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CNN Saturday Morning News

Pope Remarks Incite Fury, Protest in Muslim World; Coalition Forces Launch Massive Offensive in Afghanistan Against Taliban Forces

Aired September 16, 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, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Let's bring you up to date on what's in the news right now. The pope speaks out in response to growing Muslim unrest. The Vatican says the pope is extremely upset that his recent comments on Islam have offended so many Muslims. We'll have a full report on this in just nine minutes.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Investigators now think they know where an e. Coli outbreak in packages of spinach started, but they are trying to find the source of the contamination. They say they traced it to a California-based company, Natural Selection Earthbound Farm. We'll have much more on the story in two minutes.

SANCHEZ: U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan troops launch another offensive against Taliban insurgents. This is in Afghanistan, eastern Afghanistan, in fact, Operation Mountain Fury involves thousands of troops, in five different provinces.

Now let's bring you live pictures. This is in Texas, by the way, this is where former Governor Ann Richards will be lying in state at the capitol rotunda in Austin this weekend.

I think you might see there at the bottom of the screen that you'll see some of the troops, some of the guards, are coming in now. I don't believe her body has been brought in yet. We will continue to follow this story.

Obviously Ann Richards made famous for some of her colorful comments and debates against President George Bush when he was running against her as the governor of the state of Texas. Richards died a week ago of esophageal cancer. She was 73 years old.

ROESGEN: Oil giant, British Petroleum asks for federal permission to restart the eastern side of the Prudhoe Bay pipeline in Alaska. BP says it needs to test that pipeline. It was shut down, you know, because of severe corrosion.

Now we go to Bonnie Schneider for a quick check of the weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROESGEN: We do 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 9:15 Eastern.

SANCHEZ: It's always an interesting debate. We have had it ourselves with many of our friends and neighbors, do high-protein, low-carb diets thin your waistline, or just your wallet? Our fitness guru, Jerry Anderson, he has an opinion -- like a lot of other people do. He's going to explain what is behind the popular diet plans.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Rick Sanchez.

ROESGEN: I'm Susan Roesgen in for Betty Nguyen. We are going to have that diet story just in time so you share it with your morning donut. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

SANCHEZ: Let's start here, bringing you up to date on the e. Coli outbreak that has been linked to bagged spinach throughout the country. Here are the numbers so far, 19 states are now reporting confirmed cases. One death, more than 90 people have been sick. Investigators have identified the company where they think the contamination originated. Details now, in this report, as we get them from CNN's Jonathan Freed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY MORINNG (voice over): Investigators connected the e. Coli outbreak to spinach products packaged by a California-based company, Natural Selection Foods Earthbound Farms. The Food and Drug Administration says the company has implemented a voluntary recall of its spinach products. The FDA traced the problem to the company through interviews with people who became sick.

In Wisconsin, health officials confirmed a 77-year-old Manitowoc County woman died last week as a result of an e. Coli infection. Officials say her death, at a Green Bay hospital, from kidney failure, is linked to the e. Coli outbreak that spread to at least 19 states. But they don't yet know if the woman ate raw spinach.

New York is the latest state with confirmed cases of e. Coli illnesses, seven of them, connected to bacteria in bagged spinach. The map has become cluttered with cases stretching from coast to coast, with as many as 11 in Utah, and 30 in Wisconsin, including the one death.

Wisconsin's governor says the state was the first to identify the strain and made the genetic information available to other states.

GOV. JIM DOYLE, WISCONSIN: When officials in eight other states matched the genetic marker with the Wisconsin strain, we determined that this was a nationwide epidemic with a single source.

FREED: At least 17 of the Wisconsin victims are hospitalized. And at least four of them are in what Milwaukee officials call a crisis situation, with possible kidney failure.

BEVAN BAKER, MILWAUKEE HEALTH COMM.: We're being very prudent in our caution to say that perhaps boiling, frying or sauteing may lessen the likelihood of infection, but it does not completely take away the likelihood of infection. For that reason, I would say, abstain from consumption. FREED: On the streets of Manitowoc, even before it was known the death touched this community, there was concern.

