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CNN Saturday Morning News
House of Representatives To Investigate Messages Allegedly Sent From Former Congressman Mark Foley To Teenage Boy; U.S. Military Uncovered Suspected Al Qaeda Plot To Bomb Baghdad's Fortified Green Zone; Bob Woodward's New Book Takes On Bush Administration and Iraq; Another Taped Message From Al Qaeda Second in Command; Israel To Complete Troop Pullout From Southern Lebanon Tomorrow
Aired September 30, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
"Now in the News," a Florida congressman's resignation over explicit e-mails. We have learned the House will look into messages allegedly sent from former Congressman Mark Foley to a teenage boy. The revelations prompted Foley to step down.
We have details from Capitol Hill. That is just ahead. So stand by for that.
In the meantime, the Brazilian Air Force is searching for a missing airliner that may have gone down in the Amazon. Gol Flight 1907 disappeared from radar yesterday. It was headed to Brasilia with 155 people on board. Now, local media report the aircraft may have collided with a smaller plane. Reuters news agency quotes a local official as saying the airliner crashed on a farm.
We'll keep you updated.
The U.S. Military says it's uncovered a suspected al Qaeda plot to bomb Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. A suspected al Qaeda member who works as a guard for the leader of Iraq's largest Sunni party is in custody.
We're going to have a live report and much more details about this from Baghdad in just six minutes.
Well, late last night, a vigil in Colorado for a girl killed at her high school. Later this morning, a memorial service is scheduled for Emily Keyes. She is the 16-year-old student killed Wednesday by a gunman who took six high school girls hostage.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: There are some new developments in another school shooting, and this one is in Wisconsin. A 15-year-old suspect in this case is charged in the shooting death of his high school principal. Court documents show the teen complained of being bullied by some of the other students there.
Let's do this now. Let's run a check of the weather. Reynolds Wolf is standing by to let us know what's going on.
I heard you say earlier things were good? REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Well, here's what we're going to do for you. We're going to 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, by the way, is coming up at 7:15 Eastern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: ... resigned from the House. He's -- as of now. He's done the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Trouble for Republicans before midterm elections. Republican Congressman Mark Foley steps down amid questions about his alleged e-mails to teenage boys. The story that a lot of people will be talking about. And we'll have much more on it.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, September 30th.
Can you believe it is almost October? Boy, this year is flying by.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we want to thank you so much for being with us this morning.
NGUYEN: Well, we do have new developments this morning in a story sending shock waves throughout Washington. A congressman resigns over explicit text messages allegedly sent to a teenage boy. Now the case has triggered a congressional investigation. Republicans are scrambling to explain and contain this political fallout.
Details from Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Congressman Mark Foley's resignation was abrupt. "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," said Foley in a short written statement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For what purpose does the gentleman from Florida rise?
BASH: The six-term Republican and member of the GOP leadership made no mention of his e-mails with a former male congressional page or concerns, according to GOP sources close to Foley, that devastating information was about to become public. Hours later, it did.
ABC News reported a number of sexually graphic instant messages between Foley and male congressional pages, using his personal screen name, Maf54.
"What are you wearing?" he asked in one. "T-shirt and shorts," the teen replied. "Love to slip them off you," Foley allegedly said.
And in another, Foley asked, "Do I make you a little horny?" "A little," said the teen. "Cool," replied Foley.
A GOP leadership aide tells CNN as soon as ABC confronted Foley's office with the explicit messages, he knew he had to quit. There was no immediate response from Foley's office to those alleged messages. But a spokesman confirmed to CNN that Foley did have five e-mail exchanges last year with a 16-year-old page, asking him, "How old are you?" in one. And in another, he asks the young man to "send me a pic of you as well."
The young man forwarded that e-mail, according to a government watchdog group that posted it online, to a congressional staffer, writing the word "sick" 13 times. The group's director sent it to the House Ethics Committee and the FBI.
MELANIE SLOAN, ETHICS WATCHDOG: Because Representative Foley was using a personal e-mail account to send the page e-mails -- the former page e-mails, and the young man was clearly made very uncomfortable by the e-mails, we thought it was a matter appropriate for the House Ethics Committee to investigate.
BASH: Law enforcement sources won't comment, but there is no indication at this point of any criminal probe. And it is unclear how the House Ethics Committee proceeded.
Foley's resignation sent shock waves through the Capitol. House Speaker Dennis Hastert was visibly angry.
HASTERT: I've asked John Shimkus, who is head of the page board, to look into this issue regarding Congressman Foley. We want to make sure that all our pages are safe and the page system is safe.
