Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

California Arson Case Reward Up To $500,000; Deadly Month For U.S. Troops In Iraq, Difficult Times Between Bush Administration And Iraqi Prime Minister

Aired October 28, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITNEY LINGAFELTER, FIREFIGHTER'S GIRLFRIEND: I just want him back. That is all I want. I want him back. I'm angry at whoever started this fire. I am so angry at them because they killed him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The death of a fire fighter and the heartbreak that comes with it. A woman who lost her boyfriend to that deadly blaze in California shares her grief and her anger.

From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, I'm T.J. Holmes. We will have much more on that fire coming up, but first we are going to have a check of the other top stories of this morning.

The death of a U.S. marine in Iraq raises the toll for American forces in October to 98. That is the fourth highest monthly toll since the war started. NATO promises an investigation into civilian deaths following NATO air strikes Tuesday in southern Afghanistan. NATO says it is satisfied the operation hit Taliban fighters, but acknowledges some civilians were also killed.

NGUYEN: The search for remains at ground zero could take more than a year that according to New York's deputy mayor. Workers have found more than 200 bones and bone fragments since the search began last week.

Confessed D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo allegedly tells Tucson, Arizona police he and John Allan Muhammad killed a man in Tucson in March of 2002. Tucson believes interviewed Malvo Thursday at the urging of the victim's daughter.

HOLMES: People in St. Louis still partying this morning after their Cardinals ended the World Series with a 4-2 win over the Tigers. This is their first World Series win since 1982. They had a few weather problems the past couple of days they had to actually postpone the games but everything cooperated last night for them.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I am wondering though if the Tigers were hoping for a rainout. Just to give them a breather. No such luck for them what so ever. No break for people in New York right now. They have heavy showers.

At same time very strong wind and the potential for some flash flooding there. The polar opposite in parts of southern California. Firefighters have their work cut out for them today. A red flag warning in effect throughout the afternoon into the evening, very, very low humidity and strong winds. Not a good combination.

We are going to talk more about that coming up in a few moments right here. Lets send it back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Thanks Reynolds. We will see you shortly. And we do run down the top stories ever 15 minutes here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. With in depth coverage all morning long, your next check of the headlines coming up 9:15 Eastern.

NGUYEN: Let's get you started with the latest on the growing wildfire in southern California. Look at this. Here is what we know so far. The fire is only about 25 percent contained. Firefighters are trying to stay ahead of this blaze, but it's already charred more than 62 square miles. Investigators believe the fire was deliberately set and a reward for the information in the case, well that is now up to $500,000.

HOLMES: If some one is found, fire officials say murder charges will be filed. Four firefighters died when they were overrun by the fast-moving wildfire. More on these men and their grief stricken families from Hal Eisner of our affiliate KTTV reporting from Beaumont, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA AYALA, FIREFIGHTER'S MOTHER: I want my baby back.

HAL EISNER, KTTV REPORTER (voice-over): Gloria Ayala is talking about her 20-year-old son Danny one of the four fire fighters killed by a wood driven flames overran them while they were protecting a home.

LINGAFELTER: I just want him back. That is all I want. I am angry at whoever started this fire. I am so angry at them because they killed him.

EISNER: Whitney Lingafelter says her boyfriend was so proud of being a fire fighter.

LINGAFELTER: He loved it. It was his dream.

EISNER: But that dream turned into a nightmare for all of those who loved Danny. For all of those who loved the four firefighters from Engine Company 57.

ALLISON STEWART, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: There is a lot of pain right now.

EISNER: This was a day filled with emotion. Announcing the names of the firefighters who were killed was tough for the U.S. Forest Service.

STEWART: Mark Loutzenhiser was the engine captain.

EISNER: Mark Loutzenhiser was 44, had 21 years of service, lived in Idyllwild, and was certified as an EMT.

STEWART: Jesse McLean was the fire engine operator.

EISNER: Jess McLean was 27, lived in Beaumont, who worked for the forest service for seven years.

STEWART: Jason McKay was the assistant fire engine operating.

EISNER: Jason McKay was also 27. Had worked for the Forest Service for five years, was a certified EMT, had gotten a degree in fire science. Then there was Danny.

STEWART: Daniel Hoover-Najera was a fire fighter who was 20 years old and was in his second season of fire fighting.

EISNER: Danny's mother doesn't understand why her son was assigned to structure protection.

AYALA: He was too new; he was too green to be in there. He only started October 4; he was doing temp work before. I don't know. I need to know if that was right or wrong.

EISNER: Nonetheless, Danny's family, siblings and girlfriend mourn.

MONICA AYALA, FIREFIGHTER'S SISTER: He was my hero. I'm going to miss him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's gone. But I'll always remember him.

