Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
More than 200 Taliban Fighters Died in Afghanistan Fighting; Tom Cruise's Heartfelt Apology; Two People Die in Bomb Blast at Turkish Cafe Close to Iraq Border
Aired September 03, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN SUNDAY NIGHT (sic), your link to the world, the Web and what's happening right now. I'm Carol Lin and straight ahead in this hour, they went months without electricity and now sleeping by candlelight cost them their lives. Six children are dead and a community is in shock. Plus, move over small fry, something bigger in store. Parents who wish their children were a wee bit taller could soon have their way, if they pay up.
And it's a heartfelt apology that continues to linger on. The biggest story in Hollywood going right now, Tom Cruise's camp confirmed how the "I'm sorry" went down.
First, the headlines this hour. NATO says more than 200 Taliban fighters died in Operation Medusa in southern Afghanistan. Success to be sure, but nothing detracts from the fact that there's still fierce fighting five years after the war. NATO says four of its troops were also killed.
And Iraq's al Qaeda No. 2 man in custody. Hamid al-Suaidi was grabbed during a Friday raid. More details straight ahead. And two people died in a bomb blast at a Turkish cafe close to the Iraq border. Turkey has been hit by a wave of bombings in August alone.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elaine Quijano live at the White House. Just two months before congressional midterm elections, President Bush is facing sharp criticism from fellow Republicans over his handling of Iran. I'll have that story coming up.
LIN: Thanks, Elaine. Also in Kentucky today, a funeral for Jonathan and Scarlet Hooker, instead of a honeymoon. They were the newlyweds killed in the crash last week of Comair Flight 5191. Forty- nine people died when the commuter flight went down after taking off from Lexington.
And pro football linebacker Steve Foley is in a California hospital this hour. Early this morning, the 30 year old member of the San Diego Chargers was shot by an off-duty police officer. Authorities say Foley was suspected of drunk driving. A sheriff's spokesman says the officer involved was from the Coronado Police, a town about 20 miles from the shooting scene.
Andre Agassi must have cried for 10 minutes on the courts of the U.S. Open. The 36-year-old tennis great broke down as the crowd at the U.S. Open cheered him just hours ago. Now he lost his third round match against Benjamin Becker. Agassi could barely play because of a bad back and said this would be his final tournament. We're going to look back on his career this hour.
A city is on edge this holiday weekend in western New York. That is where an intense man hunt is underway right now for escaped inmate Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. He's the prime suspect in the shooting spree of three state troopers. Casey Bortnick of R News joins us live from Fredonia, New York right now. Casey, have you heard more from authorities?
CASEY BORTNICK, R NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we haven't heard really anything yet. There will be a press conference coming up at about 7:45 regarding the status of one of the injured troopers. More on that in a second. Meantime, the ongoing search for Ralph "Bucky" Phillips has certainly created trying times for one small western New York community. But with the elusive fugitive now the prime suspect in another shooting, police are starting to win the battle of public support.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FATHER PATRICK ELIS, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH: We have been immersed in the dark side of life.
BORTNICK (voice-over): For the last five months, this small village has been in the cross hairs of the hunt for the most wanted man in western New York. Located just five miles from the recent shooting of two more state troopers, many are praying for an end to the bloodshed.
ELIS: And we see with sadness the injury of troopers Joseph Longobardo (ph) and Donald Baker (ph). And it has to cause all of us great concern.
BORTNICK: For those who live here, police checkpoints and home searches have become an unwelcome part of daily life.
ALEX GIZOWSKI, PARISHIONER: You're all time thinking about it. It's on your mind. Now school is going and start and hunting it going to start. I don't know what is going to happen. I hope they get it over with.
BORTNICK: Since his escape from prison in April, Phillips has received support in certain circles. Some have even viewed police presence as an intrusion. But following Thursday's tragic events, public opinion is starting to change.
KATHLEEN JOHNSON, PARISHIONER: Truthfully, my heart goes out to the troopers. And it's very bothersome to see this type of situation go on for as long as it has and also with the consequences to the troopers that it has formed.
