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CNN Saturday Morning News

NASA Attempting to Launch Atlantis After Delays; Ralph "Buck" Phillips Taken Into Custody; Upcoming ABC Miniseries About 9/11 Drawing Sharp Criticism; People Don't Use Enough Fiber

Aired September 09, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go right now in the news. It's launch or wait for Atlantis. Here is why: If the shuttle isn't able to take off today, the next opportunity is not until October. Yesterday's launch was scrubbed due to a faulty fuel sensor. Going to have a live report from the Kennedy Space Center in just a couple of minutes. And of course we're going to have a launch for you when it happens as well.
The hunt for fugitive and suspected cop killer Ralph "Buck" Phillips is over. He gave up without incident last night when police surrounded him in a cornfield in northwest Pennsylvania. Details of his capture and his five months on the lam are also just ahead.

NATO officials are telling CNN that more than 40 Taliban insurgents and one NATO soldier were killed last night in fighting in southern Afghanistan. The combat came during a NATO offensive in the Kandahar Province. The push against Taliban fighters is being led by Canadian and Afghan troops.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq's prime minister is going to Iran. A government statement released in Baghdad today says al- Maliki's visit Monday and Tuesday will establish friendly relations with its one-time enemy. The two countries fought in a bloody war in the 1980s.

Any minute word could come from Sudan that an American journalist has been freed. "Chicago Tribune" reporter Paul Salopek has been detained by Sudan's authorities since August 6 charged with spying. Now New Mexico governor Bill Richardson that was Sudan's president and has actually won his release.

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 coming up at 9:15 Eastern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The producers themselves say it's fictionalized. The events of 9/11 are very real.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not going to have you ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A former Clinton security chief goes on the offensive against ABC's controversial 9/11 miniseries. He says it's much less than accurate. You're going to see it only on CNN. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Rick Sanchez. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: Good morning Rick and good morning to you at home. I'm Betty Nguyen. That story coming up in just ten minutes from now, but first let's get you on top of today's top stories.

Try, try again. NASA attempting to launch Atlantis after some delays. And if there's no liftoff today well expect a longer wait. Our Daniel Sieberg is at the Kennedy Space Center and, Daniel looks like the skies are all clear behind you so far.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: The skies are all clear behind us. We actually just heard word that the flight director Mike Linebbach is receiving a briefing on the weather. It's a green for launch at 11:15 a.m. this morning. We can show you some live pictures of the closeout crew. They are now just closing the crew hatch door. Making sure the orbiter is ready for launch. Making sure it is ready for launch.

Just moments ago we saw some pictures of the crew, the five man, and one-woman crew getting strapped in. Going through their final systems checks on board shuttle Atlantis on launch pad 39b. It is fueled up. They have been going through a rather smooth countdown for the last several hours. Encountering none of the technical glitches that plagued them this week.

Both of those problems working fine this morning. They also encountered a lightning strike you might remember a couple of weeks ago as well as tropical storm Ernesto. Right now the crew feeling ready to go from everything we have been seeing. They are strapped in, all six of them. At this point we're just awaiting launch a little more than two hours from now. The weather, Betty, seems to be cooperating at this point.

NGUYEN: Looks like hurry up and wait. Let me ask you this with all the problems, you just talked about some of them, we haven't begun to talk about one of the biggest problems that NASA has faced especially concerning the disaster of shuttle "Columbia" back in 2003. And that is the foam. What is that issue here? Has NASA been able to solve that?

SIEBERG: Yes, that four-letter word has not been uttered that much over the past couple of weeks because of all these other delays. This is an idea of what the foam looks like that covers that massive external fuel tank in order to keep it insulated, keep some of the ice from building up on the tools that are in there.

Remember back in 2003 you mentioned Columbia. It was a much larger piece of foam about the size of a suitcase that struck the leading edge of the wing on Columbia, pierced this hole in the heat shield, caused it to break up upon re-entry, killing all the astronauts on board.

Since that time they actually looked into it. Interestingly with Atlantis, this is we're talking about Atlantis launching today. Back in 2002, the last time that Atlantis lifted off, there was a piece of foam that came off and struck one of the solid rocket boosters that are attached to the external fuel tank. Missed an electronics box. Had it actually hit the electronics box may have resulted in a catastrophic problem for the 2002 Atlantis launch.

Really the last and best chance for NASA to sort of in a sense connect the dots between falling foam and the possibility of a problem upon re-entry. So you know it's one of those things they had to look at since then. Redesign it. I can give you an idea of something of what they have done with the redesign the external fuel tank. See it here, sort of at the belly of the shuttle. They changed some of the pieces here. Just to make sure there isn't quite as much falling foam when they are lifting off.

