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CNN Saturday Morning News

People in Central Florida Still Cleaning up After Hurricane Charley; Novak Zone: Interview with Frank Taylor discussing Haiti

Aired August 21, 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.


DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. It's 8:00 a.m. in Crawford, Texas, 5:00 p.m. in Baghdad.

We'll start this hour with stories now in the news.

First, to Iraq. Sporadic gunfire reported in Najaf, where a cleric's militiamen still hold a Shi'ite mosque. In Baghdad, insurgents attack a U.S. military vehicle, killing one American soldier and wounding two others. The U.S. death toll in Iraq now stands at 958.

The 9/11 Commission has issued a series of statements saying, in effect, that its work is done, and its records are being sent to the National Archives. The commission says those records will be available to the public in 2009.

Thirty-two medals are at stake today in the 28th Olympiad. The U.S. leads the medal count with 41, including 18 gold. China is in second place, then Russia, Australia, and Germany. They are all tied.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

GRIFFIN: Here's some of the stories we're working on this hour.

Forget the nation's political future, the presidential candidates just can't stop focusing on the distant past. Just how dirty will this campaign get over Vietnam War service?

People in central Florida are still cleaning up after Hurricane Charley. Thousands without power, and that's affecting life in that Sunshine State.

We will go inside high-level security operations to meet a man whose job to the prepare for the worst-case scenario everywhere he goes.

In Iraq, U.S. troops in Najaf resumed combat operations following a brief standdown for negotiations. They are surrounding a mosque still occupied by fighters for the renegade Shi'ite cleric.

John Vause is in Baghdad. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once again, the sound of gunfire and explosions around the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf after a brief lull overnight. Inside, members of the Mehdi Militia are preparing to hand the mosque over to senior Shi'ite religious figures in Najaf.

But the numbers seem to have dwindled down to just a few hundred, among them, women and children, and no visible signs of weapons inside the mosque.

Negotiations continue between al-Sadr's people and the aides close to the Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani. One sticking point appears to be the Mehdi Militia. Al-Sadr wants his men to stay in place around the mosque to guard it. And Sistani wants them to leave completely before accepting responsibility.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) now is the question, where is Muqtada al-Sadr? He has not been seen in public for about a week. The U.S. military says they have no intelligence about his exact whereabouts.

Meantime, here in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed when his convoy came under attack from an RPG. Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded in that attack.

Also to the northeast of Hella (ph), a Polish soldier was killed by a car bomb. Six Polish soldiers were also wounded.

John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And on the terror watch this week, eight of the 13 men arrested on terror charges in Britain had their first court appearance in London on Wednesday. One of those suspects, described by U.S. officials as a senior al Qaeda operative. A plea hearing is set for August 25 in Britain.

A striking failure, that's what a leading Democratic congressman said about a program designed to protect the nation's borders from terrorists. Representative Jim Turner of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- of Texas is a ranking Democrat on the House Domestic Security Committee.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, he says an investigation by his committee showed problems with the system. Homeland Undersecretary for Border Security Asa Hutchison says the findings based on incorrect information.

And Friday, cracking down on alleged Hamas activities in U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says two men are in custody in an alleged terrorism financing scheme, a third person still at large overseas. One of the suspects appeared in court in Chicago Friday and pleaded not guilty. The men are accused in a scheme to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to the group Hamas. NGUYEN: Well, if you haven't noticed, it is getting a bit testy on the campaign trail. Democratic contender John Kerry attends fundraisers in New York today.

Yesterday, though, he toured hurricane-damaged areas in Florida. He walked through neighborhoods and visited the emergency operations center in Punta Gorda, which was hard hit. Meanwhile, Kerry has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against a swift boat group attacking Kerry's war record.

Now, a volunteer for John Kerry says he picked up a flyer in a Bush-Cheney campaign office in Florida promoting the group running commercials against Kerry.

Jill Dougherty is in Crawford, and she joins us now with more on this simmering campaign controversy. Jill, it seems like the mudslinging has begun.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It has. You know, many people who look at campaigns say that this is really turning nasty very early. And President Bush, for his part, is here in Crawford, Texas. He's at his ranch. And he's been having a bit of downtime, but he's also practicing that speech that he'll be giving at the convention very shortly.

Now, that subject, again, of these attack ads, that's really been in the news this week. The president today is going to be talking about the -- in his radio address talking about education, but he keeps going back to those attack ads that are funded by groups that have soft money. They're called 527s.

And these ads have been very effective, especially in terms of John Kerry. It's been hurting the Kerry campaign. And the Kerry campaign has been saying that President Bush is letting these groups do his dirty work.

Now, the Bush campaign and the White House deny that there is any connection between them and these groups. They point out that the president himself has been the target of such ads to the tune of $62 million. And you have to note that both campaigns have filed FEC complaints, the Federal Election Commission, to get these ads off the air.

Scott McClellan, in a very personal comment, saying that Senator Kerry has, quote, "lost his cool over the issue."

So meanwhile, Senator John McCain -- and if you remember, he has criticized ads on both sides, saying that they shouldn't be happening, and that both men served in Vietnam honorably -- I should say during the Vietnam War honorably, and he says the ads simply should stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I believe that President Bush served honorably in the National Guard. And I believe that service in the National Guard is honorable. And I believe that John Kerry served honorably.

And there are more compelling issues. Today, probably, an American will die in Iraq, a young American. We should be focusing our attention on winning that war, not trying to refight one that's been over for 30 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And in McCain's view, who does he blame? He blames the FEC. He said they're not doing their job, Betty.

NGUYEN: Jill, let's talk about that. What is the FEC doing, since both sides have filed complaints?

DOUGHERTY: Well, there -- at this point, in fact, the Bush complaints were filed back several months ago. There has been no decision in those cases. But theoretically, they could take some action.

The problem is that these groups do exist, many people would say, legally, but what they are doing, the effect of it, is very much below the radar. And both campaigns are angry about them. Again, some of these effects, especially those swift boat ads are, having an effect on Kerry.

NGUYEN: Jill Dougherty in Crawford, Texas, thank you very much. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Jill and Betty, the candidates are spending lots of money 11 weeks before the election. According to the latest figures, President Bush's campaign tops the list, shelling out $209 million as of last month. Senator Kerry's campaign, they've spent $186 million.

Independent candidate Ralph Nader, he's hanging in there, but only barely. Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and now Missouri all denying Nader a place on the presidential ballot. State officials say Nader's campaign workers failed to follow proper procedures. Nader has met requirements to appear on ballots in 11 states.

Still ahead, he claims he's a changed man and deserves a place in baseball's Hall of Fame. Well, now the government is weighing in on the future of Pete Rose.

NGUYEN: And is there anything positive in the rise of crude oil prices? We'll take a closer look.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center. Showers and storms across the East Coast today, better weather for you tomorrow. And monsoon flows will throw up showers and storms across the intermountain West.

Vegas, though, all quiet along the strip. It's 79 degrees. KVBC is our affiliate. Good morning, Vegas. Forecast for the rest of the country in about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, crude oil prices closed the week just below $48 a barrel, after flirting with the $50 mark. You'll probably feel the effects most immediately at the pumps, but the impact could go well beyond the price of gasoline.

And Ali Velshi of CNN FINANCIAL NEWS joins us from Washington to provide some timely insight. Tell me you have some kind of good news here, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: The good news is that nothing keeps Americans away from their cars, Betty. Americans love driving. And some people have started taking a serious look at ways to cut their spending in other areas to make up for the increase in the fuel pump prices.

But it's not clear whether the price of gas is high enough yet for most Americans to change the way they actually consume energy. As you mentioned, the price of a barrel of light sweet crude oil, that's the oil that's refined into gas and heating oil here in the United States, hit $49.40 on Friday. That's an all-time high. It came back to end the day at about $47.80.

But that is a 51 percent increase since the beginning of the year, and experts say it could go higher.

A lot of people are talking during this campaign about reducing our dependence on OPEC and on Mideast oil, but that is just one of the factors leading oil prices higher. China, a much bigger part of the world economy now, it's consuming a lot more oil than it did in the past, 40 percent more than it did last year. This year alone, India becoming a big player in the world economy, consuming 10 percent more oil this year than it did.

But in the end, it is Americans. We suck up more oil than anyone else, and not only is it unlikely that we're going to reduce imports from the Mideast, Betty, we're going to need imports from wherever we can get them. Oil doesn't just come out of the ground in fields in the Mideast, but that is, in fact, the cheapest way to get oil out of the ground.

At around $50 a barrel, companies can afford to look for oil in the most unusual of places.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BEUTEL, CAMERON HANOVER: Well, at $50 a barrel, you can probably find oil in your backyard. A proven reserve is only the amount of oil that you can get out of the ground at today's prices. Fifty dollars, you can find it in a lot of places you couldn't find it at $20.