QUESTION: How disturbing is this?
HASTERT: Well, none of us are very happy about it.
BASH: Yet at least one member of the GOP leadership and the Congressional Page Board knew almost a year ago about Foley's e-mail asking the teenager for his picture. According to Congressman John Shimkus, the head of the board, they confronted Foley, who insisted that "Nothing inappropriate had occurred."
The board ordered Foley to cease all contact with the former page, then dropped the matter.
(on camera): What makes this all the more troubling that Congressman Foley was co-chair of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus and was responsible for writing the most recent legislation to crack down on Internet predators.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, the U.S. military is now saying that Al Qaeda in Iraq may have been in the final stages of a plot to try and bomb Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition and Iraq's government. This, of course, as a tight curfew is in place across the Iraqi capital that we have been telling you about now for weeks.
CNN's Arwa Damon is joining us now from Baghdad with the very latest on this story.
What do we know, first of all, about the plot itself?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we do know, Rick -- and this all came in a military press release earlier this morning -- is that this cell that's linked to al Qaeda -- Al Qaeda in Iraq's cell was actually in the final stages of planning an attack inside Baghdad's fortified international zone. The attack apparently involved suicide car bombs, possibly suicide vests as well.
However, the U.S. military did say that it has foiled this attack, that it detained one individual who is believed to be -- or suspected by the U.S. military to be involved in planning out this attack. He is a guard that worked for Adnan al-Dulaimi, who is a leading Sunni politician here. This raid happened overnight.
According to Mr. Dulaimi, he said that U.S. forces arrived at his house, he exited. He greeted them. They did not search his house. They searched the premises and searched the guard house, detaining one of his security guards -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Could the officials there be thinking that because it's so difficult to fortify this so-called fortified zone, that something like this could likely happen again?
DAMON: Well, there have always -- hear talks, rumors, intelligence that is pointing to a possible attack inside the Green Zone, even though -- the international zone -- even though it is very difficult to obtain access to it. There are constant reports about this. There are constant -- many of the terrorist groups here and the insurgent groups are trying to attack that area of the capital itself.
This really is nothing new, that another attack there, you know, might be occurring, that it could be happening in the future, especially now when we're hearing many of the insurgent groups trying to encourage members of their groups to carry out even more attacks against Western targets there.
SANCHEZ: So what makes -- so what makes this plot really different? Because we know there have been attacks inside the Green Zone in the past. Certainly not as many as outside the Green Zone. Was this to be a larger bomb, a different type of person who was perhaps using it? What made this so significant for military officials to be pointing it out?
DAMON: Well, they actually do point out any time that they're able to foil a plot. They do point it out. They do issue press releases.
Like you just mentioned, there have been and there constantly are attacks against the Green Zone, be it mortar attacks or be it, as we have seen on a few occasions, car bombs exploding, or any other number of attacks inside the Green Zone itself. In this case, the U.S. military is saying that this attack was involving perhaps multiple suicide car bombs and suicide vests -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: And "multiple" being the key word there.
Arwa Damon, we do thank you for that report. We'll be checking back.
Betty, over to you.
NGUYEN: Well, when Bob Woodward writes, Washington reads. And Woodward is best known for Watergate. His reporting led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Now his new book, "State of Denial," takes on the Bush administration.
CNN's Mary Snow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld comes under heavy fire within the Bush administration and according to Bob Woodward there were attempts to get him fired. In "State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III," Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was about to leave the administration, is quoted as telling then White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, "If I go, Don should go."
Woodward reports Card tried twice to persuade the president to fire Rumsfeld but the president refused. A fact a senior White House official confirmed to CNN. While in Slovenia Friday, Rumsfeld was asked about the book and generally dismissed it.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I haven't seen the book. I haven't read his first two books yet either, so...
(CROSSTALK)
RUMSFELD: ... I wouldn't hold your breath on this one.
SNOW: As an example of the friction inside the Bush inner circle, Woodward says that the president had to tell Rumsfeld at one point to return calls from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I know you won't talk to Condi, but you've got to talk to her.
The White House quotes Rice as saying that's ridiculous. Perhaps the most damaging claim that the administration is not being u front about the level of violence in Iraq. In an interview airing Sunday, Woodward tells CBS' "60 Minutes" there's intelligence that the violence is expected to get worse in 2007.
BOB WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "STATE OF DENIAL": In public you have the president and you have the Pentagon saying oh no, things are going to get better. No. There's public and then there's private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret.
