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U.S. Military Provides Humanitarian Aid to Georgia, Spanish Basketball Team Photo Sparks Controversy at the Beijing Olympics; Team USA's Men's Basketball Team Defeats Greece; Fire in a Philadephia Destroys Upscale Apartment Complex

Aired August 14, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Craziness. All right.
Police believe Montgomery may have had some help in the bear caper. They are looking for two other suspects.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown.

The situation in Georgia this hour, murky. Russians troops making moves but are they the moves the U.S. wants?

COLLINS: Shooting after shooting after shooting in Hartford, Connecticut. Tonight, a strict teen curfew began.

HARRIS: China promised press freedom to get the Olympics reporter hauled away for covering protesters, his network protesting to Beijing today, Thursday, August 14th. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we are following breaking developments outside Philadelphia. A massive inferno has destroyed much of an upscale apartment complex in Conshohocken, Philadelphia. The county public safety director says several firefighters were overcome by heat and taken to the hospital after it started late yesterday, but none of the injuries were life- threatening. The fast moving blaze broke out in a building under construction at a riverfront complex. Look at these pictures. Firefighters from 20 different companies battled the flames for more than six hours. The fire destroyed the centerpiece of a multi-million dollar revitalization project. The Red Cross says nearly 400 residents have been displaced.

COLLINS: Keeping kids inside and out of harm's way. Enforcement of a strict teen curfew begins tonight in Hartford, Connecticut, following recent shootings. Reporter Bob Wilson of affiliate WTNH gets reaction from the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You name it, I've seen it.

BOB WILSON, REPORTER, WTNH: Like what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shoo in, drug dealing, it's all out here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drive-byes. Stuff like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen outside or when walking to the store, I'll get shot. That's what I think.

WILSON: They're the young faces of Hartford forced to think about shootings instead of shooting a basketball.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot going on, and young kids should be in the house after 9:00.

WILSON: Most young kids we talked to like the idea of a curfew after 11 people were shot over the weekend in Hartford neighborhoods. The mayor announcing that starting Thursday night at 9:00, officers will be looking for teens loitering. The first time they're stopped they'll be given a written warning and taken home to their parents. The second time, they'll be charged with a misdemeanor and then taken home again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything you can to stop kids from killing kids is a good thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This whole thing I don't think it will stop anything.

WILSON: Now, originally the mayor came out of a press conference saying all the kids rounded up will be taken to detention centers and from there their parents will pick them up. Now he's saying they'll be pick up and taken home, which for people on the streets say it's too bad. They want to see the parents get more involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's when the strength of the curfew is going to come in, not as much as getting them off the streets but it's getting the parents back involved, forcing the parents to be back involved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Once again, that curfew goes into effect tonight at 9:00.

HARRIS: Russian forces on the move. A cease-fire seemingly still in place. Let's get the latest from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. One week after Russian troops first swept in, they are now on the move around Gori. And firmly in place in the two territories at the center of this conflict. Abkhazia and South Ossetia wanted to split from Georgia and were closely aligned with Russia. One ominous question today will Russia seize the two breakaway territories. Georgia has said it will not surrender any of its territories.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in France today to meet with President Sarkozy. He helped broker the cease-fire. Tomorrow Rice heads to Georgia's capital of Tbilisi. And the first planes have delivered humanitarian aid to Tbilisi. The U.S. military is spearheading relief efforts.

Let's turn to the diplomatic efforts. Condoleezza Rice is in France, the first stop of her emergency talks.

CNN's Jim Bitterman is in Paris.

And Jim, if you would, set the stage for us.

JIM BITTERMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony. In fact, things are happening right now in the south of France, in Fort Bregancon, which is one of President Sarkozy's many presidential residences around the country. He is down there along with Condoleezza Rice and foreign minister Bernard Kouchner. In fact, they are talking as we speak about exactly what that cease-fire deal means.

As far as Mr. Sarkozy is concerned, he hammered it out on Tuesday. It's kind of a fragile agreement. It has been respective to some extent. The Russians say they're expecting it to the letter but others disagree with that.

