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Russian Invasion of Black Sea Region Expands; President Pervez Musharraf Refuses to Step Down; State Department Evacuates 170 Americans From Georgia; McCain Tours P.A. with Ridge

Aired August 11, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA: The world has at least a moral duty to stop this madness. We are not attacking anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Saakashvili says that he is under attack. I'm afraid he is totally wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if only it was just a war of words. Russian forces push beyond the so-called breakaway regions of Georgia, into the republic itself.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The damage is fierce and the stakes may be enormous. We're live in the Georgian capital and following developments around the globe.

Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon monitoring all of the events over here at the international desk.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: And right off the top we start with some developing news. At this hour the Russian invasion of the Black Sea region is assuming some new dimensions that we want to tell you about. Russian tanks are rumbling out of two breakaway regions of Georgia into Georgia proper and closer to the Georgian capital.

Now Georgian officials tell CNN they have lost the city of Gori to the Russian army. Georgian forces now retreating toward the capital city of Tbilisi there. And at least one other Georgian city, Senaki also is under attack.

Our Matthew Chance is standing by in the capital with some very nervous Georgian people -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much. Very fast-moving situation here in Georgia. Very confusing as well at times. What we know is that throughout the course of the day I have been in the town of Gori, which is to the west of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It's a very strategic town. It's a town which has been coming under regular attack by the Russian air force for a number of reasons, not least because it has been a garrison town, which has been used as a staging post for Georgian attacks inside South Ossetia.

Now, within the last hour, it has been said to us by Georgian officials that the town has come under the control of Russian forces. Now, that's what the Georgian officials say. We have got no way of independently verifying that because we are outside of Gori right now. We're speaking to you from the capital Tbilisi.

But over the course of the last hour I was driving out of Gori with thousands of Georgian troops evacuating their positions inside Gori. Many thousands of civilians as well traveling by convoy out of Gori towards the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It seems, according to Georgian officials that the Georgian forces that were stationed in Gori have made a withdrawal and they have moved into a fallback position to defend, they say, the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Now what we're missing in this equation is any comment, any reaction, any confirmation about the presence of Russians inside on the ground in Gori. There have been no comment so far from Moscow. All we have to go on at this stage is what Georgian officials and our own eyewitness accounts of what has happened in Gori tell us.

LEMON: All right. Matthew Chance reporting to us from the capital of Georgia in Tbilisi. Matthew, thank you very much. And we just -- CNN wants to tell you that we have been working on trying to get the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili. He is speaking to reporters now. And just as soon as he's done with that report, we're going to try to get the president up for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM to bring you the very latest about the conflict that's happening there in Georgia.

Meantime, late this morning, the State Department announced it is sending a diplomat to try to arrange a cease-fire. This is Washington and Moscow exchanged some very harsh words. Let me tell you what's going on. At the U.N. yesterday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad accused the Russians of waging a terror campaign against Georgia. President Bush was a bit more restrained before leaving for the Olympics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn bombing outside of South Ossetia. It was just interesting to me that here we are trying to promote peace and harmony and we're witnessing a conflict take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fired back today. He slammed the U.S. for flying hundreds of Georgian troops out of Iraq back to their homeland. He said the U.S. is hampering efforts to try to work things out. Now despite all those battles that we've been talking about on the ground, their sportsmanship, it prevailed at the Olympics over the weekend. Russia's silver medalist put her arm around Georgia's bronze medal winner after their 10-meter air pistol final. And then the rivals, well, they kissed each other on the cheek. There they are, a picture of them doing that. China took the gold in that event.

Well, Georgia, of course, is a major American ally, and right now the U.S. seems powerless to save it. At the bottom of the hour, we'll examine the relationship live from the international desk right here with our CNN's Hala Gorani.

KEILAR: Let's head now to Montreal. Fiery violence on the streets there. Cars were set on fire, police were pelted with beer bottles. At least two officers and a paramedic were hut. This happened last night in a multi-ethnic neighbor after a peaceful protest against the police shooting of three people on Saturday. An 18-year-old man died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF YVAN DELORME, MONTREAL POLICE: We were prepared to respond to that kind of situation, but it's a new kind, and we faced young people -- we knew their territories, so they went inside a round building, across the street, so we saw a different way of manifestation. And like I said in French, we're there to listen, to understand what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Well, police say they were trying to make an arrest on Saturday when they were rushed by a group of teens, and they opened fire.