SNOW: The book says there are attacks on coalition forces every 15 minutes. White House spokesman Tony Snow said he not authorized to talk about classified information but replied...
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president contrary to the assertion was not in fact painting a rose colored picture. He's been saying that it's a tough war. It's a long war. It's a war that's going to outlive his presidency.
SNOW: And on the hunt for weapons of mass destruction, Woodward says that Vice President Dick Cheney was so involved in the search for WMD in Iraq that he called chief weapons inspector David Kay with specific satellite coordinates.
Woodward writes, "Cheney was acting as a kind of super- investigator, trying to ferret out the elusive WMD," Kay concluded. "But there were always loose ends in intelligence, disparate bits of information that could lead to all kinds of wild conclusions. It continued to remind Kay of the blockbuster novel 'The Da Vinci Code'."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, Bob Woodward drops more of his shocking new allegations about the war in Iraq and the White House, as well as the upcoming elections on "LARRY KING LIVE." That is Monday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. You don't want to miss it.
Plus, you want to catch this new documentary. "CNN PRESENTS" goes beyond Donald Rumsfeld's tough exterior and reveals a startling miscalculation. "Rumsfeld: Man of War," tonight and tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
SANCHEZ: Taking a look at the business side of college and high school football. How many dollars? Rick Horrow, he goes "Beyond the Game" with us. That's coming up in about 10 minutes.
NGUYEN: Another tirade against President Bush. Al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the latest videotaped message. We have all those details in about 30 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Right "Now in the News," the House will investigate explicit messages allegedly sent from a former congressman -- now former congressman, we should say -- to a teenage boy. The boy is a former congressional page, and the revelations prompted Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley to resign. Seen there in earlier pictures.
Now, questions about the e-mails first surfaced last year. We're going to have a lot more on this.
Meanwhile, last night, a vigil in Colorado for a girl killed at a high school. Later this morning, a memorial service is scheduled for Emily Keyes. She's the 16-year-old student killed this week by a gunman who took six high school girls hostage.
A bodyguard for a top Iraqi Sunni leader is in custody suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda in Iraq to bomb Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. The U.S. military says the suspected plot was in its final planning stages when they interrupted it.
NGUYEN: The U.S. ambassador to Iraq says U.S. officials are warning they may have to cut off funding for Iraq's Interior Ministry police. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad tells today -- or tells us today that -- or tells "The New York Times" today, I should say, that the U.S. is concerned about allegations that the police are failing to punish those responsible for torture. A U.S. law forbids funding armies or police that violate human rights.
And insurgent tactics in Iraq now duplicated in Afghanistan. Officials say a suicide bomber at a crowded pedestrian shopping area in Kabul killed at least 13 people this morning, including shopkeepers, women and children. The site is near the Interior Ministry. It was the capital's fifth suicide bombing this month alone.
Well, we do run down the top stories every 15 minutes right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING with in-depth coverage all morning long. So your next check of the headlines coming up at 7:30 Eastern.
SANCHEZ: Well, after years of soaring home prices, we've been seeing suddenly a change. But, you know, before we talk about real estate, which I'm sure Reynolds is interested in as well, let's get a check of the weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Well, after years of soaring home prices -- I'm sure we all know about that -- suddenly the housing market has been hitting a bumpy road, as I'm you've been hearing over the last couple of weeks. There may be a silver lining, though, and we're going to tell you how you can take advantage of what is being called a cooling trend.
NGUYEN: And the battle for young minds in the war on terror. One youth program is reaching out to kids of all faiths. But can it change their beliefs before al Qaeda finds them?
In just five minutes, we will go "Beyond the Game" with Rick Horrow. Today's topic, the big bucks in college and high school football.
SANCHEZ: Also, the whiz kid. Meet the youngest student ever at a California university. His story in about 15 minutes right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: The cash benefits of the gridiron. From college to high school, football teams are using some creative ways to rake in the big bucks.
And to take us now "Beyond the Game," we are joined by the author of "When the Game is on the Line." Look at that cover. Boy does he look good.
That's Rick Horrow, folks. And he's joining us now to talk about this.
Rick, what new deals, what new gimmicks, what new ways are being used by specifically the professionals in this case, the NFL, to rake in the bucks?
RICK HORROW, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, the NFL and college is of course key. But let me tell you first, I got back from the Ryder Cup this week...
SANCHEZ: Yes?
