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CNN Saturday Morning News
Ahmed Chalabi To Be Arrested Today On Bank Fraud; Blizzard Leaves Midwest, Heads Towards Pennsylvania, New York
Aired January 22, 2005 - 07:00 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.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Look at these pictures. A blizzard is wrapping the Midwest. Oh, yes. And it's heading northeast. A foot or more of snow could be on the ground in New York and Philadelphia by tonight. And they're ready.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Ouch.
Well, it is January.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta -- but that's uncalled for -- this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
It is January 22, 7:00 a.m. in the East and 6:00 a.m. in Minneapolis, where we're getting these pictures.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.
Thanks so much for being with us today.
We want to give you an update on what's in the news this morning.
Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi heads to the Iraqi National Congress, a prominent exile group. A bank he founded in the '70s failed in 1989 and three years later he was convicted and sentenced in abstentia for bank fraud. Chalabi was a key political ally of the U.S. before falling out of favor with the White House last year.
Our Christiane Amanpour has a live update from Baghdad this hour.
Also this morning, eight Chinese men taken hostage this week in Iraq have been released unharmed. Also released, a tape showing a masked man, presumably one of the kidnappers, shaking hands with the hostages. A group called the Islamic Resistance Movement claims responsibility for those kidnappings.
And a mid-winter storm that blew out of Canada has iced down the Midwest, dropping temperatures and tons of snow across several states. Next in line, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, where 18 inches of snow could fall this weekend.
Rob Marciano has those details in a minute or two.
In the meantime, an 11-year-old Florida boy has been found safe in a wooded area of northwest Georgia. The man suspected of abducting him, a convicted child molester. He is still at large and police are looking for him in that area. The abduction on Tuesday triggered an amber alert.
HARRIS: And here's what we have coming up for you this hour. The violent end of a young woman's life, abducted from a store parking lot by a stranger who happens be a decorated war hero. An update on this tragic story is just ahead.
And coming up, the mega bucks machine known as professional football. CNN Sports business analyst Rick Horrow takes us "Beyond The Game" with an inside look at the NFL's enormous revenues and enormous salaries.
And later, the irony of being so rich you don't have to pay full price. You'll be amazed at the deep discounts celebrities get when they throw a huge wedding bash, especially for "The Donald" and soon to be Mrs. Trump, number three.
NGUYEN: It doesn't really add up. They're so rich they can afford it, but they don't have to because it's for free.
But look at this this morning. This is for free, as well, but some people may not even want it. It's a winter whiteout, 2005. Zero visibility and subzero temperatures, as a major storm sweeps across the Midwest and into the Northeast. It is typical January weather, but this time around the National Weather Service says the storm could actually be life threatening. And this late development. A blizzard warning just issued for the entire New York metropolitan area. Details on that from our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, which, no doubt, will be busy today -- good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean that -- there was a warning that came out last night to take effect today. They don't do it that far in advance typically and the storm now moving -- and you can see it behind me -- in through Pittsburgh. And the white indicating the snow, beginning to stretch down to Philly and D.C.
Chad Myers in Philadelphia, he'll be reporting live from there later on today.
Bitterly cold air in place and that's probably the biggest reason why we use the term life threatening, because more lives are lost in snow storms than they are in, say, hurricanes during any sort of time period.
So this is a dangerous storm. Wind chills are going to be below zero, already that. And blowing snow going to be an issue, blowing and dripping snow on top of the accumulations that are going to be quite impressive.
Now beginning to pull out of Chicago. Upwards of five inches has fallen there as of midnight, so a couple of more since then. They'll get anywhere from six to 12 total.
Here's your forecast storm track along with what we expect to see as far as snow accumulations over the next 12 hours. Six to 12 for Chicago. Then snows will be tapering off later on today. And then moving in through Detroit and Cleveland, Pittsburgh, again, six to 12 there in the mountains of West Virginia, also.
And then it gets out into the Atlantic Ocean, taps some of that moisture, strengthens even more and throws that moisture back into bitterly cold air. So 12 to 18 inches of snow expected just north of Baltimore, all the way up, say, through Albany, New York, and then even a sliver of pink, 18 to 24 inches of snow expected there. And then blizzard warnings, as you mentioned, Betty and Tony, up for New York City beginning this afternoon and lasting through tomorrow. That's where we expect the dangerous weather conditions to persist.
As far as the fun in the snow is concerned, kids will enjoy that, obviously, if they're dressed properly. But schools not canceled on this Saturday.
More updated information in about 10 minutes.
See you guys then.
HARRIS: OK, Rob, thank you.
From Texas and Arizona, the story of a kidnapping that ended badly. A young woman shot to death and a decorated U.S. Marine being held this morning on a million dollars bond. Private Johnny Williams, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, was arrested at an Arizona hospital where he went for treatment of a minor gunshot wound. Nineteen-year-old Megan Holden was found shot to death in a ditch alongside a West Texas highway.
Holden was abducted from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Tyler, Texas, a kidnapping caught on surveillance tape.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tyler police say Johnny Williams staked out this Wal-Mart parking lot Wednesday night for nearly two hours before he spotted Megan Holden walking to her pickup truck. Police say this surveillance video shows Williams surprising the 19-year-old cashier from behind and forcing her into the truck. A minute later, the vehicle disappears into the darkness.
DON MARTIN, TYLER POLICE: She's getting closer to her vehicle. Then he starts running. And as she's opening up the truck, he comes in from behind her. So we don't think that she knew he was even there until she actually was contacted by the suspect.
LAVANDERA: Police say this was the last time Megan Holden was seen alive. A security guard approached Williams, but he was allowed to continue hanging out in the parking lot. Nearly 36 hours later, Williams was found in a Wilcox, Arizona, hospital, more than 900 miles from the kidnapping. And Holden is found dead by oil field workers in the West Texas town of Stanton, 400 miles from her home.
CHIEF GARY SWINDLE, TYLER POLICE: It is apparent that she has died of a gunshot wound.
LAVANDERA: Williams walked into the Arizona hospital and was treated for a minor gunshot wound. He was shot in the shoulder after police say he tried to rob this employee at an Arizona RV park early Friday morning. The man who shot Williams doesn't want his face seen on camera and asks that we call him Richie.
RICHIE: I asked him, "Can I help you, sir?" And with that, he said, "This is a robbery. Give me all the money in the register." And he starts drawing a gun out. And as he draws the gun, I drew mine and fired. It was over in two seconds.
LAVANDERA: Williams is a 24-year-old Marine private based out of Camp Pendleton, California. But Pentagon officials say he's on leave pending disciplinary action. Tyler authorities say Williams has a minor criminal history, including a December arrest on drug charges.
Williams is now in FBI custody. He's asked for an attorney, and is not answering any questions.
(on camera): Investigators and prosecutors are still trying to figure out what charges to file against Johnny Williams. But the district attorney here in Tyler is already saying that if the facts support it, he will seek the death penalty in this case.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tyler, Texas.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: And there's this. About 100 people gathered in that Wal-Mart parking lot for a candlelight vigil for Holden, who had worked at the store for about a month. Holden's mother was injured in a car crash while driving to Tyler. She suffered cuts and bruises when her car rolled over three times. Meanwhile, Private Williams' mother is quoted as saying this, "Something happened to my son. Some of the things that he endured, I may never know, but it changed who he is and for that I am sorry." NGUYEN: Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today, to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi heads an exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, which has emerged as a major player in Iraq's January 30th election. He was once a Bush administration favorite, but fell out of grace in Washington last year.
Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, talked just yesterday with Chalabi and she joins us now live from Baghdad with the latest -- hi there, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, it seems that Ahmed Chalabi, a very controversial figure, is caught up again in a political and controversial spat with members of the current interim Iraqi government. What happened is that in the last 24 hours or so, the Iraqi defense minister, in an interview on Al Jazeera Television, said that he was going to have Chalabi arrested and basically deported, extradited to Interpol custody in connection with a bank fraud for which he was convicted in abstentia more than 10 years ago. And that was in Jordan.
But then when we contacted the defense ministry today, they say that no request has been made by them yet to the justice ministry for an arrest warrant. The defense ministry says it will do that, but none of the Iraqi ministries or legal establishment was able to give us any further information on what the next step would be.
And as I say, this perhaps might be a political spat. The defense minister is also contesting these elections. Chalabi is belonging to one of the parties contesting the elections and Chalabi had accused the defense minister and other members of the interim Iraqi government of being corrupt, of spiriting away hundreds of millions of dollars out of Iraq.
So it seems that there is a big fight going on amongst these people and we're not quite sure where this is going to end up. But suffice it to say that Chalabi has not been arrested yet and there has not been an arrest warrant taken out yet for bringing him into custody. So we'll wait and see just how this develops -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Christiane, as we wait to see how that develops, do we know if Ahmed Chalabi has a defense team lined up in this case?
AMANPOUR: Well, probably not in this particular case, because it's only just come up. But, he has faced these charges before, these attempts to get him brought to justice, again, for this bank fraud situation. It involves a bank called the Petra Bank, which he had founded many, many years ago and that went belly up. And he was accused by Jordanian authorities, convicted in abstentia of fraud in terms of much of the money that was missing from that bank.
