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Russian Troops Still Advancing After Cease-fire; U.S. Women's Gymnastic Team Earn Silver

Aired August 13, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the run down.

Russian troops moving deeper into Georgia this morning despite a cease-fire. President Bush in the Rose Garden later this morning with remarks.

COLLINS: An Arkansas town under 24-hour curfew. Anybody on the streets stopped and questioned. Is it legal?

HARRIS: A one man gold rush. Michael Phelps has more gold medals than any athlete in Olympic history today, Wednesday, August 13th. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: After days of war and hours of peace, growing fears. A fragile cease-fire between Russia and Georgia may be more fragile than ever. The president of the former Soviet Republic says Russian troops have ignored the truce and continue to push beyond South Ossetia and Abhkazia. Those are the disputed regions at the center of this conflict. They wanted to split from Georgia and were closely aligned with Russia.

The president of France who helped brokered the cease-fire says the European Union can send peacekeepers to Georgia but only if both sides agree. Part of the mission would focus on humanitarian aid, of course, the first shipments are due tomorrow. There have been no firm numbers on civilian casualties or refugees. Now to the Georgia capital city of Tbilisi and CNN's Frederik Pleitgen for the very latest there.

Frederik, the last time we spoke with you, you said the situation was calm but very, very tense.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Heidi. And that's exactly the way it remains.

Of course, we did have those reports, we did know that there are Russian armored personnel carriers and troop personnel carriers moving toward this city, towards the capital city of Georgia, towards Tbilisi. Those have now have turned off that main road and are no longer moving towards Tbilisi. Of course, no one knows what those vehicles are going to be doing. The Georgian president was on CNN and he said he believes that the Russian forces aim is to take over this entire country.

Let's listen in to what he had to say here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, GEORGIA: All the implications are that the Russians are encroaching from the capital. They're making the circle and they're brushing because their plan was always to take over the whole Georgia. Their plan was to help establish their own government in Tbilisi and their plan was to kill our democracy. And they're in the process of cold-blooded murder and the world seems to just be watching and not doing anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, the Russians of course are denying that those allegations are true. They say their troops only pushed forward to "demilitarize" an area they felt threatened by the Georgian Army which, of course, has already long abandoned that area. Now, we're getting further reports from the Georgian government. They are saying that they're hearing reports of looting in the town of Gori, that of course, further up the road toward Southern Ossetia, towards that breakaway province. A very important town. The chief national security person here in Georgia telling me he has heard reports that "irregular fighters" in that area have been looting that town and that there is violence going on in that town of Gori. Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy oh, boy. We will certainly keep our eye on this. Frederik Pleitgen coming to us from the capital city of Tbilisi. Somebody else that we're going to keep our eye on today is President Bush. We have just now learned that he will be speaking from the Rose Garden this morning regarding some of these developments in the Republic of Georgia. And that will happen. We are now being told at 11:00 a.m.

Our Kate Bolduan is standing by at the White House right now to talk a little bit more about what we may hear from the president. And we will be speaking -- well, there she is now.

Pardon me, Kate. Didn't mean to come to you too soon there. We've just now gotten this word that indeed the president will be coming out in an hour.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is correct.

We're just now hearing that the president will be speaking, making a statement in the Rose Garden. And as you can expect, it will be on the developing situation in Georgia. We haven't gotten any further guidance from the White House press office yet on exactly his comments. We wouldn't really expect to. But we did hear from the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. He spoke to CNN on "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning saying he himself did speak with President Bush just this morning during around the time he would be having his normal intelligence briefing.

The White House has not confirmed that quite yet. The last time we heard from the president, Heidi, you probably do remember was Monday when the President returned from his trip to China and came out and made some very harsh statements directed squarely at Russian leaders calling Russia's actions a brutal escalation of the situation in Georgia.