HORROW: ... so I'm going to watch about 13 football games. I didn't -- I wasn't able to do it last week. I'm even excited about watching, you know, Texas play, you can tell Betty.
You know, the bottom line of all of this is that college, as we know, is a big business. The average school spends about $23 million, and 40 of them run in the black. The rest are scrambling for dollars for their 360,000 student athletes.
So the one way, stadiums: Michigan, Stanford, Minnesota all building them. Then they sell stuff. A $3 billion retail industry.
Schools like Texas, because of they're national championship, lead the way. Other schools need to get creative.
Georgia just had a 10-year $13 million deal with Nike. Then there's USC. Hey, Coach Carroll is now selling jerseys of Williams, Bush, Leinart, 500 jerseys, 500 bucks a piece. Let's just hope he cleans them before he puts them on eBay.
SANCHEZ: It's amazing how much they put into the business of what used to be an amateur sport. I wonder if we can still call it that. But I know what you're going to say, that's another argument for another day.
Let's move on to high school then. You know, my son is playing high school football, and, you know, we're asked a lot to do a lot of booster stuff for the kids, which is understandable if you're a parent. But are they doing something else, perhaps, outside what the parents can control?
HORROW: First of all, Rick Sanchez, thank you for asking and answering all of my questions. I do appreciate that, by the way.
On the high school side -- we've been together for a long time, so that's fine. On the high school side, hey, it's way beyond boosterism, as you know. That is a million-dollar business or more as well. And how do we know that? Because ESPN and FOX are televising nearly 20 high school games nationally this year.
Nike is staking 150 programs with sponsorships. Then there's naming: Tyler, Texas, Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium, named after a healthcare provider, $1.2 million; Midland, Texas, Grand Communications.
The bottom line is this is no longer amateur sports. It's big bucks.
SANCHEZ: Wow. Interesting.
Hey, you do your foul ball and fair ball for us every week?
HORROW: Yes, sir.
SANCHEZ: Let's start with the foul ball this time.
HORROW: Yes, sir. What do you think it is? It's Terrell Owens.
Hey, I personally just wish he would shut up and catch the ball and it will be over. But the saga never ends. Suicide, accident, nobody knows.
But it's interesting. TNS Sport just did a study. And the five most interesting athletes to endorse a product, you've got Michael Jordan, you've got Tiger Woods, you've got Brett Favre and Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James. Terrell ain't on it.
SANCHEZ: Really?
HORROW: As you might expect.
SANCHEZ: So it's going -- well, you know, sometimes, though, being a bad boy pays. And he certainly is -- he certainly is that, isn't he?
HORROW: Yes, but this is a bad, unpredictable boy, which makes it even worse.
Fair ball, interesting story. Tulane and the Superdome. Last week we all celebrated with the Falcons and Saints at the Superdome for the NFL. This weekend, Tulane opens its college season.
Sports as a vehicle for recovery in New Orleans is tremendous. Let's just remember, though, Katrina wiped out 215,000 jobs and nearly 17,000 businesses. So as important as sports is, we've got a long way to go. But it is a very compelling start -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. And next time maybe, if we can't do it on TV, I'll give you a call. And we'll talk about what I consider to be the lack of amateurism in amateur sports.
HORROW: Yes, but that's another story for another time. SANCHEZ: I knew he was going to say that.
Rick Horrow, thanks so much.
HORROW: Nice setup, man. See you next week.
SANCHEZ: All right.
Betty, over to you.
NGUYEN: See, that's why he's a professional and not an amateur. He knows how to handle that.
All right. Talk to you guys later.
Well, the ripple effect from Massachusetts's same-sex marriage law ahead. Why more same-sex couples may be traveling there to tie the knot.
SANCHEZ: Also, one cat's rescue tale. A New Jersey family credits their pet with saving their lives.
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: "Now in the News," inappropriate e-mails a congressman allegedly sent to a teenage boy are now the focus of an investigation. New this morning, the House votes to refer the case of former Florida Congressman Mark Foley to the Ethics Committee. Foley, a prominent Republican, resigned after news about messages surfaced.
Before taking off to campaign in the November elections, Congress overnight passed a major port security bill, a Pentagon budget that includes $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, and it approved building a fence along a third of the U.S. border with Mexico.
Well, the U.S. military says a suspected plot to attack Baghdad's fortified Green Zone was in its final planning stages. A guard for the leader of Iraq's largest Sunni party is in custody. Meanwhile, a strict curfew is in effect in Baghdad through tomorrow morning. It bans all vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
SANCHEZ: There seems to have been a plane crash in Brazil, but they can't find the plane. The Brazilian Air Force is searching as we speak in the Amazon for a missing airliner. Gol Flight 1907 disappeared from radar yesterday. It was headed to Brasilia with 155 people on board.
