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CNN Saturday Morning News

Iraq Hostage Norman Kember Returns Home; Congress May Get Tough With Illegal Immigrants; Hope For Pregnant Women With Cancer; Afghan Who Faces Death For Converting To Christianity May Be Freed; Wangari Maathai Interview; $39 Experiment

Aired March 25, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is a big homecoming for Norman Kember. The British peace campaigner held hostage in Iraq arrived home just a short time ago. Here's some pictures of that. He and two other hostages were freed in a dramatic U.S.-British military operation on Thursday. We're going to have a live report from England in just a moment.
Now to Afghanistan. The man facing a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity could soon be released. That's according to an Afghan government official. Afghan authorities are meeting today on Abdul Rahman's fate.

A preacher's wife is expected to return home to Tennessee today to face murder charges. Investigators say Mary Winkler has confessed to killing her husband, Matthew Winkler. Authorities have not given any possible motive.

Well, critics of a crackdown on illegal immigration take to the streets in protest as lawmakers prepare for a showdown with the White House. President Bush is calling for a civil debate on the hot button issue. We'll take you live to the White House for reaction to that.

It is Saturday, March 25.

Good morning, everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

It's been a great morning so far.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris.

Good morning, everyone.

Coming up, freed Iraqi hostage Norman Kember back home at last. The British Christian peace activist was held for nearly four months.

The horror of being kidnapped in Iraq -- it happened to freelance journalist Phil Sands and we've got his firsthand account.

Does the Dalai Lama ever get angry? CNN's Richard Quest has the answer as he goes one-on-one with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

NGUYEN: Home sweet home for a former hostage. After four months of captivity in Iraq, British peace activist Norman Kember returns to the loving arms of his family and friends. Kember and two Canadians were rescued on Thursday by coalition forces in Baghdad.

And our Paula Hancocks joins us live from Pinner, England with more on Kember's homecoming.

This is something his family has been waiting for and it finally has happened today -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. Yes, a very emotional time for the entire Kember family. But a fantastic day for them.

Right now Norman Kember is inside his house that you can see behind me. He's with his wife. He's with numerous members of his family and also his 3-year-old grandson. He's been very much looking forward to his grandpa getting home, as you can imagine.

Now, they have asked for us to leave them alone for the time being, as obviously Norman Kember has a lot to come to terms with -- four months, almost four months in Iraq. He was held hostage with three others of his colleagues and Pat Kember has been talking this morning through the Foreign Office, saying that she was absolutely overjoyed that he was coming back.

We saw them a little earlier. He was waving. He was smiling. And, also, we had many of the neighbors that came out onto the street and broke out into spontaneous applause when he came out and gave them a little wave and a big grin.

So it was a very heartwarming moment when he did come back to the house here.

But he does say now that he does need time to reflect, also, to reflect on whether he should have been in Iraq in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN KEMBER, FORMER HOSTAGE/PEACE ACTIVIST: I thank the media for agreeing to schedule (ph) and reduce the stress on me, on this occasion. I now need to reflect on my experience. Was I foolhardy or rational? And, also, to enjoy freedom in peace and in quiet.

Thank you, all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: The statement Norman Kember made when he arrived at Heathrow a little earlier on this Saturday. And he also made a bit of a political statement, saying that he was the wrong person that we were trying to interview. He said you shouldn't be interviewing me.

The world's media and the attention should be on the Iraqi people themselves. He was saying that also there was a real sense in which we were interviewing the wrong person. The ordinary people of Iraq you should be talking to, the people who have suffered so much over so many years.

And that's the reason he went into Iraq in the first place. He is a very peaceful man and he wanted to make sure that he could do his part. Pat Kember has said over the past couple of days, maybe he was a little bit silly for going into Iraq. But she knew that is what he wanted to do. He didn't feel that he could do enough from the British side. He actually wanted to go and be there in person to try and help out.

But he's back home now, surrounded by his loved ones. So obviously it will be a very happy household, far happier than it has been for the past four months.

NGUYEN: No doubt there are so much stories going on in that home.

But I do have to ask you about his reaction, too, to the fact that one of his hostages, one of the men who was held hostage with him, Tom Fox. Mr. Kember has spoken to the fact that this, while a happy occasion, is, too, bittersweet, Paula.

