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CNN Saturday Morning News

Storms Hit Both Sides of Country; Raman Discusses Latest on International Community's Efforts in Iran to Nuclear Enrichment

Aired September 02, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome back, everyone, to CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Now in the news, we're watching floodwaters on the rise in the mid-Atlantic states two days after Ernesto sloshed ashore as a tropical storm. Several deaths are blamed on that storm. Hundreds of homes evacuated. Tens of thousands of people are without power.

Reports from two hard hit areas in just a minute.

In London, 14 men are in custody on terror charges this morning. Two others were picked up in Manchester. The arrests come after months of surveillance. Police did not link these arrests to the recent arrests involving a plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners.

In Afghanistan, no word yet on any casualties in the crash of a NATO helicopter. It went down today near Kandahar. NATO says there were no reports of any enemy action at the time. The crash came as NATO and Afghan forces launched a new operation against Taliban fighters.

Kofi Annan is in Tehran. Topping the U.N. chief's agenda is Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium. Annan also wants assurances that Iran will not try to rearm Hezbollah in Lebanon. A live report from Iran coming up in just 15 minutes.

In Baghdad today, two people were killed by car bombs. They were among 20 who died in violence across Iraq since yesterday. That includes 14 pilgrims from Pakistan and India who were killed yesterday while headed to Karbala.

We run-down the top stories every 15 minutes right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines is coming up at 11:15 Eastern.

It is Saturday, September 2nd.

Good morning.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Randi Kaye.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez.

Good morning to all of you.

Let's do this first. Let's try and give you a layout of what we're going to be talking about over the next hour so you can get a sense of what we're going to be doing.

First, the very latest on those two big storms lashing across two coasts. We'll take you to both.

Also, only in Hollywood. Tom Cruise shows up on Brooke Shields' doorstep with a big A. We're talking apology, folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got my purse. Hey, somebody help me! Help me! It's gone. He's going over there. Now, call the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And then there's grandma. That's right, she's animated. She should be. You're going to see how this 75-year-old grandma caught her purse snatcher and what she did when she finally caught him.

KAYE: Topping the hours, up and down the mid-Atlantic, a soggy start to the Labor Day weekend. The remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto are still causing some big problems. The system is moving north, but Virginia, Maryland and other parts of the region are still reeling from torrential rain.

The very latest now from CNN's meteorologist, Reynolds Wolf.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Randi, there certainly was some bad news for places like Virginia and Maryland, where they had rainfall totals that got up to 10 inches in places. That's the bad news.

The good news is that drier air is going to be moving into parts of the mid-Atlantic states. However, the scattered showers are now moving right into the I-80 corridor; also up in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse. The rain is going to continue.

In fact, the National Weather Service has posted flood watches in effect for parts of New York, as well as Pennsylvania, through Sunday because of the additional rainfall. So that is certainly something we want to watch.

Meantime, we're also seeing some rain in parts of Texas, as well as the Central Plains. Flood watches also right along the I-20 corridor, back up to Lubbock and Amarillo. The heavy rain continues to fall. They could see even more through the rest of the day, again, possibly two to maybe four inches of rainfall in that spot.

Meantime, as we take a quick look around the country, we also see John way down in parts of the Baja. This is now a category one storm, expected to turn out to sea and eventually die out.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WOLF: That's a look at your forecast.

Let's send it right back to you.

KAYE: Reynolds Wolf, thanks so much.

WOLF: You bet.

KAYE: Poquoson, Virginia one of the hardest hit areas.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is there along the coast.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Conditions here in eastern Virginia slowly improving now that the rain, for the most part, has stopped, as what's left of Ernesto heads pretty far to the north. But what a drenching rain we had here in eastern Virginia, with rainfall tallies up and over 10 inches in some spots. And with the ground being saturated from thunderstorms earlier in the week did not take much for trees to come down and power lines to come down, as well.

At one point during the height of the storm, 600,000 people without power. That number down to about 200,000 as of Saturday morning. And hopefully the power company gets that number down to zero by the end of the weekend.

Also, with those trees coming down, there were fatalities up the road in Gloucester, with two people dying from a tree coming down on their home.

As far as the flooding is concerned, that was a big issue. We are at sea level, so it does not take much for this area -- Poquoson is where we are, right near the Chesapeake Bay -- for this area to flood. Three and four feet of water above normal. And some folks were forced to leave their homes, not only here, but around the Hampton Roads area.

Good news in this area, as opposed to New Orleans, is once the water -- once the winds shift and the rain stops, because we are at sea level, most of that water quickly recedes back into the tributaries that lead into the Chesapeake Bay, which eventually lead into the Atlantic Ocean.

