Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Lebanese Town Abandoned After Bombing; Hezbollah Stronghold in Rubble; Bush Sets Terms for Cease-Fire; Fake Bomb Causes Stir in Atlanta; Family Reunited after Daughter Stranded in Beirut; U.N. Security Council Demands Iran Suspend Nuclear Activities

Aired July 31, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Qana blasts, at least 54 men, women and children are dead. The survivors flee, homes abandoned, pets left behind. Now new word from Israel's prime minister there will be no cease-fire.

Hot temperatures and high winds, sweltering conditions across the nation. Thousands of acres on fire in the heartland.

Plus parents fear it, many children live with it. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside autism.

LIVE FROM starts right now.

Tough talk from Israel's leader. It's day 20 of the Middle East crisis. Here's what we know right now.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says that there will be no cease-fire in the coming days. In a speech just minutes ago, Olmert says that the fighting continues against Hezbollah. Israel is still carrying out targeted attacks in Lebanon, even though it called a 48-hour halt to air strikes yesterday.

Warplanes fired -- warplanes, rather, fired at a truck allegedly carrying weapon near the Syrian border. Israel also mistakenly struck a car carrying Lebanese soldiers, killing one on the ground. Israeli troops have entered another Southern Lebanese village.

Meantime, President Bush lays down some terms for Mideast peace efforts. He says Lebanon's government must have sole authority over its land and that Syria and Iran must stop supporting Hezbollah. The president plans to meet tonight with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who's on her way back from Israel.

Well, CNN has reporters all across the region. LIVE FROM will have live reports throughout this program.

A day after a deadly Israeli air strike, Qana, Lebanon, is turning into a virtual ghost town. The attack killed dozens of civilians, many of them children. Israel apologizes for what it calls a tragic mistake. But for the people of Qana, that's little comfort.

Our Ben Wedeman visited Qana. He's now back in Tyre, Lebanon -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Qana is still reeling from Sunday's Israeli air strike. Most of the residents of that town, including the residents of South Lebanon, have decided it's time to go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Naziah Shahoub (ph) is packing up, moving out, while her cousin, Hezewa (ph), weeps for the two sisters and brother she lost in Sunday's attack.

She's leaving for nearby Tyre, with what she can carry as an Israeli drone buzzes overhead. Her kitchen looks out over the ruins of the house, where her relatives took shelter and died.

But she hasn't lost faith in Hezbollah. "We're all with Hezbollah," she says. "I don't deny it." But everyone we spoke to denies Hezbollah fired rockets from here.

"Is this a military base?" asks Jamal Shahoub (ph).

"Go ahead," his uncle, Saneen (ph), tells me, "search the entire neighborhood. If you find a single bullet, then I'll tell you, Israel was right."

Qana is, or was, a typical Southern Lebanese village, composed of farmers, shopkeepers, bureaucrats, old people who've made their fortune abroad, and returned home to retire. But normal life in Qana has come to a screeching halt.

The village, largely abandoned, pets left behind, this dog forgotten, locked up in a garage.

(on camera) This is a home of one of the Shahoub (ph) families. The Shahoubs (ph) are a large extended family here in Qana. Several of them died in Sunday's bombing.

They clearly left this house in a hurry. The freezer, the fridge are full of rotting food.

(voice-over) Tobacco farmer Razi Abibi (ph) is staying. His only company, a pair of kittens. He says he'll be sleeping in the village's only purpose-built bomb shelter, dating back to the 1980s. He'll stay there until peace returns to Qana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: Kyra, there's just more than 24 hours left to the period where Israel has said it will cease air activity in Southern Lebanon. That's just a little bit of time for those who are still in the south of the country to get out before who knows what happens next -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, two questions, will those people be able to get out of Southern Lebanon? What's the reality behind that, truly, Ben? And also when you had a chance to go through the rubble and meet with the people that lived in these various neighborhoods, did you find anyone that would say, "Yes, there was I time where members of Hezbollah would hide out in the homes here"?