Local media are reporting the aircraft may have collided with a smaller plane. Reuters quotes a local official as saying the airliner has crashed on a farm. But again, still no sign of the plane.
Israeli troops will completely withdraw from southern Lebanon by tomorrow. That is what Lebanese officials have been saying they have been told by U.N. peacekeepers. The Israeli army is not confirming that at this point, though. The U.N. cease-fire resolution that ended this summer's fighting between Israel and Hezbollah called on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon but doesn't specify what the exact deadline would be.
Let's go over to Reynolds Wolf now and get a quick check of the weather and find out what's going on.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: We run down the top stories for you every 15 minutes right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING with in-depth coverage, as you might come to expect, every -- all morning long as stories warrant. And your next check of the headlines is coming up at 7:45 Eastern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASTERT: Well, none of us are very happy about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A blow to House Republicans so close to the midterm elections as Congressman Mark Foley steps down amid questions about his alleged e-mails to a teenage boy. We'll have much more on this.
Welcome back, everybody. Good morning.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we're going to have that story and its repercussions in just a minute.
First, though, a look at some of the morning headlines for you.
NGUYEN: Well, Republicans are trying to contain the political fallout over a congressman's abrupt resignation. The House has voted to investigate e-mails and messages former congressman Mark Foley allegedly sent to a teenage boil.
CNN's John Zarrella has more on Foley's decision to step down and what it means for Republicans in November.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Six-term Republican congressman Mark Foley called it quits as word began spreading of an e-mail correspondence he had with a former male page. Foley issued a statement announcing his resignation and apologized.
The statement concluded, "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."
A spokesman for the congressman, who is single, has maintained the e-mail was taken out of context in an attempt to smear Foley and there was nothing inappropriate about it. The e-mail was reportedly sent from Foley in August 2005 to the former congressional page who was then 16 years old. The teenager was no longer in Washington when the correspondence took place.
According to ABC News, the teen called the e-mail "sick, sick, sick." House Speaker Dennis Hastert said the matter will be looked at carefully.
HASTERT: As of now, he's done the right thing. I've asked John Shimkus, who is the head of the page board, to look into this issue regarding Congressman Foley. We want to make sure that all our pages are safe and the page system is safe.
QUESTION: How disturbing is this?
HASTERT: Well, none of us are very happy about it.
ZARRELLA: Foley, whose district includes West Palm Beach, was considered a virtual lock for reelection. He was running against Democrat Tim Mahoney, a political newcomer. Foley's office is charging Mahoney with leaking the e-mails, an accusation denied by Mahoney, who had this to say about his now former opponent...
TIM MAHONEY (D), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The challenges facing Congressman Foley make this a difficult time for the people of the 16th district. The families of all those involved -- the families of all those involved are in our thoughts and in our prayers.
ZARRELLA: According to congressional sources, Foley decided not to seek reelection because there may be other politically damaging e- mails out there.
(on camera): The Republicans will be able to replace Foley with a new candidate, but it's too late to get that person's name on the ballot. The only way to vote for the new candidate is to cast a ballot for Foley.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And John Zarrella did file that report for "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. You can watch weekday afternoons at 4:00 Eastern and primetime at 7:00 Eastern.
SANCHEZ: Here are the stories "Across America" this morning.
A Massachusetts judge has ruled same-sex couples from Rhode Island can wed in the Bay State because Rhode Island does not specifically ban such marriages. Rhode Island's attorney general says his state won't recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts.
A 13-year-old says he's very good at learning. And he's not kidding. Benjamin Brown is now the youngest student ever at the University of California Santa Barbara. He wants to become a biology research scientist. Brown began talking by his first birthday and he was reading at age 4.
You go.
NGUYEN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: A cat named Midnight is getting a lot of extra treats from her owners in New Jersey. The family was sleeping when a fire broke out at their house. The cat ran to the bedroom and woke them up. We understand that everyone is OK thanks to the cat.
NGUYEN: Yes. A nice cat to have around.
Well, Veronica de la Cruz is standing by.
You've got a lot to tell us about coming up.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Good morning.
NGUYEN: Good morning.
DE LA CRUZ: How are you guys doing?
NGUYEN: Doing all right.
DE LA CRUZ: Good to see you.
