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CNN Saturday Morning News

Israel Beefs up Aerial and Ground Assaults on Lebanon; Tour de France Champ Landis Tests Positive in Second Doping Test

Aired August 05, 2006 - 08:00   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, crisis in the Middle East, day 25. Israel launches an aerial assault on the Lebanese city of Tyre. Israeli jets and gunships converge on the city as the offensive escalates. Israel says at least eight of its commandos were wounded while trying to disarm the Hezbollah stronghold. CNN's Ben Wedeman will join us live from Tyre in a moment.
Across the border explosions in Israel, minutes ago we showed you live images of rockets slamming into the Israeli village of Metullah. Haifa has also been hit in recent hours. Israeli police say nine people were wounded there. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in the Israeli port city and will join us with a live report in just a few minutes.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well Israel ratchets up its drive into Gaza. Palestinian officials say air strikes killed several people including two children and their mother. Israeli tanks and troops are on the move in southern Gaza. The A.P. reports that they took over an abandoned Palestinian security training camp today in Raifa.

Well test positive says a French lab, results of a second doping test on Floyd Landis, reported just three hours ago also shows elevated testosterone. Now the Tour de France champ says he has never taken any banned substance. The Swiss team Landis rides for immediately dropped him as captain. Landis does plan to appeal.

HARRIS: A break in one of the Phoenix serial killing sprees. Two suspects are in jail this morning, held without bond. They were booked last night on two counts of first degree murder and 13 counts of attempted first degree murder. Police say other charges are possible. Been outside yet?

NGUYEN: I'm kind of avoiding it because of that right there, you can tell it's hot.

HARRIS: Wait a minute, no, no, no, no. Wrong, you're in for a bit of a surprise Betty.

NGUYEN: No way.

HARRIS: Cooler air is bringing relief from all of this oppressive, horrible heat.

NGUYEN: Bring it on. I'm going to leave and go outside right now, how about that. HARRIS: Whatever you need to do Betty. Temperatures are dropping fast. Stay right here. Reynolds Wolf has your weekend forecast in just a couple of minutes.

From the CNN Center this is CNN SATURDAY. It is August 5, 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, 3:00 p.m. in the Middle East and good morning everyone, I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being with us today.

Well if you are just joining us this morning, there has been a lot of activity today in the Middle East. Take a look. Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire as they have since this conflict flared up just 25 days ago. CNN's reporters are deployed strategically throughout the region to bring you up to the minute information wherever fighting breaks out.

Let's get to it. CNN's Paula Hancocks is standing by in Haifa, Israel, where more Hezbollah rockets have struck today. But first CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Tyre, Lebanon where Israeli commandos launched a raid against Hezbollah fighters. Tell us about that, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty, well throughout we've heard fairly steady thumps from distant artillery barrages and Israeli air strikes. But really the action began long before sunrise at about 2:00 in the morning we began to hear Israeli helicopters overhead, low flying jets hitting targets around the city.

What happened was that Israeli -- this was cover for an Israeli commando raid by Israeli naval commandos who landed in two helicopters to the north of the city in citrus groves there. They made their way to a five-story building.

Now apparently we've heard from the IDF that their target was an apartment in which there were several Hezbollah members involved in the firing of long-range rockets. They say they killed two or three of those individuals inside that apartment. These people and what we are hearing also in addition to that is that eight Israeli commandos were wounded in that attack, including -- two of them very seriously.

Hezbollah, for its part, is claiming that they killed one of the commandos and wounded three. So that raid seems to be part of a pattern, really, where the Israelis are not engaging in large-scale ground incursions but conducting sort of pinpoint commando operations. We saw that in Baalbeck the other day and in Tyre in the early hours of this morning. Betty?

NGUYEN: All right, Ben, thank you for that.

Let's go now to CNN's Paula Hancocks, she is in Haifa, Israel, where I understand Paula rockets have struck already today?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. Yes, they started a little earlier this Saturday just after 8:00 this morning we heard the air raid siren. Then we understand that at least six rockets hit an area, the northern suburbs of this port city of Haifa. We understand two houses took a direct hit from those rockets and medics and police are telling us that nine people were wounded in those particular rocket attacks.

