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War or Peace in Georgia?; Energy Stalemate Continues

Aired August 12, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A plan for peace with few signs of anything but war in the devastated Republic of Georgia.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The diplomatic blitz hits Moscow, the president of Russia saying the fight has served its purpose, but ending it comes with conditions.

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

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon over at the international desk at our world headquarters in Atlanta. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

You know what Russia is saying, that Georgia has suffered enough, and that may not be the only point on which those nations agree. We're going to tell you more about that. Five days into this war over two breakaway regions of Georgia, much of that nation is now devastated. And the president of Russia today called a halt to Russian attacks, claiming -- quote -- "The aggressor," meaning Georgia, "has been punished."

But Georgians say the bombing and shelling, well, that kept on. A short time ago -- just a short time later, I should say, the president of France representing the European Union arrived in Moscow. And the two leaders announced a six-point plan to end the fighting, return Russian and Georgian troops to their prewar positions, and refer the disputed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to international review.

It is not entirely clear what all of that means. And we're going to check that out. Russia also wants the Georgian president to step down. But at a huge daylong rally in Tbilisi, thousands of Georgians are showing up, and they are there to show their support.

Of course, our Frederik Pleitgen has been on the ground in the capital. And he joins us now with the very latest of what is going one.

Tell us about that rally and the latest developments, Frederik.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm in the middle of a very large demonstration in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Now, the organizers of this demonstration say thousands of people have come. And you can see the Georgian flags right over there, many Georgian flags being waved here. People have been playing the national anthem of the country of Georgia, waving these flags and also holding speeches.

Now, the people here say this is a demonstration against Russia, who they feel is the aggressor in the armed conflict that's been going on. The Russians, of course, have a very different view of that. They say it was the Georgians who attacked Russians in South Ossetia first and that the Russians were merely responding.

In any way, the people that are here say most of them have heard the news that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called an end to the operations of Russians in Georgia. Many of them say they find that perhaps too good to be true, but they do say that believe that is a good sign.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tbilisi, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Sovereignty and territorial integrity, two terms that you will hear a lot of in the Russian-Georgian dispute, since it's all about two parts of Russia that lean toward Russia and want to be independent.

The peace plan that we talked about tiptoes around this central issue. And at his news conference today in Moscow, Russia's president did the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMITRY MEDVEDEV, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Now, with regard to territorial integrity -- integrity -- that is one concept. And if sovereignty is based on the will of the people and on the constitution, then territorial integrity, as a rule, can be demonstrated by the actual facts on the ground.

And despite the fact that, on paper, it may look fine, life is much more complicated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Moscow says it sent troops into the breakaway regions to protect civilians from a military crackdown by Georgia.

Well, Georgia doesn't produce a whole lot of oil, but a lot of it crosses Georgian territory on its long and winding route from east to west.

So, are the oil marketing panicking over the war?

CNN's Ali Velshi is tracking the trading in New York.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Let me explain to you on this map what's going on here.

Georgia, which you can see in the green, is between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Now, there's not much oil, as you said, in Georgia, but there is in the Caspian Sea and in those countries around it, Russia, Iran, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan. So, that oil goes to Baku in Azerbaijan, that little star on the end of the Caspian Sea.

And it goes through four pipelines to different places. The top one goes to Russia into the Black Sea. The red line goes to a Georgian port on the Black Sea and the green line goes down to Turkey, where that oil to the Middle East and to European countries.

British Petroleum, BP, leads a consortium of Western companies that run three of those pipelines. And they have shut them all down now. Two of them were shut down this morning. One of them, this big green one which through Azerbaijan, through Georgia into Turkey and out to the Middle East, that actually, Brianna, got shut down last week because Kurdish rebels had attacked that pipeline. It had caught fire and was shut down.

So, most of the oil that goes through Georgia wasn't getting through anyway. BP has said that none of the pipelines that it manages in that part of the world have been attacked or are damaged, other than that situation in Turkey, which happened last week.

