Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

U.N. Diplomats Meet To Consider Sanctions Against North Korea; Michelle Gardner-Quinn's Body Found in Gorge

Aired October 14, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, punishing North Korea diplomats meet at the United Nations to consider sanctions over North Korea's expected nuclear tests. Now the meeting began to begin in just a few hours we will go live to the U.N. in just a few minutes.
The U.S. moves a step closer to confirming North Korea's claim that it conducted a nuclear test. Officials say air samples detected evidence of radioactivity at the test site. But still no final determination of what the blast exactly was.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: A grim discovery in northern Iraq this morning. Police have found the bodies of 26 Iraqis. They think they may have killed to a avenge the abduction and slayings of 14 Shiite construction workers.

America's oldest living president, Gerald Ford, said to be doing well and to be strong. That word from his son Steve the ex president is back in the hospital this week for unspecified tests. In August Ford underwent heart surgery.

NGUYEN: Now to Washington. Police there began arresting students at Gallaudet University, the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing impaired. Students are against the hiring of incoming President Jane Fernandez. They say she is just not open to different points of view and does not reflect the student body's diversity.

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.

HOLMES: Cashing in on your American dream. Coming up at the bottom of the hour, how to protect your personal information when applying for a mortgage.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning everybody, I'm T.J. Holmes and this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: Well you sure are perky on a Saturday morning.

HOLMES: I have been eating candy this morning.

NGUYEN: I have been partaking so watch out, folks. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us. Possible proof, new evidence this morning could help clear the air over North Korea's suspected nuclear test. Officials say that U.S. has evidence of radioactivity from the test site. A statement obtained by CNN says radioactive debris was detected in air samples. The findings well they are still preliminary. It will take a few more days to finish analyzing the results. North Korea's claim that it conducted a nuclear test Monday set off shock waves around the world and since then, the U.S. and other nations have been trying to confirm that claim.

HOLMES: The focus today just how to punish North Korea for its actions. Diplomats at the U.N. meet to consider sanctions. The U.S. is pushing for a tough action and a quick vote. Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth tracking the latest developments for us. He is live for us. Good morning to you Richard, a big and busy day.

RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J. The United Nations Security Council may adopt a resolution today that's aimed at Pyongyang, North Korea. Punishing the north for whatever it tested last week. The Security Council, though, once again is riddled with division over the resolution, especially among the big powers.

It seemed like the council was poised for a vote this morning, according to U.S. Ambassador John Bolton yesterday, who announced unanimous agreement, but as the day went on, China had more objections, specifically with some of the severest aspects of the resolution. It had already succeeded in the hard bargaining with Ambassador Bolton to water down or remove some of the tougher measures.

China is still concerned about the stop and search methods for goods going in or out of North Korea, as the U.S. is worried about materials or technology getting into the country or being exported for use in weapons of mass destruction or missiles program.

So, the five permanent members, the big powers, will meet in an hour perhaps, and then -- and the security council, full 15 members, will huddle, but it is still not certain yet, T.J. There will be a vote at this moment though it's still possible.

HOLMES: You said China is concerned. Is there any way to gauge just how concerned they still are about some of those sanctions?

ROTH: Well, last evening when we were questioning the Chinese ambassador he said there are still some questions and concerns; he still needs new instructions from Beijing. China, while wanting to punish North Korea in a swift manner, they said they want an appropriate, prudent response. They don't want to come down too hard on North Korea.

They are worried about U.N. authority perhaps one day affecting its own country so they want to make sure that what they feel is in this resolution, and they are going to wait as long as possible until they get what they want. They do have veto power and the U.S. would like everyone on board, though in the end, China could always abstain. But we have seen these battles before. Sometimes the U.S. and China do get together in the end.

HOLMES: All right. Richard Roth, we know you are going to be all over this for us. Thank you so much. I'm sure we will see you later on through the day.

We have a programming note as well. U.N. Ambassador John Bolton is going to talk about North Korea tomorrow on "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." You can tune in beginning at 11:00 Eastern.

That brings us to this morning's e-mail question. We are asking, how concerned are you, and what would you do about North Korea? You can e-mail us at WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We are going to read some your responses a little later in the morning.

NGUYEN: Well there's still no sign of a missing vehicle that may hold the key to who killed an apparent family of four along the Florida turnpike. Their bodies were found early yesterday about 100 miles north of Miami near the city of Port St. Lucie. The black or dark green jeep belonging to the victims may have been used as a get away car by the gunman.