Now just to refer back to what Ben was talking about, we've heard from the Israeli Defense Forces, as well, telling us as much as they could about the operations near Tyre. They said they had identified a building where they believe there were Hezbollah fighters and those fighters were responsible for the long-range missile that hit near Hadera on Friday evening.

Now, of course, that's between Haifa and Tel Aviv, the commercial capital that Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, had threatened to hit if Beirut continued to be targeted as well. Now, according to the IDF though, they were going to carry out an air strike but they believed that these fighters were on the second floor but they were worried about civilian casualties. And then they decided to go in on the ground with commandos, as Ben was saying two or three were killed.

On the way out they encountered heavy fire and that's when eight Israeli soldiers were wounded. But for the rocket count itself we have had rockets this Saturday morning certainly the past few days there have been intense barrages of rockets coming from Hezbollah to northern Israel. On Friday three civilians were killed. On Thursday eight civilians were killed and on Wednesday we saw a record number of rockets hitting northern Israel, more than 260. Betty?

NGUYEN: Paula Hancocks in Haifa, Israel, for us. Thank you Paula.

HARRIS: Test positive on Tour de France champion Floyd Landis. A second test shows elevated testosterone levels. It could cost him his title but he is vowing to fight. Many aspects of this developing story. CNN sports' Will Selva is here to help us sort it all out. Will, good to see you.

WILL SELVA, CNN SPORTS: And there's a lot to sort out here.

HARRIS: Well the team is saying he will appeal which you expect, right?

SELVA: Right, right. You would expect and he's fighting to clear his name. That's going to happen for sure. But how did we get here, that's what everybody's wondering. After his epic stage 17 comeback at the Tour de France, Floyd Landis submitted a urine sample which came back positive for a testosterone, epitestosterone ratio of 11 to one.

It was well above the four to one limit. A backup B sample was tested and it confirmed the findings of the first test. The International Cycling Union will refer the case to the U.S. anti- doping agency, which will hold a hearing.

If he's found guilty, Landis faces a two-year ban and will be the first Tour de France winner in its 103-year history to have his title stripped. The title would then go to the runner-up Spain's Oscar Perero in this case. After even the ruling, Landis can appeal the decision. That could take several months. Landis' Swiss-base team Phonak has already fired him.

Landis, of course, vows to fight to clear his name. In a statement this morning Landis said, "I will fight these charges with the same determination and intensity that I bring to my training and racing. It is now my goal to clear my name and restore what I worked so hard to achieve." So we'll have to see how this all plays out. But this could take several months as we said before we finally get any resolution to this.

HARRIS: And he can't race.

SELVA: And he can't race, that's right. You have to figure he's 30 years old and if he faces a ban and technically it's a four-year ban where he can't race for another team. So we're talking four years. He's 30 years old. By 34 his career could essentially be over.

HARRIS: So, Will, one to one, trying to read up on this. One to one is considered --

SELVA: Dr. Tony Harris now.

NGUYEN: Be very afraid, folks, be very afraid.

HARRIS: So one to one is considered normal. Four to one raises eyebrows and --

SELVA: Four to one is the limit.

HARRIS: Yes.

SELVA: But 11 to one almost three times, that raises eyebrows. Because remember this happened during his stage 17 comeback.

NGUYEN: That difficult comeback, yes.

SELVA: A difficult comeback.

HARRIS: A day after he essentially fell apart, right?

NGUYEN: Exactly.

SELVA: That's right, exactly. So remember, he was down eight minutes, eight seconds. Then he came back, made so much ground where he ended up vaulting to the third place spot and he was only down by 30 seconds.

HARRIS: Right.

NGUYEN: Wasn't this after a night of drinking, he said.

SELVA: That's right, that's right. As a matter of fact beer and whiskey, you brought up the whiskey beer defense. But that is one of the reasons that they are saying there's unusual amounts of testosterone, the epitestosterone. But that's what his lawyers are throwing out.

NGUYEN: Blame it on the beer, ah?

SELVA: Yes, exactly, blame it on the alcohol.

HARRIS: But all in all this is very disappointing. I mean this is a story that we -- we loved this story as it was unfolding and this guy coming back from. Well, his background, his family and everything else.

NGUYEN: Well there is an appeals process, so we'll see. I mean this isn't the definitive answer just yet.