Then yesterday we did hear from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She came here to the White House to brief President Bush on what she had been hearing from foreign ministers around the country on the situation and the brokering of a cease-fire deal on the ground in Georgia. And she at that time had called for a stop to the military operations there. As she said, it stopped right now. And now we'll be hearing the latest from President Bush, himself, in just about one hour from now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Our Kate Bolduan there in front of the White House. We will check back later on.

Kate, thank you.

HARRIS: And blistering comments about Russia and its military plans from Georgia's leader today. He says Moscow wants to topple his government and seize the capital. He spoke to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAAKASHVILI: We will protect our capital with the last drop of our blood. We will never surrender to the Russians. Russians want to put us to our knees and Russians want to, you know, give us back, kill the Georgian democracy, bring us into the fold of a dictatorial Russian regime like it was in the past in history. Well, I think I can tell you, yesterday, we are a democracy. We don't have even a small percentage of the tanks and weapons Russia has. However, we had here yesterday in Tbilisi, 200,000 people rallying in the downtown capital despite the threat of being bombed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Those people rallied yesterday in the capital in a show of support for their president and their democracy. In just a couple of minutes, we're going to talk to our Matthew Chance who is with a Russian convoy that for all the world, that much of the morning appeared to be heading toward Tbilisi. That had stopped. They seemed to be in a holding pattern right now. We will get the latest from Matthew Chance in just a couple of minutes. We'll take a break and come back with more CNN NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's go back inside Georgia now and revisit the Russian troop movement that stirred so much international concern earlier this morning. That column outside the city of Gori, CNN's Matthew Chance is there.

And Matthew, we had an opportunity -- boy, look at you there. We had an opportunity to talk to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian government last hour who said Russia never intended to move on Tbilisi today but that the intention rather was to clean out Georgian military positions. Does that comport with what you have witness on the ground today?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it does. We're actually just with the last bit of the military column, the Russian military column that's made its way as did that South Ossetia combat zone and into Georgia proper. As I mentioned (INAUDIBLE) came in and it was -- armored personnel carrier providing some light here to their defenses, to the hundreds of troops that have moved down this dusty lane behind me into this open grass, still very close to South Ossetia.

It seems Tony, but they are trying to establish some kind of demilitarized zone, some kind of buffer zone, which again, Moscow says is necessary. To prevent what they say are continued Georgian attacks against their forces inside South Ossetia and against civilians there. Of course, the Georgians say that's nonsense. And that's not what's happening at all.

HARRIS: OK. At least from your position, it appears that what you're witnessing at least at the moment comports with what we were hearing last hour from Dmitry Peskov. I want to let you go, Matthew. Because I know there is concern about your position there. Matthew Chance for us this morning. Matthew, appreciate it. Thank you.

Again at the top of the hour we are going to get the latest from the White House on the situation in Georgia. The president in a statement from the Rose Garden.

COLLINS: Of course, we will stay on top of that situation. But in the U.S. now, there are questions of security versus privacy. Police in an Arkansas city fighting crime and claims that they are trampling on residents' rights. Reporter Cecillea Pond-Mayo of our affiliate KARK has the story from the Helena West, Helena, Arkansas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the last two weeks we've had a lot of shootings.

CECILLEA POND-MAYO, KARK REPORTER: The chief says the shootings have all been in a concentrated area, near the second and third streets off the plaza. The city here some residents are sleeping on the floor, afraid of shots being fired into their windows. After several days of a mayor-imposed curfew, the police asked the council to adopt a new plan. It states "our saturation efforts will consists of checkpoints, food patrols, knock and talk." And as for the curfew, it states "adults will be observed on a case by case basis."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the public opinion is about this curfew, no matter how effective it is, it's got some constitutional problems.

POND-MAYO: Holly Dixon with the ACLU says she has concerns with the checkpoints and the curfew, claiming they violate the fourth amendment, which protects Americans from unlawful search and seizure. She says she has heard from people like this man, who claims he wasn't allowed to sit on his porch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my resident at 8 Plaza St. (ph), where I live and I was told by an officer that if I did not go into my house that I would be taken to jail.