LEMON: Tire pressure, tire failure may be to blame for yet another bus accident. This one happened last night in Nevada, almost 30 casino employees were hurt. Four critically, when their shuttle bus crashed outside of Las Vegas. Now police says the bus swerved out of its lane and then smashed into a guardrail. Investigators say they found evidence the tread had separated from the left front tire. It was the third major bus wreck in just three days.

KEILAR: Yes. Another bus accident to tell you about. In fact, more than 30 vacationers are making plans to fly home to South Carolina today after the bus they were on overturned south of Memphis. Three people were killed in this crash yesterday. Four are still hospitalized. The bus belongs to Harrah's Tunica Casino.

LEMON: And federal authorities moved to shut down two companies linked to the charter bus that crashed in Texas on Friday, 17 passengers were killed. The driver is among those who are in critical condition. His driving record shows he has been cited for drunken driving and also for speeding. Investigators say it appears a recapped tire may have blown causing that crash.

KEILAR: In the race for the White House, John McCain has the campaign trail to himself, at least for a week. The Republican stumping today in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. And a short time ago he toured a General Electric plant in Erie where he is also holding a town hall meeting.

Now for Barack Obama, a week of down time. He and his family are vacationing in Hawaii where the candidate played a little golf over the weekend. Obama spent most of his childhood in the 50th state. His sister and maternal grandmother, actually they still live there.

And the buzz in Pennsylvania is all about who is campaigning with McCain. Former Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

And CNN's Ed Henry joining us now from Washington to tell us what that might mean -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, good afternoon.

Obviously a lot of buzz because of this visit. John McCain, two days in Pennsylvania with Tom Ridge. A lot people wondering whether Tom Ridge might be his running mate in the end. And obviously there e a lot of positives to Tom Ridge's resume. He hails from Pennsylvania, obviously, a popular former governor. That's a critical state the Democrats have won the last couple of elections.

Also you mentioned homeland security secretary recently. National security credentials a big issue. And the fact that he's a moderate Republican. That could enable John McCain to show he's reaching across the aisle in a way, appealing to independent voters, maybe some conservative Democrats.

And at a time when John McCain is trying to rebuild this maverick image he had earlier in his Senate career, that could be pivotal, but on the other hand, a big potential negative, of course, is that Tom Ridge supports abortion rights. And I can tell you having just been in Ohio with John McCain a couple of days ago, the Republican voters I have talked to said they really wanted a conservative on the ticket to rally the Republican base.

If John McCain were to pick someone who supports abortion rights, he could have a revolt on the right. Some of those conservatives could stay home in November -- Brianna.

KEILAR: So -- and tell us about some of the other contenders on the short list here.

HENRY: Well, interesting, when I was talking to those voters a couple of days back in Ohio, waiting outside a town hall meeting for John McCain, all of their buzz really was focused on Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

They kept citing the fact that he's a former businessman, very successful there, as well as a former governor. And with the economy being "ISSUE #1," a lot of rank and file conservatives like him on issues like tax cuts. Secondly, other Republican voters told me they like him on social issues as well. I mentioned Tim Pawlenty to them, the Minnesota governor, and a lot of these rank and file Republican voters were not quite as high on him.

I mean, obviously he's a relative unknown in politics, in fairness to Tim Pawlenty, he's still trying to get his name out there. And a lot of Republican voters told me that if John McCain were to pick him, they'd be open to the idea, but he'd have to do a real strong sales job, because they don't know Tim Pawlenty.

And finally, an interesting name that just sort of popped up was Condoleezza Rice. Several Republican voters told me in that critical state of Ohio, that they thought that when you put together Condi Rice potentially taking way some female and African-American voters away from Barack Obama, and the fact she has a lot of national security experience, they think that's a good thing.

On the negative side, of course, she gained that experience under an unpopular Republican president that John McCain is trying to separate himself from. And then of course, you have the fact that Condi Rice keeps saying she doesn't even want the job.