HANCOCKS: That's right, yes, saying that it is bittersweet. Obviously, March the 9th is when Tom Fox was found with those gunshot wounds in Baghdad. So obviously it is bittersweet. Pat Kember, as well, his wife, has been alluding to this. She said this morning that obviously she was overjoyed that Norman was coming home but she said that it was devastating that Tom Fox's family would have to go through this day knowing that their loved one wouldn't come back. And, also, many of Norman Kember's friends have been mentioning Tom Fox, as well.

So he hasn't been forgotten, even though this a very joyous occasion for the Kember family themselves. And they're taking pains to make sure that people know they are thinking of Tom Fox's family, as well.

NGUYEN: Paula Hancocks outside Kember's home in England.

Thank you so much for that.

HARRIS: Well, you can imagine the fear and helplessness that hostages must feel.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson brings us the story of one man who's been there and lived to write about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how you get kidnapped in Baghdad -- a wrong turn, an empty street, two cars speeding at yours.

PHIL SANDS, KIDNAPPED JOURNALIST: Immediately you know what's going to happen and you know you're in big trouble.

ROBERTSON: It's a terrifying moment, as freelance journalist Phil Sands knows, when you realize you are a kidnap target. Sands was trying to work under the radar. No security, just a translator, sometimes a driver. All the while, pushing to report from the middle of events.

SANDS: I suppose it's the arrogance and always thinking well, I'll be smart enough, I'll be sensible enough and I'll be lucky enough to make it work.

ROBERTSON: Last December, Sands sensed the situation had taken a terrible turn for the worse when he visited a Baghdad hospital.

SANDS: There was a really nice doctor there. And she said to me, "What are you doing here? This place is hell. Iraq is hell now."

ROBERTSON: It was too dangerous to stay, but Sands wanted one last story.

The day after Christmas, with his translator and his driver, they went out to find it. And, of course, when they made that wrong turn, Sands himself would become the subject of that last story. Almost before he knew it, Sands was pulled out of his car, put in the trunk of another. SANDS: It was a kidnapping. It was done extremely effectively and very quickly. I was handcuffed behind my back and with plastic zip ties.

ROBERTSON: In the trunk, blindfolded, he panicked, thought about his family, his translator, himself.

SANDS: In my mind, I was dead. I really believed that. In a way, that's quite liberating because you can't get any lower than that.

ROBERTSON: As Sands recounts it, he was taken to a house. He was questioned. When he said he was a journalist, his captors told him he wouldn't be harmed. He told them how to get online to see his stories in the "San Francisco Chronicle" -- proof he was a reporter.

(on camera): What followed was several days of tedium and terror, with a twist of the absurd. The Sunni insurgents who wanted the Americans out of Iraq often treated him kindly, once taking him at gunpoint to a 20-foot pit. He thought he was about to be shot. Instead they forced him to do aerobics, to keep him healthy.

SANDS: They would consistently try and get me to eat more. It was almost like being at your grandmother's -- I mean, you know, eat more, eat more, you know, you're thin. Why are you so thin?

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But always looming, he feared the day they would tell him it's time to make his hostage tape.

SANDS: I had hoped that they saw me as enough of a human being that they would shoot me instead of behead me.

ROBERTSON: And then, unexpectedly, on his fifth night, his ordeal suddenly came to an end.

SANDS: And then the door just kind of exploded open. And very quickly two American soldiers were coming into the room. And as this young soldier lifted his flashlight into my face, he obviously saw that I wasn't an Iraqi. And I said to him, "I'm a British journalist. I was kidnapped."

ROBERTSON: Thirty minutes later, Phil Sands was on a helicopter, and with his typical British reserve, thanking his rescuers.

SANDS: I sat there and said, "Gentlemen, it's very nice to see you all. And I'd just like to thank you because I think you saved my life. And happy new year." One of them said, "Hi," you know, "Happy new year. It's really nice to have you back safely. Of course, we didn't know you were even missing."

ROBERTSON: He'd been kidnapped and no one knew about it. His parents, on vacation, hadn't been checking in. His contacts in the newspapers also off for Christmas and New Year's.

Back home now in England and far from Iraq, Phil Sands knows he has little comfort to offer the family of kidnapped Journalist Jill Carroll, who has now been held for almost 80 days.

SANDS: My eyes were open and I did it anyway. And, yes, then it's just a case of you can decide well that's either -- again, if you want to simplify it, that's either a noble and a good thing or it's just stupid. You know, it's journalism. That's it, isn't it?