The first roughly two minutes, about 135 seconds that they are worried about these pieces of falling foam. Installed a lot of cameras to track that to assess it. Once they get up to the International Space Station and make sure they are OK upon re-entry. But it will always be a concern right through to 2010 when they retire the shuttle fleet.

NGUYEN: And you talked about those first two minutes. Those are so crucial to any launch. We will be watching today. The countdown is on. Two hours and nine minutes until liftoff. That is happening at 11:15 Eastern. Daniel we will be talking to you throughout the morning.

SANCHEZ: To have a good launch you need good weather, certainly not too much cloud cover. Let's go to Bonnie Schneider and find out how those covers are doing.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They are doing pretty well. You saw that haze in Daniel's live shot behind him. A typical Florida morning with hazy skies out there. But so far, so good. That's what we're reporting right now. We have winds out of the north at 11 miles per hour, so not too windy as long as the clouds stay outside of ten nautical miles. That's the parameter for the shuttle launch. So far that is what is happening.

We can take you hours ahead into the future with the computer models. This will actually show you what the weather will be like in the hours to come. There's the clock. Watch it closely. As we get to launch time what we're looking at is a pretty good looking forecast for the Kennedy Space Center. 80 percent likelihood for a launch meaning 20 percent that weather will inhibit it. Temperature 80 degrees, from sunshine, clouds and so far so good. So lets hope it stays that way.

We're also watching tropical storm Florence. This storm hasn't changed much this morning. It still has maximum winds of 65 miles per hour. Starting to get more organized. You can see it has more of a round shape there. But we still don't see the eye very well. It is not a hurricane yet but we are getting some gusts within the storm that are at 75 miles an hour. Likely to see Florence become a hurricane later today or tonight. Right now there is a hurricane watch for Bermuda. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much Bonnie. Appreciate it.

A five-month manhunt for the dangerous fugitive ended last night in a Pennsylvania cornfield. Ralph "Buck" Phillips goes before a federal magistrate in about an hour. He is suspected of killing one New York state trooper and wounding as many as two others. CNN's Allan Chernoff was there when Phillips was taken into custody. He's joining us now live from Buffalo with the very latest on this story.

Hi Allen.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, good morning. As you can see behind me the street is entirely closed off here in front of the U.S. District Courthouse in Buffalo as the U.S. Marshals are getting ready to bring Mr. Phillips here to the courthouse for his arraignment. He'll be charged this morning with fleeing across the state line. As you mentioned, Rick, this all ended last night in a cornfield surrounded by a wooded area.

What happened early yesterday morning there were two car chases, police then followed Mr. Phillips into the woods with canine teams. They cornered him in this cornfield area and just before night fall they moved in, a helicopter hovering above the police officers moved in, told Mr. Phillips to put his hands up and he came out unarmed. It was a peaceful ending to a five-month chase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPT. WAYNE E. BENNETT, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: Your not going to shoot one of our people and get away with it. We will track you down, we will hunt you down for as long as it takes and we will get you just as I told you tonight we do get our people. They don't get away. Sooner or later they took that last look over their shoulder and the game is up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Phillips is going to be charged later today in a county court with attempted murder of one police officer who he shot in June, that police officer was wounded. Now he's back on the force. He's also the prime suspect in the shooting of two other officers, one of whom died last weekend and that still being investigated. Phillips this morning is going to be brought in from the Erie County Correctional Facility, the same jail from which he escaped in April.

Rick.

SANCHEZ: It was quite an escape, as well, extremely extravagant. I can't help but ask you is there also an investigation going on with the escape itself? Perhaps what happened at the jail, Allan?

CHERNOFF: Rick, actually there was a big investigation done in fact this report came out just a few weeks ago and it was damning of that jail. It said the jail is overcrowded, understaffed, the alarm system had actually been malfunctioning there, and the guard who was watching the perimeter was actually in the rest room. Nobody was filling in for him. So nobody was watching the perimeter, Mr. Phillips was able to walkout.

Perhaps the most unbelievable part of this, Phillips actually pulled off his escape by cutting through the roof using a can opener he stood on top of some coolers so he was able to use that machinery just to get through the roof of this facility.

One other thing that was really incredible in this report, that area on top of the coolers, large refrigerators, twice during the past year they discovered that some inmates had actually been brewing their own home made alcohol there and they even had set up a bar. There were four seats up there and there was a bar there that the inmates were having drinks. Can you believe it?

SANCHEZ: Anything else that they had going on ...

NGUYEN: Don't ask, really.

SANCHEZ: That's amazing Allan, interesting details. Thanks so much for that report.

NGUYEN: Goodness.