But he's always maintained his innocence. He has always said that it was a politically motivated charge. He said that it happened because he was accusing, at that time, the Jordanian royal family of being in collusion with Saddam Hussein, who was in power back then. This, again, was during the '90s.
And so this has been an ongoing political fight that's been going on and crops up every now and again around Ahmed Chalabi.
Right now, he's on a campaign swing. We did interview him about the elections yesterday and he took off on a campaign swing around the south, which is one of his bases of support. And we've sought his people and him out for a reaction, but they seem to be unavailable at this precise moment. But we continue to keep trying.
NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad this morning, as we wait to see if, indeed, this arrest does happen today.
Thank you, Christiane -- Tony. HARRIS: An unsuccessful bid by Michael Jackson's defense team to block one witnesses' testimony. Details on the pop star's latest court hearing next.
NGUYEN: Our E-Mail Question this morning. When do you think U.S. troops should leave Iraq? Our address is wam@cnn.com. Send those responses in and we'll read them on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here's what we are working on that is all new in our next hour.
Should Governor Jeb Bush step into an adoption custody battle in Florida? Our legal experts will weigh in on the case.
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center.
Almost into February, that would be the peak of the cold and flu season. This is your cold and flu report as of January 15.
Red, not good. That's Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, just getting hit with a snowstorm this morning, and much of New York and Vermont seeing widespread reports of flu and cold. And regional reports in the blue highlighted states.
That's the latest from here.
Stay warm this weekend.
I hope you feel well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And now, some of the stories from across America.
Imagine cruising off for seven enchanted evenings then having a random health scare cast its ugly spell. That's what happened aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Mariner of the Seas. Nearly 250 passengers and crew caught a stomach virus during their journey. All were treated and are now fine. Officials traced the virus to a passenger who had symptoms two days before they boarded.
At a pretrial hearing in California, the judge in the Michael Jackson case ruled the prosecution can call expert witnesses on the behavior of children who have been molested. Jackson's legal team says allowing such testimony would only help prop up a "hopeless case." The pop star himself was not present for the hearing.
If it were a college course, it might be called the joys of charity and the benefits of nudity. Fourteen freshmen at Stanford University got naked for a good cause, tsunami relief. They posed for a $10 calendar being sold around campus to raise money for the relief effort in South Asia. While all the students were naked, key body parts were hidden. Speaking of nudity, many will be baring their bodies from their beads and baubles in this year's Mardis Gras. The festivities kicked off in many southern states yesterday. This parade was in Mobile, Alabama. The actual day of Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday, falls on February 8.
And talk about Fat Tuesday, this Georgia couple had a terrific Tuesday when they won $130 million in the Mega Millions jackpot, the second highest payout in state history. Officials confirmed the win here in Atlanta yesterday. Margaret and James Jones are taking the cash up front, getting nearly $80 million after taxes. The couple from Washington, Georgia says they will stay in their rural home because, because it's paid for.
NGUYEN: Oh, I meant to buy a ticket. You can't win if you don't play, right, Tony?
HARRIS: That's it.
NGUYEN: All right.
Want to know how to turn your vows into a cash cow? Learn from Donald Trump. "The Donald" is getting the glitzy extras at his third wedding for a steal of a deal.
HARRIS: Also, it's down to the final four heading into tomorrow's final NFL play-off games. We're going to look at the business of football when we go "Beyond The Game."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, good morning, D.C.
Doesn't it just look cold in this picture? That's because a blustery blizzard is heading toward the Northeast tonight.
Rob Marciano will tell you what to expect in just about two minutes from now.
HARRIS: And now to "Security Watch," where we update you on the week's major developments in the war on terror every Saturday morning.
Several of the nation's mayors are asking the Department of Homeland Security to keep them in the loop when trains come through carrying hazardous materials. Tuesday's request at the U.S. Conference of Mayors came less than two weeks after a train crash in South Carolina caused a deadly chlorine leak. One mayor says response to rail accidents would speed up if communities knew what was coming through on the rails.
Some mayors also said they're having trouble paying for homeland security needs. A few of the conferees complained that states are hoarding federal funds, even though the federal government allows them to spend up to 20 percent of money tagged for local needs. Wednesday, the search began for four Chinese nationals possibly linked to a terrorist plot in the Boston area. Thursday, the FBI added 10 more names to the list of those wanted for questioning. A federal law enforcement official says an anonymous tipster told authorities the threat involved a shipment of nuclear oxide that would follow the four Chinese into Boston. The FBI says that information is uncorroborated.
And Thursday's presidential inauguration saw the highest level of security of any inauguration in history. The mix included heavily armed Coast Guard patrols and thousands of law enforcement officers and military troops. In the skies above D.C., warnings to private pilots that they could be shot down if they wandered into restricted air space over Washington.
And we want to remind you to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the reliable news about your security.
And, do you think the government is doing enough to protect you? Tune in tomorrow for a CNN "Security Watch" special report, "Defending America: An In Depth Look at Homeland Security." Again, that's Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: Talking about security and safety, boy, the eastern part of the nation really needs to stay indoors, don't they?
MARCIANO: Yes, I mean it's -- a lot of kids like to go out in the snow.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: A lot of adults like to feel like kids go out in the snow...
NGUYEN: But in blizzard conditions?
MARCIANO: ... like, yes, when the winds blowing like that and when you see some of the numbers as far as what it feels like outside right now...
NGUYEN: Yes?
MARCIANO: ... and then you couple that with the cold, it's going to be one of those weekends where you just want to hang out inside.
HARRIS: Just bundle up and stay (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MARCIANO: Maybe watch a little football.
NGUYEN: Yes, watch some football.
HARRIS: Watch football games. There you go.
MARCIANO: We'll show you, off the top, we'll show you some current temperatures across the U.S. and you'll see that Northeast sticks out like a sore thumb there. Minus two in Boston. And speaking of two, you might have two feet of snow on the ground by tomorrow night. How about that? Six for a current temperature in New York. Eighteen degrees in D.C.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: But the Northeast, with that cold temperatures, then you filter in the wind or you factor in the wind, minus seven is what it feels like in New York right now. Minus two in Philadelphia. And it feels like minus 15 in Boston. No bargain in Chicago, nine degrees, where it feels like the temperature and the snow is happening there right now.
Up the I-95 corridor, not much happening, but the snow is beginning to make their way across the Appalachian Mountains and in through the Del Marva Peninsula. A little bit of a mix happening right now across the Ohio River Valley.
Here's the big white, though, from Detroit to Chicago back to Green Bay. Seven inches of snow on the ground in Minneapolis. Five to six in Chicago. And the snow is rapidly heading off to the east. So this is a quick moving storm. That's good news, because it will be out of here quite rapidly. But as far as to how much snow is actually going to fall as you go through time, well, six, maybe 12 inches in parts of Chicago and Milwaukee. And then pushing toward Cleveland, Pittsburgh, the same numbers there, maybe a little bit more in spots of the West Virginia mountains.
Then this thing gets into the Atlantic Ocean, where the Gulf Stream is, adds a little bit more instability by late tomorrow night or late tonight and early tomorrow morning. And that will throw even more moisture back into this cold air. Twelve to 18 inches in Philly, up to New York. Blizzard warnings up for New York. That's a rare warning that the National Weather Service puts out. And Boston 18 to 24 inches of snow.
The snow is going to stick around when it does fall. Temperatures well below freezing to the north.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: We've got a live shot for you from Washington, D.C. All is quiet right now, but a little dusting of snow from the inauguration event just a few days back still hanging on the ground. They'll get a fresh blanket -- Tony, Betty.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Not to worry.
MARCIANO: Yes.
NGUYEN: We'll give them a fresh blanket so.
MARCIANO: Importantly for the kids, that's not going to cancel school today.
HARRIS: We've got a combination of heavy snow, you get to the Atlantic, it starts to bring that water in off the Atlantic and then you've got winds...
MARCIANO: Yes. Aren't you fascinated with this weather stuff, Tony?
HARRIS: I am so paying attention to you.
NGUYEN: He's all into it.
HARRIS: I just want you to know that.
MARCIANO: All right. I'll tell you what. Many factors are coming together for this storm to happen.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARCIANO: It's not often that, you know, it is winter. We do get snow storms.
HARRIS: Right.
NGUYEN: Right.
MARCIANO: But to get one or two feet of snow plus the blizzard conditions, that's a big deal.
NGUYEN: Yes, in New York.
MARCIANO: So we'll probably be talking about this one for...
HARRIS: You're going to be a busy man today.
MARCIANO: Yes.
HARRIS: Good. Good. OK.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
NGUYEN: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I pulled in, the cop car was taking off that way and the man was pepping his head up over this fence right here. And then he took off again. I told the cop, I said he's right back there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: She's talking about a happy ending to one child abduction. We have those details next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: And rising violence in Iraq has U.S. soldiers watching their backs. But do safety measures sometimes go too far?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: An 11-year-old boy abducted from his school is found alive. So far, though, no sign of the alleged kidnapper. We're continue to follow that. We want to welcome you back, though.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
That story in a minute.
First, a look at the morning headlines.
Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi heads the Iraqi National Congress, a prominent exile group. Chalabi once had the ear of the Bush administration, but he has since fallen out of favor. The charges stem from the 1989 failure of a bank that Chalabi founded in the 1970s. He's already been convicted and sentenced in abstentia for bank fraud.
