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Bush Invokes ISG Ideas on Iraq; Search for 2 G.I.s Continues; 9/11 Death Toll Rises

Aired May 24, 2007 - 14:59   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Every parent knows a child can hide almost anywhere -- oh no, this is something else. That's another thing, yes.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: No, you're getting ahead of yourself.

But that beautiful piece of art on the floor that you saw a moment ago. It took two days for some Tibetan monks to pour sand and meticulously come up with a gorgeous design that this toddler just within minutes kind of destroyed as he walked beyond some police -- or I guess ropes, velvet ropes.

LEMON: How long had they been working on it? For days?

WHITFIELD: Two days.

LEMON: They spent two days ...

WHITFIELD: Look at that beautiful...

LEMON: ... cross-legged on the floor, meticulously...

WHITFIELD: Oh boy.

LEMON: ... pouring the sand into an intricate design and expression of their Buddhist faith. And they're doing all this to raise money for their monastery which is in...

WHITFIELD: And here comes mom scurrying in, oh, my God, junior, get out of here. That is one of my biggest fears, because I have got a 2-year-old, and oh my gosh, I could see him doing that.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Well, they said they're going to deal with it. They're work twice as hard.

WHITFIELD: Yes. They were very understanding.

LEMON: They said, they don't get upset. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

WHITFIELD: Hello everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. Not plan B but BH. President Bush's term for the latest Iraq War strategy based in part on the Baker- Hamilton Commission. It's part military and part political. All subject to change.

WHITFIELD: And more than five-and-a-half years after 9/11, one more death is laid at the doorstep of the pulverized World Trade Center. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: But first, we are going to start with some breaking news happening in the Chicago area. This is Harvey, Illinois, just south of Chicago. This is a fire and it was up to, at last check, five alarms. And according to officials there -- you can see we don't have control of that. That's a helicopter there from our affiliate WLS in Chicago.

According to officials there, it broke out in a warehouse and then started jumping to some other businesses and they were having trouble keeping this fire under control or getting a hold on it because of the winds in the area. But again, this is just south of Chicago. A five-alarm fire. Spread through three buildings in an industrial area in Harvey.

Ten municipal fire crews are at the scene of this fire and Chicago Fire Department is also helping out with this because it's just -- Harvey is a small town, just in a suburb of Chicago. This -- what you're looking at this earlier, was just going and raging right there. Larry Langford (ph), who is the fire department spokesperson there confirms that they are helping out as well with a number of crews and apparatus on the scene there.

So this building warehouses a couple of different businesses, but, again, this fire still going in the Chicago area. We're keeping close watch on it as well as officials in Chicago keeping close watch on this fire -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. In the nation's capital. The hotbed issue, the war in Iraq. The defense secretary and the top U.S. general both speaking to reporters a short time ago at the Pentagon, just outside of downtown Washington. Straight to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre who was at that briefing.

And, Jamie, any real headline?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the real question is whether or not this troop buildup of U.S. troops is actually accomplishing its mission of reducing violence. There are some indications, from the Iraqi health ministry, that the number of sectarian violence -- sectarian killings might be on the rise again.

But the chairman of the joint chiefs, General Peter Pace, seen here coming in with Defense Secretary Bob Gates, disputed that, saying that from a high of about 1,400 deaths in January, 800 in February, that it had settled in to about the area of about 500. But he noted it's hard sometimes to tell the sectarian murders from the other deaths in Baghdad as well.

One thing we heard from Defense Secretary Bob Gates is his own frustration that things in Iraq are not going better faster. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What we have to do is look at this over a period of time and that, frankly, just requires patience, on our part. I mean, we're as inpatient for this to turn into a positive direction as anybody, maybe more so.

And, you know, I'd give anything to have to stop doing as many of these condolence letters as I'm writing. It's a terrible thing. And people are suffering. But we can't turn around overnight and we just have to have the patience to let this play out and see if General Petraeus' strategy is going to produce positive results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: And of course, there is great anticipation on what General Petraeus, along with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will report in September when they are due to give a progress report to President Bush about how things are going.