NGUYEN: Dealing with a little cold here, but besides that everything is great.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh. Welcome back. It's good to see you.
Coming up next, guys, we are going to show you out there how you can be a part of our news team. I've got details and a few of your pictures to share. That's after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. Welcome back. Here's what's in the news right now.
The House will investigate explicit messages allegedly sent by a congressman to a teenage boy. The boy and -- is a former congressional page, and the revelations prompted last night Florida congressman Mark Foley to resign. Questions about these e-mails first surfaced last year.
We'll continue to follow this story.
Also, in Atlanta, prosecutors say Brian Nichols, the man charged with killing four people outside an Atlanta courthouse after a rampage last year, plotted an escape from jail and recently tried to intimidate a witness. That witness, according to prosecutors, is a woman Nichols is accused of raping.
Also, in Brazil, anxious relatives await word about a missing jetliner. Gol Flight 1907 carried 155 people. Officials initially said it may have collided with a smaller plane. Now they're saying they're actually not sure what happened but they still have not been able to find it -- Betty.
NGUYEN: A suicide bombing today in Kabul, Afghanistan, to tell you about. Authorities say it is the fifth such attack this month in the capital. And according to Afghan police, the bomber targeted a crowded pedestrian shopping area near the Interior Ministry. At least 13 people were killed, including women, children and shopkeepers.
The FDA gave the all-clear on most fresh spinach. A widespread E. coli outbreak involving spinach was traced to one company, Natural Selection Foods, in California. Other fresh spinach is now deemed safe to eat.
We run down top stories every 15 minutes right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING with in-depth coverage all morning long. So, your next check of the headlines, that's coming up at the top of the hour.
There is another taped message from al Qaeda's second in command. In it, Ayman al-Zawahiri criticizes President Bush and Pope Benedict and encourages Muslims to fight in Darfur. What he didn't say is also raising some attention.
CNN's Kelli Arena has the story which first aired on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's the world according to Ayman al-Zawahiri. In his third taped message this month, al Qaeda's number two seems determined to tell followers how to interpret world events.
BOB GRENIER, FMR. CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Well, it appears that Zawahiri is trying very hard to stay tactically engaged with the faithful and to maintain his leadership of a movement which by its very nature is becoming more diffuse.
ARENA: He starts by blasting President Bush and the administration claims that captured al Qaeda leaders, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, provided helpful information in interrogations.
AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA (through translator): And I tell them, you foolhardy charlatan, if the arrested of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- may god free him -- has helped you in the so-called war on terror, why then are your forces retreating in secret from the south and east of Afghanistan and being replaced by the forces of NATO, which are screaming for help?
ARENA: The tape is actually two messages pieced together with very different backgrounds and wearing different clothes. The second part focuses on the pope. Zawahiri calls him a charlatan, too, for his recent comments about Islam. He then moves on to discuss Darfur, calling on Muslims to fight against what he calls crusader U.N. troops. Analysts say it's all very much part of a larger al Qaeda strategy.
GRENIER: Al Qaeda has tried very carefully to paint the situation in Darfur as another chapter, another front, if you will, in the war on Islam.
ARENA: Interestingly, there's no mention of his boss, Osama bin Laden, despite recent rumors he may have died. Analysts say that could be important or not.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: The fact that Ayman al- Zawahiri didn't mention bin Laden on this tape may mean nothing because this tape may have been made as much as two weeks ago, before the erroneous reports of bin Laden's death were out there.
ARENA (on camera): Al Qaeda tapes have been coming fast and furious lately. Analysts say if Zawahiri is trying to remain relevant, he's actually defeating his own purpose. They say the more tapes there are, the less important his message has become.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And you can watch "ANDERSON COOPER 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
NGUYEN: Time now to go global. Heading over to our international desk.
SANCHEZ: We do indeed, with Brenda Bernard, no less, who joins us now with some of the stories that she's following for us this morning.
Good morning, Brenda.
BRENDA BERNARD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Rick.
Some very serious terrorist allegations coming out this morning between nuclear neighbors. Police in India accuse Pakistan's spy agency of masterminding the deadly Mumbai train bombings. More than 200 people were killed and another 700 wounded in the July 11th attacks. Mumbai's police commissioner says evidence shows that Pakistan's ISI planned it and a Pakistan-based Islamist militant group carried it out. A Pakistani official rejects the claim.
Turning to another dispute between neighbors, Russia says it is temporarily suspending a pullout of its troops from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. This comes after Tbilisi accused four Russian military officers of being spies and sent police to surround the Russian army headquarters in the Georgian capital. Russia has recalled its ambassador to Georgia amid the growing rift.