And in Iraq, a suicide bomber crashes into a wedding party south of Baghdad and blows himself up. At least 12 people are dead and dozens of other are hurt. Officials say the bomber rammed his way in by driving an ambulance.
NGUYEN: Our next report contains graphic images that may be disturbing, especially for children. Almost every day, the fighting in Iraq claims more lives, and often the victims are civilians. Sometimes their deaths are the result of a misunderstanding. A photographer captured one recent tragedy involving an Iraqi family. The horror of it produced an unusually quick apology from the U.S. military.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just after 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, already getting dark, past curfew, when U.S. troops fired shots at this car in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar. The U.S. military says the soldiers on foot patrol were alert for suicide car bombs. The photographer who took these pictures watched as the tragedy unfolded.
CHRIS HONDROS, GETTY IMAGES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (voice-over): I realized that some shots were going to get fired because I know, I mean I could know -- I knew that the car would have a hard time seeing these camouflaged soldiers. So I sort of scooted off to the side outside of anybody's line of fire. And the car kept approaching. I could hear it.
STARR: In moments, it was a nightmare on the street. An Iraqi man and his wife in the front seat killed by U.S. gunfire. Six terrified children emerged from the back seat, one slightly wounded, blood everywhere, a small boy bewildered at what he has just seen.
HONDROS: The soldiers, when they realized what was going on, they very professionally and empathetically swept into action, picked the kids up. Immediately the medics came over and immediately tried to assess the injuries the children had.
STARR: Soldiers upset, as well, as they tried to help the children. They took them to a nearby hospital. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad says there was no intention to harm innocent civilians. He says, "While the pictures are heart wrenching they also go to show in the moments immediately following, soldiers went from trying to protect their patrol to rendering comfort and assistance to the children suffering a tragic loss."
The military spokesman says procedures were followed. There were hand signals to the driver, warning shots fired and then shots to disable the vehicle and then shots that were fatal. No one may ever know if the Iraqi driver didn't see the soldiers, didn't understand the order to stop or if there was panic.
But with five car bomb attacks in Iraq in the last three weeks against patrols and checkpoints, security concerns are at an all time high. Still, the human tragedy.
HONDROS: I remember the captain was adamant about making sure the children were all in a room when the two bodies of the adults were brought in to the morgue in the hospital. And he specifically said that he didn't want the children to see anymore.
STARR: The orphaned children now in the custody of the oldest teenager. The military may compensate the family, but the faces of this war show their agony. One small Iraqi girl sits at the feet of U.S. soldiers, waiting for someone to tell her what happens now.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And here in Georgia, a manhunt is underway for a convicted child molester who kidnapped a friend's 11-year-old son in Florida and set off an amber alert.
Tracy Martinez of Atlanta affiliate WSB has details on the amber alert's dramatic conclusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TRACY MARTINEZ, WRSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eleven-year-old Adam Kirkirt emerges from a grassy ravine along the I-75 exit ramp, carried by a plainclothes officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a police investigation. You must back up.
MARTINEZ: One officer grips Kirkirt's hand. Another has his arm around the abducted boy's shoulders as they lead him to the back of a deputy's car and take him to a nearby ambulance. He appears healthy but scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The health appears to be good, not injured. But, again, just in our custody at this time. MARTINEZ: Kirkirt was found in Emerson, one exit north of where Frederick Fretz's white Chevy Lumina reportedly broke down. These two eyewitnesses spotted Fretz at a nearby Texaco station buying a gallon of water just minutes before Adam Kirkirt was found trying to flag a ride near I-75.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gentleman come out and walked into the woods, turned around and looked directly at me and then proceeded walking in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when I pulled in, the cop car was taking off that way and the man was peeping his head up over this fence right here and then he took off again. I told the cop, I said he's right back there.
MARTINEZ: An avid camper, it was thought Fretz might try to take Adam to a wooded area to hide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Fretz was here at the store, to our knowledge, picking up some water and some candy bars or something to that effect. And the child got worried that he was left alone and he was coming to try to find somebody.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: OK, we'll keep monitoring this story and let you know if there are any developments in the hunt for Frederick Fretz.
NGUYEN: But in the meantime, we have been asking you this morning, when should U.S. soldiers leave Iraq? That is our E-mail Question of the Day. We'll read those replies a little bit later this hour. But in the meantime, if you'll send them wam@cnn.com, we'll try to get them on the air.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center. This is a monster of a storm that's developing. But places like Orlando aren't going to see that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: A detailed forecast coming up in about 15 minutes.
CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A filmmaker who's documented Michael Jackson's life at Neverland Ranch wants no part of the singer's legal case. Should he be forced to testify about what he saw behind-the-scenes? We will pose that question to our legal experts. That's just ahead for you in our 8:00 a.m. hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Time now for a check of some of the stories making news around the world. NGUYEN: And for that, we want to go to Anand Naidoo at the International Desk -- good morning, Anand.
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning, Betty.
And thanks a lot.
Time now to check out some of the stories making news in other parts of the world.
And first up, the Middle East. Here's a sight you don't often see. These are Palestinian forces taking up positions in Gaza. They're there to try and put an end to rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants into Israeli areas. It's all part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' effort to stop the violence and get peace talks back on track.
For their part, the Islamic militants, at least some of them, are saying that they will suspend those rocket attacks.
Now turning closer home, much closer home, a massacre at a Mexican prison right at the Texas border. Six security guards are murdered at the high security Matamoros Penitentiary. The violence is being blamed on powerful drug gangs which operate in that particular area and in Mexico. Mexican troops were called in. They sealed off the area as the bodies of some of the victims, some of them blindfolded, were moved away.
Now, this in from Germany. Here's a guy who was flamboyant and eccentric to the end. German designer Rudolph Moshammer, who was murdered this week, has left his home to his dog. Moshammer was something of an icon in his native Germany. His funeral is expected to be watched by millions in Germany today. And in terms of his role, his beloved pet will stay at the villa until she dies, looked after by his driver.
And incidentally, Moshammer counts among his clients the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as Las Vegas magicians Siegfried & Roy.
That's all from me for the time being.
I'll be back a little later.
We are getting reports of a significant political development in Iran. I'll be telling you about that. The country's hard-line ruling council, we're getting these reports, saying that women will now be allowed to take part in the presidential elections. Those elections coming up in June.
So I'll have that and a lot more for you coming up a little later.
Right now, though, let's send it back to Tony and Betty.
HARRIS: All right, thank you. NGUYEN: Yes, very interesting news out of Iran.
HARRIS: That is.
NGUYEN: We're looking forward to that.
Thank you, Anand.
Well, find out what made the editor of "Vogue" so upset over Donald Trump's wedding.
That's next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Checking the top stories at this hour, weather warnings are stretching from North Dakota to Long Island. Over a foot of snow is expected in some areas. Now, the huge storm has already frozen the far northern states.
Now to Iraq. Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi is a prominent Iraqi politician who's a contender in the January 30th national assembly elections. He was a key U.S. ally leading up to the war in Iraq, but fell out of favor when prewar intelligence that he supplied failed to pan out.
And a former Marine is being held in connection with that abduction of a clerk from a Texas Wal-Mart parking lot. The body of 19-year-old Megan Holden was found along a highway in West Texas. Her kidnapping was caught on a surveillance tape.
Want to let us know what you think? When should you or when do you think U.S. troops should leave Iraq? E-mail us at wam@cnn.com and we'll put those responses on the air.
HARRIS: Well, Betty, Donald Trump says he's learned from his mistakes. The mogul is getting married today for the third time. If those mistakes included paying top dollar for a splashy wedding, well, we know that won't happen again.
CNN's Anderson Cooper looks at how the mega rich save mega bucks.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Melania Knauss is marrying money and she wants you to know it. Soon to be Mrs. Donald Trump number three is flouting superstition and flaunting her wedding dress before the big day on the cover on the "Vogue." Well, maybe her hubby-to-be doesn't read "Vogue."
ANDRE LEON TALLEY, "VOGUE" EDITOR-AT-LARGE: It was our idea to put her on the cover before the wedding so we could scoop the world.
COOPER: We even have all the specs. TALLEY: There were 98 yards of satin woven in France on some of the finest textile looms just for this dress, the way Marie Antoinette would have had a dress made.
COOPER: The price? Reportedly between $100,000 and $200,000. Really, what top Paris fashion designer would put scissor to taffeta for less than a hundred grand? The publicity priceless, or not. There has been speculation that "The Donald" may have cut one of his artful deals with designer John Galliano and the House of Dior. And some say that's not the only deal "The Donald" made to save a few quid on the accoutrements, like the engagement ring.
SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": He actually got that half off.
COOPER: And the food. BERNARD: John George is also -- he's donating, I guess we could say, the steak and the shrimp. And it's going to be about $46,000.
COOPER: So suddenly the most expensive wedding of the year -- OK, it's January -- may not be costing the self-described billionaire groom all that much. But the man who helped Melania make her choice assures "The Donald" paid at least a little something.
TALLEY: She bartered for the dress. I mean, there was a price.