I mean, break even point for the North Sea is $18 to $22. Break even for Russian permafrost regions is about $20, $25. So at $50 a barrel, you can go to some of the most remote and inaccessible places on the planet and pull up oil profitably. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Betty, experts say where it's really going to hit Americans, home heating oil this winter. You might see a 50 percent increase in home heating bills, might even be $500 for the average American for the season.

So this is going to be something we're going have to keep a very, very close eye on, Betty.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes, and I'm going to take that advice. I'm going to start digging in the front yard to see if I can strike some oil there.

VELSHI: You might.

NGUYEN: All right, Ali Velshi, thank you very much.

GRIFFIN: All right, you two, that leads us to our e-mail question this morning. Do high prices jeopardize the economic recovery? You can log onto our Web site or e-mail us at wam@cnn.com. And we're going to read all your responses a bit later in the show.

If you've just joined us, here are the headlines this morning.

The U.S. military resuming operations around the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf after a fairly quiet night there. Iraqi officials expected to come to that city soon to try to broker an end to the two-week standoff. An aide to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says al-Sadr's followers inside that mosque want to hand over control of the mosque to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani before they leave.

In Baghdad, one U.S. soldier was killed, two wounded in attack earlier today.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in Florida yesterday to see hurricane damage for himself. Kerry has some campaign events today in New York. The Kerry campaign filed a complaint with the F- the SEC -- FEC, excuse me, alleged that the group behind a negative spot, the swift boat spot, was coordinating its efforts with the Bush- Cheney campaign, and that would be illegal.

NGUYEN: News across America now.

Authorities in California believe two camp counselors found shot to death on the Sonoma Coast State Beach died instantly. The man and woman were each shot in the head while they slept. No motive and no suspect in that case.

Also in California, two more cases of West Nile virus reported in Clark County, bringing the number to four cases in that county. Statewide, there are eight cases of West Nile so far this year in California.

Police say Carnival cruise ships were used by drug traffickers to ship cocaine from Honduras to Jamaica to New Orleans. Then the drugs were driven to Tampa, Florida. Police arrested 52 people in Tampa in a series of drug raids.

And baseball great Pete Rose is in trouble again, this time with the IRS. Government claims Rose owes nearly $1 million in back taxes for the years 1997 to 2002.

New York City is getting set for a wave of political visitors, from Republican supporters to demonstrators. Find out how police and government officials are preparing to keep you safe when the convention kicks off. You want to stay tuned. That is coming up in about 10 minutes.

GRIFFIN: And it was one week ago Charley ripped through Florida. How long will it take until those in its path get their lives back together? A live report next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are watching a neighborhood disintegrate. This is Hurricane Charley. For the past five minutes or so, we have been experiencing winds in excess of 100 miles an hour. It is tearing off roofs...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. When those winds got up there, sounded like it was 1,000 guys marching up on our roofs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the equipment will be salvageable. The building will obviously have to be tore down.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

NGUYEN: It could be years before people fully recover from Hurricane Charley, particularly in Florida, where the powerful storm hit the hardest. Charley is blamed for 24 deaths so far, all in Florida, and property damage is estimated at $7.4 billion.

Almost 262,000 people are still without electricity some eight days after Charley hit the Southeast. And there are hundreds of people on the front lines of the recovery effort in Florida.

One of them joins us right now on the phone in Charlotte County, the director of emergency management, Wayne Sallade.

Good morning to you.

WAYNE SALLADE, CHARLOTTE COUNTY DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (on phone): Good morning.

NGUYEN: Well, talk to us about those basic services. Some 200,000 still without electricity in the state. How is it in your area?

SALLADE: Well, we hit the 50 percent mark yesterday. And if you look at that in one week after the devastation by Hurricane Charley, that's a pretty remarkable job by the folks at Florida Power and Light.

But, of course, they're the best in the world at power restoration. They cut their teeth on Hugo in 1989 when they traveled to South Carolina. Then they got their turn in the barrel in 1982 with Andrew. And since then they have refined and developed the best response plans in the world for power restoration.

So they're getting put to the test, and they're responding very well.

NGUYEN: What about water? We heard earlier in the week that folks were still having to boil the water that's coming out of the sink.

SALLADE: And they will for a while. There are certainly issues. State law requires that until you reach a certain pressure level with your water, and until your system has been cleared and cleansed, that you do have to boil water. So the boiled water advisory remain in effect.

But I'll tell you, that beats not having water at all. So people are working through that. And, you know, it's a nuisance, certainly, but it's certainly not the biggest nuisance.

NGUYEN: What about schools? There was some word that they were going to open on Monday. Is that still the case?

SALLADE: Not here, no...

NGUYEN: Not there.

SALLADE: ... schools will not open for another week here in Charlotte County. We lost more schools than Miami-Dade County lost in Andrew, so that's a pretty significant number. We have at least seven schools that are out of commission in Charlotte County.

Although there is good news. Yesterday the extracurricular activities resumed, the sports teams, the fall sports teams, the bands, the cheerleaders began meeting yesterday. Football practice begins in earnest once again on Monday. So that's a sure sign that life is beginning to climb out of the shadow of Charley.

And I think we're going to see more and more of that. Our teachers, those who are available, will report to work on Monday and begin the arduous task of putting together plans for double sessions. Two of our archrival high schools here, Charlotte and Port Charlotte, are going to be commingled on one campus in Port Charlotte, and that's going to be interesting.

But I know our students and the parents will respond just as they have in the wake of Charley.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. Wayne, quickly, let's talk about safety in the area. What do you know about people looting, about price gouging? I understand there's been a curfew. Can you quickly tell us about all that, the safety measures that are in place? SALLADE: Yes, well, those really haven't been the big problems, quite frankly. The curfew has worked extremely well. We've got 600 National Guardsmen on the ground, law enforcement from across Florida and the Southeast.

Price gouging, yes, there has been sporadic cases of people taking advantage of the victims. It will not be tolerated. They'll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But otherwise, safety measures, you know, think generator safety and safety while working on a roof and looking out for the afternoon thunderstorms and being cautious of the lightning, these are all safety measures that people have to take into account. It's a dicey time, and everybody's just got to be very, very careful.

NGUYEN: We wish you the best. Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's emergency management team, thank you.

SALLADE: Thank you so much.

GRIFFIN: Betty, we want to go up to see Rob Marciano in the Weather Center for the latest weather across the nation -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Hey, Drew.

We'll start off in the tropics. You know how we were talking about what Hurricane Charley did to southwestern Florida. This is the Caribbean, and this is a cloud mass that looks a little bit more impressive in the satellite picture than the National Hurricane Center thinks it is.

Not a whole lot of development is expected from this. It's a little tropical wave that is heading into the central Caribbean. We'll keep on eye on it, of course, and who knows, maybe they'll have plans to send a aircraft out there if it gets any more ugly on the satellite picture.

Syracuse, not looking all that pretty either. You slide down towards the State College and Pittsburgh, back to parts of West Virginia, this is all cool front that's slowly marching off to the east, not quite raining very much in New York, Philly, and D.C., but later on today, as this front pushes into a very warm and tropical air mass, you'll see those showers and storms fire up. Some of them could be pretty strong, with gusty winds and maybe some hail also.

Nashville sliding back, almost to Memphis, slowing down to Tupelo and maybe Jackson, Mississippi, some showers and storms expected today. There have been some strong thunderstorms across parts of southeast Texas, Houston, east on I-10 towards Beaumont and Port Arthur, but it looks like it's beginning to diminish as that squall line heads into the Gulf of Mexico.

But that will be the focus point, again, across this part of the country. The Chicago area looking good, with temperatures there in the 70s. And that will heading -- be heading to the east later on tonight and tomorrow. We go to Vegas, back to it, 79 degrees. There were thunderstorms in and around the Strip, but not a whole lot of moisture piling up. Tough to get a lot of rain out of the sky in Vegas. A record value would be 0.06 inches. They had a trace yesterday officially at the Vegas area. But highs to about 100 today, Drew and Betty.

NGUYEN: Yikes, 100.

GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MARCIANO: Exactly. And they're pumping the oxygen in there too.

GRIFFIN: Oh, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NGUYEN: Oh, yes, keeping them at the tables.

MARCIANO: Big time.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Rob.

Security top priority for the Big Apple. What are officials doing to make sure everybody is safe when the Republican convention comes to town? We've got details on that.

NGUYEN: And one man who knows plenty about keeping people safe takes time out from his duties of protecting America's diplomats to pay a visit to The Novak Zone. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Fans will have plenty to cheer about today in Athens. We'll get the latest from the Summer Games in a live report.