WEDEMAN: Well, that's a very good question. The second part of the question, because basically, a lot of the people we meet in these villages probably aren't wives, mothers, brothers, sisters of members of Hezbollah. The people in some of these villages will make the point, not necessarily in Qana today, that "We are the resistance. We're part of the resistance," because many of them come from these villages.

Some of these people have no intention of leaving Southern Lebanon, because they're taking care of their husbands and wives, fathers and brothers, who are members of Hezbollah.

And as far as the other part of your question goes, people are trying to get out. There has been a problem. The fuel is very -- in very short supply in the southern part of the country because, A, many of the gas stations have been blown up, and B, many of the roads and the bridges have been blasted. So it's in short supply.

Many people who want to get out are doing their best to get out at the moment. And for instance, when we went to Qana, which is only about 20 minutes drive from here, we saw more people on the road, people getting out. I saw people on the street with bags, waiting for taxis to pick them up.

So certainly we can expect more people to give within the next 24 hours. But as I said, there's some people who have no intention of leaving -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ben Wedeman in Tyre, Lebanon. Thanks, Ben.

Huge piles of rubble and a few remaining stragglers picking through it. This is the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil after days of fierce ground fighting. Our Karl Penhaul paid a visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is downtown Bint Jbeil, or at least what's left of it. This was the scene of some of the heaviest combat.

For their part, the Israeli military say they fought Hezbollah guerrillas here hand-to-hand, door-to-door, window-to-window. But I've also talked to a member of the Hezbollah militia, and he says there were no running gun battles in downtown. He says there were no Hezbollah fighters here in town, though he does say around 100 Hezbollah fighters were stationed in the hills round about.

I've also talked this morning to a doctor who remained in Bint Jbeil hospital through the thick of the fighting. He said it was so intense at one stage, he counted 300 Israeli artillery shells falling on the town in the space of just half an hour. Karl Penhaul, CNN, Bint Jbeil, South Lebanon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So can there be lasting peace in the Middle East? President Bush says yes, but it depends on a number of conditions. He laid them out just a few hours ago in Miami. Our White House correspondent Ed Henry is there.

Ed, what did he say?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Kyra.

You know, it's about 100 days until the mid-term elections, so the president came here to the port of Miami to talk about the economy, one of the domestic issues he hopes Republicans will tout in the months leading up to November. But he can't escape the focus on all these global hot spots, especially Lebanon.

So the president kicked off his economic speech by talking about the latest violence in the Mideast. The president said the U.S. grieves for innocent victims in both Lebanon and Israel, but he again rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire.

Some of those conditions you're asking about -- the president wants to make sure there's some sort of an international peacekeeping force that can go in and actually disarm and get control of Hezbollah. He wants to -- he does not believe that the Lebanese army can do that. He wants that international force.

Take a listen to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm monitoring the situation in the Middle East very closely. Secretary Rice is in the region over the weekend, and she is working urgently to get a sustainable cease-fire, a cease-fire which will last. We're going to work with our allies to bring before the United Nations Security Council a resolution that will end the violence and lay the groundwork for lasting peace in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, the president was on the telephone yesterday, no less than three times, with Secretary Rice in order to try to lay that groundwork for the U.N. resolution that the White House hopes will come up this week.

Tonight, when the president returns to the White House from here in Miami, he will be meeting with Secretary Rice, as well as his national security adviser, Steven Hadley, for a working dinner in the White House residence, where they hope to sort of hammer out the final details of this U.N. resolution -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: President brought up Iran once again, Ed, of course tying the support to Hezbollah. But is there a hidden message here?

HENRY: Well, sure. You know, the president after this speech really hailed the U.N. action today, in going after Iran, saying this is a clear, unified international message that they cannot have a nuclear weapon.

But sure, the broader message is the president added that this just shows that when the U.S. takes the lead on the international stage and works with allies, it can get its agenda done. That's a clear sign that he's hoping the same will play out with Lebanon, the situation in Beirut.

Also important to note, that's sort of a reversal from the way the administration approached the situation in Iraq. Clearly, they've gotten so much criticism over that, they're now trying to use the U.N. more than ever -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed Henry, thanks so much.

