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Sawtooth Wildfire Out Of Control; Mumbai Bombs Believed to be Powerful Military Explosive; President Bush to Arrive in Germany Today; Outside Baghdad, Rumsfeld Meets With Iraqi Leaders; FDA Approves HIV Drug; Einstein's Letters; Researchers Say Wildfires Becoming More Frequent

Aired July 12, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Zero containment, and firefighters won't even hazard a guess about when the Sawtooth wildfire might be controlled. The leading edge of the blaze is buzzing across California's Yucca Valley. Live pictures now.
It's fueled by dry terrain and blustery winds. More than 17,000 acres scorched so far, including Pioneertown, home to dozens of TV and movie westerns.

Evacuation centers have been set up for more than a thousand people forced to flee their homes. Livestock has been herded to safer ground.

We're keeping a close watch and we're going to bring you the latest news as it continues to happen.

Now, the California fires have devastated the Wild West, or at least an important piece of its history. This is what's left of Pioneertown. It was built in 1946 and became the setting of dozens of movie and TV westerns. And even though celluloid cowboys such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers have ridden into the sunset, Pioneertown remained a popular tourist spot, hosting Old West reenactments and billing itself as "How the West Was Once."

Tracey Martinez is a public information officer for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. She joins me now by phone.

Tracey, can you bring us up to date on evacuations?

TRACEY MARTINEZ, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, SAN BERNARDINO FIRE DEPT.: Well, right now we are evacuating in the northwest section of the Burns Canyon area. We're asking residents to evacuate.

There's about 100 homes in that area, and we're asking them to evacuate through the Big Bear area. Now, that's on the north side of the fire. Then we also have on the other end of the fire towards the southwest side in the Morongo -- Little Morongo Canyon area about 100 residents evacuating, as well.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, has anyone been injured to this point, or does it look like you're ahead of things here and you're able to get people out of there before they get into trouble? MARTINEZ: Well, unfortunately, yesterday, when the fire took off and really started spreading very quickly, two citizens received first and second-degree burns, and then we ended up having eight firefighters receive minor injuries.

PHILLIPS: Wow. So, it moves that quickly.

MARTINEZ: Yes, it did.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about Pioneertown, built in 1946. We even mentioned, Tracey, you know, we know this so well for old westerns and a place to go, a tourist spot, pretty much burnt to the ground from the pictures that we're seeing.

Does it look as bad as the video that we're seeing? Is this just a small portion of what was damaged, or is this area pretty much wiped out?

MARTINEZ: Well, there's portions of Pioneertown that got hit pretty hard. We know that we've lost 30 structures in and around Pioneertown. That could be out buildings, residents.

But firefighters also saved a great many number of historical landmarks and homes and structures in that area. So, we have a damage assessment team in there now, and we hope to get people back in there to see if their residence is still standing.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know being from southern California this is a pretty possible -- or a popular place to go, Tracey. I mean, can you just tell our viewers, give them a sense to what kind of historical landmarks we're talking about and some of the films that were shot there.

Can you just sort of remind our viewers of the history?

MARTINEZ: Well, there's been quite a few old western movies shot up in the area. There's been, actually, newer westerns that they're putting out. And just a lot of old movie sets, a lot of -- there's a restaurant up there in the Pioneertown area that has a nice dance hall, and it makes you feel like you're back in the Old West. It's got that great atmosphere.

Firefighters were able to save that restaurant and several of the movie sets. And like I said, several of the residents up in the area, as well.

PHILLIPS: What about the livestock, Tracey?

MARTINEZ: Well, many residents just cut their livestock loose because evacuations were done so quickly. So we do have some horses out in the area. But county's animal control is up in the area trying to round up all of the -- all the animals and get them to shelters so we can return them to their residences.

PHILLIPS: Anything that you see that you're in need of? I mean, are there enough firefighters, enough -- is there enough equipment to tackle this?

MARTINEZ: Well, we have quite a bit of equipment on scene already and quite a bit of water. We have a lot of air attacks. We're hitting this fire with everything with everything we can without depleting resources in other areas, because the fire danger right now is extremely high.