Secretary Gates makes the point that this will be a very important factor in the president's decision, but it will not be the only factor that President Bush considers, as he decides whether another course correction is necessary.

Meanwhile, of course, Secretary Gates is in consultation with General Petraeus as they refine the strategy going forward. The thinking now is that they need to spend more time trying to foster political reconciliation on the local level, much like has happened in Anbar province, and use that as a model, rather than put all of their eggs in the basket of a broad, national reconciliation -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you -- Don.

LEMON: He was impassioned at times. He was pleading and refused to give an inch on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to immigration reform. You saw President Bush's news conference live here on CNN just a short time ago. And our Ed Henry was there, he joins us now from the White House.

Ed, the big issue certainly was Iraq today.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That is right. And there was a stark warning from the president, Don, where he was warning Americans, trying to give them a heads-up that he believes this could be a very bloody summer in advance of General Petraeus progress report in September, as you heard Jamie talking about.

Everyone anticipating what will the commander on the ground say about the increase of troops on the ground. The president saying extremists will try to take advantage of that, try to increase the level of violence in advance of that, try to shake the will of the American people.

And it was also very interesting how the president went back to his old play book, the one he used in the 2004 presidential campaign, really tried to shift this from Iraq to 9/11, the threat from al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Take a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: David Petraeus called al Qaeda public enemy number one in Iraq. I agree with him. And al Qaeda is public enemy number one in America. Seems like to me that if they are public enemy number one here, we want to help defeat them in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: And it's also very interesting that the president, several times, had very warm words for the Baker-Hamilton group, their Iraq Study Group report. You will remember, it came out in December. The president was cool to a lot the recommendations back then, but now with the slipping support for the war, given all of the challenges on the ground, you just heard from Jamie at the Pentagon, the president seems to be embracing key elements of that report -- Don.

LEMON: And the war was top of the president's mind. But immigration certainly would be the next biggest factor, I would imagine.

HENRY: That's right. I mean, Iraq is, obviously, overshadowing much of the domestic agenda. But the president, as the clock winds down, is trying to find legacy items. He sees what he calls comprehensive immigration reform as a key element in his legacy.

He is trying to get that done but it's a tough divide right now, trying to bridge it, because it's splitting his own party, it's splitting the Democrats to some extent, and you could hear him pleading with conservatives to give this deal a chance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Our immigration problems cannot be solved piecemeal. They must be all addressed together. And they must be addressed in logical order. So this legislation requires that border security and worker verification targets are met before other provisions of the bill are triggered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So you can hear the president stressing border security there, trying to convince conservatives that this is not amnesty, that he believes the fact that illegal immigrants would pay hefty fines and penalties that it is not amnesty. But he is also trying to convince them that they need to be compassionate. There needs to be some middle ground here.

But again, so far conservatives in his own party are not really buying it -- Don. LEMON: Ed Henry at the White House, thank you, Ed.

WHITFIELD: Well, now we know. A body found yesterday in the Euphrates river south of Baghdad is that of a U.S. soldier missing for almost two weeks now. Army Private First Class Joseph Anzack. His family in Torrance, California, got the news first. And this is how Anzack's friends and classmates are now remembering him today, with a very personal memorial to the 20-year-old graduate of South High School in Torrance. Anzack was one of three U.S. troops unaccounted for since a deadly ambush on their unit May 12th.

The discovery of one missing soldier hasn't dampened the feverish search for the other two, specialist Alex Jimenez and Private Byron Fouty. CNN's Paula Hancocks has details now from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After the body of one of the three missing U.S. soldiers has been retrieved, the search is still intensively going on. Now, we do know that that one body pulled out of the Euphrates River on Wednesday morning has been identified Thursday morning as Private First Class Joseph Anzack from California, a 20-year-old. His family has been informed. There has been forensic testing undergone on his body.