And on that note, the crisis in the Middle East isn't the only potential ticking time bomb at the United Nations today, as the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions is coming to a diplomatic head. Just like Ed mentioned, today the U.N. Security Council voted 14-1 on a draft resolution telling Iran it must stop enriching uranium by the end of August or face possible economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Iran's U.N. ambassador says the Security Council vote has no legal basis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Iran's peaceful nuclear program poses no threat to its national peace and security. And therefore, dealing with this issue in the Security Council is unwarranted, and void of any legal basis or practical activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A pressure from China -- pressure, rather, from China and Russia delayed immediate U.N. sanctions against Iran. And the only no vote on the resolution came from Qatar, the only Arab nation on the Security Council.

Let's get to CNN's Betty Nguyen. She's working the international desk and various Mideast television stations for us, as well as your e-mails.

Hey, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we are, Kyra.

Let me tell you what we're doing. We are monitoring all these different Arab networks. We're going to put some of them up on the screen for you. Let's take a look at them.

Top left right there, that is Hezbollah television, o course, a network that is not aired here in the U.S. But we are monitoring it for any developments.

And to the right of that is Israeli television. There at the bottom, Al Arabiya and then LBC, the Lebanese Broadcasting Company.

Now not only are we monitoring these different networks but we're also monitoring some of the developments they are talking about. And there is a lot of talk today about the humanitarian efforts, Kyra. These efforts that are trying to take place within this 72-hour -- this 48-hour, I should say, pause in some of the fighting. They're trying to move aid into Southern Lebanon and evacuate some of the people out of those areas.

But I will tell you that we are learning through monitoring these networks that there's some question at whether there's enough time to get this done within that small frame of 48 hours. A lot of these aid groups say simply with such short notice it's difficult to get down to these areas, not only bring them the aid, but get people evacuated, stage a full-scale evacuation.

So that's some of the difficulties that they're facing today as we are monitoring all these different networks for you. And of course, Kyra, as anything develops we will bring it straight to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Betty, thanks.

Mother in New Orleans, her daughter stranded half a world away in the Middle East crisis. Two weeks ago they weren't sure if they'd see each other again. It's the story CNN first brought you. We'll tell you how it turned up, coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's go straight to the newsroom. Betty Nguyen working details on a developing story right here in Atlanta.

NGUYEN: Yes, we've been following this all morning. And very interesting scenario down in midtown Atlanta which is not too far from downtown at all. But a high-rise building there, 26 floors of a place called Proscenium, well, on the 22nd floor you can see the robot going in a little bit earlier today, a suspicious device was found.

Now, this is what we've learned about it. Not only was the building evacuated but a building next to it was also evacuated. This is a high traffic area in the midtown area where a lot of people live and work.

But here's the kicker to all of this, Kyra. As we were watching very intently to see exactly what this package was, the Atlanta police chief, Richard Pennington, came out and -- not so long ago -- and basically told us this, that the bomb was a replica used in a commercial just a few years ago, that it wasn't live and it wasn't real. But it did look very real, because he also says that this replica had a timing device on it, and it did appear very legitimate to the authorities. The bomb squad was there, the SWAT team, homeland security was there. A lot of precautions were taken. But the good news here is that it wasn't a real bomb. The suspicious package was just a replica used in a commercial a couple years ago. Now I guess the big question now is why in the world was it there on the 22nd floor? Well, we don't have the answer to that. But the good news is all is OK -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Betty, thanks so much.

Well, mother and daughter separated for two agonizing weeks. Leigh Galey's daughter, Meredith, had been stranded in Beirut with her husband and two young kids.

Lee talked to CNN nearly two weeks ago, and it's plain to see what she was going through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEIGH GALEY, MEREDITH'S MOTHER: I heard about all the shelling that had started, and Meredith told me she and Tariq (ph) were weighing their options at this point, whether to come home or not.

And then Thursday morning, my elder son called me and said that things had gotten very bad over there, and that the airport had been bombed and they couldn't get out, and it's been very difficult ever since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, we're happy to follow up on the story. Meredith and family are back home in New Orleans. She and her mother join us now live.