PHILLIPS: Tracey Martinez, public information officer for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

Thanks so much, Tracey. We'll continue to check in with you and stay on top of these California wildfires.

Well, burying the dead, unearthing clues. Mumbai, India, a day after a string of railway bombings killed or wounded almost a thousand people. The dead, they number 200 now. And among the reported clues, timers hidden in pencils.

Our Aneesh Raman joins me now on the phone.

What do we know about these timers, Aneesh?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're getting indications from police that they suspect -- and all of this is early at the moment in the investigation -- that potentially timers were in pencils aboard these trains. They are linking that and the explosives residue that they found to one known Islamic militant group within India.

They are not naming names; careful not to do so yet. Careful, as well, in the aftermath of that attack.

As you say today, though, Mumbai is a city moved forward. It rebounded. It's seen attacks before. Not in this magnitude in really over a decade, but its people were resilient, back on the trains, back on the streets.

The city of about 16 million, 10 million of which rely on those trains to get around. It is the lifeblood of activity here.

But for the families of the 185 to 200 -- and that death toll keeps changing -- that were killed in the attack, today was about cremating their dead, it was about consoling each other, and it was a moment to express anger. They felt, the ones that we met and have just returned from their homes, that there was too much chaos in the aftermath of this incident.

Many were unable to find out where their relatives were in the aftermath of this attack, unable to use their phones for hours. The networks had been cut by the government. And when they did, many of the casualties were brought to overwhelmed government hospitals. Many of the injured who can afford it have now moved to private hospitals.

But there was a large outpouring of support, especially by Mumbai's poor, who live in shantytowns, who came out to help those who were more affluent. The first class cargo parts is what was hit in these trains. And so, both a sense of collective spirit, but also immense tragedy here tonight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You know, you bring up a very good point, Aneesh, and that is the people there in India. I remember my trip and I was amazed by the people that had absolutely nothing that gave back and never took advantage of anything.

So, you've actually been seeing this throughout this disaster.

RAMAN: We have. And, you know, Mumbai was a city that just some weeks ago had flooding, where a number of people were killed, where, again, the city came out. And they take pride and they voiced pride to me throughout the day at how this city reacted as a people, how the residents of Mumbai from the absurdly poor to the immensely rich, which covers the gamut of extremities of the people that lived here, pulled together.

They were all one in the aftermath. And they had to be. They had to rely on each other.

It is a city that is brimming at the seams when it comes to the amount of people that are here. And so, in that ensuing chaos after the attack, it was implausible to expect the government, the ambulances, the state-run services to get to the people who needed it. And so, it became the poor who were at the scene who helped. It became the rich who were at the scene who helped.

All of that didn't matter. They were simply residents of Mumbai. So, in that they take great pride tonight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Aneesh Raman. Thanks so much.

Well, raw nerves for the morning rush in Chicago, all because of trouble last night in the evening rush on a subway headed for O'Hare airport. Streets turned into triage areas as riders staggered out of a tunnel where a train somehow jumped the track and caught fire. Dozens of people were hurt, two are still in critical condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People didn't know what happened. Some people were screaming, some people were yelling, some people were telling other people to be calm. Some women were saying they were going to pass out, that they were feeling faint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the NTSB is investigating, but there are no signs of foul play or terrorism.

It's time for the world's economic superpowers to hold their annual get-together. President Bush is on his way to Russia now, but he's making a stop over in Germany to see one of his newest friends on the world stage.

CNN's Chris Burns in Rostock, Germany, with a preview.

Hey, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

President Bush will be able to see how much this region has changed, former communist Eastern Germany. He arrives, flies into Rostock, to what used to be a base for Soviet MiG fighter jets. He spends the night in Haligadam (ph). That was a swanky beach resort for the communists.

And tomorrow he has a walk through memory lane with the chancellor, Angela Merkel, who used to be from this area in a town called Stralsund. At this point, since early this evening, it's been closed down as it turned into a fortress, again, as the medieval fortress it used to be.

We got a chance to take a look at it before it was locked down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS (voice-over): At a 13th century town hall where couples flock to tie the knot, President Bush and Chancellor Angela Merkel aim to tighten the diplomatic knot. Stralsund is Merkel country. It's the conservative chancellor's electoral district in former communist Eastern Germany, a place to mark how far this region has come under democracy.

