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Russian Invasion: Aid Shipments Arrive in Georgia; Pentagon Press Conference; Refugee Camp Being Set Up Outside of Tbilisi

Aired August 14, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And very quickly, let's turn to the diplomatic push. Condoleezza Rice is in France, the first stop of her emergency talks.
CNN's Zain Verjee is at the State Department.

And Zain, if you could, give us an update on what the agenda is for the secretary and what she hopes to accomplish.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way to Tbilisi in Georgia to have talks and show solidarity, really, with a strong U.S. ally there. Essentially, the U.S. wants to present a united front against Russia.

It doesn't want to have a scenario of the U.S. versus Russia. It wants to show that the entire international community, including the Europeans, are criticizing and condemning what the Russians have done. Secretary Rice is really pushing for a diplomatic isolation of Russia if it doesn't stick to the cease-fire. The U.S. has a bunch of cards to play, Tony, but it's unclear whether Russia cares.

HARRIS: I'm so curious about this. Georgia is clearly an ally.

I'm sorry, Zain. Let's get to the Pentagon and Secretary Gates.

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Yesterday, the president directed the Department of Defense to begin a major humanitarian mission to bring relief to the people of Georgia after the violence of this past week. One C-17 loaded with supplies from Germany landed in Tbilisi on Wednesday, and another arrived early this morning.

Humanitarian missions are expected to continue in the days ahead by both land and sea. I'm sorry, by air and sea.

U.S./European command is leading the military component of a wider humanitarian relief and assistance effort, taking place under the direction of the State Department. U.S. Command deployed a survey team of experts to Georgia yesterday to assess the needs on the ground and provide recommendations. The most urgent priority for the U.S. military at this time is to save lives and alleviate suffering.

During these humanitarian relief operations, the United States expects Russia to ensure that all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, airports, roads, and airspace, remain open. As the president said, we also expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia. And we expect all Russian forces that entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country. At the request of the Georgian government, the United States airlifted approximately 1,800 Georgian troops from Iraq back to their homeland per a longstanding agreement with Georgia.

Before taking questions, I'd like also to say a few words about the implications of this week's events for our security relationship with Russia.

Starting last fall, Secretary Rice and I began what we hoped would be an ongoing and long-term strategic dialogue with the Russian Federation. The expectation was that our two nations, despite our differences, shared areas of common interest where we could work together as real partners.

Russia's behavior over the past week has called into question the entire premise of that dialogue, and has profound implications for our security relationship going forward, both bilaterally and with NATO. If Russia does not step back from its aggressive posture and actions in Georgia, the U.S./Russian relationship could be adversely affected for years to come.

As you may know, we have canceled our participation in a multinational naval exercise with Russia that was due to begin tomorrow. We've also canceled a U.S./Canadian/Russian exercise, Vigilant Eagle, that was to have begun on August 20th. In the days and weeks ahead, the Department of Defense will reexamine the entire gamut of our military-to-military activities with Russia and will make changes as necessary and appropriate, depending on Russian actions in the days ahead.

Thank you.

QUESTION: Secretary, Mr. Chairman, can you give us an assessment of what you think Russian troops are doing on the ground now? There are strong indications that they are not adhering to the cease-fire right now, that they are destroying Georgian installations as they move back toward the border.

And secondarily, can you say what you think the U.S. military is prepared to do? How long is the U.S. military prepared to stay in Georgia? How many troops are you willing to send in? And would you give the Georgians any U.S. military aid in the form of either military equipment to help them replace what they have lost?

GATES: Let me answer the last part of your question and then turn to General Cartwright.

The mission the president has given us at this point is humanitarian relief to assist the people of Georgia, and that is our focus at this point. The United States government then will turn to questions of both economic reconstruction, and also what to do to help the Georgian security forces, looking to the longer-term future. So this is a sequenced kind of thing.

We -- right now, the only people we will have on the ground are those that are required to deliver the humanitarian mission and a handful of trainers who have been in Georgia for some period of time. And General Cartwright can speak to that as well.

GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, VICE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I think on the military side -- and it's difficult at the tactical level to know each and every engagement in each town -- but generally the forces are starting to move out of the city, particularly Gori. Starting to consolidate their positions and get themselves into a position where they can start to back away towards -- as you said, towards the border. We see that going on particularly in the areas around the seaports and around Tbilisi, and up north of Tbilisi and west towards Gori.

The air activities in and around that region have slowed dramatically over the last 24 hours. Really, there's been no air activity. And so we see them generally complying and moving back into a position where they can start to make their exit in an orderly fashion.

From the standpoint of the assessments and what we might do, the intent of the team that the European command put in is to look at security situation in the context of humanitarian assistance. So, what roads are open? Where is help needed? What kind of help is need in those areas?

Is it medical? Is it communications, rebuilding infrastructure, things like that? So that we can do the right things.

There is an initial package that went in on the two C-17s. That's really the standard package we do for humanitarian assistance, focused first on shelter, then on clothing and medical supplies, rudimentary, things that we've found that almost whatever the humanitarian assistance issue is, they're going to need those things.

What we don't want to do is build some sort of mountain of supplies there with no distribution system. So the team has to also go in and look, what kind of distribution? Are the roads passable? Are regular wheeled vehicles OK? Do we need something more robust?

Can we start to move trucks? Do they have indigenous trucks and are they in good shape? So those are the types of things that we would expect to find out in the next 48 hours.

State and other agencies will put assessment teams in behind this team, give us an understanding of the country and where the need is so that we can properly apply it. Our early comments were, make sure that the airports are available to us, the roads are available to us, and the seaports available to us. And so that's the assessment that's going on during this 48 hours.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you state clearly whether there's any prospect or possibility of U.S. military force being used in this conflict?

And then a question for General Cartwright.

Can you talk about the cyber aspect to this? Have you or people within the U.S. military looked into the cyber aspect to this conflict? What conclusions have you drawn about who was responsible, whether the Georgian claims are correct, and what the signal is for the future of warfare?

GATES: I don't see any prospect for the use of military force by the United States in this situation.

Is that clear enough?

(LAUGHTER)

CARTWRIGHT: The cyber issue, attribution is very difficult in cyber anyway. And at this stage of the game, it would be premature to try to go through the forensics that we have and make a determination, although we are looking at it.

Most of what we have seen and been able to monitor and verify is of a defacing of Web sites. Not really as robust as denial of service. And so what we're trying to understand is, working our way back, what are the implications? Can we really tie this to the military activities, or was this more of a separate group that had a more political agenda?

Those are unknowns at this point. We did take some lessons from Estonia and the work that occurred there in re-hosting sites that were critical to their government. We re-hosted them in different countries, and they've been available. And indications right now are there's a low-level activity on the defacing type of activities, but general services are available.

The networks seem to be coming back up. The Internet service providers seem to be working. So we're going to back to, let's say, business as usual. But they're starting to take -- "they" being the Georgians -- are starting to be able to take over the services again, bring them and re-host them in their country. And we'll go back and look at this.

GATES: Tom.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

As someone who's watched the Soviet Union and now Russia very closely for a great number of years, what is your assessment of their military prowess today? How have they performed over this recent offensive, and what are the implications not only for the region, but for the American military?

GATES: Well, first of all, they clearly had a great advantage in having superior air power and a lot of force that they were able to bring to bear. My own view is that, you know, this -- it's a strange thing, but since 2004, every August there has been an exchange of fire between South Ossetia -- South Ossetians and the Georgians. And this year, it escalated very quickly.

And it seemed to me that the Russians were prepared to take advantage of an opportunity, and did so very aggressively, that went far beyond just reasserting the autonomy of Abkhazia and -- or their view of the autonomy of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. But to punish Georgia, and for more than just their part in the annual exchange of fire, but, rather, I think, to punish Georgia for daring to try to integrate with the West economically and politically, and in security arrangements.