Investigators have been pouring over the crime scene, recovering bullets, bullet casings, any other evidence that they can find. They also are looking at hundreds of hours of surveillance videotape from the turnpike toll plazas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF KEN MASCARA, ST. LUCIE CO., FLORIDA: We have approximately 55 VHS tapes from the toll plazas. We're at the office reviewing those right now, from Wildwood all the way down to Miami so that will be a very laborious project to review all those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: In the meantime, police have not revealed the identities of the victims. They say the woman tried to shield the children from the bullets.

Police do have a suspect in the death of a University of Vermont coed, but so far no charges have been filed in this case. Michelle Gardner-Quinn's body was found yesterday in a gorge about 13 miles from UVM's Burlington campus. Gardner-Quinn had a chance meeting with 36-year-old Brian Rooney on October 7th and even used Rooney's cell phone to call a friend. That was the last anyone heard from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS TREMBLAY, BURLINGTON POLICE CHIEF: A short time ago, Mr. Rooney was arrested and is currently in police custody on charges unrelated to the disappearance of Michelle. Those charges include sexual assault and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. Each of these charges stems from events that occurred well before Michelle's disappearance and that were uncovered during the course of our investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: The 21-year-old woman was walking back to her dorm from downtown Burlington when she encountered Rooney. They were seen together in store surveillance videotape about 2:30 in the morning last Saturday.

HOLMES: The White House is throwing more support to be leagued house speaker Dennis Hastert. Hastert is holding a campaign fundraiser tonight in Illinois and White House press secretary Tony Snow will be here. He will be speaking to the crowd and Hastert is a key figure, of course, in the investigation of how Republicans handled the congressional page scandal.

The ethics panel investigating the Foley scandal has heard from the congressman who heads the page program on Capitol Hill. Republican John Shimkus of Illinois declined to say what he told the panel on Friday. Shimkus says he privately warned Foley in 2005 about "overly friendly e-mails." Foley sent to a teenage boy serving as a page. Shimkus says Foley told him he would stop. Shimkus says now it's obvious his warnings to Foley were not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN SHIMKUS, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE PAGE BOARD: I think there's stuff that everybody would have done differently had 20/20 hindsight is always perfect. So having 20/20 hindsight a lot of things would have been different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The ethics panel also heard this week from Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham spent four hours testifying Thursday. Fordham has said he warned the house leadership about Foley's behavior years ago. An aide to house speaker Dennis Hastert denies Fordham's claims.

NGUYEN: Republican house leaders say they will expel representative Bob Ney if he does not resign from Congress this month. The six-term Ohio Republican pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy and making false statements in the Jack Abramhoff lobbying scandal.

Prosecutors say they will ask for a 27-month prison term when sentenced on January 19th. Ney admitted to accepting trips, meals and event tickets in return for helping Abramoff's clients. The White House calls his behavior unacceptable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Republicans in Washington have a problem with ethics?

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No, but he ought to resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right. Well, Ney says he is ashamed of his actions. His attorney says Ney will resign in the next few weeks.

For all the latest news on Washington as we head into this crucial midterm election, stay up to date with CNN political ticker, the daily news service which is on CNN.com. It's right there on your screen. It gives you an inside view of today's political stories. All you have to do is go to it. CNN.com/ticker.

HOLMES: The junk mail source, coming up at the bottom of the hour, find out how all those annoying rivals could put you at financial risk.

NGUYEN: What's next for a western New York, the day after a surprise snowstorm. Check that out. The weather is next.

And in ten minutes, what's your problem, really? What's the problem? We want to know. What's your problem? From healthy drive- through dining. Boy, is that something even you can say, healthy drive-through dining is that possible, to dealing with stubborn bellies that won't slim down. Jerry Anderson gives you his fitness fixes in today's "Jump Start."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Now in the news, punishing North Korea, diplomats meet at the U.N. today to discuss sanctions over North Korea's suspected nuclear test. The U.S. hopes for a vote today, but concerns from Russia and China could delay any action. The first meetings are set to begin in just under three hours.

An apparent string of revenge killings happening in Iraq. Police have found the bodies of 26 Iraqis north of Baghdad. They think they were killed to retaliate for the abduction and slaying of 14 Shiite construction workers.

New flight restrictions for New York's East River following this week's plane crash into a Manhattan high rise. The FAA now bans most small, fixed wing planes unless they are in contact with air traffic controllers. The restrictions went into effect immediately but do not apply to helicopters.

And the Secret Service agents questioned a 14-year-old about an apparent threat on her MySpace Web page. Upset over the war in Iraq, the girl posted a picture of President Bush with the words "kill Bush." She was placed on federal authorities checklists. After talking to her, agents said they would delete her investigation file.