Despite reservations about Mr. Bush's policies, the deputy mayor welcomes the president's visit. "Guantanamo will be discussed, and we were also a bit like Guantanamo here in Eastern Germany. There was also a big fence around us," he says.

Nearly 17 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Port of Stralsund symbolizes the East's collapse and problematic rebirth. Though unemployment remains over 20 percent, tourism is flourishing in Stralsund.

(on camera): This small-town setting is perhaps the closest thing in Germany to a Crawford, Texas, style meeting place. And the fact Mr. Bush is spending three days here is also telling of just how close this newfound friendship is. Mr. Bush practically bounced through Germany when he met the last chancellor.

(voice-over): Though Mrs. Merkel hasn't sent any troops to Iraq, just like leftist former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, she has deployed reinforcements to Afghanistan. And she's worked closely with the president in pressuring Iran over its nuclear program.

A needed friend after Mr. Bush's closest allies have dwindled or are on their way out.

EBERHARD SANDSCHNEIDER, GERMAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Maybe he doesn't have many friends left, but Angela Merkel certainly grew into that position.

BURNS: Mr. Bush may see some of his opponents here. Peace flags fly at the union office across from the town hall. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like his ideas of changing the world in his way.

BURNS: Some have World Cup-style red penalty cards ready for both leaders. They criticize the tight limits on planned protests.

CHRISTIAN JAX, STRALSUND LEAGUE: I think that it's not what democracy means for me.

BURNS: As usual, security will be tight for the visit. Here, frogmen practice ahead of the massive land and sea sweeps for explosives. Twelve thousand police are to be deployed.

Efforts to ensure this visit is an idyllic place to build a new friendship.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS: And very important for this bonding, especially after today's decision by the U.N. Security Council five with Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state. Plus, Germany today deciding to go ahead and take this issue on Iran's nuclear program to the Security Council for further action. That's why this meeting over the next few days is so important -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Also important, this relationship with Merkel. Bush needs a new best friend.

BURNS: Well, yes, absolutely. And what is interesting is that Mrs. Merkel is supported by much of Germany, by at least half the country. But the other half is not very happy, and that's where Mrs. Merkel is going to be watching, while walking a very tight rope, to appease not only those who support her, but those who would like to see more action taken, for instance, on Guantanamo.

The social democrats who are in her government are demanding that there be a timetable. Now, you might not bet on her asking for that, but she could have some more diplomatic words about it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chris Burns, appreciate your time.

The army is making strides, police are lagging. Donald Rumsfeld's take on Iraqi security forces on his latest unannounced visit. The U.S. defense secretary met with Iraqi leaders and with U.S. troops at an airbase outside Baghdad.

CNN's Barbara Starr is watching it from the Pentagon.

Barbara, what's Rumsfeld telling both groups?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the secretary meeting today in Iraq with the new prime minister, Nouri al- Maliki, and, of course, General George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, discussing a number of matters. But, as always, security tops the list, Kyra. And the secretary mainly talking about his concerns about sectarian violence. Have a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: If you think about it, the sectarian violence has a purpose. The people engaged in it are not engaged in it for no reason at all. And one of the purposes there, they have in mind, probably the first and most important, is there are those who would like to see a civil war in this country.

They would like -- they have decided that they know they can't win on the battlefield. The only way they can win, they believe, is to create anarchy and to cause the country to become a failed state so that they can then pick up the pieces and impose their will and establish a caliphate here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Kyra, one of the things the secretary is talking about is what he sees, as you were mentioning, the difference between Iraqi army forces and Iraqi police forces. He believes that Iraqi army forces are making progress and are doing better.

He expressed a lot of concern in his various appearances about the capabilities of Iraqi police forces. That, of course, is the segment of the Iraqi security structure where there is so much concern about militia infiltration and the role of the Shia groups, the Shia death squads, as General Casey is now calling them, that have been responsible, it is believed, for so much of the sectarian violence. By one estimate now circulating in Iraq, more than 100 people have died in Baghdad in sectarian attacks in the last few days alone.