POND-MAYO: The city council voted unanimously in favor of the plan. At times the debate over constitutional rights versus protection became very heated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: OK. joining us on the phone to talk to the curfew is Mayor James Valley.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for your time this morning. Please, if you would, just explain to us why this measure, this idea of a 24-hour curfew is even necessary. What are you dealing with in your city now?

VOICE OF MAYOR JAMES VALLEY, HELENA, ARKANSAS: We're dealing with rampant shooting, people living in fear, drug dealing openly in the street, and just having a tough time with getting a handle on the crime in that particular section. There's about a ten-block area of the city - it's a small section, but it has really gotten out of control, and we're just trying to take back the streets.

HARRIS: And Mr. Mayor, I'm going to rifle through some questions here because I think you know we got a lot of breaking news out of Georgia. I've got to ask you, are we talking about locals or outsiders causing your problems here or a mix of both?

VALLEY: I think it's a mix of both, people coming in from outside of the city as well as some locals. And many of the people don't live in this particular section of town. They're coming over there, cause a raucous and then run off to some other section of town.

HARRIS: OK. So your officers I understand are armed with what military-style rifles, night-vision goggles. They are stopping and questioning anyone who passes by. Are these measures to this extent, in your view, absolutely necessary? It almost sounds like you have Baghdad-style checkpoints.

VALLEY: Well, it's not quite Baghdad-style checkpoints, but we've got a tough situation on our hands and we are trying to meet force with force. These guys on the street are armed with all kinds of weaponry. We just don't want our officers to be in harm's way without being prepared to deal with the dangers that they are facing.

HOLMES: I'm always curious in this situation, do you know - your police officers have been patrolling this area, not just today, not just over the last ten days, but for a period of time now. Do you know who the bad actors are? And could you simply just go and corral them?

VALLEY: Well, we made some significant arrests over the last three or four days, and we believe we've gotten a good piece of those guys off the street. There were outstanding fugitive warrants for failing to show for court and some other things. We believe we've got a handle on a few of them. But there are some more. We know who they are, but we have to go through the proper protocol to get them arrested by virtue of a search warrant or warrant for their arrest.

HARRIS: Profiling. Are you stopping anyone or anyone who fits a particular profile?

VALLEY: No. We're typically dealing with everyone. We've got an equal opportunity here. We stop everyone. We're not profiling. But now typically, the only people in this area, they're all in terms of race, they're all minorities, African-Americans. And typically we're dealing with a bunch of males because the females have the sense to stay in the house or to go and mind their business. We got a bunch of guys that we're dealing with yesterday.

HOLMES: All right. Mayor Valley, thanks for your time. And I'm going to stay on this story. We'll talk again, I promise. Thank you.

Remember that alleged pregnancy pact at a Massachusetts High School? Now the principal, Joe Sullivan, has resigned. It's more a fallout after a "TIME" magazine article. In it, Sullivan blames a spike in teen pregnancies on a pact between girls at the school. It is not known if there really was a so-called pact. Sullivan says he doesn't remember even talking about a pact, but he does think some teens got pregnant on purpose. He says he's steeping down because his supervisors no longer respect him.

Anguish faces tens of thousands of people pushed from their homes by the fighting in Georgia. I will be talking with a relief worker for Save the Children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We want to get you to Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr right now. Perhaps we're getting a bit more guidance on what we're likely to hear from the president at the top of the hour.

Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Administration officials now saying that the president will offer a so-called comprehensive approach of the U.S. response to the situation in Georgia. Read that to mean diplomatic and military. The president is expected to discuss, as we have been talking about all morning here, the delivery of military humanitarian assistance into Georgia, possibly beginning as soon as today.

This violent situation on the ground, of course, could change the schedule for those flights at the last minute. But all indications are that the first U.S. Air Force C-17 carrying humanitarian relief supplies will land in Georgia today. Expect to see the president talking about that, about additional humanitarian relief supplies on the way, and a comprehensive approach to the situation. The U.S. plans perhaps, we are told, to withdraw from a naval exercise it was going to conduct with the Russians, take other diplomatic and military actions to express its displeasure with what is going on there.

