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CNN Saturday Morning News
As Much of 10 Feet of Snow in Parts of Upstate New York; Death of Anna Nicole Smith; Troubling Look at Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of Iraqis
Aired February 10, 2007 - 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: Now in the news, it is official. General David Petraeus today assumed command of U.S. forces in Iraq. Now, at the ceremony in Baghdad, Petraeus acknowledged the stakes in Iraq are high, but the mission, he stressed, is "doable."
Let's take you to Munich now. Iran is getting a lot of attention at an international security conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns that Tehran must not be allowed to attain nuclear weapons. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is also attending and he says evidence strongly suggests Iran is supplying explosives to Iraqi insurgents.
Well, it is a big day for Barack Obama. The Illinois senator is expected to officially announce that he is running for president in 2008. Obama joins a very crowded field, but he ranks in the top tier of the likely Democratic candidates, along with Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards.
You'll see his announcement live later this morning.
And senior political correspondent Candy Crowley takes an in- depth look at Obama's political fortunes in about six minutes.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: In New Orleans, a bond hearing is set today for a teenager accused of shooting and killing another teenager after his mother told him to. The 17-year-old surrendered to police yesterday. He allegedly shot the other teen at the urging of his mother after the two boys got into a fight.
The mother also in custody.
An alarming increase in the number of Americans dying from accidental drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says unintentional drug overdose deaths more than doubled in the five years from 1999 to 2004. CDC researchers blame the increase on sedatives and prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Oxycontin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: The autopsy was able to exclude any kind of physical injuries such as blunt force trauma, gunshot wounds, stab wounds or asphyxia as a cause of death, as a contributory cause of death or a hastening cause of death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We've got a few answers now. But still, many more questions surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith. We've got the latest developments right here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. Oh, I'm sorry.
Did I hit you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did I hit you? Just (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED).
Why? Why? Are you going to hit me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to hit me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hit me...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of here!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and I'll (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) flatten (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) out of here, all right? I'm sick of your (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right, that may be the video of the morning. Talk about angry. And it all started because of this woman's sunglasses. We're going to explain, but it is a story that you definitely don't want to miss.
HOLMES: Yes. We're going to...
NGUYEN: Wow!
HOLMES: On a much happier note, good morning.
NGUYEN: Good morning.
HOLMES: Glad we're not like that this morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, not this morning, really.
HOLMES: This is...
NGUYEN: Whatever.
HOLMES: ... CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
It is February the 10th.
Good morning to you all.
I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: We're very civilized around here.
Good morning, everybody.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
We want to thank you for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: We will start this morning with the Anna Nicole Smith story. So many questions still persist this morning about her death. But we do have some answers now.
For what we know how and what's expected in the weeks ahead, we'll turn to CNN's John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PERPER: We do not make a determination of the cause and the manner of death.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): After a six hour autopsy, it could still be three to five weeks before tests determine how Anna Nicole Smith died. But we know how she didn't die.
PERPER: The autopsy was able to exclude any kind of physical injury, such as blunt force trauma, gunshot wounds, stab wounds or asphyxia.
ZARRELLA: The chief medical examiner said no tablets or pills were found in Smith's stomach.
PERPER: There are no findings which would indicate continued drug abuse.
ZARRELLA: Here is what we have learned from law enforcement sources about that happened Thursday. A private nurse was in the room with Smith. At about 1:39, she noticed Smith not breathing. The nurse called the bodyguard, who came in and began CPR. Nurse then called Howard K. Stern, Smith's companion. She can't reach him right away. Only after he calls back does the nurse call front desk security, which called 911.
It's not yet clear how much time elapsed before 911 was called, but a source close to the investigation told us: "it was a longer than usual delay."
Smith's attorney said she had fever for several days. The medical examiner said Smith could have died as a result of natural causes or medication, or a combination of the two. Seminole police say...
CHIEF CHARLIE TIGER, SEMINOLE POLICE: At this point, no evidence has been revealed to suggest that a crime occurred. We found no illegal drugs, only prescription medicines.
ZARRELLA: Smith tried to commit suicide in the Bahamas after the death of her 20-year-old son Daniel in September, "Entertainment Tonight's" Mark Steines said today on CNN's "AMERICA MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "AMERICAN MORNING")
MARK STEINES, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": We have found out that, after the death of Daniel, at some point, Anna did jump in her pool, attempt suicide at that point, and was found by Howard face down in the pool. Howard screamed for help. Her bodyguard, Moe, came out, who is a -- who is paramedic -- and took her from the pool, administered CPR, and saved her life at that point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Anna Nicole Smith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: This year, on January 6, a smiling but subdued Smith attended a boxing match held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino by fight promoter Don King, one of her final public appearances, ironically, at the same hotel where she died.
John Zarrella, CNN, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And with all the bizarre twists and turns in this case, we want to know your opinion.
How do you think Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered?
Let us know what you think. You can e-mail us at weekends@cnn.com and we will read some of your responses a bit later in this newscast.
NGUYEN: So, is he ready to run?
Barack Obama's big announcement is just about, what, four hours away now. And the Illinois senator is expected to officially announce that he is a candidate for president in 2008. Now, his campaign is generating a lot of excitement, as you can imagine.
But does he have enough experience?
That's the big question.
Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley takes a look. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He streaked into the political atmosphere like a meteor -- fiery, dazzling.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We worship an awesome God in the blue states. And we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states. And yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.
CROWLEY: Emil Jones, Barack Obama's friend and mentor, says the night before that convention speech, Jones was mistaken for an Alabama delegate because someone misread his Obama campaign button.
EMIL JONES, PRESIDENT, ILLINOIS STATE SENATE: After he gave that great speech, the delegates at that convention were all over those persons from Illinois, trying to get an Obama button.
CROWLEY: Name recognition is part of the troika of musts in presidential politics, along with the ability to raise money and a story to tell.
OBAMA: It's a pretty good picture of me, don't you think?
CROWLEY: He has one. Born in Hawaii, son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, Obama writes in his autobiography of struggling with his identity as a teenager. "Pot had helped," he wrote, "and booze, maybe a little blow when you could afford it."