I think that the Russians' further message was to all of the parts of the former Soviet Union as a signal about trying to integrate with the West and move outside of the longtime Russian sphere of influence. So I think that they had an opportunity to make some very broad points, and I think they seized that opportunity.

I think we'll have to -- how they actually performed, I think we'll take analysis at a little greater remove. But I would say in the context of what they did, as opposed to how they did it, they performed very badly.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, there are some critics who say that the Bush administration has emboldened the Georgians in sending mixed messages -- "We'll stand and fight with our friends," pushing hard for NATO membership.

What's your response to that?

GATES: Well, I don't believe that's true. The fact is, the United States government has been cautioning both the Russians and the Georgians ever since the Russians began to take some more aggressive steps last spring, sending 500 railway troops to Abkhazia to improve the supply lines there, and some of the other measures that they've taken.

And so I think that, you know, just on our part, in the very recent future, very recent past -- last Friday, I spoke to the Georgian minister of defense and urged restraint on them. I also talked to the Russian minister of defense, Minister Serdyukov, urged restraint on the Russians. And, of course, and Chairman Mullen, Admiral Mullen, talked to his Russian counterpart actually several times from Friday through Sunday. I will tell you that Minister Serdyukov told me that the Russians had no intention of going into Georgia.

So I think that, as I say, I think that the Russians saw an opportunity and they seized it.

QUESTION: On NATO membership, the issue is going to come up again in December, as you know. And there are some analysts, particularly the Atlantic Council, saying you should redouble your efforts to push for NATO membership, maybe have a meeting before December.

Does that make sense?

GATES: Well, I don't know about that. I mean, there are 26 nations involved in this process. But certainly the intent is to re- raise this issue again in December.

QUESTION: You said earlier that this could, in fact, adversely affect U.S./Russian relations for years to come. And there's already quite a bit of public speculation out there that this could lead to another Cold War situation between the U.S. and Russia.

Are the U.S. and Russia headed toward another Cold War?

GATES: Well, that certainly is not our desire, and I think that -- I think, frankly, we have been pretty restrained in this, and I would say beginning with my remarks at the Werkunde Conference a year ago February, where now Prime Minister Putin's speech was regarded by virtually everyone there as very aggressive. And we have tried not to respond in that manner.

So I think that what happens, as I indicated in my remarks, I think what happens in the days and months to come will determine the future course of U.S./Russian relations. But, by the same token, my personal view is that there needs to be some consequences for the actions that Russia has taken against a sovereign state.

QUESTION: But given your experience...

HARRIS: OK. There is a lot here to break apart. The defense secretary has said a lot this morning.

First, to the humanitarian mission that is under way right now. Defense Secretary Gates informing us that two C-17s are on the ground in Tbilisi. That is the capital of Georgia. A survey team, at least one, on the ground right now to assess the need in Georgia right now.

A couple of other areas. The troops on the ground are troops to carry out the humanitarian mission. And to the question that we've been hedging around for the last few days, since this crisis started, the secretary saying no apparent need for U.S. military action in the conflict.

Much to break out of this. And we will with our correspondents. Defense Secretary Gates continuing with a news conference and a briefing right now at the Pentagon.

COLLINS: Certainly want to take a moment to get back to the region.

Our Frederik Pleitgen is at a refugee camp now outside the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. And we want to check in with him about the progress there.

Good morning to you once again, Frederik.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning.

Of course, here, this refugee camp that I'm standing in right now, is one that isn't even fully constructed yet. It's actually still under construction. And the people who are actually setting up say that tents for this refugee camp are actually from America. They're not sure if these are the ones that were flown in with those C-17s, but they do say they got these from the U.S. Now, the fact that this refugee camp is being set up six days into this conflict says something about how dire the humanitarian situation is in this country. The people here that we are talking to say they've come from the conflict area, many of them have been traveling for several days.

They said they had a lot of trouble getting enough food, enough water, and of course enough medication for their families. And they say they're actually happy they finally made it all the way down here.