GRIFFIN: Welcome back. We're going to have that story in about 10 minutes from now.

First, we're going to tell you what's happening right now in the news.

Can the violence in the Iraqi city of Najaf be brought to an end? The answer not clear this morning. There are fresh clashes outside a mosque where radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's fighters are holed up. There had been a brief halt to the fighting, but now the U.S. military is resuming limited combat.

There's also uncertainty over the fate of French-American journalist who was kidnapped in Iraq. An aide to cleric Muqtada al- Sadr says Micah Garen's kidnappers have lifted a threat to kill him, but that claim has not been verified.

Back home, John Kerry making waves over the swift boat ads. They're from a group of Vietnam vets and who served on the boats and who balk at Kerry's war record. Kerry camp says the ads are front for President Bush's reelection campaign. Meantime, the Bush camp says it will still run an ad that mentions the Olympics despite objections from the U.S. Olympic officials. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: On any given day at any given time, U.S. embassies around world are at risk of being attacked by terrorists. The man in charge of keeping the embassies safe is Ambassador Frank Taylor, and he's in The Novak Zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT NOVAK, HOST: Welcome to The Novak Zone.

We're at the briefing room of the United States State Department in Washington, D.C., with Frank Taylor, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security.

Ambassador Taylor, you came to the State Department after 31 years in the Air Force, rising to the rank of brigadier general. What do you do here at the State Department?

AMB. FRANK TAYLOR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DIPLOMATIC SECURITY: My job is very simple, Bob. It's to provide a secure platform for our diplomats and others who are on Secretary Powell's team, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) American diplomacy all over the world.

NOVAK: Now, you are opening what is supposed to be the biggest embassy of any country anywhere in the world in Baghdad in Iraq, which is not a very safe place. That is an -- are you in charge of trying to provide security for that? Isn't that an enormous task?

TAYLOR: Well, certainly it's a large task. We are working today on the ground in Iraq with our coalition partners, with the multinational force, Iraq, and with the Iraqi people to help secure that environment for our people to operate in. But indeed, it is a very dangerous place (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NOVAK: What do you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for problems there?

TAYLOR: I don't know that there are any more special problems. Certainly we have an active insurgency, and that is a challenge for us to get people where they need to be while people are trying to attack us.

I attended a funeral today for one of my colleagues that was killed by a rocket attack in Kirkuk over the weekend. These people are trying to undermine the Iraqi people and their move towards independence.

NOVAK: What can you tell us, without giving away any secrets, on what you're doing around the world to protect American diplomats, specifically?

TAYLOR: Well, it's not a secret. We believe very strongly that information is important in understanding the threat, and so daily we work to gather with our partners in our U.S. government and our partners around the world, information indicating that there's a threat to our people or to our facilities.

We partner with the FBI, the CIA, Department of Homeland Security. And certainly for us overseas, our international partners who provide a tremendous amount of information and allow us to proactively engage people before they can attack our embassies.

NOVAK: Of course, we had embassy bombing in Africa several years ago. Do you think embassies are -- U.S. embassies are still a primary target or a possible target of the terrorists?

TAYLOR: Every day we believe that an embassy around the world could be attacked. We're the most visible symbol of the United States of America around the world. We're in 180 countries, 260 facilities. And certainly embassies do provide people who want to attack us a target that is inviting.

NOVAK: Ambassador Taylor, you were quoted as saying you are paid to be paranoid. Is it possible that you're imagining some of these dangers? I mean, paranoid means sort of a mental problem.

TAYLOR: I don't think it's imaginary. All one has to do is look at what happened on September 11 to understand that we're dealing with very evil people. My paranoia comes from not dismissing any piece of information that could indicate a potential threat, following every strand to a conclusion that satisfies me and my colleagues that we know and understand the risk, and we have done what is necessary to mitigate that risk.

NOVAK: You also have said that the al Qaeda we knew before 9/11 no longer exists. What do you mean by that?

TAYLOR: Well, I think al Qaeda before 9/11 was an organization that was primarily focused in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I think al Qaeda has evolved, as we've attacked their stronghold in Afghanistan, and now with our partners in Pakistan, in Pakistan.

But I am seeing another phenomenon, and that's the phenomenon of extreme Islam being moved more broadly than just what was happening with the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. And, indeed, that's why I believe that the struggle that we're engaged in is a long-term struggle, a generational struggle.

You also protect foreign visitors when they come here. Is that a major responsibility?

TAYLOR: Anyone below the heads of state who require protection, our organization is responsible for that. And we do take it very seriously. And it's a very difficult challenge in today's environment. But I'm very proud to say that our organization has never had one of our protectees injured or in any way embarrassed during the time that they've been under our protection.

NOVAK: Several months ago, I had an interview with the provisional president of Haiti, and he had some American armed guards there. And I believe they were with the State Department. Do you have part of that security for several heads of state? And what's the basis for doing that?

TAYLOR: Well, certainly we have historically helped governments to train protective organizations. In Haiti, the challenge was, there was no reliable protective organization. And so we were asked to provide interim coverage for protection for the president of Haiti, which we've been doing since the difficulties there.

We're transitioning now to -- it's still under our control, but we'll do that until we can get a Haitian capability up and running. Of course, you know, we're also providing protection for President Karzai in Afghanistan.

NOVAK: And now the big question for Ambassador Frank Taylor, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security.

Mr. Secretary, with the Olympics now on in Athens, is your office providing some help for security to the Olympic organizers?

TAYLOR: Absolutely. We've been working with the Greeks for more than three years in a collaborative effort to help them improve their capability to provide security for the games.

Indeed, it's the most costly security operation in the history of the Olympics. And it's a very simple reason for that. We live in a dangerous world, and that number of people located in one single place for two weeks is an inviting target for terrorists.

So we've been very closely aligned with the Greek authorities and working with them to help them exercise their primary responsibility for security, and we have great confidence that they'll come through and deliver.

NOVAK: Ambassador Frank Taylor, thank you very much, and good luck on your difficult mission.

TAYLOR: Thank you, sir.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Well, it's about a week to go before the Republican National Convention, and security concerns are centering around New York's somewhat unique way people get around in that city, the subway.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beneath Madison Square Garden, 1,000 subway and commuter trains pass through Penn Station, linking New Jersey and Long Island to New York City, 7 million people on the move underground every day, more people, one expert says, than travel an L.A. freeway in two months. But the tunnels are old, and that could complicate rescue efforts if there's a terror attack. ROBERT PAASWELL, TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CENTER: They need perhaps structural repair. The fact that the communications systems in the tunnels are all in need to be updating, they're not necessarily redundant, so if you kill one communication system, you don't have backups. Radios don't work.

FEYERICK: Police say they can evacuate the trains if they need to, a need highlighted by the coordinated bombings on passenger trains in Madrid last March.

NYPD Inspector Vincent DeMarino helps oversee the city's subways.

INSPECTOR VINCENT DEMARINO, NYPD COUNTERTERRORISM UNIT: There was a slight paradigm shift with regards to how those devices went off on those trains. So we were able to immediately change what we do just in case they feel that that was a successful strategy that they might want to employ somewhere else in the world.

FEYERICK: During the convention, specially trained counterterror units will make random, frequent subway sweeps, searching for anything suspicious. That includes possible suicide bombers.

WILLIAM MORANGE, METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY: Intelligence is probably the most important part. We get all of the newest intel, and, in addition, we also know what's credible, what's not credible.

FEYERICK: Police, many undercover, will be riding trains into Manhattan, an attempt to stop any device from reaching there. The city's police commissioner, Ray Kelly.

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We have a comprehensive program in place to address a lot of those concerns. No guarantees. There are no guarantees in the post-9/11 world.

FEYERICK: And that's the challenge. When a pipe bomb went off in a Times Square subway station mid-July, police swarmed the scene.

(on camera): One transit expert says it's that kind of incident that shows an attack doesn't have to be big, or, for that matter, anywhere near the convention, to disrupt the event.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: First, there was "Fahrenheit 9/11." Now comes another hard-hitting documentary challenging President Bush's theory that Saddam Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "UNCOVERED: THE WAR ON IRAQ")

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Here you see both truck- and railcar-mounted mobile factories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you take a look at the mobile labs that Colin Powell discussed, he didn't put up photographs of these facilities. He put up artists' renditions of these facilities. Why? Because we have no proof they exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: It's called "Uncovered: The war on Iraq." And tomorrow on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, the director of the film, Robert Greenwald, joins us live. That again that is tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Our top stories this Saturday.

Fighting has flared up again in the Iraqi city of Najaf after a brief break. Officials say the U.S. military is clashing with Shi'ite militiamen in the Imam Ali Mosque.