I'll tell you what, Meredith, your mother was losing her mind.

GALEY: Yes.

MEREDITH TAY, WAS STRANDED IN BEIRUT: Oh, I can tell you.

PHILLIPS: And Leigh, I mean, what was the first thing you did when you saw her and the family at the airport?

GALEY: Oh, burst into tears, sorry to have to say. But I -- when they all came off the ramp, and they came toward me, it was just like a dream come true. I just lost it. I just lost it.

PHILLIPS: Meredith, what about you?

TAY: Well, I had -- she called me, started screaming, crying and ran towards us. So it really caught me by surprise.

PHILLIPS: But you know your mom. You know she's a very passionate person, Meredith. You should have known that's what she was going to do, right?

TAY: Yes, absolutely. She grabbed me. I had Paul, my youngest, my 6-month-old. So she grabs him and kissing all over the boys and everything.

PHILLIPS: She was constantly talking about those grand babies, let me tell you what.

TAY: Oh, they're so cute.

PHILLIPS: They're precious. I know we have a number of photos, too. We'll get to those in just a second.

But Meredith, just you know, tell us how you finally were able to get out of there. Because we had talked to you, it was a pretty frightening situation.

TAY: It was. It was. So basically they kept saying that there's a list. The State Department, you know, you're going to be on this list, and you're going to be priority. You know, you have two small children, and you know, you're definitely going to be on this list.

So there was never a list. We just went down to the marina, and we were with everybody else, you know, 200, 300 people standing out there at 5 a.m. in the morning, waiting for them to start taking people in. There was no list. I mean, there was nothing. No one was interested who anybody was. You know, tons of people were out there, and they all had kids, as well. So it was just come one, come all and that was it.

PHILLIPS: We're seeing some your photos now, of the kids, and we saw the one of your husband sitting with the kids on the floor. How did the babies do? I mean, my gosh. I guess part of them really didn't know what was going on. The other part, they were probably feeling this is not my normal circumstance.

TAY: Exactly. I mean, you know, they were fine. They were great throughout this whole thing. Even, you know, the one bomb that went off that was really close to the building that we were staying in, they did not wake up. Like we had to run in and, of course, grab them and run downstairs, and stay away from the windows and all that other stuff, because the bombs were shaking the buildings, especially the building that we were in. But they never woke up. They were fine.

My eldest, who's 2, every now and then he could feel that we had -- we were stressed when we were packing very quickly. He would start to fuss and cry a little bit. But nothing -- nothing too -- nothing too major.

PHILLIPS: Leigh, you're back at home. I know the family has an amazing Lebanese restaurant there in the city. We're not only worried about the family, but how did everything go at the restaurant? I'm sure you're receiving a lot of support from folks there, as well.

GALEY: Oh, the restaurant is doing a great business. People are very, very supportive. And I'm very thankful.

It was Meredith's friends called me, people called me that I hadn't heard from in years, and everybody's very supportive, and it helped a great deal.

But the prayer is what really did help. I had a prayer chain going. It was very, very lengthy. And it was wonderful. And the prayer is what really works. And that's what I credit to bringing her home.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you, and Leigh, I mean, you guys had just dealt wit, with the hurricane, and then to have to go through this. You must have doubled up on those prayers.

GALEY: Well, Meredith has always said that which does not kill you makes you stronger, and we're two very strong women and to have survived both these things. Meredith, particularly.

PHILLIPS: Meredith, what do you think? Will you ever go back?

TAY: We will not go back for awhile. My husband, especially, says we won't go back, you know. For as long as there is Hezbollah, we won't go back.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you, and just -- just going through all that, I'm just curious. I know the two of you are very close. You have a very tight family.

TAY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: But have the two of you had this mother/daughter talk and sort of looked at each other and thought, wow, I don't ever want to take anything for granted ever again?

GALEY: Yes. Because when those bombs started going off so close, it really hit me for the first time that I could lose all of these people. I could lose my daughter, my son-in-law, my two grandchildren. I could -- you know, it's possible. It's very possible I'll never see them again. And it was something that, it just -- it was unlike anything that I had ever gone through.