But this search is by no means over. Four thousand U.S. troops, 2,000 Iraqi troops are still combing the area where this ambush took place two weeks ago. The area, south of Baghdad which has been nicknamed the "Triangle of Death," a very dangerous area, very difficult for this search to continue as it is a catalog of canals feeding into the Euphrates River, very narrow roads and very high brush.

But we have been hearing from the U.S. military that they believe they have at least four detainees that they believe are directly involved with this particular ambush. They also say they have an important al Qaeda figure in the region.

And they say the more they talk to these detainees, the more tips and evidence they retrieve from the area. The closer they think they are to understanding why and how this ambush, what came about and also more importantly, with particular insurgent group could have been responsible.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: One more name is being added to the 9/11 death toll in New York. Felicia Dunn-Jones, a government lawyer who died in 2002, has just been declared a casualty of dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center. CNN's Randi Kaye is in New York with more for us.

Hi, Randi.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. This is a really important day for so many would who say working on the pile at Ground Zero or simply running from the massive cloud of dust as the towers fell made them gravely ill. For the first time a New York City medical examiner has directly linked a person's death to exposure to World Trade Center toxins.

Her name, as you said, is Felicia Dunn-Jones. She was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Education, just 42 years old, died five months after she had been trapped in the dust caused by the collapse of the first tower.

The city medical examiner, Dr. Charles Hirsch, has ruled her death a homicide and her name has now been added to the official list of World Trade Center victims. Dr. Hirsch wrote this in a letter to the family: "Accumulating evidence indicates that in some persons, exposure to WTC dust has caused sarcoidosis, or an inflammatory reaction indistinguishable from sarcoidosis. It is likely with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt that exposure to WTC dust was contributory to her death."

Sarcoidosis is a rare and debilitating disease which causes lesions, most of them appear in the liver, the lungs, the skin and the lymph nodes.

Now before this, only Ocean County, New Jersey, had tied a death to exposure one to the World Trade Center dust. A pathologist there concluded in April of last year the death of retired Detective James Zadroga, who was just 34, was directly linked to recovery operations. Zadroga had spent close to 500 hours sifting through debris and came down with brain and respiratory ailments. He died January 2006.

Of course, this landmark decision could have a major impact on so many other outstanding cases. I interviewed two former detectives last year who were also sick from the NYPD, they are represented by a lawyer who has 10,000 other clients in a class action suit. Attorney David Worby says 500 of his clients have cancer, 120 of them blood cell cancers like leukemia. Already more than 100 of his clients have died, several from sarcoidosis.

The two NYPD detectives, Rich Volpe and John Walcott, they worked for months on that pile. Volpe's kidney function is now down to 35 percent, Walcott had leukemia, but is now in remission. Both blame their illnesses on the exposure to toxins like benzene and dioxin and asbestos.

And this is what Walcott told us during our interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WALCOTT, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE: You would take a shower and my shower would be -- look like a barbecue grill. Solid black. And you wake up in the middle of the night with -- in the corner of your eyes and would drip on your pillow would be like black liquid. And you know, same thing, you like clean your ears out and you just -- chunks and chunks of black would come out. I mean, your teeth, when you scrub your teeth, you spit in the sink and it would be literally like a barbecue grill. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Worth noting here that in this latest case, Mrs. Dunn- Jones died of exposure after just one day. Now imagine the impact on those like Walcott and Volpe and the others who worked down there for months on end -- Don.

LEMON: And aren't there programs in New York that are studying the effects on these people and treating people for this? Have you heard from them?

KAYE: We have. We have interviewed them, actually. There are treatment and monitoring programs. Overall, 20,000 people around the U.S. have been screened as part of the World Trade Center monitoring program.

