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Tehran No Response; Olympic Performance Pressure; War Crimes Charges; Food Bank Pet Food Bank

Aired August 02, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

RICHARD LUI, CNN HOST: Next in the NEWSROOM, first John McCain, now Barack Obama, both think it's OK to look offshore for answers to high gas prices.
And a private contractor in Iraq tells its employees to turn in their cell phones. Why? Safety concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFED MALE): The dog ran in, grabbed my dog from here was trying to pull him through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: A pit bull clamps down on a man's best friend through a fence and did will not let go, he felt there was just one way to save his dog's life.

And a very good Saturday to you. Call it what you will, but Barack Obama has dropped his opposition to expanded offshore oil drilling. Obama now says he would compromise to get a long-term commitment to renewable energy source. Just yesterday, a CNN poll shows the public favors expanded drilling by nearly 3 to 1. Attack ads from John McCain blame Obama for the high cost of gasoline. More live from CNN's Jim Acosta with that story. Hey, Jim.

JIM ACCOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Richard, that's right. That's a change for Barack Obama who just until a couple of days ago was talking about offshore oil drilling as nothing more than a gimmick. He had attacked John McCain linking him with George Bush saying the two of them essentially wanted to put Florida's beaches and the beach's of America's coast lines up in jeopardy for the sake of expanded offshore oil drilling, well, today, in front of reporters, he confirmed what he said to a Florida newspaper just in the last couple of days that he is ready to back a new bipartisan compromise bill that is now making its way through the Senate that would raise taxes on oil companies but at the same time also expand offshore oil drilling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are a whole bunch of good things that have been proposed by this bipartisan group. I remain skeptical of some of the drilling provisions. But I will give them credit that the way crafted the drilling provisions are about as careful and responsible as you might expect for a drilling agenda. And what I don't want to do is for the best to be the enemy of the good here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now as for John McCain, he has been pounding Barack Obama for weeks on this issue. Calling Barack Obama Dr. No on new energy solutions, basically trying to take advantage of this issue of the high gas prices that a lot of consumers are facing throughout. John McCain, we should note, has also reversed himself on this issue, but he not talking about that anymore, he is saying that offshore oil drilling is one of a number of energy solutions that Americans should be offered to deal with a big energy crunch out there right now. Here's John McCain in his weekly radio dress earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He believes every domestic energy source has a problem. I believe every energy source needs to be part of the solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now Richard, one of the things that we heard from Barack Obama today when he talked to reporters down in Florida, he was talking about compromise, he was talking about bipartisanship, this an interesting change of tone and rhetoric from Barack Obama. We haven't heard him emphasize those things as much just lately but after this very difficult week for Senator Obama, he's been hit hard by the McCain campaign, you'll remember those ads that mentioned Paris Hilton and regarded Barack Obama as nothing more than a celebrity candidate. Barack Obama talking about this issue of offshore oil drilling in terms of bipartisanship saying that is what's needed in Washington today. Richard.

LUI: Jim, is the Barack Obama campaign admitting to a flip-flop perhaps on this issue? Since it is a change over the last two days as you mentioned.

ACOSTA: Senator Obama said at this press conference this morning, that this was not a new position on this issue. But you'll be hard pressed to find a whole lot of people in Washington and around the country for that matter who are not going to see this as a bit of a shift. And it is already being reported as such by news organizations around the country. Senator Obama may insist it's not a change in position or not a new position, but that's not the way it's being perceived at this point.

LUI: Jim Acosta, in New York. Thanks Jim for that. As Jim was telling us, we want to again note that on the issue of offshore drilling, John McCain was against it before he was for it; Senator McCain opposed expanded drilling during his 2000 run for the White House and voiced skepticism about it as recently as May. He reversed his opposition in June and criticized Obama's stance on July 21st.

We know a lot to talk about with Bill Schneider right now, our political senior analyst. He joins live from Los Angeles. Let's start with this issue of offshore drilling. Are you surprised all that Obama has refined his position here over the last few days?

BILL SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. You saw the poll. Nearly three quarters of Americans support offshore oil drilling. That's a flip-flop for the public. McCain has flip flopped, Obama has flip flopped. The public flip-flopped on this issue. They were afraid of environmental problems, but now they're so angry and upset, they're saying do something about high gas prices. Just do something, do everything, but do something to help us cope with this crisis.

