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Georgians Say Attacks by Russian Forces Continue; Search Continues for Missing 3-Year-Old; America for Sale?
Aired August 12, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: A plan for peace, but few signs of anything but war in the devastated Republic of Georgia.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The diplomatic blitz hits Moscow. The president of Russia says the fighting has served it's purpose, but ending it, well, that comes with conditions.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
War, peace or something in between? Russia says it's adequately punished its southern neighbor Georgia and the war that started last Friday can end today on the Kremlin's terms. Georgia says Russia is the aggressor and the fighting goes on.
A six-point peace plan grew out of an urgent visit to Moscow by the president of France, representing the European Union. It would end hostilities, return Russian and Georgian troops to their prewar positions, and refer the disputed enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to international review.
Georgians are making their voices heard in a rally outside of the parliament building in Tbilisi. And CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is there.
Frederik, what are you hearing from people?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Brianna. That rally is going on as we speak right now.
I want to just get out of your way here for a moment, and let's see how much we can see via this videophone of that demonstration that is going on right now in front of the parliament building here in the capital of Georgia, in Tbilisi. As you said, the people here are making their voices heard. They are demonstrating. They are telling us they are demonstrating for their country and also in support of their government, in support of the government of Mikheil Saakashvili.
Of course, today, as you said, there was a lot going on on the diplomatic front. Apparently, a peace plan that is coming into form, into shape. The Russians though are still heavily criticizing the government of Georgia, saying Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, is responsible for what they call a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Now, Saakashvili, for his part today, came forward with a very strong statement denouncing the Russian government. And let's just listen in to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, GEORGIA: I think the political motive is very clear -- to demonstrate to the world they couldn't care less about world reaction, to continue to cripple the country. They clearly articulate their regime change objective.
This is not about presidency of Georgia or something. This is about killing the freedom and the independence of this country, and scaring all the others around us.
Well, I think our message to them is, no matter what they do, no matter how much they bomb us, no matter how they want to cripple us and undermine us, we are not going to give up our freedom. And Georgia will never surrender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Now, as you said, Brianna, the interesting question here, is this announcement by the Russian government that they have ended their military operations in Georgia, does that mean there is now peace in this region? And certainly the Georgian government is saying that they are still seeing their towns being bombarded by Russian aircraft.
They said that two villages in Georgia were bombed by Russian aircraft, telecommunications installations in those towns bombed by Russian aircraft, after the Russians announced that their military operations would cease. We have heard about bombings in several Georgian cities all throughout the day and in the province of Abkhazia, that other breakaway province. We heard that Georgian troops in that area were attacked by separatists and by Russian forces -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Frederik Pleitgen for us in Tbilisi, Georgia.
So why is the Russia/Georgia conflict so important to the United States? Well, oil, for one. And we'll be talking about it with a man who specializes in this region here in about 20 minutes.
LEMON: Yes. And here's how oil gets in the mix. We want to tell you that, because you mentioned that Georgia doesn't pump much of its own, but it hosts some major pipelines.
Oil crosses Georgia in route from Azerbaijan to ports on the Black Sea, and via Turkey to the Mediterranean. Three of those lines are shut down as a precaution because of the war. The so-called B-T-C line is one of the biggest, but it was shut down last week before the fighting in Georgia, after an apparent attack in Turkey.
And those pipelines bypass Russia on purpose. Many in the West and in Congress fear a Russian energy stranglehold on it's needy neighbors. At the moment, Russia supplies 25 percent of Europe's oil and half its natural gas. That leads to wide speculation about its true motives in pushing into Georgia.
The Czech Republic saw a drop in Russian oil supplies after it agreed to host a radar base for a U.S. missile system.
KEILAR: Leading our Political Ticker, a reversal by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on an offshore oil drilling vote. Republicans are pushing for the vote, and now Pelosi tells CNN's Larry King she would be open to it if it were part of a larger energy package. Until now, Pelosi had been dead set against a vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: We have voted on this over and over again, but the Republicans and the president have resisted. Instead, they have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas. Well, we can do that. We can have a vote on that, but it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public, and not just a hoax on them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, with Congress on its August recess, some Republicans actually staying behind, keeping up their protests on Capitol Hill to get the stalled energy bill moving. Their reaction this morning to Pelosi's comments on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LYNN WESTMORELAND (R), GEORGIA: She's elected by the San Francisco mentality. And I think most of the American people, no matter whether you live in Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Georgia, or wherever, would understand that her constituency is a little left of where this country is.