And in Baghdad, a grenade attack on a U.S. military vehicle has killed an American soldier.

Turning now to U.S. politics, President Bush's campaign says it has nothing to do with the ads, but John Kerry is not buying it. Kerry is complaining to election officials about some commercials that question his Vietnam War service. Kerry's camp says the spots are being illegally coordinated with Bush's reelection campaign.

GRIFFIN: American swimmer Michael Phelps making headlines again today in Athens, Greece, for what he's not going to do now.

Larry Smith is joining us from Athens with more on this and more. Hi, Larry.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Drew, how are you? Good afternoon from Athens.

Yes, it seems strange that Michael Phelps can make Olympic history without taking off his street clothes. But Phelps will not swim in tonight's 400-meter medley, an unselfish gesture last night by the 19-year-old from Baltimore.

A couple of hours after he won his fifth gold at these games by edging teammate Ian Crocker for the 100-meter butterfly gold, he then gave up his spot in the relay and allowed Crocker to take his spot. Crocker earlier swam in the bronze medal 400 freestyle relay. He was sick. He struggled in that event and now has a chance to redeem himself.

But Phelps's gesture of unselfishness has rung true throughout Athens today. In fact, IOC president Jacques Rogge called him a true champion and one of the icons of these games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. GOLD MEDALIST: I wanted to come in here, I wanted to win one gold medal, and I did it the first night. So, you know, from then on out, I was just, I was here to have fun, and I was here to swim. And I was here to represent, like, the, my country as best as I could. And, you know, I fell, I feel that I've done that in this past week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Once again, he can still win that eighth medal tonight, even though he is not in the pool for the U.S. That would be the most ever by a swimmer in Olympic Games.

USA men's basketball in about three hours. It's the U.S. versus Lithuania. Lithuania, 3 and 0 in these games, have already qualified for the quarterfinals. A very strong medal contender.

By the way, the U.S. 2 and 1 in these games. They need to win either today or Monday versus Angola to assure themselves a spot in the quarterfinals. Dream team trying to keep the dream alive.

USA women's soccer. It'll be a showdown on Monday for the women as they take on Germany in the semifinals in sake -- in soccer, that is. They beat Japan 2 to 1, maybe had some sake later, who knows? They beat Japan 2 to 1 yesterday, and so again, they face Germany, a rematch of last year's World Cup quarterfinals, or semifinals, I should say, which was won by Germany.

Now, here's a big scandal that's ongoing today. Paul Hamm on Wednesday, he won the gold medal, first American male ever do that in gymnastics in the all-around for the International Gymnastics Federation, admitting that there was a scoring mistake. They gave Hamm the gold medal. Three judges have been suspended, but the results will not be changed. And so Hamm will keep his gold medal.

Track and field, second full day of competition, and already Shawn Crawford and Justin Gatland ran the top two times in the early morning preliminary of the 100 meter. Also qualifying and advancing is 2000 gold medalist Marie Perec (ph).

Later tonight, it's the women's 100-meter semifinals. And late tonight, at the night, 11:00 p.m. local time in Athens, there'll be the women's 100-meter final. Two-time gold champion, gold medalist, I should say, Gail Deevers is already in the semifinals, along with Latasha Colander and Lauren Williams.

Drew, let's go back to you.

GRIFFIN: Larry, thanks. Hope you can watch some of that sake -- soccer.

NGUYEN: What's on your mind this morning?

TAYLOR: Let's watch it and not drink it, right?

NGUYEN: Thank you, Larry. Well, an American Olympic swimmer facing jail when she returns from Athens. Synchronized swimmer Tammy Crow was denied an appeal over conviction on two misdemeanor accounts of vehicular manslaughter. Crow was driving in California's Sierra mountains last year when her car slid off a wet road and crashed, killing two passengers.

Crow was also injured. She pleaded no contest to those charges, and a judge agreed to postpone her sentence until after the Olympics. In her appeal, Crow claimed her lawyer never told her that she could face jail time.

GRIFFIN: It's been a busy week. If you have been too busy to keep up with the news, here is what has been going on. We're going to rewind here.

Florida residents began picking up the pieces after Hurricane Charley blew through the state last Friday the 13th. Emergency crews cleared roads, but are still working now to restore water, electricity. Two hundred forty thousand customers still have no power. The storm so far caused 24 deaths.

An Army report on interrogation practices by the military at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison found the abuse was not ordered by senior commanders. Known as the Fay report, it is expected to be released next week.

Google making its long-wanted debut on the Nasdaq marketplace on Thursday, $85 a share is what it went out at. Within the first few minutes, more than 9 million shares changed hands, making Google one of the most actively traded stocks on the Nasdaq. It gained $15 a share on that very first day of trading.

And crude oil prices soaring to a new high. Went up to $50 a barrel before backing down. It shows no signs of slowing. The rapid rise partly the result of escalating violence in Iraq and increased worldwide demand.

NGUYEN: And tomorrow, we'll fast forward to the week ahead, so we invite you to join us then.

GRIFFIN: Well, oil prices are escalating. That can't be good thing when it comes to the American economy. Or is it? Your opinion next.

NGUYEN: And good morning, southern California. The weekend weather word in about five minutes. We'll take a look at southern California in a moment.

This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

GRIFFIN: You've seen some of the video of the Olympics, but sometimes a still photo tells a more compelling story. Take a look at these images from the Summer Games in Athens, capturing, look at this, the wordless poetry of athletic excellence.

That's my favorite right there. NGUYEN: Yes, look at that one, wow.

GRIFFIN: Incredible.

NGUYEN: All right, well, there is plenty more ahead on CNN today. At the top of the hour, it's "ON THE STORY." Jill Dougherty continues to follow the swift boat squabble between the Bush and Kerry campaigns. Gerri Willis is "ON THE STORY" of record oil prices and what they mean for your wallet. And Elizabeth Cohen is "ON THE STORY" of gastric bypass surgery as a means for fighting obesity.

At 11:00 a.m. Eastern, it's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," with a look at two of music's leading ladies. We're talking at Britney Spears and Madonna. Then at noon, it is more "CNN LIVE SATURDAY."

GRIFFIN: Rob Marciano is watching the weather for us this morning. Good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: Hey, Drew, Betty.

You know, today is the world championship of lobster-eating contest.

NGUYEN: Ooh, I like that contest.

(CROSSTALK)

MARCIANO: You know, you got your hot dog-eating contest, you got all these other things.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

MARCIANO: But lobster wouldn't be too bad.

NGUYEN: Except you got...

GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... to crack it, you know, and open it up.

MARCIANO: As you would imagine...

NGUYEN: Messy.

MARCIANO: ... it's happening in Maine. So, you know, that's where they have the best lobster, so that's where they're going to get it.

But rain is expected, thunderstorms, some of which could be heavy at times as this front pushes into what is a pretty warm and tropical air mass.

But behind this front, the H, and that's good news. And that's a nice, cool Canadian dry air mass.

Across the Pacific Northwest, might see a couple of showers later on today and then in through tonight. California looking pretty good, kind of warm inland.

Boston, New York, Philly, the bigger cities on the East Coast will see the showers and storms fire up this afternoon. Cooler, dryer weather for you tomorrow. So better day of the weekend.

Miami, 90, it'll be 82 degrees expected in Charlotte. And here's your great weather that'll be sliding east across the Midwest. Tomorrow, those cities will warm up a little bit, and we'll crank up the humidity just a touch.

Ninety in Dallas, it'll be 80 degrees in Denver, and steamy across Houston. L.A., San Francisco, in the lower 70s. Good-looking weather there. Seattle and Portland will see a chance for showers and storms, more just steady rainfall later on this afternoon.

Now, start to see it heading across Vancouver Island there, but right now, it's dry in Seattle. And some heavy rains earlier today in Houston, probably see a couple more fire up. But the focal point, I guess, will be across parts of central PA and through update New York as showers and storms begin to roll towards Philadelphia and Kennebunkport, Maine, where they're going to be chowing down on lobster later on this afternoon.

Back to you guys in the studio.

NGUYEN: I want to grab the umbrella for that one. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK.

NGUYEN: All morning long, we've been asking you for your thoughts on our e-mail question of the day. Do high oil prices jeopardize the economic recovery?

And Linda from Virginia says, "If these prices don't start going down, our economy is going to begin a downward slide, perhaps the economy of the world as a whole as well."

GRIFFIN: Here's what Edwin says from Toronto. "In short, yes. Oil and its many petrochemical products added with fuels make it a real economic engine. It will determine who has work and who had work and who has the money to spend. The effect is global."

Certainly thank all those who wrote in.

And thank you for watching us on this Saturday morning.

NGUYEN: That's going to do it for us today. But we'll be right here tomorrow morning, so please join us then.

