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CNN Saturday Morning News

Crews Hoping to Finally Find Missing Climbers; Millions Without Power after Storm in Northwest; Fidel Castro Spoke to Work Session of Cuban Assembly

Aired December 16, 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, a massive rescue effort ready to launch on Mt. Hood in Oregon. Crews there hoping to finally find three missing climbers. Helicopters will be joining the search teams today and severe weather. Well, that has kept rescuers grounded yesterday.
It is a day after a big storm in the northwest. But the same problems look at the trees. Nearly a million people are still without power this morning following a fierce windstorm, trees all over the place. It will be days before utility crews get that power back on. Much more on the nasty weather that is in about a minute.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: On the phone and talking shop. Cuban's Communist Party newspaper reports that ailing leader Fidel Castro spoke by phone to a work session of the Cuban Assembly. That is according to the Reuters News Agency. There has been no other official word about the 80-year-old leader in 11 days.

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is in Turkey. Earlier in the week, the EU suspended talks with Turkey because of, "Failure to normalize trade."

NGUYEN: Check this out an addition space walk is planned today; if time permits astronauts hope to take a closer look at a solar panel that won't fully retract. Engineer's thing it's hung up on a guide wire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flipping is dead. Anyone thinking about flipping property now is going to really face a deadly market.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Whoa. So what does that all mean for everyday homebuyers and sellers. "Open House" explains at the bottom of the hour. Now, from the top of the hour from the CNN Center in Atlanta. Good morning to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: Yes, good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us.

Fierce wind, biting cold, snapped power lines, much of the pacific northwest is trying to recover this morning after what's being called the worst wind storm in more than a decade. We have two reports this morning. First up CNN's Rob Marciano.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This storm brought its full force down to sea level. Huge waves roll in. Winds over 100 miles an hour lashed the Oregon coast. Roads are cut off as the storm moves inland. South of Seattle, winds hit 69 miles an hour, the strongest ever recorded in December. Tall Douglas firs were no match for the fierce winds. Sparks flew as falling trees snapped power lines. Decades' old pines fall. Here trees crashed some rooftops destroying homes. This woman and her cat survived, but the storm killed four people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where my head usually is over there.

MARCIANO: Residents seem shocked by the strength of the storm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a hurricane and a tornado all at once.

MARCIANO: This storm had wind gusts like a major hurricane. And the mountains made it worst. Mount Hebo in the coast range had winds as strong as 122 miles an hour. And the Washington Cascades, 135 mile- an-hour winds ripped across the ridges. Around the Peugeot sound the damage is wide spread, assessments stacked up on the tarmac at Boan (ph) field in Seattle. In Tacoma, boats in one Mariana lay listing. Cars swamped by rising water, nearby roads completely blocked by falling trees. This floating bridge linking Seattle to the suburbs closed by dangerous winds. Now open as the waters calm and the storm moves out. The worst this area has seen in more than a decade.

Rob Marciano, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A break in the severe weather is expected to help searchers looking for three missing climbers on Mt. Hood. It's been more than a week now since the climbers started out. Search crews hoping to go up the south slope today. The six-hour flight could put them at the mouth of a snow cave where one of the hikers is believed holed up. Weather kept rescuers at base camp yesterday; a military C- 130 flew over the area doing thermal scans found nothing. And the calmer weather will help those teams but even under perfect conditions, tough work. Even though the conditions might get better, it's a rough time up there as CNN's Rick Sanchez certainly found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are places on Earth where you feel god's fury, but I can't imagine any of them being any worst than this that we're feeling right like this. This is almost 12,000 feet. This is the continental divide. I've been in enough hurricanes to know what hurricane force gusts winds feel like. This is easily 60 mile-an-hour gusts that are rolling through here. At times it's difficult to stand up. It's a biting cold. It's hard to see. In fact, it's downright painful. The question now is, if you're stuck in these conditions, what do you do? How do you survive? We've enlisted the help of two renowned mountaineering experts who teach the first order of business is to build a snow cave. Without it, you will not survive. We were to get in there, into that cave. Get on our pack, to insulate us from the snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay warm, huddled close together.