PATTY KACZAR, PARISHIONER: So these guys are out here protecting us and they need our support. If Mr. Phillips would consider what he's doing to his family and the community. But I think maybe he's beyond that now and we just have to pray. BORTNICK: During the search, police have shown their frustration with his status as a local folk hero. Major Michael Manning says he's happy many are starting to see what he calls the elusive fugitive's colors.
MAJ. MICHAEL MANNING, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: He's the one who continues to carry guns out there. He's the one who continues to be the dangerous individual who is out there. He's a coward.
BORTNICK: In July, Father Patrick Elis offered his church for sanctuary for Phillips to surrender. Now the doors to Immaculate Conception will remain open for anyone until the final chapter of the story is written.
ELIS: That Mr. Phillips will respond to God's grace and with great speed give himself back to the proper authorities of our state, we pray to the Lord.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BORTNICK (on camera): Now, once again, we do expect some news coming up at about 7:45. The state police superintendent is expected to give an update on the status of one of the injured troopers, Joseph Longonbarto (ph) of the Albany region. He was one of the two troopers that was shot in Thursday night's shooting. Police expect fugitive Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, actually they suspect that he is the prime suspect in that shooting.
If you will see behind me, state police have already taken the flags off the flag post at the state police barracks in Fredonia. One might suspect they're preparing to re-raise them at half mast. We'll find that out for sure coming up later tonight, Carol.
LIN: All right, Casey, thank you very much. We'll be lookijng forward to that news conference at 7:45 Eastern.
In the meantime, a story out of Chicago that will break your heart. Six children killed in an apartment fire. Their mother and three other children injured.
Firefighters say a candle in the hallway started the blaze and that the family hadn't had electricity for a month. What happened? We're going to get more from CLTV's Regina Waldroup.
REGINA WALDROUP, CLTV CORRESPONDENT: Hello, carol. As you can imagine, the loss of six young lives is devastating to this Chicago community. Meanwhile, Chicago fire officials say this is one of the largest multiple fire fatalities they have seen in the past several years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALDROUP (voice-over): An array of children's clothing and other belongings litter the ground outside this three-flat on Marshfield Avenue. Sunday morning, a fast moving fire claimed the lives of six children who lived in the third floor apartment. RAYMOND OROZCO, CHICAGO FIRE COMMISSIONER: Obviously, a very tragic day for the family and it's also a difficult day for the Chicago Fire Department.
WALDROUP: Among those identified, three-year-old Kevin Ramirez, 10 year old Suzette Ramirez, 12 year old Eric Ramirez, and six-year- old IdalyRramirez.
A three year old girl and 16-year-old have yet to be identified. The fire started just before 12:30. Fire officials say a total of nine children and their mother were in the apartment at the time.
OROZCO: They removed six children from the front room area. There was a total of eight rescues that were made by the Chicago Fire Department.
WALDROUP: Quick thinking neighbors also jumped in. One even ran into the building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told them to grab each end of the blanket. I asked them to drop the children down. I believe the children were hiding in the closet or something like that. And they just refused to jump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I went in there, it was fire coming through the entrance of the third floor. I ran past the fire and I heard a child yelling from the bedroom to the left. I ran in the bedroom and I carried the little child out of there.
WALDROUP: The children's mother was taken to Thorek Hospital with a three-month-old girl. Hospital officials say they were discharged shortly after being seen in the emergency room. They also say the mother did not know what happened to her children.
As for a preliminary cause, fire officials say a candle was found near the front of the apartment which did not have electricity and appears to not have any working smoke detectors.
OROZCO: We had working smoke detectors in the common areas but there were no working smoke detectors in the apartment of origin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALDROUP (on camera): At this time we don't know the condition of the three children who did survive the fire.
Carol?
LIN: Our thanks to Regina Waldroup of CNN affiliate CLTV. We're going to be working on this story through the night.
I want to tell you about a big break on the war on terror, getting a top terrorist out of circulation. Iraqi officials say they have dealt a very severe blow to al Qaeda. Our Michael Holmes has more on Friday's arrest of a high ranking terror suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a big day for the national security adviser in Iraq Mowaffak al-Rubaie, telling a news conference that, indeed, the second most senior figure in al Qaeda in Iraq was arrested a few days ago.