TAY: I was thinking that, as well. Except I was thinking my life I could lose, so, it was a little -- it was a little different. You look at things differently now, yes. Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you what: the best part of the interview is seeing the two of you together, knowing everybody's back safe and sound. And I can't -- give each other a little love there on live -- I know, finally. There it is.

And I can't wait to go back to your restaurant. I'll look at it in a totally different light. It was great to have you both again and see you together.

GALEY: Thank you, Kyra.

TAY: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: You bet. Take a look at this, a close call in California. Danger at the gas pump. Ooh. That's coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Check out this very close call at a gas station in Southern California. A man had just gotten into his car when out of nowhere, an out-of-control driver smashed right into him. That car went up in flames. Everyone escaped and can you believe this? No one was hurt.

Well, the heat wave in many parts of the country is putting a huge strain on the nation's electricity grid. Susan Lisovicz is live from the New York Stock Exchange with all the details.

Susan, I'll tell you what. All this talk back and forth, too. Why isn't it being -- it's so antiquated, it seems. And after all these close calls and number of blackouts, you wonder what's going on.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We had a huge blackout, as you know, Kyra, the last heat wave, where businesses, residents had to endure this -- this terrible -- these terrible temperatures for more than a week.

And so, yes, conservation is one of the things that is very much on the lips of a lot of folks all across the country, because the heat wave extends from California throughout the Midwest, all the way to here in New York. We've got day three here in the Big Apple. And that is causing record electricity use across the country.

According to the Edison Electric Institute, utility companies provided consumers with a record-high 96,000 gigawatt hours of electricity during the week before last. Now that may not mean anything to you, but it is nearly double the amount used in 1982, and that's leading the industry to look for ways to reduce stress on the electric grid and relieve some of the pressure on rapidly rising electricity prices, both (ph).

It's formed a coalition with government regulators and consumer advocates. Currently, the amount of money the utilities make is, of course, directly related to how much electricity they sell. But the coalition has produced a national action plan for energy efficiency, which could reward utilities for promoting conservation. And in fact, Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest retailer, is one of those supporting this coalition -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's not just the heat that's pushed the energy issue to the top of the agenda, right?

LISOVICZ: That's right. Because we're not only talking about pressure on the grid, we're not only talking about upward pressure on prices. We're talking about more pollution and global warming.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are meeting this afternoon in Long Beach with about 25 chief executives of major corporations including BP, the big energy company, Dupont, the chemical company, as well as Duke Energy. They'll be discussing ways to fight global warming by using clean energy technologies.

According to the Associated Press, the U.K. and California will create a joint market for carbon dioxide emissions, side-stepping the Bush administration.

And by the way, the White House a conspicuous no-show at the meeting, the Bush administration's top environmental adviser not attending because of a scheduling conflict. Critics say this is another example of the administration's, quote, "obstructionist stance" on efforts to curb emissions and to acknowledge environmental problems -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. What's happening on Wall Street today, Susan?

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Susan. We'll talk again.

They come in search of the American dream, but some are left dead in their tracks. Illegal immigrants braving intense heat to cross the U.S./Mexico border. Now the U.S. Border Patrol is bracing for what could be one of the deadliest summers on record.

Here's CNN's Kareen Wynter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to walk them out. Some of them were pretty bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should be able to make it before the sun.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a hot, humid evening on the Arizona border with Mexico, 92 degrees. We spend a busy night with border patrol agent Ben Vik. He says that's when they catch most illegal immigrants crossing the border. It's life or death for some.

BEN VIK, BORDER PATROL AGENT: I think drowning would be preferable to dying the heat in the desert.

WYNTER (on camera): It's that bad, the cases that you've seen?

VIK: Yes. We've seen cases where people have tried to -- they become demented at the end and try to bury themselves in the sand, and take off all their clothes, and it's -- it's a heartrending sight.

WYNTER: And people walking with sometimes no water and barely shoes on their feet.

VIK: That's correct. From time to time, we found them with wearing only socks out here, making the 20, 25-mile hike to the freeway.