MARCIANO: Even in a snow cave, an avalanche can still slam you, but experienced mountaineers avoided by taking into account the slope and snow density when figuring out where to camp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't see the top of that peak, could that start an avalanche at any time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not tall enough right now to start an avalanche; if it did slide it has no energy.

MARCIANO: But by far, the biggest killer is the weather itself. Within hours of being exposed mountaineers can suffer hypothermia, which causes them to be strangely delusional.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eventually you think that the snow is really warm and soft and lay down and go to sleep forever.

MARCIANO: It is why some victims are found disrobed; they actually believe it's warm in freezing weather. Experts recommend not going into these conditions without a shovel, a back pack, a head lamp, a compact stove to melt water, at least a sleeping bag, say even with these items, under extreme conditions, you'll still only be able to hold on for so long.

Rick Sanchez, CNN, Loveland Pass, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: That's a really good look at the conditions out there. Just what people face especially when they get stuck on the mountains out that. The climbers that the search is still under way for.

We do have some good news in that department though; Reynolds Wolf joins us with the look of the weather outside. Hopefully, there will be a nice break so they can get some of that search done today.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Things do look much better there. In fact right now in parts of the Pacific Northwest even in Seattle, take a look at this image that we have. Conditions are obviously kind of dark because it's a few hours earlier over there as opposed to the eastern seaboard. But things are looking good. Still, though, 1 million people without power. As we go back to the weather computer we do have scattered showers out near Olympia National Forest and points north. Things are starting to dry out. In fact into Oregon we go, just east of Portland, and Mt. Hood, dry conditions there as well. We are expecting partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies that will be great for any aircraft going up for observing and for people going on foot, it's still going to be cold up there. Temperatures at 10,000 feet and up below the freezing point. You're certainly going to have to bundle up.

In the meantime that same system is now going to move its way into the central Rockies. In higher elevations on I-80 and I-25, some places, get this folks, not up to one foot possibly two or three feet at the highest peaks. We're talking about an intense storm, still away from the Pacific Northwest but still packing a punch. Meanwhile scattered showers possible the west to the Great Lakes, but look at the transition when you get to the eastern seaboard, we're talking mostly sunny skies. In New York it's going to be lovely with temperatures going up into the 50s, near 60 degrees at the nations capital, 73 in Atlanta, 77 in Miami, 81 for Dallas, and still chilly in Seattle with a high of 39 degrees. So conditions could not be better in Mt. Hood. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hopefully, they'll find those hikers today.

NGUYEN: Hopefully so. Thank you Reynolds.

WOLF: Absolutely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: I'm concerned enough to ask Secretary McDonough to put together a team to review it thoroughly and quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Florida Governor Jeb Bush talking about the state's use of lethal injection in the case of Angel Diaz. The inmate was put to death Wednesday but the execution didn't go smoothly, it took twice as long for him to die, a full 34 minutes. And it's believed head was conscious for much of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOL OTERO, NIEVES' NIECE: His physical action as demonstrated how much pain he was in, and everybody saw this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The governor has put all executions on hold for the time being. Meanwhile, his family is asking the judge to rule lethal injections unconstitutional.

They are discussing the issue on the west coast as well. A federal judge ruled California's method of lethal injection execution unconstitutional. The judge says prison execution teams haven't been following mandated protocols. He says that may cause cruel and unusual punishment.

NGUYEN: Another story out of California to tell you about. An outbreak of a potentially deadly bacterium has sickened seven children mostly babies at an L.A. hospital. The White Memorial Medical Center says one infant died probably as a result of being infected. The hospital closed their pediatric units to new admissions. And in Indiana Olive Garden Restaurant is closed after more than 300 people who ate there got sick, an Indiana health official says investigators are focusing on an employee who had flu-like symptoms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT GILLIAM, INDIANA DEPT. OF HEALTH: You probably heard about the illnesses on the cruise ships. This is the same type of thing. Possibly, the investigation is still ongoing. It hasn't been confirmed yet. We see these outbreaks, typically, this type of year, and the holidays. It's just so easily spread from person to person, being in the same area and being in close contact with individuals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now health officials add that there were no health code violations found at the restaurant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So then you see something happened. I believe it was a rope in my propeller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sure was. He was ensnared in a cable used by a plane towing a glider; he was dropping like a stone. So what did he do?