COOPER: And if you're wondering whether "Vogue" pitched in a few pennies to put the bride-to-be on the cover...
TALLEY: Oh, my goodness, I've never heard such a thing. And it would never -- the standards of "Vogue" and Conde Nast are the highest in the world. We are not a tabloid.
COOPER: If selling off pieces of your wedding day for profit or publicity sounds tacky, well, the rich and famous obviously have a different definition of tacky. When Michael Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones, they sold their wedding snaps to "OK" magazine for millions. Then, there's Star Jones. She wasn't even coy about cashing in, selling sponsorships for her big day to Continental Airlines, stationary studios, bridal shops, dry cleaners, even Nintendo.
OK, wretched excess costs. That's why celebs try to turn their vows into cash cows. But what do the buyers get? Consider this. When "OK" printed photos of David Beckham's wedding to Posh Spice, purchased for a reported $1.5 million, sales quadrupled. These days savvy celebs know you only have, well, maybe five, six wedding days in a lifetime. You might as well share the joy and fill up on the freebies.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: OK. This is "Vogue." We have standards. We're not a tabloid.
One downer for the nuptials. The town council in Palm Beach, Florida rejected Trump's plans for a post-wedding fireworks show. But no worries. The food still will be fabulous, we're sure. We'll get the details on the Trump wedding menu from Chef Jean Georges. He's a guest at 10:00 with Carol Lin tonight on CNN. I'm full pronouncing that name.
NGUYEN: How do you say it one more time?
HARRIS: Jean Georges.
NGUYEN: Georges.
But what a deal, though. The dress not at full price. The ring at half price. The food partially for free.
HARRIS: Yes...
NGUYEN: I mean he's rich.
HARRIS: And the rest of us schlubs have to shell out the big bucks.
NGUYEN: One hundred percent of the price we have to pay.
HARRIS: To pay for those discounts, yes, that they give to the rich and famous.
NGUYEN: That's how they keep on getting richer.
HARRIS: We're just a little bitter.
NGUYEN: No, not at all.
OK, well, if you've had a tough time this week keeping up with the headlines, that's why we are here.
Time now to "Rewind" some of those top stories from the past five days.
Tuesday, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the United States' long running probe of the Oil For Food Program in Iraq, it's netted its first conviction. An Iraqi-American businessman pleaded guilty to several charges, including acting as an illegal agent of Saddam Hussein's government. The man admitted to lobbying U.S. officials, hoping they would push for scaling back sanctions against Iraq.
Wednesday, Indonesia nearly doubled the number of people killed in the December 26 tsunami, to more than 166,000. That brings the overall number of dead from the disaster to a staggering 212,000 people.
Also on Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-2 to send Condoleezza Rice's nomination for secretary of state to the full Senate. The two dissenting votes came from California Democrat Barbara Boxer and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. The Senate is slated to debate the issue Tuesday and will vote the day after that.
Tomorrow, we will "Fast Forward" to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the spotlight, so stay tuned.
HARRIS: The search for that elusive fountain remains fruitless at best. Instead, more than eight million people a year turn to cosmetic surgery, and the numbers are rising. But before you see a doctor, you may want to visit a consultant so you know exactly what to expect once you go under the knife. Some insight tomorrow on CNN SUNDAY MORNING from former model and cosmetic surgery consultant Carol Martin. Live on CNN SUNDAY MORNING at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
The East Coast is bracing up for some deep snow this weekend. A foot or more expected in New York and Philadelphia. Rob Marciano has details when CNN SATURDAY MORNING returns.
Plus, plus, a 17 pound newborn, Betty, born with a full blown moustache and driver's license.
NGUYEN: All I have to say is ouch, 17 pounds.
HARRIS: That story in our "Wows of the Week" next.
NGUYEN: That's a toddler.
All right, but first, a CNN extra. The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the quality of drinking water aboard the nation's airlines is getting worse despite government ordered improvements in aircraft sanitation. About one in six airliners tested about a month ago had drinking water that failed to meet federal safety guidelines. The EPA is advising concerned passengers to ask for caned or bottled beverages and refrain from tea or coffee unless it's made from bottled water. So you've been warned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, are you in the mood for a movie this weekend?
Here are some of the openings on the big screen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ARE WE THERE YET?," COURTESY COLUMBIA PICTURES)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, how are you doing, baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Is everything OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, everything is cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: No, everything is not cool. A playboy bachelor is trying to win the heart of a divorced mother of two. The problem is, her kids, who think no one can be good enough for their mom. "Are We There Yet?" wasn't good enough to get a thumbs up, either, from critics. Roger Ebert calls the movie "shrill." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 32, Mr. Dunne. And I'm here celebrating the fact that I spent another year scraping dishes and waitressing, which is what I've been doing since 13.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: "Million Dollar Baby" is going nationwide this weekend, the winner of two Golden Globes for best director and best actor, actress, I should say. The story line brings together two people whose lives are a constant struggle. Boxing training Frankie Dunne and raw talent Maggie, who just needs someone to believe in here. The film is getting applause from the critics. The "Chicago Tribune" calls it "a knockout punch of shattering force."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am your angel of music. Come to me, angel of music.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, you know the music, you know the story. "The Phantom of the Opera" is here, opening nationwide this weekend. In 19th century Paris, a mysterious masked phantom tutors a beautiful young soprano and thinks he finds love. The critics overall, however, do not find the movie worth their highest remarks. The "New York Post" calls it "a terminal version of mediocrity."
HARRIS: Wow.
Not good.
Right now, we want to show you some video that was so unusual, we couldn't let it pass without a second look, a little something we call "Wows of the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open the door now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right, this would be a robber in Milwaukee who had demanded cash. But all he got was attitude. Apparently the pet shop clerks were not fooled by the toy gun. After the women locked the door and called the cops, the feckless crook was reduced to begging, begging to be let out. Eventually, he discovered the back door and ran away.
In Brazil, get a load of this newborn nicknamed Gigante Babi, giant baby. At birth, she, OK, she tipped the scales at a whopping 17 pounds. That's as big as a typical six-month-old infant. And finally, check out the chompers on this aquarium oddity in Phoenix, Arizona. Open up wide. Believe it or not, this puffer fish named Zorro needs professional care to keep the teeth from getting too large.
NGUYEN: OK, a fish with teeth too large and a baby that's just too large from birth. Seventeen pounds. I'm still thinking about that.
HARRIS: Lump into all another oddity, this blizzard barreling in from the Midwest out of Canada, this cold air mass. How am I doing, Rob? Am I doing OK?
MARCIANO: You're doing great.
NGUYEN: Nice link.
HARRIS: Am I doing good?
MARCIANO: I think that 17 pound kid could, you know, has got a lot of insulation. Throw him out in the snow and roll him around like a snowman and he'll be just fine.
HARRIS: Oh, no.
MARCIANO: Hey, those are some good wows.
NGUYEN: That's not right.
MARCIANO: We've got a couple of wows for you here. Sixty-two- mile-an-hour gusts in Carroll County, Iowa. And then whiteout conditions in Cedar Rapids, with 45 mile an hour gusts there, blowing and drifting snow. A couple of tractor trailers blew off the road on the side of a ditch. And that's just in Iowa.
This thing is going to move off to the east quite rapidly. This map indicates the watches and warnings that are out. Red in weather terms typically means pretty bad, so winter storm warnings are up for all these red highlighted counties. The white indicates blizzard warnings out. And now that blizzard warning has been extended to Boston, where they could easily see two feet of snow beginning tonight.
Here comes the snow band into the I-95 corridor. New York, dry; Philly, dry; D.C., dry for now, but the snows are going to continue to fall through what is very, very cold and dry air. So even though you see it here on the radar scope, it will take a while for the atmosphere to get moist enough for that snow to actually reach the ground before it evaporates.
It reached the ground in Chicago in the form of five to eight inches in some spots. The snows will be tapering off there. But the winds whipping behind this system really is what's going to do the damage as far as the biting cold and then the wind driven snow. That's going to be drifting across much, well, where there's snow and where it's drifting, it'll pile up, you know, if it's six to 12 inches and it's drifting, you know, think about three or four feet there. And then this will track rapidly to the east, 10 to 18 in Philly, New York, and then 18 to 24 or better expected in Beantown.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: This is going to be a doozy of a storm. We'll keep up updated.
Chad Myers live in Philly later on today and throughout the weekend.
HARRIS: OK.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
HARRIS: We want to get to our E-mail Question of the Day. And it's about our troops in Iraq -- when should U.S. troops leave Iraq?
I'll tell you, we had a couple of choices of questions today, and we picked the right one, because it has hit a nerve with you. So thanks for being here.
NGUYEN: Oh, has it. We have gotten just a flood of e-mails.
Sarah writes, just really briefly, when should Iraq leave -- U.S. troops leave Iraq? She says: "A long time ago!"
HARRIS: And how about this from James: "We cannot leave until the job is done. The country must be stable. We should be looking to troop reductions over time as more of a transition rather than a complete rapid destabilizing withdrawal."
And as I mentioned, plenty of e-mails.
Here's the question -- when should U.S. troops leave Iraq? We'll be reading those responses throughout the morning. Here's the address at wam@cnn.com.