LUI: So Bill, that a refinement. We also just got a copy of this letter I have in my hand from the Barack Obama campaign. This is about the agreement to three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. You put those two together, is there sort of a shift here in the Obama campaign to take a bad week for both sides and try to turn it into a positive.

SCHNEIDER: It's certainly been a bad week for Barack Obama. He's trying to get over it and move on. He's been on the defensive on oil drilling. So he has shifted his position. He's been on the defensive on the debates. So he's starting a bipartisan move to institute town hall meetings or debates in line with what John McCain has been pressuring him to do. And even on the race issue which came out this week, he said while he wasn't trying to accuse John McCain of being racist, he thinks their campaign is being cynical. Let's move on. He really does want to move on because he doesn't want to be the center piece of this campaign. It's not supposed to be about him, it's supposed to be at Bush administration and status quo.

LUI: Well let's move on then on that note. And talk about that new poll that came out this week from CNN Opinion Research that says 24 percent of people in the United States just not happy. That's a low number, right?

SCHNEIDER: That's 24 percent who are happy. And that is a low number.

LUI: That's right.

SCHNEIDER: Those 24 percent who are happy, that's the lowest number of Americans to say things are going well in the country in almost 30 years. You have to go back to Jimmy Carter, the last year of his presidency. Gas line, hostage crises, inflation, recession, very bad indeed. And now things are as bad as they were then according to the American public. When things get that bad, they usually fire the president. They fired Jimmy Carter after one term. They fired the first President Bush after one term. Now the public's mood is gloomier than then. That's the mystery in this election it is actually very close.

I will give you one reason why, among the three quarters of Americans who do think things are bad in this country. They really don't like President Bush. Imagine if he were running for re-election. But they kind of like John McCain, not as much as Obama but they're down on McCain.

LUI: Bill I really do remember the '80s and before, to let you know. One of four people happy today with what's happening in the United States. Talking about polls. Let's drill down into California where you are at right now.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

LUI: What's the polling like there?

SCHNEIDER: Polling shows Obama with a big lead in California. The most recent field poll of California voters shows Obama ahead of McCain by 24 points here in California, 24 points. Our poll of poll nationwide shows Obama just 3 points ahead of John McCain in polls taken across the country. What does that mean? Consider this. California is one-eighth of the American vote. One eighth of the voters live here in California. If Obama is 24 points ahead in California, it means that accounts for his entire lead across the country. And in the rest of the country it's a dead heat. So Obama appears to be piling up a lot of votes here in California, possibly in his own state of Illinois and a New York. A lot of votes in places where he doesn't need them. He needs them in Ohio and in Florida.

LUI: All right, Bill Schneider, I know you're going to head out and catch some waves right now, head out to Redondo Beach. Have a good Saturday.

All right. Now straight to Barack Obama speaking at the urban league in Orlando, Florida. Let's stop by and listen.

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That exists in many of these urban communities that are scattered all across the country. To rejuvenate an old steel plant to make windmills or an old plant that a textile plant, textile mill , to use that to make solar panels or to tap into the agricultural connections that some of these smaller urban communities have to specialize in biofuels, that can create millions of new jobs across America. That's number one.

Number two, many of these communities have outstanding community colleges and using those community colleges to help tailor training for particular jobs in particular industries and partnering with businesses. To attract new jobs into those areas I think is absolutely critical. We've got it tie our education system with the job opportunities that are out there.

Number three, infrastructure, many of these communities, they are not right at the center, at the hub of a state's economy, but they used to be linked by railways or they used to be more linked upped than they are today. And that's why investing in things like high-speed rail can be absolutely critical for economic, creating the economic artery that funnel commerce through these communities. And it's the right time for us to do it. If you think about just in the Midwest, connecting Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago. Akron, Dayton, all these communities across five or six states with high speed rail and what those connections could potentially do, particularly at a time when airlines may start cutting off regular service to some of these cities.

