NEWS LITE : NAMES IN THE NEWS BOOK TELLS OF DI'S FINAL MOMENTS.

Princess Diana's heart stopped beating at the scene of the crash, but was restarted; the first medic on the scene unknowingly treated her for less serious trauma; and her last words were not ``Leave me alone.''

So says the new book ``Enquete sur la Mort de Diana (Investigation Into Diana's Death)'' by French journalists Jean-Marie Pontaut and Jerome Dupuis, the first account to rely exclusively on statements by doctors who treated her.

The medic, an emergency medical specialist, said he responded to the most obvious crisis by shoving a tube down her windpipe to get oxygen to her lungs, massaging her heart, and giving her a transfusion. It was only a half-hour later at the hospital that X-rays revealed Di's most serious injury - a tear in a major blood vessel carrying oxygenated blood to the heart. By that time so much blood had filled her chest cavity as to collapse her heart and a lung. Subsequent tries to restart the heart failed.

The book also states that contrary to other reports no cocaine was found in the car. Her last words: ``My God, my God.''

If Helms runs again, it'll be on new knees

Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C, is doing ``the fashionable thing to do'' for a 76-year-old man: getting his knees replaced.

``The sooner, the better,'' the Republican said Wednesday. He said he probably will undergo surgery in the fall, after the Senate adjourns.

Helms, who was elected to his fifth term in 1996, said that the cartilage in his knees has worn away and that arthroscopic surgery last December did not correct the problem. He now has bone grinding on bone.

``It is painful,'' he said. ``I am walking with a cane.''

He also occasionally uses an electric cart to get around on Capitol Hill.

CBS has eye on 2nd `60 Minutes'

It's looking more likely that CBS will launch a second weekly installment of ``60 Minutes,'' a mainstay of the network's Sunday night schedule for 30 years.

The show's executive producer, Don Hewitt, has backed off his initial opposition to the point where he's now working to develop a potential format for the second ``60 Minutes,'' show spokesman Kevin Tedesco said Thursday.

Hewitt and the show's veteran correspondents, particularly Mike Wallace, had objected to the idea of a second edition for fear that a glut of newsmagazines will make good stories scarce and dilute the impact of the Sunday show.

A second ``60 Minutes'' would not be ready until winter at the earliest, CBS officials said.

Breakup with Moore has Willis `very sad'

``It's a very sad day for me and I would just like to be on my own for a little while.'' That's Bruce Willis in a statement to the New York Post a day after news broke that he and wife Demi Moore were splitting up.

Although those knowing anything about the Willis-Moore shambles weren't talking Thursday, indicators are that the 10-1/2-year marriage has been on the crumble for 18 to 24 months. Last year, two publications, the Star and Australia's New Idea, reported trouble. The Down Under magazine said Moore's obsessiveness with her body - bulimia linked with excessive exercise - was driving her husband nuts. It also noted that colliding careers and competing jealousies were wedging away. Under threat of suit, New Idea printed a subsequent apology for its report.

A year ago, the couple filed a $5 million suit, still in effect, against the Star for publishing photos of Leonardo DiCaprio leaving the couple's Malibu house; the tab reported he spent a day and night there while Willis was off doing a movie and their three daughters were away with a nanny. There have been subsequent reports that the actress has sought solace with women, including psychic Laura Day.

Then there's that lingering hurt over not having a male child. Moore is on record as declaring Deepak Chopra her guru two years ago when she expressed the hope that ``Chopra's advice will even help me produce the baby boy Bruce and I want so badly.'' Reports that she miscarried a boy last year were denied at the time.

Their breakup comes as the career of Willis, 43, is on the upswing with next week's release of ``Armageddon,'' while that of Moore, 35, is in doubt following a string of flops that included ``Scarlet Letter,'' ``Striptease,'' ``G.I. Jane'' and ``Now and Then.'' The two knew each other three months before marrying in an $875,000 wedding conducted by Little Richard.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1) Pooped-out pup

A harbor seal pup, apparently separated from its mother, takes a rest Thursday on Popham Beach, Maine. Marine officials have been called in to check on the pinniped's condition.

Associated Press

(2) Bruce Willis and Demi Moore appear in this September 1997 photo.

(3) PRINCESS DI

(4) HELMS