[Lin:] Here's what's happening right now in the news. Al Qaeda lieutenant Ayman al Zawahiri wants you to join Islam. He had an American recruit deliver the message. We're examining that new tape tonight. Now the tape comes on the heels of a coalition offensive in al Anbar Province, an al-Qaeda stronghold in western Iraq. CNN's Michael Ware is embedded with U.S. troops in Ramadi.
[Michael Ware, Cnn Correspondent:] As U.S. troop numbers in Iraq reach new levels as the battle of Baghdad is waged, a massive operation to rid the city from insurgents, militias and death squads, it is here in western Ramadi where the al Qaeda front line still stands. The daily drip feed of attacks and American casualties continues. The most recent from a suicide car bombing which took the life of a U.S. marine. American commanders in Ramadi are trying to strike at the heart of al Qaeda's leadership and its bases. The plan involves the establishment of remote combat outposts such as this one in the city's south, where small numbers of American troops establish themselves deep in al Qaeda territory. Michael Ware, CNN, Combat Outpost Grant, Ramadi, Iraq.
[Lin:] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in Iran. He wants the Iranians to stop supplying weapons to Hezbollah. His talks will also focus on Iran's nuclear intentions. Now the Atlantis shuttle crew is back at Kennedy Space Center planning for a Wednesday afternoon liftoff now. Bad weather shelved two previous launches. Hurricane John downgraded now to a tropical storm. So let's get the latest from CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. Bonnie, any danger still there?
[Bonnie Schneider, Cnn Meteorologist:] Unfortunately, yes. Because even though this is a tropical storm, it is a strong tropical storm with maximum winds at 70 miles an hour. Looking at it on our satellite perspective you can see the areas here in orange. This indicates the higher cloud tops where we're getting the thunderstorms working their way northward across the Baja Peninsula. And you are probably wondering where is this storm going next? This tropical storm will work its way to the north. By Monday we're expecting it to push off into the Pacific and be downgraded even further and lose intensity and definitely just be an area of low pressure as it works its way farther off into the Pacific. Now normally when we talk about storms in the Atlantic, we talk about them gaining strength when they go over the open waters of the Atlantic. But in the Pacific Ocean, it's completely different. Here is the reason why. As we walk over here, I can show you water temperatures for the Gulf of California between the Baja Peninsula and Mexico and then off into the Pacific, notice here the areas in orange indicate where we have the warmer water temperatures, about 30 degrees Celsius or 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And then once you start heading off into the Pacific, the water temperature gets much colder down to about 68 degrees. That's why we're looking at this system, Tropical Storm John dissipating very quickly as we work our way into Monday and Tuesday. We're also checking very carefully the remnants of Ernesto because this storm is bringing a lot of rain as far north as Upstate New York into Syracuse and Buffalo getting rain there. And we're also looking at a lot of travel delays with lots of folks traveling for this Labor Day weekend. Look at this. JFK now reporting, Carol, over three-hour delays. A lot of folks looking for a nice holiday weekend. Unfortunately they'll be stuck at the airport a little while longer.
[Lin:] That's a big delay.
[Schneider:] That's right.
[Lin:] Even for New York. Thanks very much, Bonnie. Other stories now making news across the world. In Britain a retired senior judge is taking over the inquest into the death of Princess Diana. That's according to reports in the "London Times" and the BBC. The royal coroner who was conducting the inquest quit in July citing a heavy workload. Some claim Diana was deliberately killed in a 1997 car crash in Paris. And new video of Fidel Castro. The latest tape on Cuban TV shows the Cuban leader visiting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Castro appears thinner but more animated and stronger than he did in a tape three weeks ago. Castro underwent abdominal surgery back in July. And a UN agency says opium cultivation in Afghanistan soared 59 percent this year. Most of that occurred in the southern provinces where Taliban militants have stepped up their attacks. Topping the CNN security watch, British police net 14 terror suspects in a London sweep. They are suspected of recruiting and training others. Officials say these raids are unrelated to the recent transatlantic airplane terror arrests. But CNN's Robin Oakley has much more.
[Robin Oakley, Cnn Correspondent:] Following months of surveillance, 16 men have been arrested by British police on suspicion of terrorist offenses. Fourteen were arrested in South London, a number at a halal Chinese restaurant. Residents said as many as 40 police were involved, some of them armed.