So at the end of the day, when you look at it on paper, Mitt Romney obviously seems to be the one that rank and file Republicans are pretty excited about. But then you get back to that chemistry issue that we talked about with Tom Ridge. Tom Ridge gets along real great with John McCain. Romney and McCain not so much during those heated Republican primaries. But if you think back to 1960, Kennedy and Johnson didn't agree on much, except one thing, they both wanted to win -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Ed, well, we don't have too long to wait, so that's the good news. The suspense will end soon.

HENRY: Yes. Sooner or later.

KEILAR: Yes. All right. Ed Henry for us in Washington, thanks so much.

You know, the CNN Election Express is rolling through Pennsylvania as it heads to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Keep your eye out. I was grocery shopping last week, and there it was in the parking lot of the grocery store.

LEMON: Did you ride it there?

KEILAR: No, but it kind of caught me off-guard. I thought, oh, it's everywhere. So next hour in the NEWSROOM we'll be checking in with Tom Foreman. He is on board. And later our Bill Schneider is going to join us to talk about Barack Obama's vacation and the buzz over his potential running mate.

LEMON: We want to get to some developing news now in the weather center. Bonnie Schneider joining us.

Bonnie, when I heard this, I had to have the producer repeat it. A tornado in Suffolk County, New York?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A tornado warning, right.

LEMON: Yes, not unheard of, but definitely rare.

SCHNEIDER: That's true. That's true. It's very rare to see these tornadoes. But of course, this is not the first tornado warning we had issued. Just about 30 minutes ago there was a tornado warning for parts of Nassau County and Suffolk County, but now Doppler radar is indicating some rotation in a thunderstorm near Stony Brook, and that's also going to effect communities like Coram, Mt. Sinai, Middle Island, and Rocky Point all in that vicinity, on the North Shore of Suffolk County.

So this warning goes until 1:30, but we did have a severe thunderstorm warning that's now persisting across parts of Nassau County, including Hicksville, Jericho to the north, all the way across Syosset, Huntington, and then back towards Commack. So these storms are producing hail. We had reports of penny-sized hail at La Guardia Airport. And now it's all riding along the North Shore and then redevelopng here in Suffolk County.

So even though we don't have a tornado on the ground, take this seriously. Because these storms, Don, are also producing deadly lightning strikes as well as very strong wind. I'll have more coming up.

LEMON: All right. Bonnie, we'll check back. Thank you very much for that.

Women and teenage girls killed by their families if they pick the wrong boyfriend or husband. We'll tell you about a new push in Britain to stop these so-called honor crimes.

KEILAR: How would you like to wake up to this? This is the work of a pickup truck that plowed through a house in Florida narrowly missing an 80-year-old woman.

LEMON: Wow. The entertainment world is mourning two big stars, soul music giant Isaac Hayes, and comedian Bernie Mac.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Bonnie Schneider keeping an eye on a tornado warning on Long Island.

Bonnie, what's going on?

SCHNEIDER: Well, Brianna, we have a tornado warning for parts of Suffolk County right now, you can see highlighted right here, Doppler radar indicated rotation in a thunderstorm near Stony Brook. So communities in that vicinity like Port Jefferson, Coram, all watching out for the danger of his storm.

You have to realize that in the past hour we've seen another tornado warning that's now expired just a little bit further west across the border into Nassau County because this storm looked like it was producing tornadic activity in the town of Oyster Bay near Bayville. So the same storm kind of died down a bit and then redeveloped as it passed over parts of Suffolk County.

You can see here that we're watching an area of heavy rain sliding across from northern Queens where La Guardia Airport is located. And that's where we saw penny-sized hail. So now it's working its way along the North Shore of Long Island, heading across the Long Island Sound. So the next stop might be Connecticut. We'll be watching for you.

KEILAR: Pretty unusual, right, Bonnie?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, it is unusual, but not unheard of. Long Island having its share of tornadoes. But not to often. And once again, no tornado has been reported on the ground, but there is a warning issued for about another 13 minutes.

KEILAR: OK. All right. Bonnie Schneider keeping an eye on things, thanks.

LEMON: Rescue teams by the hundreds are racing to Vietnam's northern mountains. A weekend tropical storm triggered deadly flash floods and also some landslides. At least 100 people are dead, more than two dozen are misses and tens of thousands of homes are destroyed. Thousands of cattle swept away there, and acres of crops, of course, they're ruined.

