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CNN Saturday Morning News

Rebels Retake Key City in Libya; Syria Shaken by Protests; Elite Eight Set in NCAA Tournament; Profile of President Bashar al- Assad of Syria; Three Easy Steps to Becoming a Millionaire?; Avoiding Diet Pitfalls

Aired March 26, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning.

New battles are raging in Libya, as rebels claim another victory against Moammar Gadhafi's troops. All this as NATO gets ready to take over control of the skies over Libya.

Also, President Obama preparing his message on the crisis, addressing the concerns of Congress and you, the American people.

And protesters are putting their lives on the line in Syria. They're pushing for change, but at what price?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for March 26th. Glad you could spend some of your Saturday morning and weekend right here with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.

We don't want to start with those new developments in Libya. Right now, we are waiting for the next move by NATO, poised to take the reins to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. The mission for NATO and American pilots is to protect civilians.

Also, rebel forces say they have retaken control of a key strategic city -- it's the gateway to the oil producing centers in eastern Libya. The city we're talking about is Ajdabiya.

For more now on what's happening there, we turn to our Reza Sayah. He is with us from Benghazi, another important city there.

Hello to you, once again. Remind our viewers why Ajdabiya is such a big deal.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ajdabiya is a strategically critical city. It's really the dividing line from an eastern front largely controlled by the opposition and the western front for the most part and controlled by the Gadhafi forces. So, it's really been the front line in this conflict between the opposition and the Gadhafi regime.

In the overnight hours, according to an opposition official, opposition forces took over this key city -- rebel forces moving in on the town of Ajdabiya. This is a town the two sides have fought over for weeks.

Rebel forces inched their way forward towards Ajdabiya over the past several days, but they had been repelled by tank units stationed at the northern gates of the city. But almost nightly airstrikes by coalition forces had softened up some of these tank units and Gadhafi targets on the ground. And I don't think there's any question that played a key role in rebel fighters finally moving into Ajdabiya.

An opposition official telling CNN that rebel fighters at this hour combing the streets of Ajdabiya, making sure it is secure, making sure that there are no remnants of Gadhafi forces still in the city. But a big, big day, big victory for the opposition forces here in Libya, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Reza Sayah with the update for us. Reza, we appreciate you as always. Stay safe.

Also, many people have been calling on President Obama to talk directly to the American people about the American involvement in Libya, and to spell out at least a little more clearly the U.S. position. Well, he's expected now to do just that on Monday night. You will be able to see the president's address to the nation from the National Defense University in Washington, live right here on CNN, scheduled for 7:30 Eastern Time Monday night.

So, we're going to hear from the president. We also want to hear from you this morning. Our question: should the United States step back from any involvement in the current unrest in the Middle East?

Send in your comments to our blog at CNN.com/TJ. I've already posted this question as well on my Facebook page. Also, you can find us on Twitter as well @TJHolmes. We will be reading some of your comments throughout the show.

Already a good discussion going at least on Facebook. We want to hear from you this morning.

Also, as the protests spread across the Arab world, at times they have, in fact, turned violent. This is video -- dramatic video of protests in Syria. Witnesses tell us police fired on peaceful protesters. Again in the southern town of Daraa, dozens of people reported killed there.

Meanwhile, in Yemen, demonstrators want constitutional reforms, they want parliamentary elections, and they want the president out of there. The president said he's ready to hand over authority systematically but he's not going to do so to gangs, drug dealers or rebels.

We turn to Japan now, where there is new concern about radiation in the seawater surrounding that crippled nuclear power plant. Tests show the level of radioactive iodine in the water near the Fukushima nuclear power plant is more than 1,000 times higher than normal. This suggests there may be a radioactive leak somewhere and the water may be leaking from that plant. Radiation levels in the air at least outside the power plant continue to fall. We turn back to the U.S. now where a story developed last night on live television. A man accused of killing a police officer in Athens, Georgia, he is now in custody after a lengthy hostage standoff. You're seeing him being led away by authorities there.

Jamie Donnell Hood is his name. He surrendered to police in Athens last night, accused of shooting two officers earlier in the week. One of those officers died.

Hood took eight hostages last night when police came to get him. Police negotiators used the media to get a message to Hood. He was watching coverage of the standoff. The local news was covering this live. One of the police officers went on that live television station and made a plea, and sure enough he ended up surrendering later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Did you hear him there? He said, "I have no comment." Has no comment. That is the suspended air traffic controller there. That's the one who fell asleep in the tower at Reagan National Airport this week.