They say they are shutting down the pipelines out of caution because of the spreading that Fred was just referring to. They are worried about it. Now, at the moment, it's just a shutdown of oil. Oil is not running through it. If there were to be damage to these pipelines, which, by the way, are mostly underground, that would be a problem for the world, because it's about a million barrels of oil a day. That would affect our consumption of oil.

I should tell you the world produces about 87 million barrels oil a day and we use about 85 million barrels of oil a day. So, there's less than two million barrel spread, which is why even though it's just about a million barrels a day, it becomes a big deal in this environment.

I'm watching those oil prices. They're not going higher right now. We will keep a close eye on it -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, thanks for that, Ali.

Well, imagine if your family was caught in that war zone. A Georgian woman living in the United States shares her emotional story of trying to track down her relatives ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: An Angel flight from Long Island to Boston ended in tragedy today, crashing in a grocery store parking lot in Easton, Massachusetts.

All three on board were killed, including a cancer patient and his wife heading for treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Names of the victims have not been released. That crash happened in an area where people rarely park, so no cars were hit.

Angel Flights provide free transportation for patients who need to travel for life-saving medical treatment. Going to tell you now about a toddler starved to death because he wouldn't say amen at mealtime? That's the question. That's what Baltimore police say happened. They have 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 1 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. And DNA tests are still being done.

KEILAR: Stunning twists in the case of a mystery dad jailed in Boston for allegedly kidnapping his own daughter.

Los Angeles investigators say the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller is really a German named Christian Gerhartsreiter. And they say he is the same man they call a person of interest in the disappearance of a California couple in 1985.

At the time, he was living in that couple's guest cottage and using the name Christopher Chichester. His lawyer says his client wanted to be an actor and that was his stage name. Well, nine years after that couple vanished, bones were found under their home. Authorities are now trying to identify them.

Rockefeller's lawyer says his clients remember bits and pieces of his life back then and has told him the missing couple simply moved on one day.

DNA evidence has helped free a man in prison nearly 18 years on a child tape conviction. An Ohio judge ordered Robert McClendon's release yesterday. An independent lab using technology determined McClendon's DNA profiles did not match evidence from the crime scene. McClendon's daughter says the family never gave up hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE MILLER, DAUGHTER: It's been a battle and a struggle, I can say, the whole time he's been gone. But we have always had faith and believed in his innocence and knew that this day would come. We just had no idea it would take this long. And he's been so strong throughout the whole time. And I'm very thankful for that DNA evidence, and then again, like I said, the Innocence Project, for helping them bring all this to light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In jail for 18 years, amazing. And a lawyer with the Ohio Innocence Project believes that prosecutors will formally drop charges against McClendon within the next two weeks.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

KEILAR: The energy crunch. While Republican lawmakers keep up their push for more offshore oil drilling, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi softens her stance a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Oprah's endorsement impact. She threw her weight behind Barack Obama. Find out her real impact, though, on the polls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: In the battle for the Oval Office, Republican John McCain is campaigning for a third straight day in Pennsylvania. And a short time ago, he held a town hall meeting in York. This evening, McCain 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 has a fund-raiser later today in Honolulu, where he spent much of his childhood.

LEMON: All right, well, she is one of the most powerful women in the world. There is no doubt about that. But would a candidate running for president -- this is a question -- would a candidate running for president want her on his or her corner?

CNN's Jason Carroll spoke to two people who think they have the answer to that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "OPRAH": OK. It's book club day here.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She endorses a book, it becomes a best seller. She mentions one of her favorite products, stores soon sell out. Oprah, it seems, has the Midas touch. But does it apply to voters? After Oprah endorsed Senator Barack Obama, two grad students decided to find out.

TIM MOORE, ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Statistically we found an effect that it's very unlikely to be random.

CARROLL: Tim Moore and Craig Garthwaite of the University of Maryland used a formula that looked at county by county subscriptions to Oprah's magazine "O" and Oprah's book club. They compared the data with votes cast for Obama. A lot of equations later their math showed Oprah was responsible for 1,015,559 votes for Obama. Though they also admit it could be much more or much less.