We visited the center at Mount Sinai Hospital here in New York where 4,800 people are in treatment, probably about 1,000 more in treatment at other facilities. That brings the number to about 6,000 but that doesn't even include the firefighters. Mount Sinai can't tell us how many people have died in their program.

But here's the problem, the program received federal funding last fall but they do anticipate running out of money. In fact, we're told that a panel has estimated $150 million annually will be needed to continue this treatment and monitoring.

And there is no federally funded program, Don, for people like Dunn-Jones, the regular people, not the first responders, just average citizens who happened to be caught up in the dust cloud.

LEMON: Let's hope they're planning to do something about that. Randi Kaye, thank you.

KAYE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, we know you can't do anything about the price, but you can, perhaps, do something about how much you use. We're all about the gas here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: 3:17 here in the East. Here are three of the stories we're working for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. The fight over the Iraq War spending bill appears to be near an end. A bill heading for passage later today in the House does not include a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.

The eldest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. was remembered today in a service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Yolanda King died last week in California. She was 51 years old.

And scientists have decided to back off in their efforts to persuade these two wayward whales to return to the Pacific Ocean. The two humpbacks have spent days far upstream on California's Sacramento River. (WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Extraordinarily powerful, that is how many are viewing a new seat belt campaign featuring a man who learned his lesson the hard way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: I'm New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and I should be dead. On April 12th, I was critically injured in a car accident when I lost over half my blood and broke 15 bones in 18 places. I spent eight days in intensive care where a ventilator was breathing for me. It took a remarkable team of doctors and a series of miracles to save my life.

When all I needed was a seat belt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. The state trooper who was driving was wearing his seat belt and suffered only minor injuries. Corzine taped his blunt message for Memorial Day weekend which is always a busy time on the roadways.

LEMON: Well, check this one out. Nature's spectacular show. Aloha, Mount Kilauea. Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, it looks beautiful but hot.

WHITFIELD: And dangerous.

LEMON: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Every parent knows a child can hide almost anywhere.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my!

LEMON: And sleep almost anywhere too. He is still sleeping!

WHITFIELD: Gosh, he is knocked out.

LEMON: But in a tree? That is where an eagle-eyed officer spotted this missing 10-year-old boy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was still asleep. He was still asleep when he was found and he wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about when officers woke him.

WHITFIELD: What are you guys doing?

LEMON: Is little John like that?

WHITFIELD: I don't know.

LEMON: We saw your son earlier messing up the sand trap.

WHITFIELD: I'm afraid he may have that potential too, yes. Falling asleep in a tree? I have never heard of anything like that. But I guess little boys will be little boys like that.

LEMON: Boys will be boys.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's kind of cute.

All right. As if record gas prices were not high enough, we're really shifting gears here.

LEMON: Yes. We are.

WHITFIELD: Consumers are seeing shockingly high numbers at the grocery store as well.

LEMON: All the weather I'm sure, maybe. We'll see. What is up with the rising food costs, Susan Lisovicz?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, whether it's fuel for our cars or for our bodies, whatever, the prices are prohibitive. Food prices around the world are headed for their biggest annual increase in decades. Here in the U.S., prices up nearly 7 percent since the beginning of this year. That compares to just a little more than 2 percent for all of last year.

If prices keep rising at this rate, we could see the biggest annual increase since 1980. And this is a global problem. The U.K., China, India all seeing elevated levels of food inflation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, what is behind the rise this year?

LISOVICZ: Well, kind of similar to what we were talking about with gas. Supply, demand. There have been supply shortages of farm commodities, like wheat, corn, and mile, caused partly by increased demand from newly prosperous nations and very populous nations at that, such as India and China.

And because of growth in the biofuels industry, ethanol after all is made from corn. Food companies are starting to pass those increases on to the consumer but some companies are being forced to absorb the highest cost themselves. Hershey, for example, recently cut its profit forecast for the year because of the rising cost of milk. And, today, Hormel, the maker of Spam, lowered its profit forecast because of rising grain prices.

