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CNN Saturday Morning News
Ariel Sharon Had To Undergo Emergency Surgery This Morning; Muslims Demonstrate In Trafalgar Square; Hurricane Evacuee Learns Mother Is Dead; Flight Distance Records; FEMA Trailers In Empty Field; High-Tech Must-Haves
Aired February 11, 2006 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.
Now in the news, this developing story out of Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent emergency surgery today after tests indicated he had suffered serious intestinal damage. Doctors removed a third of his large intestine.
We'll have the latest on his condition from Jerusalem in just a few minutes.
Protests in the streets of London today. Thousands of Muslims angry about those cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. But these protesters are also condemning the violent response to the caricatures. Organizers say today's rally represents "the legitimate voice of the Muslim community."
We'll head live to London for details. That's just ahead.
A warning to the West from the president of Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today his country will revise its acceptance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the West tries to interfere with Iran's right to develop nuclear energy. The International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran wants to build nuclear weapons and has referred Tehran to the U.N. Security Council.
And a brutal winter storm is barreling up the East Coast. Snow fell in Georgia and Tennessee this morning. But the big snowfall, Betty, is expected to hit the Mid-Atlantic States all the way up to southern New England.
A full weather report is just about, oh, 10 minutes away.
Saturday, February 11.
Good morning, everyone.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
Buckle up, because there is a lot coming at you this hour. Here goes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D'LON HERBERT, GRANDDAUGHTER OF VICTIM: The situation is sad, but, you know, her work is finished. So we have to let her go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: It is so sad.
We first told you this heartbreaking story several weeks ago. Well, today a family comes together seeking closure.
Also ahead, a big hole filled with wonder in the Egyptian desert. We'll let you peek inside a secret room not seen since it was sealed thousands of years ago. Yes.
And Tuesday, Tony, is Valentine's Day. Your wife is watching.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
NGUYEN: You can always turn to those old standbys like flowers and candy. Boring.
HARRIS: Right.
NGUYEN: But if you really want to make hearts skip a beat, go digital, Tony, go digital.
HARRIS: OK.
NGUYEN: Our guests will have some great suggestions you don't want to miss.
HARRIS: An old schooler here. But first, our top story.
An unexpected health complication for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Doctors performed emergency surgery on Sharon this morning after tests indicated serious problems with his digestive tract.
CNN's Guy Raz is in Jerusalem and has the latest on his condition -- Guy, good morning.
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
The prime minister's life is no longer in imminent danger. That is according to hospital officials here at Hadassah Hospital. This after going -- undergoing more than four hours of surgery to remove about 20 inches of his large intestine.
Now, doctors had determined that his digestive tract had suffered extensive damage. They discovered this after performing an abdominal C.T. scan overnight and doctors determined they had to carry out another emergency operation. Just in the past hour, we did receive an update from the director general of this hospital, Shlomo Mor-Yosef.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHLOMO MOR-YOSEF, DIRECTOR, HADASSAH MEDICAL CENTER: The condition of Prime Minister Sharon is stable, but critical. In the morning, there was a really immediate danger to his life, but now I can say that it's critical, stable and there is no immediate danger to the life of Prime Minister Sharon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAZ: Tony, doctors are saying that essentially the main problem remains the prime minister's absence of consciousness. That is the central problem, not the fact that he has undergone this procedure, not the fact that part of his intestine was removed, but that he has essentially been unconscious for the past five weeks, since he was admitted to this hospital on January 4th after suffering a severe brain hemorrhage.
There is very, very, very few doctors who believe Ariel Sharon will emerge from this hospital unscathed, if he does come out alive at all. But I must say, earlier in the day, it appeared as if this might be Ariel Sharon's last day on Earth. But, in fact, the prime minister continues to cling onto life, continues to fight, confounding, really, all of the predictions -- Tony.
HARRIS: And, Guy, what's the count now? Is it seven surgeries on Ariel Sharon?
RAZ: He's had seven surgeries in total since he's been admitted to this hospital, four major ones, including the one today. When he was initially admitted to the hospital on January 4th, he underwent three surgeries to remove extensive bleeding from his brain, bleeding that was creating pressure inside of his skull.
He underwent an additional three minor surgeries, one of those to insert a feeding tube in his stomach, one a tracheotomy.