Well, in response to that incident, the FAA administrator is now ordering radar controllers to check in with the towers during the overnight hours. This basically means the air traffic controller, they're going to confirm that somebody is in there, somebody is awake, and the tower is being manned. He's also calling for a nationwide review of staffing and backup procedures at the nation's airports.

Well, it is spring time, so let me show you some beautiful springtime pictures now. Yes. That's ugly. Heavy snow has closed roads and we've seen mudslides as well in parts of the country. We'll give you an update at some of the problem areas, including the fact that we could see some severe storms in the south today.

It's six minutes past the hour. Stay with us on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

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HOLMES: At nine minutes past the hour now.

Did you stay up late to catch the games? You missed a couple of doozies last night. How is your bracket doing?

NCAA tournament started with 68 teams. We are down to eight now, the Elite Eight. One of them, no surprises here, the Kansas Jayhawks. This happened before the game here. They were playing Richmond, the 12 seed. A little pushing and shoving before the game, not much of a fight there. Not much of a fight, either, during the actual game. Kansas wins the game by 20, 77-57, never was much of a competition.

They are going to go up against the 11th seeded VCU. Virginia Commonwealth beat Florida State in overtime. Many people thought VCU shouldn't even have earned their way into the tournament but here they are on the verge now of going to the Final Four.

But the game of the night last night was in New Jersey. Brandon Knight did it again for Kentucky. The Wildcat freshman guard, you're seeing the last seconds of the game here and look what he does to Ohio State, the Buckeyes, number one overall seed, they are done. They had a chance for a three at the end, but, of course, it did not go in. And, yes, Kentucky, 62-60 over the team that a lot of people thought was going to win it all, Ohio State.

They will take on North Carolina now, the Tar Heels, who beat up on Marquette last night, 81-63.

So, we are wrapping up. By the end of today, we'll know at least two of the Final Four. And by the end of tomorrow, we'll know who the Final Four will be.

Now, let's turn to some weather now. It has been severe in nature in some places. Some strong storms taking a toll on California.

Take a look at this, mudslide damage. This is a home in San Pablo, one of several structures at risk of further damage after heavy rains created landslides there. It was scary to look at, certainly, as you're seeing now, but also pretty scary to hear when it was going on.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could hear the earth dropping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, this earth is probably six feet from my home and we don't know if we should evacuate or what.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Let me bring in Bonnie Schneider now.

Bonnie, evacuate or what? But part of that or what, they're getting more rain out there, are they not?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And the problem is that even if they don't get more rain, it's very unstable. And especially if it was that close to her home, there's definitely still a threat for more mudslides.

It's interesting, the mudslide -- it flows, and then it stops and it hardens. So if anything that's stuck in the mudslide will be cemented in. One of the reasons they're so dangerous and so damaging. Let's talk about rain right now. Severe storms are rolling through the south. We're seeing some heavy thunderstorms. Little Rock, Memphis, into Huntsville, Birmingham. And right here in Atlanta, we're going to see strong storms rolling through, heavy spring downpours.

And then into the Plain States, it's all snow. That's right. The snow is working its way across Nebraska, South Dakota. The temperature in Omaha is hovering right around 33 degrees.

And it's not just the Plain States, but the Midwest also facing a threat of snow. It's not snowing in St. Louis right now, but it will be. We are looking for one to two inches of snow mixing with sleet at times, freezing temperatures in Missouri, and more mountain snow for California as well as heavy rain in the San Francisco area. It's coming down hard right now.

And, T.J., they also have some really strong winds -- so this will impact travel as we go through the day.

HOLMES: All right. A lot going on, Bonnie. Good to have you here with us this morning. We'll check in with Bonnie plenty throughout this morning.

Also, we've been seeing protests spread across the Middle East. Well, we're taking a look now amount the situation specifically in Syria. We'll tell you what's at stake there.

It's 13 minutes past the hour.

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HOLMES: Well, earlier, we asked you what you thought of American involvement in the Middle East. Should the U.S. be stepping back?

Here is just a bit of what you told us. One from Pam -- Pam says, "Yes. We have enough problems of our own to deal with. I understand the U.S. compassion, but we need to help ourselves."

Also, another from Stacee who says, "Even though I understand and respect the reason why the United States became involved, we should begin to phase out ASAP."