So conditions will continue to improve here throughout the weekend in eastern Virginia.

In Poquoson, Virginia, I'm Rob Marciano.

SANCHEZ: That's Rob Marciano following things there.

Now, Annapolis, Maryland is also a place that's been feeling the storm's impact.

And that is where CNN's Ines Ferre has been reporting from.

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We still have a coastal flood warning for the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay area, where we're located. And you can see some of the flooding right behind me. We're right in the middle between a low tide and a high tide. But authorities wish that the water would be receding more rapidly. The city has been preparing for Ernesto for days, with hundreds of sandbags. You can see some of those sandbags right in front of the store entrances across the dock.

People here remember when Hurricane Isabel passed by in 2003, where the water levels were up to your waist.

Now, 45,000 people are without power in the Annapolis area and scattered showers are expected throughout the day. But despite the weather, hard core Navy fans who are going to be watching the Navy football game tonight are still expecting to go to their game.

Ines Ferre, CNN, Annapolis, Maryland.

SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, we take you now to the other side, the other coast, Mexico's Pacific Coast. Hurricane John there losing some of its strength, but still packing quite a punch. The storm lashed the main city in the southern port of Baja, California after slamming ashore just hours ago. A last minute wobble spared the region's popular tourists resorts from a direct hit.

Now the new information that we've been sharing with you.

There is an update. This into CNN -- just in to CNN, I should say.

The British Ministry of Defense has said that 14 British troops died in an aircraft crash in Afghanistan. It went down today near Kandahar. NATO says there were no reports of any enemy action at the time.

Now, there was a skirmish or at least an assault against the Taliban forces there. The crash came as NATO and Afghan forces launched a new operation against those Taliban fighters.

So, once again, the new number that we're getting there from officials is that there have been some fatalities aboard this helicopter that crashed in the area.

As we get more information throughout the morning, we will continue to share it with you -- Randi.

KAYE: New terror busts in Britain. That tops our CNN Security Alert.

Sixteen men are in custody today. Most are accused of recruiting and training Jihadist foot soldiers.

Here's our European political editor, Robin Oakley.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Following an intensive surveillance operation by security authorities, British police have arrested a further 16 suspects in relation to terrorist offenses. Fourteen of the men were arrested in South London, the bulk of them at a Chinese restaurant, The Bridge to Chinatown, where other diners talked of as many as 40 armed police coming in to take the men. Two others were arrested elsewhere in London and two has been arrested in Greater Manchester, where police investigators took away a number of cars.

There's also an investigation going on at a school in East Sussex, where there is suspected of being a connection with terrorist training and recruitment.

Police are stressing that the new arrests are not related to the alleged plot to blow up airliners en route from Britain to the United States disclosed on August the 10th, nor are they related to the July 7 bombings last year in London, in which 52 people died at the hands of four suicide bombers on the London subway system.

Meanwhile, Peter Clark, the head of anti-terrorist operations at Scotland Yard has warned that thousands of British Muslims are under surveillance as possible sympathizers with terrorism, the kind of people who might be helping to finance terrorist operations, to help with recruitment and training or to help with the travel of those involved in terrorist offenses.

Robin Oakley, CNN, London.

SANCHEZ: There he is. Kofi Annan has landed in Iran for talks, but can he change any minds on the nuclear issue?

We're going to have a live report for you from Tehran.

That's coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bombs and deaths and the tools of our enemies tend to make the news more quickly than the things that we are doing to reinforce democracy and the progress that our troops are making each day in decreasing the violence, which is less likely to make it on the news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Also coming up, the Pentagon's fighting the war in Iraq with more than just weapons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Well, welcome back.

Surf's up this Saturday morning.

Here's a look at some of the most popular stories you are clicking on at CNN.com.

A manhunt for an escaped prisoner in New York State. Police believe Bucky Phillips ambushed two state troopers on Thursday. They are in critical condition. The mother of kidnapped victim Johnny Gosch says someone left pictures of the boy at her front door. They appear to show Gosch and two other children bound and gagged. Gosch disappeared while on his newspaper route in Des Moines in 1982. He would be 36 years old today if he is alive.

And Jessica Simpson Croaks on live television. She tried to sing Friday on "The Today Show" for the first time since injuring her vocal chord. But her voice cracked on a high note. Simpson paused, then finished the song. And you just saw that picture of her. She was drinking some nasty looking concoction that was supposed to help soothe her throat.

Veronica de la Cruz from CNN.com will be along later in the hour. She'll show us the video that is most popular with CNN.com surfers at this hour.