All of the military strategy, Tony, is really going to be really aimed at one word -- presence. That the U.S. military will maintain its relationship with Georgia even in the face of the Russian action, and the U.S. military isn't about to pack up and leave -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.

Barbara, thank you.

COLLINS: Georgia's president says more than 100,000 civilians were left homeless by the fighting. The first humanitarian aid, as you just heard from Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is on its way. And our next guest will actually help distribute some of those supplies. Tom Vincent is director of the charity Save the Children. He's joining us now by phone from Georgia's capital of Tbilisi.

Tom, if you can hear me all right, I wonder if you might start by telling us what you know about the number of refugees, the number of casualties. It's been incredibly difficult to get any sort of sense of where we're at in all of this.

VOICE OF TOM VINCENT, SAVE THE CHILDREN: It's been a little bit difficult for us as well. Yesterday morning the ministry of refugees and accommodation here had a little under 2,000 refugees registered. Today it's 18,000. Most of our estimates are coming from looking at the population of the areas affected by conflict and then just asking ourselves, if those people are no longer there, where are they? Because there's very little hard information that we can get directly, particularly in the conflict zone.

COLLINS: Tom, repeat that for me one more time. You said that number of registered refugees has gone from 2,000 to 18,000?

VINCENT: Yes.

COLLINS: All right. So Save the Children is going to do what first? I know that you're very concerned just about the basics, clean water.

VINCENT: Right now the priority is food that we can get to the internally displaced people that they can prepare either it's prepared all like cookies and things like that or things they can prepare easily like pasta and canned meat. Things like that just so we can hold them over until we can get regular supplies and supply routes set up. It's an enormous number of people to feed in a short amount of time.

At the same time, they've left with virtually no household goods, no sheets, no bedding. Beds are in short supply. Basically, for kids to sleep comfortably, they're on floors and that kind of thing. It's the most basic food, clothing -- not clothing, excuse me but food and shelter needs that we're trying to address.

COLLINS: Just so you know, we're looking at some video right now of some of those children that you are talking about. And it really helps to see some of that when you put a face on all of this as to what we've been reporting, at least over the past few days. What did the cease-fire mean to you, the supposed cease-fire, when you heard the announcement about that?

VINCENT: Well, one, it meant a certain amount of relief on our part because it meant that we stood a much better chance of being able to get out and find out what the situation was really like. And that has helped a lot. We've been starting to get reports from some of the affected areas where we have staff or where other people have been so that we at least know a little more about what we're up against. But certainly just the cessation of hostilities has meant a huge psychological relief to people so that we can start focusing on how to rebuild things.

COLLINS: I know that Save the Children has actually been in this area for 15 years. This is not a new situation. But for you personally, Tom, what is your experience been like over these past few days?

VINCENT: We've been very busy. It's always, you know, a challenge to coordinate this kind of response, to make sure that we're understanding what's happening well enough to meet the needs properly and to really try to get out to the people what they want and what will do them the most good. And that's a 24-hour-a-day job.

COLLINS: I'm sure it is, and I'm sure people there really appreciate the efforts that you and your organization are making. Tom Vincent, country director of the charity, Save the Children.

Thank you, Tom.

HARRIS: OK. We will certainly keep our eye on the situation in Georgia. We're anticipating eagerly actually the comments from the President from the Rose Garden, 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. But we are working in other news on this very busy day in the NEWSROOM.

And of course, we're keeping an eye on Mr. Michael Phelps. Michael the man, golden again and again. We're live in Beijing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's attempt to update you just because the developments are so fast and furious here. Our top story today, Russia and Georgia. First they traded gun fire, now they're trading accusations. The president of the former Soviet republic says Russia is ignoring the new cease-fire agreement by moving deeper into his country. Russia says its convoy is demilitarizing, again demilitarizing an area so Georgia cannot launch new attacks. And Moscow dismisses claims by Georgia's president that Russia wants to topple the democracy.