ROBERTSON: His last story there was his own story, a story about a very lucky man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Boy, got that right.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, reporting.

Still ahead, protesters in the streets venting at Congress. And more demonstrations are planned today. We'll take a look at what this is all about.

Kite fliers feeling groovy this morning. A festival celebrates the '60s. We will show you the science.

And we take the $39 experiment with our guest. An average guy goes searching for corporate freebies. We'll put in our two cents, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to check the top stories now for you.

Held hostage in Iraq for nearly four months, Norman Kember is now finally back home in Britain. He was one of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams kidnapped last November. Kember and two others were rescued on Thursday, as you'll recall. American Tom Fox was found dead two weeks ago. An Afghan man facing a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity may soon be free. A senior government official says authorities met today to reconsider those charges. The U.S. and other Western governments have expressed outrage over the prosecution.

Police in Tennessee say the wife of a minister found shot to death has confessed to the killing. Mary Winkler, seen right here, is to return to Selmer today to face a charge of first degree murder. Police say they know the motive, but they're going to keep it confidential for now.

HARRIS: Immigration battle ahead. This coming week, Congress may get tough with illegal immigrants. Their presence in the U.S. could become a crime. The debate is so divisive, it has people on the streets. A big rally is planned next hour in Los Angeles.

CNN's Chris Lawrence says angry demonstrators swarmed the streets Friday, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Yo somos estavos, somos se humanos (ph)!

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of high school students walked out of class to protest a new bill that cracks down on illegal immigrant and toughens penalties for those who help them.

JESSICA ARTEAGA, LOS ANGELES STUDENT: Why should we be called criminals because we are not going to turn in our relatives, our brothers and sisters, our friends, everyone?

LAWRENCE: Mostly Latino, they waved the Mexican flag, chanted "Brown Power!" and held up signs that said, "Protect Our Rights!"

Their protest was part of a larger effort in other parts of the country. On Thursday, more than 10,000 marched in Milwaukee. And today, perhaps more in Phoenix.

They're trying to pressure U.S. senators, who are considering a bill already passed by the House. It makes it a felony to be an illegal immigrant and would build a fence across hundreds of miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

PATRICIA HERNANDEZ, LOS ANGELES STUDENT: What kind of country is that? Didn't this country, aren't we taught in our high -- in our history classes -- it started with immigration? Who cares if they're legal or illegal? Was there such a thing in the beginning? Like what about now?

LAWRENCE: One official estimates that well over half the public school students in Los Angeles have a Latino background, but not necessarily illegal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I consider myself an immigrant and I was born here.

LAWRENCE: Police locked down several schools to head off trouble, but Friday's march was peaceful.

(on camera): The walkout involved about eight schools and more than 3,000 students. Now, most of them are too young to vote but old enough to let senators know where they stand.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: President Bush focuses on the immigration battle next week when he travels to Mexico. The debate has driven a wedge between the president and his own party.

CNN's Kathleen Koch joins me from the White House this morning -- Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

From the outset, when President Bush introduced his temporary worker program some two years ago, members of his own party have had very serious, very deep reservations about it. They've been concerned that it jeopardized U.S. security and that it would allow non-citizens into the country who might never leave.

Now, President Bush has insisted all along, though, that allowing foreigners in for a limited period of time to do jobs that Americans simply don't want to do just makes sense. And in his radio address this morning, he argued that it would not be a fast track to citizenship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One thing the temporary worker program would not do is provide amnesty to those who are in our country illegally. I believe that granting amnesty would be unfair, because it would allow those who break the law to jump ahead of people who play by the rules and wait in the citizenship line. Amnesty would also be unwise because it would encourage waves of illegal immigration, increase pressure on the border and make it more difficult for law enforcement to focus on those who mean us harm.

For the sake of justice and for the sake of border security, I firmly oppose amnesty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Two measures could come up in the U.S. Senate next week, one with the guest worker program and one without.

Now, that one without is actually very tough. It is very similar to a House bill that was passed in December. It would add more guards, more fencing to the U.S.-Mexican border. And it would also make it a crime to hire or assist illegal aliens. And the subject of immigration reform is expected to be front and center when President Bush travels to Cancun, Mexico later in the week to meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox -- Tony.

HARRIS: And, Kathleen, let's -- let's frame that up. That sounds like it's going to be a really important event.