REP. LEE TERRY (R), NEBRASKA: Well, last night when I heard that the speaker said she was at least open to bringing some drilling bill, my first one was one of lack of sincerity. I don't know if I could trust that we're going to have that happen, but I'll take her at her word.
We need a bill. Why wait?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, on the presidential campaign trail, John McCain in Pennsylvania for the third straight day. A short time ago, he spoke at a town hall meeting in York. And this evening, the Republican candidate flies to New Jersey to raise money for his campaign.
And it's not all R&R for Barack Obama as he vacations in Hawaii. The Democratic candidate actually has a fund-raiser later today in Honolulu, where he spent much of his childhood. You can check out our Political Ticker for all of the latest campaign news. Check it out at CNNPolitics.com. It's your source for all things political.
And Detroit's mayor remains free on bail. A judge has ruled that Kwame Kilpatrick did not violate conditions of his bond by spending time with his sister last weekend. She's listed as a potential witness in an assault case against him. The mayor has been ordered not to have any contact with witnesses, but the judge says that order does not include his sister -- Don.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: A horrific story out of Baltimore to tell you about. A little boy is dead, his mother accused of starving him. Hear who his grandmother believes is really at fault at that case.
KEILAR: And the thorny issue of race in South Africa. Despite what you might think, it goes beyond black and white.
LEMON: Mystery surrounding a missing toddler. Where is Caylee Anthony? The search for the little girl and the truth, it continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. We want to tell you now about a story they've been doing a really good job telling you about on "AC 360." It's a toddler starved to death because he wouldn't say "Amen" at meals. That was the Baltimore Police. That's what they say happened.
They've charged the 2-year-old's mother with first-degree murder, but the grandmother says her daughter is not responsible. She says her daughter was just following orders from a group called One Mind Ministries. Three other members of that group also face murder charges in the child's death. A fifth man is charged but isn't in custody yet.
The remains of a small child were found in April inside a suitcase. DNA tests are still being done.
KEILAR: Caylee Anthony turned 3-years-old three days ago. The party's on hold, though, until somebody finds her.
As CNN's Randi Kaye tells us, her grandparents keep searching and hoping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "Have you seen me?" Three-year- old Caylee Anthony's grandparents hope so. That's why they spent the day towing this billboard around Orlando.
George and Cindy Anthony believe Caylee is alive and that the billboard may spark the phone call they've been praying for.
GEORGE ANTHONY, CAYLEE ANTHONY'S GRANDFATHER: The person or persons that have my granddaughter, I'm hoping something will click in their brain or in their heart that's going to save my daughter. I can't believe that we've kept this girl away from her family. I'm hoping that somebody is just going to realize she belongs with us, not with them.
KAYE: Her grandparents believe without doubt Caylee's mom, Casey Anthony knows who took her; just not where she is.
This is video of Caylee from June 15th; Father's Day. Her grandfather says the last time he saw her was the following day when Caylee left the house with her mom. But Casey did not report the little girl missing until a month later.
Now Casey is in jail charged with child neglect and obstructing a criminal investigation. You see, Casey lied to investigators and won't tell her parents much since all jailhouse visits are recorded. Her parents say she's only trying to protect Caylee.
What do you say to the people who say your daughter has lied, they think that she was up to no good and that she might have harmed your granddaughter?
CINDY ANTHONY, CAYLEE'S GRANDMOTHER: Well, those people don't know my daughter. Anybody that knows Casey knows that she's a loving mother and she would do anything including sitting in a jail cell to protect her daughter.
KAYE: Who might she be protecting Caylee from? Someone who may have threatened to harm Caylee because of something her mom was mixed up in?
Some have suggested that Casey may owe somebody money.
G. ANTHONY: It's a possibility. I don't know. It could be -- maybe she saw something that somebody did and my granddaughter happened to be there. I don't know.
KAYE: Casey's (sic) grandparents are certain she's alive. But investigators aren't so convinced. We've learned investigators they're testing the air found in the car Casey was driving when Caylee disappeared.
It's happening 600 miles from here at the body farm at the University of Tennessee which specializes in body decomposition. They're testing the air found in the trunk of the car, looking for chemical compounds only cadavers.