That's going to be extraordinarily important and now is the time to make that investment because we can put people at work right now at the same time as we were making our economy more competitive. China is making these investments right now. India is making investments like this right now. Russia is making investments like this. Brazil are making these investments right now. And not just in terms of infrastructure, traditional infrastructure, but also in terms of broadband lines or creating an electricity grid that allows us to plug in a hybrid car all across the country and use that energy and store it and return it to the utilities.

There are enormous opportunities that all communities can participate in. But as I said, we've got to make sure that we use community colleges and any state colleges that are in these areas to train people for these jobs of the future and we've got to have a federal government that's willing to make the commitment. That's something that I intend to do as president of the United States.

LUI: All right, Senator Barack Obama, remarks there at the urban league in Orlando, Florida, we're stopping by to get you some of his live remarks, making the point that the problems of the cities of the United States are not just urban, they're problems for the entire country.

We'll also be listening to comments raw for you from Senator John McCain later here in the show on the NEWSROOM; we'll be getting you a balanced look at both sides and what they're doing on the campaign trail throughout the day.

You know, lingering questions today about the former army scientist believed behind the deadly anthrax attacks in 2001. The government theories may be all we know about Bruce Ivins. He committed suicide before the Feds could charge him. CNN's Brianna Keilar is outside Fort Detrick, Maryland, with the latest for us.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bruce Ivins lived right down the street from Fort Detrick here which houses the bio defense lab that he worked at for decades. His older brother Tom Ivins said he wouldn't put the 2001 anthrax attacks past his brother. Tom Ivins said that he was questioned by federal investigators but he couldn't disclose much about what he told them.

TOM IVINS, ESTRANGED BROTHER: They asked me about personal things like brothers, I told them that was it. And very nice chat for about three to four hours. Well, they left and went to a restaurant and bought me a sandwich and a beer. I came back home, that was it.

KEILAR: We should tell you that Tom Ivins was estranged from his brother Bruce that the two hadn't spoken in quite some time. In fact, Tom Ivins said he had never spoken with his brother about the anthrax attack investigation. Neighbors here in this neighborhood, very surprised, they say they're saddened by the news of their neighbor's death. They say that he was very devoted to his community, that he was very involved in this church, but it was obvious to them that federal investigators had been keeping their eye on Ivins for some time.

BONNIE DUGGAN, NEIGHBOR: We started noticing the surveillance probably a year ago. And it was -- I guess the reason we noticed it as much as anything was because of the inconvenience, they would often be parked in front of our house when we need to park our car there. KEILAR: Ivins' lawyer maintains his client was innocent and it was the stress and suspicion of this investigation and not guilt that prompted his client to take his own life. There were some signs recently that Ivins was a troubled man. At the time of his death he was under a temporary restraining order brought against him by a female therapist who accused him of stalking, harassment and threats of physical violence within the last 30 days. That woman was actually scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury on Friday, a proceeding that was canceled in light of Ivins' death.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Frederick, Maryland.

LUI: Here's a mystery out of Iraq, why is a major defense contractor collecting its workers' cell phones. Houston based KBR says it told employees to give up their phones for security reasons. The company refused to explain. They say the matter that triggered the action is still being reviewed. The order also applies to KBR employees in Afghanistan and Kuwait. One employee told CNN he will not comply. He said his personal cell phone is crucial to his security.

Pakistan is pledging to investigate claims it had a role in last month's deadly bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul. Yesterday Islamabad, that Pakistan has long been accused of supporting Afghanistan's Taliban.

Burning some gas to save some cash. Out of state shoppers think Georgia's tax free holiday is just peachy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Thanks for staying with us. Many Californians are starting to feel the pinch of drastic budget moves by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He ordered most state paychecks temporarily cut and thousands of part-time workers laid off. That's led to long waits at the DMV and other offices with many customers being turned away. State workers have filed suit to stop the cut. Schwarzenegger said the cuts are needed so the state can pay its bills while law makers battle over a budget for the fiscal year that started last month.

Let's talk gas prices. AAA now says the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.89, a drop of half a cent overnight. About 22 cents off the record high we saw just two weeks ago. Going down just a little.

Despite that recent drop though, who would not still break for cheap gas? This was the scene near Kansas City, Missouri yesterday drivers lined up around the block for a chance to get gas for $1.98 a gallon. Owners are shutting down the station and removing all the pumps, they say it is a show of support for the environment and the electric car movement.