But by and large, he has undergone four extremely traumatic surgeries, invasive procedures. He's 77 years old. He is not in good health. But yet he still clings to life. He is still alive, despite being unconscious.
HARRIS: CNN's Guy Raz for us in Jerusalem.
Guy, thank you.
And CNN will continue to monitor Sharon's condition and we will tell you any new information as it becomes available.
NGUYEN: Muslim outrage over drawings they consider blasphemous is focused today on London's Trafalgar Square. CNN's Jim Boulden is covering that live for us -- and, Jim, I understand, unlike some of the protest that we've seen in the past, today's protest is peaceful in nature.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What we hear -- we're about three hours into this protest and it's very peaceful, indeed, Betty.
The point here was for the Muslim community, the mainstream Muslim community, to do two things, which was to show their outrage at these cartoons that were published in Europe late last year and earlier this year, and, secondly, to show that they could do this peacefully.
Right now we have, actually, a member of the Christian church on the stage. And he is saying that he is sharing his outrage with the Muslim community and sharing the hurt, and says that the Christian community is with this Muslim community. That's a kind of thing we've been hearing for the last three hours.
Earlier, a younger man, a younger member of the Muslim community said to these people here don't leave this rally and go to sleep. You must continue to show your upsetness and your anger, that we've seen what they call Islamaphobia.
But this is a far cry from what we saw just eight days ago, where we saw angry protests in front of the Danish embassy here in London, where we saw placards calling for the decapitation of those who made these placards and where they talked about a great deal of violence.
The people here are condemning that violence that they saw, that we saw just eight days ago. This is about a peaceful protest and they want to show the world that the Muslim community, the mainstream Muslim community here in the U.K. can protest within the bounds of British law -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Jim, this has been going on for a little while this morning, and we've been watching it. It's kind of hard to tell from our vantage point right now, but early word was that there were going to be as many as 100,000 people turning out for this.
What are you seeing so far today?
BOULDEN: Well, that number did not come from organizers. The organizers were hoping for up to 10,000 people. The police tell us right now in this historic square, Trafalgar Square, that there's between 4,000 and 4,500. The organizers say more than that.
So, yes, probably less than the 10,000 that the organizers wanted, but that 100,000 number was simply not -- was not one of the numbers they were throwing around. But it is a very large crowd, a large contingent from little children wearing T-shirts all the way up to quite old men with their long beards, men from a Pakistani background, many of them praying off to the side. And they've been here for hours. And, in fact, this whole rally is to last at least four hours, with speaker after speaker after speaker continuing to say that they -- they're just upset about these cartoons. But they say they do want the freedom of the press here but that freedom of the press comes with responsibility -- Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Jim Boulden.
Thank you for that report.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.
HARRIS: OK, Betty, so back here in the United States, get a load of this landscape in Memphis, Tennessee.
NGUYEN: Snowscape is what it is.
HARRIS: That's what it is. That's what it is. It's like a little snow globe. You just shake it up and all this snow.
NGUYEN: But it's real.
HARRIS: Yes, it's real. And this is just, from what I understand, a preview of what's expected for a big chunk of the country over the next day or so.
NGUYEN: Yes.
You have to stay and watch on this, because CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is in the Weather Center and she's been following it. And this storm is not over, is it -- Bonnie.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: OK, Bonnie, thank you.
HARRIS: I'm just thinking about my kids. They're over there, yippee!
NGUYEN: I know. They're loving the snow.
HARRIS: They love it.
NGUYEN: Well, a daughter's journey to find her mother -- we brought you this story several weeks ago. And today there is a sense of closure. We're going to tell you about that.
Plus this...
HARRIS: Why these trailers meant for Katrina victims are sitting empty in Arkansas.
That story plus more when CNN SATURDAY MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: We're going to check our top stories right now.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has undergone emergency surgery. Doctors say a 20-inch portion of his large intestine was removed. Now, there is no immediate danger to his life, but there is ongoing concern about his lack of consciousness.
A huge rally in central London to protest the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. The demonstration was sponsored by a range of moderate Muslim groups. There were no incidents and reporters say the protest appeared good-natured. Organizers say they are concerned, though, about growing anti-Islam sentiment across Europe.