The Anthonys believe they're on the verge of finding Caylee alive and well. George says he's so convinced she's OK he thought he saw her just today in their neighborhood.
G. ANTHONY: For a second, I'm like, but it wasn't her. But it was just so close. Her little walk, seeing her walk from behind. You know, your emotions are here; your heart's starting to beat. It's tough.
KAYE: The Anthonys believe they are so close, they expect to be able to announce what they are calling good news this week.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Vanishing frogs. Some species on the brink of extinction. Could their disappearance be a warning to humans?
KEILAR: Fighting in Georgia. That small country is an ally in the United States. Why are Russian soldiers fighting there, and why should you care about it?
We'll talk with a man who has keen insight on what the strategic region means for America's security.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
KEILAR: Gas prices may be falling, but they're still at historic highs. And that means windfall profits for OPEC nations. And they're using the money to buy, among other things, pricey U.S. real estate.
Our Lisa Sylvester looked into it for "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Have you been feeling that pain at the pump? While consumers are paying record amounts for gas, oil-producing countries have racked up record profits.
OPEC countries earned nearly as much in the first half of this year as they did all of last year. They are pouring that windfall into Sovereign Wealth Funds, funds owned and managed by foreign governments, and the funds owned by Middle Eastern states are snapping up U.S. assets.
MICHAEL MADUELL, SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND INST.: I think that Sovereign Wealth Funds will keep on growing in size. I mean, right now they are nearly $4 trillion in size, and, you know, we predict them to be maybe $12 trillion years from now.
SYLVESTER: One such fund, the Abu Dubai Investment Council, just bought up a 90 percent stake in New York's Chrysler Building. But U.S. landmarks are only part of the land grab. Also being sold off, interests in U.S. banks.
In 2000, there were 20 Sovereign Wealth Funds managing assets of several hundred billion dollars. Today, 40 funds with assets of more than $2 trillion. And since these funds are controlled by foreign governments, that's raised concerns on Capitol Hill.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: As Sovereign Funds acquire stakes in a wider variety of economic sectors, I believe we need to ensure that our national security is not compromised by our openness. SYLVESTER: And it's not just the oil-rich countries that are buying up U.S. assets. China, with large piles of money, is also buying up pieces of the American economy.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, you know what? It has happened again. A suspect beaten and kicked -- look at this -- while defenseless. Police officers are caught on camera and under investigation.
KEILAR: And there is a new leader on the Olympics medal board. We've got the best of the day's action from Beijing for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar.
LEMON: Hi. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KEILAR: It is 28 after the hour, and here are some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A fiery plane crash has killed three people in Massachusetts. This aircraft was taking a cancer patient and his wife to Boston for treatment. It went down in a grocery store parking lot.
And some rare good news for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. A judge has ruled that he did not violate the terms of his bond in an assault case. The state attorney general had argued otherwise after the mayor had contacted his sister, who's a potential witness in the case.
And assessing the damage and picking through what's left in Georgia. Under heavy international pressure, Russia announced it's halted military operations there. Russian and Georgian leaders reaching what the EU is calling a provisional cease-fire.
LEMON: All right. This war in Georgia, it may be short. And a lot of people don't know exactly what's going on, how does it affect America. Well, the whole world hopes that it's going to be a short war, but the roots are very deep.
And Stephen Larrabee is a European security expert at the Rand Corporation. We have asked him to shed some light on the history here and the prospects, the prospects in peace in all of this.
Thank you, sir, for joining us.
First of all, if you're sitting at home, let's say you're in the middle of the country. You know, you're in Illinois or Iowa or somewhere. Why does this affect you? What should you know and be concerned about, about this story?
STEPHEN LARRABEE, RAND CORPORATION: Well, first of all, Georgia is on the route of a very important pipeline that goes from Azerbaijan, all the way down to Turkey. And disruption of that pipeline through this war would have important implications for energy supplies and so forth. And would affect every American in some way.
And secondly, of course, any kind of conflict in the caucuses which could spread and involve Russia in some sort of a confrontation with the United States is something that has to be worrying to every American.
LEMON: OK. All right.
So listen, we just heard from the Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, just a short time ago. And she said that she had spoken to the president she -- they had been meeting and he is in the know. Met with some foreign ministers of the G-7 and she is hoping for peace and that this will be handled diplomatically.