G. AYALA: As ashes keep coming down, I keep thinking part of my baby is coming down on me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A tough time for all those families in California. That report coming to us from Hal Eisner from Los Angeles affiliate KTTV.

NGUYEN: A deadly month for U.S. troops in Iraq and difficult times between the Bush administration and the Iraqi prime minister. CNN's Michael Ware joins us now live from Baghdad. We will get to that in just a moment Michael but first of all October is now the fourth deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war started. Are U.S. troops taking note of these numbers and is it at all affecting moral?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Betty. I mean, the U.S. forces, particularly the units on the brunt of the worse of this violence in Baghdad the capital and in western Anbar Province. These are more than numbers to the soldiers in these units. These are their friends or their comrades in related units. The death toll for this month certainly is being noted. While these troops, some of them on their second, some on their third tour hears in Iraq are becoming increasingly skeptical about the nation of the mission.

Nonetheless they are professional soldiers by and large. They are here to do a job. At the end of the day, as in any war, what this boils down to for this American GI's is getting themselves and their buddy's home. This is about the men around them, and to maintain their squad. That's how it boils down at end of the day for a soldier on the front line here, Betty.

NGUYEN: That's true. At end of the day, the only way to get these U.S. troops home is to ensure the violence stops. So lets talk about a plan here, give us some incite onto this joint statement that was issued between the Iraqi prime minister and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

WARE: Well, that joint statement was an incredibly rare thing. We don't often see that. It was a result of friction during the week with contrary statements by both the U.S. and the Iraqi prime minister. That statement itself was, to be honest, waffling and lacked substance.

What we had today is another development; two hours ago the Iraqi prime minister was in a 30-minute videoconference with President Bush. They discussed security arrangements. According to the government, both from the Iraqi prime minister looked to take a greater role for the Iraqi forces in providing their own security, but said to President Bush that means you need to train us better and equip us better.

This comes as one of the prime minister's aides this morning made it very, very clear that in discussions with the American ambassador yesterday, the prime minister said that he is not America's man here in Iraq. There is no agreement on timelines. He won't be rushed inappropriately by American pressure into making difficult decisions too quickly. He said he is not committed to following American will, but to follow agreements between the two countries, which are approved by the Iraqi parliament. The twists and turns in this tortuous relationship continue -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's get back what you said that the Iraqi prime minister mentioned in this conversation with the president, talking about stepping up the Iraqi security forces, yet they need to be trained. How close is that training to get them ready to take control of the country and protect themselves?

WARE: Well, the numbers that were set some time ago for the size of the Iraqi security forces, just a little over 300,000, have almost been reached. These troops are simply not ready. I mean it varies from unit to unit. There are some fairly adept units out there working side by side with American forces. By and large, the Iraqi security forces, the police, the army cannot be relied upon. Why? Because the fundamental problems in Iraq, the militias, the insurgents, the deep divisions have not been addressed. America has yet to tackle these and what the ambassador said is that the enemies of America such as Iran here interfering -- Betty.

NGUYEN: A lot of problems on the table. Michael Ware, thank you for that incite. We appreciate it. We will have more on the Iraqi government struggle with officials later today. You want to join CNN's John Roberts for a special edition of "This Week at War." That is from Baghdad, you get that tonight at 7:00 Eastern and again tomorrow at 1:00 Eastern.

HOLMES: The first family on the road today to rally Republican voters. Both the president and first lady Laura Bush will be on the campaign trail. The midterm elections just 10 days away now and the White House is pulling out all the stops. The president attends a rally in Indiana before heading on to South Carolina to visit U.S. troops and attend a Republican Party dinner.

Mrs. Bush makes campaign stops in New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. We want to know what you are thinking this morning. Does the first lady hitting the campaign trail impact your vote at all? You can email us your thoughts, the address is Weekends@CNN.com and we will be reading those a little bit later.

NGUYEN: Speaking of thoughts, how are these for you? The Iraq, the economy, gay marriage, national security. we are hearing a lot about all these issues as the campaign season winds up. What should voters be most concerned about as they prepare to head to the polls in just 10 days? I asked our Lou Dobbs for his insight into the keys to the ballot box for this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Neither of this party's is serving the interest of the largest group of people in this country, the middle class. Until they do so, I think the people ought to tell voters on both parties that they are not going to be taken for fools any longer. Register as independents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Keep it here for the best political coverage on television. Coming up tomorrow night, a CNN America votes special. "Democracy at Risk" the voting threats. CNN's Lou Dobbs takes an in depth looks at the vulnerability of the electronic voting machines. That is at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Sunday only on CNN.