HOLMES: We'll show you how he survived that is coming up in five minutes.

NGUYEN: And then what will 2007 bring for those looking to buy or sell real estate, "Open House" talks to the experts in 20 minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would expect median prices to fall somewhere between 3 and 4 percent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Topping news out of Iraq today, a large political conference in Baghdad is aimed at national reconciliation. Organizers cast a pretty wide net here, even some form of Baathist Party members were invited. Iraq's prime minister said former military officers under Saddam Hussein should return to Iraq to help quell the violence. Military officials say a suspected al Qaeda operative has been captured in Fallujah. The man is alleged to have coordinated numerous attacks against forces of Iraq. Iraq commandos are credited with the capture.

And the U.S. maybe planning a troop increase to the Persian Gulf after the New Year. The Associated Press reports about 3500 troops from Fort Bragg in North Carolina may be deployed to Kuwait. A senior defense official tells the A.P. the brigade's role would be as a rapid deployment force if needed.

And the debate over the new strategy for the Iraq war is on the rundown, CNN's "This Week at War" hosted by John Roberts. You can catch that tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

NGUYEN: In today's tech affect a new safety feature for small private planes. Miles O'Brien has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN (voice over): It was a beautiful day for flying. Ernst Kuehn of Newst, Germany was piloting his small two-seater a thousand feet about some idyllic French countryside near the town of Gap. In an instant, it became a pilot's worst nightmare. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an airplane climbing right toward him.

ERNST KUEHN, PILOT: So what I did, pull a little bit. So then you see that something happened. I believe it was a rope in my propeller.

O'BRIEN: It sure was. He was ensnared in a cable used by a plane towing a glider. He was dropping like a stone. So what did he do?

KUEHN: The first, I did switch off the engine. And immediately afterwards, pulled the parachute.

O'BRIEN: A parachute not just for him, but also for his whole plane. He went into an orchard and walked away without a scratch.

KUEHN: I can't understand why it was so, but it was so.

O'BRIEN: Ernst was saved by a rocket-propelled parachute system for airplanes made by Ballistic Recovery Systems of St. Paul, Minnesota.

The company claims the shoots have saved 199 lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The technology over 25 years has grown from hang gliding industry, light sport industry, ultra-lights to a current single-engine, now-passenger aircraft.

O'BRIEN: Sirrus Designs is the first company to build general aviation airplanes with BRS parachutes as standard equipment. Sirrus owner Lionel Morrison is sure glad he had it four years ago when a piece of his wing fell off in mid flight.

LIONEL MORRISON: Got the plane under control after losing almost 1,000 feet in altitude. Was able to take it out to a remote area where I deployed the parachute. And, of course, floated to safety. And you know, the rest is history.

O'BRIEN: Lionel is pretty sure that chute saved his live.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: From the looks of it, it appears to be the case.

HOLMES: Hey, if it works, we'll take it.

NGUYEN: Yes and he took it, definitely. Good thing it was there for him. Well is it possible, I have a good question for you -- is possible to spot reduce those trouble spots on your body? And can vegetarians bulk without eating meat? You know who has the answer to this? Check him out. Jerry Anderson joins us in just a couple of minutes to answer some of these questions.

HOLMES: But first we have this for you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up at 9:30 Eastern, "Open House," it's been a volatile season in the housing market. We'll take a look at how it developed. Plus take a look at everything you need to know for 2007.

And a new village, that's music to the ears of some of New Orleans finest artist.

And how to make children part of the holiday decorating experience. It's weekend project with kids. That's "Open House" 9:30 am Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, ladies, let's talk about those problem areas. You know, places you want to tone up like your backside? How about those thighs? Whether you work out, can you really just work one trouble spot at a time and actually succeed at it? Well today, Jerry Anderson is answering questions about some of your fitness issues. There is the man himself. Let's get right to it Jerry.