Again, ethanol. Shares are Hormel down 4 percent today and so is the price of one commodity we frequently focus on, oil falling more than $1.50 to settle at $64 and change a barrel.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot.

LEMON: Can't wait to see you then.

Nuclear standoff, the Iranian public's view of the government's defiance. CNN's Aneesh Raman the only American TV journalist in Tehran, his report straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Yes, we're all getting pinched at the pump, but there are things you can do to eke out extra miles from that tank of gas.

LEMON: Oh yes. Slow down and be prepared to stop for good advice.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We want to get you back to the scene of that developing story happening just south of Chicago in Harvey, Illinois. Here's the very latest.

Fire engulfed an abandoned warehouse in an industrial park in this Chicago suburb. The fire is at the former Allied Tube and Conduit Company. It produced black smoke you can see there.

Take a look. This is video from just moments ago. The fire is really going.

There was concern that it was going to spread to nearby businesses, and it did. And spread to nearby buildings, and it did. And they're trying to keep control over it so that it doesn't go to homes in the neighboring area.

Harvey is about 20 miles south of Chicago. Certainly black smoke billowing. You can see that billowing from this industrial plant.

At last count, no one was injured in this. Last word from people there on the scene, no injuries.

But we're going to continue to follow this developing story happening just 20 miles south of Chicago and bring you all the details live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, HazMat teams on the scene of a potentially dangerous situation in eastern Tennessee. A tractor-trailer loaded with nitroguanidine has overturned on Interstate 81. The chemical used in insecticides is inside barrels that weigh 150 pounds a piece.

HazMat teams are carefully unloading them, trying to keep the chemical stable. At the moment, only one southbound lane at the interstate remains closed. The driver is still in the hospital. His condition unknown.

LEMON: All right. There's not much you can do about the price of gas. OK, there is nothing you can do about the price of gas, except for maybe -- I'll ask Gerri this when she joins us -- don't drive. But there are ways to spend less.

Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is here with some simple tips.

The simplest thing would be not to get behind the wheel, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Stay at home.

LEMON: Yes.

WILLIS: Well, yes, that would be good, but, you know, most of us can't do that because maybe we don't have public transportation. But hey, Don, here is one that is going to surprise you.

Look, the easiest way to save the most gas is driving less aggressively. That means accelerating smooth and slowly, braking light and early.

That means those jerks out there who drive so badly, they're spending a lot of gas. Kind of good to know.

You can actually cut your gas consumption by over 30 percent if you drive less aggressively. Driving slower and using cruise control can also cut around 10 percent from your fuel consumption.

Good idea, huh?

LEMON: OK. Cruise control.

WILLIS: Yes.

LEMON: It won't work in the middle of the city, but if you're on long trips, it will.

All right. So, listen, we've been hearing all this stuff about hybrids.

WILLIS: Right.

LEMON: Can consumers solve all these problems by buying a hybrid?

WILLIS: Well, Don, I've got to tell you, you know, people don't realize that hybrids cost an extra 20 percent. So you're going to spend more for that car. And I have to tell you, not every hybrid is a big gas saver. Some are still kind of gas hogs.

One of the easiest ways to save a ton of dough if you're interested in saving money is simply to spend less for the car, buy one of the subcompacts instead of buying a big old hybrid. Then you spend about $10,000 than you would for the average hybrid, and a lot those have great fuel efficiency.

But before I go I want to just tell you a few more tips we have for saving gas.

Another easy way to save is to use the cheap stuff. Many cars that recommend premium Don't actually require it. You'll get a little less than the manufacture's stated horsepower, but it won't hurt the engine at all. The only exception would be for cars with turbo-charged engines.

And, of course, you always want to park smart. Park your car in the shade whenever possible. The same sun that is steaming up your steering wheel is also stealing fuel from your gas tank. It's called evaporative emissions.

LEMON: Oh.

WILLIS: Have you heard of this, Don? It's pretty interesting.