He wrote that 11 years ago. It may hurt or not.
ELLEN WARREN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": Do I know of any skeletons now that are going to be problems?
I don't think so, because he's immunized himself. He's immunized himself by writing a book about all the naughty things when he was young and -- and naughty.
CROWLEY: He got it together -- Columbia, Harvard Law, professor, community organizer, Illinois state senator, U.S. senator.
OBAMA: The time for waiting in Iraq is over.
CROWLEY: He opposes the war in Iraq and favors the Bush-backed immigration bill. He is against same sex marriage but supports civil unions. He favors universal health care.
REV. ALVIN LOVE, LILYDALE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: I've known Barack for 20 years and I'm not sure that I know whether he's a liberal or a conservative. I really think sometimes it depends on the issue.
CROWLEY: Republicans describe Obama as a pragmatic, left of center politician who works both sides of the aisle to get things done sun up, past sun down.
KIRK DILLARD (R), ILLINOIS STATE SENATOR: Senator Obama had the social skills that helped him as a legislator. In Springfield, he played basketball. He played poker with a number of legislators from downstate Illinois after hours. And he would have an occasional drink. He would smoke a cigarette, bum a cigarette from legislators.
CROWLEY: He spent eight years in state politics, the last two in national politics. It is, in the end, the biggest question on the Barack Obama bandwagon -- is that enough to be leader of the Western world?
OBAMA: I'm ready. Let's go.
CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Springfield, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And, of course, you can see Senator Barack Obama's campaign 2008 announcement live right here on CNN. That's coming up at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, 8:00 a.m. Pacific time.
HOLMES: Of course, there are other potential presidential candidates out there, a lot of them. And they're fanned out today across the country, including Senator Hillary Clinton. She visits New Hampshire this weekend for the first time in a decade. She'll be making rounds in towns like Berlin, Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Keene, to name a few.
And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is going to be in California. He delivers the keynote speech at the Republican state convention in Sacramento.
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback address the Michigan Republican state convention in Grand Rapids.
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney also speaking at that same convention.
And former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee campaigning in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
NGUYEN: Talk about severe weather -- let's give you a look outside. Snowed under is really the title of this. Parts of Upstate New York -- if we can get those pictures -- there we go -- buried under as much as 10 feet of snow and it is still falling.
Even winter hardy residents say enough is enough already.
CNN's Reggie Aqui joins us now live from Oswego, New York, where it is extremely cold this morning -- how high or how thick is the snow, I should say, out there, at this point?
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, you know what?
They're doing a really good job cleaning this all up. So when we talk about seven to 10 feet of snow, you expect to see something different than what you're probably seeing behind me.
I'll take a walk over here and show you what I mean.
This is where the plows have obviously pushed all of the snow to the side. So you can get sort of an indication of how much snow is on the ground.
But then when you look back here at the streets, you see what a great job they've been doing in this area, because they're really used to a lot of snow. Nothing like this. But they're used to getting a lot of this year after year.
They're just not used to getting it every day for a whole week. And that's what's been happening this week. School has been closed since Monday. A lot of the kids have been going a little stir crazy at home.
As we were around town yesterday, we could tell you that folks have been digging out. They've been trying to just cope with what they've been given here.
This county, Oswego County, is under a state of emergency right now. And basically what that does is that gives them a lot more equipment, it gives them a lot more people, so that basically they're cleaning these roads 24 hour a day, which is a huge help to these folks, who are getting a little tired of all of this, at this point.
Every day they look at that forecast and see that there is a lake advisory for lake effect snow and that will continue until Monday morning. So they're not in the clear yet.
We did talk to a family yesterday and we asked them, year after year of living in this weather, why do you do it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY TAYLOR, OSWEGO RESIDENT: You do it because of the community and the people you love. And you don't live anyplace, I don't think, because of the weather or, you know, any one specific reason like that. It's the people here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AQUI: They say the people who help each other out -- and that's what they've been doing -- babysitting each other's kids as they have not had school and as adults have had to go back to work.
This is the first time in a week that probably we'll see a lot more people, Betty, on the streets, going shopping, trying to get back to normal. They're hoping that the worst is over, although, I can tell you, the forecast still says they could get anywhere between half a foot to a foot tonight and then possibly more snow Sunday and then into Monday.
They're crossing their fingers and watching those forecasts very carefully. NGUYEN: Right.
Yes, get that grocery shopping down while you have a chance to do it, especially with more snow coming.
We appreciate it, Reggie.
And let's go to Bonnie Schneider now for a look at the situation there -- Bonnie, the question I have for you is once all of this melts away, are we dealing with flooding?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, ATS METEOROLOGIST: It's a possibility. But right now I think temperatures will stay cold there. The one thing to note is the setup for this weekend, the way it's shaping up, it looks very similar to the earlier setup when we had the blast of heavy snow through Oswego, where Reggie is right now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have any more to say to you. You're all full of (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED). You deal with my lawyer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oops. Oops. Yes, oops. That doesn't even begin to take care of this one.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: Yes, police start arriving. This is all outside obstetrician's office. And they're in full force here. You really, seriously, I mean it this time, I swear, you really want to stick around for this story. That's coming up here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Plus, we've got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All we want to do is go -- I want to protect Anna Nicole's rights, do everything through court process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So who's the daddy of baby Dannielynn?
The nasty custody battle over Anna Nicole Smith's little girl. We're going to have the latest twist -- and there are many -- plus the turns.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The nation is trillions of dollars in debt. And if you listened to lawmakers this week, you would have no idea if that debt is growing or shrinking.
Hey, everybody, I'm Joshua Levs. Keep it here for the Reality Check coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Other Stories Across America this morning.
Police are just revealing that Nobel laureate and Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel -- or Wiesel, I should say -- was attacked while at a peace conference at a San Francisco hotel last week. And police are investigating the incident as a crime. But investigators say there is an anti-Semitic Web site where someone is claiming responsibility for that attack.