SANCHEZ: The nuclear standoff with Iran is expected to be a key topic as U.N. Chief Kofi Annan visits Iran. He is holding talks this weekend with the Islamic Republic's president and other officials there.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Tehran.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, good morning.

Iran is feeling pretty good today. The U.N. Secretary-General arriving, trying to, it would seem, within these talks, figure out a way to diplomatically end this nuclear dispute. But the deadline has already passed by the U.N. yet European countries are calling for a further extension to try and get Iran to stop its nuclear program.

There's no sign that will happen.

The Secretary-General, so far, he's met with the country's foreign minister, he's met, as well, with the chief nuclear negotiator. The big meeting, though, will be tomorrow. That's when he meets with Iran's president.

Today, though, Iran's president was out speaking to the people and he reaffirmed the country's defiance, saying that it would not stop what is its right, a nuclear program for peaceful civilian purposes. And he again sort of challenged the West as the people that are backing this pressure and fueling it for other reasons than just about nuclear energy -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Is there any possibility that they're actually playing a North Korean type card? That is to say I'm going to make a threat, you come back to me, offer me something even more than what I expected to begin with, and thereby maybe I'll drop my threat?

RAMAN: Yes, I mean the Iranians are far less advanced in terms of their technology than the North Koreans and they've denied from the start they're pursuing any sort of nuclear weaponry.

At the same time, you have had a couple of years, essentially, of this issue languishing at the U.N. languishing in dialogue between Iran and other countries. The reason, perhaps, it's taken longer is because there has been no smoking gun-of a weapons program.

But Iran is eager to try and up the ante, to try and perhaps get a better deal.

But I have got to tell you, on the streets of Iran, the people are backing this for no other reason than they're told this is a national right. There's a lot of nationalist pride. It will be very difficult for the government to turn around and then say well we told you all along was something we should never give up our right, we're now going to give up.

At the same time, Iran is in a desperate economic situation. It has sanctions already. So the people, perhaps, would be willing to bow if there was a deal that was worth it. But they have gotten a pretty good deal so far from the Europeans. So far, they've reneged on it and essentially said that they will not stop this program.

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about Hezbollah now.

Is there any possibility that the Secretary-General will also bring up that topic, the accusations by the United States, as well as Israel, that Iran has been sending weapons directly to Hezbollah?

RAMAN: He likely will, just as he did in Syria. It's a very sort of difficult thing for him to do because both countries deny they have anything more than sort of a spiritual relationship with this organization. Of course, who knows what gets said in these closed door meetings?

But publicly, at least, that's what they're saying. And both of them say and have said even during the war, we will use our influence in whatever way we can.

But Iran has maintained that Hezbollah is a close friend, if you will, an offspring of the Shia revolution that took place here. And Iran has claimed a vicarious victory via Hezbollah, the fact that it's still standing.

So Iran is in, perhaps, no better position than it could imagine right now. And it sees itself as very powerful, as the superpower in the region. It's not going to be willing to concede on very much because it does feel like it's growing in international clout, that it is the balancing power to the U.S. in the Middle East, that it represents models of disenfranchised Muslims.

So, the Secretary-General has an incredibly difficult task, trying to do what really no one has been able to do so far -- get Iran to stop this nuclear program and get Iran to stop its support for Hezbollah.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And we should probably mention, these are the -- what you just mentioned, that the weaker Iraq gets and the bigger mess Iraq becomes, the stronger Iran becomes, interestingly enough.

Aneesh Raman, we thank you so much for bringing us that live report from Tehran.

We'll be checking back with you, as well -- Randi.

KAYE: Could there be a truce in the war of words?

What does Brooke Shields say about Tom Cruise's effort to mend fences?

SANCHEZ: Also, is defending and dying for our country becoming a job for America's poor and lower class? A controversial question. We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Across America now, dragnet in western New York State this morning. Hundreds of police are trying to find escaped prisoner Bucky Phillips. They believe he is the man who shot two state troopers Thursday. Both were hit by a high powered rifle. The troopers are in critical condition today. Each had two surgeries just yesterday.

A little rain, cooler temps, lighter winds -- Montana firefighters are taking advantage of these conditions to try and attack a 159,000 acre fire. The blaze exploded this week, fueled by dry timber and wind gusts 60 miles an hour. The wildfire charred nearly four dozen homes and other buildings. Hundreds are out of their homes today.

And a celebrity apology. Brooke Shields calls the "I'm sorry" from Tom Cruise, her word here, "genuine."

Cruise publicly criticized Shields last summer, you'll, I'm sure, remember that, for taking anti-depressants after coming over her pregnancy. Shields set the scene for tonight's show, "Jay Leno."

Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, COURTESY NBC)

BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: He had called me and he came over to my house. And he gave me a heartfelt apology. And he apologized for bringing me into the whole thing and for everything that happened. And through it all, I was so impressed with how heartfelt it was. And I didn't feel at any time that I had to defend myself or did I feel that he was trying to convince me of anything other than the fact that he was deeply sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Looks different, doesn't she?

As a Scientologist, Cruise says that depression can be treated with just exercise and vitamins.

KAYE: Can poverty be eliminated in America? Thirteen million children live in poverty. Add the adults and the number, believe it or not, nearly triples. This weekend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta focuses on this problem in a conversation with Bill Clinton. It's a CNN special, "THE POVERTY TRAP," and you'll see it only on CNN.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice- over): Detroit's East Side. Its people and neighborhoods have been hit hard by years of poverty and neglect. In 2005, the city had some 12,000 abandoned homes. Now, many are fighting back.

MIKE FISHER, PRESIDENT & CEO, DETROIT COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: Let's go.

Two new houses being built on the side of it. Two new houses across the street. This has to go. Address right there.

GUPTA: Mike Fisher runs DCI, the Detroit Community Initiative, a nonprofit organization that gives high school students a summer job, and a chance to improve their neighborhoods.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: It just makes me feel sad looking at something like this.

GUPTA: They're using a global positioning tracking device to mark the exact locations of destroyed and abandoned homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one burned up the side of their house.

FISHER: We try to work with mayor's office, the Detroit City council, the department heads, other community groups to try to make it clean and safe -- picking up tires, cleaning up dumping, rehabbing homes, building new homes. So we're bringing something to the table.

GUPTA: The city receives the information and prioritizes homes for demolition. They're replaced by low-income housing that's paid for by a federal tax credit plan.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: I feel like I'm actually achieving something because when I go out and I help out, I'm making an impact on the city.

FISHER: One block at a time, one family at a time, and we can turn things around.

NADIRA WADE, DETROIT COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: Right here! Right here!

GUPTA: This is Saratoga Street, where Nadira Wade lives.

WADE: Yes! What is it granny?

GUPTA: Nadira has 14 grandchildren.

She's lived in this house for 19 years.

WADE: Look at there. You can see right up in to the roof.

GUPTA: And it needs a lot of work.

WADE: There's a crack in the kitchen here right above the stove. It leaks right here. We're poor people. We don't have anything right now.

GUPTA: But she still has hope for her neighborhood, and that's why she's working with Mike Fisher in DCI.

WADE: I'm on board of the directors, and we're trying to rebuild the neighborhood back up from what it was to something better -- low- income housing, for people like myself, which I own my house now. I can't afford to fix it, but it's mine.

GUPTA: DCI plans to help Nadira replace her roof.

WADE: It's just a struggle. It's just things is too high -- your gas bill, light bill, telephone bill.

GUPTA: Despite the difficulties, Nadira still believes her work with the Detroit Community Initiative will increase the value of her property, and improve the value of her neighborhood.

WADE: When we get through building all these 49 brand new homes, I believe that people will start having more respect and it will give them something to look forward to.

This is your neighborhood. Respect your neighborhood. You live here. These people don't have no hope. They don't have any hope, because it's like they've just given up. I'm not going to give up.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KAYE: Sanjay Gupta's conversation with Bill Clinton can be seen on "CNN PRESENTS: THE POVERTY TRAP." That airs tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

SANCHEZ: Will the latest wave of troops into Lebanon help actually keep the peace there?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That guy, he's got my purse. Hey, somebody help me. Help me! He's got me. He's going over there. Now, call the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: You are going to love this granny. She's got chutzpah and she takes on her purse snatcher.

But did she get her purse back?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And welcome back.

This just in to CNN, the British Ministry of Defense has now said 14 British troops died in an aircraft crash in Afghanistan. It went down today near Kandahar and NATO says there were no reports of enemy action at the time. However, the crash did come as NATO and Afghan forces were launching a new operation against Taliban fighters.

We'll keep you updated.

Now in the news, Scotland Yard rounds up 16 terror suspects. Most of the men were arrested at this Chinese restaurant in London. Police are not linking the suspects to the recent plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners. The men are accused of recruiting and training others for acts of terror.

U.N. Chief Kofi Annan is in Tehran today for talks on Iran's nuclear program. Iran ignored a U.N. deadline this week to suspend uranium enrichment. The U.S. and other U.N. powers meet Thursday in Berlin. They're going to discuss the next move in a stalemate that could bring sanctions.

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