LEMON: No. I never -- that's a great one I didn't know.

WILLIS: It's common in cars that are older than five years. So, you want to make sure if you've got an older car that you put it in the shade. And, you know, keep it in the garage. That's another thing to do. That will keep it cool.

And Don, I've got to ask you this question. Have you checked your tire pressure lately?

LEMON: No.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: On my bicycle but not in my car.

WHITFIELD: Oh, your bicycle? That's funny.

LEMON: On my bicycle, but not my car.

WILLIS: Well, you know, under-inflated tires can increase your gas bill by 10 percent.

LEMON: Yes.

WILLIS: You can find the right pressure on the side of your driver's door or inside the owner's manual. Easy thing to do. A lot of us -- a lot of us don't.

LEMON: You know what's really interesting, Gerri? Just yesterday -- and I'm not kidding -- I was getting out of the car and I noticed on the person's car next to me, on their tire, was a gauge that showed their tire pressure.

WILLIS: Wow.

LEMON: Yes. And I looked over and it said 32. I went, "Oh, it's showing the tire pressure to the person."

WHITFIELD: I didn't know that either.

LEMON: So it must be something that you can screw into the tire and it shows you the pressure, so you can just walk out and look at it and go, hey, my tire pressure...

WHITFIELD: And you leave on it on all the time? LEMON: I think you leave it on all the time. I saw it on the guy's wheel. So...

WILLIS: I've got to go shopping.

LEMON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Me, too.

LEMON: Yes. So, find out about that one. Maybe I'll do a little Google or a little search and we can figure it out. But those...

WILLIS: We can get back to you on that.

LEMON: ... those tips are great. And more -- Gerri, thank you, as usual.

More of Gerri's tips on oil and gas trends and the prices, go to cnnmoney.com and get in-depth analysis on what's happening and why, and find out what you can do as well.

Go to cnnmoney.com.

WHITFIELD: I like that.

President Bush, well, he's urging Congress to approve an immigration bill that not everybody is entirely happy with. While the Senate spends another day debating it, Mr. Bush is hoping to refute the rallying cry of the measure's most strident opponents, that the plan amounts to amnesty for people in the country illegally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This bill does not grant amnesty. Amnesty is forgiveness without a penalty. Instead, this bill requires workers here illegally to acknowledge that they broke the law, pay a fine, pass background checks, remain employed, and maintain a clean record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, the White House is planning a P.R. blitz, while Congress is in recess. "USA Today" says it will include a rapid response team to counter critics, including Internet bloggers.

LEMON: President Bush wants tougher U.S. sanctions against Iran, and we're learning this week that current sanctions haven't done much to curb Iran's nuclear program, and may have done the opposite.

CNN's Middle East correspondent, Aneesh Raman, has more from Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Iran, when talk turns nuclear, crowds come out in droves. Leaders speak of national pride, and over and over again, they voiced unwavering resolve to push ahead.

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not give in to the pressure they are trying to exert on us. Countries pursuing a policy of hegemonism must yield to the iron will of our peoples. We will be victorious.

RAMAN: In the past year, as the IAEA repeatedly scolded Iran for noncompliance, as the U.N. Security Council passed two rounds of sanctions, Iran has pushed back, expanding its nuclear program to industrial scale enrichment, holding a national nuclear day in early April to celebrate the country's achievements, and putting a nuclear symbol on a new currency note. In short, as the third round of sanctions loom, don't expect the Islamic republic to blink first.

(on camera): With the government showing no sign it is willing to halt or suspend its nuclear program, for the people here they're largely tuning out of this entire ordeal. In fact, here, at Tehran's largest market, everyone was either unconcerned or unaware that the IAEA was even issuing a report.

(voice over): Patriotism weighs heavier these days on the Iranian mind than I've ever seen. Times are tense and people are more careful than ever what they say to me. When they do talk on camera, they exude allegiance.