At the very end of her press conference, the very end, a reporter said, have you considered U.S. involvement in this? Specifically, U.S. troops? She did not answer that.
What is the likelihood of that?
LARRABEE: I think it's extremely low and no one wants to get involved in a shooting war with Russia. I think that's the view of our NATO allies and that's the view of the United States. This is something that will have to be settled diplomatically.
LEMON: We're looking live now at protests that are happening there. People speaking out against this war and talking about the sovereignty of Georgia and the territory there. It is 10:30 p.m. at night. And as you look around, you can see all the live trucks in the background and you can see the people on stage.
So far, this rally has been peaceful, that's according to our Frederik Pleitgen. But, you mentioned a little bit earlier on that pipeline. And President Mikheil of Georgia -- President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke out a moment ago about that oil pipeline.
I want you to take a listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAAKASHVILI: It was a very extensive and very deliberate attack. And the pipeline is still functional. But it's like third day consecutive they are hitting this pipeline. It tells you something about the real purpose of this operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So, the real purpose of this operation, he thinks it's because of this pipeline.
Do you think that is the real purpose of this?
LARRABEE: No, I don't think that's the real purpose. But, I think it's a side -- an important side effect.
The real purpose of this operation was to draw a line in the sand to let the west know that Russia was not going to tolerate anymore western encroachments. And particularly the extension of NATO into the former Soviet Union and to bloody as I said, give Saakashvili a bloody nose, in the hopes that this would humiliate and embarrass him and result in his being deposed.
LEMON: Yes. And he has been very open with the media holding press conferences and saying exactly what's going on. And some may say, well, he really has no other alternative but to get the west involved because his army certainly cannot stand up against the Russian army.
And I just want to tell you, in just a little while, we're expecting the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and also Mikheil Saakashvili to hold a press conference in just a little bit. And we're going to wait for that here.
But, I want to tell you -- I want to ask you this. There has been some speculation that since the U.S. is about to be in a transition when it comes to the election, that this may be some sort of land grab by Russia in order to secure this pipeline and in order to secure that territory while the U.S. is hunkered down in Afghanistan and in Iraq and is on the verge of the changing of the guard at the White House.
LARRABEE: I don't think it is a land grab. I do think the fact that the United States is involved in an election campaign that it's tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan are factors. But, they're not the chief factor.
The chief factor is that the Russians felt that they needed to draw a line in the sand, that this was an area that they consider part of their sphere of influence. And that they have been increasingly worried about the fact that Georgia might join NATO and they have been very irritated by Saakashvili's pro-western course.
LEMON: All right. Stephen Larrabee is with European security expert with Rand Corporation. We thank you for joining us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LARRABEE: Thank you very much.
LEMON: And again, we want to alert our viewers that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, well -- they're about to speak out and as soon as they do, we're going to bring that to you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
But the bottom line -- the pipeline, the oil, the money that you've been paying for gas, that's what's important in this story when it comes to what you should know about what's happening -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Information is an early casualty of any war, but blogs are a new and powerful weapon.
CNN's Josh Levs has found really some breathtaking accounts of the Georgian conflict online. Share those with us, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, some of it is really is amazing.
You know, we're starting to get more and more images from the scene itself. We have one up here on CNN.com, right now. This is one of the many powerful pictures we have.
So we started looking for blogs to get some descriptions out there. Now I want to show you a map so that you see the person's whose blog I'm about to show you, comes from Poti, which is one of the places that was bombed. This is our interactive map right here. You can learn what happened at CNN.com. But there have been bombing there.
Now, this blogger, her name is Samira. And she actually blogged in Russian, but she has been translated by a group called globalvoices online.org. Globalvoices online.org that has found these blogs and translated them. Let's go to a graphic that we have here that shares with you one of the most powerful posts we found on her blog. She writes:
"Around midnight I hear roaring, ran to the window and saw a shaft of fire, explosions at the port and heard a deafening noise. I grabbed the phone. Vika answered, screaming, 'Samira, the port is being bombed.'"
She goes on to say in this next graphic, "There were people in the street, they were crying and everyone looked terribly alarmed. One could see the light of missiles or I don't know what. We took shelter. There were screams all around. Women and children were crying."