In any case, there's a rather large loophole in that six-point agreement. One of the points, the fifth point provides that pending an international peace monitoring mechanism, Russian peacekeepers will take on additional security measures. That, of course, would give them justification for the kind of things that are going on right now in Georgia. So there's a lot of discussion going to happen here and then from here Secretary Rice will go tomorrow morning to Tbilisi to talk to the Georgians and give them her support for the United States. Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Jim, is Secretary Rice getting some kind of a debrief from President Sarkozy on his conversation with the Russian president?

BITTERMAN: That's exactly it, Tony. The fact is that President Sarkozy is the last western leader to talk to the President Medvedev and may have some insight as to what is going on inside his head and what the actual thrust of this Russian operation is.

That's one of the things that's been questionable throughout this, exactly what are the Russians trying to do with this sweep into Georgia? Clearly through those independence-minded territories, they're into Georgia proper and that's something that a lot of people would like to fathom, exactly what are they attempting to do.

HARRIS: And it's curious to know why the United States and Russia aren't speaking directly to one another. Jim Bittermann for us in France. Jim, good to see you. Thanks.

COLLINS: The United Nations says about 100,000 people have been left homeless by the fighting. The U.S. is helping spearhead the delivery of emergency supplies. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi where those first shipments came in last night. Fred, tell us what you know about that. FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, absolutely. The humanitarian effort is really getting under way here in Georgia now. I'm actually in a refugee camp on the outskirts of the capital of Tbilisi. And this refugee camp is just actually now under construction. It hasn't been fully constructed yet. But if you look behind me, right now, you can see even though the refugee camp isn't even fully constructed yet, there are already refugees here and many of them have been telling us that they have been on the run for days throughout Georgia.

Now, as you said, the humanitarian effort getting under way. The U.S. drastically ramping up its aid efforts, sending two c-17 cargo planes here into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Those were greeted at the airport, at least one of them by a demonstration in favor of the United States there last night. More aid planes are expected to come in.

I can tell you one thing, the people that I have talked to say they are very grateful for the aid and they say they are badly in need of getting that aid, especially medical supplies, especially food and water but also clothing. They say they need everything that they can get. Heidi.

COLLINS: Fred, is aid coming in from anywhere other than the United States?

PLEITGEN: Well, I just talked to UNICEF about that actually. And they say there are some international aid planes coming in on commercial aircraft, that will be chartered by international aid organizations. For instance, like UNICEF, they say they have things coming in as well. Now, the next problem, of course, is going to be getting that aid to the people here in this country.

I was able to talk to the deputy UNICEF chairman for Georgia. He said they really still don't have an overview of the entire situation in this country. There are still a lot of areas that are very, very difficult to get to because they are somewhat embattled because it's just difficult to get up there because of the military situation. But they say they are ramping those efforts up.

They're trying to get convoys going to some of those more remote areas to get humanitarian aid in there. And what else is really, really important is to actually get people out who are in need of help, who are injured or in need of some other medical attention to try and get those people out of those areas that have been affected by the fighting and to get them to relatively safe places like where I am standing right now. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen there from one of those camps that is being set up as we speak right outside of Tbilisi. Fred, great. Thank you.

Back now in a different part of the world, a tragedy on a bus filled with schoolchildren in southern India. Police say it skidded off a waterlogged road and into a river. Firefighters and locals managed to rescue six boys from the water, but sadly they have recovered 11 bodies, and most of them children. 13 passengers remain missing. The area inundated with days of heavy rain.

HARRIS: What do you say we spend some time with Rob Marciano in the severe weather center. Rob, what, if anything, at this point is developing in the Atlantic?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: We've got this thing we've been watching for a few days. Kind of petered out yesterday. We kind of ramped down a little bit. It canceled one of the hurricane hunter aircraft. Now they're going to throw another one in there.

Actually, they had a research one going there. There's two planes, a C-130 that the air force throws out there. They are the regular guys and gals. And then there's the P-3 NOAA ones, and they're equipped with other things. They're more for research. They flew in last night, still didn't find circulation.

But now it looks a little bit more impressive. So, they'll fly in there again today, they'll launch in about an hour. They'll be in there around two and they'll zigzag around and take some measurements and see what's going on. Maybe a depression. Our National Hurricane Center has ramped it up to a greater than 50 percent probability of it becoming one here today or tomorrow.