(On camera): So, both you, and your young son, ate spinach in a sandwich yesterday. And today, how are you feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I do have a little bit of stomach cramping, but I think maybe it's mind over matter type thing. I don't -- I'm not concerned at this point. I just think OK, well, you know, all the scare is in me now. And, oh, my stomach hurts. But I think I'm OK. My son is doing great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm actually afraid to eat it because there's already been one death.

FREED: At a cooking store in town, worries about a favorite ingredient.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll buy it again. It's just going to take a little time until they find out the problem.

FREED: The FDA says it's still investigating whether or not other bagged products have been affected. Jonathan Freed, CNN, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: We should tell you this, health officials in Wisconsin were the very first to discover the e. Coli outbreak, the only fatality in about a third of the cases have been reported in that particular state. So, earlier this morning we had a chance to talk to the governor of the state, about how Wisconsin is responding thus far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOYLE: The grocers in Wisconsin have been tremendously cooperative and have just cleared it immediately off the shelves. So I think we've got most of it -- I hope all of it -- that it isn't even being sold right now. And we just are pushing it in every way to get that simple message.

In some ways it cuts against our usual message, which is to try to have people eat more fresh vegetables, particularly spinach. In this case fresh bagged spinach, it's something that people should throw away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: The governor also told me he thinks people across the country should be watching -- washing their spinach, I should say. However, that doesn't guarantee that it's safe.

ROESGEN: In Iraq this morning security officials are considering a proposal to dig trenches around Baghdad and tighten the check point security. It's just an idea right now. But it would be intended to stop future suicide car bombers and weapons smugglers from getting into the city.

Meanwhile, the police there say they have found 47 bullet- riddled bodies all around capital in the last 24 hours. Most of the victims appear to have been tortured, appear to be victims of the sectarian violence there. In fact, more than 150 bodies have been found dumped across Baghdad in the last week.

Right now, 147,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq. President Bush says that's enough. But a secret military report calls for more troops, especially in the volatile Anbar Province. CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports that this is causing dissension in the ranks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Even with another spike in violence in Baghdad causing fresh American casualties, the top commander in Iraq, General George Casey, insists he has enough forces, according to President Bush.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked General Casey today if you got what you need? He said, yeah. Got what I need.

LT. GEN. PETER CHIARELLI, CMDR., MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS, IRAQ: There's not a commander in the world who wouldn't say he could use more forces.

MCINTYRE: In a conference with Pentagon reporters Casey's deputy, Lieutenant General Pete Chiarelli, admitted the 30,000 U.S. troops fighting in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, are unable to secure the insurgent stronghold. General Chiarelli was acknowledging the gloomy assessment contained in a secret report written by a highly respected Marine intelligence officer, Colonel Pete Devlin.

CHIARELLI: Pete is right on target. I don't believe there is any military strategy alone, any kinetic operations that we can run alone, that will create the conditions for victory, which we must have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your reaction to Pete's view that another division is need in Anbar to do the job?

CHIARELLI: That's Pete's opinion. That's Pete's opinion.

MCINTYRE: An opinion that will go up the chain of command to Chiarelli, and then likely be turned down. Because adding another division, roughly 18,000 troops, conflicts with the current strategy of securing Baghdad first. In fact, Chiarelli admitted thousands of forces have been shifted from Anbar to Baghdad, which is now the priority.

CHIARELLI: Again, the main effort is Baghdad. And we must insure that we weight the main effort, armies that don't weight the main effort, really don't ever have a main effort.

MCINTYRE: Chiarelli reiterated that every request he has ever made for troops has been granted, and argued as Iraqi forces increase and government services improve, Anbar will be won.

CHIARELLI: But we are not -- and I repeat -- we are not looking to walk away from that province. That is just flat wrong.

MCINTYRE (on camera): President Bush says he will continue to leave the war in Iraq to the generals, but at the news conference he posed an interesting question.