HOLMES: Oh, we're showing you some dramatic pictures here from Kentucky. This is a day after a jury convicted a man on attempted murder and carjacking charges. The video was released showing the end of a three day standoff with police that led to his arrest. Police deployed a robocam into a house where the suspect was holed up and that robocam captured the suspect exchanging gunfire with police. It also showed him getting shot in the shoulder.
NGUYEN: And speaking of Kentucky, police there are looking for a man who's got about $15,000 worth of secrets -- Victoria's Secrets, that is. They say this man worked as a distributor for the company and police said it was the man's girlfriend who revealed the lingerie theft to them.
HOLMES: And the woman who claims to be James Brown's fourth wife was allowed to return to the home she shared with the singer to retrieve her belongings. A judge made that decision on Friday. Tomi Rae Hynie says she's been locked out of the home since Brown died on Christmas Day.
NGUYEN: Well, we are getting close to Valentine's Day, so romance is in the air this weekend, as we gear up.
How many of your relationships are going the right way and how many well, maybe not be going as well as you think?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, 1:00 in the morning and your husband is not home and he's never done that before, it's like, you know, at first I was angry. And then I was thinking, well, what if he was in an accident. And I got all worried and called the Highway Patrol. It was just crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The affair -- chances are it's happened to you, or at least someone you know. But there is a lot that you can do to ensure your marriage goes happily ever after. And tonight, a very candid conversation with the cheating husband and the wife who uncovered his dark secret -- part of "Marriage Meltdown."
That's at 10:00 p.m. in THE NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE FREDERICK VON ANHALT: I never said I would be the father. I never said yes, I never said no. So it stays in the middle and let's see what happens. I'll leave one door open to jump in if something goes wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We -- we cannot even make this stuff up. Another claim for fatherhood of Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl.
So who is Dannielynn's real father?
This story in about 12 minutes here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
But first, we've got a reality check with Joshua Levs -- good morning to you, sir.
LEVS: And good morning to you.
Your money -- not just yours, T.J. but all of your money in the center of a huge battle in Washington right now, tackling the mammoth national debt and how it might affect your taxes.
Keep it here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: With Democrats in control of Congress, Washington is headed for a showdown over, of all things, money. We've heard this before.
Well, this week President Bush released his budget request to Congress, sparking a huge debate, partly over the national debt.
And amid all the rancor it may seem impossible to understand what it all means.
So that's why we bring in Joshua Levs.
He's got our Reality Check -- and, really, what we need to do is follow this money trail to understand it.
LEVS: Exactly. That's the idea. You know, it was so amazing this week. If you followed what was going on on Capitol Hill, the words deficit and debt were flying around like wild. I seriously don't think there was one lawmaker in all of Washington who did not weigh in on that this week.
But at the end of it, are you losing or gaining money? What is the deal here?
That's what we want to give you. So here you go -- a quick explainer. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): It was like this all week.
HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Over the last three years, we have brought the federal budget deficit down.
REP. JOHN CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: The legacy of this administration, this president, if this budget were to go forward, would be the creation of a deficit society.
LEVS: Which is it?
Here's the deal. The basic idea is simple. Each year, the government spends and takes money. Part of the take comes from you -- your taxes. When this is bigger than this, there's a deficit, which increases the national debt. The government ran deficits for decades until the last few years of the Clinton administration.
The post-9/11 recession was one reason deficits came back. There is also those hundreds of billions spent in Iraq and all sorts of different spending priorities. In 2004, President Bush said he'd cut the deficit in half in five years.
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a matter of fact, we did so three years ahead of schedule.
LEVS: The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says there are different ways to slice the figures, but the deficit has gone down.
Still, as long as there's a deficit, the debt grows, currently at $8.7 trillion. And most of it is owed to you. That's right. You're not only person of the year, you, the public, hold more than half the debt, partly through things like that savings bond you bought your friend's son for his bar mitzvah.
President Bush says his new budget plan will bring an end to deficits in five years.
Democrats say...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope so but we have our doubts.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LEVS: You know, there are a lot of unpredictable costs. For example, how much more the war will end up costing and what the next president will do. But for now, the frustration with the debt is one of the biggest arguments against President Bush's tax cuts and it's now possible, Betty and T.J. that because of the growing frustration, some of the tax cuts, particularly affecting the wealthiest Americans, may ultimately be pulled back.
NGUYEN: Well, we appreciate that reality check.
Following the money for us, Joshua Levs.
LEVS: You've got it.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
LEVS: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBRA OPRI, LARRY BIRKHEAD'S ATTORNEY: We do not want a bait and switch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The nastidy custody or -- nastidy -- I don't think that's a word, Betty. But it's a nasty custody battle...
NGUYEN: There you go.
HOLMES: ... over Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl. We have the latest twists and turns coming up.
Plus, you need to see this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Solman (ph), I've become a new man. I witnessed the power of god and I want to tell you, Mr. Solman, that I do love you. And you want to come back here again, you can talk to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. This is a crazy phone call to a reporter, which was followed by a phone call to the police. Yes, this is the mother of all customer complaints. Stick around for this one. That's coming up.
SCHNEIDER: Plus, we are looking at a very chilly morning. That's right, it's only 14 degrees in Toronto, but it feels like zero. We have a live picture to show you of Toronto this morning, waking up to some clouds out there and bitterly cold conditions.
We also have wet weather in San Francisco and the rain is on the way for Los Angeles.
Good morning, L.A.
You may still be asleep. It's kind of early out there, but we're going to have more on the weather all across the country. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: "Now in the News," taking command. General David Petraeus took over today as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Petraeus succeeds General George Casey who has been appointed now to Army chief of staff.
Insurgent video showing the purported downing of a U.S. helicopter in Iraq has been posted on the Internet. That video was released by an umbrella militant group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq. The helicopter crashed in Anbar province Wednesday. The military says enemy fire had downed four helicopters in the past three weeks.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is attending an international security conference in Munich today. Iran's nuclear program is among the top priorities at that meeting. Gates says evidence inside Iraq strongly suggests Iran is supplying explosives to Iraqi insurgents.