KEILAR: An 80-year-old Florida woman stands in the middle of a mess that used to be her nice, tidy home. Yesterday morning a pickup truck smashed into the back of Joan Hartman's house in Bradenton, and state troopers say the driver didn't stop there, she actually backed out of the house, hit a tree, then a light pole, and ran over a sign and a fence before police finally stopped her. She, the driver, now in the hospital. The Hartmans are obviously assessing the damage.

LEMON: Well, morning commuters sat in two-mile backups after a fatal accident on Maryland's Bay Bridge. It happened yesterday when a tractor-trailer involved in the collision plunged off the road and into the Chesapeake Bay. The driver was killed. The truck is still in the water while a crane works to pull it out. One lane of traffic is out of commission, and authorities hope to have everything back to normal for the evening rush.

KEILAR: He laid the groundwork for disco and he was rapping before there even was even rap. Isaac Hayes is being remembered as a music pioneer. Hayes' wife and son found him unconscious yesterday in Memphis, Tennessee, in his home next to his treadmill. He was pronounced dead an hour later. The singer/songwriter won an Oscar, he also three Grammy awards for his theme song from the movie "Shaft." Some of you may know him though better for his animated alter ego. For years Hayes was the voice of Chef on TV's "South Park." Isaac Hayes was just 65.

LEMON: And what a unique voice. And another unique voice died over the weekend, actor/comedian Bernie Mac. He was 50 years old. Fellow comedian Chris Rock says losing him is like losing 12 people because he absolutely filled up any room he was in. I went back to Chicago to speak to his family about his humble beginnings and his final moments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERNIE MAC, COMEDIAN: You want another type of (EXPLETIVE DELETED), you know.

LEMON (voice-over): Bernie Mac had a dirty mouth, but boy was he funny.

MAC: I just want to have fun.

LEMON: Funny enough to make him a superstar and a box office hit. Good friend and fellow comedian Steve Harvey was in town attending a parade when Mac died at a Chicago hospital not far away.

STEVE HARVEY, COMEDIAN: I mean, it really, really knocks you down a bit, you know, but my heart really goes out to his wife of over 25 years, his kids, you know. Bernie was a great family guy, man. Great, great family man, great father, you know, and my heart goes out to those people.

LEMON: His wife Rhonda tells me they were high school sweethearts and married a few years later. "His sense of humor charmed me," she says, "we did not have a thing, he told me, girl, you'd better get on board this train because I'm going to be rich one day. I said OK."

(on camera): Before Hollywood came calling, there was the South Side of Chicago where Bernie Mac honed his comedic skills in comedy clubs like this one, right in his own neighborhood.

(voice-over): It as a true rags to riches story. His wife tells me Mac not only worked the local "comedy chitlin circuit," as she called it, but to make ends meet, he would do standup on subway trains and would take odd jobs anywhere he could. In 1990 his big break, Mac won the Miller Lite Comedy Classic, a $3,000 prize.

"As a family, we jumped for joy when he won," his wife says. "We put most of it in the bank and we had a small party." Mac hit the road hard as an opening act, then a featured performer. The movie roles came. So did a hit TV show. Mac came down with pneumonia brought on by a disease he was diagnosed with in 1984, sarcoidosis.

Dee Dee Davis played Mac's daughter on the show.

DEE DEE DAVIS, BERNIE MAC'S CO-STAR: I remember like we had to do scenes without him because he was sick. I didn't know what he was sick with, but I guess it came back and it got worse.

LEMON (on camera): Was this towards the end of the show?

DAVIS: This was towards like the end.

LEMON: He recovered and the disease went into remission until this summer when he developed pneumonia again. His wife says he went to the hospital three weeks ago Thursday. He had trouble breathing. He had a fever. His back was hurting. Doctors induced him into a coma. They expected him to recover.

But on Friday close to midnight, he opened his eyes and Rhonda said, I know you're tired, but don't leave me. He shrugged his shoulders, closed his eyes, and his blood pressure dropped very low. He went into cardiac arrest. They revived him once for about an hour. They tried reviving him again and then, she said, he was gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The family, of course, will have a private memorial service, they're not making that public. It will happen this week, and then later on, on Saturday, a public memorial service will be held for Bernie Mac at the House of Hope in Chicago.