How important is this issue between these two men, President Bush and Mexican President Fox?

KOCH: Well, it's important to both men. Obviously, President Bush, when he was governor of Texas, he saw the results of illegal immigration and he's in his speeches mentioned over and over again his concerns about these coyotes, these people who put the illegal immigrants into these trucks and trailers and haul them across the border, and they often end up dying. I think he's had a lot of personal concern about that.

And then for Fox, this is his last year of his presidency. He would love for part of his legacy to be achieving immigration reform. So his government has gone so far as to spend nearly $400,000 putting huge ads in major U.S. papers, campaigning for the president's guest worker program.

But it's got an uphill battle as far as success -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Kathleen Koch for us at the White House.

Kathleen, thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

NGUYEN: Well, we've got your weekend weather watch straight ahead. Try saying that three times.

HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: My goodness.

And then a treat. Two Nobel Prize winners, Richard Quest -- he's not the winner -- but he talked to the Dalai Lama about all sorts of interesting things like anger.

Does the Dalai Lama ever get mad? Really? Hmmm.

HARRIS: And Betty sits down with Wangari Maathai, who won the prize in 2004.

What started her down the road to Oslo? Trees.

NGUYEN: Very true. We will be talking about that.

But first, Richard Frankel is helping make the Great White Way the place to be. Find out why in our Tips from the Top.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: They say all the world's a stage and Broadway producer Richard Frankel is proving that with productions from New York to Australia.

Frankel started his own production company in 1985 and his three partners joined soon after.

RICHARD FRANKEL, BROADWAY PRODUCER: We consider ourselves sort of a service job where our resources are best used to feed the artists and give them what they need in order to allow them to get their vision out to the public.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the past two decades, one production has grown to 12 shows running simultaneously in the U.S. London and Asia. "The Producers," "Stomp" and "Hairspray" are just a few of their successes on Broadway. Frankel says he's gotten this far by keeping an eye on what the public likes and having a good business plan.

FRANKEL: If it doesn't work, don't be afraid to shut it down and get up again and try again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: In "News Across America" now, we warn you the video you are about to see is graphic. It was released via the Freedom of Information Act from the Maricopa County Sheriffs office in Arizona. In 2001, Charles Agster died three days after being forced by detention officers into a restraint chair. An autopsy showed he died from complications related to meth. But a federal jury ordered the county to pay $9 million to his parents after finding detention officers and jailhouse nurses had acted improperly.

In Grand Junction, Colorado police are looking for a man in connection with explosive devices. Five such devices were placed at homes yesterday. Two went off. Police detonated three others. No one was injured.

Rescued after being snowbound in an R.V. for more than two weeks. Listen to this. An Arizona couple now face drug charges. Arizona officials saw Elbert and Becky Higginbotham on TV and issued the drug warrants. The Higginbothams and four family members were rescued Tuesday in southern Oregon.

Kites in the air -- live pictures now from Washington, D.C.

NGUYEN: Look at that!

HARRIS: Cherry trees in bloom. You can't see them quite yet.

NGUYEN: No.

HARRIS: All part...

NGUYEN: But they're there.

HARRIS: Yes, they're there.

It's all part of the...

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What a beautiful day!

HARRIS: Isn't it -- isn't it great?

WOLF: Yes, it looks pretty good. They could see some scattered showers later on into the afternoon. But for the time being, perfect, fun. The weather is nice.

NGUYEN: Yes, do that kite flying now.

HARRIS: Yes.

WOLF: It would be good.

Ooh, nice beret. Don't you like the beret she's wearing?

Pretty sweet. Styling and profiling, man. All kinds of good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all kinds of cool (UNINTELLIGIBLE) here and stuff.

NGUYEN: Oh, no, you didn't just say that.

HARRIS: Yes, he did. Yes, he did.

NGUYEN: OK.

WOLF: Indeed, I was.

There you go. There's the beret lady. All right. Where's those big orange berets for those U.T. things?

HARRIS: Good.

NGUYEN: Those Longhorns.

WOLF: Absolutely.

You've got to love them.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right, coming up, I'm going to sit down with the woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Her story is just so inspiring, especially for those of us who wish we could do something to change the world, but just really don't know where to start.

HARRIS: And then, Richard -- well, you are.

You're helping to change the world --

NGUYEN: We're all doing our part.

HARRIS: ... with your foundation.

Yes, yes.