He named the man as Hamid Juma Faris al-Suaidi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana and said that he was the man who was deputy to Abu Ayyub al Masri who in turn took over al Qaeda in Iraq after U.S. troops killed Abu Musab al Zarqawi back in June. The arrested suspect was found in a residential home with civilians, women and children, however, he was arrested without any casualties. Why is he significant? Here's a part of the news conference.
MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He is the one who is directly responsible for the criminal Hatim al Badri (ph), the mastermind and the bomber of the Samarra shrine. He has implemented the policy of al Qaeda in Iraq and the orders of Abu Musab al Zarqawi in triggering sectarian sedition and violence in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites.
HOLMES: Now it's important to know that that bombing at the Samarra shrine was not just any incident. This was a holy place and in many ways it was the act that sparked the major sectarian violence that we have seen around Iraq and indeed in Baghdad since.
Now, to put it in context, the insurgency in Iraq is not based around al Qaeda, although al Qaeda is thought responsible for major spectacular attacks that take place but it's really one slice of the picture and number two al Qaeda leaders have been arrested in the past. Indeed, when Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed, the violence did not stop. Al Qaeda is very much a cellular organization, one leader going does not always have a major impact on activities. Much of the insurgency is very much homegrown.
However, the national security adviser, Mr. al Rubaie saying that this was a major blow for al Qaeda in Iraq. Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: A little comfort to the four American families who lost their loved ones in Iraq. Four more Americans died in that war. A U.S. marine died today, another on Friday in the al Anbar Province. And two U.S. soldiers were killed earlier today when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq is 2,645.
CNN is your hurricane headquarters. We have a new tropical depression forming in the Atlantic. It could become the next big storm of the season. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking it from the CNN hurricane center. Bonnie. I know you're excited about this one. You told me about it just about an hour ago when you found out.
I don't know if excited is the right word, but we're definitely tracking it carefully. This has not been the most impressive season in seeing many named storms early on. But now that we're getting to September into the early part, we're getting more active. The reason we want to let you know about this depression is that it has gotten going and it is pretty strong. It has winds right now at 35 miles an hour.
But the important thing to know it's literally thousands and thousands of miles away from the U.S. mainland. It's actually closer to Africa at this time. Now if it gets a name, the next one on the list is Florence. That's right, we're up to the letter F in the Atlantic side. We just had Hurricane John on the pacific side. And as we look at the track of this storm, still many days away. It looks like it's working to the north.
But the frequency shows you that we are expecting a lot more storms before the month of September is over. Carol?
LIN: All right, Bonnie, nothing wrong with being excited about a story heading your way.
SCHNEIDER: All right.
LIN: Tropical Storm John tracking northward but it's much weaker since hitting Mexico's Baja Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane Friday. There has been plenty of rain and threats of mudslides. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A family cleans up the debris left by Hurricane John in front of its house in the village of La Ribera in Baja California. It is mostly tree branches. While they wait for electricity to be reestablished they talk about what happened and about how badly they want things to get back to normal.
"We have already been without work for several days," says this man, "but hopefully tomorrow we can get back to work."
La Ribera is located south of the state capital of La Paz. It was cut off for several hours after the storm. They have suffered some of the worst damage. Fallen trees, damaged streets, and downed power lines.
(on camera): The residents of La Ribera were not expecting the hurricane to hit as hard as it did here but they were still prepared. This is a town of fisherman, of people who are used to the sea and fickleness of the weather.
(voice-over): Luis Sanchez is the local traffic policemen. He patrols the town assessing damage. He says the storm was not supposed to have been so severe.
Other neighbors say it could have been much worse. "We've already been through tougher storms," says this woman. "Now that the roads are reopened, I don't think we will suffer too much." The local city hall is filled with food and water that had been stockpiled before the storm, but it will be several days before electricity is restored. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, La Ribera, Baja California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: A lot of bad weather out there so how will the weather fair for your Labor Day travel and barbecue plans? We have got a complete weather update in seven minutes. Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you got a shot with that needle?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once a day, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once a day. Wow. Did it hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. I got used to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Talk about growing pains. If you could make your child taller, would you try? An eye opening look at how far some parents are willing to go in tonight's "Health Watch". And later, it's hard to believe that 13 million children live in poverty in America. Can the cycle ever be broken? My conversation with Dr. Sanjay Gupta straight ahead.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: All right. Let's check the most popular store as on cnn.com this hour. The al Qaeda featuring a man born and raised in America. You loved this story. Adam Gadahn grew up in California and appeared on the terror video which was released yesterday.