Now, the defense secretary said it, two C-17s are on the ground in Tbilisi. We saw them fly in over the course of the past, I would say, about 20 hours. One came in late last night, one came in during the course of today.

They brought in a lot of humanitarian goods. Those apparently have not yet been distributed. They're still in transition, and then will be brought to places like this one, like this for displaced people right here.

COLLINS: Frederik, I just wonder, is there any way to know at this point -- and I realize we're still working really hard to know more about exactly what the need is, and some of those answers are really tough to find. Any idea at this point how much help this will be, these two aircraft, C-17s loaded with supplies, what a difference they'll be able to make?

PLEITGEN: Well, not much of a difference. I mean, what we're hearing here from people on the ground here, especially from relief organizations like UNICEF, they say a whole lot more is needed. But they also say that there are also flights coming in from other countries, from other relief agencies as well. But they do say there is a great humanitarian need.

Now, having said that, UNICEF says it really doesn't even have an assessment of how bad the situation is in a lot of the conflict areas. Of course, you mentioned one of them. That is Gori, where the situation is just absolutely horrific, people say.

And so they are still trying to assess that. But they say a lot more is needed than these two airplanes.

COLLINS: Yes, all right.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen at a refugee camp there that's still being set up, actually, right outside of Tbilisi.

Thank you, Frederik.

HARRIS: And let's get to our State Department correspondent now, Zain Verjee.

Zain, so much from the defense secretary there for us to sort through. Secretary Gates saying he expects Russian troops to withdraw from Georgia, flatly. When you talk about this action now, the secretary saying that this action, if it's not reversed, if the Russian troops don't pull out of Georgia, the security relationship with Russia would have to be reassessed. It could adversely impact that relationship for years to come.

One still wonders what we can do, what the United States can do, to stop Russia. And I guess the corollary is, can Russia be stopped?

VERJEE: Well, that's the million-dollar question everyone is asking -- what exactly is the U.S. going to do? What kind of cards does it have to play? And will Russia even care?

HARRIS: Yes.

VERJEE: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to Tbilisi, but she's stopped over of in France to meet with the French president, whose brokered this cease-fire. Just a few moments ago, Secretary Rice said that it was time for this crisis to be over, and once again she called on Russia to honor the cease-fire.

What can the U.S. do? Well, Rice is saying that the U.S. and Europe can diplomatically isolate Russia. But who knows, like I said, if Russia will listen?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): Russian hardware moving further into Georgian territory than anyone expected. So literally and figuratively, just how far is Russia willing to go? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice didn't mince words.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Russia has perhaps not accepted that it is time to move on from the Cold War, and it is time to move to a new era.

VERJEE: But even if Russia stops now with Georgia, does it have designs on other parts of its former Soviet empire?

SARAH MENDELSON, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: If I were a neighbor of Russia and I saw what Russia had done to Georgia, I would be very nervous.

VERJEE: To its former surrounding republics, Russia's message is clear: We are making the rules, so you'd better play by them.

RICE: This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can threaten its neighbors, occupy a capital, overthrow a government, and get away with it. Things have changed.

VERJEE: The U.S. is warning Russia will pay a price for invading Georgia. Russia could be booted out of the exclusive group of industrialized nations, and its World Trade Organization membership is at stake. The U.S. may suspend contacts with Russia and cut off cooperation with NATO.

But Russia may just ignore the U.S.

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: They've been gaining wealth through their export of oil and gas, they've been gaining military power. And so they're starting to flex their military muscle. But most importantly, at this point they want respect.

VERJEE: If there's one message Russia is sending to this world, it's this: We're back. Deal with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to Georgia, she says, to show the U.S.'s solidarity with Georgia and that it supports its territorial integrity. Those are some of the statements she also made a short while ago while she was in France.

Here's a little more of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: ... to concerns about Russian activities, and we've discussed those. Those need to stop.

The cease-fire, the provisional cease-fire that was agreed to, really must go into place. And that means that military activities have to stop.