The Atlantic Seaboard is bracing itself for a wintry blast. We are not kidding. Forecasts call for up to 14 inches of snow in the Mid-Atlantic States. Blizzard conditions are expected in the Northeast and snow showers are also predicted throughout the South.
HARRIS: Well, we have a follow-up to a highly emotional story we first told you about last month in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Sadly, this daughter's story doesn't have a happy ending.
Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A family drives hundreds of miles from their temporary home in Georgia to the home that Katrina forced them to leave, their beloved City of New Orleans.
(on camera): What were you thinking about while you were in the car?
DENISE HERBERT, DAUGHTER OF VICTIM: Mother, I'm coming back.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Denise Herbert is coming back to say good- bye to her mother Ethel. What the Herbert family has gone through has been incredibly painful.
We met Denise Herbert in Atlanta.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: Hello.
How are you?
TUCHMAN: Where Louisiana's governor was meeting with displaced Louisiana residents.
Denise told us her mother had been missing since two days after Katrina struck.
DENISE HERBERT: I'm very angry. And guess what? Everybody in America got a mom, but where is mine? That's what I want to know today. Where is my mother? And I'm angry with the world. And they can parade around here and talk about Mardi Gras and what they're going to do in New Orleans.
Well, what about these 3,000 and something people missing? And why am I missing my mama?
I'm sick of these people. I really am sick of these people.
TUCHMAN: Her outburst quieted the room and got the attention of the governor. Ethel Herbert's children and grandchildren had been calling government officials, hospitals and morgues for months and had found out nothing.
(on camera): Did you think for a little while that maybe you'd hear something good about her?
DENISE HERBERT: Yes, I did, because my mother was a fighter.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): After our story aired, a CNN viewer called to tell us he'd helped treat Ethel Herbert on an interstate overpass near the Superdome. By chance, this picture was taken of her by a photographer on that overpass.
DAVID LIPIN, RESCUER: We began to assess her. We didn't get very far because some snipers opened up and started shooting at us while we were stopped there. So that sort of interrupted everything that we really wanted to do.
TUCHMAN: After meeting Denise, we called morgue officials, who this week notified Denise Herbert that one of their unidentified bodies was, indeed, her mother.
DENISE HERBERT: For somebody I've been with all my life, it was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking.
TUCHMAN: And now Denise and her daughter D'Lon are home for the funeral this weekend. It is only the second time they've been back since the hurricane.
Denise lived in an apartment in a unit right next to her mother, a building that is still uninhabitable.
(on camera): And it probably is unbelievable to you that this even happened, isn't it?
DENISE HERBERT: It's like it's not real. It's not real.
TUCHMAN: Denise was told that her mother died two hours after doctors took her from the overpass and put her on an emergency helicopter. That she didn't suffer anonymously for days or weeks offers some comfort.
D'LON HERBERT: Although the situation is sad, but, you know, her work is finished. So we have to let her go.
TUCHMAN: After the funeral, the Herberts will go back to Atlanta.
(on camera): Do you want to come back to New Orleans some day?
DENISE HERBERT: Oh, I have to. She's here. She's here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The funeral for Denise Herbert's mother is today in New Orleans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R), MINNESOTA: Do you feel like you've been sort of set up to be the scapegoat, to be the fall guy?
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And that is not all former FEMA Director Michael Brown had to say about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. We've got the details, some of it very testy. Here's a hint -- this Senate committee got an earful.
HARRIS: And what computer game got one New Yorker, a New York staffer of Mayor Bloomberg fired?
We'll be going across America.
That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLIFFORD HARRISON, CO-EXECUTIVE CHEF & OWNER, FLOATAWAY CAFE: It's personal if you enjoy what you're doing and you're happy. You just need to believe in yourself. You need to believe that your product is good, that your heart is in it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Passion is the key ingredient to success. That's according to executive chefs and owners Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison. For 14 years, this husband and wife team has been serving Atlanta patrons. They now operate five eateries, including Star Provisions, Bacchanalia and Floataway Cafe. Their combined ventures generated $7 million in sales last year.
Most of the produce used in their restaurants is homegrown on the couple's Summerland farm. But they say it's leadership that nurtures their businesses.