And it still makes its trek towards the Bahamas. Actually, already begin to be picked up. Shoot, we thought we had -- try to get to the Puerto Rican radar site here in just a little bit and show you some of those actions. Radar will be popping parts of the plains today. The east coast will be mostly clear. Some light showers with the cool air that's aloft across the northeast. And places like the Carolinas should be real nice at least for the time being.

Charleston, take a look, what a spot this is this time of year. I forget the name of that bridge. I know it's a famous one. They do a big run over it every year. WCBD, thanks for that affiliate shot. They got a little bit of morning haziness, but that should burn off before the day is done. And then as folks go to and from the beach, it should be OK.

Heavier rains expected down across parts of Florida. By the way, I threw up South Carolina there because you're going to want to pay attention to what this thing in the tropics does over the next couple of days. It will be 85 in Atlanta today, 99 degrees in Dallas, 79 in Denver, 80 in New York and 76 degrees in Chicago. So looks like it's starting to feel bit like September.

CHETRY: Love that.

MARCIANO: Of course, that means the peak of hurricane season, too.

CHETRY: Yes. It never just be 100 percent good, can it?

MARCIANO: Otherwise, I wouldn't have a job.

HARRIS: That's the way of the weather.

COLLINS: Good point. I don't think we would either. All right, Rob. Thank you.

MARCIANO: See you in a bit.

HARRIS: Boy, we spent a lot of time this morning talking about the big fire in Philadelphia, along the river. Take a look at these pictures just into us from our affiliate in Miami, WSVN, and there were pretty significant fire there, an apartment building.

Residents were possibly trapped in this one. You can see the firefighters in that shot just a moment ago doing the best they can to get this fire and folks on the ground just watching as well, don't know if everyone has been able to get out of there. Again, word that there may be some folks trapped inside. No injuries at least reported now, and I would imagine more companies might be on their way to respond to this. A lot of smoke there, but we know that usually where there is smoke there's fire.

We're going to keep an eye on this situation. A Florida apartment fire right now, pictures from our affiliate on the scene.

COLLINS: A prominent democratic party figure shot and killed. Arkansas police try now to figure out a motive this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Arkansas police are trying to figure out why a man shot and killed the state democratic party chairman. Witnesses say the man walked into the party headquarters in Little Rock, then shot Bill Gwatney several times. The gunman identified by police as Timothy Dale Johnson was shot dead after leading authorities on a chase.

SHERIFF LANCE T. HUEY, GRANT COUNTY, ARKANSAS: The Grant County Sheriff's office was able to p.i.t. the vehicle. It spun the vehicle around and as the Grant County sheriff's unit went by, the subject came out of the vehicle and fired two rounds at the vehicle, at the Grant County sheriff's office vehicle. About that time that a state police unit also rammed into the vehicle, and other shots were fired by the Arkansas state police.

HARRIS: The shoot out with police happened in Sheridan, Arkansas, That's about 30 miles south of Little Rock. There is no indication yet that the shooter even knew Gwatney.

Detroit's mayor in court just moments ago to face arraignment on perjury charges. A judge eased the travel restrictions on the mayor Kwami Kilpatrick. He can attend the democratic convention. Kilpatrick as you know has been mired in controversy over romantic text messages with his former chief of staff. The messages indicated the two were involved in an affair. Both denied it under oath, not guilty pleas were entered on their behalf at this morning's arraignment.

COLLINS: Politics now. A different kind. The "CNN Election Express" is rolling through Illinois this morning. It's on the road from Washington, D.C., to Denver for the democratic national convention, of course. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider live aboard the election express, Bill, I understand you've just gotten on the bus.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I got on the bus last night in (inaudible), Illinois. We're now crossing the state of Illinois, headed for Iowa. Illinois, I can inform our viewers, is not a battleground state. Illinois is Barack Obama's home state. Not much contest here in Illinois, but Iowa is a real battleground state so we're headed directly there to Des Moines.

COLLINS: All right. Bill, sorry we're having a little bit of difficulty when we talk to you. It breaks up just a tad. But I wonder, as you travel along, I know you just got there last night, what do you expect to be hearing from people as you make these stops along the way to Denver?