Can the president trust his commanders on the ground to tell him what is necessary? At least for now Mr. Bush says he believes the answer to that question is, yes. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: This developing story this morning, the pope, his words, and Islam. Some new developments out of the Vatican. A statement saying the pope is, we quote here, "extremely upset over offending so many Muslims". This follows some strong reaction across the Muslim world to his words. CNN's Zain Verjee reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY MORNING (voice over): Angry chants from protesters after Friday prayers in Egypt. Down with the pope, they shout. Similar scenes of outrage from Gaza, India, Lebanon, Turkey.

Sparking this anger, comments by Pope Benedict XVI about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. At a university lecture in Germany, the pope said, quote, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

He was quoting a 14th century Byzantine Christian emperor. Reaction in the Muslim world was swift and widespread.

The Imam of Al Anzar (ph) Mosque, in Egypt, says the comments show the pope's ignorance. He says, adding it's an insult to all prophets. It will only worsen relations between Muslims and Christians.

With condemnation and furor on the streets, and wide media coverage, the Vatican issued a statement saying, "The pope didn't intend to offend anyone. That it was not intention of the Holy Father to examine jihad and Muslim thought on it, much less to offend Muslim believers."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a pope who believes very strongly in rational inquiry into the truth.

This talk was also a sort of challenge to Muslims to say show me, show me what it is in your religion that doesn't agree with this text.

VERJEE: Many Christian and Muslim leaders are urging all religious leaders to be cautious about what they say, not to inflame the situation further. But some analysts say damage has already been done.

PROF. FAWAZ GERGES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: I think it deepens and widens the gulf that exists between the world of Islam and the West.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: As you likely know, Zain Verjee is a regular contributor to "The Situation Room." Seen here, on CNN, Monday through Friday, 4 and 7 p.m. Eastern.

ROESGEN: And it may be sunny where you are, but when it comes to the weather we could have trouble in the midsection. We'll have that coming up.

SANCHEZ: Also what should you eat to loose weight, especially around the middle? Like that guy. We'll separate fact from fiction, or try to, when it comes to some of the most popular diet plans. Coming up in 10 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROESGEN: "Now in the News": The Vatican says the pope is, in his words, "extremely upset" that his recent comments on Islam were offensive to Muslims. Arab newspapers are calling for more than that. They are urging the pope to apologize for his comments.

SANCHEZ: More information today about the e. Coli outbreak linked to packaged spinach. More than 90 cases now in 19 states, one death reported so far. Investigators say they have traced it to a California company, Natural Selection Earthbound Farm.

But now, how did it originally become contaminated? That's a question that hasn't been answered yet; and officials say they are trying to find that out.

ROESGEN: Another offensive against Taliban insurgents is underway now in Afghanistan. They are calling it Operation Mountain Fury. It involves thousands of U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan troops in five provinces.

We run down the top stories every 15 minutes here with in-depth coverage all morning long. The next check of the headlines will be coming at 9:30 Eastern.

SANCHEZ: You could say that some of the bad news weather-wise is that we have had a series of tropical systems being formed. The good news, or the flipside, of that is that most of them seem to be turning away from land and going into the ocean, right?

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Eat your fruits and eat your vegetables, right?

ROESGEN: That is what they say. You mom told you and what the government and most doctors will tell you, too. So, if you do it, why don't you lose weight? We'll look at some very popular diet plans.

Gerry Jumpstart explains why these things happen in your body. That's coming up next.

ROESGEN: And coming up in 10 minutes, selling your house in a softening market. Find out what you need to do if you want to sell your house, right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROESGEN: If you've been trying to lose weight and not eat all the steaks on the grill, you know you'd like to believe the promises of some of those high-protein, low-carb diets and some of the other fad diets. But do they really slim your waistline or do they just slim your wallet? Here with us to cut through the hype now is our fitness expert and personal trainer, Jerry Anderson.

What do you say, Jerry?

JERRY ANDERSON, CNN FITNESS EXPERT: Hey, how you doing this morning?

ROESGEN: I'm doing OK. What's the deal? I thought that those high-protein diets worked.

ANDERSON: You know what, even starting off with the Dr. Atkins diet, that is high protein, it's high fat, no carbohydrates. What's amazing to me is it's very, very difficult to lose weight on that program, because it's not high fat, it's not protein -- and they exclude the carbohydrates -- the carbohydrates, your brain, your liver, your muscles need carbohydrates to function properly. It's very, very dangerous. You have to watch it.