NGUYEN: It is a big day for Barack Obama. The Illinois senator is expected to officially announce that he is running for president in '08. Obama will join a crowded field. But he ranks in the top tier of likely Democratic candidates along with Senator Hillary Clinton, and former Senator John Edwards. You can watch his announcement live right here at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.
Let's take you to New Orleans. A bond hearing is set today for a teenager accused of a fatal shooting. The 17-year-old surrendered to police yesterday. He allegedly shot another teen at the urging of his mother, after the two boys got in a fight. The mother is also in custody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE FREDERICK VON ANHALT, ZSA ZSA GABOR'S HUSBAND: There could be a way that a court ruling goes in the right direction, not in this direction to Larry, not in this direction to Howard, it goes in the right direction, and the child is good taken care of. Then I stay out of it. If the ruling goes in those two directions, then I open my mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Huh? This just keeps getting stranger. Actually there is somebody else in the mix claiming that possibly he is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby. Anna Nicole, after her death, certainly has now left behind a tangled, tangled family tree.
NGUYEN: You know, the more we learn about this story, the more it turns. And the twists are just bizarre. But we'll keep on track of it for you.
In the meantime welcome back, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you so much for starting your day right here with us.
NGUYEN: First it was Howard K. Stern versus Larry Birkhead, both claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's 5-month-old daughter. And now a third man says he could be the baby's father. CNN's Brooke Anderson tells us what's all at stake here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anna Nicole Smith created a sensation wherever she went, and now, even in death, she still can't rest in peace. Not yet.
DEBRA OPRI, LARRY BIRKHEAD'S LAWYER: Judge Schneider of Los Angeles superior court wants the remains of Anna Nicole Smith to be preserved pending the February 20th hearing.
ANDERSON: Debra Opri, lawyer for Larry Birkhead, one of the men claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole's five-month old baby girl, Dannielynn Hope, went to court seeking an emergency DNA test of Anna Nicole's body to help confirm who the baby's parents are. Her motion was denied.
RON RALE, ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S LAWYER: I'm trying to think of a word I can use in front of the media, but that's a bunch of nonsense.
ANDERSON: Ron Rale, Smith's attorney, called today's closed door courtroom hearing ludicrous and disrespectful.
RALE: I just didn't like the idea of trying to get her DNA, giving me notice of a court appearance right after she died to come to court here on what I consider a frivolous appearance, which was denied.
ANDERSON: The mother's DNA isn't necessarily required to determine who the father is. Opri wanted Smith's DNA for a different reason.
OPRI: It is very important that the DNA connect Anna with the baby being tested. We do not want a bait and switch.
ANDERSON: What's at stake here? The custody of Smith's 5-month- old daughter, an inheritance that could be worth millions for the surviving parent of Dannielynn. So who is the biological father of Dannielynn Hope?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": So you are the father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
KING: OK. What do you make of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one big lie.
ANDERSON: Two men, Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead, both tell CNN they are the baby's daddy, but just who are these potential fathers? Larry Birkhead is a Los Angeles-based freelance reporter and photographer. He claims to have had an intimate two-and-a-half-year relationship with Smith, at one point resulting in a miscarriage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually Anna asked me to marry her several times throughout the relationship.
ANDERSON: Howard K. Stern was Smith's long-time lawyer and friend. He was frequently featured alongside the star during her cable reality show. He says he had an intimate relationship with Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of my relationship as her lawyer, we felt that it was best to keep everything hidden.
ANDERSON: Both men say the other had no intimate relationship with Smith. Just when you thought the drama couldn't get stranger, another character came crawling out of the Hollywood woodwork, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, claimed today that he had a 10-year affair with Smith, suggesting he might be the baby's daddy.
VON ANHALT: There are lots of people who could be the father.
QUESTION: Could you be the father?
VON ANHALT: I don't know. I mean, you know, sometimes I'm a bad boy, yes.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right, so are you following along? We are trying to get more answers here. Robert Howe is with People magazine and he joins us this morning from New York.
Rob, let me ask you this, just to put it out there, no one else is coming up claiming to be this baby's daddy, right, besides these three men?
ROBERT HOWE, NEWS EDITOR, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Well, not that we know of.
NGUYEN: So far.
HOWE: But there's still time I suppose.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness. Let's start back at the beginning of this and as we're trying to figure out how she died, we learn a little bit from the medical examiner yesterday. But there are a lot of prescription drugs in the hotel room, and a lot of them belonging to Howard K. Stern. Could he face any charges dealing with these prescription drugs if, indeed, she took those and the toxicology tests show that that may have been what caused her death?
HOWE: Well, I'm not so sure. You can always assume, however, that somebody gets somebody else's prescription drugs without their knowledge. So I'm not so sure you could prove that he provided them to her. And I think it's pretty common in Hollywood when a big star wants a prescription, they don't necessarily want everybody to know about it, there will be another name on the bottle.
NGUYEN: Gotcha. But where is Stern? We haven't really seen a lot of him lately. HOWE: Well, he has been elusive, hasn't he? He did show up at the hospital when she died. We were told at one point that he collapsed. We also had another report from a Bahamian official, which I took as pretty solid, that he had gone down to the Bahamas to see Dannielynn, the little girl. Now, at this point, he seems to be back in Florida. But it is a little strange. He's hard to find.
NGUYEN: And who's taking care of Dannielynn at this moment?
HOWE: Well, again, we were told two different things. At one point it was the nanny and a Bahamian official. When Anna and Howard had gone up to Florida, they left the little girl with those two people. But now we hear that perhaps Howard Stern's mother has custody of the child.
NGUYEN: Interesting. And in the meantime, there had been a lot of questions surrounding this nurse who found Anna Nicole unconscious, and instead of calling 911, she called Howard Stern. Are you looking into who this person is, possibly maybe some charges filed against her for not calling emergency crews when she noticed that Anna Nicole Smith was out?
HOWE: Well, once again, this is somebody we'd really like to find. And she's very suspiciously out of the picture. We're not sure exactly where she is. We were told that she showed up with Anna Nicole on Monday, which would suggest that Anna Nicole had some health issues that were bad enough, serious enough in her own mind that she should have a nurse around. Charges, again, it's going to be a little hard to tell. They'll have to -- the police will have to piece together minute by minute what happened.