SCHNEIDER: I think a lot of people are still undecided and they are a little conflicted in this election because they have a lot of questions about the democratic candidate, Barack Obama. He's a new and maybe an unfamiliar figure. Although in this part of the world, in this part of the country, he is pretty familiar because this is Illinois. And I quickly add, Iowa is neighboring state to Illinois.

So in Iowa they have heard something about Barack Obama. McCain is a very familiar figure. The problem he has is somewhat a different one, namely, is he different from George W. Bush? Will his policies be different? He's made some serious effort to try to establish that he set on his own course, that he was not part of the Bush administration. So I think a lot of people are still conflicted over this campaign and we'll be asking what their thinking is when we get to Iowa.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Bill Schneider aboard the CNN Election Express. Thank you, Bill.

HARRIS: Vacation souvenirs you can live without. Strange diseases and debilitating illnesses. You shared your horror stories with us. Elizabeth Cohen will explain how you can avoid them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get some information out to you. Just as soon as we get it in here. Of course, at the CNN NEWSROOM, happening in west Miami-Dade, Florida, we'll go ahead and show you some of the pictures we have from our affiliate there now, WSVN.

This is an apartment fire, west or Miami-Dade fire and rescue are actually on the scene of this fire. The reason they are concerned, at least according to our wire reports, is that there's a possibility that some residents could be trapped inside that apartment complex. Lieutenant Elkin Sierra is actually on the line with us now from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. Lieutenant, what can you tell us about this situation? Any more information regarding the possibility of people being trapped inside?

VOICE OF LT. ELKIN SIERRA, MIAMI-DAD FIRE RESCUE: Well, someone was trapped when units arrived that was successfully extracted from this unit. We have two patients that we're treating, one will be transported for smoke inhalation and one will be treated on the scene for minor burns. So the victim component has been eliminated. And so far working on the fire itself. We've evacuated the entire building and we have units making entry from the front door of the apartment unit and also hammering the building as well to access and aggressively attack this fire.

COLLINS: OK. Where was the person who was trapped inside? How did you get him or her out?

SIERRA: there was one occupant left who was not trapped per se. She is just awaiting an escort downstairs. She is out of the apartment and in the hallway. And so far there have been no other injuries reported. We've fought this fire very aggressively.

COLLINS: All right. Excellent work there, Lieutenant Elkin Sierra of the Miami-Dad Fire Rescue. We are looking at more pictures of the scene there from our affiliate WSVN. And we'll keep our eye on this one for you.

HARRIS: Man.

What did you do on your summer vacation? Turns out many of you spent it nursing some pretty horrible diseases you caught while traveling. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here. You know what, Elizabeth? You solicited folks' travel nightmare stories earlier in the week. Did you get many responses?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We did. We said, hey write to us with your travel nightmares abroad. And people definitely did.

HARRIS: Sure, sure. No surprise.

COHEN: So we heard about - let me look at my list - food poisoning from raw shellfish in China. 2:00 in the morning lost seven pounds overnight in fluids. That's a lot of weight. It is. Finding a dentist to do a root canal at 2:00 in the morning in Guatemala. That was another one. And a prostate infection on the Baltic Sea.

HARRIS: That's lovely.

COHEN: The Baltic Sea. While you're sailing. And here's one, poor Judy Armstrong, let's show a picture of Judy. Judy was hiking in the Amazon in Brazil and broke her leg, tore ligaments in her ankle. You can see this is how she ended up. Four Brazilians had to carry her down the mountain and they airlifted her to safety. So, yes, we definitely heard a lot of stories. Now, if you want to hear some more of these stories, CNN.com/health. These folks who ran into some pretty disastrous situations give their tips for what happens.

HARRIS: Well, let's talk about that. I'm wondering even before you leave are there some things that you can do to make it a healthier trip overall? Even before you leave.

COHEN: Right. These folks who had these nightmares, said, I wish I had done XYZ before I left. Let's take a look at what that XYZ is. Fist of all, if you're going someplace where you're not sure of the food or water are great, take antibiotics with you. Go to your doctor and say, give me your prescription foreign and we tell you the different things you can ask them for in our column. Bring it with you.

Also, consider travel insurance because your fabulous U.S. health insurance may mean nothing, nada, zipo when you're abroad. And also, watch where you swim. I really hadn't thought much about that, but one woman we talked to, she dove into this beautiful lake in Brazil and ended up with a nasty infection because she realized the lake was kind of that community sewer. So not where you want to be swimming.