So, it just underscores how serious the issue is right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Barbara, what's an interesting dynamic to watch -- tell me if you agree or what you noticed about what happened in parliament today -- but U.S. forces, the United States, President Bush getting a lot of pressure about securing Iraq. Now you saw the Iraqi prime minister really taking a beating in parliament.

STARR: There is a lot of concern about all of this. Of course, one of the issues in the Iraqi parliament right now is the reconciliation program.

Prime Minister al-Maliki, in this reconciliation program, reaching out to Sunnis, trying to get that reconciliation process going to try and bring them into the political structure. Something that Rumsfeld believes is going to be key to reducing the violence, getting all these factions working together. But in light of many of these recent attacks, many of these alleged misconduct atrocities by U.S. troops in Iraq, some members of the Iraqi parliament now calling for much tougher rules ending that so-called immunity for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Just a lot of stress and tension throughout the Iraqi political structure right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, thanks a lot.

Straight ahead, even the toughest cowboy might shed a tear as a historic California town goes up in smoke.

More on where the West was once as LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, back now to Yucca Valley, California, where strong winds are fueling wildfires that have torched thousands of acres and displaced hundreds of people now. These are pictures of the aptly named Sawtooth Fire, and it bites into tinderbox terrain.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the latest now from Yucca Valley -- Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, what we're hearing from firefighters now, the very latest is that they're widening the evacuation area. They're widening the evacuation to an area called Bird's Canyon (ph). So, those people are being asked to leave their homes, but in this particular area, for the residents here, this is a waiting game.

We've actually just come across Scott Clow. He's a resident of this area.

Now, your home is actually right at the base of these hills, is that right?

SCOTT CLOW, RESIDENT: Yes, ma'am.

LAH: And so, what happened this morning? You started hearing the police knocking on your door?

CLOW: Well, they were going up -- with the loud speaker going up the street and saying the fire is coming near and it's a mandatory evacuation.

LAH: You haven't evacuated, though?

CLOW: No, not yet. I haven't felt the need yet. A little concerned, but I'm OK, doing OK right now.

LAH: What have you done? You were telling me about some of the measures you've taken into your own hands to try to protect your house.

CLOW: Yes. I have a huge sprinkler. And I was -- the brush around the backyard, I wet it all down. So it helped me feel a little bit better. And we went wet the whole trees and everything down, so hopefully preventive medicine so that they don't catch on fire.

LAH: The fire, you said, the backfires -- we believe these are backfires -- are about 1,000 yards from your house.

CLOW: Correct.

LAH: So, at what point do you decide to follow the mandatory evacuation order?

CLOW: Well, I was watching the smoke, and it's going away from us. And that's kind of what I've been telling -- how the wind, telling how the wind goes. If it changes and comes back towards us, that's when I'm going to get a little worried.

I'm concerned right now, but I'm OK. So -- see the wind shifted a little bit right there, so kind of coming towards us. That's when I'm going to get worried. But they did the backdraft, so hopefully there's nothing to burn.

LAH: All right.

Scott Clow, we wish you the very best.

And a lot of Scott's neighbors are also sitting out here waiting, hoping that this entire fire and this backfire is actually successful, and so that firefighters can get a handle on this. Right now, they're still saying zero percent containment, this is still burning out of control -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kyung Lah, we'll stay in touch with you.

Thanks so much.

Well, for HIV or AIDS patients daily medication is a lifeline, and soon it will be a lot easier to live with. The FDA has just approved a combo drug, three vital medications in a single pill.

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen now here with all the details.

Tell us about it.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is actually a big deal for AIDS patients and for people who might catch AIDS from them. And I'll tell you why.

People remember -- if you remember back in the day, 10 years ago, AIDS patients were taking these miraculous antiviral drugs that really were saving their lives, but they were taking sometimes 20 or 30 pills a day. It was a very difficult regimen to keep up with.

Sometimes they would wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes the drugs -- some could be taken with food, some couldn't. And if people didn't stick to it, it meant that they could get sicker and it would increase the chance that they would pass the virus along to somebody else.