Also one from Cheryl who says, "I've got a question. Why is it so hard for people to accept that we did the right thing, simply because it was the right thing to do?"

We appreciate you all being involved in the discussion. We'll continue to read more of your comments throughout the show. But keep them coming to our blog and also to Facebook and Twitter.

Let's turn now to the situation unfolding in Syria. Dozens of anti-government demonstrators reportedly killed -- another part of the Middle East erupting here. But what do we know about the leader, President Bashar al-Assad? And what's at stake here?

Nadia Bilchik is joining me with our "Morning Passport."

Nadia, always good to chat with you.

Syria. Why Syria? Why is Syria important to the United States?

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, Syria is important strategically, geographically. But very interesting because "The Wall Street Journal" interviewed Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, at the end of January. And he said what we've seen in Tunisia and Egypt will not happen in Syria. And, of course, it's happening.

HOLMES: Famous last words, right?

BILCHIK: But interestingly again, now, his father, Hafez al- Assad, in a bloodless coup, became the president of Syria in 1970. He rules with an iron fist until 1996 and becomes ill, looking for a successor. So, he brings Bashar al-Assad back from studying ophthalmology in London. Now, Bashar was not his first choice. His first choice was his older son, who had died in a car accident in 1994.

HOLMES: So, the guy leading the country now maybe never even wanted the job and sounds like he was planning a different life.

BILCHIK: He was studying ophthalmology, completely planning for another life.

When he came to power at 35, he becomes president, 2000. Now, he was the youngest president. There had to be a change in constitution for Bashar al-Assad to become the president. His father had actually changed the entire constitution, and there was hope at that time, T.J., hope that he would reform, hope that he would do things differently being this young man, but he hasn't.

He has kept the 43-year state of emergency in Syria -- 43 years of a state of emergency. That's what people have lived with.

I wanted to tell that in 2009, Ed Hornick, one of our political reporters went to Syria. And he was speaking to the generation that knew Hafez al-Assad and spoke about human rights. For them, having human rights was having electricity or water, not human right as we know it. NO, he hasn't done enough to reform.

HOLMES: But this is a man as well -- this is a country that is ruled by a religious minority that he is a part of.

BILCHIK: Exactly, the Alawite minority. The government of Bashar al-Assad, the Baathist or Alawite, it's a sect of the Shia religion, the majority of Syria are Sunnis. So, you have a small minority.

Now, if you want to do business in Syria, you need to be associated with an Alawite. That's what people are protesting against -- underemployment, underemployment and this minority government who control. They're saying no mas, no more. HOLMES: But that's a big source of his power, even though it is such -- we're talking about Shiites and that's the minority already, but you talk about this Alawite, this other sect. That's even a smaller minority, but so much power is concentrated in there.

BILCHIK: So much, exactly.

HOLMES: And they have a lot to lose.

BILCHIK: They have a lot to lose. So, the battle has just begun. There's a Chinese proverb, "We may live in interesting times," we certainly are.

HOLMES: All right. Nadia, always good for the "Morning Passport" to get people caught up and get more perspective on what's happening in some of these hot spots. Thank you so much. I'm going to talk to you again this morning.

BILCHIK: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, everybody out there, don't up want to be a millionaire? You've got to think like a millionaire. We've got some tips that are going to drive you -- drive you to maybe driving that? I didn't know that's what this segment was about.

We are going to teach you how to be a millionaire in three easy steps. I know what you're thinking. T.J. is full of it this morning. Well, maybe.

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HOLMES: You want to be rich? What a stupid question. Of course, you do.

Well, there's an article out there on how to become a millionaire in three easy steps. We caught this in "Money Magazine." We thought, is it really that simple? Three steps, folks.

So, we asked our certified financial planner, Karen Lee, to break this down for us in our "Take It to the Bank" segment.

Good morning. Three steps -- is it that easy?

KAREN LEE, FINANCIAL PLANNER: Well, it could be that easy.

HOLMES: It sounds easy.

LEE: The devil's in the details.

HOLMES: OK. The details are, should we just -- what are the three?

LEE: The three steps are, the first one is: how much time do you allow for savings.

HOLMES: OK. LEE: If it's under 10 years to get to that million-dollar number, you're going to really need to ramp up your savings.

HOLMES: OK. So, we're talking about timing is one thing, savings, another, and investment is the other.

Now, those sound simple enough, all right? But let's do a real world example here.

LEE: OK.