And Vietnam is rushing to evacuate about 180,000 people as a powerful typhoon barrels towards land. Typhoon Xangsane is expected to hit overnight. It is a Category 4 storm right now in the south China Sea with 135-mile-per-hour winds.
Authorities say they are expecting the worst. The storm has already delivered a deadly blow to the Philippines, killing 61 people and leaving nearly 70 others missing. The military is helping with clean-up efforts.
A Category 4 storm -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
NGUYEN: That is a huge storm.
BERNARD: That really is.
NGUYEN: And headed to the central portion of Vietnam.
BERNARD: Central Vietnam.
NGUYEN: You know, I just got back from a humanitarian aid trip to Vietnam, and it's the beginning of the monsoon season. So this is definitely not what they need. But obviously we'll keep a close eye on that.
Thank you, Brenda.
BERNARD: You bet.
SANCHEZ: It certainly has the potential of being their Katrina.
NGUYEN: Oh, absolutely.
BERNARD: Absolutely. That is the fear.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you. Continue to monitor that for us, if you will.
United Nations peacekeepers say Israel will complete its troop pullout from southern Lebanon tomorrow, but questions linger about a deadly Israeli strike on U.N. observers during the battle with Hezbollah.
The latest now from senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two months after Israel bombed a U.N. bunker in southern Lebanon, an internal U.N. board of inquiry says it cannot explain why Israel attacked the facility. A 500-pound laser-guided bomb killed four U.N. observers. U.N. investigators say they have been denied access to commanders who might have been involved.
STEPHANE DUJARRIC, U.N. SPOKESMAN: The U.N. inquiry is unable to determine the why of the attacks and especially why they were not halted despite the fact that we had made numerous calls, both from the field and from headquarters, to our counterparts in the Israeli government and the military.
ROTH: Israel has already apologized for the strike. Its own internal review concluded it was an error due to inaccurate maps. But the U.N. says the Kayam (ph) outpost was there for 30 years, was well known to Israeli military commanders, and Israel had been given detailed maps.
The U.N. found no evidence of Hezbollah activity in the area the day of the attack. There are two well-known Hezbollah bases not far from the U.N. location. But the U.N. says the bomb hit its intended target.
"Precision guided munitions are precision guided. They are meant to hit the target they hit, which was the United Nations."
(on camera): Last July, Kofi Annan said the Israeli strike was apparently deliberate. A senior U.N. official, in light of the latest report, says Annan's comments are now borne out by the facts.
Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Well, "The WaterCooler" is going to be coming up in just a bit. Something that will likely interest you. As it always does.
NGUYEN: Oh definitely keep you talking. That's for sure.
Look at that! Oh, my! You definitely don't want to miss this. We'll tell you all about a lady whose -- well, it rivals the economy of a small country. We can see why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. You know that sound. It is time for "The WaterCooler". Rick's favorite.
SANCHEZ: Absolutely adore this segment. Have I told you that?
NGUYEN: You have. Not really.
SANCHEZ: This is when -- this is when we step back a little bit, though, and talk about some of the news that, you know, sometimes might be missed by some of the larger periodicals, some of the unusual items, for example, that we see across the country. And we even share it with you on our big plasma there that says, bloop, bloop, bloop "WaterCooler".
NGUYEN: And unusual is right, because first up this morning is a controversial art auction in Britain. Now, most art critics agree watercolors and sketches, well, they're mediocre at best. And that didn't stop a lot of anonymous buyers, though, from snatching them up for a total of $220,000.
SANCHEZ: So, you're asking, so what, Betty? Big deal, somebody is selling some art at an auction, right? No, this is different.
You see, what makes this different is the artist. The works purportedly were done by Adolph Hitler.
NGUYEN: Oh.
SANCHEZ: Adolph Hitler, the artist, prior to becoming Adolph Hitler the furor. Holocaust survivors in particular resent Hitler's paintings and sketches even being sold or even being put on auction, and the fact that they continue to attract so many collectors. Many would prefer that the works, in fact, be destroyed, which makes one wonder why someone doesn't come up buy them...
NGUYEN: Buy them...
SANCHEZ: ... and then have a giant bonfire. Exactly.
NGUYEN: Well, that may happen. We'll have to wait and see.
But let's go to Idaho right now. There's a vacant home that we're going to show you. There it is.