"The people support the government fully," says shop owner Emir (ph), "and as sanctions keep coming, we are happy to do everything ourselves."

"Sanctions are just documents," says Mahmoud. "In practice, the situation is something else. Countries that agree to sanctions still work with us, and none of the sanctions affect the people."

In part, he's right. So far, U.N. sanctions have been targeted and haven't directly hit the streets. But off camera, almost everyone told me that the new sanctions are starting to have an effect. Prices are creeping higher and as Sadeq Samii, an Iranian publisher says, it could just be the beginning.

SADEQ SAMII, PUBLISHER: The biting of that sanction hasn't started. We haven't -- we have not felt it until a few -- two months ago.

RAMAN: A few months later, things aren't looking so good. Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, now awaits trial for working against the regime. And three other Iranian-Americans are allegedly being detained in the country.

In the meantime, nine more U.S. warships are now en route to the Persian Gulf, a sign of American resolve. And even though the U.S. and Iran are set next week to talk Iraq, even though among Iranians there is still strong support in public and private for their country's right to nuclear energy, the standoff's long-term reality, people say, is starting to sink in. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's one show spectacular. Check this out.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano in its splendor. People on the big island have been watching glowing rivers of lava like this since 1983. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes, if not the most active.

LEMON: All right. Let's get you back to the scene, Fredricka, of that breaking story.

This is new video coming in from our Chicago affiliate, WGN. This is happening in Harvey, Illinois. Live pictures now.

Man, this thing is certainly going. Look at that black smoke. Under that black smoke, you can see the flames.

This is a warehouse building, and also we want to tell you this fire has spread to several other buildings as well. Twenty miles south of Chicago.

This is the former Allied Tube and Conduit Company, and this fire is producing heavy black smoke, wafting over nearby neighborhoods. There's some concern here that it's going to spread into these neighborhoods, so firefighters are doing whatever they can to stop that, but they're having a hard time with it because of the winds.

Windy there in the Chicago area today. So that's what we're following here.

But the good news in all of this, Fredricka, no injuries so far. We're going to continue to check this. We thank WGN in Chicago for those amazing pictures happening just 20 miles south of the city in Harvey, Illinois.

Scientists worry time is running out for two stranded humpback whales in California. An update straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: For each week, we're shining the spotlight on everyday folks whose passion, whose dedication to a cause really have made a difference. We call them CNN Heroes. And today, a courageous woman struggling to save lives in a place most Americans associate only with fun and sun.

Lydia Cacho is today's CNN Hero.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more time, looking at me.

LYDIA CACHO RIBEIRO, "FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE": (INAUDIBLE) country. And if you understand that, then you understand everything else.

It's a cultural thing. Owning your wife and your kids is a cultural issue, and we are working on changing cultural views. That takes a long, long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'd come home from work and he would say, "Didn't I tell you to come at a certain time?" And he would slap me or kick me. He even did it in front of the children.

CACHO RIBEIRO: The network that is helping women be rescued from violence and even from death, it's (SPEAKING SPANISH), it's her institution. We are their friends, their sisters, their mothers. We are here to tell them that they are not alone.

My name is Lydia Cacho Ribeiro. I am a human rights advocate. We created a shelter for battered women, and this shelter is a high- security shelter.

When a woman comes to the center, we give them free services, social work, medical services, psychological help. They get trained for work, and the kids go to school. They are rebuilding their own lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They rescued me from where I was living. She has done so much for me, after I had given up on myself.

CACHO RIBEIRO: We just decided that there was something need that was far beyond talking about violence and other things. We had to do something about it.

We have succeeded. Last year, the local Congress passed a law in which violence against women is a crime. It saddens me that it's seen as an extraordinary task, because I believe that everybody else could do the same thing and Mexico would be very different.

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LEMON: And there's a lot more about Lydia Cacho and her organization on our Web site, where you can also nominate someone you think deserves special recognition for a CNN Hero Award.