Just a little bit of a note for you about those electronic voting machines at 11:00 Eastern today, we are going to talk with the man who has been overseeing those machines for the past 50 years. Stay tune forward that to see what the problems are and if those problems have solutions before 10 days arrive and the election time is here.

HOLMES: We are going to go from the election talk to some help talk. So I want you to put the donut down. Back away. We need to you put on workout gear. There he is.

NGUYEN: Did he rip off the sleeves to that shirt, were those muscles just to big?

HOLMES: Give it to us one time in the break here. There you go.

NGUYEN: The fitness guru.

HOLMES: That is Jerry Anderson; he is in the house of course. He will be answering your questions this morning.

NGUYEN: He has won many contests with those muscles.

Next hour, high-tech meets high fashion. Look at that. We will give you an explanation. That's coming up. First, Gerri Willis has a preview of today's "OPEN HOUSE."

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up at 9:30 am Eastern "OPEN HOUSE" Americans are more house poor than ever. We will tell you what you might be doing wrong. Plus we are bringing in New York's bravest to talk about how to keep you and your family safe at home. Andrea Agassi has a whole new game and it has nothing to do with tennis. We will ask him all about it. That's "Open House" 9:30 am Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Now in the news, crews in southern California still are trying to get a handle on that deadly wildfire. Now more than 62 square miles are destroyed. Firefighters have been working around the clock building up fire lines, trying to protect hundreds of homes still in the fire's path.

A search for remains at ground zero could take more than a year. That's the word from the top New York City official who said if it's at all possible, remains will be found. Workers have found more than 200 bones and bone fragments since the search began last week.

And take note of this. It's that time of the year again. Most of the U.S. will begin daylight saving time at 2:00 a.m. Sunday. If you've got somewhere to go tomorrow morning, you have an appointment with us on CNN Sunday don't forget to set your clock back before you head to bed.

NGUYEN: We will hold you to that appointment too.

HOLMES: We will be running down the top stories ever 15 minutes for you here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Got in dept coverage for you all morning long, next check coming up at 9:30 Eastern Time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNNE CHENEY, VICE PRES. CHENEY'S WIFE: That is a mighty house you are building on top of that molehill there or mighty mountain. He didn't say anything of the kind.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Because of the dunking, using the water and dunking?

CHENEY: I understand your point. It's kind of the point of a lot of people right now to try to distort the administration's position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That is Lynne Cheney standing by her husband, the vice president. But was the vice president really talking about water boarding or just a dunk in the water? You might have heard some of the comments he made and a lot of people are attacking him saying he was promoting and saying he was supporting some of those tough torture techniques maybe.

But political blogs buzzing this morning about our Wolf Blitzer's interview you saw with Mrs. Cheney on "The Situation Room" last night. It was really a spirited exchange. We will hear much more of that interview coming up in the next hour. You'll see for your self what you think about the two going back and forth. Understandably, she was taking up for her husband.

NGUYEN: Well no doubt about it. People are buzzing about that interview and the stance she took. And also the issues she brought up about CNN. So before you hit the blogs you want to see how exactly how that interview played out. We are going to show you a big clip from that so you can decide for yourself.

But first though, whether it's Lynne Cheney talking tough or first lady Laura Bush on the campaign trail, do the women of the White House impact your vote? We asked to you e-mail your thoughts about this and boy have you. Lets get to email number one. This one from Dennis Page in New York saying, "After listening to Dick Cheney's wife I'm left with only one question...How would she feel if we gave her husband a little "dunk in the water" so that we could get to the real truth about Iraq?"

HOLMES: Also coming from Tom in Long Island, New York, "Of course the portrayal of the First Lady influences my vote. Who knows the president better? Also the First Lady is the sole individual that will answer a question honestly and directly. You just have love Laura Bust. She is just terrific."

NGUYEN: Well Scott in Tennessee writes, "I believe women of the White House do influence votes because "behind every great man..."

Well you can sum that up is a great woman.

HOLMES: That's just something they say.

NGUYEN: You better say that. You are a married man. If you know what's good for you, you better say that. That's our e-mail question today. Send us in your thoughts; do you think the women really influence your vote? Does it matter, the women of the White House, do they impact your vote at all? Our email address Weekends@CNN.com. We will read some more of your replies a little bit later today. HOLMES: We are going to talk about Senate candidate James Webb. His words are coming back to haunt him. Sex, books, politics coming up next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, this is good stuff. Pushing past the plateau of weight loss and building muscle for a better body. Two problems you want to tackle. So our fitness guru Jerry Anderson is here to help you out. There he is minus the sleeves on that shirt. Your muscles are just too big. I get it, I get it.