Now, I'm going to show you on this scream behind me. She actually talks one point about the fact that she is Russian. She has relatives who are Ossetian and Georgians going way back and has a relative who is Ukrainian. She goes on to list them. And then she says we think of ourselves all as one people.
You can read a lot more of this at globalvoicesonline.org. And we'll keep bringing to you, Brianna, some of the most powerful ones that we find. These descriptions from inside, from the scene of these horrors for so many people.
KEILAR: All right. Josh, thanks so much. Good insight there.
LEMON: Absolutely.
Power sharing talks in Zimbabwe have entered a third day. They weren't expected to go quite this long. So, political analysts are thinking they are still major -- there are still major disagreements. The biggest being the future role of president Robert Mugabe. His party insists he led any unity government that's form with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Now, Tsvangirai, who got the most votes in the presidential election says, no way.
KEILAR: Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, facing even more political pressure today. In the country's tense northwest frontier province, the assembly passes a resolution calling on Musharraf to resign or face impeachment.
This is the second of Pakistan four provincial bodies to do this. These are resolutions that are nonbinding, however. It's the national assembly that really would have -- would be able to make this move for Musharraf's ouster. And Pakistan's information minister says that could happen as early as next week.
South Africa's apartheid governments considered them colored. But post apartheid, the pendulum swung the other way.
LEMON: It's very interesting. For South Africans of Chinese descent, it felt like a lose-lose situation.
CNN's Nkepile Mabuse has more from Johannesburg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Journalist Darryl Accone is ethnically Chinese. He says that's the only connection he has to China. His great grandfather arrived in South Africa in 1911, looking for work, nearly 100 years ago. Four generations later, the Accone family is still here. They consider South Africa, not China, their true home.
During apartheid, Darryl like other Chinese, was classified as colored. And like all non-whites, discriminated against by the then repressive and racist government.
DARRYL ACCONE, SOUTH AFRICAN OF CHINESE DESCENT: The Group's (INAUDIBLE) Act, the Mixed Marriage Act, the Immorality Act and a whole loft of other acts all applied to Chinese and you know, to my family under the old South African apartheid. So, it was extremely restrictive in terms of how you could live your life, where you could live your life and how you could make a living.
MABUSE: With the dawn of democracy in South Africa, affirmative action, policies were enforced, reserving jobs and business opportunities for those who were previously discriminated against.
But, South African Chinese say they were able to benefit from the policies because after apartheid, they were regarded as white. The Chinese Association of South Africa took the matter to court and won. A high court ruled Chinese South Africans are to be classified as black, now able to benefit from the country's economic Empowerment and Employment Equity acts.
But only a fraction of the estimated 200,000 Chinese in the country qualify because the law applies only to those Chinese who were South African citizens before 1994.
(on camera): It is estimated that only 10,000 can benefit from these empowerment laws. But still, some black business people are outraged. Arguing that Chinese South Africans did not contribute to the struggle for democracy and did not suffer as much as they did during apartheid.
(voice-over): The Black Management Forum is one such group. It argues that the ruling may lead to court challenges from other groups, reducing opportunities for black South Africans.
ZAKES JWILI, BLACK MANAGEMENT FORUM: We've had the same complaint from the Portuguese, to say they were not liked very much by the Afrikaanas. As a matter of fact, (INAUDIBLE) themselves (INAUDIBLE) we're saying they suffered a lot under apartheid. And the worry with us was, where does this whole thing stop?
MABUSE: But, for Darryl and others, the court ruling in a victory. They insist that the court challenge was about more than economics, it was about a need to belong.
Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Breaking news out of China coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM. According to the "Associated Press," China's official news agency, Xinhua, is reporting that 24 people have died after a bus overturned in the western part of the country, in the Xinjiang Province in that region. And according to Xinhua this bus was carrying students and parents. It was traveling Tuesday afternoon, they were on a highway in a mountainous region and most of the dead were students who were actually on their way to have health exams that they need in order to get into high schools in China's more developed east.
Xinhua saying that the cause is under investigation, but again the "Associated Press" reporting that China's official news agency saying that 24 people have died in a bus accident in western China. We'll continue to bring you updates as we get them.