All the details are on cnn.com/heroes.

WHITFIELD: Well, she is old enough to be these newborns' grandma. Well, think again. A 60-year-old mom has twins. Oh, baby -- or oh, babies.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: Whether you're superstitious or not, keep your fingers crossed, because concern grows for those humpback whales stranded in the Sacramento River. The mother and the calf haven't made new moves toward the ocean since Monday, and today marine biologists decided to back off a plan to chase them down the river using the recorded sounds of killer whales.

Well, scientists will continue to monitor the sea mammals, but say they are worried that the tail slapping that you've been seeing there, that behavior, well, they now could be signs of increasing stress. So probably killer whale sounds would also make them a little bit stressful as well.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

All right.

Well, at an age when many people are thinking about retirement, travel, grandchildren, grandchildren to come, and then they go home, a New Jersey woman decides to give birth -- to twins, no less.

CNN's Randi Kaye met the 60-year-old new mom.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These newborn twins are too young to understand why our cameras are taking their picture.

FRIEDA BIRNBAUM, MOTHER OF TWINS: I didn't know who to look at first.

KAYE: But not their mom.

BIRNBAUM: I was thinking to myself, "Oh, my god, I'm 60."

KAYE: You heard her right. New Jersey psychologist Frieda Birnbaum is 60 years old, not the oldest woman to ever give birth, but the hospital says she may be the oldest in the U.S. to deliver twins.

(on camera) What makes this the right time in your life to have more babies?

BIRNBAUM: Financially, I'm more comfortable. Mentally, I'm more together than ever in my life. And I haven't fallen apart yet.

KAYE (voice-over): Frieda and her husband Ken have been married 38 years. They have two older children in their 20s and 30s and a 6- year-old son. The newest family members, both boys, were delivered by cesarean section yesterday. This was the first time Frieda had actually held her babies.

BIRNBAUM: It feels -- I'm ecstatic. If you ask me any more, I'm going to cry.

KAYE: For now, they are known simply as baby "A" and baby "B."

The decision to have them came easier than naming them. Frieda wanted a play mate for the couple's youngest child and at the same time reduce the stigma attached to older women giving birth. BIRNBAUM: What a gift that I get to do this. And really, it makes you feel different when you're holding babies. You just feel more at peace.

KAYE (on camera): Feel younger?

BIRNBAUM: I feel whole.

KAYE (voice-over): Frieda's OB/GYN, Dr. Abdulla al-Khan, specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

(on camera) Is it a good idea for someone her age to be having a baby, or two, in this case?

DR. ABDULLA AL-KHAN, OB/GYN: People are living longer. People are very health conscious. They're taking care of themselves. And the 60-year-old patient is no longer looking like 60. She's looking like 50 or 40, perhaps, or 45.

Do we at the age of 60 just say, you know, we're just old and we should just be, you know -- be in the category of the geriatric population?

KAYE (voice-over): Frieda underwent in vitro fertilization. U.S. clinics refused to treat her because of her age, so she found a clinic in South Africa that caters to older women. She won't say if she used her own eggs, which had been frozen years earlier, or a donor's. Regardless, her 29-year-old daughter is appalled.

BIRNBAUM: Her take is I should be enjoying my life. She's worried that I'm not going to enjoy my life now, that I'm giving it away again.

KAYE (on camera): She flat-out says you're too old.

BIRNBAUM: She says that I'm crazy, really, more or less.

KAYE (voice-over): Crazy or not, her doctor says she is healthy enough to care for these little guys.

(on camera) What do you want other women to know, women who are getting up there in their age, about possibly having kids later in life?

BIRNBAUM: Don't get a dog. Get a baby instead.

KAYE (voice-over): Advice from a mother old enough to be her babies' grandmother.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Hackensack, New Jersey.

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WHITFIELD: All right. "THE SITUATION ROOM," Wolf Blitzer, right now.

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