NGUYEN: What's the big thing that People magazine is really going after at this point?
HOWE: Well, we would like to recreate her final days. We would like to answer what the custody battle is. After all, this is potentially a billion dollar baby.
NGUYEN: Wouldn't we all. Right.
HOWE: And that battle could last for some time. The inheritance is still up in the air. We also, I think, want to remember her. She was a celebrity. She sort of ran the gamut from being kind of comedic, kind of a pathetic figure to the voluptuous sexpot, and now, a very tragic figure and we want to remember that.
NGUYEN: You know, a lot of people did love her. We're still getting e-mails coming in to CNN just about how saddened people are out there about the fact that she has passed away. Rob Howe with People magazine, thanks for your time today.
HOWE: My pleasure.
HOLMES: And the Anna Nicole's story is tops on our Web site, CNN.com is the place, the Web site that you can watch video-on-demand. And yes, one of the most popular things right now is Anna Nicole's Smith last interview. CNN's Miles O'Brien talked with the "Entertainment Tonight" reporter who talked with her in that last interview -- talked to her about her final conversation, actually, our Miles O'Brien talking to that reporter about.
Also on that list of most popular things, White House intrigue. CNN's John Roberts reports how the Libby trial offers a rare glimpse of the workings inside the White House.
Also, something pretty hot right now, the ongoing debate over skinny models. One celebrity photographer says they are not too thin. It's much ado about nothing.
And rounding out the top four of the popular things on the site, is the consumer beat in Canada getting a bit rough? The camera was hot but the temper was hotter as an obstetrician -- or optometrist, was it, he goes after the reporter. We're going to have a lot more on this story and talk to that reporter here shortly.
NGUYEN: That is definitely the video of the day. I mean, you have to see that story. And of course we'll have more on that. But in the meantime lots more where that came from. CNN's Pipeline is the premiere source for news video on the Web. And this weekend you can watch Pipeline for free. That's one of my favorite words. Just go to cnn.com and click on Pipeline.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, protecting your home from winter's ill effects. From high-tech (INAUDIBLE) to simple ways to prevent frozen pipes. "OPEN HOUSE" at 9:30 Eastern will show you what you can do today to stave off disaster tomorrow.
NGUYEN: All right. Back to that video that you just have to see. And the boy who nearly became lunch for a 16-foot snake. There it is right there. It's ahead in "The WaterCooler." Don't miss it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit you? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) What, what? Are you going to hit me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This is the stuff you've got to see. And this is just the beginning of it. This is the consumer news beat that got a bit hazardous. We're going to talk to the reporter who got caught up in this smackdown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, of course, the consumer beat can get a little rough sometimes. And this certainly qualifies as one of those times.
NGUYEN: No doubt. A 75-year-old reporter for CityNews in Toronto, Canada, went looking for answers from an optician accused of selling counterfeit glasses. HOLMES: But what he did next is what turns this into a whole other story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit you?
PETER SILVERMAN, CITYNEWS REPORTER: Watch...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did I hit you? Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) outta here! What, what? Are you going to hit me? Are you going to hit me?
SILVERMAN: You hit me and I'll (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of here, all right! I'm sick of your (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Go ahead, hit me.
SILVERMAN (voice-over): This all started when Dianna Eromin said she had paid optician Adam Plimmer (ph) $400 for glasses which she never received.
DIANNA EROMIN, KING WEST OPTICAL CUSTOMER: I'm ready to pick up my glasses, everything was hunky dory, and he said, you're not getting. And -- but he didn't say like that. He was screaming, you're not getting!
SILVERMAN: And then there was Katherine Ng, who paid Plimmer $700 for a pair of glasses which also included a free eye test. But when Plimmer couldn't get her prescription right, she wanted to cancel the deal.
KATHERINE NG, KING WEST OPTICIAL CUSTOMER: And then he said, no, if you don't get out of my store, I'm going to call the cops on you.
EROMIN: Then he says, get the hell out!
NG: He threatened me.
SILVERMAN: So we went to see Adam Plimmer about the two women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have any more to say to you. You are all full of (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You deal with my lawyer.
SILVERMAN (on camera): Whoops.
(voice-over): Well, on Tuesday, we received this phone call from Mr. Plimmer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Silverman (ph), I've become a new man. I witnessed the power of God. And I want to tell you, Mr. Silverman, that I do love you and you want to come back here again, you can talk to me.
SILVERMAN: Did that mean that Mr. Plimmer was ready to pay restitution to the two women? We hoped so. So back we went to see him. And that's when his protestations of love started to become a bit unglued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit you? Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of here! What, what? Are you going to hit me? Are you going to hit me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)out of here! All right?
SILVERMAN (on camera): Get away from the cameraman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll break you right in half. Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off! (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you!
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
SILVERMAN (voice-over): Punches, doormats, spits and now snowballs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You, too! (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Get the -- stand in front of my door. I don't care, stop looking at my door!
SILVERMAN: Telling me to go away is one thing. Telling the cops to disappear is another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you!
SILVERMAN: From then on, the situation ratcheted up. Plimmer, now barricaded in his store, refused to come out, and that led to the emergency task force coming in. It was an inglorious end, Plimmer being led away in handcuffs. He is being charged with assault and assault with a weapon. For us, it was not the end we wanted. We much preferred to have Plimmer pay restitution and not end up in jail. We'll keep you posted.
I'm Peter Silverman for CityNews.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Hard to believe.
HOLMES: That's a bad day. You saw here that he's the reporter there. He puts his dukes up. He doesn't have a choice. And CityView (ph), where he works, pointed out to us that the reporter only did that, of course, in self-defense, which is pretty evident. Now as for the eyeglass shop owner, he is now facing a couple of assault charges. Also out on bail. But there's a restraining order that requires him to stay away from the reporter, the station, and any of the station's employees.
NGUYEN: Well, that reporter did say he was going to keep us posted. So here he is, Peter Silverman joins us now by phone from Toronto.