LEMON: All right. Look closely at this video. Is this the fabled chupacabra caught on tape? We do know the footage is real. We just don't know exactly what it is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: In our "Planet in Peril" series we learned that frogs and other amphibians are disappearing at a rate never before seen on this planet. A couple of California researchers have just published a report which sounds a dire warning about the future of these creatures.
CNN's Dan Simon reports on this new threat of mass extinction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frogs have been around for hundreds of millions of years. When the dinosaurs went extinct, the frog survived. But now these creatures are at risk. Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians you have never heard of, dying at an alarming rate.
VANCE VREDENBURG, S.F. STATE UNIV. PROFESSOR: We think in just the last couple of decades, 20 years, we have lost hundreds of species. They have gone extinct.
SIMON: Vance Vredenburg is a biologist at San Francisco State University. He and other researchers have identified a common thread, a fungus that has infected habitats all over the world. It causes a fatal skin infection.
VREDENBURG: What's really alarming is when we lose species in the world's most protected areas, so areas like national parks and the wilderness areas, places that we have set aside as protected areas.
SIMON (on camera): This frog is representative of the problem facing amphibians. This is the Southern Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog. It is native to California. A decade ago there were tens of thousands of these frogs, but now there are thought to be only a few hundred left.
(voice-over): Scientists also believe global warming may be responsible for the loss of amphibians. The theory -- the animals become more susceptible to the fungus with a change in temperature. Expanding cities and suburbs and their destruction of habitats also a factor in the shrinking populations. Put it all together, it means that 2,000 amphibian species, a third of them, are threatened with extinction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One male and two females.
SIMON: These three yellow legged frogs are the only known survivors of what was a flourishing population in one California lake. Plans are underway to use them for breeding and release their offspring back into the wild.
So why should anyone really care about this? Well, amphibians are central in the ecosystems they inhabit. For one thing, they help keep insect numbers in check.
(on camera): So insect populations would just balloon if you take amphibians out of the equation?
VREDENBURG: Exactly. We better get used to a lot of mosquitoes. And what does a lot of mosquitoes mean? Potentially big outbreaks of malaria and other diseases like that. So there could be compounding factors that we can't even imagine right now.
SIMON (voice-over): Because amphibians have survived when many other species have perished, scientists wonder if their die off may serve as a warning to us. In other words, is there a disease or an environmental change that could threaten humans? Scientists hope that by studying these creatures they may be able to provide some answers.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very interesting. Kind of a mystery there.
And this one is as well. Is this a really ugly dog -- I don't think any dogs are ugly -- or is it evidence that an urban legend is real? Police in southeast Texas believe this could be a mysterious creature called a chupacabra. The video was taken by the DeWitt County sheriff's patrol dash cam. Some say it's the evidence of a fabled beast, also known as the goat sucker, a vampire like creature terrorizing livestock in one south Texas town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been patrolling these back roads for a long time and I have never run across anything like this until that day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. Well, the chupacabra legend dates back to the 1990s. It was revived last year when a rancher found an odd carcass. DNA tests showed it was just a coyote.
KEILAR: So far so good for Michael Phelps, the American swimming a blue streak and keeping his gold streak alive. Team USA bringing it home in Beijing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Wow. I love that music.
With most of the oil pipelines in Georgia shut down, you would think oil prices would be soaring today, but that is certainly not the case. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix." She joins us now from New York.
OK, so why not, Poppy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Well Don, why do you love that music so much?
LEMON: It's just like -- it's very urgent and to the point and it gets you going. It makes you look at the TV.
What else do you want to know? I can keep going on and on and on.
HARLOW: We bring you important news here when it comes to energy.
LEMON: It's got a good beat, you can dance to it.
HARLOW: There you go.
LEMON: Did you hear what I said?
HARLOW: What? No.
LEMON: It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
HARLOW: Yes, I would like to see you dance to it.
All right. All right. Let's go to the news.
The good news for you out there, oil fell today down $1.44 to just above $113 a barrel. What's going on between Georgia and Russia, you would expect this all to play out very differently. There is a major conflict going on. As you all know, it's a very oil sensitive region, but oil prices are well below what we saw just a month ago. Gas prices, meantime, way down, we're at $3.80 a gallon, falling for the 26th straight day despite heavy fighting in the region.
You see those pipelines right there. These are key pipelines. More than a million barrels of oil travels through the eastern European country every single day. Now part of the reason that prices are holding steady may be because the pipelines were shut down by BP just as a precaution. So far, Don, there are no reports of any damage to these pipelines and that's really central here.
