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CNN Saturday Morning News

American Officials Saying They Cannot Confirm French Report That Osama Bin Laden May Be Dead; Many In Iraq Expect More Violence During Ramadan; Serious Flooding in Kentucky; Popular Diets

Aired September 23, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news batting down the hatches, more severe weather is expected across much of the country. CNN is closely tracking today's hot spots and we will have the latest update in just a few minutes.
In Iraq, at least 28 people killed when a car bomb went off this morning in Baghdad's Sadr City district. The blast came as Sunni's began their observance of a Muslim holy month.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR: New signs that North Korea is boosting its nuclear weapons program. An American scholar says senior officials have told him that North Korea plans to unload fuel rods from it's nuclear power reactor in order to get more weapons grade plutonium.

Nation of Islam leader Luis Farrakhan says he is seriously ill. News reports put a statement on his organization's Web site. He is 73 years old and he says he started suffering from ulcer pain earlier this year, similar to the pain he had a few years ago when he had surgery for prostate cancer.

LEMON: We are watching a primary race in Hawaii today, ages is a big issue and incumbent Senator Daniel Akaka is 82 years old. His opponent is 53-year-old Congressman Ed Case. Two recent polls give Akaka a commanding lead.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we first heard the first one, we pulled together really fast and prayed for nothing to happen to us.

ROESGEN: Tornadoes and rain make a mess in the Midwest.

LEMON: From CNN, the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Don Lemon, thank you for joining us on this Saturday morning.

ROESGEN: And I'm Susan Roesgen sitting in for Betty Nguyen. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Now, it would be tantalizing if it were true, but now American officials are joining other government voices saying they cannot confirm a French published report that al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden may be dead. The story is running in a French regional newspaper this morning and the article quotes a secret French intelligence report.

Our CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live in London. Nic, what do you make of it?

NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting, Susan. I think perhaps the best clues that we have so far that there may be some sort of report is that the French president today in a press conference said he was concerned that a confidential document should be leaked to a newspaper and has ordered the defense ministry to investigate it. But he did say in that same press conference that he could in no way confirm the contents of that document as was reported in the newspaper.

The newspaper reported that the French had information from normally reliable sources associated with Saudi Arabia that Osama Bin Laden had caught typhoid while in Pakistan and had subsequently died from it. The article went on to say that the Saudi's were still investigating whether or not that was true or not. It was written in the last few days. Pakistani officials say absolutely not. There is no truth in the report whatsoever. If they had known about his illness, they would have moved to arrest him.

But the indication in this, the reason the French president was made aware of it, according to the newspaper, was this came from those normally reliable sources. It has to be said that in the quest and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, there had been many reports that intelligence agencies have to filter through, many of them misleading. And at this stage it is very difficult to know how much truth there may be behind this one -- Susan.

ROESGEN: So, Nic, just because the French ministry is upset that this report was leaked doesn't mean that the report is true.

ROBERTSON: It doesn't mean that it's true. It doesn't mean that they -- if there is truth in it that it may have attached any greater importance to it than any of the other reports that they may have had. It does seem according to the newspaper leak that the document was written on the 19th and the 21st, the confidential document, of September, just a few days ago. The leak would have been remarkable quick if that is what it was. It's interesting that the French president didn't say this document that's been leaked is an outright fabrication.

He didn't say we don't have a document like this. He said he's surprised that a confidential document was leaked. So it does leave that window open that such a document existed. It's the content of it and the voracity and how much credibility there is within the document itself. And that's really not clear. Pakistan is saying absolutely not at this stage Susan.

ROESGEN: Intriguing, nonetheless. Thank you very much, Nic Robertson reporting live for us this morning in London -- Don.

LEMON: Another somber day in Iraq. Police say more than two dozen people were killed this morning. A bomb went off in the district of Baghdad. A different note, Iraqi's interior ministry says a key terrorist leader is in custody. He was arrested east of Bakuba.

CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That explosion happening in the Shia side of Sadr City home to some two million Iraqi's the day before the holy month of Ramadan is meant to be starting for the Shia community here. A car bomb exploded. That caused a fuel tanker to also detonate, at least 28 Iraqis killed that attack, another 26 wounded.