KEILAR: Some say it's a question of diabolical pride. A daughter killed to protect the name of her family. A look at what British police are doing about honor killings.

LEMON: And what a frightening wake-up call. A look at an early morning massive blast which shook up a major metropolitan skyline.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: Hey, look, let's go to outer space, what do you say?

KEILAR: All right.

LEMON: Talk about the Hubble telescope, a milestone for the Hubble telescope. Today it made its 100,000th orbit of Earth. The Hubble has been taking snapshots of outer space for 18 years. Here's the latest, a nebula about 300,000 light years away, the Hubble will get one more service call from a shuttle. Atlantis is set to launch in early October.

KEILAR: Also want to tell you about another recall coming up. This one involving a meat plant in Nebraska. Another one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar in for Kyra Phillips.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 31 after the hour here in the NEWSROOM. Some of the stories we're working on for you. Riots and looting making for a rough night in one Montreal neighborhood. Hundreds of police were deployed. The violence flaring up a day after a police shooting that killed an 18-year-old man.

In North Carolina, prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a suspect accused of killing UNC's student body president. Eve Carson was kidnapped, dragged to ATMs, then fatally shot in March. A 17-year-old who is also charged is legally too young to face the death penalty.

And Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick may have waded into more legal trouble. A judge is set to decide if Kilpatrick violated the terms of his bond in an assault case. At issue, weekend contact with his sister, who is a witness in the case.

LEMON: We have been following developing news overseas. And as we have been reporting, the Russian invasion of the Black Sea region, it is expanding. Russian tanks are rumbling out of two breakaway regions of Georgia into Georgia Proper and closer to the Georgian capital. Russia's intentions, they still are unclear. And with more now, live from our international desk, is CNN's Hala Gorani.

Hala, what are you finding out?

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're the only U.S. network stationed all over Georgia with vantage points not only in Tbilisi, the capital of that small republic, but also outside in Gori and other areas where there's been military activity. Our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, was in Gori today, saw military action there, is now back in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Matthew Chance joins us now live from Tbilisi.

What did you see there? What is the mood now? Are people concerned that Tbilisi might be next?

CHANCE: Yes, they are. The Georgian leadership is very concerned that Tbilisi may be next for the Russian forces. So very many Georgian citizens who have evacuated over the course of the past few hours -- the strategic town of Gori. We were part of that evacuation, moving out of Gori with thousands of Georgian troops and civilians as they fled what Georgian officials say was a Russian advance out of the main conflict zone of South Ossetia into that town of Gori.

It's a garrison town. It's been repeatedly bombed by Russian war planes over the course of the past few days during the hostilities. It sits on the main highway in Georgia from east to west, and so it is a very important town as well for communications in Georgia.

Now, what we don't know is what the Russians are intending to do. We also don't have any confirmation, at this stage, that Russian troops are actually on the ground in Gori. But we are hearing reports of clashes, of fighting, on the outskirts of the city, and according to Georgian officials, the town, as I say, is now in Russian hands.

It's significant because, as I say, it represents a first step by the Russian forces outside of that South Ossetia, outside of those main conflict zones, into Georgia proper, Hala. And that's deeply concerning.

GORANI: All right. That is, and that's a major development. Senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance. As we continue to gather information here, we understand that the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, is saying that a majority of his country is now occupied by Russian forces. We're working on confirming that, but Don, of course a major development.

Georgia is an American ally. Georgia wants to be a member of NATO. And there is Russia, on the one hand, through its deputy foreign minister, telling CNN a short while ago that what Georgia did in South Ossetia was a major mistakes. Listen to what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI IVANOV, RUSSIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: He is an American satellite. That's a known fact. But encouraging him and providing some weapons and military instructions maybe that gave Saakashvili a wrong impression that whatever he does will be swallowed by world's community, and United States in particular. That was a fatal mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Sergei Ivanov saying Saakashvili, an American satellite. You see this as a proxy battle. On the one hand Russia, on the other hand, perhaps the United States. Back to you.