ANNE QUATRANO, CO-EXECUTIVE CHEF & OWNER, FLOATAWAY CAFE: Managers are most effective when they are a good role model, when they work hard, they have integrity. It takes everybody to do a really good job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Some pictures for u.
Take a look at this. Steve Fossett's flight, you know, is scheduled to land at an airstrip in the United Kingdom in less than about, well, I guess, less than an hour. And these are taped pictures from just a short time ago.
Now, that time frame, obviously, is fluid, give or take. That's if -- and this is a big if -- if his fuel holds out.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's the big question, because Fossett lost 750 pounds of fuel during his takeoff, three days ago, mind you, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And he reached that point of no return a little bit earlier, where basically you've got to go for it at that point.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: His team is "cautiously optimistic" -- that's quoting them -- that Fossett can complete the 27,000 mile non-stop flight, but say the fuel loss really leaves no room for error.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: So you're looking at new video of what could be history in the making. Hopefully that he will land in Kent, England shortly from now and get there safely and soundly.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. So, Steve Fossett's flight got us thinking about previous attempts at flight distance records. Here's what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It all started with the Wright Brothers and their 12 second flight in 1903. It crossed 120 feet over the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. A generation later, Americans fascinated with flight would set one milestone after another in aviation's golden age.
Charles Lindbergh's 1927 crossing of the Atlantic was the most celebrated feat. It took him almost a day and a half to make the 3,600 mile trip from New York to Paris.
Exactly five years later, Amelia Earhart set a distance record for women when she flew a shorter route across the Atlantic. She continued to rack up aviation achievements until her mysterious disappearance during her 1937 attempt to fly around the world.
After World War II, military aircraft began filling the record books. An Air Force B-52 crew set a distance record of 12,532 miles in 1962. It stood for more than 20 years until it was doubled by the Voyager team of Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in 1986. Fossett hopes to top their record by about 2,000 miles. He's also trying to best the 25,361 mile record for a balloon, set by the Breitling-Orbiter 3 in 1999.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We want to check some "Headlines Across America" this morning for you.
California fire officials hope for full containment by tomorrow night of an 11,000 acre wildfire in Orange County. Crews are taking advantage of low winds right now to get that job done.
Well, Zach Lund, a member of the U.S. Olympic skeleton team, is sitting out the Winter Games. Not by choice. Skeleton is a one man, head first sledding race. And just hours before the opening ceremony began, Lund received a one year suspension for a banned substance found in his hair restoration pills. Sports officials say Lund was not trying to cheat, but it was simply a mistake.
HARRIS: In New Jersey, an arraignment will take place 10 days from now in the arrest of three men accused of running a sports gambling ring. All three have denied any wrongdoing. A 20 year veteran of the New Jersey State Police has also been implicated, but not charged.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg fired a city worker caught playing Solitaire on his office computer. It happened during a chance meeting to the city's legislative office in Albany. The mayor defended his hard line, saying he won't tolerate any goofing off on the city's dime.
NGUYEN: All right, Tony, listen up. In California, a real corker is fermenting in the legislature.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Oh, it gets better than that.
HARRIS: OK.
NGUYEN: A state senator has proposed making Zinfandel the state's official wine. Hmmm. Lawmakers are expected to take up the issue in the coming weeks and already we can detect a bouquet of controversy with a lingering hint of sour grapes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's outrageous that we're not breaking through those regulations to get the job done five months after the disaster. It's just unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Why trailers meant for Katrina victims are still sitting in Arkansas.
NGUYEN: And if you think you can get away with candy and flowers this Valentine's Day, Tony, you'd better think again.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Your wife called. She said you'd better think again.
HARRIS: Yes ...
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: We have the best high tech gadgets that say I love you better than most.
Stay ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Now in the news, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has undergone emergency surgery. A severely damaged 20-inch portion of his large intestine was removed. And doctors say there is no immediate threat to his life. But there is concern over his lack of consciousness.
In other news, there's more defiance from Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says it's his country's right to develop nuclear energy. Now he is threatening to revise Iran's acceptance of a nuclear nonproliferation treaty if that right is threatened. And the president also repeated his claim that the holocaust was a hoax.
You don't want to pack those winter woolies away just yet.
HARRIS: Why?