It is very good that the United States and the European Union, through France, can work so closely together when these crises arise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The idea here, at least from the State Department, that we understand, is that the U.S. doesn't want to present this as the U.S. versus Russia again here. What they want to do is present a united front, that the entire international community, the Europeans, the United States, is utterly appalled with what the Russians have done. And they want to add that kind of diplomatic pressure and get them to stand down.

One noticeable thing, Tony, Secretary Rice is not going to Moscow, part of the whole idea to isolate Russia.

HARRIS: Terrific that you were able to get that new video and that new sound from the secretary on the air for us.

Our State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee for us.

Zain, thanks.

COLLINS: Also, so helpful in this situation to get back to the region to find out exactly what is going on.

Our Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance is there. He's coming to us live now from an area known as Tskhinvali.

Matthew, what can you tell us?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, Tskhinvali is the rebel capital of South Ossetia. That's been the main focus of the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the course of the past week.

It's this city where Georgian forces moved in an attempt to try and seize back control of this rebel-controlled territory that has been really outside Georgian government hands for, you know, many years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was very fierce fighting here. You know, and I can tell you, and the evidence of that is all around.

Destroyed apartment buildings, the twisted wreckage of two Georgian tanks that were destroyed, according to Russian officials, by South Ossetian rebels, as Georgian tanks rolled into this rebel capital over the course of August the 7th, August the 8th, last week. And a lot of civilians, thousands of them, fleeing the fighting to the south Russian city of (INAUDIBLE).

Some pockets of civilians still here, though, and many of them choosing to brave out the fighting and hide in cellars. They didn't want to lose their homes.

One of the big issues, though, Heidi, that we're concerned about and that we're going to be looking into is the level of civilian casualties. Now, there are big differences in the figures given by both sides.

The Russians say at least 2,000 people were killed as a result of the fighting between their forces, the Ossetians, and the Georgians. The Georgians say the real figure was much lower. We're hoping to get -- we're going to investigate this. We're hoping to get more clarity as the days go on -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, because those numbers really have been all over the map, and everybody is really wanting to know what the exact situation is, if there's any way to find out.

Matthew, you have covered conflicts all over this world for years. We're wondering how you were able to get behind Russian front lines as you are right now.

CHANCE: Well, to be honest, Heidi, we've been negotiating with the Russians for several days now, since they really started to occupy the Georgian town of Gori. And they're in full course in that town now.

We drove across the Russian lines with a Russian escort, through the town of Gori, into this rebel territory of South Ossetia, into Tskhinvali. We've been able to make that happen.

We're under some reporting restrictions at the moment. We're being asked to move on right now, in fact. We're with the Russian authorities. We can't move at this stage freely around the area, but we're hoping to visit as much of this Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian rebel-held capital, as we can over the coming hours.

Back to you.

COLLINS: All right. We will stay in close contact. Sure do appreciate it.

Our senior international correspondent in the region. In fact, behind Russian front lines.

CNN's Matthew Chance.

Matthew, thanks. Stay safe.

HARRIS: Boy.

Another story that we're watching, and it's about an impending baby boom. The U.S. population will get much, much bigger over the next 40 years. And it is going to change the face of America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get this news out to you as well today. The FTC takes on Airborne, maker of a widely used cold remedy. The company is accused of deceptive advertising. We have just learned there has been a multi-million dollar settlement. Now medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with more on this.

We just saw a picture of the product there.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, this was a very, very popular product. People were taking it, it was invented by a second grade teacher. People thought it would keep them from getting the colds on an airplane.

Well, the FTC says that these claims that it would prevent colds and fight germs are deceptive and that you can get your money back if you feel that you were -- say -- tricked in any way. So, there is now $30 million that is available to people who feel like they want to get their money back.

Let me tell you what Airborne has to say about all of this. Airborne denies wrongdoing or illegal activity. They say, "..Our products help support the immune system. In fact, the key ingredients in Airborne have been studied in scientific research and reported in medical journals."