LEMON: Yes, and that prime minister is accusing Georgia of ethnic cleansing and saying that the Russians had to step in to prevent that from happening.

GORANI: Don, Georgia is accusing Russia of ethnic cleansing. So this a war of words, but as you saw with Matthew Chance, it's also a war on the ground and there are civilian casualties.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Hala Gorani.

KEILAR: Defiance from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He's refusing to step down, and parliament convened today with the ruling coalition gearing up to try and impeach him. Our Zain Verjee is in Washington with the latest.

Zain, just wondering how soon could there be a vote to impeach Musharraf?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well Brianna, it could be dragged out for a few weeks. The sense that we get from people in the region is that this could be the end of Musharraf. He's got very few options, but he does have some.

He could try and block the two-thirds majority that's needed in Parliament to get rid of him. But that momentum is against him. The coalition government is saying that they have the numbers to get rid of him. The other thing he could do, Brianna, is just resign and avoid humiliation. He could also use his powers as president to essentially dismiss the government, fire the prime minister, and call new elections, but that is unlikely. The U.S. says it would never support a move like that, and most importantly, the Pakistani Army is highly unlikely to back it.

And just on a totally separate note, Brianna, it's the President Musharraf's 65th birthday today and there have been very few flowers or birthday cards for him today. Different scene from last year, Brianna.

KEILAR: He's probably not celebrating.

But U.S. officials have considered him an ally. They have also been critical of him. What are they telling you about how they see all of this?

VERJEE: Well, they're saying, essentially, that they fear that the political chaos would distract from fighting the war on terror and that the Taliban and al Qaeda will take advantage of this political vacuum and gain strength. The U.S. plan is basically to just stay on the sidelines, let this process play out. It doesn't believe that it has a whole lot of influence on the ground.

What U.S. officials are telling us, that with or without Musharraf, they hope that the new leaders can focus on the U.S. priorities, which is that border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

KEILAR: Our State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee.

Thanks, Zain.

LEMON: Women forced into marriages or killed for having the wrong boyfriends. So-called honor crimes are often committed by fathers or brothers when daughters do something that supposedly brings shame on the family. It's on the rise in Britain, and authorities, they are very worried about it.

Our Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her boyfriend records it all on a mobile phone, Banaz Mahmoud lays on a hospital bed describing what she herself couldn't believe. Her own father was trying to kill her just for having a boyfriend he didn't approve of. That was December 2005. Just months later, Banaz disappeared.

Her body was later found packed into this suitcase in a suburban backyard. Authorities say she had been kidnapped, tortured, raped, and then strangled with a shoe lace for bringing shame to her family.

Her father, Mahmoud Mahmoud (ph), was convicted in 2007 of ordering his own daughter's murder.

Stories like Banaz's have so alarmed British authorities they've instituted public awareness campaigns. There are concerns about the few communities where they have seen problems. Police say 17,000 women are victims of what they call honor crimes or forced marriages each year. But they believe that could be just the tip of the iceberg.

CMDR. STEVE ALLEN, METROPOLITAN POLICE: The perceived honor of the family is more important than the life of a child. And we have -- you know -- we have seen those horrible cases where parents have held their children down while they have been killed. Now, to get to that position, you must be acting under a power that has -- under a force that has amazing control over you.

"MARY," HAUNTED BY FAMILY'S DEATH THREATS: Still it hurts me.

NEWTON: It's still with great fear that this woman agreed to talk to CNN. For her own safety, she is hiding her identity and says she is still haunted by her family's death threats.

"MARY": You are bringing more insult and -- our honor and our respect is in so much in this society, and you are doing so many wrong things and you are not obeying even Koran and Allah. We are going to kill you and you deserve killing.

NEWTON: Mary, as she calls herself, says her brothers told her that because she did not agree to an arranged marriage and because she converted to Christianity, they could restore their family honor only by killing her.

(on camera): And you're convinced that they would have killed you?

"MARY": I was convinced because I knew that Koran is giving them the responsibility to do that, mentally, physically, psychologically, spiritually. I was 24 hours a day I was ready for any time they are going to kill me.

NEWTON: Mary decided to speak out after working in communities where she says young women still live in fear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's your wedding day. You're not supposed to enjoy it. It's the way we do things.