JERRY ANDERSON, FITNESS EXPERT: Right.

NGUYEN: If I had muscles like you, I would wear shirts like that, too, but I don't. So let's start with people who have problems like myself. We want to talk to the guru and get the goods on how to better our bodies.

Let me start with Jan. Jan writes, "Jerry, I would say that I'm in pretty good physical shape. I work out just seven days a week and try to watch what I eat and do my crunches ever day. But I still just cannot seem to get rid of abdominal fat. Do you have a solution?" This is key for a lot of women Jerry.

ANDERSON: Wow, you know the amazing thing is Betty for Jan, I see you working hard seven days a week. There are red flags flying. You are probably over training. You are working out seven days a week, that is too much. You've got to watch it. When you over train, it's almost like watering your plant all day long. It doesn't give you the results you want. You kill the plant.

Number two red flag is, if you are doing a lot of crunches ever day, you've got to work the lower back to keep balance. So what I recommend Jan is take a few days off. Rest up a little bit. Work out three days, rest one day. It's very important. You deplete your system and you don't get the nutrients back in and then it makes the body look like you have more fat than you should.

I worked with a guy years ago. He worked out three hours a day, six days a week. I put him on a program, reduced it to ever other day, 30 minutes of cardio, I produced better results in three weeks than he did in two years. So she has to watch out for over training.

NGUYEN: That is my question though, because you said work out three days a week and then take a bread, but then you just said this guy worked out ever other day. Should you choose one or the other or does it matter?

ANDERSON: Every other day and on the other days you do the cardio. Seven days a week is a bit too much. Definitely.

NGUYEN: All right. Darren from Illinois has this question for you first of all saying, "I'm a 38 year old male and have lost 20 pounds from counting my calories and increasing aerobic and anaerobic activity. However, I have reached a plateau. I am 6 feet tall and 210 pounds. I take in between 1,800 and 2,000 calories a day. What else can I do to take off the last 10 pounds?"

ANDERSON: Wow, Darren. You know what this is great. Here's the thing the 20 pounds off is perfect. You kicked in the cardio and the anaerobic which is strength training, you are right on track. Work both ends against the middle. Here is the skin, here is the muscle, what you are going to do is keep the cardio. Burn more calories. Don't increase the time.

Get the strength training, increase your strength and what your going to do is burn those calories down, voila, done deal. Since you've got the calories under control. Don't change anything there. Just burn up a little bit more. This should help you burn at least 300 to 500 extra calories a day. In 10 weeks, you'll be at your goal, done deal. You've got it.

NGUYEN: Here is a really good one. It is kind of long so follow with me if you would. This is from RC Banks, from Virginia, "I'm a 41 year old African American woman, and I'm 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh between 128 to 130 pounds. I run 25 to 30 miles a week. I am lifting about two days a week. I am in excellent health. I can't get below my current weight. She wants to get down to about 115 pounds. She has a small frame and all the extra weight settles on those hips and the butt area.

ANDERSON: Unbelievable. Here is the thing.

NGUYEN: Don't tell her this can't be possible that she can't lose that extra few pounds.

ANDERSON: She can do it. Here's the thing. I'm going to give you a total body makeover. What this is going to do is make you a joy to the eye and pleasant to the touch and have those buns bouncing like Beyonce. Three times a week, full body workout. And make sure you hit the upper body to the lower body. If you are narrow here, if you do upper body first, it will give you crazy curves.

The cardio, since you are doing 25 miles a week. Break it down ever other day do the five miles. The days you don't do five miles, do some sprints, at least six sets of 60-yard sprints to increase the shape and tone of your lower body. That will give you crazy curves. Unbelievable.

Keep the nutrition the same. Write down everything you are eating for the next seven days, reduce 500 calories. In 10 weeks you should be at your goal body weight. There is one thing I worry about. She wants to get down to 115 pounds at 5'6". That's a little bit thin. If you get sick, you get in trouble. I wouldn't recommend going below 122 pounds. That could be dangerous.

NGUYEN: Sometimes you need to throw the numbers away. Jerry, thank you so much.

ANDERSON: My pleasure. See you next week.

NGUYEN: Exactly. We want viewers to write in. Tell us your problem. You do have an exercise issue or nutritional nightmare, Jerry can take care of all of it. E-mail us at Weekends@CNN.com and Jerry is going to answer all of those questions right here on CNN.

HOLMES: Next hour, the interview everybody is talking about this morning. Wolf Blitzer and Lynne Cheney one on one. CNN's decision to air that controversial Iraq sniper tape. What did vice president mean this week when he talked about dunking prisoners? You'll hear what all the buzz is about at the top of the hour here on CNN.

(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