And a little later, Richard Quest asks the Dalai Lama one of those normal people questions, you know, does he ever get good and mad?

NGUYEN: You don't want the Dalai Lama mad, if he ever gets mad, at you.

HARRIS: Right.

NGUYEN: And later, our guest, Tom Locke, a normal person, presumably, tells us how you, too, can get free stuff. Yes, free, one of our favorite words -- from big companies. He's going to show you how to do it.

But first, CNN continues its New Frontiers series with a story on how a Texas hospital is delivering hope to pregnant women afflicted with cancer.

Daniel Sieberg reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Richard Theriault of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is turning risk into reward. Theriault is the leading pioneer in using chemotherapy to successfully treat pregnant women with breast cancer, a controversial practice that many physicians are not willing to consider.

DR. RICHARD THERIAULT, M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: What we still hear from the patients who come to us is that the doctors that they see outside often say you must terminate the pregnancy or we can't take care of the cancer.

SIEBERG: The 13-year study conducted by Theriault and his team of oncologists suggests you can save the baby while fighting the disease. Seventy percent of the mothers treated are still alive and cancer-free. All of the children survived and have normal development thus far. One child was born with Down's Syndrome, but doctors believe the disorder is not connected to the chemo.

TAMI RENETZKY, CANCER PATIENT: I couldn't even believe that you could put, you know, chemo, which is a poison, into your body and that it wouldn't have any effect on the baby whatsoever.

SIEBERG: Tami Renetzky started chemo six months into her pregnancy. She delivered a healthy baby girl, Sierra (ph), and now continues radiation treatment.

RENETZKY: I'm very blessed to be here with her because Dr. Theriault, from the initial day, one, wasn't sure if I was going to make it to be here to see her born. And I'm just very happy.

THERIAULT: I don't take a lot of personal credit for this. It's just something that I fell into. The women are heroic. They get all the credit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. Now in the news, former Iraq hostage Norman Kember is back in England today. The peace activist thanked U.S. and British troops who rescued him and two Canadians, but in a statement at Heathrow Airport, Kember appeared to criticize the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

An Afghan man who could be put to death for embracing Christianity could walk free soon. A source says Abdul Rahman case got personal attention from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai today. The government has been under intense pressure from the west to drop the case.

A preacher's wife returns to Tennessee today to face first degree murder charges. Police say Mary Winkler confessed she killed her husband. The charismatic minister was shot in the back. Detectives won't discuss a motive but they say the crime was premeditated.

And in Milwaukee, police are urging anyone who knows anything to come forward in the case of two missing boys, Quadrevion Henning and Purvis Parker disappeared almost a week ago. Police believe individuals that they call young witnesses know details that could help solve the case. We expect a news conference at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

Tom Coghlan is a journalist in Kabul. He joins me on the phone now to talk about the case of the Afghan Christian. Tom, Good to talk to you. Thanks for your time. Tom, are you there?

THOMAS COGHLAN, JOURNALIST: Thank you.

HARRIS: OK. Tom, thanks for the time. I'm just curious -- I'm curious to know if we have learned anything about what kind of a decision or at least the debate that's going on now within the Afghan cabinet.

COGHLAN: Well, the Afghan cabinet met this afternoon. We know that. And a number of the country's religious leaders also met with the president, Hamid Karzai. Now, the outcome of that meeting hadn't been made public.

But privately, people close to the government are telling me that Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, is saying that he's going to take personal charge of this issue, the issue of this Christian convert who is under sentence of death potentially in Afghanistan. And he's going to attempt to sort that out in the next two days, he says. And they're expecting -- they're expecting the entire situation will be resolved within two days.

HARRIS: OK, Tom. And in doing so, would Hamid Karzai be, in effect, overruling the judiciary?

COGHLAN: Well, if he does what he's promising to do, then, absolutely, he will be overruling his judiciary. I've spoken today to the judge in charge of the case. He is absolutely adamant that this case is a matter for the judiciary, that there can be no government involvement in this, that the Afghan judiciary are an independent body and that if this man is guilty of being a Christian, then he should be killed according to Sharia law. So clearly, this is a very large conflict between Afghanistan's essentially conservative and clerical judiciary and the western-backed government of Hamid Karzai.

HARRIS: Tom, do we know whether or not the Bush administration has actually threatened to cut off financial assistance to the Karzai government if this man isn't freed?