HARRIS: Oh, why am I rubbing my stomach.

COHEN: Because you're feeling sick already just hearing about it.

HARRIS: You know, adventure traveling, I'm thinking about the woman who was in the Amazon jungle and I'm thinking that adventure travel is really big right now. I hope to do a lot of that in the years to come. But several of the places that you travel can be a little dicey. So is there any advice to make sure that in those areas you're taking every precaution that's available to you?

COHEN: Yes. We give you links in the column to where you can go on the state department web site. And they will give you alerts. If you're going to X, you need to watch out. In this particular city, there's violence. Or this is going on. Or road conditions aren't good here. Another thing, you can go to the state department and register your trip if you're going to a dangerous area so if something happens they know where you are and everything.

HARRIS: A lot of responses, right?

COHEN: Yes.

HARRIS: Happy endings?

COHEN: Yes.

HARRIS: Good.

COHEN: This is something that really amazed me. Almost everyone who wrote in with their nightmare travel health story said they were amazed at the quality of care that they got and, even more, how cheap it was. The guy in China who had to go to the hospital, they didn't charge him at all. Another person who had a skin infection in Singapore, no charge for several days in the hospital. They said, gosh, what do these countries know that we don't know? I mean, no charge or maybe 100 bucks. In this country, 100 bucks won't get you much in the hospital.

HARRIS: Well, the intestinal problems, time will take care of that mostly.

COHEN: Yes. Sometimes a lot of time. But yes, time will take care of it.

HARRIS: Elizabeth, see you next hour.

COHEN: Thanks.

HARRIS: Thanks.

COLLINS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates discussing humanitarian aid for the republic of Georgia. Live remarks at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone. A cease-fire seemingly holds Russian troops remain in the Georgian city of Gori. They say they'll return control by the end of the day. Well, that's a new development. Russian forces also firmly in place in the two territories at the center of the conflict. Abkhazia and South Ossetia want to split with Georgia and align with Russia. Today there are growing concerns that Russia will defy Georgia and support that split.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on a diplomatic mission today. She is in France. Tomorrow, the capital of Georgia. And in Tbilisi, the first humanitarian aid has arrived. The U.S. military is helping to spearhead the relief efforts.

COLLINS: The desperate race to get emergency supplies into Georgia. The U.S. military is playing a key role.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon this morning now, where the Defense Secretary is due to speak at the top of the hour, about 30 minutes from now.

Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, that's right. About 30 minutes from now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expected here in the briefing room. The first on-camera, on the record briefing by the United States Military about their efforts in Georgia.

Another C-17 did land in Tbilisi earlier today, carrying humanitarian relief supplies. We're told that the Georgians specifically did ask for antibiotics to be delivered, as well as other supplies, blankets and other medical supplies. But, it remains to be seen when the next humanitarian flight take place. An assessment team -- a U.S. assessment team is on the ground looking at the situation, reporting back to the Pentagon.

And that's really probably going to be the focus of the questions for Secretary Gates. How long will the military relief effort last? How deeply involved will the U.S. Military become in Georgia? Is this humanitarian relief, or, is this something more? Is this the U.S. Military staking its presence in this country, showing the Russians that the U.S. Military does intend to be there -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. And then Barbara, who distributes it and how difficult is it then, to distribute this aid that's coming in?

STARR: Well, what we are told so far is that there is a network, if you will, of development agencies, the U.S. Agency for International Development, non-government organizations working throughout the country to distribute this aid once it is dropped off at the Tbilisi airport.

But look, the violence continues. We are continuing to get reports all the time about violence across the country. As you said, Gori, the situation remains very unsettled. So, that's going to be a major concern. They can get the aid into Tbilisi, but, how will it get distributed because the U.S. has no intention of sending any type of ground troops, if you will, at this point to help distribute that aid -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Interesting to know. You're watching it closely and so are we. Again, Secretary Gates coming up in about 25 minutes or so.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Thanks.

HARRIS: A recent photos out of the Republic of Georgia show how the fighting caught civilians completely off guard.

Josh Levs has been looking through this images which CNN obtained from Georgia's Ministry of Defense.