Well, it was on the market and it went for really, really cheap. Now the new owners know why. Just look. In the eight years that the house has been vacant, well, it's become like a club med for thousands of icky snakes.
SANCHEZ: Five hundred snakes have been spotted just in the basement alone. Getting rid of these snakes won't be easy, because many of the snakes are protected by state law. It's not like they're on a plane or anything.
NGUYEN: Yes. Snakes in a house instead.
OK. This probably is one of the stranger sites that you'll ever see. It's a man taking his pet goose for a walk or a fly.
SANCHEZ: What's wrong with that?
NGUYEN: Well, it's odd. Come on.
The wild bird showed up last spring and was adopted by the family, and also developed a special bond with the man's motorcycle. Don't ask us why. We have no earthly idea. But the family named the goose Harley for obvious reasons.
SANCHEZ: Duck, duck, goose, he says to other motorists as they approach him.
Well, hands down, one of the creepiest pictures we've ever come across. Look at this.
NGUYEN: That looks painful, doesn't it?
SANCHEZ: This is what happens if you never trim your -- do you grow your fingernails? NGUYEN: No.
SANCHEZ: You don't, right? You're not...
NGUYEN: And I want to know how does she do just everyday chores? I mean, how do you brush your teeth? How do you comb your hair? How do you do -- how do you make a sandwich with fingernails like that?
That's what I want to know.
SANCHEZ: Yes. How do you cut that tomato, by golly.
NGUYEN: Exactly.
SANCHEZ: Sixty-five-year-old Lee Redmond (ph) of Utah literally clawed her way into the "Guinness Book of Records" with these nails. Their combined total length is a staggering 24 feet 7 inches.
NGUYEN: Wow. Now, that's a lot of fingernail polish right there, folks. And when people ask her how she uses the rest room, and some of these other things that, you know, I asked, she just says, "Very carefully."
I would say so.
Well, if you like "The WaterCooler" as much as we do, there's more ahead a little bit later on this morning in our 10:00 Eastern hour.
SANCHEZ: Like somebody once said, we can't make this stuff up, folks.
Also, tune in this same time tomorrow for another edition of "The WaterCooler".
NGUYEN: Well, if you've ever wanted to say, "I report for CNN," now is your chance.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Veronica de la Cruz is joining us now with some of the details on how you can be a part of what we do.
DE LA CRUZ: Hey, guys. Good morning.
SANCHEZ: Hi. How are you?
NGUYEN: Hey.
DE LA CRUZ: Good. You guys really nailed that last story.
(LAUGHTER)
DE LA CRUZ: Well, Betty and Rick, you guys know that we've always accepted submissions from viewers when it comes to pictures and video, but now we have made it even easier. We have created a destination when you can -- a community -- we call it i-exchange, and it's where you can upload your own material. And this week we have received some amazing images from our viewers in the Philippines.
Check this out, this picture sent to us by Hendrick Lindroff (ph). It really shows the power of that typhoon that hit Manila last Thursday. Take a look at the line of trees completely bent and flattened.
And now if you listen closely, you can actually hear the force of the wind in this video. Toby Wallenberg sent us this video that he shot from his bedroom window in Manila. That's incredible.
Back in the United States, quite a sight. Check out this 100- year-old Victorian-style home being moved on a barge from Palmetto to Ruskin, Florida. Now, as the house floated to its new destination, local firefighter Scott Smith snapped this beautiful sunset picture of the house and he sent it to us.
And you out there, you can actually do what Scott did this week and send us your i-Report. Just log on to CNN.com, look for that i- Report logo right there, click, and that -'s going to get you started. We also give you some tips on how to capture the very best images and how to upload them.
And don't forget to log on to CNN.com/exchange send us your pictures.
And then coming up at 10:00, for all you science geeks out there we're going to show you a picture of the world's largest periodic table of elements.
I don't know about you guys, but I was horrible at chemistry.
NGUYEN: Yes. I can't wait to see that periodic table of elements, woo hoo!
OK. Take care, Veronica.
SANCHEZ: Thanks very much, Veronica.
NGUYEN: Well, we do have a shocking resignation from Congress to tell you about. Coming up, alleged e-mails between a U.S. representative and a 16-year-old boy are released. Now Mark Foley says he's sorry.
SANCHEZ: Yes. There's going to be a lot of fallout on this on Capitol Hill. And the question, of course, is when did the rest of his colleagues know about this? We'll have those questions, hopefully some answers.
And we're going to have a live report from Baghdad on that citywide curfew we've been telling you about.
We'll be right back.
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