COGHLAN: Well, there's certainly nothing public coming out on that. But today we've had another very strongly worded statement from the American embassy in Kabul saying -- and I quote -- we have a profound commitment to a person's fundamental freedom to choose how he or she worships and we must be true to that commitment. That's coming from the U.S. embassy in Kabul. These are very strongly worded statements.

Really, the U.S. government and other western governments are really turning the screws on the Karzai government here. They hold the purse strings for the Karzai government. Afghanistan desperately needs about $4.5 billion in reconstruction aid every year. If issues like this are going to affect that funding, then, clearly, the Karzai government really is in a very difficult position.

HARRIS: Yes. Tom Coghlan is a freelance journalist in Kabul, Afghanistan. Tom, thanks for your time.

NGUYEN: Tony, we have several treats for you. One, I'm going to be speaking shortly with a Nobel Peace Prize winner on what she has done to change the world and what you can do to change the world. It starts with you.

Also, we're going to chat with a Nobel Peace Prize winner -- say that twice -- the Dalai Lama. Now despite a Tibetan saying that tells us much talking can be a source of danger, our intrepid Richard Quest, you know Richard, asked the spiritual leader a question many of you might want to ask but may never get a chance to. So check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you get angry?

THE DALAI LAMA, SPIRITUAL LEADER: Oh, yes.

QUEST: Really?

DALAI LAMA: Oh, yes. If you ask some stupid question, I may lose my anger.

QUEST: Oh. Well, people never think of the Dalai Lama as getting angry.

DALAI LAMA: That is nonsense. I'm human being. Of course, I think I -- I spent a lot of sort of time, energy trying to shaping my mind, try to less these negative emotions such as anger, hatred, jealousy. I'm a Buddhist. From the Buddhist viewpoint, it may take eons, it may take several lives, year by year, decade by decade, you can see some improvement. Now, two days my mental state, compare, say, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, today, I think hopefully -- at least hopefully I think my mental state much better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: I would say so. So, Tony, the lesson here, yes, he does get angry but you don't want to ask a dumb question. Because who wants the Dalai Lama mad at him?

HARRIS: You've got a good point, good point. Not for me, that's for sure.

And still ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, everyone loves a panda, right? Not so fast. Four U.S. zoos say they can't afford them.

And I'm going to talk to a self described normal guy who asks random companies for free stuff. See how far he got and what it cost him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, despite overwhelming odds against her, Wangari Maathai is a tireless fighter who doesn't know how to give up and that's a good thing. She arose to prominence in her native Kenya in part through her greenbelt movement, an organization primarily of women aimed at trying to reverse the devastating effects of deforestation.

Often at odds with the government, she once was beaten unconscious by police. Two years ago she became the first African- American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And we are lucky to have her with us today in the flesh. Thank you for being with us.

WANGARI MAATHAI, NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.

NGUYEN: It is just a pleasure for us and you've done so much in your lifetime. You've won a Nobel Peace Prize. You did that back in 2004 with this greenbelt movement. Has that sparked more people to take part in that movement?

MAATHAI: You know, one of the most amazing thing that happened since the Nobel Peace Prize was given to me is the constituency, the very extensive constituency that felt that they, too, were honored along with me, the constituency of women, the constituency of human rights workers, the constituency of environment, the little kids, college kids, people in government. It has been overwhelming. I think it was really a wonderful thing that the Norwegian world committee did, because they really gave literally millions of people out there a sense of importance.

NGUYEN: Yes. And you've really sparked a movement. You can't sit here and tell me that it's them, because it's really you. You're the one who went out there and started this. So let me ask you. Once you win something like this, can you sit back and revel in that or does it make you want to do more? Does it push you to do more?

MAATHAI: The challenge is that people want you to tell them what can they do.

NGUYEN: Right. How can they do the wonderful things that you've done?.

MAATHAI: Yes, precisely, from children to adults.

NGUYEN: So how can you do it? What's the magic potion?

MAATHAI: The magic potion that I keep telling people is that so many of us are doing exactly -- something in our lives. We wake up in the morning. We wash our faces. We open our taps. Especially in developed countries, think about that water.

Think about the fact that that is a natural resource that is so scarce in many parts of the world. Save it. Think of the climate change that is taking place. Think of the melting ice, which is the reason why we have rivers and streams and freshwater lakes and all the resources we get from that. Think of what you can do to stop the climate change.