SELVA: Exactly. And he's innocent until proven guilty, that's what he's been telling people.

HARRIS: No, no, no. That's the way we judge things here. Over there ...

SELVA: It's a different story.

HARRIS: Which Betty learned --

NGUYEN: Which we heard from Liggett a little bit earlier today that you know, that's -- we're seeing in a lot of sports, though. You are guilty until proven innocent.

SELVA: I know, especially in the cycling community, too.

NGUYEN: After all the rumors, yes, with Lance Armstrong too.

HARRIS: You're going to come back later and talk about it a little more?

SELVA: I'm going to come back later. As long as you guys are willing to have me.

NGUYEN: Well you know, so far, so good, right?

HARRIS: We'll leave the light on for you.

NGUYEN: Next time you bring some food, we may give you a little more time.

SELVA: And the doctor is in right now.

NGUYEN: So far so good. Thank you, Will.

All right, so is this test result the nail in the coffin for Floyd Landis' cycling career? We kind of got an idea of that just a minute ago, but let's get the medical perspective from somebody other than Tony Harris. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will take a closer look at the science behind carbon B testing.

HARRIS: The doctor would know best. Also we want to know what you think of all this. Do doping scandals affect your interest in sports? Well, e-mail us your thoughts. The address WEEKENDS@CNN.com. Reynolds Wolf, good morning, sir.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Crisis in the Middle East. Here is what we know right now. Hezbollah fires at least a half dozen rockets into the Israeli port city of Haifa. Israeli police say two homes were hit and nine people wounded. Israel pounds the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.

Israeli jets and helicopters swoop in and commandos sweep across the city. Israel Defense Forces report several casualties in fierce fighting against Hezbollah militants and listen to this out of Beirut. Angry protesters greet a U.S. diplomat, assistant secretary of state David Welch is meeting with Lebanese officials to discuss ways to end the fighting.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well a positive doping test for Tour de France champ Floyd Landis. Now Barry Bonds is still battling doping allegations himself. Sprinter Justin Gatlin caught up in a similar controversy. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain this recent round of tests and what exactly do they mean. This is the second of two tests so far, right?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, when an athlete is tested they give a urine sample and it's split into two, into an A and a B. And so when there's a problem with the A, as there appears to have been, you check the B. And so what it appears is that in this case there was an unusually high ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone.

I won't get into all the little scientific jargon here. But basically it's not supposed to be any higher than four to one and Landis' people have confirmed that this test was 11 to one, which is really impossible to have naturally according to the experts that we have spoken to. You don't just have that. And so they went ahead and did the B sample and they say in France that it has confirmed what the A sample found.

Now, the Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme told the "Associated Press" that Landis is no longer considered the champion but that the decision to actually strip him of his title rests with the actual folks who run the cycling union that runs the race.

Now Landis of course has proclaimed his innocence. He said in a statement today, "I have never taken any banned substance including testosterone. I was the strongest man in the Tour de France and that is why I am the champion." And he says he will fight this tooth and nail. Now, recently Landis' camp said that he was dehydrated and that's why the testosterone test came back positive. NGUYEN: Yes, that he went drinking the night before.

COHEN: Right, and then cycling the next day which doesn't seem like a good combination.

NGUYEN: Yes I wanted to ask you about that by the way.

COHEN: That's what he did. But he said that it was the dehydration that led to it. We asked a whole bunch of experts and they just -- you could practically hear them laughing. I mean they just said dehydration is not a reason for testosterone tests to come back positive. That would have no effect on that.

NGUYEN: Yes. So is this the end of the road for Landis? I mean what can he do now?

COHEN: Well it's interesting because there's another test which is much more reliable than the one that we've been talking about.

NGUYEN: So why wouldn't they have done that in the first place?

COHEN: Well, they might have done it in the first place. But there's a bit of a cat and mouse kind of thing going on here. Things are being leaked and not officially said and so there's a lot of confusion here. But the test that they -- we don't know if they have done it or not, is a carbon isotope test. And that is the most definitive test that you can do. If that comes back positive as one expert said to me, that is the nail in the coffin.

That tells you if the testosterone in his body is natural or if he took it in some form. In other words did his body make it or did he take it from someplace on the outside through a patch or a pill or a cream or something like that. We don't know if they have done that test yet. But if they have done that test and it came back positive it would be extremely hard to argue with that test.

