also be dealing with some wet weather, especially if you live on the East Coast, at least this morning. You may get a little bit of a break later on today.

Clear and calm across the central -- well, I shouldn't say calm. The south central part of the country, the north central part really seeing some quite a bit of wind today. Near 90 degrees expected in Florida later on this afternoon.

Let's run through some forecasts for you. Boston and New York and D.C. will see rainfall taper off, probably not until later on this afternoon. Tomorrow will be drier, until about sunset, then another batch of moisture comes tomorrow night.

Fifty-seven in Nashville, 61 tomorrow. Might see a quick shower roll through Nashville later on this morning. And the showers in Atlanta are just about to come to an end.

Fifty-one -- 41 degrees in Chicago, a mix of rain and snow both in Chicago and Detroit tomorrow. Could be an interesting Sunday there. St. Louis looks to be decent. Dallas 66 degrees, 64 tomorrow. Winds across Denver, downsloping winds warming the Mile High City up into the mid-50s. In Phoenix, 73, 81 degrees expected in Phoenix tomorrow afternoon. That's good stuff. The desert Southwest is warming up.

Let's go there, actually, if we could, to Las Vegas. Vegas, baby. KVBC is our affiliate out that way. That, I believe, is a stratosphere, reminiscent of a Toronto or a Seattle skyline. You will see blue sky today with high temperatures approaching 70. It's currently in the upper 40s.

The rest of the West Coast, quickly, Los Angeles 66, some rain across parts of Seattle today. Temperatures in the next couple days will be in the lower to mid-50s.

I enjoyed it, guys. Kelli, I'll see you back here tomorrow, and Erica...

ARENA: You sure will.

MARCIANO: ... I'll see you on "HEADLINE NEWS."

HILL: All right, I will see you there. And enjoy the rest of your weekend, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you guys.

ARENA: Thanks. HILL: All right.

ARENA: Well, it's time now for a quick check of the headlines.

President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox are meeting for the second straight day in Crawford, Texas. They are expected to focus on President Bush's immigration proposals as well as holding trade discussions.

And it took the jury just 12 hours of deliberations to find Martha Stewart guilty on all four counts. Following the verdict, WCBS in New York City decided to pull the TV show "Martha Stewart Living" from its air. And "The New York Times" reports other stations across the country may follow suit.

Well, all morning, we have asked you to weigh in on the Martha Stewart verdict. Here are a couple of the responses that we have received.

HILL: We've been hearing things from all around the country. Felisicia in Chesapeake, Virginia, says, "The prosecutors did an excellent job. I applaud the jurors. They saw a coverup, and so did everyone else. Martha committed a felony, and she deserves a felony sentence. I just hope she gets the maximum. Hey, maybe she'll come out with a new line of prison wear," one of the many prison jokes we're hearing about about Martha Stewart.

ARENA: Oh, they're going to get back, they're going to get bad.

Well, we also heard from Phyllis in California, who says, "No, I think it is a railroading of a rich, powerful woman for a very minor infraction of the law. Considering the Enron and WorldCom top executives still have not been tried or found guilty of their terrible deeds that have hurt of hundreds of people, this is a travesty of justice."

Well, we've got plenty more for you today, so keep it right here. Up next, it's "ON THE STORY," followed by "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" at 11:00, with a profile on Martha Stewart and a closer look at Scott and Laci Peterson. And at noon it's "CNN LIVE SATURDAY." We'll go live to Texas for the latest on that meeting between President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox.

HILL: That's a busy day.

ARENA: Yes, very busy day.

HILL: And how. It's been a pleasure working with you.

ARENA: Same here, same here.

HILL: And we'll both be back a little bit later in the day...

ARENA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HILL: ... to continue updating you on the day's top stories. But for now, we'll leave it here. I'm Erica Hill.

ARENA: I'm Kelli Arena. Have a great day, and stay tuned. "ON THE STORY" coming up next.

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Stewart Likely to Face Jail Time>