NEWTON: And if you help lines, set up across Britain counselors, many themselves victims of force marriages and abuse, say so-called honor related violence often go unreported. They want forced marriages to become a criminal offense.

SHAZIA QAYUM, KARMA NIRVANA: Not wearing your seat belt, all sorts of things. And for a forced marriage which contemplates blackmail, rape, trafficking, all sorts of other stuff. Forced marriages needs to be a criminal offense in its own way. Like burglary and like rape.

NEWTON: As they press their case, the murder of Banaz Mahmoud reminds them of what's possible all in the name of honor.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Huge explosions at a propane facility in Toronto sent frightened residents fleeing into the night in panic. You can see why right there. At least one firefighter died in this. Many of the thousands forced to evacuate after the blast yesterday are now being allowed to return to their homes.

Some residents say the blasts were so forceful they felt their homes shake as though they had been hit by an earthquake. These explosions shut down part of Canada's busiest highway, part of the subway system as well. Fires there still burning. But firefighters say they are under control.

LEMON: A racial gap in screening for prostate cancer. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen will tell us about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just into the CNN NEWSROOM, the Associated Press reporting that the State Department says it has evacuated more than 170 Americans from Georgia.

Of course, some of those Americans there to train Georgians in self-defense as well as military training because of Georgian troops in Iraq. Georgia and Russia, of course, in a war over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. But now word, fast developments here folks, word a short time ago that Russian troops have occupied Gori, which is in central Georgia. And with that comes this report of the State Department evacuating more than 170 Americans from Georgia.

State Department correspondent Zain Verjee going to have a live report for us in just a moment. But again, State Department, according to the Associated Press, saying that it has evacuated more than 170 Americans from Georgia.

A new study is out. It shows a gap in the rate of screening for prostate cancer between black and white men.

And here to tell us about it, medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brianna, race really matters when it comes to prostate cancer.

For some reason that's not entirely clear, African-American men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer. And what researchers have found unfortunately, is that only one in three African-American men is getting screened in their 40s, which is when they're supposed to be screened. So again, not entirely clear why there is this racial difference, but researchers are now saying, you know what, we need to do a better job at getting that word out that African-American men need to get screened in their 40s. KEILAR: Yes. And remind us again when should men get tested?

COHEN: Right. When men should get tested for prostate cancer is very much dependent on who they are and what their family history is.

At age 45, high-risk men, which includes all black men and any man with a family history of cancer ought to get screened. Everybody else can wait until their 50. And some people actually need to even do it before 45, depending upon their family history. For example, if someone has several relatives, several men in their family have had prostate cancer, they maybe should even get tested at age 40.

And the test is a PSA test and also a digital rectal test. So, it's two different tests that men need to do.

KEILAR: Depends on your background. And then you share that information with your doctor.

COHEN: Right. And together you decide. But it's usually somewhere between 40 and 50, and too many men are missing out.

KEILAR: OK. All right. Good stuff, good information, Elizabeth.

Thanks.

LEMON: Want to tell you now about another round of trouble at a meat plant in Nebraska. The Agriculture Department has announced a recall of more than a million pounds of meat from Nebraska Beef Limited.

The meat has been linked to some 31 cases of E. coli. The recall covers primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef made on June 17, June 24, and July 8. A different grade of beef from the plant was earlier linked to some 50 illnesses.

KEILAR: Definitely not your American food court fare. That's for sure. Lamb testicles, anyone? The delicacies that are tempting tourists at the Beijing games.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. I have some developing news here into the CNN NEWSROOM. CNN is confirming that the U.S. has evacuated 170 American troops -- 170 Americans, I should say -- citizens from the Republic of Georgia. And that's according to the State Department. Again, we have confirmed that and here's what they say, "The departure was performed in two different convoys which included dependents of American employees at U.S. embassies in Tbilisi."

Getting just some more information here, again. The United States evacuated 170 American citizens from the Republic of Georgia, again from Tbilisi. One more e-mail here, before I let you go.

This is according to the State Department and the spokesperson says, "There were two convoys carrying about 170 private U.S. citizens along with an undetermined number of family member of American diplomats based in Georgia. They have left Tiblisi on their way, by road, to neighboring Armania." And the spokesman says, "...more convoys are being prepared in case other Americans choose to leave Georgia."