NGUYEN: But right now, the next hour of CNN SATURDAY begins, you guessed it, right now.
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 January 22, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Look at these pictures. A blizzard is wrapping the Midwest. Oh, yes. And it's heading northeast. A foot or more of snow could be on the ground in New York and Philadelphia by tonight. And they're ready.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Ouch.
Well, it is January.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta -- but that's uncalled for -- this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
It is January 22, 7:00 a.m. in the East and 6:00 a.m. in Minneapolis, where we're getting these pictures.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.
Thanks so much for being with us today.
We want to give you an update on what's in the news this morning.
Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi heads to the Iraqi National Congress, a prominent exile group. A bank he founded in the '70s failed in 1989 and three years later he was convicted and sentenced in abstentia for bank fraud. Chalabi was a key political ally of the U.S. before falling out of favor with the White House last year.
Our Christiane Amanpour has a live update from Baghdad this hour.
Also this morning, eight Chinese men taken hostage this week in Iraq have been released unharmed. Also released, a tape showing a masked man, presumably one of the kidnappers, shaking hands with the hostages. A group called the Islamic Resistance Movement claims responsibility for those kidnappings.
And a mid-winter storm that blew out of Canada has iced down the Midwest, dropping temperatures and tons of snow across several states. Next in line, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, where 18 inches of snow could fall this weekend.
Rob Marciano has those details in a minute or two.
In the meantime, an 11-year-old Florida boy has been found safe in a wooded area of northwest Georgia. The man suspected of abducting him, a convicted child molester. He is still at large and police are looking for him in that area. The abduction on Tuesday triggered an amber alert.
HARRIS: And here's what we have coming up for you this hour. The violent end of a young woman's life, abducted from a store parking lot by a stranger who happens be a decorated war hero. An update on this tragic story is just ahead.
And coming up, the mega bucks machine known as professional football. CNN Sports business analyst Rick Horrow takes us "Beyond The Game" with an inside look at the NFL's enormous revenues and enormous salaries.
And later, the irony of being so rich you don't have to pay full price. You'll be amazed at the deep discounts celebrities get when they throw a huge wedding bash, especially for "The Donald" and soon to be Mrs. Trump, number three.
NGUYEN: It doesn't really add up. They're so rich they can afford it, but they don't have to because it's for free.
But look at this this morning. This is for free, as well, but some people may not even want it. It's a winter whiteout, 2005. Zero visibility and subzero temperatures, as a major storm sweeps across the Midwest and into the Northeast. It is typical January weather, but this time around the National Weather Service says the storm could actually be life threatening. And this late development. A blizzard warning just issued for the entire New York metropolitan area. Details on that from our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, which, no doubt, will be busy today -- good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean that -- there was a warning that came out last night to take effect today. They don't do it that far in advance typically and the storm now moving -- and you can see it behind me -- in through Pittsburgh. And the white indicating the snow, beginning to stretch down to Philly and D.C.
Chad Myers in Philadelphia, he'll be reporting live from there later on today.
Bitterly cold air in place and that's probably the biggest reason why we use the term life threatening, because more lives are lost in snow storms than they are in, say, hurricanes during any sort of time period.
So this is a dangerous storm. Wind chills are going to be below zero, already that. And blowing snow going to be an issue, blowing and dripping snow on top of the accumulations that are going to be quite impressive.
Now beginning to pull out of Chicago. Upwards of five inches has fallen there as of midnight, so a couple of more since then. They'll get anywhere from six to 12 total.
Here's your forecast storm track along with what we expect to see as far as snow accumulations over the next 12 hours. Six to 12 for Chicago. Then snows will be tapering off later on today. And then moving in through Detroit and Cleveland, Pittsburgh, again, six to 12 there in the mountains of West Virginia, also.
And then it gets out into the Atlantic Ocean, taps some of that moisture, strengthens even more and throws that moisture back into bitterly cold air. So 12 to 18 inches of snow expected just north of Baltimore, all the way up, say, through Albany, New York, and then even a sliver of pink, 18 to 24 inches of snow expected there. And then blizzard warnings, as you mentioned, Betty and Tony, up for New York City beginning this afternoon and lasting through tomorrow. That's where we expect the dangerous weather conditions to persist.
As far as the fun in the snow is concerned, kids will enjoy that, obviously, if they're dressed properly. But schools not canceled on this Saturday.
More updated information in about 10 minutes.
See you guys then.
HARRIS: OK, Rob, thank you.
From Texas and Arizona, the story of a kidnapping that ended badly. A young woman shot to death and a decorated U.S. Marine being held this morning on a million dollars bond. Private Johnny Williams, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, was arrested at an Arizona hospital where he went for treatment of a minor gunshot wound. Nineteen-year-old Megan Holden was found shot to death in a ditch alongside a West Texas highway.
Holden was abducted from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Tyler, Texas, a kidnapping caught on surveillance tape.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tyler police say Johnny Williams staked out this Wal-Mart parking lot Wednesday night for nearly two hours before he spotted Megan Holden walking to her pickup truck. Police say this surveillance video shows Williams surprising the 19-year-old cashier from behind and forcing her into the truck. A minute later, the vehicle disappears into the darkness.
DON MARTIN, TYLER POLICE: She's getting closer to her vehicle. Then he starts running. And as she's opening up the truck, he comes in from behind her. So we don't think that she knew he was even there until she actually was contacted by the suspect.
LAVANDERA: Police say this was the last time Megan Holden was seen alive. A security guard approached Williams, but he was allowed to continue hanging out in the parking lot. Nearly 36 hours later, Williams was found in a Wilcox, Arizona, hospital, more than 900 miles from the kidnapping. And Holden is found dead by oil field workers in the West Texas town of Stanton, 400 miles from her home.
CHIEF GARY SWINDLE, TYLER POLICE: It is apparent that she has died of a gunshot wound.
LAVANDERA: Williams walked into the Arizona hospital and was treated for a minor gunshot wound. He was shot in the shoulder after police say he tried to rob this employee at an Arizona RV park early Friday morning. The man who shot Williams doesn't want his face seen on camera and asks that we call him Richie.
RICHIE: I asked him, "Can I help you, sir?" And with that, he said, "This is a robbery. Give me all the money in the register." And he starts drawing a gun out. And as he draws the gun, I drew mine and fired. It was over in two seconds.
LAVANDERA: Williams is a 24-year-old Marine private based out of Camp Pendleton, California. But Pentagon officials say he's on leave pending disciplinary action. Tyler authorities say Williams has a minor criminal history, including a December arrest on drug charges.
Williams is now in FBI custody. He's asked for an attorney, and is not answering any questions.
(on camera): Investigators and prosecutors are still trying to figure out what charges to file against Johnny Williams. But the district attorney here in Tyler is already saying that if the facts support it, he will seek the death penalty in this case.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Tyler, Texas.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: And there's this. About 100 people gathered in that Wal-Mart parking lot for a candlelight vigil for Holden, who had worked at the store for about a month. Holden's mother was injured in a car crash while driving to Tyler. She suffered cuts and bruises when her car rolled over three times. Meanwhile, Private Williams' mother is quoted as saying this, "Something happened to my son. Some of the things that he endured, I may never know, but it changed who he is and for that I am sorry." NGUYEN: Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today, to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi heads an exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, which has emerged as a major player in Iraq's January 30th election. He was once a Bush administration favorite, but fell out of grace in Washington last year.
Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, talked just yesterday with Chalabi and she joins us now live from Baghdad with the latest -- hi there, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, it seems that Ahmed Chalabi, a very controversial figure, is caught up again in a political and controversial spat with members of the current interim Iraqi government. What happened is that in the last 24 hours or so, the Iraqi defense minister, in an interview on Al Jazeera Television, said that he was going to have Chalabi arrested and basically deported, extradited to Interpol custody in connection with a bank fraud for which he was convicted in abstentia more than 10 years ago. And that was in Jordan.
But then when we contacted the defense ministry today, they say that no request has been made by them yet to the justice ministry for an arrest warrant. The defense ministry says it will do that, but none of the Iraqi ministries or legal establishment was able to give us any further information on what the next step would be.
And as I say, this perhaps might be a political spat. The defense minister is also contesting these elections. Chalabi is belonging to one of the parties contesting the elections and Chalabi had accused the defense minister and other members of the interim Iraqi government of being corrupt, of spiriting away hundreds of millions of dollars out of Iraq.
So it seems that there is a big fight going on amongst these people and we're not quite sure where this is going to end up. But suffice it to say that Chalabi has not been arrested yet and there has not been an arrest warrant taken out yet for bringing him into custody. So we'll wait and see just how this develops -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Christiane, as we wait to see how that develops, do we know if Ahmed Chalabi has a defense team lined up in this case?
AMANPOUR: Well, probably not in this particular case, because it's only just come up. But, he has faced these charges before, these attempts to get him brought to justice, again, for this bank fraud situation. It involves a bank called the Petra Bank, which he had founded many, many years ago and that went belly up. And he was accused by Jordanian authorities, convicted in abstentia of fraud in terms of much of the money that was missing from that bank.
But he's always maintained his innocence. He has always said that it was a politically motivated charge. He said that it happened because he was accusing, at that time, the Jordanian royal family of being in collusion with Saddam Hussein, who was in power back then. This, again, was during the '90s.