Right now it is "ON THE STORY" right after this break.

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


Aired August 21, 2004 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. It's 8:00 a.m. in Crawford, Texas, 5:00 p.m. in Baghdad.

We'll start this hour with stories now in the news.

First, to Iraq. Sporadic gunfire reported in Najaf, where a cleric's militiamen still hold a Shi'ite mosque. In Baghdad, insurgents attack a U.S. military vehicle, killing one American soldier and wounding two others. The U.S. death toll in Iraq now stands at 958.

The 9/11 Commission has issued a series of statements saying, in effect, that its work is done, and its records are being sent to the National Archives. The commission says those records will be available to the public in 2009.

Thirty-two medals are at stake today in the 28th Olympiad. The U.S. leads the medal count with 41, including 18 gold. China is in second place, then Russia, Australia, and Germany. They are all tied.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

GRIFFIN: Here's some of the stories we're working on this hour.

Forget the nation's political future, the presidential candidates just can't stop focusing on the distant past. Just how dirty will this campaign get over Vietnam War service?

People in central Florida are still cleaning up after Hurricane Charley. Thousands without power, and that's affecting life in that Sunshine State.

We will go inside high-level security operations to meet a man whose job to the prepare for the worst-case scenario everywhere he goes.

In Iraq, U.S. troops in Najaf resumed combat operations following a brief standdown for negotiations. They are surrounding a mosque still occupied by fighters for the renegade Shi'ite cleric.

John Vause is in Baghdad. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once again, the sound of gunfire and explosions around the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf after a brief lull overnight. Inside, members of the Mehdi Militia are preparing to hand the mosque over to senior Shi'ite religious figures in Najaf.

But the numbers seem to have dwindled down to just a few hundred, among them, women and children, and no visible signs of weapons inside the mosque.

Negotiations continue between al-Sadr's people and the aides close to the Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani. One sticking point appears to be the Mehdi Militia. Al-Sadr wants his men to stay in place around the mosque to guard it. And Sistani wants them to leave completely before accepting responsibility.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) now is the question, where is Muqtada al-Sadr? He has not been seen in public for about a week. The U.S. military says they have no intelligence about his exact whereabouts.

Meantime, here in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed when his convoy came under attack from an RPG. Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded in that attack.

Also to the northeast of Hella (ph), a Polish soldier was killed by a car bomb. Six Polish soldiers were also wounded.

John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And on the terror watch this week, eight of the 13 men arrested on terror charges in Britain had their first court appearance in London on Wednesday. One of those suspects, described by U.S. officials as a senior al Qaeda operative. A plea hearing is set for August 25 in Britain.

A striking failure, that's what a leading Democratic congressman said about a program designed to protect the nation's borders from terrorists. Representative Jim Turner of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- of Texas is a ranking Democrat on the House Domestic Security Committee.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, he says an investigation by his committee showed problems with the system. Homeland Undersecretary for Border Security Asa Hutchison says the findings based on incorrect information.

And Friday, cracking down on alleged Hamas activities in U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says two men are in custody in an alleged terrorism financing scheme, a third person still at large overseas. One of the suspects appeared in court in Chicago Friday and pleaded not guilty. The men are accused in a scheme to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to the group Hamas. NGUYEN: Well, if you haven't noticed, it is getting a bit testy on the campaign trail. Democratic contender John Kerry attends fundraisers in New York today.

Yesterday, though, he toured hurricane-damaged areas in Florida. He walked through neighborhoods and visited the emergency operations center in Punta Gorda, which was hard hit. Meanwhile, Kerry has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against a swift boat group attacking Kerry's war record.

Now, a volunteer for John Kerry says he picked up a flyer in a Bush-Cheney campaign office in Florida promoting the group running commercials against Kerry.

Jill Dougherty is in Crawford, and she joins us now with more on this simmering campaign controversy. Jill, it seems like the mudslinging has begun.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It has. You know, many people who look at campaigns say that this is really turning nasty very early. And President Bush, for his part, is here in Crawford, Texas. He's at his ranch. And he's been having a bit of downtime, but he's also practicing that speech that he'll be giving at the convention very shortly.

Now, that subject, again, of these attack ads, that's really been in the news this week. The president today is going to be talking about the -- in his radio address talking about education, but he keeps going back to those attack ads that are funded by groups that have soft money. They're called 527s.

And these ads have been very effective, especially in terms of John Kerry. It's been hurting the Kerry campaign. And the Kerry campaign has been saying that President Bush is letting these groups do his dirty work.

Now, the Bush campaign and the White House deny that there is any connection between them and these groups. They point out that the president himself has been the target of such ads to the tune of $62 million. And you have to note that both campaigns have filed FEC complaints, the Federal Election Commission, to get these ads off the air.

Scott McClellan, in a very personal comment, saying that Senator Kerry has, quote, "lost his cool over the issue."

So meanwhile, Senator John McCain -- and if you remember, he has criticized ads on both sides, saying that they shouldn't be happening, and that both men served in Vietnam honorably -- I should say during the Vietnam War honorably, and he says the ads simply should stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I believe that President Bush served honorably in the National Guard. And I believe that service in the National Guard is honorable. And I believe that John Kerry served honorably.

And there are more compelling issues. Today, probably, an American will die in Iraq, a young American. We should be focusing our attention on winning that war, not trying to refight one that's been over for 30 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And in McCain's view, who does he blame? He blames the FEC. He said they're not doing their job, Betty.

NGUYEN: Jill, let's talk about that. What is the FEC doing, since both sides have filed complaints?

DOUGHERTY: Well, there -- at this point, in fact, the Bush complaints were filed back several months ago. There has been no decision in those cases. But theoretically, they could take some action.

The problem is that these groups do exist, many people would say, legally, but what they are doing, the effect of it, is very much below the radar. And both campaigns are angry about them. Again, some of these effects, especially those swift boat ads are, having an effect on Kerry.

NGUYEN: Jill Dougherty in Crawford, Texas, thank you very much. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Jill and Betty, the candidates are spending lots of money 11 weeks before the election. According to the latest figures, President Bush's campaign tops the list, shelling out $209 million as of last month. Senator Kerry's campaign, they've spent $186 million.

Independent candidate Ralph Nader, he's hanging in there, but only barely. Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and now Missouri all denying Nader a place on the presidential ballot. State officials say Nader's campaign workers failed to follow proper procedures. Nader has met requirements to appear on ballots in 11 states.

Still ahead, he claims he's a changed man and deserves a place in baseball's Hall of Fame. Well, now the government is weighing in on the future of Pete Rose.

NGUYEN: And is there anything positive in the rise of crude oil prices? We'll take a closer look.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center. Showers and storms across the East Coast today, better weather for you tomorrow. And monsoon flows will throw up showers and storms across the intermountain West.

Vegas, though, all quiet along the strip. It's 79 degrees. KVBC is our affiliate. Good morning, Vegas. Forecast for the rest of the country in about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, crude oil prices closed the week just below $48 a barrel, after flirting with the $50 mark. You'll probably feel the effects most immediately at the pumps, but the impact could go well beyond the price of gasoline.

And Ali Velshi of CNN FINANCIAL NEWS joins us from Washington to provide some timely insight. Tell me you have some kind of good news here, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: The good news is that nothing keeps Americans away from their cars, Betty. Americans love driving. And some people have started taking a serious look at ways to cut their spending in other areas to make up for the increase in the fuel pump prices.

But it's not clear whether the price of gas is high enough yet for most Americans to change the way they actually consume energy. As you mentioned, the price of a barrel of light sweet crude oil, that's the oil that's refined into gas and heating oil here in the United States, hit $49.40 on Friday. That's an all-time high. It came back to end the day at about $47.80.

But that is a 51 percent increase since the beginning of the year, and experts say it could go higher.

A lot of people are talking during this campaign about reducing our dependence on OPEC and on Mideast oil, but that is just one of the factors leading oil prices higher. China, a much bigger part of the world economy now, it's consuming a lot more oil than it did in the past, 40 percent more than it did last year. This year alone, India becoming a big player in the world economy, consuming 10 percent more oil this year than it did.

But in the end, it is Americans. We suck up more oil than anyone else, and not only is it unlikely that we're going to reduce imports from the Mideast, Betty, we're going to need imports from wherever we can get them. Oil doesn't just come out of the ground in fields in the Mideast, but that is, in fact, the cheapest way to get oil out of the ground.

At around $50 a barrel, companies can afford to look for oil in the most unusual of places.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BEUTEL, CAMERON HANOVER: Well, at $50 a barrel, you can probably find oil in your backyard. A proven reserve is only the amount of oil that you can get out of the ground at today's prices. Fifty dollars, you can find it in a lot of places you couldn't find it at $20.