NGUYEN: That's the key. Think of what you can do.

MAATHAI: Precisely.

NGUYEN: And let's talk about what you've done because it's really quite amazing. You're an environmental activist and I just got to read this off. You also support women's rights, the world debt reduction, AIDS awareness, all of these tough battles, particularly for someone in Africa where you're dealing and you're trying to resolve this from where you are. How do you become effective in so many areas?

MAATHAI: Fortunately for me, I was really very fortunate because I went to school when many girls were not going to school. I even had the opportunity to come to this great country and studied in Atchison, Kansas in a tiny little college known then as Mt. St. Scholastica College. Today it is known as Benedictine College.

And when I went home I was endowed with knowledge and enthusiasm, information and I wanted to do something. Then I found people who were willing to work. That's what many people don't quite appreciate. People are willing to work. And what do they need? There are people with the knowledge and skills to go work with them. Not to talk about it. Be involved.

NGUYEN: Do something about it. And you have done so much in your lifetime and you've got so much more to do, I imagine because you are ...

(CROSSTALK)

MAATHAI: There is much more to do. There is, for example, right now I'm serving as a goodwill ambassador for the Congo forest ecosystem. And I'm very excited about that and I'm looking for partners, NGOs, especially those that are involved in conservation, governments, who can partner with the African governments so that we save the Congo forest ecosystem. I'm trying to mobilize the Africa Civil Society so that we can at national level get involved in ...

NGUYEN: You haven't stopped, have you? You just keep going, don't you? It's such a wonderful thing.

MAATHAI: Well, you have to. There's so much to do yet.

NGUYEN: I know there is.

MAATHAI: And I'm hoping that more people will get involved so that we can change -- we can make a difference in the world.

NGUYEN: By seeing you here, I think a lot of people will be inspired. Thank you for your time.

MAATHAI: Thank you very much.

NGUYEN: Best of luck to you because I know you're going to do so much more. Wonderful lady and we appreciate her time. We have so much more to come. So we want you to stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: They say the best things in life are free. This morning we have a man who put that theory to the test. Tom Locke joins us from Chicago to tell us about his $39 experiment. Tom started a Web site. And, Tom, you took $39 -- a roll of stamps worth $39 and wrote letters to, what, 100 companies praising their products and requesting, what, free samples? So what happened?

TOM LOCKE, THE39DOLLAREXPERIMENT.COM: Well, I was - I started off looking at a pile of bills and I looked over at a roll of stamps and I thought $39 for stamps.

HARRIS: Like what's happening with my life, all of these bills?

LOCKE: I'm thinking $39 for stamps, you really can't get much for $39. And I think, well, I'm just going to take these 39 stamps and, like I said, if I lost $39 at a casino, I wouldn't be all that upset. So I figured I'm going to take these 100 stamps and I'm going to go through my house and find 100 different companies and write each one a letter asking for free things.

HARRIS: Did you go in with any kind of assumptions? Are you going to do this, OK. I think what is going to happen?

LOCKE: Well, I thought it was going to be fun. My initial assumption was that the big companies would be the ones that probably would be the least responsive. I figured they already have loyal customers. I thought the smaller companies would be more responsive. Yesterday was the one month anniversary since all 100 letters went into the mail and we've had about 48 responses to date.

HARRIS: OK. Well, what kind of freebies were you looking for of what kind of value?

LOCKE: Well, it wasn't so much about the freebies. It was more about seeing the responsiveness I would get from these companies. I get 500 or 600, 700 e-mails a day from people saying you're doing it all wrong. What you need to do is complain. I said well, that's a given.

You complain and all of a sudden your door has got a bunch of new free products sitting there of stuff you already complained about. So I figured I'm going to see what happens by actually praising these companies and seeing do these companies respond well to praise? So I wrote these companies letters telling that I was big fans of their product.

HARRIS: Give us a couple of examples here before we run out of time. Who responded -- well, let's do it this way. What company -- give me an example of a company that you thought might not respond and they did and then flip that around for me.

LOCKE: As far as not responding, I didn't think a lot of the big companies would respond. Pepsi actually sent over a collector's catalog, some pens and pencils. I was surprised with a couple of the companies, for example, Wrigley, a Chicago company, big company. I tell them in my letter I'm a big fan to your gum.