No such deals in their neck of the woods but drivers still trekked across state line for Georgia's sales tax holiday. The story from Brittany Benner of our affiliate WTSP.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANGELA COLLINS: My basic list is huge.

BRITTANY BENNER, WTSP: Angela Collins just wrapped up a day of back to school shopping. She lives in Florida and has two kids.

COLLINS: That's a lot of money. Dang, I must love you all.

BENNER: And she's still recovering from sticker shock even though she saved money.

COLLINS: I came up here because it's tax free week.

BENNER: Florida lawmakers shelved the sales tax holiday due to budgeting reason, but that hasn't stopped Floridians from shopping across state lines.

COLLINS: I tell you.

BENNER: We found several Florida license plates here in this park lot just over the Georgia lines.

COLLINS: It's still relatively high to come the 21 miles but it's worth it when you add the savings.

BENNER: Georgia shoppers can purchase tax free items like clothe, backpacks and other school essentials until August 3rd.

Angela Collins said she saved about 50 bucks this trip.

COLLINS: That's gas and food. That's like a week's worth of groceries almost. So for me it's pretty substantial savings.

BENNER: And she knows she'll be back.

COLLINS: It makes a difference for me, being a single parent to make ends meet the best way I can. So if I have to drive this distance to save the money, I'll do that.

BENNER: In Tallahassee.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I can afford to put a little more gas in the car.

BENNER: Brittany Benner, First Coast News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: All right, two words for the weather this weekend. Hot and stormy, right, Jacqui. We were just talking about it; it's going to be hot.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's painful to even think about it. Even near the air conditioning, it's miserable. Millions of Americans feeling the heat. We'll tell you where it's impacting were you thunderstorms and traveling.

LUI: All right. Great stuff. A lot of people want to know what is happening there. OK.

Plus Crystal's neck gash looks pretty bad but things could have been a lot worse here if her owner had not acted so quickly when a pit bull attacked.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Ouch. Sizzle, yeah. Those temperatures in Texas are taking a toll on everyone, including the police. Several Ft. Worth officers were overcome by the heat while chasing a suspect yesterday. Live pictures here you see from Dallas, Texas. You can kind of see the heat seeping up through the air. One of those officers did pass out and five had to be taken to the hospital. The high temperature for the day, listen to this, 104. Jacqui Jeras, parts are of the country here are sweltering in some oppressive heat. That picture gave us a sense of it right there.

JERAS: I know. It turned black and white I think because it was so hot. I don't know what happened there. But it's brutal, it really is. You might think it's funny or a little sad about what happened there to the police officers, but it really brings to light how serious heat is. More people die in heat related illnesses than they do from tornado, hurricanes or floods. It's very significant. We're talking about major metropolitan areas and this is covering a lot of real estate.

We'll start with Dallas. Excessive heat warnings in effect. The temperature on the thermometer, don't even pay attention to it, the humidity levels are very high, so it making it feel way above what the temperature is. Dallas right now, 101, feeling like 105 and still going up. We've got at least a good two or three hours of daytime heating here where those temperatures will continue to rise. 105 to 112 will be common in this area for today. We've got heat watches extended further to the south where the heat index should reach 110 degrees for your Sunday and Monday.

Let's show you the forecast for Dallas. This is really going to stick around for a while. This isn't a quick in and out over your weekend stay in the air conditioning get back to it. We're talking about triple digit temperatures through Tuesday. By the way, today, day 15 in Dallas with 100 degrees plus and you'll cool down to 99 on Wednesday. Which isn't saying a whole heck of a lot.

Look at all the heat here. Five degrees above normal in the yellow there. You can see all the way up to 15 degrees above average that includes you in Denver. So places like Oklahoma City, all the way over to Memphis really in on this action.

Now, heat relief here across northeast but that's in the form of showers and thunderstorms. Some of these are strong and some are severe. Damaging winds and hail will be expected. No watch yet but isolated severe storms I think could hit you here from Boston and Providence in the up coming hours and heavy rain coming from the Gulf of Mexico, just stationary put here over towards the Daytona Beach area, through Gainesville and Big Bend so watch out for some urban flooding if you're doing any driving along I-75 in that area. Richard, I'm exhausted. I need a fan.