WYNTER (voice-over): A dangerous game of desert crossing. Officials say the rugged terrain and extreme conditions don't stop illegals from braving the border each year. Not even in the summer, with 120 degree heat.

New technology like these federally funded rescue beacons in the desert are saving lives. You push a button to signal for help. The instructions, written in Spanish. More immigrants are also using cell phones now to call for help.

(on camera): Is that an act of desperation? What does that tell you, that people are willing...

VIK: ... Oh, definitely.

WYNTER: Because they're sent back home when that happens?

VIK: Generally they're trying to avoid us. But when they fall into distress then we are the guardian angel.

WYNTER (voice-over): Agents spot this group hiding in the bushes. We're carrying a gallon of water each for our thirst, says this man. Another man showed us his sunburned body saying it's very hot.

(on camera): Agents say this group of seven wasn't in distress. In fact they had been walking for about three hours before they got caught. You can see over here they came with their water bottles, and also foam. They use that to wrap their feet so as not to leave any footprints in the sand.

(voice-over): Agents say they don't know what it will take to reduce desert deaths. Many humanitarian groups say they'll be the buffer for border crossers.

STEVE JOHNSTON, NO MORE DEATHS: The floodgates have opened here, and now there are thousands of people coming through every day.

WYNTER: The organization no more deaths sets up camp sites in the desert to help the desperate and dehydrated. Volunteers provide water, meals and medical assistance to the injured. But they don't get to everyone in time. Those who've fallen prey to the sun in their search for the American dream. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Yuma, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The U.S. border patrol says it could take some immigrants up to five days to cross. The temperature in Yuma is expected to hit 102 degrees tomorrow, and 110 next week. You can start your morning off right with Soledad and Miles on "AMERICAN MORNING" 6:00 a.m. Eastern. Straight ahead, Qana blast. At least 54 men, women and children dead. The survivors flee. Now new word from Israel's prime minister there will be no cease-fire. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tough talk from Israel's leader. It's day 20 of the Middle East crisis. Here's what we know right now. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says there will be no cease-fire in the coming days. In a speech just a short time ago, Olmert said that the fighting continues against Hezbollah.

Israel is still carrying out targeted attacks in Lebanon even though it called a 48-hour halt to air strikes yesterday. Warplanes fired at a truck allegedly carrying weapons near the Syrian border.

Israel also mistakenly struck a car carrying Lebanese soldiers, killing one. On the ground, Israeli troops have entered another southern Lebanese village. Meantime, President Bush lays down some terms for Mideast peace efforts. He says Lebanon's government must have sole authority over its land and that Syria and Iran must stop supporting Hezbollah. The president plans to meet tonight with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who's on her way back from Israel.

And at the United Nations, diplomats are voicing their opinions. Our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth joins us now with more on the back and forth. Richard?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, busy day here at the United Nations on several fronts. On Lebanon, there is pressure now on the Security Council to come up with a resolution that would, among other things, provide endorsement for some type of diplomatic, peaceful settlement, which doesn't appear in sight, between Israel and Hezbollah.

And then provide the impetus and the backing for an international peacekeeping force that would be able to go in to intervene. The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may be here later in the week. Her ambassador here, John Bolton, said he's ready to introduce something maybe today or tomorrow. The western countries are eager to get something on the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMYR JONES PARRY, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The marching orders our ministers have given us are very simple, get a resolution which does the job, get it through this council as soon as possible. That is our intention.

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: We hope to move to a resolution this week in the Security Council that will provide a political framework for sustainable solution. So I think we are moving very quickly on the situation in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: France is the lead country it appears for gathering troops. A meeting planned for countries to offer troops to a southern Lebanon force was postponed. France said it was premature. There's still a lot of unknowns out there and they want to get everything together before they try to ask countries to contribute into a region where there are hostilities still going on. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Richard, tell us about this vote on Iran.