COLLINS: So when you say deceptive, what is it that people thought, or at least in this case, or in these claims -- people were thinking that they would remain healthy or that they would never get sick? What was it that --

COHEN: Right. People were thinking that they wouldn't get a cold if they took Airborne because the product claimed to prevent colds. But what the FTC says today is that there was no substantiation for those claims. They were just making claims without substantiating them. COLLINS: Well, you can't do that.

COHEN: Well the FTC says you can't, absolutely.

COLLINS: Yes, all right. Well, we will continue to follow that one for you.

Quickly though, people can only get their money back for the product, it's not like there's an abundance of money available for the individuals.

COHEN: Correct, correct. But if you feel like you ought to be getting your money back, you can go to a Web site -- it is airbornehealthsettlement.com, and you can go there and you can ask them -- you can try to be a part of this settlement.

COLLINS: OK. Got it.

I guess the overall question is, does the stuff work or not? Has that even been answered?

COHEN: Yes, the FTC says that these claims were deceptive. The FTC says that when they claimed to prevent colds and fight off colds and prevent germs, they said that just was never substantiated.

COLLINS: OK. So is it still on the market though?

COHEN: It is still on the market.

COLLINS: That's very weird.

COHEN: It does seem a little bit weird. But there's nothing unsafe about this, according to the FTC. They're not saying that this is going to harm anyone. So it's still there, you can still buy it, but they're not making the same claims they used to that's for sure.

COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, we'll follow that one.

Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: The terror watch list, some say they got on it by criticizing President Bush. CNN's special investigations unit will look into that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The terror watch list -- an author says he was put on it after writing a book critical of President Bush. That's the story our special investigations unit's Drew Griffin knows too well. He found himself on the watch list after reports critical of the TSA, so Drew talked to the author, Jim Moore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: He has written three books about President Bush, all critical. And his toughest, "Bush's War for Reelection."

JIM MOORE, AUTHOR: That book was released right after Labor Day in 2004, and that started the entire national controversy over George W. Bush and the National Guard.

GRIFFIN: Moore's research into the president's National Guard service dogged the Bush reelection campaign in the fall of 2004.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I accept your nomination for president of the United States!

GRIFFIN: After George Bush won reelection in November, Moore decided to go on vacation. It was January. And it was his first flight since that election. And something was wrong, he couldn't check in at home, couldn't check in at a kiosk. He went to the ticket counter and found out why.

MOORE: All of a sudden I find myself on the no fly watch or selectee list, and traveling became very, very complicated.

GRIFFIN: According to the ACLU, his name is one of a million names and aliases that have a match on the so-called terror watch list. When Moore called the TSA, as directed by the airline, he says a TSA employee told him he would just have to put up with it.

MOORE: And she said the only thing I can tell you, Mr. Moore, is that there is something in your background which is similar to someone they're looking for.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Do you buy it?

MOORE: No, of course not.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In a statement to CNN, the FBI, which manages the database, says while it does not reveal who is on or not on the list for national security reasons, the FBI does say, "... nominations to the watch list are handled and reviewed by non- political, career intelligence and law enforcement officials who make their determinations solely on the basis of the available information and whether there is a reasonable suspicion to believe the individual is involved in terrorism."

The FBI says in several government audits there's been, "no suggestion" anyone got on the watch list for political reasons.

Last month, Congress held hearings asking Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff if people are being added to the list for reasons other than security. Specifically, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee asking why I was placed on the list shortly after CNN aired critical investigative reports on the lack of federal air marshals. Jackson-Lee is expecting a response from the Homeland Security Department in the next few weeks.

Moore says he's been waiting for three years.

MOORE: I'm stuck like everybody else, yourself included, on this list with wondering either, am I someone's political enemy, or do I live in a country where the government is just utterly and completely incompetent? And those are -- neither one of those are pleasant thoughts.

GRIFFIN: We did ask the FBI for any information on any terrorist who shares Jim Moore's name. The FBI refused.