LUI: We'll get you one.

JERAS: Just thinking about this heat.

LUI: We'll get you one very soon. You said Dallas is going to see another week of this. True for the rest of the country, too? Because we're worried about the elderly and the children.

JERAS: Absolutely. And don't forget about the pets. You don't want to keep them outside. It's really the plains states that we're going to be focusing on. Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, down through Texas. Then spread over towards the Memphis area so this is encompassing a good chunk of the midsection of the country.

LUI: I'll go over there now and just do this for you. Cool you off like that. Jacqui Jeras, thank you so much. Jacqui was talking about pets, well; a fence did not stop one pit bull in Florida from clamping down on a neighbor's pet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY DIPPOLITO, SHOT PIT BULL: The dog ran in, grabbed my dog from here, and was trying to pull him through. See that? Boom, boom, boom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: There's home video of the pit bull approach that neighbor's yard. Then grabbed the man's dog through the fence and would not let go even when the man beat it with a satellite dish. That's right. That's when he got out his gun, the bullet finally convinced the pit bull to let go. Crystal, the dog that was attacked is OK now. Reaction from the pit bull's owner in the next hour for you.

In other news across America, we're hearing reports that a Tennessee woman convicted of killing her preacher husband has gained physical custody of their three children. According to CNN affiliate WMC, Mary Winkler picked up her daughters from her in-law's house yesterday. The girls had been living there since 2006 after Winkler was charged with murdering her husband Matthew she was convicted of manslaughter after telling jurors her husband emotionally and physically abused her.

Now talk about a California woman who was mauled by a bear and lives to tell about her terrifying ordeal. 56-year-old Allena Hanson, just 100 pounds, came face to face with a 150-pound black bear as she walked her dogs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLENA HANSON: My first sensation was that it was a little tiny bear, but what a bully. Then I found myself down on the ground. I heard chomp, chomp, chomp. I felt it go through my skull. I felt it bite through this eye. I heard kind of a squishy crunchy pop. I went there goes my eye. Then it got a hold of my face and started shaking, worrying it. And I could feel it tearing off. I could feel the blood, you know, the wetness, I could see it dripping. I could hear it whooshing and I think the one thing that most vivid to me was watching that little bugger spit my teeth out.

LIU: All right, well Hanson's two dogs jumped on the bear, too, and helped her escape that. They got away without any serious injuries, there.

And there's been an E.coli outbreak at a popular Boy Scout camp in Virginia. Dozens of scouts and staff got sick after staying at the camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, nine have been hospitalized. Health officials are trying to track the source of this outbreak.

And in Wisconsin, some stunts not for the faint of heart or your stomach. Look at that one. Small planes twisting and turning through the sky at the annual Air Venture Show in Oshkosh. The convection has attracted hundreds of aviation enthusiasts including actor John Travolta and Harrison Ford.

The wonders of modern medicine never cease to impress. One man loses both arms and gets them back. Well, he got somebody's arms, at least.

Plus, the deadline is here for response from Iran an about its nuclear plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Well, today is the deadline for Iran to respond to the U.N.'s latest nuclear freeze offer and so far, the silence has been deafening, if you will. CNN's Reza Sayah is live in Tehran with the latest on that.

Hey, Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Richard, indeed, this Saturday was the informal deadline set by the U.S. and the five world powers for Iran to respond to this latest proposal, but it doesn't look like anything is going to happen on this Saturday. We should note that the European Union, foreign policy chief, Javier Solano, has indicated that he's going to relax a little on this deadline and give Iran a few more days to respond to the proposal, that as far as this deadline, this Saturday, don't expect things to happen.

Of course, it was two weeks ago when there was some optimism in the nuclear talks in Geneva, that's when for the first for the time in nearly 30 year, you had a senior U.S. diplomat sit across the table from Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Said Jalili and that's when the U.S. and the five world powers offered Iran the Freeze for Freeze proposal, the world powers telling Iran that they would delay fourth round of sanctions for six weeks if Iran would agree not expand its uranium enrichment program, but this week, on Wednesday, you had the foreign minister of Iran, Manouchehr Mottaki, dismiss the deadline and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, saying to the Iranian people in a televised speech that Iran is going full speed ahead with its nuclear program. And that's where we stand tonight, Richard.