Of course, we run down the top stories every 15 minimums here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

NGUYEN: Well, an October surprise for Buffalo, a heavy snowfall took out trees and they downed power lines. Latest word, power could remain out for days. This is a record-breaking snowfall for October. It's being blamed on three deaths and New York's governor is asking President Bush to declare a federal emergency. The situation is definitely serious. And really kind of odd, T.J. because, after all, Rob Marciano, it's only October.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, well they do get a little bit of snow in October. Actually, the average, .4 inches for the entire month. To get 22 inches is not even -- the last record for daily total was eight inches. So they obviously blew that out of the water. Just off the charts.

We do still have some snow showers that are filtering in across the Great Lakes. Warm great lake water, temperatures in the mid to upper 50s in some cases, and you have air temperatures in the 30s, and even below that coming over the top of that. That creates the instability and the wet snow.

Right now, Cleveland into Erie, PA is where we are seeing some wet snow beginning to fall. Want to give you some rainfall or snow -- rainfall -- haven't switched gears into snow yet, but some snowfall totals. It's not just Buffalo. The U.P. of Michigan seeing almost two feet of snow for snow totals for this storm. Herman, Michigan, also seeing 18 inches, Mohawk, Michigan chiming in with 10 inches of snow. The U.P. getting into it.

Still have the threat for seeing some showers, but generally speaking, the eastern two thirds of the country, high-pressure in control, and a cool, crisp day with bright sunshine. It is going to be a good looking fall day today. The flip side, the southwest, will see some showers at times, some thunderstorms rolling into the four corners region. L.A., really parts of southern Cal this morning will see some showers beginning to dry out just a little bit tomorrow, 48 degrees expected in Detroit today.

It will be 59 degrees in New York City so not too bad there. It will be 61 in Kansas City, 72 degrees in Dallas. Speaking of L.A., here are the showers spiraling in, getting into Flagstaff, Arizona and Salt Lake City. Tomorrow up and down the eastern seaboard we are looking at another nice day. All in all, even though the folks in Buffalo and across the Great Lakes are suffering, a lot of the country enjoying some nice fall weather on their behalf -- T.J.

NGUYEN: It may -- hey, the rest of us are doing fine.

MARCIANO: That's the way weather works. I don't know what to tell you.

HOLMES: Thanks so much, Rob. In a few hours, the air force will dedicate a new memorial. It's built to honor the sacrifices made by the men and women of the air force. The latest monument, check it out there. Overlooks Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon. The inspiration for the memorial comes from the vapor trails that are left behind air force jets.

President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld are expected to attend this afternoon's dedication.

NGUYEN: It is really a neat looking memorial. Hey, best selling author Michael Conley is thrilling readers with his latest work "Echo Park." Coming up in the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING he joins us live from Los Angeles.

HOLMES: Also, you have a belly you want to bust? Up next, Jerry's "Jump Start." Explains how slow but steady is the key to kicking that gut.

Also coming up in ten minutes ...

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, "OPEN HOUSE." All of us get those mortgage offers in the mail. Did you know that the second you apply for a mortgage your personal information could get into the wrong hands? We will tell you how to protect yourself.

Plus, as the U.S. population hits 300 million, we'll tell you what parts of the country could be in for urban sprawl burnout.

And Halloween with your wallet in mind. That's "OPEN HOUSE," 9:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, fighting belly fat and eating healthy at drive- through, boy that's tough. That's why there's some of the medical mysteries -- I would say medical, more like fitness mysteries that you want answered by our exercise guru, Jerry Anderson. In fact we may be talking about a medical mystery in one of these e-mail questions. We will get to that in just a moment. But, wow, look at you today. Check out that shirt! That's a sight to be seen, Jerry.

JERRY ANDERSON, FITNESS EXPERT: Good morning, Betty.

NGUYEN: Good morning. Let me get to our first question. We have some really good ones. Actually kind of hard questions for you, so hopefully you're up to the task. Question number one coming from Sheila. Here's Sheila's problem. She says, "It's hard to eat healthy when you don't have a refrigerator in your car. Are there any fast foods that I can get at a drive-through that would still be considered healthy besides a salad?" Yes that's the problem. All the good stuff, its kind of boring every once in awhile, you know?

ANDERSON: Right. Betty you know what is amazing is here is the thing to do Sheila. If you have to go to fast food, just make sure whatever you order on the menu has less than three grams of fat. But the ultimate thing is, I want you to go portable.

Portable means get your own lunch bag that has a cooler, put some water in there, fruit, some celery, some carrots and just prepare yourself. Put some yogurt in there. In reality we have to take charge of our health. Don't let the fast food determine what's happened. We already see what it's done, 70 percent of adults are overweight.