[Ross Clark, Resident:] The police officers in full raid gear with their head gear balaclavas, were running into the restaurant. And they were standing around some people, but I only saw them standing around one person, really. And the man left was a Muslim man with a beard and everything.
[Oakley:] The owner said some of those taken away were regular customers.
[Mehdi Belyani, Restaurant Owner:] They just told me, sorry to this. We have to talk to some of them. But they stopped everyone from eating.
[Oakley:] Police say the latest arrests are in connection with the recruitment and training of terrorists. They said there was no link with the alleged plot in August to blow up airliners en route from Britain to the United States or the London subway bombings in July 2005. In an unrelated raid, police arrested two men in Manchester in northern England after three houses were searched. A number of vehicles were taken away for examination. Again, police said there was no link to the August airliner plot. Peter Clarke, Scotland Yard's anti-terror chief, continues to urge the British public to remain on guard against the threat of homegrown terrorism.
[Peter Clarke, Dept. Assistant Commission:] The threat from terrorism is real. It is here. It is deadly. And it is enduring.
[Oakley:] Now Mr. Clarke has revealed in a BBC interview to be aired Sunday that thousands of Muslims in Britain are watched as potential terrorist sympathizers, not necessarily involved directly in plots but as people who might support or encourage acts of terrorism. With the focus very much on terrorist training, police confirmed Saturday they were searching a school in East Sussex. The Jameah Islamiyah Secondary School near Townbridge, Wales. But Sussex police said nobody had been taken into custody. [on camera]: While the latest arrests seem to involve the more general background of possible preparation for terrorist acts rather than any relation to specific plots, they will further heighten public alarm. And the comments from Peter Clarke that literally thousands of Muslims are being watched as possible terrorist sympathizers will do nothing to help community relations. Robin Oakley, CNN London.
[Lin:] CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. So stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night. Now there's an update out of Iraq. There was a brutal sectarian attack in Iraq and insurgents shot and killed at least 14 Shiite pilgrims from India and Pakistan. Police say the pilgrims were headed to the holy city of Karbala when their bus was ambushed. And also in Iraq today coalition forces transferred control of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison to Iraqis. The Iraqis have actually taken control of an empty building. All the detainees have already been moved to other facilities. You know, there was so much more violence today that underscored a report that came out that showed that Americans' support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is beginning to wane. And so what did the Pentagon do? The military apparently hired a P.R. firm. That's Jamie McIntyre's story.
[Jamie Mcintyre, Cnn Correspondent:] Things in Iraq have been getting worse in the past three months. And the report to Congress shows just how much worse. Attacks have gone up 15 percent over the summer and Iraqi casualties up an alarming 51 percent compared to the spring. The report says civilian casualties increased by about 1,000 per month over the three-month period. Since 90 percent of the bodies brought to the central morgue in Baghdad appear to have been executed in Iraqi on Iraqi attack which the U.S. still insists doesn't constitute a civil war. It's an assessment echoed by commanders on the front lines.
[Col. Tom Vail, Cmdr., 101st Airborne Div:] I've got an optimistic view that civil war would not occur, but I can't predict the future. My optimism comes from the amount of forces and the amount of capability available in Baghdad right now as we intervene and we protect the people.
[Mcintyre:] "Still, the report warns conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq." But argues "the current violence is in the a civil war and movement toward civil war can be prevented." The report to Congress does cite progress in building up Iraqi forces as well as turning over one southern province to Iraqi control. But the report's grim news gave more ammunition to administration critics. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid fired off a statement saying the report shows "President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld's speeches are increasingly disconnected from the facts in the ground in Iraq." Rumsfeld fired off some missives himself, both to Senator Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Defending his speech this week to the American Legion in which he warned of latter day appeasers who want to make a separate peace with terrorists.
[Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary Of Defense:] Can we really truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?
[Mcintyre:] In his letters Rumsfeld said, "Thought and careful preparation went into what I said. It is absolutely essential for us to look at the lessons of history in this critical moment in the war on terror." [on camera]: Whether the violence is the result of a civil war, sectarian fighting or criminal death squads, the report makes clear it is getting worse, not better. And it calls it a setback affecting the stability, reconstruction and transition plans for the country. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
[Lin:] On a completely different subject, these women are absolutely tired of living in poverty. And they took matters into their own hands. We've got their story straight ahead. And this woman, this granny, yep, her, she tracked down her would-be purse snatcher and let him have it. You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.