Our Zain Verjee is working on this developing story.

Again, this is just crossing the wires so pardon me from reading it right here off of my computer. But again, this is coming into the CNN NEWSROOM. Zain Verjee, our State Department correspondent, will join us in just a bit. And she'll update us on all this information that I just gave you -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Well, the feathers were flying, make that climbing, actually at the pet Olympics in Hong Kong. Talk about some new breeds of athlete.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: After three full days of Olympic competition, team USA holding in the No. 2 spot in the medal count. Let's take a look at the board after today's events.

Host nation China still on top with 14 medals, nine of those gold in fact. The Americans right behind, 12 total medals, three of them gold. And South Korea and Italy both have eight medals overall.

And helping the Americans keep pace and pocketing a world record in the process,, the men's 400 freestyle relay team. They toasted the favored French swimmers by .008 of a second for the gold. And it was 34-year-old Jason Lezak who really brought it home. He was the anchor on the team, the anchor leg. He started actually, a full body length behind. But he pulled even and just out touched his French rival at the wall.

Lezak's winning sprint kept teammate Michael Phelps in the hunt for those eight -- the record eight golds at these games that we've been talking about. This was the water cooler moment of the day. I was up way too late last night watching it.

LEMON: That's all you have been talking about. Enough already. No, I'm kidding. That's all she's been talking about, really.

It can also be an Olympic feat to swallow some of the strange food at the Beijing games. But we've got some weird food here in the U.S., as well. So we're not judging.

But here's CNN's Larry Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Eventually you have to eat. So we have come to the area known as Wang Fu Jing. And this is a giant outdoor foot court. But, chances are you're going to find this food at your local mall.

Is this your first time eating star fish?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

SMITH: And you have no problems jumping in and trying it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

SMITH: And scorpion is good?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It takes like chicken.

SMITH: We found that scorpions all sizes, large and small.

There you go, fresh, deep fried scorpion. Yum, yum. Bon apettit.

Lamb testicles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to go for that, bro.

SMITH: I can't wait.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to go for that.

SMITH: I can't wait.

But this thing stretches for the entire block. A city block as far as you can see. And clearly, it's quite popular.

OK. So, you've got everything that you ever thought about eating and a lot of things that you haven't. Including this right here. Dog meat pot. Which we were told was going to be taken off the menu during the games here in Beijing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't make it during this time.

SMITH: It is banned? OK. OK.

He, look at what we have got right here. Look whose life has been saved for two more weeks. He wouldn't be that bold to walk around here a couple of months ago.

I've been down this whole walkway and I have seen nothing that I'm going to eat. So, I'm going to go get a pizza.

SMITH (voice-over): Larry Smith, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Larry, not all that adventurous, I guess.

All right. We have some breaking news to tell you about.

LEMON: Yes. It is the top of the hour -- almost the top of the hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And of course, we have been telling you about what is going on in Georgia, the unrest there. Russia and Georgia going back and forth about one person invading whom, what's going on. It has been a war of words.

Joining us now from the State Department is our Zain Verjee, to talk about us about the U.N., or the U.S. evacuating some of the citizens there.

Zain, tell us what's going on?

VERJEE: Well, we're just getting this information from the State Department.

The U.S. has evacuated 170 American citizens from the Republic of Georgia. They left in two convoys. We're hearing too, that there's going to be another convoy that will be leaving tomorrow.

It was announced over the weekend, Don, that anyone who really wants to leave the Republic of Georgia can leave and the U.S. would arrange for that to happen. They're leaving Tbilisi and they're going by road, by convey, to Armania -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Zain Verjee working that story for us.

Zain, as soon as you get some more information, please get back to us.

Thank you very much.

All right. Well, the Russian invasion of the Black Sea region is escalating at this hour. And we want to tell you it's escalating because the U.S. and others are demanding the Russians stop and the Russian Army is advancing on multiple fronts in Georgia. Russian tanks rumbled out of two disputed provinces and now, they have taken control of several Georgian cities, including the town of Gori, not far from the Georgian capital.

The State Department now says its evacuated 170 Americans from Georgia.