Moving on, is your most valuable investment in danger? Coming up at the bottom of the hour. How the slumping housing market affects you.

SANCHEZ: Also in ten minutes how super sizing can actually help your health?

NGUYEN: Really, super sizing, that's interesting.

But first the uproar over ABC's 9/11 miniseries. You will hear from one man at the center of the controversy only on CNN. That's coming up on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Right now in the news NASA hopes to launch shuttle Atlantis about two hours from now. If the mission does not lift off today the next window of opportunity will not open until October. That's why they are hoping to be able to get it up.

Now one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives is in custody. Escaped inmate Ralph "Buck" Phillips was captured last night in rural Pennsylvania. He is suspected of fatally shooting a state trooper and wounding two others, in the five months since he escaped form jail. Phillips is due in court right at the top of the hour.

Nuclear reactor shut down in Norway. It happened at a research facility where the spokesperson says, "a minor incident was caused by abnormality." A spokesperson says nothing was released into the environment. Investigators still, though, as you might imagine are looking into it. A rare exception at the Pentagon today. In honor of Monday's 9/11 anniversary the public will be allowed to tour a small Pentagon chapel and memorial that holds the names of those that were killed during the Pentagon attack.

We run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. With in-depth coverage all morning long. The next check of the headlines is coming up at 9:30 Eastern.

NGUYEN: An upcoming ABC miniseries about the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks is drawing sharp criticism. From former Clinton administration officials and others. It's called the "The Path to 9/11." ABC says the film hasn't had its final edit.

Among the controversial scenes a portrayal of a 1998 CIA operations. Now it shows CIA operatives cornering Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The poise to capture or to kill him. But National Security advisor Samuel Berger refuses to give the go ahead.

Berger and others say that never happened. Never happened they say. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright objects to another scene. It shows her warning Pakistani officials over U.S. military objections before an air strike in Afghanistan. She says that's false. In an exclusive interview on CNN "Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" Berger defended Clinton administration efforts to get Bin Laden. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL BERGER, FMR. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: No situation, Wolf, did we ever refuse authorization to the CIA for an operation against Bin Laden. The one time we had good information about Bin Laden's whereabouts was in August of 1998. We fired 50 tomahawk missiles into the camp where we believed he was.

We apparently missed him by a few hours. There was no other occasion while we were in office that we had an opportunity to get Bin Laden or eyes on Bin Laden. The fact is, well five years later despite the fact we have thousands of American troops in Afghanistan we still have not got Bin Laden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Former Republican New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean chaired the 9/11 commission and was it's only consultant on this film.

THOMAS KEAN, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSION CHMN: The thing that Mr. Berger is so upset about, our findings in 9/11 commission were that the person who pulled the plug on that operation was probably not Sandy Berger but George Tenet. I assume Mr. Berger knew about it. I think George Tenet was the one that made that decision. I communicated that to ABC.

NGUYEN: Now ABC said yesterday that the film is not a documentary and "contains fictionalized scenes" with the final cut yet to come ABC calls the criticism premature and irresponsible. The miniseries scheduled to air tomorrow and Monday.

Monday does mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. CNN prime time coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern with "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Then at 9:00 Wolf Blitzer leads our coverage with the president's prime time address followed by "LARRY KING LIVE" from Ground Zero. At 10:00 Anderson Cooper is live on the ground in Afghanistan with a firsthand look what really happened there since the war on terror began.

SANCHEZ: The changing face of New York's financial district by a growing number of families want to cal the neighborhoods around Ground Zero home. That's coming up right here at the bottom of the hour.

NGUYEN: Up next, changing your body one meal at a time. We're going to tell you the five ways, just five of them that fiber can help you reach our goal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: OK. Go postal and get ready to super size? Two words you don't normally hear when thinking of weight loss. That is what fitness guru Jerry Anderson is pitching. Here is Jerry's jumpstart is the man himself. Of course in that tank top as always. Jerry, how are those guns today?

JERRY ANDERSON, FITNESS EXPERT: I am ready and revving to go.

Betty boom, boom, boom.

NGUYEN: Is that my new name? I'll take it for now. Your first tip here when we talk about fiber and getting fit the fact fiber actually can help you lose weight but you got to go postal really?

ANDERSON: Yes go postal, go crazy with fiber. People don't use enough fiber. Got to increase the fruit, vegetables and grain. Go crazy with fiber. I say five, five, five. Five fruit, five vegetables five serving of grains every day.

NGUYEN: That's a lot.

ANDERSON: You can do it. You know what is amazing. People say it's a lot. It is not a lot of calories. That's only about 600 calories versus sometimes people eat a candy bar that is about 600 in one meal. They can do it.