However, what has just been announced today is that the FDA has approved a drug that would be three antivirals put together. So, you take -- these are three that are very commonly taken as separate pills, Sustiva, Viread and Emtriva. Those are all antivirals that don't just make someone feel better, they actually attack the very virus that causes AIDS. And so this would be something that is much easier for people to take, and here you see some of these drugs.

And so, again, it's hoped that these will help people who are suffering from HIV-AIDS. And then, also, as -- as scientists say, it decreases their viral load. As less of the virus is in their body, it decreases the chance that they would pass that on to somebody else.

PHILLIPS: What about the cost?

COHEN: The cost -- you know, cost is always an issue with HIV drugs. It's probably going to be, they have been saying, about $1,100 a month. That's quite a bit.

Now, people who are lucky to have good insurance, insurance will pay for it. But these has been a great problem in medicine. These are life-saving drugs, but not everyone can afford them.

PHILLIPS: So, if you think -- OK, very expensive, life-saving drugs, though. So if you think about HIV in Africa, other parts of the world, could this simplify the bigger problem worldwide?

COHEN: Right, because as terrible as HIV is in this country, in the United States, it's even worse in places like Africa. And so they're hoping that this drug will be helpful, because, as you can imagine in the United States, where most people can read, it's difficult to keep up with a tough regimen. It's even harder if someone is in a developing country and perhaps is illiterate and having a hard time keeping up with this.

So that's -- that's the big hope. However, cost is an issue, and so it's a matter of all those programs that we've heard about, about helping people pay in Africa pay for HIV drugs. The pharmaceutical companies offering them at a discount. The hope is, is that continues with this drug.

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, pretty interesting. Thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, two wives, assorted mistresses. It doesn't take a quantum physicist to figure out that Albert Einstein had a lot going on outside the laboratory.

The Romeo of relativity unmasked right here on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Big Bang, was it more than a theory for Albert Einstein? Hebrew University in Jerusalem has released hundreds of letters saved by Einstein's stepdaughter. They show that Einstein found fidelity, well, relative.

It wasn't his fault he had two wives and various lovers orbiting around him. Women like his Russian spy lover, Margarita, found him hotter than a radioactive isotope. Diana Buchwald is director of the Einstein Papers Project at Cal Tech. She joins me from Los Angeles with more on the private side of this genius.

Diane, I guess you could look at these letters and say, wow, he was not only a passionate person about his professional life, but quite a passionate person when it came to his personal life.

DIANE BUCHWALD, CALIFORNIA INST. OF TECHNOLOGY: Well, yes. It seems so. But the most interesting aspects of the letters that were just released are much more complex than some possible relationships with two or three women that we know about over the course of a very long life.

The letters that were released are in addition to a huge archive that has been collected over the last 50 years and contains thousands of items. Here we're talking about 1,000 or so additional items from his two families.

His first family, with his first wife, Mileva Einstein Maric, and their two sons, Hans Albert and Eduard, contains about 700 items, letters of correspondence, most of them written to Einstein. And the second collection of items that is part of the Margot Einstein bequest is of about 400 items of which 300 written by Albert Einstein.

These, to me, seem to be of primary significance and primary interest because we see the man in his own words writing to Elsa Einstein, to his stepdaughters, Margot and Elsa Einstein, and to other members of the family.

PHILLIPS: And let's talk about that, Diana. Let's talk about the relationships among the wives and the kids. This is where we learn a lot about Albert Einstein.

First of all, his wife, Mileva, the Serbian physicist, had helped him with his math back -- that paper -- the famous paper from 1905. He ended up crediting her with what he had done, correct? And even gave a lot of his awards to her.

BUCHWALD: Yes, he did mention that as young people they had collaborated in the sense that they discussed their work in their letters, and one on one, and during the courses at the university, and all of this story came out in greater detail already 20 years ago when the first volume of the collective papers of Albert Einstein was published.

On the other hand, as historians have emphasized, as the experts have carefully analyzed, we do not, to this date, have any evidence that Mileva Maric substantially contributed to Einstein's physics. Nevertheless, they were separated in 1914. It was a painful separation, a day before the outbreak of World War I, and ...