NGUYEN: Because a weekend storm is forecast to move up the eastern seaboard, Tony. It's called a nor'easter, so you better get ready. Up to 14 inches of snow can be expected in the mid-Atlantic states and blizzard conditions are predicted for the northeast.
The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has reached Italy. Officials say the strain has been detected in swans in three southern regions there. No human cases of infection have been reported.
HARRIS: And now to lingering questions about the Federal response to hurricane Katrina. Specifically, when was the White House told about the desperate conditions in New Orleans? Yesterday, former FEMA chief Michael Brown told a Senate committee he informed White House officials about the massive flooding the day the storm hit. The Senate hearing was full of finger-pointing and outright anger. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: That it was balls to the wall -- and I was certainly screaming and cussing at people. SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R) MINNESOTA: But as I listen to your testimony, you're not prepared to kind of put a mirror in front of your face and recognize your own inadequacies and say, you know something, I made some big mistakes.
BROWN: Senator with all due respect, what do you want me to say? I have admitted to mistakes publicly. I have admitted to mistakes in hearings. What more, Senator Coleman, do you want from me?
COLEMAN: Well, I think ...
BROWN: What do you want from me? I'm asking you.
COLEMAN: I'm saying that in fact, leadership makes a difference. You didn't provide the leadership ...
BROWN: Well, senator, that's very easy for you to say, sitting behind that dais and not being there in the middle of that disaster, watching that human suffering and watching those people dying and trying to deal with those structural dysfunctionalities even within the Federal government.
And I absolutely resent you sitting here saying that I lack the leadership to do that because I was down there pushing everything that I could. I've admitted to those mistakes. And if you want something else from me, put it on the table and you tell me what you want me to admit to.
COLEMAN: A little more candor would suffice.
BROWN: How much more candor -- what more candor -- ask me the question, senator, ask me the question.
COLEMAN: Thank you. I think my time is up. Thank you, madam chairperson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, as testy as it was, many Katrina victims aren't focusing any more on what the government did or did not do right after the storm hit. They are worrying about how to survive right now. Thousands of victims still don't have a place to live. And we found plenty of mobile homes bought by FEMA sitting in an empty Arkansas field. For that story, here's CNN's Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at emergency housing for victims of Katrina, row after row of mobile homes, nearly 11,000. FEMA purchased so many you can barely squeeze between them.
But the problem is this is Arkansas, not Louisiana. And this empty city of mobile homes is 450 miles away from where it should be. The mayor of Hope, Arkansas, Dennis Ramsey, says FEMA leased this area near the airport in October.
MAYOR DENNIS RAMSAY, HOPE, ARKANSAS: They asked what we wanted. We said, $25,000 a month. And they came back a couple days later and said that's within FEMA guidelines and the contract was signed.
ROESGEN: That's right, FEMA is paying $25,000 a month to let these mobile homes sit here. A good deal for Hope, but no glory for FEMA. Arkansas Congressman Mike Ross.
REP. MIKE ROSS (D) ARKANSAS: We want them to come up here and pick these manufactured homes up, all 11,000 of them, and take them to the people who lost their homes and everything they owned on the Gulf coast well over five months ago. This is five months past due and it's time for FEMA to get moving.
ROESGEN: Ross came down from D.C. with fellow congressmen Dennis Cardoza of California and a posse of staff to show CNN $431 million tax dollars worth of mobile homes sitting unused in an Arkansas cow pasture. What's the hold up? How does FEMA explain the delays? Well, first, FEMA says some people who could live in a mobile home don't want one because they're much larger than the travel trailers that can fit in a driveway.
Second, FEMA says some communities lack the infrastructure to support a mobile home like hookups for water and power. And third, FEMA rules say mobile homes can't be placed in a flood plain. Their sheer size and weight make them a unique problem, never mind that much of the Gulf region is, in fact, a flood plain.
DAVID PASSEY, FEMA: I think we have been surprised with this extraordinary housing mission, at the number of obstacles in placing manufactured housing.
ROESGEN: FEMA's rep in the area, David Passey, gave the congressmen a private tour to defend FEMA's operation.
PASSEY: If people want to blame us, then they can blame us. But we need cooperation from local property owners. We need cooperation from local officials and then we have to realize there will be some physical limitations to where we can place emergency housing.