We spoke with a resident who said that, in fact, here in Iraq, many expected even more violence to happen during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is normally a time of peace. Many here believe that the month of Ramadan will only bring more violence.

Meanwhile the Iraqi government has announced the capture of a terrorist leader here in Iraq. They have identified the man as Ansar Al-Sunna saying that he was detained along with two of his associates after an intelligence driven operation that happened north of the capital of Baghdad.

They say they were able to detain him and his associates without encountering any resistance. Ansar Al-Sunna has been active in Iraq for the last three years, since 2003. However, it is an organization that is built for loss. That means even if it loses some of its senior leadership, it is still able to function.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And for in depth analysis of this week's developments in Iraq, tune into CNN tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern for "This Week at War" hosted by John Roberts.

ROESGEN: Houses actually torn to pieces after severe storms tore through the middle of the country. If you're just waking up with us now, you should expect more bad weather in much of the nation. Storms last night spawned tornadoes in Illinois and Missouri. Businesses, a middle school and more than 100 homes in Missouri were damaged. In fact the school had just wrapped up a tornado drill when it was struck. No one was killed.

In Indiana heavy rain from the storms triggered flash flooding. And in Arkansas, a woman died when her boat was struck by lightning.

The severe weather is also causing problems in Kentucky, big problems there. Our reporter Mark Hebert of our affiliate WHSTV joins us live in Louisville. Mark we've seen some real serious flooding there. What's the latest?

MARK HEBERT, WHSTV REPORTER: It was a rude awakening for a lot of folks in Louisville, Kentucky this morning. From about 3:00 am to 6:00 am all it did was rain and it rained hard, about five inches of rain. You're looking at the floodwaters behind me. They have receded just in the past couple hours as the rain has stopped here. That's the good news.

But a number of cars, apartments, hundreds and hundreds of apartments were flooded. Folks woke up where they had their air mattress down in the basement and the water came up so high and they were e floating on their air mattress in their basement. That happened to a folks.

As you can see, the floodwaters have receded here a little bit. These folks in this apartment building are getting out. Many of them were evacuated by boat, by the fire department between 3:00 and 5:00 this morning. They were evacuated to a high school and they are now getting back out of that high school and being told they can go back into their homes.

But it was a messy situation for a couple of hours. Good news is the rain has stopped right now. Bad news, more rain is on the way. We could have more flash flooding here in Louisville, Kentucky a little bit later on today.

ROESGEN: It just keeps coming. Thank you Mark. Well Reynolds Wolf is keeping an eye on those storms this morning.

LEMON: Reynolds it looks pretty rough out there. You can see from the live shot all the flooding. I don't know what's worst the wind or the water.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I would definitely say it is the water. The water is going to be the biggest thing. You know as the tornadoes are really dying around the landscape, the ones that popped up or at least the ones that have not been confirmed, but the flooding is certainly widespread especially as we mentioned just moments ago in parts of the Ohio Valley, into northern Kentucky as well as Indiana.

In fact take a look at this video that we have for you. We have flooding video from last night into early this morning. This is near Evansville where they had over five to six inches of rainfall. A lot of this is the result of rain falling very, very rapidly. The sewer systems get clogged up and all this water piles up.

The problem is we have more rain on the way. They could see another inch, maybe even two inches of rainfall. You don't want any more rain at all. A single raindrop can make a tremendous difference. You have Louisville here; back to Elizabeth Town, Bowling Green all the rain moving from west to east.

Lexington, by the way, also had quite a bit of rainfall -- 6.18 inches of rainfall and more on the way to them, moving west to east. Scattered showers moving through that direction, back into Saint Louis over to Springfield, rain now moving east of the I-44 corridor into West Plains eventually into Jonesboro as well. Cape Gerardo you're also going to have heavy rainfall.

Now, as far as south as the Red River Valley into the Dallas-Fort Worth metro parks, heavy rain, storms also forming, not severe at this point. But as the temperatures begin to warm up, severe storms will certainly be a possibility.

We will have more coming up in just a few moments. Back to you at the news desk.