And I know that in some cases, Josh, these are pretty tough photos and we can't even put them on air.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. They are difficult photos to look at. And as you said, we got them from the Georgian government. And we're not going to be showing you all the ones we got.

Clearly Georgia has its own view and it wants to present a certain view of everything that's happened over the past week. And we don't want to take part in that. At the same time, there's news value in the photos they're providing. And also, journalists haven't been able to get everywhere. And some of these stories do in and of themselves, tell a story.

So, we're going to to into these pictures. Keep in mind as you see them, that Russia says Georgia is behind death and injuries to a lot of civilians, as well. Let's close in on this one right here. We're going to see the story presented by these photos. This appears to be from what we can tell, an apartment building that was apparently bombed. And we do have reports of (INAUDIBLE) having happened.

Let's just scroll through fairly quickly so we can tell everyone the whole story. This you can see, mother and child after apparently, life destroyed, a livelihood destroyed. It seems to be civilian areas. Here we see what seems to be a dead body on the ground and another man apparently just wailing, struggling to see he's lost his home. Now, this is where people started to flee. And we do know that this happened. People in a lot of these civilian areas were fleeing because all of a sudden their homes were in the middle of a war. So, we're seeing a lot of pictures like this, people just trying to absorb the shock of what's happened. A lot of these people have not seen war, it's not something they expected. There certainly hadn't been fighting for more than 10 years, about 15 years there. Young people who may have never seen anything like this, just struggling to comprehend what's happened with them.

And again, we're seeing firefighters and other first responders -- the Georgian equivalent of that -- responding to the scene. Now again, a lot of photos they provided. We chose to show some of them. This is what the Georgian Ministry is sending out.

I also want to go in on this screen for just a moment if we can, behind me here. Because we do have one photo of some wounded Russian troops that I've seen. This comes to us from the Associated Press. Here it is. And I'll read you the caption that came along with this. This says that these two Russian army troops are speaking with a doctor here at a military hospital in southern Russia in Rustovondon. This is after they were wounded during an assault in Tskhinvali, which is the capital of South Ossetia.

Tony, you know, we're keeping a close eye on all the photos that come in. And obviously they do tell a story. And we're trying to contextualize it the best we can.

HARRIS: Yes. Because you're right. You don't want to get caught in the back and forth and all of the propaganda going on. And there's a fair amount of it obviously going on.

But the pictures are really dramatic. I mean, we get great moving pictures of these zones. But, the still pictures, they still leave some room for interpretation. For you to do your own interpretive work on it. I just think they're terrific. I hope we got more of them.

LEVS: Absolutely. And we'll keep in mind you know, civilians come from all ethnicities in that area. One was in Pakidura (ph), Russians, there are South Ossetians, there are Georgian ethnicities there. And everyone was impacted.

HARRIS: That's right. A lot to consider.

All right, Josh. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

COLLINS: 42 suspected illegal immigrants rounded up at the Dulles Airport outside of Washington. Federal agents settle up check points yesterday at construction sites around the airport. Airports now considered a priority for immigration checks because of terrorism concerns. None of those arrested had access to secure areas of the airport.

(WEATHER REPORT) HARRIS: Police in Oklahoma City trying to crack the case of the beltless bandit. You might find this video a little disturbing. We certainly did. A convenience store robber was caught on tape flashing more than a gun. So the man who walked into the store -- yes, yes.

COLLINS: Yum. Sorry.

HARRIS: Right. Heidi! He had his shirt over his head and his pants -- they just kept falling down. Police are hoping to get to the bottom of the case -- sorry. They say anyone willing to admit they recognize the man should call them.

COLLINS: A new America. Minorities becoming the majority and sooner than we thought. The census bureau looks ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: Well, the complexion of America is changing. The Census Bureau reporting a big shift that will soon leave whites in the minority.

Our Alina Cho with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This census report came out at midnight. And the surprising projection is that by the year 2042, that's eight years sooner than earlier estimates, minorities will indeed become the majority. And eight years after that, by 2050, minorities are expected to make up 54 percent of the population.

Now, this is most evident in the Hispanic population which will nearly triple from nearly 47 million right now to nearly 133 million by the year 2050, making up 30 percent of the population versus 15 today. Now, the Asian population will rise from about five to nine percent of the total. And the black population will go up slightly from 14 to 15 percent.