ROESGEN: But after getting a good look at the unoccupied mobile homes in Hope, the congressmen saying no excuses, FEMA must get them down to the people who need them.
REP. DENNIS CARDOZA (D) CALIFORNIA: It's outrageous that we're not breaking through those regulations to get the job done five months after the disaster. It's just unacceptable.
ROESGEN: Congressman, can you do that? Can you break that bureaucratic red tape?
CARDOZA: Well, we're going to try.
ROESGEN: Susan Roesgen, CNN, Hope, Arkansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: I keep hearing that. Five months later, we're going to try. We're going to try.
I got you. It's that time of year to ponder this big question, how do I say I love thee? Well, it seems the latest in technology.
NGUYEN: With chocolate, that's how you do it.
HARRIS: What is that? Is that a chocolate fountain? Robin Liss join us with the best high-tech Valentine's gifts. That's ahead and then this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They look to the new kingdom and they look maybe important, maybe the king, maybe wives, maybe the queen, maybe a king.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, it's a king-sized discovery in Egypt, no doubt. What a team from the University of Memphis found. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, Valentine's Day is just three days away and a lot of people out there are counting if you're not. And if you're looking to give your sweetheart something he or she won't expect, then forget the flowers and jewelry and go for the high-tech must-haves.
So what's red hot right now when it comes to those high-tech must-haves? We have to turn to someone who would know and that's our electronics guru Robin Liss. She joins us from Boston. Good morning to you.
ROBIN LISS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Betty, happy early Valentine's Day.
NGUYEN: Yes, you know, there's some great items here. I want to go through the list because we got a lot and we want to make sure we get them all in. This thing is really cool. This is a videophone?
LISS: This is a videophone. I think it's perfect for lovers who travel or have a long distance relationship. It uses a broadband connection. It's $300 for two phones and you can do video conferencing with each other over the web.
NGUYEN: Yes, so you can talk to your sweetie and actually see your sweetie. That's always a good thing.
LISS: You can see them.
NGUYEN: OK, but if you don't want to spend this kind of money, you can go to the usual suspects, the teddy bears and the flowers and the stuff. But I have to talk about this one. These are from build a bear and I realize they can actually talk back to you, Robin. Listen to this one. I'll put it up to my mike.
NGUYEN: Tony, will you be my Valentine?
LISS: ... my Valentine. This one's really cute too. I got this one to say, I love CNN.
NGUYEN: "I love CNN."
LISS: This is through the build a bear workshop. You go there and you can customly make these bears. Get to put them in outfits and you get to put in this custom recording saying whatever you want to your loved one.
NGUYEN: Yes, like Tony. Tony, will you be my Valentine? We'll have to give it to him after the show. This one is something that folks like me really need. It's a navigation system, right?
LISS: Right. So you can use this to find your loved one with GPS.
NGUYEN: Oh.
LISS: It's the Tom Tom to go, GPS navigation system. The prices on these things have been driven down significantly. It's only $800. They have about a $600 more affordable one. It's touch screen. And it's actually hooks up to your cell phone so you can also use it as like a car, hands-free device.
NGUYEN: Robin, let me tell you something. If you have to get a GPS to find your Valentine, you got problems. You got bigger problems than a gift.
LISS: You do have problems.
NGUYEN: Well, this is another really neat item if you want to go high tech. This is a camcorder. Remember the camcorders of the old days, where they're so big and bulky? This thing is tiny!
LISS: Right, That's the Canon ZR 500 camcorder. It's really small and it has a 25 times optical zoom. Plus a microphone in-jack, which is something we really love.
NGUYEN: Yes.
LISS: And it's really great. The one downside is it's kind of weak in low lighting but you can make home movies of all your favorite moments with your loved one with that camcorder.
NGUYEN: Very nice. These are great items. I get the cow and the bear. And you get a chocolate fountain. That's not fair.
LISS: OK, so this is so cool. This is called -- it's the rival chocolate fountain here. It's $60. And it takes about five pounds of chocolate, which is a lot.
NGUYEN: That thing is going out of control. You have it on high gear or something?
LISS: You get to dip the chocolate in here. You can use fruit. You can use dried fruit, whatever you want. It's not exactly health conscious.
NGUYEN: Who cares, it's good.