And so this has been an ongoing political fight that's been going on and crops up every now and again around Ahmed Chalabi.
Right now, he's on a campaign swing. We did interview him about the elections yesterday and he took off on a campaign swing around the south, which is one of his bases of support. And we've sought his people and him out for a reaction, but they seem to be unavailable at this precise moment. But we continue to keep trying.
NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad this morning, as we wait to see if, indeed, this arrest does happen today.
Thank you, Christiane -- Tony. HARRIS: An unsuccessful bid by Michael Jackson's defense team to block one witnesses' testimony. Details on the pop star's latest court hearing next.
NGUYEN: Our E-Mail Question this morning. When do you think U.S. troops should leave Iraq? Our address is wam@cnn.com. Send those responses in and we'll read them on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here's what we are working on that is all new in our next hour.
Should Governor Jeb Bush step into an adoption custody battle in Florida? Our legal experts will weigh in on the case.
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center.
Almost into February, that would be the peak of the cold and flu season. This is your cold and flu report as of January 15.
Red, not good. That's Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, just getting hit with a snowstorm this morning, and much of New York and Vermont seeing widespread reports of flu and cold. And regional reports in the blue highlighted states.
That's the latest from here.
Stay warm this weekend.
I hope you feel well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And now, some of the stories from across America.
Imagine cruising off for seven enchanted evenings then having a random health scare cast its ugly spell. That's what happened aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Mariner of the Seas. Nearly 250 passengers and crew caught a stomach virus during their journey. All were treated and are now fine. Officials traced the virus to a passenger who had symptoms two days before they boarded.
At a pretrial hearing in California, the judge in the Michael Jackson case ruled the prosecution can call expert witnesses on the behavior of children who have been molested. Jackson's legal team says allowing such testimony would only help prop up a "hopeless case." The pop star himself was not present for the hearing.
If it were a college course, it might be called the joys of charity and the benefits of nudity. Fourteen freshmen at Stanford University got naked for a good cause, tsunami relief. They posed for a $10 calendar being sold around campus to raise money for the relief effort in South Asia. While all the students were naked, key body parts were hidden. Speaking of nudity, many will be baring their bodies from their beads and baubles in this year's Mardis Gras. The festivities kicked off in many southern states yesterday. This parade was in Mobile, Alabama. The actual day of Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday, falls on February 8.
And talk about Fat Tuesday, this Georgia couple had a terrific Tuesday when they won $130 million in the Mega Millions jackpot, the second highest payout in state history. Officials confirmed the win here in Atlanta yesterday. Margaret and James Jones are taking the cash up front, getting nearly $80 million after taxes. The couple from Washington, Georgia says they will stay in their rural home because, because it's paid for.
NGUYEN: Oh, I meant to buy a ticket. You can't win if you don't play, right, Tony?
HARRIS: That's it.
NGUYEN: All right.
Want to know how to turn your vows into a cash cow? Learn from Donald Trump. "The Donald" is getting the glitzy extras at his third wedding for a steal of a deal.
HARRIS: Also, it's down to the final four heading into tomorrow's final NFL play-off games. We're going to look at the business of football when we go "Beyond The Game."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, good morning, D.C.
Doesn't it just look cold in this picture? That's because a blustery blizzard is heading toward the Northeast tonight.
Rob Marciano will tell you what to expect in just about two minutes from now.
HARRIS: And now to "Security Watch," where we update you on the week's major developments in the war on terror every Saturday morning.
Several of the nation's mayors are asking the Department of Homeland Security to keep them in the loop when trains come through carrying hazardous materials. Tuesday's request at the U.S. Conference of Mayors came less than two weeks after a train crash in South Carolina caused a deadly chlorine leak. One mayor says response to rail accidents would speed up if communities knew what was coming through on the rails.
Some mayors also said they're having trouble paying for homeland security needs. A few of the conferees complained that states are hoarding federal funds, even though the federal government allows them to spend up to 20 percent of money tagged for local needs. Wednesday, the search began for four Chinese nationals possibly linked to a terrorist plot in the Boston area. Thursday, the FBI added 10 more names to the list of those wanted for questioning. A federal law enforcement official says an anonymous tipster told authorities the threat involved a shipment of nuclear oxide that would follow the four Chinese into Boston. The FBI says that information is uncorroborated.
And Thursday's presidential inauguration saw the highest level of security of any inauguration in history. The mix included heavily armed Coast Guard patrols and thousands of law enforcement officers and military troops. In the skies above D.C., warnings to private pilots that they could be shot down if they wandered into restricted air space over Washington.
And we want to remind you to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the reliable news about your security.
And, do you think the government is doing enough to protect you? Tune in tomorrow for a CNN "Security Watch" special report, "Defending America: An In Depth Look at Homeland Security." Again, that's Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: Talking about security and safety, boy, the eastern part of the nation really needs to stay indoors, don't they?
MARCIANO: Yes, I mean it's -- a lot of kids like to go out in the snow.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: A lot of adults like to feel like kids go out in the snow...
NGUYEN: But in blizzard conditions?
MARCIANO: ... like, yes, when the winds blowing like that and when you see some of the numbers as far as what it feels like outside right now...
NGUYEN: Yes?
MARCIANO: ... and then you couple that with the cold, it's going to be one of those weekends where you just want to hang out inside.
HARRIS: Just bundle up and stay (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MARCIANO: Maybe watch a little football.
NGUYEN: Yes, watch some football.
HARRIS: Watch football games. There you go.
MARCIANO: We'll show you, off the top, we'll show you some current temperatures across the U.S. and you'll see that Northeast sticks out like a sore thumb there. Minus two in Boston. And speaking of two, you might have two feet of snow on the ground by tomorrow night. How about that? Six for a current temperature in New York. Eighteen degrees in D.C.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: But the Northeast, with that cold temperatures, then you filter in the wind or you factor in the wind, minus seven is what it feels like in New York right now. Minus two in Philadelphia. And it feels like minus 15 in Boston. No bargain in Chicago, nine degrees, where it feels like the temperature and the snow is happening there right now.
Up the I-95 corridor, not much happening, but the snow is beginning to make their way across the Appalachian Mountains and in through the Del Marva Peninsula. A little bit of a mix happening right now across the Ohio River Valley.
Here's the big white, though, from Detroit to Chicago back to Green Bay. Seven inches of snow on the ground in Minneapolis. Five to six in Chicago. And the snow is rapidly heading off to the east. So this is a quick moving storm. That's good news, because it will be out of here quite rapidly. But as far as to how much snow is actually going to fall as you go through time, well, six, maybe 12 inches in parts of Chicago and Milwaukee. And then pushing toward Cleveland, Pittsburgh, the same numbers there, maybe a little bit more in spots of the West Virginia mountains.
Then this thing gets into the Atlantic Ocean, where the Gulf Stream is, adds a little bit more instability by late tomorrow night or late tonight and early tomorrow morning. And that will throw even more moisture back into this cold air. Twelve to 18 inches in Philly, up to New York. Blizzard warnings up for New York. That's a rare warning that the National Weather Service puts out. And Boston 18 to 24 inches of snow.
The snow is going to stick around when it does fall. Temperatures well below freezing to the north.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: We've got a live shot for you from Washington, D.C. All is quiet right now, but a little dusting of snow from the inauguration event just a few days back still hanging on the ground. They'll get a fresh blanket -- Tony, Betty.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Not to worry.
MARCIANO: Yes.
NGUYEN: We'll give them a fresh blanket so.
MARCIANO: Importantly for the kids, that's not going to cancel school today.
HARRIS: We've got a combination of heavy snow, you get to the Atlantic, it starts to bring that water in off the Atlantic and then you've got winds...
MARCIANO: Yes. Aren't you fascinated with this weather stuff, Tony?
HARRIS: I am so paying attention to you.
NGUYEN: He's all into it.
HARRIS: I just want you to know that.
MARCIANO: All right. I'll tell you what. Many factors are coming together for this storm to happen.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARCIANO: It's not often that, you know, it is winter. We do get snow storms.
HARRIS: Right.
NGUYEN: Right.
MARCIANO: But to get one or two feet of snow plus the blizzard conditions, that's a big deal.
NGUYEN: Yes, in New York.
MARCIANO: So we'll probably be talking about this one for...
HARRIS: You're going to be a busy man today.
MARCIANO: Yes.
HARRIS: Good. Good. OK.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
NGUYEN: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I pulled in, the cop car was taking off that way and the man was pepping his head up over this fence right here. And then he took off again. I told the cop, I said he's right back there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: She's talking about a happy ending to one child abduction. We have those details next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: And rising violence in Iraq has U.S. soldiers watching their backs. But do safety measures sometimes go too far?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: An 11-year-old boy abducted from his school is found alive. So far, though, no sign of the alleged kidnapper. We're continue to follow that. We want to welcome you back, though.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
That story in a minute.
First, a look at the morning headlines.
Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi heads the Iraqi National Congress, a prominent exile group. Chalabi once had the ear of the Bush administration, but he has since fallen out of favor. The charges stem from the 1989 failure of a bank that Chalabi founded in the 1970s. He's already been convicted and sentenced in abstentia for bank fraud.