The U.S. and five world powers have indicated the fourth round of sanctions are coming, so again, yet again, it's another game of wait and see, Richard.

LUI: Hey Reza, we started this by saying the silence is deafening, yet, the foreign minister, if you will, of Iran, said they already responded and he made that comment three days ago. Do we know what he's talking about, here?

SAYAH: Well, these two sides need to get on the same page, because at this point, they are not. The U.S. And the five world power, their position is that on July 19, they gave the Freeze for Freeze proposal. But this week, the foreign minister told us they gave their response on that same day and that response was yes, we heard your proposal and our proposal is another seven rounds of talks, so based on that, those two sides are not even on the same page. Somebody needs to get on the phone to get these sides on the same page and that's how far apart and confusing this process is at this point, Richard.

LUI: As these high-stakes discussions happen on both side, Reza, you have gone down to speak with everyday Iranians to get their perspective on what is happening. What have you heard?

SAYAH: Well, today in Iran, when we speak to people, they're not really concerned about uranium enrichment and Iran's nuclear program, they want jobs, they want a better life, they want the economy to improve. But, if you bring up the uranium enrichment program, they'll tell you this is Iran's right, based on international law, they have the right to uranium enrichment and there's a perception among many Iranians that the U.S. government and at world powers often times meddle in their business and they point to this case and say this is another instance when the U.S. and the world powers are meddling in our affairs. And based on what we're hearing, they say it's our right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, Richard.

LUI: I was watching a report saying one Iranian that you interviewed actually had a solution. What solutions are you hearing from Iranians?

SAYAH: That solution, based on what he said is for both sides, to lower their demands. Based on what we've seen from both sides, they are not lowering their demands, they're playing hardball with one another and that's an indication that these negotiations, these nuclear talks will continue for some time to come, Richard.

LUI: All right, so some Iranians pragmatic, there. Reza Sayah, thank you so much in Tehran, there, with the latest for us on this story. Appreciate it.

You know, to help you make an informed choice in the presidential election, from now until November we're going to play more of what the candidates are saying in their own words. Here's Senator McCain talking about his energy program.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama says he wants energy independence but he's opposed to new drilling at home, he's opposed to nuclear power, he's opposed to an innovation prize for electric cars. My friends, we must begin immediately in drilling offshore so we can get some of the oil that's off our own coasts.

(APPLAUSE)

We have to begin that drilling, and Senator Obama opposes it.

(APPLAUSE)

He said that the high cost of gasoline doesn't bother him, only that it rose too quickly. Yesterday, he suggested we put air in our tires to save on gas. My friend, let's do that, but do you think that's enough to break our dependence on Middle Eastern oil? I don't think so.

So, I believe that every energy source needs to be part of the solution. We need to develop new alternative energies like wind, solar, tide, biofuels, but we also need to develop more existing energies like nuclear power and clean coal. Nuclear power is safe. Clean coal technology is vital.

(APPLAUSE)

My friends, nuclear power is safe. There are some veterans here in this room who served, who served on ships that had nuclear power plants. We've sailed them around the world for more than 60 years and we've never had an accident. And I can tell you that the French, we always want to imitate the French, right? Eighty percent of their electricity is generated by nuclear power. And in case you missed it, we now have a pro-American president of France which shows if you live long enough anything can happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right, Senator John McCain on the campaign trail and in the coming hour, of course, we will be covering what Senator Barack Obama is saying. He's on the campaign trail today in Florida. We'll have, of course, his comments, and what he said so far, today.

And remember, for the latest on the presidential race, log on to our Web site cnnpolitics.com, 24/7, it's the most politics on the Web for you. We move now to a doping confession that leads to tainted gold. The 2000 U.S. men's relay team has been stripped of its gold medals. The International Olympic Committee made the decision today following admission by one of the team's runners in May that he had used a steroid and a human growth hormone. Antonio Pettigrew returned his medal two months ago.

With so many to lose, why would any Olympic athlete risk her or her (SIC) shot at the gold by juicing. Here's Betty Nguyen with more on that.

MARION JONES, FMR OLYMPIC TRACK STAR: And I truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With those words, disgraced Olympic track star, Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal authorities investigating performance enhancing drugs. Jones won three gold medals and two bronze at the 2000 Sydney games and with that came instant celebrity.