One viewer writes, she knows you can't spot reduce per se but can you spot train a certain body part to get results in a certain area?

JERRY ANDERSON, FITNESS GURU: A lot of people think that you can actually spot train. You can't take one part of a fiber, like a lot of women say I want to just work my butt and the top part.

NGUYEN: And the thighs.

ANDERSON: And the thighs, but you can't do that. Either you're working all the fiber or none of them. If you're working a lunge, you're working all of that area. That whole area is going to work. You get the benefit of three for one. That's the best way to do it. You can't beat that.

NGUYEN: Let's get to the specific exercise that you need. You said lunges, and what else?

ANDERSON: Right. You can do a squat. Drop it bam! Into a good squat. That hits your butt, your hamstrings and thighs and it gets your torso. That's the best exercise on the planet ever created. Do that. If you try to isolate you're missing all of that.

NGUYEN: It's the whole package, you want it to all look good, right?

ANDERSON: Exactly. Imagine if you had these buns, and no legs. That won't look right.

NGUYEN: Chicken legs. Lets get to Silvana she writes this, "Lately, I've been hearing a lot about inflammation-causing foods and their relation to weight gain. Is there a really a connection and if so what foods should I stay away from?

ANDERSON: First of all, the first principle is you only gain weight when you take in more calories than you burn. Unless you're overeating, you're not going to gain weight. But some of the foods that aren't as bad are saturated fats, trans fats which we addressed last week as bad. And processed foods all of these foods create inflammation. But the ones that don't, fruit, vegetables, grain, fish and water. And one of the best ways to do it is make sure you exercise. It breaks down inflammation, so that is the way to do it. Get the junk food out. Get the healthy food in.

NGUYEN: You can cut down on salty foods, does that increase inflammation?

ANDERSON: Right. You got to cut down on the fats. The saturated fats, the trans fats, that's bad for your system. Even if you did that, it wouldn't benefit the body.

NGUYEN: Well lets talk about this, a lot of people are vegetarians out there and this person writes, Bridget says is it possible to be a vegetarian and lift weights. And she says this would you lack the necessary protein to develop the muscles?

ANDERSON: This is a great question because the bottom line is not being a vegetarian. If you lift weights, weight lifting is great for you. Especially if you're a vegetarian. Most vegetarians are underweight. That doesn't mean you have to have low bone density and low lean muscle mass. You can get your protein from meat and beef. But the body takes it in not in the form of protein but amino acids. If you're a vegetarian, you can put beans and rice together to create a complete protein. There are a lot of outstanding people who are vegetarians. Three-time Mr. Universe, Bill Pearl, killer Kowalski you probably don't remember him Betty the champion wrestler, Jack Lalanne, Carl Lewis.

NGUYEN: And see what happened to you, right?

ANDERSON: Yes. You don't need all of that.

NGUYEN: I knew it was coming.

ANDERSON: You knew it was coming.

NGUYEN: Jerry, next week, we're talking about people's problems again. We all have lots of problems. Whether you have an exercise issue or nutritional issue, Jerry is going to answer them.

ANDERSON: I'll knock them out.

NGUYEN: Here's the address, WEEKENDS@CNN.com and don't you worry Jerry has all the answers. Jerry we will see you next week. ANDERSON: All right. Great have a great day.

NGUYEN: You too. T.J.

HOLMES: He's under control today, toning it down a bit.

NGUYEN: You know why? No trans fat. He knocked that out.

HOLMES: He knocked that out last week. You can stay with us, because we'll show you what happened around the world while you slept. That's coming up in about three minutes.

Then, want to get your kids into the holiday spirit without spending a lot of cash. "Open House" shows you how next.

NGUYEN: Also at the top of the hour the con games surrounding those popular holiday gift cards. We all get them; many of us would rather have them than a gift. But there are things that these are doing. We'll show you how to protect yourself. That's coming up at 10:15 Eastern this morning.

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