In the meantime, this Jim Moore says being on the watch list has kept him out of the sky. He is flying much less.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN's Drew Griffin joining us now on the set.

All right. So Drew, are you and Jim Moore just complete left- wing conspiracy nuts who think that the administration is out to get you because you are critical of it in your reporting? What's the deal here?

GRIFFIN: Heidi, it does sound like we're a couple of paranoid kooks. And --

COLLINS: Well I'm not saying that.

GRIFFIN: -- what the heck does the government care whether or not Drew Griffin flies or not? Until you start to try to figure out, OK, well why am I on this list? Why am I -- if I'm a false positive, why is anybody named Drew Griffin on the terrorist watch list?

And I started to -- you know I have some friends in law enforcement, including international law enforcement. They can't find anybody on anybody's watch list, suspected watch list, with my name of Drew Griffin. So is it incompetence, is it something else? That's what Congress is really trying to find out. But I do agree, it sounds a little nutty.

COLLINS: And the big thing is just trying to get that answer. Obviously it's been difficult. And there's been an awful lot of attention that's been focused on this. We saw Sheila Jackson Lee, we saw Congress talking about it.

If it's a problem, what is the solution?

GRIFFIN: What is the solution is what everybody is trying to find out now. The airlines have been waiting for years, they say, for TSA to solve this problem. That's how long it has been going on, many years, thousands and thousands of people being mistakenly placed on this list who can't get off.

Well now, finally, the TSA, and specifically Department of Homeland Security, says there is going to be a solution when the TSA takes over the entire list. So we'll see.

COLLINS: So it's them, not them?

GRIFFIN: Yes. COLLINS: Got it.

GRIFFIN: We'll see.

COLLINS: And there are other people on this list besides you?

GRIFFIN: Quite a few.

COLLINS: I can't believe it.

GRIFFIN: I'll give you just a little tease, guys. We're going to introduce you to probably the youngest terror suspect you've ever of seen.

COLLINS: Coming up, next time around.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

COLLINS: We'll wait for it.

Drew Griffin, thank you.

HARRIS: The U.S. population will get much, much bigger over the next 40 years and it is going to change the face of America.

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HARRIS: A week-and-a-half before the Democrats head to Colorado for their convention, it's Republican John McCain swinging through the state today. He's got several stops lined up -- a finance event in Edwards next hour and a speech in Aspen later. Meanwhile, Democratic rival Barack Obama is continuing his vacation in Hawaii with his family.

COLLINS: We are going to take a quick break. We have some news to get to. We're going to come back with it regarding Hillary Rodham Clinton and the possibility of her being on the nomination, coming up at the Democratic National Convention. We'll have the very latest for you coming up in just a moment.

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COLLINS: All right. We're going to try to sort something out here, some news just in to CNN regarding Hillary Rodham Clinton. According to our sources, CNN has been able to confirm, from the best political team on television, that according to a Democratic Party source, the Clinton-Obama campaigns have come to an agreement that will allow Hillary Clinton's name to be placed in nomination. This has, of course, been an issue for quite some time. A lot of speculation from both sides, and not only those two sides that you see on the screen, the Obama camp and the Clinton camp, but also the Republican side and Democratic side.

So certainly a lot of angles to cover, a lot more to talk about here. We are working this story for you. But at this point, we have been able to confirm that they have been able to come to an agreement from the Clinton and Obama campaigns that Hillary Rodham Clinton will have her name placed in nomination. More to come on this one.

HARRIS: Wow.

The complexion of America is changing, and a lot faster than you think. In just 34 years, the Census Bureau says whites will no longer be a majority in this country. Immigration and higher birth rates, especially among Hispanics, causing a rapid shift in demographics.

Here's the breakdown for you, projecting now to 2050 -- 2050. Hispanics will make up 30 percent of the population, blacks will account for 15 percent, whites 46 percent, and Asians 9 percent.

And more of us will be living longer. The Census Bureau estimates the number of people over 85 will triple to 19 million.