COLLINS: The republic of Georgia is about the size of South Carolina. Josh Levs has a maps of Georgia, to show us how this drama is all unfolding. Hey there, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what a morning, Heidi, huh? COLLINS: Yes.

LEVS: Yes, it's amazing. We're going to go in on this map so I can tell you all what's been happening this morning. With the latest report. Let's start off right here. This is our map at CNN.com. This right here is South Ossetia. Right here you have Gori just outside South Ossetia which is the capital, Tbilisi. Now, the reports that we have this morning where Russian troops are working their way from Gori along a road that goes toward Tbilisi.

Since then, Russia has aid we have no plans to enter the capital there. But that was what Georgia was saying, was a big concern. Here is something I want to show you all on a more complicated map, it does look complicated. Ignore everything except what I point to. This is South Ossetia, same two cities again, Gori and Tbilisi.

Along the way you see a big red line, also this black line with a little vertical marks. That's a major road and a major train railway area. This is the East-west thoroughfare for the entire country, the only way, pretty much. People from this half of the country can get to this half of the country is along that road. So what Georgia has been saying for a long time is, if Russia gets along the road and has a big presence there, it can shut down the economy.

So understand that even without going all the way to the capital, it would still be a big deal for Russia to have control of that area, including the railway or the highway itself. We're also told that Russia has pulled out and gone into a little area Orchosani (ph) where there was some military bases from Georgia. We can't quite get there here, but it's just northeast of Gori.

So we're told Russia has left the road itself. Now we're going to keep an eye on this, keep an eye on the maps throughout the day. But obviously each time I talk to you guys today, you know I want to do this, show you some of the photos we have from the scene that really bring you into it, itself. And keep in mind the human experience.

Let's close in on this one. This is something new, we haven't seen a lot of. These are Russian troops. And the caption says to us these two Russian army soldiers are listening to a doctor at a central military hospital in Rostov on Don, that's in southern Russia. Obviously human, you know, people, the human conflict here. Don't want to lose that as we look at the big picture, see where these troops are going -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Absolutely. All right. Josh Levs from the international desk, thanks so much, Josh.

HARRIS: OK. Hundreds of miles from the Beijing games, 24 people killed in a bus crash in a remote northwestern province of China. State-run media says most of the victims were students on a trip to get health checkups to enter high school in more developed areas. Authorities are investigating. They say there is no immediate indication of foul play. Another deadly bus incident, this one a bombing in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, officials now report 11 dead, 40 wounded, most of those killed were Lebanese soldiers on a civilian bus during morning rush hour. Authorities aren't sure if the blast was caused by a roadside bomb or a car bomb, the attack coming just hours before Lebanon's president makes a landmark visit to Syria. He is hoping to patch up stormy relations with his neighbor.

COLLINS: More pressure on Pakistan's president to resign, the third of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies today passing a resolution calling for President Pervez Musharraf to step down or face impeachment. A final group of lawmakers has indicated it will hold a similar vote before week's end. The resolutions are nonbinding but they do signal a growing drumbeat by lawmakers to force the politically embattled president to leave office.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: How about this? He is from the future. That's how one competitor describes American swimmer Michael Phelps, Phelps adding two more golds to his already impressive haul in Beijing. We'll get to that in a moment. But first let's talk about the U.S. women's gymnastics team. CNN's Larry Smith live in Beijing this morning.

OK. So, Larry, that team did not win -- was this team expected to win the gold?

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Well, they were expected to contend for the gold, Tony. China was the favorite to win, but really the U.S. had a shot at winning. And the veteran Alicia Sacramone probably will have a sleepless night tonight. She slipped on the balance beam, did not do well on the next performance on her floor exercise, and as a result, really cost the U.S. crucial points as they accept the silver as China wins its first-ever of gold in the women's team competition.