LISS: I'm not going to eat this because I will make a total mess but it's so much fun, perfect for a party or for a nice night in, kind of like modern fondue, if you will.
NGUYEN: Right, exactly. There's another kind of phone that's on the market, we've heard so much about these, these razor phones. They're really hot items. You can get them in all kinds of colors these days.
LISS: So, for Valentine's Day they're making a pink razor. There's actually three different ones. This is the Verizon pink one. There's a pink one with each different carrier, like a different hue of pink so I guess you can be your own unique person with them. It's a neat phone. It's small. I personally kind of think the razor is like -- everyone has one so it's not really the most unique purchase and the battery life's a little weak. But it is pink, so if you're maybe more fashion conscious, it's a great phone for you.
NGUYEN: And who's not fashion conscious?
LISS: Exactly.
NGUYEN: Quickly, there's this Wi-Fi G mail item. I'm not really up on that one (INAUDIBLE).
LISS: This is so cool! What this is, it is a picture frame with its own e-mail address. So you can have this up and let's say you're traveling and you want to send photos to your lover, you can take pictures and they're automatically appear on this phone -- on this picture frame. It has its own address. It's really neat.
NGUYEN: How much does that thing cost? That's really neat.
LISS: Well, you know that is, I believe, $250. It's $250. So it's a little pricey.
NGUYEN: It is a little pricey for pictures.
LISS: Yes, you know, it's a five-inch LCD screen. It's just the best technology out there of the picture frames that you can buy.
NGUYEN: All right, Robin Liss, as always, pleasure speaking with you. I'll be sure to tell Tony that you want him to be your Valentine.
LISS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Happy Valentine's Day, Robin. Tony, will you be her Valentine? You got your own don't you? HARRIS: I'm a busy man, OK. I'm a very busy man, but I'll do the best I can.
NGUYEN: OK.
HARRIS: We'll see you, Robin.
Our top stories now, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is recovering from emergency surgery. This morning, doctors removed about a third of his large intestine after tests showed parts of it were seriously damaged. They say the prime minister's life is not in immediate danger and that his lack of consciousness remains his most serious health threat. Sharon has been in a coma since early January.
The Northeast is hunkering down as a huge snowstorm heads its way. Snow fell in parts of the south morning, but the big accumulations are expected from Virginia up the coast to New England. As much as 14 inches of snow is forecast for some areas tonight and again tomorrow. Let's check in now with Bonnie Schneider. Bonnie, give us the latest on this. This is a nor'easter. We've got winds coming in off the Atlantic that are proving to be the real problem here.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: All right, we will buckle up and brace ourselves for this nor'easter. What are you doing, Tony? Your Valentine bear.
HARRIS: Valentine's Day just around the corner.
NGUYEN: Tony's really thrilled about it. Which made us wonder what is the state of love in America? Really what is it? We're going to tell you tomorrow. Yes, you have to stick around, we'll have to you tomorrow on "CNN Sunday Morning." That's at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.
HARRIS: CNN SATURDAY coming up at the top of the hour. Fredricka Whitfield.
NGUYEN: You're on the air, Fred, hey.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Getting an eyelash out of my eye. Yes, we have a lot ahead. Of course, we're going to continue to follow the developments of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Also this week, the nation, the world, really, laid to rest and honored the first lady of the civil rights movement, Coretta Scott King. And among the roster of speakers, a number of powerful people. We heard from this woman right here, Ms. Shabazz.
She is the daughter of the late Malcolm X. She's going to join us in the next hour to talk about the women who were very involved in the movement and the ongoing movement. And she'll also talk about the heavy burden or some might look at it as the challenge, that she bore with the passing of both her parents, as well as what she says the King children will be enduring. That's right. Also, in the midst of rebuilding New Orleans, it's Mardi Gras.
NGUYEN: It sure is.
WHITFIELD: You know, people are still very excited about Mardi Gras. Most people there in the city of New Orleans kind of equate Mardi Gras with normalcy. Well there's nothing normal these days. So there really is a new barometer for what's normal and we'll be exploring that.
NGUYEN: Well, hopefully they will be able to have a little fun with it this year.
WHITFIELD: Find a way to have some fun. They always do there, don't they?
NGUYEN: It's New Orleans, right? That's the way it goes there.