Forty years from now, everyone in America will belong to minorities. Some groups will be bigger than others, but none will be a majority. Josh Levs has been pouring over the just-released projections from the U.S. Census Bureau.

And Josh, what are you finding?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what is interesting? Pretty much what it boils down to is the Census Bureau saying we're going to have this big population boom between now and 2050, except for white people. Today about 200 million white people -- same thing, 2050. Meanwhile, the population is going to jump from about 300 million today to about 440 million people in America.

Let me break it down for you. I want to start off with one quote from the Census Bureau that they're giving to us today, just so you'll understand how they are defining minority. I put it in gray here. The minority population they consider, "everyone except non-Hispanic, single race (ph) whites." That is how they are defining it.

All right. Let's back up a little bit. I'm going to break down some of these figures for you on this other screen behind me. Let me step out of the way.

Let's go to the first numbers we have here. So, in general, that minorities in America will be the majority as you were saying there, by 2042. And minorities will be 54 percent of the country by 2050. And this is really close, 2023, the majority of children in this country will be considered minorities.

All right, let's move on to the next one, break down some of the individual minority groups. Among Latinos, this is the biggest boom we've got. Look at that -- 47 million Americans are Latino now, 133 million by 1050. Let's go to the next one, for the black population in America, which includes African-Americans and Caribbeans. 41 million now, 66 million by 2050. And the final one now will go over to the Asian population. It's going to jump from 16 million to 41 million, Tony.

So basically, that's where the population growth is going to be. Not among the way they're defining the majority, which as you say will no longer be a majority, it will be a plurality.

HARRIS: There you go. All right, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Turning waste into fuel and more. One of the byproducts of high gas prices.

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HARRIS: Biodiesel production on the rise, but what to do with all of the waste? The researchers think they have a solution, turning it into valuable chemicals.

Here's CNN's Reynolds Wolf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: High gas prices have sent production of alternative fuels, like biodiesel, soaring. Also soaring is the waste left over from the biodiesel production. For every 10 pounds biodiesel produced, so is a pound of glycerin, yes, the same stuff found in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. And now there's a glut of the stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some colonies are few.

WOLF: But researchers at Rice University in Houston have found a way to turn glycerin into another biofuel, ethanol. They can also turn into an even more valuable chemical, like succinate, used in everything from road de-icers to dietary supplements.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is basically the first part of the process.

WOLF: The process ferments the glycerin, using a strain of E.coli that doesn't cause disease. And there is a side benefit, the process also helps trap the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually grabs CO2 from the atmosphere in the process of converting the glycerin into the chemical product. And definitely that way we are actually decreasing pollution.

WOLF: The researchers also say this is the more ecofriendly way to make succinate, which is traditionally produced using, you guessed it, oil. Plus, succinate it is a multi-billion dollar market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the biodiesel industry were to adapt the technology that we have developed, it will completely change the economic biodiesel production making them economically viable.

WOLF: Mass production could take a while yet, but the process has been licensed to a start-up company, which could have a demonstration plant running within a year.

Reynolds Wolf, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A schoolgirl gets a dressing down because her shirt has too many buttons?

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COLLINS: A school dress code turns into a hot button issue in Yuma, Arizona. The controversy is over the number of buttons on a middle schoolgirl's shirt. The school says it's too many. Officials say there's a reason for restricting the number of buttons. But the girl's mother says the dress code only calls for red, blue, or white polo shirts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA HELPHAND, MOTHER: Chelsea came in and I said your shirt looks fine. And they said, no, she has too many buttons. And I said, you've got to be kidding me.

CHRIS WEIGEL, SCHOOL DISTRICT SPOKESMAN: The reason for choosing a polo is for modesty purposes, so that we didn't have girls, in this case, unbuttoning shirts where cleavage was being exposed and that kind of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: District officials say they may add a specific provision on the buttons to the dress code. So there'll be no question.

CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now.

HARRIS: "ISSUE #1" with Ali Velshi and Christine Romans starts right now.