LEMON: All right. Reynolds thank you very much for that. You can help us report the weather. If you want to capture a great picture on video, or camera or your cell phone just send it to us at CNN.com or on your cell phone, punch IREPORT@CNN.com.

ROESGEN: And still ahead today, can grapefruits really give you a weight loss advantage? The science behind some of the popular fad diets in just ten minutes. And at the bottom of the hour ...

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up at 9:30 am Eastern, "OPEN HOUSE" win the fight against foreclosure. Learn how to keep you and your home in the clear.

Plus, fire safety month is about to start. You will find out ways to protect you and your family. And the fall season means full gutters. We will tell you how to take care of them on your own with Bob Vila in our weekend project. That is "OPEN HOUSE," 9:30 am Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROESGEN: Now in the news a car bombing in Baghdad Sadr City neighborhood killed at least 28 people. The blast came on the first day Iraqi Sunni's began observing the Muslin holy month of Ramadan.

Another round of wind and rain is what we can expect in the Midwest and the south central states today, at least one death has been reported from storms yesterday. Lightning killed a woman in a boat in Arkansas.

LEMON: New signs North Korea is boosting its nuclear weapons program. A visiting U.S. scholar says senior officials told him North Korea plans to unload fuel rods from its nuclear power reactor in order to get more weapons plutonium.

In the E Coli scare federal health officials now say it's safe to eat spinach again as long as it doesn't come from the Salinas Valley in California. That is where they traced E. coli contamination that sickened about 166 people in 25 states. It could take several days for spinach grown in other places to appear back in store shelves.

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

ROESGEN: The police in Illinois are looking for these three little girls. They are the daughters of a woman who was killed and her fetus removed. A woman claiming to have given birth to a stillborn child is being questioned in the case. She is also answering question about the woman's missing three children. The suspect told investigators she had gone into labor accidentally, but refused to be examined. The investigators have ruled out the possibility that any of the victim's family members were involved in the children's disappearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. CRAIG KOEHLER, ILLINOIS STATE POLICE: We have spoke with family members of the children. None of the family members of the children are considered suspects in their disappearance in any way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: While the investigation goes on the main focus now is finding these three missing children in Illinois.

A woman was shot dead in a place where she went to stay safe, a domestic violence shelter. And this morning a nationwide man hunt is under way for suspect who is her husband. The police in Sylva, North Carolina say Bonnie Woodring's husband John forced his way into the shelter and shot her. The shelter's director says their security was just no match for his determination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN BOCKSTAHLER, JACKSON CO. REACH EXEC. DIR: A man like this particular man who has the background and the determination to pursue in this kind of murder, I wish we had a way of protecting them more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: The police say Woodring's husband was already wanted on domestic violence charges for allegedly trying to strangle her. He is considered armed and dangerous.

LEMON: Do you know somebody who swears by the South Beach Diet? Well next hear what our fitness expert says about the popular eating plan.

ROESGEN: And present company accepted what can you do about an annoying co-worker? Coming up in the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We'll tell you what you can do, and you can email us at WEEKENDS@CNN.com. to tell us some of your co-worker horror stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROESGEN: If you're just joining us, we're updating a developing story. American officials are now joining other government leaders around the world saying they that cannot confirm a French published report that al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden may be dead.

The story is running in a French regional newspaper this morning and that newspaper quotes a secret French intelligence report. Nic Robertson just said that the French ministry is upset about the leak but cannot confirm that it is even true. We are working this story with our sources all around the world and we will have much more for you at the top of the hour.

Also a programming note. We are going to re-air a "CNN Presents" special with Christiane Amanpour "In the Footsteps of Bin Laden" tonight at 10:00 only on CNN.

LEMON: All right. We're going to turn now to our health segment, the powerful attraction of fad diets. Is there a science behind claims of amazing weight loss? Our fitness guru Jerry Anderson joins us from Los Angeles with his take on some of the nations most popular weight loss plans. You're going to talk about the South Beach Diet. You're going to disappoint a lot of people if -- say if it -- a lot of people are on that diet. Jerry.