BETH FRERKING, POLITICO.COM: We've never had a study an academic study that looked at the effect and the impact of celebrity endorsement.

CARROLL: Others are less impressed.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: 1,015,559 votes she brought to Barack Obama. Well, that's a little absurd. I mean, how can you get specific to that degree.

CARROLL: Other analysts say maybe some of the O subscribers would have voted for Obama anyway, whatever Oprah said.

MOORE: You're right. We don't absolutely know. But as you can see in the paper, we've made some pretty good efforts to try and see if there's something else. And so far we haven't found it.

CARROLL: The consensus among political commentators is that celebrity endorsements can get a candidate some attention but don't necessarily translate into votes. And Obama, they say, may have gotten his biggest boost not from Oprah, but from winning the Iowa caucus, proving you could win over whites as well as blacks.

(on camera): We reached out to the Obama campaign. And a spokesman said: "We are proud to have the support of such an important and dynamic individual. She was able to bring in thousands of people who might not have normally been interested in politics."

As for Oprah, we are told she is on hiatus and not available for comment.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Jason.

And one thing that we want to note here, Oprah's show ratings did slip a bit after her endorsement of Obama, but, to be fair, her numbers have been down since 2006.

KEILAR: Thousand of people rallying while part of their country is under attack. What is life like right now for the people in the Republic of Georgia? A woman who calls Georgia home will join us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, there is another gain at the gas pump for motorists. Gas prices dropped another cent overnight. The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular is now just under $3.80 a gallon. The dip is believed to be fueled in part by lower demand.

Crude oil prices are also lower, hovering just above $113 a barrel. That is in trading today.

The debate over offshore oil drilling heating up in Washington today. GOP lawmakers gathered to protest over the stalled energy bill and to press for a vote on the issue. This follows a reversal by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on offshore drilling.

Last night, she told CNN's Larry king she would be open to a vote for it if it's part of a larger energy package.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: 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.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Would you vote yes on a package that includes drilling?

PELOSI: I would not. It depends how the drilling is put forth. But I don't -- that is not excluded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Pelosi says any measure needs to include plans for renewable energy resources and releasing oil from the nation's strategic reserve to drive down gas prices.

All right, well, this is the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll -- 69 percent of respondents say they're in favor of drilling, in favor of drilling for oil in U.S. coastal waters. They're split on whether offshore drilling would bring gas prices down any time soon -- 51 percent say yes -- 49 percent say no.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

KEILAR: Soldiers in the streets, the sounds of exploding bombs. How are people in the Republic of Georgia coping?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Twenty-six after the hour, here are some of the stories that we're working on for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A fiery plane crash has killed three people in Massachusetts. This aircraft was actually taking a cancer patient and his wife to Boston for treatment. It went down in a grocery store parking lot.

Some rare good news for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. A judge has ruled that Kilpatrick did not violate the terms of his bond in an assault case. The state attorney had argued otherwise after the mayor had contacted his sister, who is a potential witness in the case.

And assessing the damage and picking through what is left in Georgia. Under heavy international pressure, Russia announced it's halted military operations there. Russian and Georgian leaders reaching what the E.U. is calling a provisional cease-fire.

LEMON: All right, we're going to take you now to that developing story that we have been talking about in Georgia.

And we want to get you live pictures now of that rally that's happening. This is Tbilisi. We also want to tell you that Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived at this rally. We're waiting also for Mikhail Saakashvili to arrive. When they speak, we will bring that to you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Meantime, we have some reporting to tell you about. And it is from Gori.

Our Matthew Chance took a tour of that devastated town. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, it is incredibly tense still here in Georgia. Even though Moscow has called an end to military operations against Georgia, there are still many places in this country that are extremely dangerous to get to.