You know, USA women's gymnastics has not won team gold since 1996 in Atlanta. So considering that it has been so long, they kind of changed their philosophy and to try to bring together the team and show some improvement, they had to get out of the mainstream to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH (voice-over): If you're looking to the key for the United States' recent run of success in women's gymnastics, there's no map. Just take a left in Houston, Texas, and drive until your cell phone no longer gets reception.

NASTIA LIUKIN, 2007 BALANCE BEAM WORLD CHAMPION: We meet together at our national team training center monthly for about four days. And I really think that that helps him (ph). It creates a really special bond between us.

SMITH: The training camps are the idea of Marta Karolyi, wife of famed coach Bela Karolyi. She led the women's team to gold in 1996. But after a medal-less finish in 2000 under her husband, Karolyi became the team's coordinator to stop the tumble.

Now to make sure the various girls and their coaches are practicing what she is preaching, Karolyi brings them all together once a month at her remote ranch in New Waverly, Texas.

ALICIA SACRAMONE, 2005 FLOOR EXERCISE WORLD CHAMP: It's not that she's changing our coaches' techniques of training us. It's just that, you know, she's just trying to give a little more guidance.

SMITH: Since 2001, the U.S. is the only country to win a team medal at each of the major world competitions, including silver in Athens and gold at the 2007 world championships.

SAMANTHA PECZAK, U.S. GYMNAST: I think in the past the U.S. team was really individualized. And they never trained together. And before, you know, the girls would be such rivals with each other because of the coaches. And just everyone was just fighting. It was just a blood battle every time, every little competition.

SMITH: The girls say they enjoy the team-building but they are teenagers, after all. So the lack of a cell signal ensures that they will have to talk to each other.

LIUKIN: It's nice to be able to be close like that and just to, you know, get our mind outside of gymnastics every once in a while.

SMITH: Nastia Liukin could soon find herself the talk of the games. So far she and Shawn Johnson have shared top billing on the team. But they both know there's only one room for one "it" girl on the squad. And it will only come with a gold medal in the all-around competition.

LIUKIN: It was a lot of fun, you know, doing a lot of interviews and photo shoots. But at the same time it's kind of like, I'm glad that there's somebody else to step up to that.

SHAWN JOHNSON, 2007 ALL-AROUND WORLD CHAMP.: If I'm the "it" girl, as people say, it will just be a dream come true.

SMITH: Each girl knows that title would catapult them into bright lights far from Karolyi's ranch where their phones would likely never stop ringing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Well, keep in mind the ladies still have the individual events coming up in gymnastics later on this week. Michael Phelps again, still the big story, two more gold medals in the men's 200- meter butterfly and 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Five gold medals, five world records with three events to go. And, Tony, he's favored in all three of those events.

HARRIS: Larry, very quickly, I've got to ask this question, I know I'm going to get slapped by the control room for asking and taking up the time here. But is this a competition really or a coronation for Michael Phelps? I mean, come on, who is there to compete other than the clock with this guy?

SMITH: Well, yes. Everyone knows that he's the guy you're chasing. I mean, you know, but let's face it, he's so much ahead of everybody else, it is a bit of a coronation.

HARRIS: OK. There he is. Larry Smith in Beijing. Boy, you wrapped that up really nicely. So maybe I won't get slapped. Thanks, Larry.

COLLINS: Tracking all cars. New plan to protect New York's financial district from terrorist attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Big city. Big cover. Police in New York working on a multi-faceted plan to protect the city's financial district from terror attacks. Operation Sentinel would track every vehicle that crosses into Manhattan with photographs, license plate scanners and radiation detectors. New York Police would also work with other law enforcement agencies in setting up a 50-mile buffer zone around the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: There will be some -- a biometric component to vetted vehicles, black cars, buses, taxi cabs. They will be allowed in the area based on -- you know, developing a record. Pedestrians will be given free access to the area. It's really focused on preventing a vehicle-borne attack. You know, that is still the main means that terrorists use throughout the world. And that's what this system is aimed at protecting the World Trade Center site from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Camera surveillance for Lower Manhattan could be in place in two years. No timetable yet on the other measures.