PHILLIPS: Well, that's where -- when you talk about the separation, that's where it gets sort of interesting with regard to his relationships, because he ends up divorcing her and he's getting these acute stomach pains that were exacerbated by a food shortage of World War I and that is when he was nursed by his first cousin, correct, Elsa?

BUCHWALD: Absolutely correct.

PHILLIPS: And then he married Elsa and they kind of continued this interesting affair and that's where we saw a lot of interesting letters between the two, Elsa signing the letters quite humorously always saying, you know, "make sure you don't wear your socks twice, you get holes in them. Make sure you press your laundry shirt, love your wife."

BUCHWALD: Perfect, yes. She signed wife.

PHILLIPS: She had a good sense of humor.

BUCHWALD: Unfortunately, we do not have many letters from Elsa to Albert. Before they married in June 1919, apparently she asked that he destroy letters that he received from her. But we do have his important side, his letters to Elsa, and these are the richest trove of understanding Einstein during this very difficult time, as you mentioned.

There was hunger, food shortages and disease. Einstein was very ill during World War I. Some of it was the strain of working on the completion of the general theory of relativity. This is the time that Elsa takes care of him.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you about that, because in 1921 he writes to Elsa in this postcard. He says, "Soon I'll be fed up with the theory of relativity. Even such a theme fades away when one is too involved with it." It's interesting because you wouldn't think he would become fed up with his own work because we thought he was such a workaholic.

BUCHWALD: All right, so Einstein in 1916 finishes the final push, 17 to the completion of the general theory of relativity, and then there are various refinements on the cosmological side, on the implications for astronomy, of general theory.

But there is a new subject of great interest to which Einstein had contributed as early as 1905 and on which he starts to work much more seriously after the end of World War I. And that is the new quantum theory or quantum mechanics, which becomes the forefront, the hot topic, for breakthroughs in physics.

Einstein becomes very famous in late 1919 and 1920 as a result of the British eclipse expedition that confirmed some predictions of the general theory of relativity and he becomes the first celebrity scientist. Now he is ...

PHILLIPS: Now, Diana, he also becomes quite a celebrity also when you move into the relationship side. While all this is going on and he's doing these amazing things within science, he's having this incredible and intricate personal, I guess, combination of disaster and thrill going on with his various -- the secretary he had the affair with, Betty Neumann, and then the Russian spy Margarita. What was it about him with women? Did he -- I mean, he even writes a letter to his stepdaughter saying, "Out of all the dames, I'm in fact attached to Mrs. L. who is absolutely harmless and decent." I mean, he talks with his stepdaughter about all these various mistresses that he has.

BUCHWALD: We have to be careful to remember that Einstein was widowed in 1936. Elsa Einstein dies and Einstein continues to live for almost 20 years as a bachelor. So, whatever the extent of this relationship with Ms. Kournikova (ph) was, it happened in the late '40s when Einstein was a single man. So ...

PHILLIPS: And this is the Russian spy that he fell in love with, right?

BUCHWALD: The alleged Russian spy.

PHILLIPS: The alleged, OK. Finally, you know what -- I really want to get to ...

BUCHWALD: Please.

PHILLIPS: ...because I know we could talk about this forever, but that was the relationship with his sons, Hans Albert and Eduard. Eduard, unfortunately, ended up becoming mentally ill, had to go into an asylum.

Hans Albert became a professor at Berkeley, but in a letter that Hans Albert wrote, he said, "Dear Papa, it really would be much nicer if you were with us. Last Easter we were alone. Do we have to spend this Easter alone, as well? If you were to write us that you are coming, that would be the finest Easter bunny for us. Yours, Adu."

I mean, he was struggling with his relationship with his boys, as well.

BUCHWALD: Yes, this is a complicated situation. Here are two boys with parents in the middle of a painful separation across the continent that is divided by the most devastating war that humanity had ever known. There were restrictions on travel, there were serious financial difficulties, illnesses in both families in Berlin and in Switzerland.

Einstein tries to go and visit his sons. We are talking these letters belong to the war period, when the children are very young, and when the separation is still very fresh and distressing to the children. And so this is a letter from that period.

Einstein does go to visit his children during the war and he goes to Zurich, he arranges an appointment to teach relativity to be close to the sons, but when the children are young, they are disappointed when he promises to show up and then cancels. And that happened on several occasions during the war.