One of those towns is Gori, a short distance from the main combat zone in South Ossetia. Well, we traveled there earlier today and found a town that was still showing the scars of recent attacks.

We're on the main road driving into Gori, and there's virtually nobody around. Yesterday, this road was full of thousands of Georgian forces moving out of the city. And now you can see they have left some of their vehicles abandoned on the side of the road in the panic of withdrawing from what they believed was a Russian advance.

This looks like it's been hit by an airstrike. It's an armored personnel carrier. You can see it's been totally, totally gutted by the strike. It must have been absolute carnage.

Yesterday, an airplane came and bombed it? It was a Russian airplane.

Well, this is the main square in Gori. You can see there's a big statue of Stalin, who was born here. It's also the main gathering point of a town which has come under frequent attack over the course of the past week or so, since these hostilities with Russia broke out.

You can see just over here, only this morning, there was an airstrike on Gori, even after the thousands of Georgian troops that were garrisoned here had left. It seems to be the crater from some kind of rocket that was fired here. In fact, there are craters all over this square from the airstrikes, caused quite a lot of damage to the surrounding buildings, as you can see.

So, this is a fire that's been started, apparently, by that rocket that landed here earlier on this morning -- people in there trying to fight the flames in their homes, but, of course, the city is abandoned, there's no fire brigade here anymore, so they're having to do it themselves. Climbing up there, trying to save whatever their belongings they can. To see the rocket? This is it, this is part of the bomb? It's Russian letters.

So you're saying it was definitely a Russian bomb that was dropped? I mean it was her house that was hit by this incendiary bomb or whatever it was. She told me that she doesn't really know what is going to happen to her now. But clearly, she's not the only one who's in an incredibly desperate position as a result of this bitter conflict. Even after the cease-fire was declared, there were still reports of sporadic clashes between Russian and Georgian forces inside the town and around its immediate outskirts. Don?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that's Matthew Chance touring Gori just a short time ago. We're going to really bring this very close to home for you. I want you to pay attention, whatever you're doing, to this next interview. You may not realize, but the city of Atlanta right here where we're broadcasting from has a sizable community of Georgians, by which I mean people from the republic of Georgia. For 15 years, my next guest was one of those ex pats. Tamuna Liluashvili came here as an exchange student in 1992 and stayed until 2007. She happened to be back for a visit when the war broke out. I think it was just before the war broke out that you were back for a visit. And when you were there -- by the way, thank you very much for joining us.

: Thank you for having me.

LEMON: When you were there it did not look like the pictures that you were looking at?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not at all. I just have a hard time believing that I'm watching these events take place in my home country where I was about a week ago. It's just unbelievable and heart breaking to see that something like this is happening.

LEMON: As we're looking, are these pictures on the right live as we look at this? This is the live protest that's happening in Tbilisi, and you're looking at Saakashvili, President Mikhal Saakashvili of Georgia arriving, as well as Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president arriving as well. And when they begin to speak, you guys let me know when you want to go to it, but I want to continue this interview. So I was talking to you about, a little bit before this, you said there was no indication when you were there that this unrest would happen and be as big as it is?

TAMUNA LILUASHVILI, FORMER EXPATRIATE: Absolutely. I mean there were some complaints and some difficulties in the conflict area of Ossetia, but never would I have ever thought that this could escalate to such tremendous and devastating battle.

LEMON: And we said there's a very sizable community of Georgians here. When you guys see this, I imagine you're watching this together and you're calling and talking --

LILUASHVILI: We are watching every minute, every second, we're talking to our friends and families via telephones and e-mail and messages.

LEMON: If you can describe to the viewers and I don't know if you can really put into words, watching the place where you lived, where you grew up, just be destroyed and not being able to get in touch with loved ones who are in the middle of all of this.

LILUASHVILI: Luckily, we have all been able to touch base with our families. It's just unbelievable to sit here and watch all these events take place in Georgia in the 21st century when the democracy is booming and Georgia was doing so well, it has come such a long ways to be where it was a few days ago. And now to watch these events take place, it's really devastating and I just hope that the international community will continue the support and help and do even more to make sure that this conflict is peacefully resolved as soon as possible.