MIKE WISE, WASHINGTON POST: Most big-time athletes, especially in America, are going to come down on the fame side because it means everything. It means money, it means sponsorships, it means a Wheaties box.

NGUYEN: Psychologists say it's that shot at fame and fortune that prompts some to risk it all.

DR STEVE EPSTEIN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: There are other people whose entire identity is wrapped up with success and it can be devastating to lose or to not achieve at a high level.

NGUYEN: Dominique Dawes is an Olympic gold medal winning gymnast, she says the pressure to perform is intense and the temptation to take shortcuts is real.

DOMINIQUE DAWES, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNING GYMNAST: These outside sources, it's the people they choose to surround themselves with, feeding this information into their mind.

NGUYEN: Dawes' post-Olympic life includes coaching to motivational speaking.

DAWES: That was very good.

NGUYEN: And she said whether it was at the Olympics, in school or on the job, it's important to be able to look at oneself in the mirror and be happy with what you see.

DAWES: There are a few of us that do lie and those who think the right way and I think it eventually comes back to bite those individuals. Either they get caught or it just eats away at their conscious.

NGUYEN: So, is there a formula for achieving success on the up and up.

DAWES: When you were young, your parent instilled certain values in you about commitment and sacrifice and don't cheat and work hard and things like that, and we all as adults need to stay true to those core values.

NGUYEN: Olympic officials are counting on those core values when the Beijing games start, but the other problem lies with the message society sends.

WISE: Don't finish second. Don't be No. 2, be No. 1, and that's a powerful drug.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right. Protecting their privacy at the gameS, the British delegation heading to Beijing is not risking having their cell phones call intercepted. They are getting disposable phones for the trip. Even with such measures, the group is still advised not to talk about anything personal. The move comes as China restless with international calls to stop blocking free access to the Internet. China has denied allegations that it plans to spy on visiting delegations.

Practice makes perfect or so the Chinese hope. Today, Beijing held a dress rehearsal at the Bird's Nest Stadium for the opening ceremonies. Everyone watching inside the stadium has agreed to keep mum about it. A third final rehearsal is expected on Tuesday. Looks great, though.

A medical first performed in Munich, it's amazing. Surgeons in Germany transplanting two new arms on a farmer who lost his in an accident. The operation took 15 hour, the patient lost his arms six years ago. He's reported to be in good condition. The donor died shortly before the surgery. Doctors say the biggest problem now is establishing blood flow between the farmer's body and muscles of his new arms. If his body does not reject them, it could take years before they are fully functional.

A fugitive for years, now Radovan Karadzic is facing an international criminal tribunal. We take look deeper at tribunals and how they operate.

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LUI: Serbia's arrested Radovan Karadzic hands the criminal tribunal its most important defendant yet. The accused mastermind of Bosnian war atrocities faces 11 charges, including genocide. Karadzic hid for years in plain sight in Belgrade disguised as a new-age healer. The former Bosnian Serb leader refused to plead to the charges against him on Friday and said he'll represent himself.

So, the U.N. is counting on a conviction to send a powerful message about the arm of international justice. They lost that chance in the war crimes trial of form president -- Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, he died of a heart attack before it could finish.

Here to explain what the international criminal tribunal is and how international justice works is Professor Michael Scharf, he's the director of the War Crimes Research Office at Case Western Reserve University.

And a good day to you, Michael. Let's start with The Hague. What is The Hague and what powers does it have, here?

MICHAEL SCHARF, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIV: All right, Richard, The Hague is a city in Europe where the Yugoslavian tribunal has been placed. The tribunal was created 15 years ago, making it a very young institution, but when it was created it was only supposed to last about 10 years. Because it was created by the Security Council it has the powers of the council including the United States behind it.

That meant that NATO troops helped arrest many of the people who have been tried a convicted by the tribunal. And also the international community have used World Bank loans and economic assistance as a way to put pressure on Croatia and Serbia to surrender to people like Milosevic and now Karadzic.

LUI: Now, you trained judges for the Iraqi special tribunal. What are the challenges, here, as they try, here, Karadzic, in this trial, right now?