I mean, break even point for the North Sea is $18 to $22. Break even for Russian permafrost regions is about $20, $25. So at $50 a barrel, you can go to some of the most remote and inaccessible places on the planet and pull up oil profitably. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Betty, experts say where it's really going to hit Americans, home heating oil this winter. You might see a 50 percent increase in home heating bills, might even be $500 for the average American for the season.

So this is going to be something we're going have to keep a very, very close eye on, Betty.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes, and I'm going to take that advice. I'm going to start digging in the front yard to see if I can strike some oil there.

VELSHI: You might.

NGUYEN: All right, Ali Velshi, thank you very much.

GRIFFIN: All right, you two, that leads us to our e-mail question this morning. Do high prices jeopardize the economic recovery? You can log onto our Web site or e-mail us at wam@cnn.com. And we're going to read all your responses a bit later in the show.

If you've just joined us, here are the headlines this morning.

The U.S. military resuming operations around the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf after a fairly quiet night there. Iraqi officials expected to come to that city soon to try to broker an end to the two-week standoff. An aide to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says al-Sadr's followers inside that mosque want to hand over control of the mosque to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani before they leave.

In Baghdad, one U.S. soldier was killed, two wounded in attack earlier today.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in Florida yesterday to see hurricane damage for himself. Kerry has some campaign events today in New York. The Kerry campaign filed a complaint with the F- the SEC -- FEC, excuse me, alleged that the group behind a negative spot, the swift boat spot, was coordinating its efforts with the Bush- Cheney campaign, and that would be illegal.

NGUYEN: News across America now.

Authorities in California believe two camp counselors found shot to death on the Sonoma Coast State Beach died instantly. The man and woman were each shot in the head while they slept. No motive and no suspect in that case.

Also in California, two more cases of West Nile virus reported in Clark County, bringing the number to four cases in that county. Statewide, there are eight cases of West Nile so far this year in California.

Police say Carnival cruise ships were used by drug traffickers to ship cocaine from Honduras to Jamaica to New Orleans. Then the drugs were driven to Tampa, Florida. Police arrested 52 people in Tampa in a series of drug raids.

And baseball great Pete Rose is in trouble again, this time with the IRS. Government claims Rose owes nearly $1 million in back taxes for the years 1997 to 2002.

New York City is getting set for a wave of political visitors, from Republican supporters to demonstrators. Find out how police and government officials are preparing to keep you safe when the convention kicks off. You want to stay tuned. That is coming up in about 10 minutes.

GRIFFIN: And it was one week ago Charley ripped through Florida. How long will it take until those in its path get their lives back together? A live report next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are watching a neighborhood disintegrate. This is Hurricane Charley. For the past five minutes or so, we have been experiencing winds in excess of 100 miles an hour. It is tearing off roofs...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. When those winds got up there, sounded like it was 1,000 guys marching up on our roofs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the equipment will be salvageable. The building will obviously have to be tore down.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

NGUYEN: It could be years before people fully recover from Hurricane Charley, particularly in Florida, where the powerful storm hit the hardest. Charley is blamed for 24 deaths so far, all in Florida, and property damage is estimated at $7.4 billion.

Almost 262,000 people are still without electricity some eight days after Charley hit the Southeast. And there are hundreds of people on the front lines of the recovery effort in Florida.

One of them joins us right now on the phone in Charlotte County, the director of emergency management, Wayne Sallade.

Good morning to you.

WAYNE SALLADE, CHARLOTTE COUNTY DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (on phone): Good morning.

NGUYEN: Well, talk to us about those basic services. Some 200,000 still without electricity in the state. How is it in your area?

SALLADE: Well, we hit the 50 percent mark yesterday. And if you look at that in one week after the devastation by Hurricane Charley, that's a pretty remarkable job by the folks at Florida Power and Light.

But, of course, they're the best in the world at power restoration. They cut their teeth on Hugo in 1989 when they traveled to South Carolina. Then they got their turn in the barrel in 1982 with Andrew. And since then they have refined and developed the best response plans in the world for power restoration.

So they're getting put to the test, and they're responding very well.

NGUYEN: What about water? We heard earlier in the week that folks were still having to boil the water that's coming out of the sink.

SALLADE: And they will for a while. There are certainly issues. State law requires that until you reach a certain pressure level with your water, and until your system has been cleared and cleansed, that you do have to boil water. So the boiled water advisory remain in effect.

But I'll tell you, that beats not having water at all. So people are working through that. And, you know, it's a nuisance, certainly, but it's certainly not the biggest nuisance.

NGUYEN: What about schools? There was some word that they were going to open on Monday. Is that still the case?

SALLADE: Not here, no...

NGUYEN: Not there.

SALLADE: ... schools will not open for another week here in Charlotte County. We lost more schools than Miami-Dade County lost in Andrew, so that's a pretty significant number. We have at least seven schools that are out of commission in Charlotte County.

Although there is good news. Yesterday the extracurricular activities resumed, the sports teams, the fall sports teams, the bands, the cheerleaders began meeting yesterday. Football practice begins in earnest once again on Monday. So that's a sure sign that life is beginning to climb out of the shadow of Charley.

And I think we're going to see more and more of that. Our teachers, those who are available, will report to work on Monday and begin the arduous task of putting together plans for double sessions. Two of our archrival high schools here, Charlotte and Port Charlotte, are going to be commingled on one campus in Port Charlotte, and that's going to be interesting.

But I know our students and the parents will respond just as they have in the wake of Charley.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. Wayne, quickly, let's talk about safety in the area. What do you know about people looting, about price gouging? I understand there's been a curfew. Can you quickly tell us about all that, the safety measures that are in place? SALLADE: Yes, well, those really haven't been the big problems, quite frankly. The curfew has worked extremely well. We've got 600 National Guardsmen on the ground, law enforcement from across Florida and the Southeast.

Price gouging, yes, there has been sporadic cases of people taking advantage of the victims. It will not be tolerated. They'll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But otherwise, safety measures, you know, think generator safety and safety while working on a roof and looking out for the afternoon thunderstorms and being cautious of the lightning, these are all safety measures that people have to take into account. It's a dicey time, and everybody's just got to be very, very careful.

NGUYEN: We wish you the best. Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's emergency management team, thank you.

SALLADE: Thank you so much.

GRIFFIN: Betty, we want to go up to see Rob Marciano in the Weather Center for the latest weather across the nation -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Hey, Drew.

We'll start off in the tropics. You know how we were talking about what Hurricane Charley did to southwestern Florida. This is the Caribbean, and this is a cloud mass that looks a little bit more impressive in the satellite picture than the National Hurricane Center thinks it is.

Not a whole lot of development is expected from this. It's a little tropical wave that is heading into the central Caribbean. We'll keep on eye on it, of course, and who knows, maybe they'll have plans to send a aircraft out there if it gets any more ugly on the satellite picture.

Syracuse, not looking all that pretty either. You slide down towards the State College and Pittsburgh, back to parts of West Virginia, this is all cool front that's slowly marching off to the east, not quite raining very much in New York, Philly, and D.C., but later on today, as this front pushes into a very warm and tropical air mass, you'll see those showers and storms fire up. Some of them could be pretty strong, with gusty winds and maybe some hail also.

Nashville sliding back, almost to Memphis, slowing down to Tupelo and maybe Jackson, Mississippi, some showers and storms expected today. There have been some strong thunderstorms across parts of southeast Texas, Houston, east on I-10 towards Beaumont and Port Arthur, but it looks like it's beginning to diminish as that squall line heads into the Gulf of Mexico.

But that will be the focus point, again, across this part of the country. The Chicago area looking good, with temperatures there in the 70s. And that will heading -- be heading to the east later on tonight and tomorrow. We go to Vegas, back to it, 79 degrees. There were thunderstorms in and around the Strip, but not a whole lot of moisture piling up. Tough to get a lot of rain out of the sky in Vegas. A record value would be 0.06 inches. They had a trace yesterday officially at the Vegas area. But highs to about 100 today, Drew and Betty.

NGUYEN: Yikes, 100.

GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MARCIANO: Exactly. And they're pumping the oxygen in there too.

GRIFFIN: Oh, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NGUYEN: Oh, yes, keeping them at the tables.

MARCIANO: Big time.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Rob.

Security top priority for the Big Apple. What are officials doing to make sure everybody is safe when the Republican convention comes to town? We've got details on that.

NGUYEN: And one man who knows plenty about keeping people safe takes time out from his duties of protecting America's diplomats to pay a visit to The Novak Zone. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Fans will have plenty to cheer about today in Athens. We'll get the latest from the Summer Games in a live report.

GRIFFIN: Welcome back. We're going to have that story in about 10 minutes from now.