NGUYEN: Five what? Lay it out for me.

ANDERSON: Five, five, five, five fruits five vegetables, five serving of grain. Here's the thing. A lot of people are saying just what you are saying 80 percent of adults don't eat five serving of fruits and vegetables a day. Which means only 20 percent only do. We need more fiber in our diet. Real food has fiber.

NGUYEN: It does. In order to get all of this fiber that you want to have in our diets with all the fives guess you have to super size something. That would be a salad, right? ANDERSON: Right super size your salad. Betty everyone has the little salads and put all the unhealthy food around it.

NGUYEN: All that dressing on it.

ANDERSON: So super size it. That's crazy. We super size a hamburger; we super size the fries and the Coke now it's time to super size your salad. Look at it this way. If you push out 300 calories with super sizing you can burn for an entire year 30 pounds of fat. Done deal.

NGUYEN: Really? The key with fiber got to let it flow. Got to keep it moving, right?

ANDERSON: Yes, keep fiber moving. The thing is once you go postal and super size, you're going to have extra fiber and fiber absorbs the water.

NGUYEN: You know what that does, Jerry.

ANDERSON: It keeps the fiber moving. Almost like the 5:00 in L.A. Got to keep it moving. Keep your fiber moving. Here's the thing. If you don't keep the fiber moving it will stay in your system and cause all kinds of health problems. Make sure you drink eight glasses of water today with your increase of fiber intake. Very important.

NGUYEN: That's important. Keeping the water intake up. Not only do you have to keep it moving but one of your tips says to keep track of your fiber. That sounds like a dirty job, come on.

ANDERSON: You know what, but it's a great job. Here's the thing. Got to keep track of the fiber. What I recommend all the viewers to do for five days only just track the fiber. How many grams of fiber.

NGUYEN: What do you mean track it?

ANDERSON: Count your fibers. See how many grams you take. But here's the reason why. You know most people should eat 25 to 35 grams of fiber a day. Most Americans are only eating less than 15 grams of fiber a day. We're 50 percent low.

That's the only way to know for sure is track your fiber. Then what you do is slowly bring your fiber up to the right level. Because our fiber level is to low. But here's the thing, when you increase your fiber going to automatically decrease your fat percentage. It is unbelievable.

NGUYEN: I love that. But you know what happens, right once we start to lose those pounds we're doing this fiber intake thing, right, losing the pounds then we're like, I'm done with that going back to eating my old way that stuff tastes good. You say got to stick with it. Stick with it.

ANDERSON: Stick with it. Don't just do it and then lose the weight and get healthy and have the skin looking gorgeous and then you go back to your old eating habits. You're going to get the old results again. You have to stick with it. Here is the thing, when you fight that with fiber.

It's a lifestyle. It is not temporary, it is not a fad, and you have to do it. The key is when you start fighting fat with fiber. You can actually eat more. Betty take at this, this is amazing to me. This is what 500 calories of a candy bar looks like.

NGUYEN: Raise it up a little bit.

ANDERSON: Five hundred calories, three grams of fiber. Now take a look at this. This is 500 calories of fruit, look at the difference, 25 grams. So you can actually increase. Both are 500 calories. When you said earlier that that's a lot. I see people eating candy bars but they don't want to eat the fruit. Got to fight the fat with fiber.

NGUYEN: Fight the fat with fiber. Jerry that's how you jump- start our day. Jerry thank you so much. We'll be checking in with you next weekend. I'm sure you have some good stuff for us then too.

ANDERSON: You know what, Betty, next week is going to be awesome. I'm going to be talking about fad diets. I'm going to be pulling the pants down on fad diets.

NGUYEN: This is a family show. Talk about that next weekend.

ANDERSON: Have a great day.

NGUYEN: You, too. He is too much.

SANCHEZ: He does, you lose weight just watching him talk. My problem is I would eat the fruit and then I would eat the candy bar afterwards.

A check of the morning's top stories is next. Then it's Gerri Willis and "Open House." Find out how the nations stumping housing market could affect you.

Betty and I are going to be bringing you the latest news at the top of the hour. Live reports from the Kennedy Space Center. We're counting down to the scheduled launch of the shuttle Atlantis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON BIRGER, SENIOR WRITER "FORTUNE:" The reason the Chicago Mercantile is down (ph) this year is because this is the first year it has been eligible. The CME went public in January of 2003. So finally they have three years of financial data on which it can be judged. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is actually the world's largest financial market.

They trade things like grains and pork bellies. What has been a big grower in recent years for the CME has been stock index futures. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has a very exciting partnership with Reuters. I thinks there could be a growing market for a centralized exchange for foreign currency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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