SCHARF: Well, in each of the trials, starting with Yugoslavia tribunal and then the Rwandan tribunal and then the trials in Baghdad, they have learned the lessons from the past and they're getting a little bit better and a little bit better.

What's going to happen in this trial is that Karadzic is going to do the same thing that Milosevic and Saddam Hussein did. He's going to try to hijack the trial, turn it into a political stage, because it's going to be televised back home, and try to make himself a hero and a martyr in the eyes of the Serbs.

And what they, the judges, have to do is maintain control of the court. And that's very tough to do when the defendant is representing himself, because unlike a lawyer where you can rein the lawyer in by threatening to throw him in jail for the night or fine him or to even disbar him, what do you do to rein in a self-represented defendant? And those are the lessons they're beginning to understand.

LUI: How long might this go?

SCHARF: Well, it's going to take six to eight months before the trial actually begins because the defense is entitled to look at all of the material that is in the possession of the prosecution and do its own discovery. When the trial actually begins, it will probably be about a year and a half, much shorter than the Milosevic case because that's another lesson they've learned which is try to keep it shorter, more narrowly focused, because they definitely don't want justice to go on and on. And then there's going to be an appeal process, which takes eight months. I think we're talking about three years altogether, here.

LUI: Wow, three years and of course this is an important for E.U. integration and that process of Serbia. Thank you so much, Michael Scharf, stopping by with us today to give us the insides, as well as the 101, shall we say, of what's happening in The Hague in that tribunal. Appreciate it.

SCHARF: Great to talk to you, Richard.

LUI: All right, you too.

Whether for man or beast, food's not cheap these days. And for people already struggling to feed their family, pets can present a problem. But in one city, they are banking on one solution.

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LUI: Well, feeding Fido and Fluffy, it's just not cheap. And these tough sxhk times are leading to tough choices for some pet owners, but as Rusty Dornin explains for us in Atlanta, there's a new type of food bank trying to help. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Last week, Regina Upchurch, couldn't afford to fill 5-month-old Shayla's (ph) bowl with regular dog food, so gave her table scraps. Upchurch does seasonal tax work and security at the local sports arena, she's raising two grandchildren. Like many others, she's and strapped for cash right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how about some treats?

DORNIN: But then Upchurch heard about this. The Help Save Our Pets Food Bank in Atlanta.

REGINA UPCHURCH, PET OWNER: I couldn't believe it. I said, no, nobody's going to give us no food to help me feed my baby this month and sure enough, they say yes, there wasn't no, why you need it...

DORNIN: No questions, just enough food for one month. The food bank is the brainchild of animal lover, Ann King, who knows many pet owners are suffering tough times.

ANN KING, HELP SAVE OUR PETS FOOD BANK: They're totally desperate. I mean, it really is, am I going to feed my kids here or am I going to feed my dog? And they had to kike turn them in.

DORNIN: Kibbles and canned food come from corporate and personal donation. Kings says they'd helped more than 1,500 people since the bank opened three weeks ago.

KING: We're getting phone calls from all over the country asking for help and how to help set up programs in different states so they can do the same thing.

DORNIN: A realtor, Anne Taylor, has personally felt the effects of the housing crisis on her pocketbook, and that's meant cut backs on how much she can spend on her pet.

ANNE TAYLOR, PET OWNER: I would say about $15 a week as an average, a week to 10 days, and instead of having to purchase something, strictly on credit, this is giving me the opportunity again to just to keep the quality of life for my pet.

DORNIN: Shelters in many areas are full, pet owners had to give up the animals because they either moved or couldn't afford them.

KING: They go and take them to the shelter and then the shelter is full, so can't take them, so they just go down the street and they open up the car door and dump them out.

DORNIN: Dave York works with the local animal shelter, their numbers up 20 percent this year.

DAVE YORK, ANIMAL SHELTER DIRECTOR: It's definitely, for all the years that I've been in business, I've never seen it this bad.

DORNIN: But for people like Regina Upchurch, this small handout who helped her and her four-legged friend.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.

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LUI: It is a ship fit for a king or should we say a dictator. The Basra Breeze, as it's called, has eight state rooms, gold bathroom fixtures and a crew of 32. One guest who owned this beauty, the next hour of NEWSROOM starts right after the break.