PHILLIPS: It's amazing, his life story. But the Einstein ...

BUCHWALD: The letters ...

PHILLIPS: Well, I just want to make sure I plug your project, Diana Buchwald. You're the director of the Einstein Papers Project at Caltech, some fascinating documents about his professional and personal life. You've got to visit them, you've got to read them. I appreciate your time today. Thanks so much.

BUCHWALD: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, why Mumbai? A look at what makes India's commercial capital a prime target for terrorists. That's ahead on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So who was behind yesterday's railway bombings in Mumbai, India? Police might have a vital clue. They've reportedly found timers hidden in pencils in at least three of the seven bomb sites.

At least 185 people are now confirmed dead, more than 700 hurt, and there's still no claim of responsibility, but suspicion falls on two Islamic militant groups. Today, most local trains are up and running and plenty of people are on them.

Mumbai could be compared to New York and Los Angeles rolled into one with a population at least as large as the two biggest U.S. cities combined. In the twisted logic of terror, it's a natural target.

CNN's Anderson Cooper reports it's been targeted before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Mumbai knows terror. Even before these bombings, it has seen hundreds of deaths in terrorist attacks. In 1993, more than 250 people were killed in a series of explosions blamed on Muslim groups with ties to Pakistani militants. One prominent target, the stock exchange.

In 2003, an attack on a commuter train killed 10. And later that same year, two taxis exploded at a tourist attraction in the city. Sixteen million people live in Mumbai, making it an enticing target for Islamic militants who want India out of Kashmir.

Once known for its grinding poverty, over the past two decades, Mumbai has become India's most cosmopolitan city, home to its fast growing stock market, multinational companies, and India's movie industry. Mumbai now has a thriving middle class and millions of them crowd onto commuter trains every day.

NEIL LIVINGSTONE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Mumbai is the engine of the Indian economic miracle today. And, you know, the early reports saying that many people called up the injured in the trains and called for help on their cell phones, well, that's a far cry from the India of 20 years ago.

COOPER: By striking here, terrorists hope to strike a blow at the commercial heartbeat of one of the world's most dynamic economies.

Hours after the attack, Indian companies that trade in New York were sharply lower.

If this was the work of Islamic extremists, and most analysts believe it was, there's another seemingly perverse reason to attack Mumbai. It's home to more than a million Muslims. Attacking here makes a backlash from hard-line Hindu groups more likely and ignites sectarian hatreds.

RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mumbai has had a history of religious tensions, certainly going back to about 1992, but those are the sorts of incidents that can lead to a flare-up. And now, for instance, there was a lot of anger among the commuters.

COOPER: The bombers may also have been looking well beyond Mumbai too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ultimately, the terrorists do want to create problems, the social problems and the economic problems. And, of course, they want the attention of the international community, as well. Let's not forget that the G8 Summit is convening towards the end of the week.

COOPER: Should such a coordinated and high profile attack on India's biggest city stoke tensions between Hindus and Muslims and between India and Pakistan, the terrorists will have found their real target.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That report from CNN's Anderson Cooper. You can watch his show weeknights at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific right here on CNN.

Handling North Korea, gloves on or gloves off? The U.N. Secretary Council is split -- or the Security Council, rather, is split. The Chinese and Russian ambassadors issued their own draft resolution today. It's gentler than the one proposed by Japan, softer sanctions, and no military threat. The U.S. supports Japan's version.

One thing agreed upon by most U.N. members is that some kind of resolution is due, both condemning North Korea for test launching missiles and urging the country back to the negotiating table.

His newspaper column sparked a criminal investigation and terrorized Washington. Now Robert Novak is opening up about his sources. Novak confirms that White House advisor Karl Rove was one of his sources for the July 2003 column that outed Valerie Plame as a CIA employee. Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, is a former diplomat who's been publicly criticized or has publicly criticized, rather, the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

Novak says that he first learned of Plame's identity from a source he still won't identify. He said Rove only confirmed it. As you may know, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby is charged with lying and obstruction of justice in connection with this case.