What's the latest with this? This is something that as we watch the video we're still just amazed that this even happened.
SILVERMAN: Well, Mr. Plimmer has now re-established himself, I believe, as Adam -- Paul Adam (ph) & Associates.
NGUYEN: So he's back in business?
SILVERMAN: Beg your pardon?
NGUYEN: So does this mean he's back in business?
SILVERMAN: Well, back in business is sort of a misnomer in a way. The College of Opticians is investigating him and probably, well, suggests that they're going to pull his license for dispensing illegal eye examinations. And in our part of the world, unless you are a fully qualified optician, you cannot dispense prescriptions for glasses, and that's what he's been doing. He is licensed to sell frames and lenses, but he's not licensed to do prescriptions, amongst other things.
NGUYEN: Yes. And he's not licensed to assault people either.
SILVERMAN: Yes, well...
(LAUGHTER)
SILVERMAN: ... it sounded a lot worse than it was, I think. You know, listening to it played back, without the visuals...
NGUYEN: Oh, no we had the visuals, don't worry.
SILVERMAN: It's sort of bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Sir, what was behind the -- we saw in the piece here, as well, that he called you and said, come on back. Do you think that was just a setup?
SILVERMAN: Yes, he called and said that he loved us, and that he saw the errors of his ways, and that he was willing to talk to us and he had found God. I don't know about the God bit. I'm not too sure about the error of his ways, but the love bit went down the tubes pretty fast.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: And as for the two women, are they filing a lawsuit against this man now?
SILVERMAN: Well, when I said at the end -- I've been doing this particular show for 18 years, and we had a little motto that we started off with, we're not out there for vengeance, we're out there for revenge -- ah, I'm sorry, we're not out there for revenge, we're out there for restitution.
(LAUGHTER) NGUYEN: The other way around.
SILVERMAN: Yes, not revenge. And we would have much rather got these two women their money back, and allowed Mr. Plimmer to go on his merry way. But unfortunately, mainly for him more than anything else, he took the (INAUDIBLE) continually that the frames he was selling were legitimate, that they weren't counterfeit. Even though in two instances, Gucci and Oakley, and I'm sure you're conversant with both of those, particularly Oakley, which is a very well-known American brand, we sent those glasses down to the manufacturers, and in both instances, and in both cases, they came back and said these were definitely counterfeit.
NGUYEN: Yes. Mr. Silverman, we have to run. But we obviously hope that you got some hazardous pay for the hard work that you did that day. Hope you're doing well. And of course we'll keep our viewers posted on the rest of this story. But thanks for your time today.
SILVERMAN: OK.
NGUYEN: In other news, did you hear about the skateboarder who got TASERed? Yes. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got it to almost my groin area and that's when I voluntarily put my hands behind my back, which is nobody wants (EXPLETIVE DELETED) by, you know, a TASER.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Hmm, oh, yes. Copping an attitude can lead to a short sharp shock. Stay with us in "The WaterCooler."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, some news stories just leap off the television.
HOLMES: Yes. Gather 'round, it is time for "The WaterCooler."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody wants (EXPLETIVE DELETED) by, you know, a TASER. That's just inhumane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What did he say?
HOLMES: Let me tell you what he said. This is what he said, Betty. Well, I can't tell you what he said. But we are talking about a TASing incident at San Diego State University. It is absolutely the talk of the campus. It started with a moving violation on a skateboard, of all things, and quickly went downhill from there. Police say Joshua Gandy (ph) was zapped because he became hostile when he was told to get off of that skateboard. The incident not under review. But the skateboard ban on campus is still in effect.
NGUYEN: And video out of Brazil that you have to take a look at. That big thing on the ground is a dead anaconda today. Check it out. The 16-foot snake had the boy in a death squeeze and was about to eat him, but his grandfather came to the rescue. He showed up in the nick of time. Police say the grandfather beat the snake for nearly 30 minutes with rocks and stabbed it with a knife to free the boy.
HOLMES: Thanks, grandpa.
NGUYEN: Wow. We'll get back to those other top stories at the top of the hour.
HOLMES: Including buried in Upstate New York. More than 120 inches of snow on the ground. More on the way. We'll show you how families there are coping.
NGUYEN: ,Also being a single mom is tough enough. Being a single mom in Iraq, hard to imagine. We're going to introduce you to one family just trying to get by in Baghdad.
CNN SATURDAY MORNING rolls on after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HOLMES: From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.
We want to thank you for joining us this morning.
Looking at pictures of Chicago and New York City there. We'll tell you more about the weather, but we want you to look at this. Snow plows, snow blowers, and even snow shovels all working overtime in upstate New York. Parts of the area just buried after a week of heavy snow. And brace yourself there, because more is on the way.
CNN's Reggie Aqui is braving the snow and cold, and he joins us live from Oswego, New York, where it is not measured in the inches, but by the feet.
AQUI: Hi, Betty. And also by how many cups of coffee and, in my case, hot chocolate, people are drinking this morning. Because while is isn't as cold as it has been, this certainly helps to get through.
We wondered what it's like to be a family here, certainly folks who are used to a lot of snow in this area, but who have never seen this much snow, this fast, in this amount of time. We actually spent quite a bit of time last night with a local family. They live right on the lake here. And while it's very beautiful, it's also been a front-row view to seven-plus feet of snow. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI (voice over): They move here partially because of the water. Lake Ontario, especially at sunset, is pretty. And this week it's pretty overwhelming.
SHARI TAYLOR, OSWEGO RESIDENT: I think we had 70 inches here in Oswego.
AQUI: After 18 winters, the Taylor family, like most people here in this part of upstate New York, is used to lots of snow.
LARRY TAYLOR, OSWEGO RESIDENT: Three to four inches an hour, and sometimes even a little more than that. And that's not unusual, but having that kind of snowfall over this long period of time is what's been unusual.
AQUI: Larry Taylor knew he was in trouble when he had to tell employees not to show up to the power plant where he works, an almost unprecedented move. And when he tried to make the 20-minute commute...