LEMON: I have to ask you this, and I have to ask Americans when we sit here, we're so far away, many of us are honestly far removed from this. Why should we be concerned about this and why should we be paying attention to it?

LILUASHVILI: America is the leader of the free world. This is a human rights are violated in Georgia. This is a battle against the democracy, so certainly the United States, the entire world should take action and pay real close attention to events going on in Georgia and I hope that their support will continue and even strengthen in these next few days.

LEMON: All right, I could talk to you all day, but unfortunately we have a very short time here. If you can just tell me really quickly, I see the cross, are you relying on your faith?

LILUASHVILI: I am certainly relying on my faith. I am a Christian orthodox and I hope God is watching and is protecting us all, the entire country of Georgia.

LEMON: Tamuna Liluashvili, we thank you very much for joining us and we wish your family well, we know it's a difficult time for you.

LILUASHVILI: Thank you.

LEMON: Brianna?

KEILAR: Information is an early casualty of any war but blogs are really a new and powerful weapon. And CNN's Josh Levs keeping an eye on them. You found some really breathtaking accounts, actually, you know what Josh, stand by for just a moment, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili speaking at this rally in Tbilisi, let's listen.

PRES. SAAKASHVILI, GEORGIA: -- it Cheyna, Chechnya, instead of this, here we are thousands of people, staying, again this world power. And here we are staying seeking leader of Europe countries, they're staying with us here. This is one of the biggest moments of our country. Here is we have to guess that leaders of European countries to show everybody that the freedom of Poland, freedom of Ukraine, freedom of European countries, the defense on Tbilisi, Georgia today, John McCain said that Americans are supporting Georgia, McCain said we are Georgians today, everybody are Georgians today. I want to let you know that we are running negotiations with President Sarkozy. We're running negotiations to stop this violence. Meanwhile, our guests are going to stay here, not only just leaders of European countries but leaders of parliaments from European countries as well. Despite the fact that it was very dangerous to be here in Georgia and Tbilisi now in this moment, I just want to appreciate decision of your foreign minister because he said I'm going to stay. In spite of the dangerous because I wanted to say that here in this region, this hospital, in this country, our European Union is staying here and I want to thank you for this.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, they're welcoming support from the international community including from the European Union. The president and rotating presidency of the European Union France holding that at this point, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy heading to Georgia may have just arrived in Georgia with an agreement, sort of an immediate peace agreement that he brokered with Russia. But Saakashvili saying that Georgia has to show everyone that freedom of Poland, the Ukraine and other European countries depends on Georgia today. Also quoting words from John McCain expressing support from the U.S. for Georgia. So let's get back to talking about what some of the people there on the ground are saying about what they're witnessing, what's going on, we're getting a lot of this information Josh levs from blogs right, and you're monitoring some of them?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am, you know actually this works out really well, this is a really interesting counter point. You can see the images there of all these people celebrating and praising and waving the flags and really happy and obviously it's a huge celebration. But at the same time they have been through in many cases very, very difficult circumstances in recent days. We haven't up until now gotten to hear a lot of that. We're going to hear some of it right now because of a blog I'm going to show you. Someone who has been living through hell in a way. First of all, these are some of the pictures we have up at cnn.com right now of what some people have been through in recent days in Georgia and how difficult it's been. Now I'm going to switch over to this website right here, GlobalVoices online.org, they have compiled and translated from Georgian and from Russian different blog postings. I'm going to go to a graphic now, this brings you a quote from a blogger named Meriem and here is what she says. "At 6 a.m., she names someone named Marina who called, scared to death: there was an explosion, and their windows were nearly smashed. Turned out the radars that serve the international airport were being bombed. Just a week ago we were chatting about sweet trifles - where they do French manicure better, where I put that swimsuit... Now we are breaking our heads, trying to figure out how to get to the (INAUDIBLE) with kids and avoid being shot at. Where a safer place to take shelter is? Who said what at the UN Security Council?"