And in Iraq, a suicide bomber crashes into a wedding party south of Baghdad and blows himself up. At least 12 people are dead and dozens of other are hurt. Officials say the bomber rammed his way in by driving an ambulance.
NGUYEN: Our next report contains graphic images that may be disturbing, especially for children. Almost every day, the fighting in Iraq claims more lives, and often the victims are civilians. Sometimes their deaths are the result of a misunderstanding. A photographer captured one recent tragedy involving an Iraqi family. The horror of it produced an unusually quick apology from the U.S. military.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just after 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, already getting dark, past curfew, when U.S. troops fired shots at this car in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar. The U.S. military says the soldiers on foot patrol were alert for suicide car bombs. The photographer who took these pictures watched as the tragedy unfolded.
CHRIS HONDROS, GETTY IMAGES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (voice-over): I realized that some shots were going to get fired because I know, I mean I could know -- I knew that the car would have a hard time seeing these camouflaged soldiers. So I sort of scooted off to the side outside of anybody's line of fire. And the car kept approaching. I could hear it.
STARR: In moments, it was a nightmare on the street. An Iraqi man and his wife in the front seat killed by U.S. gunfire. Six terrified children emerged from the back seat, one slightly wounded, blood everywhere, a small boy bewildered at what he has just seen.
HONDROS: The soldiers, when they realized what was going on, they very professionally and empathetically swept into action, picked the kids up. Immediately the medics came over and immediately tried to assess the injuries the children had.
STARR: Soldiers upset, as well, as they tried to help the children. They took them to a nearby hospital. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad says there was no intention to harm innocent civilians. He says, "While the pictures are heart wrenching they also go to show in the moments immediately following, soldiers went from trying to protect their patrol to rendering comfort and assistance to the children suffering a tragic loss."
The military spokesman says procedures were followed. There were hand signals to the driver, warning shots fired and then shots to disable the vehicle and then shots that were fatal. No one may ever know if the Iraqi driver didn't see the soldiers, didn't understand the order to stop or if there was panic.
But with five car bomb attacks in Iraq in the last three weeks against patrols and checkpoints, security concerns are at an all time high. Still, the human tragedy.
HONDROS: I remember the captain was adamant about making sure the children were all in a room when the two bodies of the adults were brought in to the morgue in the hospital. And he specifically said that he didn't want the children to see anymore.
STARR: The orphaned children now in the custody of the oldest teenager. The military may compensate the family, but the faces of this war show their agony. One small Iraqi girl sits at the feet of U.S. soldiers, waiting for someone to tell her what happens now.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And here in Georgia, a manhunt is underway for a convicted child molester who kidnapped a friend's 11-year-old son in Florida and set off an amber alert.
Tracy Martinez of Atlanta affiliate WSB has details on the amber alert's dramatic conclusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TRACY MARTINEZ, WRSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eleven-year-old Adam Kirkirt emerges from a grassy ravine along the I-75 exit ramp, carried by a plainclothes officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a police investigation. You must back up.
MARTINEZ: One officer grips Kirkirt's hand. Another has his arm around the abducted boy's shoulders as they lead him to the back of a deputy's car and take him to a nearby ambulance. He appears healthy but scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The health appears to be good, not injured. But, again, just in our custody at this time. MARTINEZ: Kirkirt was found in Emerson, one exit north of where Frederick Fretz's white Chevy Lumina reportedly broke down. These two eyewitnesses spotted Fretz at a nearby Texaco station buying a gallon of water just minutes before Adam Kirkirt was found trying to flag a ride near I-75.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gentleman come out and walked into the woods, turned around and looked directly at me and then proceeded walking in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when I pulled in, the cop car was taking off that way and the man was peeping his head up over this fence right here and then he took off again. I told the cop, I said he's right back there.
MARTINEZ: An avid camper, it was thought Fretz might try to take Adam to a wooded area to hide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Fretz was here at the store, to our knowledge, picking up some water and some candy bars or something to that effect. And the child got worried that he was left alone and he was coming to try to find somebody.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: OK, we'll keep monitoring this story and let you know if there are any developments in the hunt for Frederick Fretz.
NGUYEN: But in the meantime, we have been asking you this morning, when should U.S. soldiers leave Iraq? That is our E-mail Question of the Day. We'll read those replies a little bit later this hour. But in the meantime, if you'll send them wam@cnn.com, we'll try to get them on the air.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center. This is a monster of a storm that's developing. But places like Orlando aren't going to see that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: A detailed forecast coming up in about 15 minutes.
CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A filmmaker who's documented Michael Jackson's life at Neverland Ranch wants no part of the singer's legal case. Should he be forced to testify about what he saw behind-the-scenes? We will pose that question to our legal experts. That's just ahead for you in our 8:00 a.m. hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Time now for a check of some of the stories making news around the world. NGUYEN: And for that, we want to go to Anand Naidoo at the International Desk -- good morning, Anand.
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning, Betty.
And thanks a lot.
Time now to check out some of the stories making news in other parts of the world.
And first up, the Middle East. Here's a sight you don't often see. These are Palestinian forces taking up positions in Gaza. They're there to try and put an end to rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants into Israeli areas. It's all part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' effort to stop the violence and get peace talks back on track.
For their part, the Islamic militants, at least some of them, are saying that they will suspend those rocket attacks.
Now turning closer home, much closer home, a massacre at a Mexican prison right at the Texas border. Six security guards are murdered at the high security Matamoros Penitentiary. The violence is being blamed on powerful drug gangs which operate in that particular area and in Mexico. Mexican troops were called in. They sealed off the area as the bodies of some of the victims, some of them blindfolded, were moved away.
Now, this in from Germany. Here's a guy who was flamboyant and eccentric to the end. German designer Rudolph Moshammer, who was murdered this week, has left his home to his dog. Moshammer was something of an icon in his native Germany. His funeral is expected to be watched by millions in Germany today. And in terms of his role, his beloved pet will stay at the villa until she dies, looked after by his driver.
And incidentally, Moshammer counts among his clients the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as Las Vegas magicians Siegfried & Roy.
That's all from me for the time being.
I'll be back a little later.
We are getting reports of a significant political development in Iran. I'll be telling you about that. The country's hard-line ruling council, we're getting these reports, saying that women will now be allowed to take part in the presidential elections. Those elections coming up in June.
So I'll have that and a lot more for you coming up a little later.
Right now, though, let's send it back to Tony and Betty.
HARRIS: All right, thank you. NGUYEN: Yes, very interesting news out of Iran.
HARRIS: That is.
NGUYEN: We're looking forward to that.
Thank you, Anand.
Well, find out what made the editor of "Vogue" so upset over Donald Trump's wedding.
That's next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Checking the top stories at this hour, weather warnings are stretching from North Dakota to Long Island. Over a foot of snow is expected in some areas. Now, the huge storm has already frozen the far northern states.
Now to Iraq. Iraq's defense minister says Ahmed Chalabi will be arrested today to face bank fraud charges in Jordan. Chalabi is a prominent Iraqi politician who's a contender in the January 30th national assembly elections. He was a key U.S. ally leading up to the war in Iraq, but fell out of favor when prewar intelligence that he supplied failed to pan out.
And a former Marine is being held in connection with that abduction of a clerk from a Texas Wal-Mart parking lot. The body of 19-year-old Megan Holden was found along a highway in West Texas. Her kidnapping was caught on a surveillance tape.
Want to let us know what you think? When should you or when do you think U.S. troops should leave Iraq? E-mail us at wam@cnn.com and we'll put those responses on the air.
HARRIS: Well, Betty, Donald Trump says he's learned from his mistakes. The mogul is getting married today for the third time. If those mistakes included paying top dollar for a splashy wedding, well, we know that won't happen again.
CNN's Anderson Cooper looks at how the mega rich save mega bucks.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Melania Knauss is marrying money and she wants you to know it. Soon to be Mrs. Donald Trump number three is flouting superstition and flaunting her wedding dress before the big day on the cover on the "Vogue." Well, maybe her hubby-to-be doesn't read "Vogue."
ANDRE LEON TALLEY, "VOGUE" EDITOR-AT-LARGE: It was our idea to put her on the cover before the wedding so we could scoop the world.
COOPER: We even have all the specs. TALLEY: There were 98 yards of satin woven in France on some of the finest textile looms just for this dress, the way Marie Antoinette would have had a dress made.
COOPER: The price? Reportedly between $100,000 and $200,000. Really, what top Paris fashion designer would put scissor to taffeta for less than a hundred grand? The publicity priceless, or not. There has been speculation that "The Donald" may have cut one of his artful deals with designer John Galliano and the House of Dior. And some say that's not the only deal "The Donald" made to save a few quid on the accoutrements, like the engagement ring.
SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": He actually got that half off.
COOPER: And the food. BERNARD: John George is also -- he's donating, I guess we could say, the steak and the shrimp. And it's going to be about $46,000.
COOPER: So suddenly the most expensive wedding of the year -- OK, it's January -- may not be costing the self-described billionaire groom all that much. But the man who helped Melania make her choice assures "The Donald" paid at least a little something.
TALLEY: She bartered for the dress. I mean, there was a price.
COOPER: And if you're wondering whether "Vogue" pitched in a few pennies to put the bride-to-be on the cover...