Almost daily we show you another wildfire in the west and now there's proof. It's happening more often and the reason may surprise you. That's coming up on LIVE FROM.

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PHILLIPS: Live pictures now as we show you zero containment and a state of emergency. Firefighters won't even hazard a guess about when the Sawtooth Complex wildfire might be controlled. The leading edge of this blaze is buzzing across California's Yucca Valley fueled by dry terrain and blustery wind. More than 17,000 acres scorched so far, including Pioneertown, home to dozens of TV and movie westerns.

Evacuation centers have been set up for more than 1,000 people forced to flee their homes. Livestock has been herded to safer ground. We're keeping a close watch, and we'll bring you the latest news as it happens.

Well, if you live out West, you may have suspected it, now there's proof. Wildfires really are getting wilder and more numerous, and they're starting earlier.

CNN's Kareen Wynter reports scientists are starting to understand why.

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KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fires raging across the American West. It's seen as a familiar sight, and researchers say it's becoming more common every year.

THOMAS SWETNAM, FIRE ECOLOGIST: We see that this increase in fire frequency is well correlated with warming temperatures, and the arrival of earlier springs in the last 16 or 17 years as compared with the previous couple of decades.

WYNTER: Scientists Thomas Swetnam and Anthony Westerling are two of the researchers behind this new study. It examined more than 1,100 wildfires between 1970 and 2003 in the western mountain forest region. They compared climate-related data like temperature trends, wildfire levels, and snowmelt variables.

ANTHONY WESTERLING, SCRIPTS INSTITUTE: What we saw was that fires occurred in pulses, not a gradual increase, but in pulses and in specific years and those years were all warmer years, warmer springs. And the greatest increase in wildfire was in the northern Rockies.

WYNTER: Researchers claim this new evidence shows climate change, not forest management and logging, as the main factor behind recent spikes in wildfires.

SWETNAM: The increased occurrence of large fires is pretty striking, and the length of time that it's taken to put out fires has also increased. So the typical fire would take about a week from 1970 till the mid-1980s to put out, about a week to extinguish. Now it's taking almost a month.

WYNTER: Swetnam says the study also shows evidence in the western region of a link between global warming and climate change, no direct effect but some correlation. For now, scientists say they're focused on the future, how to stay steps ahead of potent wildfires that cost billions to fight each year.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is watching the situation in the West. Jacqui, what do you think?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui, we'll keep our eyes on it.

There's something strange in the water. Is it a sculpture, a tree stump, a fossil perhaps? Well, here's a hint. Don't get too close. LIVE FROM explains coming up.

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PHILLIPS: Carol Lin working a developing story for us out of the news room. Hey, Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra, you might call it the head-butt heard around the world. It happened during the World Cup Finals, and we finally heard from the French player accused in this matter. Zinedine Zidane actually just spoke with French television about what happened.

He said he head-butted Italy's Marco Materazzi during the World Cup Finals, saying that it was a personal remark that concerned his mother and his sister. He said he apologizes but he doesn't regret the action. Apparently, they exchanged words during a turning point in the game and Zidane was taken out of the game and Italy won.

So, Kyra, according to our international desk, the way you say, one is sorry is (SPEAKING IN FRENCH). Some version of that on French TV moments ago.

PHILLIPS: How do you say head-butt?

LIN: (SPEAKING IN FRENCH).

PHILLIPS: Yes, you start to wonder, you know.

LIN: You know, sometimes actions speak louder than words.

PHILLIPS: Yes, and that's how we handle our problems, right? We just head-butt, you know?

LIN: These editorial meetings, they should be on TV.

PHILLIPS: Exactly. All right, Carol, appreciate it. Finally heard from him. Thanks so much.

Well, the "Uptown Girl" heads downtown to divorce court again. Model Christie Brinkley on the brink of single status. Her publicist confirms that she and fourth husband, Peter Cooke, have separated. Brinkley, 52, married Cooke in 1996. They have an 8-year-old daughter. Brinkley has two other children from her previous marriages to and the singer Billy Joel and developer Richard Taubman.

To Russia with love, or at least with a little affection. President Bush en route to a global summit, but first he'll make a diplomatic layover. We're going to tell you why, just ahead.

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