So here's a breath of fresh air, a car that puts out water instead of carbon dioxide. Are hydrogen cars the vehicle of our future? CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is live in New Jersey this morning with our energy fix.

Hi there, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi there, Heidi. Well, we've heard so much about hydrogen-powered vehicles, we decided to come out to New Jersey, test one out. I'm going to drive it for the first time ever in just a second. But if you think about it, hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. You get it from water, from coal, from natural gas, from algae. You can produce a little bit or a lot at the same time. It seems like the next fuel for America. The question that automakers have, politicians have, is, is that really the case?

We're going do try it out. Take a look at this engine here. It looks a typical engine. This is a Mercedes model hydrogen fuel vehicle. What is very different is what is underneath this car. So we're going to shut the engine here, underneath this car what you have a hydrogen tank. It takes gaseous hydrogen, mixes it with oxygen from right out here to create electricity to power this vehicle.

So we're going to get in, we're going to take a test. It starts a little bit differently. You put the key in here, you turn it once, you hear a little click. You turn it again to start it up. And then it shows you, now we're at 30 percent power, then we're going to get up to 60, then 90 percent power. It's very, very, very quiet. You don't have that typical start the car up. We're going to go into drive, which is all the way at the end here. We're at 84 percent right now.

What do you think, guys? Can we drive it? We can drive it. Here we go. Feels really like a normal car. Of course, I don't know if I can go 100 miles an hour in the parking lot, but really this feels like driving my Toyota Camry at home. This really does feel like a normal car.

But, again, what you're getting is it's really, really quiet. And what's very interesting about this, Heidi, the emissions are literally water vapor. When you put a cup under the tailpipe, you can drink that water. Coming up on "ISSUE #1," we're going to show you, I'm going to drink the water just to prove how clean this car is -- Heidi.

COLLINS: You're going to drink the water.

HARLOW: I can't wait. I'm going to -- we're filling the cup up right now.

COLLINS: There's the saying, drink the Kool-Aid, but this is drinking the water instead. All right. Poppy, that's pretty cool. Hey, real quick question, when you first started up the car, were you supposed to wait for a certain amount of power before you actually took off?

HARLOW: Yes. You have to wait. We got to 84 percent. I asked our expert here in the back if it's OK. It's OK to go. One thing I do want to tell people though, these aren't on the road. They're leasing some Honda and Mercedes, GM also in California. But it's about still four to 10 years out when people are expected to be able to buy these. The cost of the engine right now still about two times more than a typical gas engine.

COLLINS: Yes. All right. Well, Poppy, we'll certainly check this out again with you coming up in a little while, waiting for you to drink stuff out of the engine. All right. Poppy Harlow, thank you.

HARRIS: Contaminants.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: Campaign road trip. Talking with voters on the way to Denver. We'll catch up with the CNN Election Express at its latest stop.

Also want to let you know the press conference -- excuse me, not the press conference, it's just a statement that the president will be making in the Rose Garden this morning, has been pushed back just a tad. It will now be happening at 11:15, of course, those statements regarding the situation with Georgia and Russia. We will bring it to you when it happens live here at CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On the trail in the presidential race today, Republican John McCain campaigns in the battleground state of Michigan. McCain holds a noon fundraiser and then tours an aerospace and defense company. He has two more fundraisers tonight. Democrat Barack Obama manages to squeeze in a fundraiser during his Hawaii vacation. According to the "Associated Press," Obama took in $1.3 million at the sold-out event.

HARRIS: The CNN Election Express traveling through Michigan this morning. It's headed to Denver and the Democratic Convention, making stops along the way, a lot of them. Tom Foreman live from the Election Express in Sturgis, Michigan.