HOLMES: Our average Joe, we're going to show, suppose somebody is out there, 45 years old.

LEE: Right.

HOLMES: Makes $80,000 a year.

LEE: OK.

HOLMES: So, between his savings and retirement, he has combined $100,000.

LEE: OK.

HOLMES: Now, how is that guy going to get to that magic number of $1 million?

LEE: He can do it.

HOLMES: OK.

LEE: It's going to take some discipline. I went on the "Money Magazine" calculator, I checked it with my own calculator.

HOLMES: OK.

LEE: If he puts away $13,000 per year, and that's doable.

HOLMES: That's doable.

LEE: He will hit $1 million by 65, just north of $1 million.

HOLMES: OK. But can he do that simply by putting the money away or he needs some kind of return?

LEE: Of course he does. And I thank you for bringing that up. One of the things on the calculators that let you alter that rate of return. Now, they had it defaulting to 8 percent. Eight percent if you have 20-plus years is probably a reasonable rate to rely on.

HOLMES: OK.

LEE: And so, how you invest your money becomes really important. What percent do you put in stocks, how aggressive or conservative are you going to be. HOLMES: OK. How does that break down? How much of that is putting away? Because people say, they like to do it safe sometimes -- safely, and into my bank account. I'm good to go.

LEE: Right.

HOLMES: And, you know, the stock market has scared people a little bit, and where to invest and the housing market and whatnot. So, where do you suppose to dump your money?

LEE: Well, I'll go back to your first point, which is: have a plan. If you are scared, work with someone. Get some advice.

But truly, you've got to understand that the safer you want to be, the less you're going to earn on potential return. So, you have to save more.

HOLMES: OK. Is $1 million -- why is that such the magic number, the round number everybody wants to get to?

LEE: You know, I'm not quite sure for people our age, by the time we get to 65, $1 million won't be enough, but there's something elusive about $1 million that we've always said, I want to have $1 million.

HOLMES: OK. In these times, how little are people saving these days?

LEE: Well, that's so important of a point. People seem to all -- when times get tough, the first thing they do is cut back savings, and it should be the last thing. Cut out your cable. Get rid of your cell phone. Anything else you can do, but keep the savings going.

HOLMES: Karen, are you just sitting on cable television right now telling people to get rid of their cable?

LEE: I know.

HOLMES: Oh, wow.

LEE: Just get down to basic cable where you still have CNN.

HOLMES: You all say bye to Karen. Probably won't see her again.

Karen, good to see you. Good to have you back.

LEE: You, too. All right.

HOLMES: I haven't seen in a while, but good to have you back here with us.

LEE: You, too.

HOLMES: Quick break here. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Taking a look now at a couple of stories making headlines:

Rebel forces in Libya battling the troops of strongman Moammar Gadhafi. They claim they have taken control now of a key strategic city of the eastern part of the country. Opposition says they are combing the streets of Ajdabiya searching for any Gadhafi loyalists who might still be there. NATO expected to assume formal command of the allied military campaign at some point this weekend.

Also in Georgia, hostage standoff overnight is over now, an accused cop killer is in police custody. Jamie Hood is his name. He was on the run since Tuesday after he allegedly shot two police officers in Athens, Georgia, killing one of them. His surrender was all caught live on Atlanta area television as the suspect had negotiated with police.

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HOLMES: Often times when trying to lose weight, you know it's just a matter of time before that willpower starts to fade a little bit.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen outlines the situations most likely to test your determination and how to get through it.

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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know I've been there and I'm sure you have, too -- the moments that make you fat. There you are, eating right, exercising, doing everything you're supposed to, and, wham, your friends want to go to a buffet restaurant or maybe one of those restaurants with huge portions, or let's say your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you and all you want to do is have a pint of ice cream to feel better.

Well, here at the "Empowered Patient," we have the moments that make you fat and strategies for dealing with them. For example, if someone breaks up with you, you could join a team that's training for a 5k, so that way you get to work out and make new friends, too.

Or if you go to one of those restaurants, you know, the ones with the ginormous portions, here's what you can do. When you make your order, say, "I'll take half of it now and I want you to put half in a doggy bag." So, get that doggy bag in the front end instead of the back end, and that way you're only getting half a smaller portion.

Now, for moments that you make fat, and for strategies for dealing with them, go to CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I don't know if I'm ever going to dinner with Elizabeth Cohen.

Time to hand it over to the good doctor -- "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." right now.