TALLEY: Oh, my goodness, I've never heard such a thing. And it would never -- the standards of "Vogue" and Conde Nast are the highest in the world. We are not a tabloid.
COOPER: If selling off pieces of your wedding day for profit or publicity sounds tacky, well, the rich and famous obviously have a different definition of tacky. When Michael Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones, they sold their wedding snaps to "OK" magazine for millions. Then, there's Star Jones. She wasn't even coy about cashing in, selling sponsorships for her big day to Continental Airlines, stationary studios, bridal shops, dry cleaners, even Nintendo.
OK, wretched excess costs. That's why celebs try to turn their vows into cash cows. But what do the buyers get? Consider this. When "OK" printed photos of David Beckham's wedding to Posh Spice, purchased for a reported $1.5 million, sales quadrupled. These days savvy celebs know you only have, well, maybe five, six wedding days in a lifetime. You might as well share the joy and fill up on the freebies.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: OK. This is "Vogue." We have standards. We're not a tabloid.
One downer for the nuptials. The town council in Palm Beach, Florida rejected Trump's plans for a post-wedding fireworks show. But no worries. The food still will be fabulous, we're sure. We'll get the details on the Trump wedding menu from Chef Jean Georges. He's a guest at 10:00 with Carol Lin tonight on CNN. I'm full pronouncing that name.
NGUYEN: How do you say it one more time?
HARRIS: Jean Georges.
NGUYEN: Georges.
But what a deal, though. The dress not at full price. The ring at half price. The food partially for free.
HARRIS: Yes...
NGUYEN: I mean he's rich.
HARRIS: And the rest of us schlubs have to shell out the big bucks.
NGUYEN: One hundred percent of the price we have to pay.
HARRIS: To pay for those discounts, yes, that they give to the rich and famous.
NGUYEN: That's how they keep on getting richer.
HARRIS: We're just a little bitter.
NGUYEN: No, not at all.
OK, well, if you've had a tough time this week keeping up with the headlines, that's why we are here.
Time now to "Rewind" some of those top stories from the past five days.
Tuesday, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the United States' long running probe of the Oil For Food Program in Iraq, it's netted its first conviction. An Iraqi-American businessman pleaded guilty to several charges, including acting as an illegal agent of Saddam Hussein's government. The man admitted to lobbying U.S. officials, hoping they would push for scaling back sanctions against Iraq.
Wednesday, Indonesia nearly doubled the number of people killed in the December 26 tsunami, to more than 166,000. That brings the overall number of dead from the disaster to a staggering 212,000 people.
Also on Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-2 to send Condoleezza Rice's nomination for secretary of state to the full Senate. The two dissenting votes came from California Democrat Barbara Boxer and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. The Senate is slated to debate the issue Tuesday and will vote the day after that.
Tomorrow, we will "Fast Forward" to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the spotlight, so stay tuned.
HARRIS: The search for that elusive fountain remains fruitless at best. Instead, more than eight million people a year turn to cosmetic surgery, and the numbers are rising. But before you see a doctor, you may want to visit a consultant so you know exactly what to expect once you go under the knife. Some insight tomorrow on CNN SUNDAY MORNING from former model and cosmetic surgery consultant Carol Martin. Live on CNN SUNDAY MORNING at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
The East Coast is bracing up for some deep snow this weekend. A foot or more expected in New York and Philadelphia. Rob Marciano has details when CNN SATURDAY MORNING returns.
Plus, plus, a 17 pound newborn, Betty, born with a full blown moustache and driver's license.
NGUYEN: All I have to say is ouch, 17 pounds.
HARRIS: That story in our "Wows of the Week" next.
NGUYEN: That's a toddler.
All right, but first, a CNN extra. The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the quality of drinking water aboard the nation's airlines is getting worse despite government ordered improvements in aircraft sanitation. About one in six airliners tested about a month ago had drinking water that failed to meet federal safety guidelines. The EPA is advising concerned passengers to ask for caned or bottled beverages and refrain from tea or coffee unless it's made from bottled water. So you've been warned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, are you in the mood for a movie this weekend?
Here are some of the openings on the big screen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ARE WE THERE YET?," COURTESY COLUMBIA PICTURES)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, how are you doing, baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Is everything OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, everything is cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: No, everything is not cool. A playboy bachelor is trying to win the heart of a divorced mother of two. The problem is, her kids, who think no one can be good enough for their mom. "Are We There Yet?" wasn't good enough to get a thumbs up, either, from critics. Roger Ebert calls the movie "shrill." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 32, Mr. Dunne. And I'm here celebrating the fact that I spent another year scraping dishes and waitressing, which is what I've been doing since 13.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: "Million Dollar Baby" is going nationwide this weekend, the winner of two Golden Globes for best director and best actor, actress, I should say. The story line brings together two people whose lives are a constant struggle. Boxing training Frankie Dunne and raw talent Maggie, who just needs someone to believe in here. The film is getting applause from the critics. The "Chicago Tribune" calls it "a knockout punch of shattering force."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am your angel of music. Come to me, angel of music.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, you know the music, you know the story. "The Phantom of the Opera" is here, opening nationwide this weekend. In 19th century Paris, a mysterious masked phantom tutors a beautiful young soprano and thinks he finds love. The critics overall, however, do not find the movie worth their highest remarks. The "New York Post" calls it "a terminal version of mediocrity."
HARRIS: Wow.
Not good.
Right now, we want to show you some video that was so unusual, we couldn't let it pass without a second look, a little something we call "Wows of the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open the door now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right, this would be a robber in Milwaukee who had demanded cash. But all he got was attitude. Apparently the pet shop clerks were not fooled by the toy gun. After the women locked the door and called the cops, the feckless crook was reduced to begging, begging to be let out. Eventually, he discovered the back door and ran away.
In Brazil, get a load of this newborn nicknamed Gigante Babi, giant baby. At birth, she, OK, she tipped the scales at a whopping 17 pounds. That's as big as a typical six-month-old infant. And finally, check out the chompers on this aquarium oddity in Phoenix, Arizona. Open up wide. Believe it or not, this puffer fish named Zorro needs professional care to keep the teeth from getting too large.
NGUYEN: OK, a fish with teeth too large and a baby that's just too large from birth. Seventeen pounds. I'm still thinking about that.
HARRIS: Lump into all another oddity, this blizzard barreling in from the Midwest out of Canada, this cold air mass. How am I doing, Rob? Am I doing OK?
MARCIANO: You're doing great.
NGUYEN: Nice link.
HARRIS: Am I doing good?
MARCIANO: I think that 17 pound kid could, you know, has got a lot of insulation. Throw him out in the snow and roll him around like a snowman and he'll be just fine.
HARRIS: Oh, no.
MARCIANO: Hey, those are some good wows.
NGUYEN: That's not right.
MARCIANO: We've got a couple of wows for you here. Sixty-two- mile-an-hour gusts in Carroll County, Iowa. And then whiteout conditions in Cedar Rapids, with 45 mile an hour gusts there, blowing and drifting snow. A couple of tractor trailers blew off the road on the side of a ditch. And that's just in Iowa.
This thing is going to move off to the east quite rapidly. This map indicates the watches and warnings that are out. Red in weather terms typically means pretty bad, so winter storm warnings are up for all these red highlighted counties. The white indicates blizzard warnings out. And now that blizzard warning has been extended to Boston, where they could easily see two feet of snow beginning tonight.
Here comes the snow band into the I-95 corridor. New York, dry; Philly, dry; D.C., dry for now, but the snows are going to continue to fall through what is very, very cold and dry air. So even though you see it here on the radar scope, it will take a while for the atmosphere to get moist enough for that snow to actually reach the ground before it evaporates.
It reached the ground in Chicago in the form of five to eight inches in some spots. The snows will be tapering off there. But the winds whipping behind this system really is what's going to do the damage as far as the biting cold and then the wind driven snow. That's going to be drifting across much, well, where there's snow and where it's drifting, it'll pile up, you know, if it's six to 12 inches and it's drifting, you know, think about three or four feet there. And then this will track rapidly to the east, 10 to 18 in Philly, New York, and then 18 to 24 or better expected in Beantown.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: This is going to be a doozy of a storm. We'll keep up updated.
Chad Myers live in Philly later on today and throughout the weekend.
HARRIS: OK.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
HARRIS: We want to get to our E-mail Question of the Day. And it's about our troops in Iraq -- when should U.S. troops leave Iraq?
I'll tell you, we had a couple of choices of questions today, and we picked the right one, because it has hit a nerve with you. So thanks for being here.
NGUYEN: Oh, has it. We have gotten just a flood of e-mails.
Sarah writes, just really briefly, when should Iraq leave -- U.S. troops leave Iraq? She says: "A long time ago!"
HARRIS: And how about this from James: "We cannot leave until the job is done. The country must be stable. We should be looking to troop reductions over time as more of a transition rather than a complete rapid destabilizing withdrawal."
And as I mentioned, plenty of e-mails.
Here's the question -- when should U.S. troops leave Iraq? We'll be reading those responses throughout the morning. Here's the address at wam@cnn.com.
NGUYEN: But right now, the next hour of CNN SATURDAY begins, you guessed it, right now.
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