One of the benefits is it does eliminate processed foods, but one of the bad things is you don't get any fruit, no vegetables, and grains. So that is a major problem. You need fiber to keep your system moving properly.

And bottom line what I come down to is are they after your wallet, or your waistline? They're definitely after you wallet.

ROESGEN: Wait a second here, Jerry. I thought the idea was low carbs. We know that you have to have some carbs, otherwise you pass out. And as you say, your brain, your other organs need carbs. The whole point is not to have so many carbs. So what's wrong with that?

ANDERSON: That's a fact because what happens is with these programs, they tell you that you can eat all the fat you want, you can eat all the protein you want. Your blood acid goes up, and it's very dangerous, but the bottom line is even if you take the carbohydrates out, increase your fat, increase your protein, and overeat you're still going to gain weight. This is actually a low-calorie program. It's not about carbohydrates, it's about calories.

ROESGEN: What about some of the other fad diets out there? You still hear about what is it, the cabbage soup diet, the grapefruit diet any of those ever proven to work for anybody?

ANDERSON: The amazing thing, these -- the promise is what works for people. People are in such a bad position, 65 percent of adults are overweigh or obese, and 85 percent don't exercise. So when they hear that promise of that diet that in seven days you lose 20 pounds, man, it's amazing that they jump on board. But that diet, the cabbage soup diet very, very dangerous. Because it only has fiber, and the bottom line, where is your fruit, where is your vegetables, where are your grains? There's a major problem with that diet. You can really get sick.

ROESGEN: Jerry, we were just now looking at some of the graphics talking about the zone diet. You don't by that one either?

ANDERSON: The zone diet unbelievable. What they say is they go 40, 30, 30; 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat, 30 percent protein. If you say in that you're your body is constantly burning fat. But here is my question to the zone diet: If you eat more calories and stay in the zone will you still gain? Of course you will.

It's not about the zone, it's about the calories. It should be called the calorie zone diet. Not the zone diet.

Definitely, here's the thing. The fruit, the vegetables and the grains are really low and my question to any diet is, can you do it for 10 years, can you follow it for 20 years, can you do it for 30 years? That's the amazing part of it. You can't do it.

You know, especially if you're an athlete and you exercise on a regular basis you need carbohydrates. They create muscle contraction, keep your mind functioning properly. Any program that takes those out, unhealthy.

ROESGEN: I think you also touched on the magic word, really, which has got to be "exercise."

ANDERSON: Oh, definitely.

ROESGEN: Thanks, Jerry. If I had big guns like you and worked out as much as you did I wouldn't have to worry about what I eat either.

ANDERSON: Whoo! Have a great day.

ROESGEN: Thank you so much.

ANDERSON: Have a great.

ROESGEN: Pump you up. You too, baby.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: All right.

ROESGEN: Rick.

SANCHEZ: I'll do be doing that same thing, in just a little bit here. I think I'll wait during the commercial. Thanks so much.

"Open House" shows you how to sell your home in a buyer's market. That is coming up next. Also, the latest details on the contamination in some fresh spinach products. More on that in our morning's top stories.

Then, we should let you know at the top of the hour we're going to ask questions for you. First, are you ever too young to learn how to deal with emergencies? It's off to camp for kids that teaches them how to react to things like plane crashes, and fires, and potential tragedies. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez.

Right "Now in the News": New details about the e. Coli outbreak linked to bagged spinach. Officials have traced it to a California company. They still have not isolated the bacteria and the company's products. The outbreak has spread to 19 states with more than 90 confirmed cases, and one death.

U.S.-led coalition forces launch another major offensive against Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan. Operation Mountain Fury involves thousands of troops and five eastern provinces. Combined forces command reports two attacks on a base in one of the provinces, killed at least one coalition soldier, thus far.

The pope speaks out today, in response to growing Muslim unrest, the Vatican says the pope is extremely upset that his recent comments on Islam were offensive to Muslims.

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