First, we're going to tell you what's happening right now in the news.

Can the violence in the Iraqi city of Najaf be brought to an end? The answer not clear this morning. There are fresh clashes outside a mosque where radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's fighters are holed up. There had been a brief halt to the fighting, but now the U.S. military is resuming limited combat.

There's also uncertainty over the fate of French-American journalist who was kidnapped in Iraq. An aide to cleric Muqtada al- Sadr says Micah Garen's kidnappers have lifted a threat to kill him, but that claim has not been verified.

Back home, John Kerry making waves over the swift boat ads. They're from a group of Vietnam vets and who served on the boats and who balk at Kerry's war record. Kerry camp says the ads are front for President Bush's reelection campaign. Meantime, the Bush camp says it will still run an ad that mentions the Olympics despite objections from the U.S. Olympic officials. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: On any given day at any given time, U.S. embassies around world are at risk of being attacked by terrorists. The man in charge of keeping the embassies safe is Ambassador Frank Taylor, and he's in The Novak Zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT NOVAK, HOST: Welcome to The Novak Zone.

We're at the briefing room of the United States State Department in Washington, D.C., with Frank Taylor, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security.

Ambassador Taylor, you came to the State Department after 31 years in the Air Force, rising to the rank of brigadier general. What do you do here at the State Department?

AMB. FRANK TAYLOR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DIPLOMATIC SECURITY: My job is very simple, Bob. It's to provide a secure platform for our diplomats and others who are on Secretary Powell's team, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) American diplomacy all over the world.

NOVAK: Now, you are opening what is supposed to be the biggest embassy of any country anywhere in the world in Baghdad in Iraq, which is not a very safe place. That is an -- are you in charge of trying to provide security for that? Isn't that an enormous task?

TAYLOR: Well, certainly it's a large task. We are working today on the ground in Iraq with our coalition partners, with the multinational force, Iraq, and with the Iraqi people to help secure that environment for our people to operate in. But indeed, it is a very dangerous place (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NOVAK: What do you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for problems there?

TAYLOR: I don't know that there are any more special problems. Certainly we have an active insurgency, and that is a challenge for us to get people where they need to be while people are trying to attack us.

I attended a funeral today for one of my colleagues that was killed by a rocket attack in Kirkuk over the weekend. These people are trying to undermine the Iraqi people and their move towards independence.

NOVAK: What can you tell us, without giving away any secrets, on what you're doing around the world to protect American diplomats, specifically?

TAYLOR: Well, it's not a secret. We believe very strongly that information is important in understanding the threat, and so daily we work to gather with our partners in our U.S. government and our partners around the world, information indicating that there's a threat to our people or to our facilities.

We partner with the FBI, the CIA, Department of Homeland Security. And certainly for us overseas, our international partners who provide a tremendous amount of information and allow us to proactively engage people before they can attack our embassies.

NOVAK: Of course, we had embassy bombing in Africa several years ago. Do you think embassies are -- U.S. embassies are still a primary target or a possible target of the terrorists?

TAYLOR: Every day we believe that an embassy around the world could be attacked. We're the most visible symbol of the United States of America around the world. We're in 180 countries, 260 facilities. And certainly embassies do provide people who want to attack us a target that is inviting.

NOVAK: Ambassador Taylor, you were quoted as saying you are paid to be paranoid. Is it possible that you're imagining some of these dangers? I mean, paranoid means sort of a mental problem.

TAYLOR: I don't think it's imaginary. All one has to do is look at what happened on September 11 to understand that we're dealing with very evil people. My paranoia comes from not dismissing any piece of information that could indicate a potential threat, following every strand to a conclusion that satisfies me and my colleagues that we know and understand the risk, and we have done what is necessary to mitigate that risk.

NOVAK: You also have said that the al Qaeda we knew before 9/11 no longer exists. What do you mean by that?

TAYLOR: Well, I think al Qaeda before 9/11 was an organization that was primarily focused in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I think al Qaeda has evolved, as we've attacked their stronghold in Afghanistan, and now with our partners in Pakistan, in Pakistan.

But I am seeing another phenomenon, and that's the phenomenon of extreme Islam being moved more broadly than just what was happening with the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. And, indeed, that's why I believe that the struggle that we're engaged in is a long-term struggle, a generational struggle.

You also protect foreign visitors when they come here. Is that a major responsibility?

TAYLOR: Anyone below the heads of state who require protection, our organization is responsible for that. And we do take it very seriously. And it's a very difficult challenge in today's environment. But I'm very proud to say that our organization has never had one of our protectees injured or in any way embarrassed during the time that they've been under our protection.

NOVAK: Several months ago, I had an interview with the provisional president of Haiti, and he had some American armed guards there. And I believe they were with the State Department. Do you have part of that security for several heads of state? And what's the basis for doing that?

TAYLOR: Well, certainly we have historically helped governments to train protective organizations. In Haiti, the challenge was, there was no reliable protective organization. And so we were asked to provide interim coverage for protection for the president of Haiti, which we've been doing since the difficulties there.

We're transitioning now to -- it's still under our control, but we'll do that until we can get a Haitian capability up and running. Of course, you know, we're also providing protection for President Karzai in Afghanistan.

NOVAK: And now the big question for Ambassador Frank Taylor, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security.

Mr. Secretary, with the Olympics now on in Athens, is your office providing some help for security to the Olympic organizers?

TAYLOR: Absolutely. We've been working with the Greeks for more than three years in a collaborative effort to help them improve their capability to provide security for the games.

Indeed, it's the most costly security operation in the history of the Olympics. And it's a very simple reason for that. We live in a dangerous world, and that number of people located in one single place for two weeks is an inviting target for terrorists.

So we've been very closely aligned with the Greek authorities and working with them to help them exercise their primary responsibility for security, and we have great confidence that they'll come through and deliver.

NOVAK: Ambassador Frank Taylor, thank you very much, and good luck on your difficult mission.

TAYLOR: Thank you, sir.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Well, it's about a week to go before the Republican National Convention, and security concerns are centering around New York's somewhat unique way people get around in that city, the subway.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beneath Madison Square Garden, 1,000 subway and commuter trains pass through Penn Station, linking New Jersey and Long Island to New York City, 7 million people on the move underground every day, more people, one expert says, than travel an L.A. freeway in two months. But the tunnels are old, and that could complicate rescue efforts if there's a terror attack. ROBERT PAASWELL, TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CENTER: They need perhaps structural repair. The fact that the communications systems in the tunnels are all in need to be updating, they're not necessarily redundant, so if you kill one communication system, you don't have backups. Radios don't work.

FEYERICK: Police say they can evacuate the trains if they need to, a need highlighted by the coordinated bombings on passenger trains in Madrid last March.

NYPD Inspector Vincent DeMarino helps oversee the city's subways.

INSPECTOR VINCENT DEMARINO, NYPD COUNTERTERRORISM UNIT: There was a slight paradigm shift with regards to how those devices went off on those trains. So we were able to immediately change what we do just in case they feel that that was a successful strategy that they might want to employ somewhere else in the world.

FEYERICK: During the convention, specially trained counterterror units will make random, frequent subway sweeps, searching for anything suspicious. That includes possible suicide bombers.

WILLIAM MORANGE, METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY: Intelligence is probably the most important part. We get all of the newest intel, and, in addition, we also know what's credible, what's not credible.

FEYERICK: Police, many undercover, will be riding trains into Manhattan, an attempt to stop any device from reaching there. The city's police commissioner, Ray Kelly.

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We have a comprehensive program in place to address a lot of those concerns. No guarantees. There are no guarantees in the post-9/11 world.

FEYERICK: And that's the challenge. When a pipe bomb went off in a Times Square subway station mid-July, police swarmed the scene.

(on camera): One transit expert says it's that kind of incident that shows an attack doesn't have to be big, or, for that matter, anywhere near the convention, to disrupt the event.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: First, there was "Fahrenheit 9/11." Now comes another hard-hitting documentary challenging President Bush's theory that Saddam Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "UNCOVERED: THE WAR ON IRAQ")

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Here you see both truck- and railcar-mounted mobile factories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you take a look at the mobile labs that Colin Powell discussed, he didn't put up photographs of these facilities. He put up artists' renditions of these facilities. Why? Because we have no proof they exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: It's called "Uncovered: The war on Iraq." And tomorrow on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, the director of the film, Robert Greenwald, joins us live. That again that is tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Our top stories this Saturday.

Fighting has flared up again in the Iraqi city of Najaf after a brief break. Officials say the U.S. military is clashing with Shi'ite militiamen in the Imam Ali Mosque.

And in Baghdad, a grenade attack on a U.S. military vehicle has killed an American soldier.