JERRY ANDERSON, FITNESS EXPERT: Don, it is amazing you know that a lot of people on that diet, but the first thing I did is I took the time to read the book, that this will attack belly fat first. That is a false claim. You cannot spot reduce. How can you tell your body, OK, I want you to burn belly fat and no fat from anywhere else? It is just amazing to me, so you really have to -- this diet is definitely not after your waistline, and it's after your wallet.

LEMON: After your wallet, the South Beach Diet?

ANDERSON: It's after your wallet. It's high protein, high fat, low carbs. It's masquerading as the Atkins Diet. It has three phases, phase one, phase two, phase three, phase one no carbohydrates, phase two a little bit, phase three a little bit more. But what they state is when phase two and three is not working, go back to phase one.

Most people will go back to phase one because that's the one that was working best. They knew it when they wrote the book that's what people were going to do. Because if they are not getting the results they are going to go back to that program. You cannot eliminate nutrition from your body.

LEMON: I do have to tell you I tried a low carb diet, high protein and I lost a lot of weight. But I gained it back when I started eating carbs, wheat.

Lets talk about the grapefruit diet. Now the grapefruit diet fat burning enzymes -- I heard if you eat grapefruit, you're going to lose a lot of weight. Is it after your wallet or your waistline?

ANDERSON: It's after your wallet. It said it has this fat burning enzyme. Yes, right. The bottom line is you have to move your body to burn calories, what it does is it actually reduces your calorie intake. They ask you to have coffee, tea, to stimulate to keep you going. It's high in fiber. But you really to watch, it eliminates food groups. Where is your protein, where is your vitamins, where is your minerals, where is your carbohydrates? Those demands are still in your body 24/7.

So you just can't exclude that and what it is a low calorie diet with a stimulant. It is very dangerous. I had a woman who tried all of these different diets. She said, Jerry I need some help. I said OK, I will help you out but before that she went on the grapefruit diet out of just fear. She lost weight just like what happened with you on the other program, as soon as she got off, bam, here comes the weight gain.

LEMON: Also Jerry, you're pumping your body with a lot of stimulants, and a lot of caffeine.

ANDERSON: Exactly.

LEMON: Let's get to the other diet, you have choose to lose. This is something I know nothing about. So you are going to have to tell me about this one.

ANDERSON: This is the choose to loose diet, this after your waistline. This is designed with carbohydrates, fruits, vegetable, whole grains, no processed foods. Then you watch your fat grams so you don't increase your saturated fat. This is a great program. You don't need supplements on it because it meets your daily your daily nutritional needs. It has 58 percent carbohydrates, 12 percent proteins, 30 percent fat.

And just the fat level -- it is great program, where people can actually stay on this for a life span. These other programs you can't do it for 10 years, 20 years. You need something you can stay on a lifetime. Those are fad diets, this one you can stay on, even in my program, and it has a program that's similar. You can stay on it; feel energetic and lively without having any shortcomings.

LEMON: Oh, Jerry you got two after your wallet and one that is after your waistline.

ANDERSON: Right.

LEMON: Jerry thank you very much for joining us. Have a good one.

ANDERSON: Perfect. Have a great day.

LEMON: You too.

ROESGEN: Well you want to lose weight but you don't want to lose your house. Winning the fight against foreclosure. Up next "Open House" will show you how.

And a damaging storm system moves through the Midwest, where is it headed next? We will find out when we check the mornings top stories in three minutes.

At the top of the hour, dealing with annoying co-workers. What you can do to lessen the stress. You don't forget you can e-mail us. Are your co-workers bugging you? E-mail us at WEEKENDS@CNN.com.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SCHURENBERG, MANAGING EDITOR, "MONEY:" We chose Williamsburg, Virginia as a place to retire. It is one of the most historic cities in America, if not the most historic city. The whole place is a functioning, living museum. And lots of the people assume roles of 18th century British colonials are actually retirees.

Williamsburg is a city of 11,800 people. The tax burden is very low. The cost of housing is low, 5 percent sales tax. Property taxes are low because the tourism industry generates so much revenue. Boating on the river, lots of golf courses and the ocean is not far away either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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