Wait a minute, you're about, what, a week late for the big motorcycle rally, aren't you? I know you're disappointed by that, Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've got to tell you, Sturgis, Michigan, and we've got a lot of traffic going by downtown. Things going pretty well here overall, but this is the kind of town that John McCain needs to speak to. It's a town that tends to vote Republican, the mayor tells me. It's a town that's doing generally pretty well economically, about 11,000 people here. But it's a town where there are still plenty of people who are worried about the economy, worried that it may not hold up, that their employers may cut jobs and may cut hours.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where I work, they're cutting hours because of the retail business. There's just not enough work around Michigan anymore.

FOREMAN: So a lot of people having trouble paying bills, that sort of thing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. I'm having troubles because they cut my hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm trying to find a job. That's what I'm trying to do right now, find a job.

FOREMAN: Any luck?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: So what you have here, Tony, is a lot of people who are just feeling generally a little uneasy. They're doing well enough in their town, but they're looking at the national trends and they are a little worried about the economy. We heard a good bit of talk here from the voters about the war, because a lot of kids, all in the belt that we've been traveling through, these battleground states, a lot of military families here who have very profound concerns about the war and the future there.

But what it comes down to is, even though a lot of people, both Democratic and Republican here, seem to be talking about the idea of change, they haven't quite landed yet on whether that means the kind of change that the McCain is talking about, or the kind that Obama is talking about, a lot of undecided voters still here, Tony. So this is the ground where both of the candidates have to plow.

HARRIS: There he is, Tom Foreman for us this morning. Tom, appreciate it.

And once again, just want to give you another reminder that the president's statement from the Rose Garden on the situation in Georgia, and his plans moving forward on the diplomatic front as well as the military front in terms of a humanitarian effort, that statement now been pushed back from 11:00 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. And of course, we'll have it for you live right here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: The "bear" facts, an 8-year-old injured but able to joke about his encounter with an angry black bear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A Georgia man accused of holding his family in captivity, police say he kept his wife and four children inside their mobile home for three years. Raymond Daniel Thurman is charged with rape, child abuse, and false imprisonment. Authorities say the family was living in squalor with no food in the home. And the children were undernourished and were not enrolled in school. The Lavonia, Georgia, police chief says the woman finally managed to escape from the house and call for help.

HARRIS: Well, thieves steal boxes and boxes of cigarettes and also the donation jar for a teen with cancer. It happened at this convenience store in Kentucky. And Police are still searching for suspects. But there is some good news today. The town banded together and replaced all the donation money, and it will go to help the teen's family with treatment costs.

COLLINS: Attacked by a bear. An 8-year-old boy has survived the encounter in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. That's him there in the middle. An 86-pound black bear came out from behind a tree standing on two legs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EVAN PALA, ATTACKED BY BEAR: It was just holding me to the ground, and it pushed my teeth right into the rock. And then my dad pulled him off. I ran again, tripped, and he started tackling me. I don't want to go in because I don't want to get hurt by a bear. And (INAUDIBLE) is, he was laughing about it, and he just said, we're not going to get hurt by it. And what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A little conversation they had before that trip. The boy's father and brother threw sticks and stones at the bear to chase it away. Park rangers later ended up killing the bear.

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You're informed with CNN. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi, everybody. A busy morning. I'm Heidi Collins.

Thanks for being with us. Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Wednesday, August 13th. Here's what's on the rundown.

Breaking news now, President Bush, live remarks this hour on the tense situation in the Republic of Georgia.

HARRIS: And despite a cease-fire, Russian troops making surprise military moves deep inside Georgia today. Extensive live coverage. You're in the NEWSROOM.

Days of war, hours of peace. Right now growing fears a cease- fire between Russia and Georgia may be more fragile than ever. President Bush will address the situation just minutes from right now. But first let's set the stage for you. Georgia's president says Russian troops have ignored the truce and continued to push well beyond South Ossetia.

Those are the disputed regions at the center of this conflict. They wanted to split from Georgia and move more closely with Russia.