Turning now to U.S. politics, President Bush's campaign says it has nothing to do with the ads, but John Kerry is not buying it. Kerry is complaining to election officials about some commercials that question his Vietnam War service. Kerry's camp says the spots are being illegally coordinated with Bush's reelection campaign.

GRIFFIN: American swimmer Michael Phelps making headlines again today in Athens, Greece, for what he's not going to do now.

Larry Smith is joining us from Athens with more on this and more. Hi, Larry.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Drew, how are you? Good afternoon from Athens.

Yes, it seems strange that Michael Phelps can make Olympic history without taking off his street clothes. But Phelps will not swim in tonight's 400-meter medley, an unselfish gesture last night by the 19-year-old from Baltimore.

A couple of hours after he won his fifth gold at these games by edging teammate Ian Crocker for the 100-meter butterfly gold, he then gave up his spot in the relay and allowed Crocker to take his spot. Crocker earlier swam in the bronze medal 400 freestyle relay. He was sick. He struggled in that event and now has a chance to redeem himself.

But Phelps's gesture of unselfishness has rung true throughout Athens today. In fact, IOC president Jacques Rogge called him a true champion and one of the icons of these games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. GOLD MEDALIST: I wanted to come in here, I wanted to win one gold medal, and I did it the first night. So, you know, from then on out, I was just, I was here to have fun, and I was here to swim. And I was here to represent, like, the, my country as best as I could. And, you know, I fell, I feel that I've done that in this past week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Once again, he can still win that eighth medal tonight, even though he is not in the pool for the U.S. That would be the most ever by a swimmer in Olympic Games.

USA men's basketball in about three hours. It's the U.S. versus Lithuania. Lithuania, 3 and 0 in these games, have already qualified for the quarterfinals. A very strong medal contender.

By the way, the U.S. 2 and 1 in these games. They need to win either today or Monday versus Angola to assure themselves a spot in the quarterfinals. Dream team trying to keep the dream alive.

USA women's soccer. It'll be a showdown on Monday for the women as they take on Germany in the semifinals in sake -- in soccer, that is. They beat Japan 2 to 1, maybe had some sake later, who knows? They beat Japan 2 to 1 yesterday, and so again, they face Germany, a rematch of last year's World Cup quarterfinals, or semifinals, I should say, which was won by Germany.

Now, here's a big scandal that's ongoing today. Paul Hamm on Wednesday, he won the gold medal, first American male ever do that in gymnastics in the all-around for the International Gymnastics Federation, admitting that there was a scoring mistake. They gave Hamm the gold medal. Three judges have been suspended, but the results will not be changed. And so Hamm will keep his gold medal.

Track and field, second full day of competition, and already Shawn Crawford and Justin Gatland ran the top two times in the early morning preliminary of the 100 meter. Also qualifying and advancing is 2000 gold medalist Marie Perec (ph).

Later tonight, it's the women's 100-meter semifinals. And late tonight, at the night, 11:00 p.m. local time in Athens, there'll be the women's 100-meter final. Two-time gold champion, gold medalist, I should say, Gail Deevers is already in the semifinals, along with Latasha Colander and Lauren Williams.

Drew, let's go back to you.

GRIFFIN: Larry, thanks. Hope you can watch some of that sake -- soccer.

NGUYEN: What's on your mind this morning?

TAYLOR: Let's watch it and not drink it, right?

NGUYEN: Thank you, Larry. Well, an American Olympic swimmer facing jail when she returns from Athens. Synchronized swimmer Tammy Crow was denied an appeal over conviction on two misdemeanor accounts of vehicular manslaughter. Crow was driving in California's Sierra mountains last year when her car slid off a wet road and crashed, killing two passengers.

Crow was also injured. She pleaded no contest to those charges, and a judge agreed to postpone her sentence until after the Olympics. In her appeal, Crow claimed her lawyer never told her that she could face jail time.

GRIFFIN: It's been a busy week. If you have been too busy to keep up with the news, here is what has been going on. We're going to rewind here.

Florida residents began picking up the pieces after Hurricane Charley blew through the state last Friday the 13th. Emergency crews cleared roads, but are still working now to restore water, electricity. Two hundred forty thousand customers still have no power. The storm so far caused 24 deaths.

An Army report on interrogation practices by the military at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison found the abuse was not ordered by senior commanders. Known as the Fay report, it is expected to be released next week.

Google making its long-wanted debut on the Nasdaq marketplace on Thursday, $85 a share is what it went out at. Within the first few minutes, more than 9 million shares changed hands, making Google one of the most actively traded stocks on the Nasdaq. It gained $15 a share on that very first day of trading.

And crude oil prices soaring to a new high. Went up to $50 a barrel before backing down. It shows no signs of slowing. The rapid rise partly the result of escalating violence in Iraq and increased worldwide demand.

NGUYEN: And tomorrow, we'll fast forward to the week ahead, so we invite you to join us then.

GRIFFIN: Well, oil prices are escalating. That can't be good thing when it comes to the American economy. Or is it? Your opinion next.

NGUYEN: And good morning, southern California. The weekend weather word in about five minutes. We'll take a look at southern California in a moment.

This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

GRIFFIN: You've seen some of the video of the Olympics, but sometimes a still photo tells a more compelling story. Take a look at these images from the Summer Games in Athens, capturing, look at this, the wordless poetry of athletic excellence.

That's my favorite right there. NGUYEN: Yes, look at that one, wow.

GRIFFIN: Incredible.

NGUYEN: All right, well, there is plenty more ahead on CNN today. At the top of the hour, it's "ON THE STORY." Jill Dougherty continues to follow the swift boat squabble between the Bush and Kerry campaigns. Gerri Willis is "ON THE STORY" of record oil prices and what they mean for your wallet. And Elizabeth Cohen is "ON THE STORY" of gastric bypass surgery as a means for fighting obesity.

At 11:00 a.m. Eastern, it's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," with a look at two of music's leading ladies. We're talking at Britney Spears and Madonna. Then at noon, it is more "CNN LIVE SATURDAY."

GRIFFIN: Rob Marciano is watching the weather for us this morning. Good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: Hey, Drew, Betty.

You know, today is the world championship of lobster-eating contest.

NGUYEN: Ooh, I like that contest.

(CROSSTALK)

MARCIANO: You know, you got your hot dog-eating contest, you got all these other things.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

MARCIANO: But lobster wouldn't be too bad.

NGUYEN: Except you got...

GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... to crack it, you know, and open it up.

MARCIANO: As you would imagine...

NGUYEN: Messy.

MARCIANO: ... it's happening in Maine. So, you know, that's where they have the best lobster, so that's where they're going to get it.

But rain is expected, thunderstorms, some of which could be heavy at times as this front pushes into what is a pretty warm and tropical air mass.

But behind this front, the H, and that's good news. And that's a nice, cool Canadian dry air mass.

Across the Pacific Northwest, might see a couple of showers later on today and then in through tonight. California looking pretty good, kind of warm inland.

Boston, New York, Philly, the bigger cities on the East Coast will see the showers and storms fire up this afternoon. Cooler, dryer weather for you tomorrow. So better day of the weekend.

Miami, 90, it'll be 82 degrees expected in Charlotte. And here's your great weather that'll be sliding east across the Midwest. Tomorrow, those cities will warm up a little bit, and we'll crank up the humidity just a touch.

Ninety in Dallas, it'll be 80 degrees in Denver, and steamy across Houston. L.A., San Francisco, in the lower 70s. Good-looking weather there. Seattle and Portland will see a chance for showers and storms, more just steady rainfall later on this afternoon.

Now, start to see it heading across Vancouver Island there, but right now, it's dry in Seattle. And some heavy rains earlier today in Houston, probably see a couple more fire up. But the focal point, I guess, will be across parts of central PA and through update New York as showers and storms begin to roll towards Philadelphia and Kennebunkport, Maine, where they're going to be chowing down on lobster later on this afternoon.

Back to you guys in the studio.

NGUYEN: I want to grab the umbrella for that one. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK.

NGUYEN: All morning long, we've been asking you for your thoughts on our e-mail question of the day. Do high oil prices jeopardize the economic recovery?

And Linda from Virginia says, "If these prices don't start going down, our economy is going to begin a downward slide, perhaps the economy of the world as a whole as well."

GRIFFIN: Here's what Edwin says from Toronto. "In short, yes. Oil and its many petrochemical products added with fuels make it a real economic engine. It will determine who has work and who had work and who has the money to spend. The effect is global."

Certainly thank all those who wrote in.

And thank you for watching us on this Saturday morning.

NGUYEN: That's going to do it for us today. But we'll be right here tomorrow morning, so please join us then.

Right now it is "ON THE STORY" right after this break.

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