LEMON: OK. So then why were oil prices falling so much prior to this conflict, Poppy?
HARLOW: Yes, we're down more than $30 from just July 11th when we saw that record high for oil.
There's a lot of reasons factoring into this. First, market psychology has reversed, a stronger U.S. dollar, that's helping ease prices, demand is falling in this country and has fallen in other countries like China. Also keep in mind here, Don, there are reports out that demand in China fell sharply in the month of July. Part of that reason may be the Olympic games, believe it or not. The government shut down some of the country's factories and ordered a million cars off the road ahead of the games. It's a big question though, Don, what will happen to demand in China once the games end? And a lot of people say that demand will go back to where it was before.
LEMON: All right. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow.
Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
KEILAR: And I love this music. This is the good stuff. Red, white --
LEMON: It's got a good beat and you can win medals to it, right?
KEILAR: You can medals to it.
Red, white, blue and gold. Team USA looking pretty impressive in Beijing. Our Larry Smith wrapping up the day's Olympic action starting in the pool. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: No one will deny Michael Phelps his rightful place atop the swimming world, but he's got a pretty nice team around him as well. The U.S. swimmers own 15 of the U.S.'s game leading 21 medals so far with Phelps as the star. Third day in a row that he has turned in a gold medal world record performance, this time in the 200 meter freestyle when he took an early lead and never looked back beating the competition by nearly 2 seconds. Phelps returned to the pool Wednesday morning, Beijing time, to go for gold in the 200 meter butterfly and the four by 200 meter freestyle relay.
Phelps isn't the only one breaking records, Aaron Peirsol set a new world mark in the men's 100 meter backstroke, eclipsing the record he set last month. He defends his title won in Greece, just as Natalie Coughlin did.
The 2004 gold medalist gets a repeat victory in the women's 100 meter backstroke. It is Coughlin's third career gold and eighth medal in her Olympic career.
When Morgan Hamm joined twin brother and 2004 all around gold medalist Paul Hamm on the injured list, the medal chances for the U.S. men's gymnastics team seemed remote. Well think again. USA got it done, challenging eventual champion China for gold before taking the bronze, an unexpected but very welcome result for the U.S. gymnasts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN SPRING, TEAM USA GYMNAST: I'll say it again, it's pretty amazing just to be up here right now with something hanging around my neck. I never doubted it, but I didn't expect it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN HORTON, TEAM USA GYMNAST: I think I had over 50 text messages and like 80 something voice-mails. I don't even know 80 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Meanwhile, 2-0 for the USA men's hoops team. -- 97-76 the final over Angola. Dwyane Wade led the team in scoring again with 19 points. The U.S. faces Greece on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS PAUL, TEAM USA MEN'S BASKETBALL GUARD: If you look at this team, we have lost, what, one game in the past two years. But -- three years including this year and Greece is the team that did that. So you're going to see a team that comes out very hungry and that's what this whole experience is about, it's about redemption.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: In tennis Serena and Venus Williams both were among the winners as they move on in their tournaments.
And in softball, a no-hitter turned in by Jennie Finch and Monica Abbott as the U.S. opened with an 11-0 win over Venezuela.
Larry Smith, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And you know what, Brianna? There was a late medal update after Larry filed that report.
KEILAR: Yes, that's right. You can check this out, Team USA moving from No. 2 into the top spot today.
LEMON: Yay!
KEILAR: America's athletes -- they have racked up a total of 22 medals so far. Host China just behind, though, with 20. And they have actually snagged a bunch more gold.
LEMON: Yes, absolutely. South Korea's next with 12 medals and the Aussies are fourth with 10. Three countries have scored nine medals.
KEILAR: A twitch of the nose, a wave of the wand, poof, you're invisible. Yes, scientists say what you see in the movies is not as farfetched as you might think.
LEMON: An invisible cloak, is that what you're talking about?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Now you see me, now you don't. The stuff of "Star Trek" and "Harry Potter" -- well it could one day be a reality because scientists say they're a step closer to developing materials that can make objects and people even invisible. They have reportedly been able to cloak objects that are three dimensional, not just two dimensional. And their are findings are in this week's journals: "Nature" and "Science."
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