L. TAYLOR: Well, one day it took me about an hour and 45 minutes.
S. TAYLOR: But the kids have been off school all week. So they've been having a ball.
AQUI (on camera): What's it been like for the adults?
S. TAYLOR: Chaos.
L. TAYLOR: Yes, our snow blower quit working, which is a big challenge when you're trying to keep the driveway clear.
AQUI (voice over): They are thankful for what is working. The lights are on, the pantry full.
S. TAYLOR: Can't really get pizza delivered. Too much snow.
AQUI: And the kids seem to be content playing in the many mountains now dotting their backyards. But after too many afternoons of mac and cheese buffets and a now weeklong living room card game, even a family used to rolling with the weather punches...
S. TAYLOR: Yes. Yes, I'm ready for a break. It's time to go out somewhere.
AQUI: ... can't wait for spring to wash ashore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI: But it's not going to wash ashore any time soon. And we understand there could actually be more weather on the way. A lot of this is isolated just along the lake front where that family you just saw lives, and they could see another couple of feet before this is all done. In fact, this weather watch they're on is in effect until Monday morning.
The good news, businesses are starting to reopen. In fact, the bagel shop just across the street, they've been open every day. They are pretty diehard, and we're thankful this morning to them to provide us with some hot chocolate to keep warm out here, Betty.
We'll see you in a little bit.
NGUYEN: And I bet that family is thankful, too, because they're done with that macaroni and cheese. Maybe they'll get a bagel this morning.
Thank you, Reggie.
HOLMES: Well, as Reggie just mentioned, more of that weather. Can you believe? We're talking feet and feet.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Ten feet of snow and more snow is on the way.
Bonnie, that just doesn't seem possible.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it is possible.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Thank you, Bonnie.
Let's get to protecting your home for the harsh winter. A lot of people dealing with this right now. So, from high-tech generators, to simple ways to prevent frozen pipes, "OPEN HOUSE" at 9:30 Eastern will show you what you can do today to stave off disaster tomorrow.
HOLMES: Election Day is still 21 months away, but don't tell that to the presidential hopefuls fanning out across the country today.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, she's campaigning in New Hampshire this weekend. Her first stop today is in Berlin next hour.
Also, Senator Barack Obama expected to officially enter the 2008 presidential race today. He makes an announcement this morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We will have that for you live.
Two GOP presidential hopefuls making appearances in Michigan today. Kansas senator Sam Brownback speaks at the Republican state convention in Grand Rapids. And Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will be there as well. He's also speaking at that convention.
And former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, he's got has a stopover in California. He's going to be speaking to the Republican convention in Sacramento. NGUYEN: Let's get you now the latest on the death of Anna Nicole Smith. An autopsy yesterday ruled out several causes, but it did not answer the primary question. What killed the former "Playboy" Playmate and reality television actress?
Of concern to many who knew Smith, the question of drugs. Investigators say prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where Smith collapsed, but no pills were found in her body. Answers could still be weeks away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD MEDICAL EXAMINER: Most of the work is still in front of us. In other words, we have to examine the microscopic section of tissue. We have to do all the work and review the medical records, interview the witnesses who take care of the deceased prior to her death, do toxicology. There's so many -- many hurdles on the way to the final determination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And in the weeks before her death Smith's appearance and demeanor had many worried.
CNN's Carol Costello looks at the warning signs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA NICOLE SMITH, MODEL, ACTRESS: ... a swinger, you know?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At times it was clear there was something not quite right about Anna Nicole Smith's behavior. She was like a walking beautiful train wreck, an accident waiting to happen.
SMITH: We're all going to get a small pizza and order -- and an order of the macintoni (ph) rigatoni.
COSTELLO: There she is on page three of "The New York Post' two days before her death.
SMITH: Everyone in my life has stabbed me in my back or has said something bad about me...
COSTELLO: And here she is with "Entertainment Tonight's" Mark Steines 11 days ago, who said she appeared so distant, she seemed to forget where her new baby was.
And a few months before this interview, she nearly died.
MARK STEINES, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": We have found out that after the death of Daniel, at some point Anna did jump in her pool, attempt suicide at that point, and was found by Howard face down in the pool. Howard screamed for help, her bodyguard Moe (ph) came out, who is a -- who is a paramedic, and took her from the pool, administered CPR, and saved her life at that point. COSTELLO: Although the Broward County medical examiner cannot say if drugs were involved in Smith's death, a drug counselor we talked to says it looks to him like Smith had both drug and emotional problems.
JOHN GIORDANO, DRUG COUNSELOR: You look at some of the -- that blank look. You know, that faraway look. And you could see that there's something going on. Now, without really sitting down across from her, because I don't know what's going on in reality, but being around and doing this for 20 years and being a recovering addict myself, I kind of know another addict when I see one.
COSTELLO: He says some drugs can make a person lethargic, with slurred speech. He also says the fact she spent her life surrounded by bodyguards with few friends hurt her chance of a full recovery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And all of this brings us to the e-mail question this morning. How do you think Anna Nicole Smith should be remembered? Send us your thoughts to weekends@cnn.com.
HOLMES: And in Kentucky, want to turn to some dramatic pictures. This is the day after a jury convicts a man on attempted murder and carjacking charges. Video released showing the end of a three-day standoff with police that led to his arrest.
Yes, this is after police deployed a RoboCam into a house where the suspect was holed up, and that camera captured the suspect exchanging gunfire with police and the suspect getting shot in the shoulder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Welcome to the Hamza household, with its cloth walls, makeshift kitchen, and tiny room for Ikhlas and her two children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A poor, single mother living in a wartorn nation. Why this Iraqi mother says the militias are her only source of survival. That story in three minutes.
HOLMES: Also, they were thin enough to work but too thin to live. Coming up in 20 minutes, the New York fashion industry takes action following the deaths, the sudden deaths of two models. But does it go far enough?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see bones. I don't like the idea of a knee being the largest part of the body. I don't want to see and count people's rib bones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: The winning of hearts and minds in the fight for Iraq, a troubling look now at how it's done one heart, one mind at a time, troubling, as CNN's Arwa Damon reports, because of who's doing the winning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice over): Being a poor, single mother anywhere is tough, but with Iraq's relentless violence and lack of government institutions, it's much, much tougher.