NGUYEN: Well that is a good point; you really do have to take control. But when you see nothing more than three grams of fat it's not like thee fast food chains put it up there how many grams of fat are in there. You have to do your homework and the best thing to do is make your own meals if you have enough time, but again that's another problem.

ANDERSON: Go portable.

NGUYEN: All right. Let's get to Ronald because here's what Ronald wants to know. He says, "I'm 48 years old, 5'6" weighs 201 pounds and have a belly that's hard to lose. I have been trying to lose 25 pounds but to no avail. What do I do to lose this weight and gain a flat stomach?

ANDERSON: You know, Ronald, this is a great question. Here's the thing. Don't try to lose 25 pounds. What I recommend, just lose one pound, one pound a week for 25 weeks. It's the best way to do it. You divide and conquer. What happens Betty when people try to lose 25 pounds; they say I can't do it. But when you divide it, you can conquer it. This guy was telling me the other day, he said Jerry I have got to lose 20 pounds. I said, no, lose one pound a week.

NGUYEN: How do you take that pound off per week?

ANDERSON: Perfect, OK here's the thing. It takes 3500 calories in reduction to lose one pound of fat. Ronald, what I want you to do is reduce your calorie intake 300, burn 200 calories a day on cardio. Every seven days you will be losing one pound of fat. In 25 weeks you will have the fat off and you will have the habits there. You don't want to lose the weight Betty without getting the habits because you are going to go back to your old habits.

NGUYEN: Listen to this one, this one may be a medical issue, I'm not really sure, I'm no doctor. But Jack says, "My 48 year old wife works out four days a week with weights and cardio. We both eat healthy foods and in the right proportions. She had a body fat percentage of 15 percent but has a stomach that could pass for six months pregnant. Is it fat or some medical problem?

Boy, you are traveling in some dangerous territory, talking about your wife that way. This question is, is fat the problem or is this medical problem?

ANDERSON: Well, you know what? At 15 percent body fat, that's the body fat of an elite athlete. I think she's doing the strength training, cardio, but the body fat percentage is perfect. I think it's a medical problem. It could be a hernia, fibroid because one of my clients was trying to trim her stomach down, it was amazing. She went in, had had an ultrasound, found out she had a ten-pound fibroid. So it could be amazing. I saw one on the Internet the other day it looked like the lady was six months. It was 40 pounds.

NGUYEN: The fibroid?

ANDERSON: It was 40 pounds.

NGUYEN: Get that checked out to be safe.

ANDERSON: Yes.

NGUYEN: You always want to know. ANDERSON: Jack, let us know what happens so we can get that information and share it with the rest of the viewers. It would be excellent.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. Hey, Cynthia wants to know this. She says, "Last year I began treatment for a long term back and hip problem, herniated disc and tear in the hip. I was given several cortisone injections. I am now still pain and weigh 20 lbs. More than I did. Since my exercise options are limited and I've never overeaten, what can I do to shed this extra weight?

ANDERSON: Wow. Cynthia, the first things I recommend is whatever you do keep the pressure off the lower back. So what I recommend, water aerobics. Get in the pool. Yes. There's no stress on the body. You have stress off the herniated discs and the hips. What it does, the water is 12 times more resistant than air so she is going to build her lean muscle mass, burn more fat.

NGUYEN: Just try running in water.

ANDERSON: There you go.

NGUYEN: That's a workout in itself.

ANDERSON: Then it's no stress on the body. Here is what happens, Cynthia when she lost the muscle, the water aerobics will give her five pounds of muscle. In five weeks, she will burn that 20 pounds right off.

NGUYEN: See, that's why you are the guru.

ANDERSON: Yes. Yes.

NGUYEN: You know what, with that shirt we have to go, Jerry. I will see you next weekend.

ANDERSON: All right. Great. See you next week.

NGUYEN: We have heard some of your problems, and we want to know, what's your problem out there? Whether you have an exercise issue or a nutritional nightmare, we want to hear from you. Jerry can answers your questions so all you have to do is e-mail us. WEEKENDS@CNN.com and Jerry will have those answers next week, 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here, same time, same channel.

HOLMES: I can't get past that shirt. He looked like a super hero.

All right. We're going to move on to protecting yourself from mortgage jams. "OPEN HOUSE" explains how next.

Then what will the United Nations do about North Korea's suspected nuclear test? We will bring you the latest details when we check the morning's top stories in three minutes.

Coming up at the top of the hour, "Echo Park" author Michael Conley talks about his latest crime thriller.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com