She ends with this, "There was shock on the first day, then it started feeling as if we're living like this for 100 years." So this is the counterpoint, yes you have people celebrating right now, but you also have these people who have been in these very difficult circumstances who are describing it online and who obviously want people out there to know their stories. Let's close in on this one more time, if you want to see more translated blogs from the scene, it's GlobalVoicesOnline.org. They've got a lot of that. And while you're there, visit our page at cnn.com, we can show you some of the experiences people have been going through, destroyed homes, destroyed livelihoods, the less happy side of the celebrations that you're seeing there in that video. Brianna?

KEILAR: Josh, thanks for that. And we are back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's take it to the water, shall we? Let's go on a ride with our very own Anderson Cooper for some sharp tagging off the South African coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, AC 360 ANCHOR (voice-over): Early each morning, Allison Cox, a marine biologist heads to the seas around Cape Town, hoping to uncover some of the mystery surrounding great white sharks, the most feared predators of the sea.

There's still a lot about sharks, so much we don't know right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is so much we don't know and every day I spend out here I learn something new and that really keeps it interesting.

COOPER: She heads to a small island home to thousands of seals, the seals attract great white sharks. Early in the morning it's the riskiest time for the seals. It's light enough for the sharks to be able to see the shadow of the seals moving, but it's still dark so the seals can't actually see the sharks.

Allison turns off the motor and within minutes we witness a remarkable spectacle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's seals coming in over there.

COOPER: Great whites leaping from the sea to capture the panicked seals. The water turns red with blood. Allison records each kill noting the time, the location and as much about the shark as she can observe. Birds quickly move in eating what the sharks leave behind. While a shark circles our boat, a seal approaches, the shark makes its move, but the seal escapes and uses the boat as protection, hiding in its shadow to confuse the shark.

(On camera): There's a nine-foot shark circling the boat and for some reason I'm the only one who seems concerned. This seal is lucky, the shark passes underneath the boat several times and then leaves. Great whites are rarely seen for very long. That's why so little is known about them and why they're so feared. Allison hopes to change people's understanding of sharks. She's tagging great whites with darts attached to transmitters. They can then track the shark's movements around these waters for months.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just aim it at the base of the dorsal fin and --

COOPER: She uses a tuna head as bait in order to get sharks to come close to the boat. There are three sharks right now competing for this bait but before Allison and her team can tag the shark, they have to get a clear photograph of its dorsal fin, that way they can identify it in the future. But to get a picture of the dorsal fin, the shark has to actually come out of the water. It's a stunning sight to see, these massive, muscular great whites, lunging out of the water for the bait. Finally after nearly a dozen sharks, they get a clear photo. Now they need to lure the shark into exactly the right position so the transmitter can be shot into the base of the dorsal fin where it won't do any permanent damage. Luckily the shark lines up perfectly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go, keep it there, keep it there. Tagged. There we go. Whooo!

COOPER: Working for an organization called Save our Seas, Allison has tagged more than 70 great whites in the last five years and identified more than 300 individuals. In terms of today, what you saw out there today, how was today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was incredible. It was really incredible.

COOPER: Today was a good day?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, it was a brilliant day.

COOPER: She's still a long way from uncovering much of the mysteries surrounding great whites, how they mate, where they give birth. But she hopes to learn as much as she can and show people that great whites are more than just killing machines, they're a unique species, vital to the ocean's ecosystem, in need of understanding and protection. Anderson Cooper, CNN, Cape Town.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: An actor in a hit film now facing attempted murder charges for allegedly stabbing his ex.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A film and TV actor is under arrest in connection with the stabbing attack on his ex-girlfriend. Shelley Malil is probably best known for his roles in the 40-year-old Virgin and also those Budweiser, those "What's-up" ads. Not to make light of this, just really trying to put a face on this person for you. But he has been booked near San Diego for investigation of attempted murder, mayhem and burglary. And at last report the victim was in critical condition but was expected to survive.