Also, did you hear about NASCAR's Tony Stewart who took a spin for charity with frightening results? He flipped the car on the first turn. Now, Stewart is okay, but he blames a mechanical failure for that flip. Wow. Click on to cnn.com for more details.
All day today, we're looking at the energy crunch. And one solution, green buildings. As our Gary Nurenberg reports, going green means raking in the green for businesses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a Santa Monica office building on the West Coast ...
DANIEL HINERFIELD, NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: We use about 60 percent less electricity than a typical office building of this size. NURENBERG: To a Gaithersburg, Maryland youth center on the East.
BOB PEELER, ROBERTSON PARK YOUTH CENTER: It's renewable and environmentally friendly.
NURENBERG: Buildings designed to be energy efficient and conserve natural resources sprouting like black eyed Susans on this roof top in Washington, DC.
MICHELLE MOORE, U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL: It's a no-brainer. There's no reason today that you should be building any way other than green.
NURENBERG: Michelle Moore is with the United States Green Building Council.
MOORE: Green buildings are an immediate and measurable way to save energy, reduce CO2 emissions, reduce water consumption and create a better, healthier environment.
NURENBERG: The American Society of Landscape Architects have loaded the roof of its DC headquarters with plants.
DENNIS CARMICHAEL, AMERICAN SOCIERTY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS: They'll cool the roof, they'll clean the water. They also act as an insulating blanket. They should reduce our heating and cooling bills. Buildings are actually worse consumers of energy than cars.
NURENBERG: Some of the solutions are as simple as an open window.
UNIDENITIFED MALE: Instead of constantly air conditioning the office, what you need to do, in a typical office building, here, you can open the window and catch an ocean breeze.
NURENBERG: The Natural Resources Defense Council uses motion sensors to turn lights off and on in the Santa Monica offices built with recycled materials. It captures and recycles rain water and uses special toilets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two buttons on the top. You can choose to flush with a whole tank of water or a half a tank of water.
PEELER: The wall insulation is made of recycled blue jeans.
NURENBERG: That Maryland youth center uses geothermal energy to heat and cool, has cabinets made from wheat straw and window blinds made from recycled aluminum cans.
PEELER: We don't burn fossil fuels in this building and we're saving energy.
NURENBERG: And with energy costs consistently rising, being green has building owners seeing green on their bottom line. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, the energy crunch is generating more attention for one renewable energy source - wind. Coming up in the next hour, the push for a new kind of farm. Not one consisting of crops but rows and rows of wind turbines.
In the meantime this Labor Day Weekend, a lot of you are trying to make plans out thee. With all of the flood watches and warnings, hurricanes, a tropical storm, maybe on the way to the United States, Bonnie Schneider tracking all of this for all you travelers out there. Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: You're right, Carol. There's a lot going on. And tomorrow is going to be a busy travel day. If you're getting a head start tonight, watch out for the remnants of Ernesto. That's affecting travel so far in New England. We're getting rain in Maine and we're also getting overcast skies in Boston.
That's affecting travel right now. Take a look at where you have some major airport delays happening in Boston. An hour and fifteen minutes. That's right, now we may have those delays continue into tomorrow morning. So you want to give yourself plenty of time to get where you're going.
Now as we look towards Monday's forecast, the other feature we're watching closely is the desert Southwest, specifically into parts of Texas. If going to be driving or even flying towards the El Paso area, watch out because we're looking out for the potential for some very heavy rain in that region, even the risk of flooding.
That's right we have flood watches and warnings already posted for parts of New Mexico, Texas, and even back out towards Southern California. We could see some rain to the mountain areas to the east of San Diego. So watch out for that.
If you're driving tonight into the Texas area or into New Mexico we have plenty of rain you'll have to deal with from Amarillo down through Lubbock. The rain is coming heavy and hard. This is all courtesy of the Tropical Storm John. Even though it's well out in Baja, we're getting the tropical moisture. So for folks driving into northern Texas or New Mexico unfortunately, it will be a wet trip for you guys to head out on, Carol.