NGUYEN: Just very quickly. What can testosterone do for you when it comes to something like this? I mean can it just rev up your system so that you can have these super human powers and make a great comeback?

COHEN: Sort of like superman with a flying red cape?

NGUYEN: I mean what does it do?

HARRIS: Good question?

NGUYEN: Yes, Tony wants some if that's the case.

COHEN: Well testosterone is a male hormone, females have it too, in much smaller amounts. So what it would basically do is if an athlete took it, is it makes it easier to build up your muscles. Your muscles will build up faster. Now what's interesting is that you take testosterone over a course of weeks and weeks, in like eight to 12 week cycles. And so it's strange that his test came back negative through most of the race and all of a sudden he was positive. That's odd. Because taking one shot of testosterone might help you a bit with your endurance but it's not going to do that much for you. So it's kind of odd that it's shown up this way.

NGUYEN: See, there are a lot of questions still out there.

COHEN: There are still a lot of questions. And a lot of it is because the news on this has come out in dribs and drabs and leaks and it hasn't just been announced.

NGUYEN: All right. Well that's what you're here for, to help us understand what we've been given. Thank you. We appreciate it Elizabeth.

HARRIS: Well we've asked folks Elizabeth for their thoughts on this as to whether or not they think these doping scandals kind of affect the way they look at sports. We have e-mails. We'll read some to you. You still have time to send in your thoughts. WEEKENDS@CNN.com. And later on "HOUSE CALL" Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how you can protect yourself from the sun and reduce the risk of skin cancer. CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what most people think of when someone mentions the uneven bars in tumbling. But coaches say more and more adults are doing back flips over gymnastics. 26-year-old Ashley stated tumbling at the age of three and says the fear factor is what holds most adults back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody can do gymnastics. If you can do a forward roll when you're a little kid, you can do it when you're 45. You just got to get out there and try it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lot of fun, really thrilling when you do something like that.

COSTELLO: Anthony who is 18 says he enjoys the strength and flexibility he gains from doing it. Carol used her gymnastics routine to get into shape for her wedding. She loved the satisfaction of conquering new skills.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you know when I see these kids and I think oh I can do that and I'm 33, it makes me feel pretty good.

COSTELLO: But don't jump too fast. Check with your doctor and give yourself time to develop flexibility. Adult gymnastic classes are offered in most states.

Carol Costello, CNN.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: We promised you e-mail responses. We have them. Here's the question this morning, do doping scandals affect your interest in sports? Weekends at CNN.com.

Rebekah from Mississippi writes, "Of course doping in sports matters! Silly. As a former collegiate athlete I had to work very hard for several years to get to that college level. When athletes are doping it causes an uneven playing field, creates an embarrassment of the sport, and makes the hard work of millions of athletes seem obsolete!" Thank you Rebekah.

NGUYEN: Oh yes, Rebekah.

Well here is what Tod from Virginia has to say. "It doesn't bother me at all when another top athlete's performance is questioned, possibly the result of doping. In fact, this makes me feel a lot better about the numbers I put up in my recreational leagues."

HARRIS: Oh I got you, ok.

NGUYEN: Funny guy, that Tod.

HARRIS: Yes, this is Kim from Des Moines who writes, "I have raced against and been beaten by competitors who were suspected of and some proven to have been using banned performance enhancing substances. I hate and despise them. They render useless and futile the many long days, weeks, months and years I have spent training on the bike and in the weight room by simply training less and cheating more."

Thank you Kim. Rebekah and Tod from Virginia, for the e-mails. Here's the question.

NGUYEN: What passion in those responses.

HARRIS: Did you hear that, did you feel that? Here it is, do doping scandals affect your interest in sports? WEEKENDS@CNN.com.

Still ahead, the shelling continues between Israel and Lebanon this morning. Next hour we'll have live reports from both sides of the battlefield. And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the face of war in Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters, Israeli claims civilians used as human shields and hospitals as supply bases. A population under siege.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Michael Ware reports from war-torn Lebanon.

NGUYEN: But first, Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look at what you can do to protect yourself from skin cancer. Weekend "HOUSE CALL" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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