HARRIS: See you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you, too.
NGUYEN: A lot coming up. You want to stay tuned for that. Also, an amazing find in Egypt. It's the first new tomb uncovered since the discovery of King Tut's tomb. How was it found? Well, we're going to take you there. CNN SATURDAY MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We have some Steve Fossett news.
NGUYEN: Yes, we have learned that Steve Fossett has broken the record for the longest nonstop flight in aviation history, some 24,987 miles and this is really a feat. Because as you know Tony, we were talking early this morning that because he lost so much fuel early on in this flight, that there was a point of no return. And they decided to test it and see if they could break this record. As we know now, Steve Fossett has broken the record for the longest nonstop flight in aviation history.
HARRIS: And so he'll be landing soon at Kent international airport.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HARRIS: In England. So maybe we'll have that. I'm pretty sure we may have that live for everyone.
NGUYEN: Yes, try to get some live pictures of that.
HARRIS: Well, the triumph, the struggle and the sheer drama of the winter Olympics have begun and that's making the list of what's popular right now at cnn.com. Veronica de la Cruz is here from the dotcom desk.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: Did you see the opening ceremonies last night? They took place in Torino, Italy, 2500 athletes.
NGUYEN: It's a little past our bedtime. We get up awfully early for the show, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Actually, we're talking about police (ph) so I know that we all like watching the events. But how much do we really think about what goes into competing? How much do we think about it?
NGUYEN: A lot of hard work.
DE LA CRUZ: This is Apollo Ohno (ph). He's a speed skater and she -- yes, I said she -- is Gretchen Bleiler.
NGUYEN: Snowboarder, look at that.
DE LA CRUZ: Can you do that Tony?
HARRIS: No way.
DE LA CRUZ: Now in order to perform at their best, Gretchen says that she needs about 10 hours of sleep and Apollo says that he needs about eight to 10 and he says it doesn't matter how hard you train because if you don't get enough sleep, forget it.
NGUYEN: Your body has to rest.
DE LA CRUZ: The Olympic committee is taking sleep so seriously this time around that they've made the beds bigger and they've actually added blackout curtains to all the athlete's rooms. Doctors say we need at least eight hours of sleep, we all know that. The majority of Americans, well, they get about an hour and a half less than they should. Sounds familiar, right?
NGUYEN: That's me.
HARRIS: This is the antibody miller (ph), by the way.
DE LA CRUZ: You got that right. You can bet that Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, they are both catching their Zs right about now. The two will go head to head this year in the women's figure skating competition. But don't forget about Irina Slutskaya or the Japanese competitors who all have their triple-triple combinations.
They even have quadruple jumps. Now the word on the street is that Michelle Kwan didn't skate very well at practice today. She cut her session 15 minutes short. She had problems with her jumps. She didn't even get through her short program. Now in her defense, she didn't have her coach with her. And you have to remember, this is her first competition coming back. She didn't skate all last season.
HARRIS: Hip injury, groin injury ...
DE LA CRUZ: She's been injured so I'm a little afraid if you think about it, because she hasn't skated all season long. This is her first one back.
NGUYEN: It's that elusive gold though and the determination to grab it.
DE LA CRUZ: If I were her, I'd go and I'd get grounded. I'd do some pilates, ballet, do off ice activities.
NGUYEN: Do you have a coaching career in your future?
DE LA CRUZ: I used to skate, sorry.
HARRIS: Thank you, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: I know. I know. That's what's popular at cnn.com this morning, all about the winter Olympics.
NGUYEN: We'll check out the web to see all of that.
And the countryside around Luxor, Egypt, looks like a barren desert and we were trying to bring you that story, it was about what they found, the tomb of this king, really fascinating, but because of the breaking news with Steve Fossett, we're going to have to put that on to some of the other shows this afternoon. So you want to stay tuned to CNN for the details on that.
HARRIS: And CNN SATURDAY with Fredricka Whitfield is up next right after this short break.
NGUYEN: Have a good day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Emergency surgery today for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. An update on his condition straight ahead.
Plus, Michael Brown says he feels like a scapegoat. We'll hear more hour of what the former head of FEMA said on Capitol Hill.
And maybe the groundhog got it right, six more weeks of winter. Get those shovels ready, because a storm is brewing.
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