LEMON: Now to another person who is in legal hot water, Detroit's mayor remains free on bail. A judge has ruled that Kwame Kilpatrick did not violate conditions of his bound by spending time with his sister last weekend. She is listed as a potential witness in an assault case against him. The mayor has been ordered not to have any contact with witnesses. The judge says the order does not include the sister.

There's little doubt Congressman Ted Stevens will be tried next month on corruption charges. The question is where? The lawyers with the Justice Department argue it should be Washington, D.C., because that's where they say the crimes were committed. But Stevens' attorneys want the trial moved to Alaska because most of the witnesses there. Stevens is accused of failing to report thousands of dollars of work done to his Alaska home and paid for by an oil services company. He's pleaded not guilty.

KEILAR: Go ahead, world, just you try to beat him! Michael Phelps, making history in the pool in Beijing.

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KEILAR: The man who killed John Lennon is not getting out of jail anytime soon. Mark David Chapman serving 20 years to life, and today for the fifth time, members of the New York State parole board denied him parole. They said it was out of concern for the public safety and welfare. The next time Chapman can apply for parole is August 2010.

LEMON: I want to give you a little Beijing update. Half a world away in Beijing, Olympians are resting up for another day of competition. Let's see how things went today on the medal board. Hey, check it out, team USA moving from number two into the top spot. America's athletes have racked up a total of 22 medals so far. Host China is just behind though with 20. And they've actually snagged a bunch more golds. South Korea is next with 12 medals and the Aussies are in fourth place with 10 medals. Three countries have scored nine medals.

Ok, so accounting for almost half of America's gold medal rush, all by himself, this guy, Michael Phelps. The swimmer, took his third race and third world record of the games, zooming to a win in the 200- meter freestyle today. So far, so good though, in his hunt for a record eight Beijing golds. Good luck to him.

KEILAR: Back to driver's ed, police in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, say this driver apparently hit the gas instead of the brake while trying to park outside this 7-Eleven. And the entire car ended up inside of the store instead. Now, everyone in the store thankfully got out of the way. The driver and her passenger are ok but the store, as you can see, a total mess, with damages estimated actually at a minimum of $25,000.

Now, you see me. Now, you don't see me. But now you don't see me. 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 actually make objects and people invisible. They have reportedly been able to cloak objects that are three-dimensional and not just those that are two dimensional. And their findings are in this week's journals of "Nature" and "Science." Where did Don Lemon go? Maybe they cloaked him. Come back, come back, my friend. Not yet, we haven't mastered the technology here at CNN.

LEMON: I wasn't going to do it, but I did it, oh, well.

Susan Lisovicz, final look at the trading day.

KEILAR: Look at what we do to you.

SUSAN LISOVICZ: If we are going to stay here, you have to stay here Don.

LEMON: Do you remember that series "The Invisible Man", what was that '70s or '80s when it was on? We were just children. LISOVICZ: I was not even born yet. Listen, there's still time to talk about these grapes. It's a new variety of premium grapes, according to the AP, with a single bunch going for as much as $900 or $26 per grape. There they are! A Japanese hotel manager paid that amount, they are called ruby roman grapes. They are tomato-colored and they are smaller than a ping-pong ball. And fruit is considered a luxury in Japan anyway as I would say.

Stock prices got cheaper today, and so did oil. Oil dropped nearly $1.50 today. Trading around $113 a barrel, despite the continuing tensions between Georgia and Russia. Financials weighed on stocks today. And that's why we have triple-digit losses. I'll see you guys tomorrow.

KEILAR: I thought $3 or $4 a bunch of grapes or a pound of grapes was too much. Good lord. Thank you, Susan.

LEMON: Now, it's time to turn it over to "The Situation Room" and --

KEILAR: Suzanne Malveaux, who is sitting in for Wolf Blitzer.