The U.S. population overall, will rise to more than 400 million, from about 300 million today. So what's going on? Well, a couple of factors. The most significant being immigration and higher birthrates among immigrants.

Another statistic, the white population is aging. The number of people over 85 will triple in the next 40 years. Baby boomeers are certainly living longer. America's face is changing and of course that raises a lot of questions about quality of life. Things like traffic, congestion, social services, education, of course there are language issues.

With so many people, how will the U.S. deal with influx? There are no easy answers.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: He went to cover a story. Then police made him part of it. Detained in Beijing, a reporter's nightmare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The U.S. men's basketball team getting payback against Greece at the Beijing games today.

Our Larry Smith joining us live with that and other highlights.

Yes, this Greece team beat the U.S. national team. What was it, a couple of years ago, is that correct, Larry?

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. Two years ago in the world championships and Greece has not been kind to the U.S. It was Greece who beat them in the worlds two years ago. It was in Greece where they showed up with possibly -- let's just say it -- their worst Olympics since NBA players were added to the roster in 1992.

Well, redemption is theirs. A 92-69 victory on this evening as they go to 3-0. It's the most impressive win so far in this tournament for them. Kobe Bryant and Chris Bosh each scored 18 points. And so now, they get an undefeated showdown on Saturday night in Beijing, against Spain.

Now speaking of the Spaniard team. A bit of controversy surrounding them this week. They posed for a picture that ran for an ad in a Spanish newspaper, with their fingers up to their eyes to make their eyes more slanted. And of course, many circles that is a derogatory and not a positive or embracing, endearing kind of pose.

Now, some of the players try to explain it. Paul Gasol, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, said there was no harm that was meant. It was meant to be funny and they didn't mean to offend anybody. Another player said that the photographer told them to do that. But again, this has caused quit a bit of a stir as everyone -- this picture has been sent around the e-mail, you probably have seen it yourself all around.

Now, meanwhile, yes, a big upset this evening in tennis. Roger Federer, the top seed, knocked off by James Blake who said before the Olympics that a Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal final would be great for the sport, but he hoped to be the one that ruined it. And he is, in straight sets. He goes on moves on to the semifinals.

By the way, Serena Williams losing in three sets.

Also in swimming, Michael Phelps, no gold medals on Thursday, but he's back in the pool twice in less than 30 minutes, it will be Thursday night East Coast time. First in the men's 200-meter individual medley and 20 minutes later in the semis in the 100-meter butterfly.

Let's go back to you.

HARRIS: Well good, I need my fix from the dolphin.

Larry Smith in Beijing.

Thanks, Larry.

COLLINS: Have some breaking news to get to now regarding the situation with Russia and Georgia. Our international correspondent Matthew Chance is joining us now from Tskhinvali by satellite.

Matthew, we want to know right off the bat what you are seeing around you.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the fist time we've managed to gain access to the South Ossetian rebel capital of Tskhinvali. It's been the center of the fierce fighting that's taken place over the course of the past week between Russia and Georgia. It is a scene of utter devastation that we're witnessing in Tskhinvali this afternoon here in South Ossetia.

Many of the buildings have been destroyed as a result of the fierce fighting that raged here over the course of the past week or so. A lot of Russian and military vehicles standing destroyed, their metal twisted in the streets of this rebel capital.

Russian forces are now here in force, several thousand of them with tanks and armored personnel carriers, positioned at key installations around the city. But there's no civilians really to be seen. Tens of thousands of people, thousands of people at the very least, have left Tskhinvali as a result of the fighting to the north, southern Russia (INAUDIBLE).

There are some civilians left but only just a few pockets. Most people took the opportunity when they could to flee the fighting. One of the things we're most interested in investigating here is the casualty figures as a result of this conflict. There's been very different claims between the Russians, who say up to 2,000 people were killed as a result of this conflict, and the Georgians, who say the real figure is perhaps more close to a few hundred. We don't have any clarity on that yet, but we're working with the Russians, we're here on the ground in Tskhinvali and we hope to be able to kind of -- give you some kind of better picture of the real cost of this conflict between Georgia and Russia, the human cost in the days ahead.

COLLINS: Yes, and a difficult thing to do, obviously, Matthew, because as you say you're just not able to see any civilians where you are right now.