ROTH: The Security Council voted 14-1 to tell Iran that it must freeze its uranium enrichment program and reprocessing activities by 30 days or else potentially face an opening of sanctions. The United States Ambassador John Bolton told the Security Council that sadly Iran is consistently and brazenly defied the international community by continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The Iranian ambassador disagreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Iran's peaceful nuclear program poses no threat to international peace and security. And therefore, dealing with this issue in the Security Council is unwarranted, and void of any legal basis or practical utility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: The International Atomic Energy Agency will tell the Security Council in a month the level of cooperation by Iran. First indications are that they don't intend to go along with it and we're going to have to see and watch it, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Richard Roth in the U.N., thank you.

Security is tight at temples and mosques in Seattle after Friday's shooting rampage at a Jewish center. Police say a Muslim man opened fire with two semi-automatic hand guns inside that building, killing a woman and wounding five others. Prosecutors have until Wednesday to file charges against Naveed Afzal Haq. He's been held on $50 million bail. His lawyer says Haq had been getting psychiatric help for a decade, and his family says it's shocked and devastated by the, quote "senseless act."

Hundreds of miles away, Jewish leaders are concerned about another incident. Someone spray-painted swastikas and other disturbing graffiti on two synagogues and two Jewish businesses in North Miami Beach, Florida. It happened just a day after a shooting rampage at a Seattle Jewish Center. Police are still looking for the culprits.

People in Baghdad, indeed throughout Iraq, must wonder who can they trust? Today, another daring daylight kidnapping by men posing as police.

CNN's Harris Whitbeck has more now from the Iraqi capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): After a relatively calm weekend, more violence erupted in Baghdad.

Today a group of armed gunmen dressed in military uniform went into a commercial district in Baghdad, into the offices of two separate entities, and kidnapped 26 people. Twelve of them were kidnapped from the American -- Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce. One of the kidnapped there was the head of that office, which tries to promote business ties between European and American companies and Iraqi counterparts.

The other group of kidnap victims were in a telecommunications office, a storefront that sold mobile phones. The gunmen went in there and kidnapped the people who worked in that store, and also some of the customers.

Meanwhile, north of Baghdad, near the city of Tikrit, the bodies of five people were found. They had been pulled from their vehicle by unidentified gunmen, and had been shot in the head.

The violence comes as the U.S. increases the number of its troops on the streets of Baghdad and as some people expressed relief that there were more U.S. troops on the streets of the Iraqi capital.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, a changing of the guard in Afghanistan. NATO takes over command from the U.S.-led coalition in the southern part of the country. That's where the Taliban has been on the move. The 8,000-strong NATO force is made up of mostly British, Canadian and Dutch, along with a few Americans. Their commander, a British general; the first time a non-American has led U.S. forces in combat.

Parents fear it, many children live with it. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside autism. Part one of our week-long series, straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Plan B, going OTC? Well, in a surprise move, the government today said it will take another look at whether to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill, but only to women 18 and older. The FDA wants to meet with the drug's maker within a week. The pill cuts the risk of pregnancy if taken soon after unprotected sex. It's available now by prescription only, and the FDA had rejected calls to change that over concerns that young girls could take the drug without seeing a doctor.

A decade ago, we rarely heard the word autism. Today it's something that parents fear and many children are living with. Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside autism this week, in a special five-part series. He begins with a look at just what autism is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight-year-old Jordan (ph) and his 7-year-old sister Gina Grace (ph) have both been diagnosed with autism. And when you meet them, it's hard to believe they have the same disorder.

For sure, autism is complex, hard to define, and a bit of a mystery. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are hard to find, but there are six...

GUPTA: And there is still no way to test for it. There are many types of autism.

TOMMY BATES, FATHER OF TWO AUTISTIC CHILDREN: She is moderate in some areas. She's severe in others. You know? So it's so complex, but her official diagnosis is moderately autistic. Our son is PDD- NOS, which was his original diagnosis, and that has now changed to Asperger's.

GUPTA: Autism has been broken down into five disorders that make up what is called Pervasive Developmental Disorders, or PDD. They are: Autistic Disorder; Pervasive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, or PDD-NOS; the less common Rett Syndrome; and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder; and Asperger Syndrome, which is on the low- end of the autism spectrum.