Welcome to the Hamza household, with its cloth walls, makeshift kitchen, and tiny room for Ikhlas and her two children. Ikhlas used to live in Sadr City, a sprawling Shia slum, but she divorced her husband about a year ago.
IKHLAS HAMZA, SINGLE MOTHER (through translator): When I got divorced, I should have gone back to live with my family, but they said the kids have to stay with their father, and I wouldn't give my children to him.
DAMON: And so rather than give up her kids, she came to live here, a warehouse-turned-squatter camp, no power, no gas, no water. The bathroom filthy.
Government assistance nonexistent, and Ikhlas earning just $100 a month cleaning houses, whatever extra help the family receives comes from local militiamen, the Mehdi militia loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, blamed for much of the sectarian violence. But here they provide Ikhlas and her family with something the government can't or won't.
HAMZA (through translator): We've only got God and the Mehdi army. They come by once or twice a week to check on us. They give us money and rations.
DAMON: It's something militias do routinely, a winning of hearts and minds the government often fails to achieve because of the poor security situation.
There's not much for children to do for fun here. Eight-year-old Ali (ph) doesn't go to school. Instead, he helps out at a mechanic's shop, making about 30 cents a day, and plays rough with his kid sister.
Just being seen talking to Westerners can be a death sentence in Baghdad, but Ikhlas says it's worth the gamble. She wants her story told, she says. A desperate cry for help to anyone who will listen.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN PIPELINE ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Veronica de la Cruz at the .com/DESK.
We don't have to tell you that it is cold outside, and that is because you are showing us.
I'll have your winter weather I-Reports next when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pop it, Sawyer. Come on, man.
COSTELLO (voice over): What is the best overall workout that includes cardio, strength training, endurance, and flexibility? You might be surprised. "Forbes" magazine ranks squash as the number one healthiest sport.
TOM RUMPLER, SQUASH PRO, WINDY HILL SPORTING CLUB: There's the socialness of it, of being with a buddy. There is the competitiveness of "I'm going to beat you." And then there's just the absolute flat- out hard workout of hitting the ball and running as hard as you can for an hour.
COSTELLO: Tom says squash is a game you can play for a lifetime, and it's fun to master.
RUMPLER: The object of the game is players have to alternate hitting the ball back to what's called the front wall.
LIZZY WARNER, SQUASH PLAYER: I'm pretty flexible from just playing squash over the years, but also, I run a lot, and it's just really encreased my endurance. And it's just great.
COSTELLO: Sawyer says playing squash also strengthens his tennis game.
SAWYER DUNCAN, SQUASH PLAYER: You burn something like four times as many calories playing an hour of squash as you do an hour of tennis. And so it's a great workout.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And it's time now for us to see what's happening online. And for that, we turn to Veronica de la Cruz, who is over at the .com/DESK.
Good morning to you, ma'am.
DE LA CRUZ: Good morning to you, T.J. Nice to see you.
You probably won't be too surprised the Anna Nicole Smith story is still making waves this morning at CNN.com, but so is the winter weather. And I have a few I-Reports on the cold gripping much of the nation. Let's go ahead and start in upstate New York. This is Camden, New York, and this photo was sent in to us by Margaret Siros. The caption on this photo, "Can you spot the van in this picture?"
Can you? Yes -- no. It really does give you a sense of just how much snow has fallen there. Margaret says that she hasn't seen snow like this since 1971.
It's not just cold in New York. It is also freezing in Madison, Wisconsin.
Can you make out this picture? This is what hot liquid looks like in subzero temperatures. It's a pretty artsy shot. It was sent in to us by Jackie Johnson.
She and her co-worker Bob Hague (ph) decided to tryout this experiment. So they headed outdoors with a pot of coffee, and this is the result.
Also, this next picture, as you can see, the winter weather, it's gone to the dogs, literally. I wanted to take the time to introduce you to this little pooch.
Her name is Gidget. And Gidget refuses to go outside when it's cold. That is, of course, unless she is all bundled up.
Too cute.
Like I mentioned before, Anna Nicole Smith, that story still popular on the Web this morning. We'll be back at 10:00 a.m. with more on your thoughts.
In the meantime, send us your e-mail pictures and your video, cnn.com/ireport.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Yes, she is definitely very missed.
DE LA CRUZ: Wasn't she cute?
HOLMES: We're talking about the dog here, right?
NGUYEN: Yes, the dog's cute. Anna Nicole Smith definitely very missed. And, in fact, we're going to be talking about that right now, because that is our e-mail question today.
How do you think that she should be remembered? And we got a lot of responses.
HOLMES: And first here from Tara, who's in Hamilton, Georgia. She says, "Unfortunately she will be remembered as another American beauty that went from rags to riches, only to be consumed by the environment and people she allowed to create chaos in her short life. May she rest in peace with her beloved son Danny." NGUYEN: And our second e-mail comes from Todd Hale of Virginia. It says, "Please, she was a gold-digger, lush, and addict whose only contribution to the self-indulgent world of art and entertainment was being fodder for comedians."
HOLMES: And finally here, another from Mike Cunningham, who says, "She will be remembered for how our society has come to adore the attributes of physical beauty and then exploits it through every possible channel. 'Sex and how to sell it' is the new religion, and Anna Nicole was only one of its idols. May she find the peace in her death she never attained here."
And again, keep those coming to us. We'll have more throughout the morning asking you, how do you think she will be remembered?
Meanwhile, what happened while you slept? We've got a check of the morning's top developments. That's coming your way in three minutes.
NGUYEN: Then, surving the winter blues. "HOUSE CALL" shows you the simple things that you can do today to lift your mood without drugs.
HOLMES: And at the top of the hour, from bypassing a bolted lock to stealing a car, you might be surprised to find out what criminals can learn online.
NGUYEN: And check out what happened when a reporter confronted the focus of a consumer fraud investigation. Yes, just look at that. We're going to tell you why police eventually had to be called in.
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