Who will you hope to talk with? Will it be soldiers, if you will, or fighters, from both sides to try and get some sort of perspective?

CHANCE: Yes. Initially it is with the Russian authorities, the military authorities, the people who brought us in here. We drove across the Georgian lines through the Russian lines and were escorted through the town of Gori, which is now completely under the occupation of Russian forces. We drove through there with a Russian minder who has been escorting us into Tskhinvali.

We're speaking to them initially. We're going to be speaking to soldiers as well. And, as I say, there are some civilians who decided to stay and brave out the fighting. And I also expect that as the situation continues to be calm (ph) some of the thousands of civilians, the refugees who have fled the fighting over the course of the past week who want to come back to pick up the pieces of their lives and their homes as soon as they can as well.

We hope to -- (INAUDIBLE) part of Georgia. But the South Ossetian leadership, which is backed by (INAUDIBLE), is very much (INAUDIBLE) independent. And it was their conflict with the Georgians that initially started this whole war between Georgia and Russia. So we're hoping to get a better picture from this side of the conflict over the coming days.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. And I know that you'll be working really hard to do that. Our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, in an area known as Tskhinvali, some of the very first people in and looking around at the damage that's been left behind, at least so far in this conflict. We'll stay on top of that and be in close contact with Matthew.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates discussing humanitarian aid for the Republic of Georgia. Live remarks coming up at the top of the hour -- just about five minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Good morning again, everyone. You're informed with CNN.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Thursday, August 14th. Here's what's on the rundown.

Late moves in Georgia. Russia says it hopes to get its troops out of the strategic town by the end of the day. The U.S. Defense Secretary live this hour.

HARRIS: A spectacular fire outside Philadelphia. Hundreds of people find themselves homeless this morning.

COLLINS: A critic of President Bush finds himself on a terror watch list. Is politics at play? Making the list in the NEWSROOM.

Russian forces on the move. A cease-fire seemingly still in place. Let's get the very latest now from the former Soviet of Republic of Georgia.

Russian troops remain in the Georgian city of Gori but say they will return control by the end of the day. Russian forces also firmly in place in the two territories at the center of this conflict, South Ossetia and Abhkazia, wanted to split from Georgia and more closely align with Russia. One ominous question today -- will Russia seize the two breakaway territories?

Georgia has said it will not surrender any land. And minutes ago, CNN's Matthew Chance, our senior international correspondent, reported he is looking at "other destruction" in parts of South Ossetia.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in France today to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy. He helped broker the cease-fire. Tomorrow, Rice heads to Georgia's capital of Tbilisi. The first planes have now delivered humanitarian aid to Tbilisi. The U.S. military is spearheading relief efforts there.

Of course, CNN has deployed its vast international resources to bring you all of the angles of this developing story. Frederik Pleitgen is outside the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Zain Verjee is following diplomatic efforts. And CNN's Barbara Starr is covering the humanitarian efforts.

We want to begin with Barbara at the Pentagon.

Barbara, we know Secretary Gates is moments away from taking the podium.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, we are inside a two-minute warning here at the Pentagon. Secretary Gates expected any minute here to brief reporters, the first military briefing on the record about the U.S. military involvement in delivering humanitarian aid.

The question will be -- how deeply involved will U.S. troops get in this, and how long will they be in Georgia -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, very true. And I don't want to keep you talking, Barbara, just in case he does take to the podium there.

Again, we are watching a live shot inside the Pentagon, probably directly behind you, Barbara.

What is he expected to say regarding the very immediate reactions? Aside from humanitarian aid, are we going to hear anything else, militarily if you will?

STARR: Well Heidi, he will be talking about the extent of the U.S. involvement. We're sitting down now waiting for the Secretary to come in. The extent of it -- he is expected in here any minute.

The question is going to be, besides dropping humanitarian aid off at the airport in Tbilisi, will U.S. troops go out into the countryside and help deliver that aid to the people in Georgia? And how long will U.S. troops really be there? How much of this is humanitarian aid, how much of it is demonstrating a U.S. military presence to Moscow -- Heidi?

COLLINS: OK, yes. Very good things to watch for for us.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent, inside the room there were Secretary Gates is expected to speak any moment.

Barbara, thank you.