Doctors believe most autism is genetic, but beyond that, it's difficult to define what exactly autism is.

DR. FRED VOLKMAR, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST, YALE UNIV.: For a child to have autism, they have to have significant problems in social interaction. That's where the word "autism" comes from, living in your own world.

GUPTA: Regardless of the type, one thing has become more clear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what can we do if we feel nervous?

GUPTA: The number of children living with autism is rising and is now higher than ever before. Today, as many as one out of every 166 children will be born autistic.

Boys outnumber girls four to one. But it is girls who often have more severe autism. We know this because doctors are tracking and diagnosing autism more than ever before.

WENDY STONE, VANDERBILT UNIV. AUTISM RESEARCH: It's really the absence of behaviors. It's not the presence of unusual behavior.

GUPTA: Jessica and Tommy Bates don't concern themselves too much with definitions. They have not one, but two autistic children. And every day they simply try to figure out how to help them.

JESSICA BATES, MOTHER OF TWO AUTISTIC CHILDREN: That's the million-dollar question. It's not like with a cancer patient, you can say, OK, let's try chemo or radiation. You just have to, you know, bide your time and start one thing, see if it works, and if not, move on to something else.

GUPTA: As the Bates now know, every child can be different. Siblings of children with autism are at higher risk of also having the disorder, but so far the other children in the Bates' family , 2-year- old Chloe (ph) and 1-year-old Gabriel (ph) seem fine.

Little Gina seems to have been affected the most, but in many ways, she teaches her family lessons every single day.

T. BATES: Our daughter is a blessing. Both of our children, all four of our children, but especially Gina. Every day she's helped me grow so much.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And tomorrow, part two of Sanjay's series. A look at some of the possible causes of autism and how researchers are dealing with a disorder for which there is no cure.

Straight ahead, hot temperatures and high winds. Dangerous wildfire conditions in the nation's heartland. The heat that clamped down on the West last week has now settled over the Midwest. An excessive heat warning has been issued in several cities.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hot, windy and extremely dry fueling fires out West. This one is burning north and south of Harrison, Nebraska, a town on standby to evacuate. Another is threatening two towns in Nevada. It's already scorched nearly 300 square miles northeast of Witimoca (ph). Other wildfires are racing across parts of Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

Well, a break for the West Coast baking still in the upper Midwest and Plains. Heat warnings are out from Minnesota to Oklahoma with temperatures nearing or topping 100 degrees. Add in the humidity and it feels good, 10 degrees hotter. It's reached triple digits in Oklahoma 17 times already this year. Last year, just twice.

Now on the East Coast, it was hot enough to send a dozen people attending the International Scout Jamboree to the hospital. And the heat's on the move. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras monitoring it all from the new CNN Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Jacqui, you mention it, we bring it to you. Live picture from Memphis, Tennessee right now. Take a look at this. Look at that reflection from the Pyramid Arena. It's beautiful. But it looks like a spaceship just landed.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Doesn't it?

PHILLIPS: But I, mean, that -- it's a pretty neat -- I don't know it's just kind of a neat shot as we're talking about the heat. My guess is sit makes it a lot more -- I bet it's a lot hotter around that pyramid today. What do you think?

JERAS: With that reflection? Anything that bright obviously has got to be that hot.

PHILLIPS: You want a quick sunburn, there you go. All right. That's coming to us from WHBQ. Thanks, Jacqui.

Wow what a beautiful but treacherous sight. This is Sabino Canyon near Tucson and people there haven't seen anything like this in years. Monsoon rains have been coming down so hard in southern Arizona. the Sabino Creek looks more like whitewater. The gushing waters have swept over bridges and uprooted a lot of trees. Well the earth opened up in Tucson, Arizona following days of heavy rain. A massive sinkhole literally swallowing cars there. Take a look at these pictures. Fortunately nobody was hurt.

Higher calling or heresy? Some women say it's time that they're allowed to be Roman Catholic priests. Except the Vatican won't sanction it. Well, these sisters are doing it for themselves. We're talking about it straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com