I add a humorous touch to a lot of letters. I say, you know that girl in Willie Wonka always chewing gum? I put that girl to shame. I say I really want some of your gum and what do Wrigley send back? Wrigley sends me back a list of places near my house that I can buy their gum. Not a coupon, not anything. So that one was a little surprising.

HARRIS: And Tom, give me one more before I run out of time, because the show has been so packed this morning. What's the takeaway for consumers of this experiment, you think?

LOCKE: Well, I think it's a good example. I made a point of saying that my goal was not to create a white list or a black list of the good and bad companies out there but I think it just goes to show that there are companies that really do value their consumers and some that maybe don't value them so much and that the list on the $39 experiment is really kind of just a sampling of what you can get by just asking.

HARRIS: Give me the Web site address please.

LOCKE: It's the39dollarexperiment.com.

HARRIS: Dot com, thanks for the time, we appreciate it. LOCKE: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: OK, have a great day.

LOCKE: You too, bye, bye.

HARRIS: we'll take a break and we'll come back with more of CNN SATURDAY MORNING right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, our producer as always already hard at work on tomorrow's program. Take a look.

HARRIS: Well, even before that, before we get to that, we'll do that in a moment.

NGUYEN: OK.

HARRIS: Let's get to Fredricka Whitfield for a look ahead at CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Hello, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all. I like the thing going on here, Longhorns.

NGUYEN: You aren't doing it right.

WHITFIELD: Not right?

NGUYEN: Like this.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's hang 10, yes? Whatever. OK, I'll get it right. I've got the next hour to work on it. Coming up in the noon Eastern hour, you guys have seen how robots can do amazing things, everything from perhaps picking up the trash in your home and taking it out, et cetera.

Now we're going to see that there's an incredible race that took place in the Mohave Desert and it's all in which to use everything from your regular vehicles, SUVs, et cetera, all of that to find out how the advancing of technology can help out in the military as well. All that coming up in the noon Eastern hour.

NGUYEN: Hook 'em horns. Thank you, Fred. You'll get it, though. We'll practice.

We got a lot to tell you about still on this show most popular, a lot of things popular today on the web. Veronica de la Cruz is here watching all of that. Hi Veronica.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey guys. Something we can all relate to. How many of you guys out there have a blackberry, a cell phone, sometimes two cell phones, laptop, digital camera. We kind of all just want to condense it into one, right?

One of the most popular stories right now on CNN.com takes a look into the future where one creator says it's going to be a while. You'll have to look to the year 2010 for the 4G or fourth generation of mobile devices for that solution unfortunately.

And check this out guys. These may not be for everyone but Jared Gold has have dreamed up this creation, of roach brooches, baubles created on top of living bugs. These are actually Madagascar hissing cockroaches that you're looking at. They're alive. We love these. And you can wear them as jewelry.

HARRIS: Yeah, I saw this woman with Kyra yesterday. And it was a little disturbing. The woman was just like a free love, love the roaches. And there you go.

DE LA CRUZ: But Kyra asked a great question. What happens when they crawl up into your ears?

HARRIS: And she said basically no problem.

NGUYEN: Hopefully they won't squeeze themselves in there but at some point don't you have to give them like a bathroom break, a water break?

DE LA CRUZ: And what happens when they die? It's over.

NGUYEN: Then you have to pop the jewels off, try to save those.

DE LA CRUZ: I have one more for you guys, one more. Kitty cat people ...

NGUYEN: Not the falling cat again. Oh, look at it!

DE LA CRUZ: One more time.

NGUYEN: Boom!

DE LA CRUZ: Proof that cats always land on their feet. Kitty stuck in a tree for more than a week. When its owner decided to call for help, it decided to come out of the tree on its own falling more than 80 feet just like you saw, lands on its feet and no broken bones, no broken bones.

NGUYEN: Got nine lives, right, one's already used.

DE LA CRUZ: Now it has eight.

HARRIS: A seven from the Russian judge.

DE LA CRUZ: And of course you guys can find it all online at CNN.com/video.

HARRIS: Thank you. Another quick check of weather right now before we split. Reynolds Wolf is upstairs in the CNN weather center. Reynolds go morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: The tower is going to be burnt orange tonight once those longhorns win today. I'm counting on it.

WOLF: We're not biased.

HARRIS: Let it go. Enough of this already. CNN LIVE SATURDAY with Fredricka Whitfield is next right after this short break.

NGUYEN: Have a great day everybody.

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