LIN: You're talking about water accumulating on the interstates?
SCHNEIDER: Unfortunately there may be some ponding on the roadways. The main thing to know is this rain isn't going anywhere, and it will be raining all day Labor Day, tomorrow.
LIN: All right. Bonnie Schneider. Thank you very much.
Well, a Russian riot. What triggered hundreds of people to take to the streets? That story in our world wrap.
Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do kids say to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called me small fry, shrimp. Anything they could think of. And I just hated that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Nobody wants their child to be the butt of a joke. Next, see how some parents are going far enough to make sure that doesn't happen. And was it an apology for publicity. Well, the Hollywood buzz on Tom Cruise's plea for forgiveness. That's straight ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Of course, you want your kid to be healthy. But it is amazing how far some parents will actually go to have what they think is the best. Parents are paying more than $50,000 for taller kids. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has details in our "Health Watch."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is Dustin Hoffman sick? Does Martin Scorsese have an illness? And is something ailing Robert Reich, President Clinton's secretary of labor?
Well, shortness is now being treated as a disease. Tens of thousands of parents injecting their children every day in the hope that they can make their kids taller. It often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for one child.
How old is Michael here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he was three there.
COHEN: And the little boy next to him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Same exact age.
COHEN: What did kids say to you?
MICHAEL REDA, TOOK GROWTH HORMONE: They called me small fry, shrimp. Anything they could think of. And I just hated that.
COHEN: Michael's preschool teacher called him petite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a little insulted. It's a word you don't want associated with your son.
COHEN: Why did you want to take something to help?
M. REDA: Just to get taller so everyone would be nice to me and all the bad stuff would go away.
COHEN: When Michael Reda was seven, his parents started him on human growth hormone.
(on camera): So you got a shot with that needle.
M. REDA: Once a day, yeah.
COHEN: Once a day. Wow. Did it hurt?
M. REDA: I got used to it.
JENNIFER REDA, SON TOOK GROWTH HORMONE: I thought he would be more challenged in the business world. And even maybe in searching for a spouse.
COHEN: You think short men have a harder time?
J. REDA: I do. I just think we want to think of men as being a little bit larger and capable.
COHEN: S when Michael first came to see you, he wasn't on the chart?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Fouad Ziyai (ph) predicted Michael would grow up to be about 5'5". After taking the growth hormone for two and a half years, Michael grew an extra three inches. Now instead of being 5'5 when he grows up, he'll be around 5'8".
Did you grow as much as you hoped?
M. REDA: I grew more than I hoped.
COHEN: But bioethicists like Lori Andrews worry is it right to use a drug to make your children look a certain way?
LORI ANDREWS, BIOETHICIST: This is part of a slippery slope of parents trying to design their children. And we're starting to see it even at very early stages.
COHEN: After all, Michael wasn't sick. He was just short.
ANDREWS: Nowhere else in medicine do we take healthy children and give them an injection of something that might cause them harm.
COHEN: The vast majority of children do just fine of growth hormone, but some do suffer scoliosis, muscle pains and headaches.
J. REDA: We entered into it very cautiously. There was a lot of thought process and decision making prior to giving it to him.
COHEN: Growth hormone isn't cheap. How expensive is it? One inch of growth costs more than $50,000. Want your child to grow four inches? That will be $200,000 please. And the results are not guaranteed. Insurance paid for Michael's growth hormone. And the Reda's couldn't be more pleased with the results.
COHEN: What do you think those three inches have done for him?
J. REDA: I know they have made him a lot happier.
ANDREWS: If the idea is to give your child self-esteem, you should do be doing that through parenting, not through drugs.
COHEN: That's non-sense, according to Steve Horowitz. At 5'3", he says he suffers every day because of his height.
STEVE HOROWITZ, STRUGGLES WITH HEIGHT: I'm a financial advisor. I see people for a living. People judge you by your height. I would still give anything to put on a couple inches. Even at this stage of the game. I would have done anything and I still would do anything.
COHEN: This drug wasn't around when Steve was a kid, but he did put his son Ira on it. Ten years of daily injections and now Ira's 5'9" and Steve's thrilled his son doesn't have to go through life a very short man.
HOROWITZ: It's an extra hurdle to overcome. Why overcome that hurdle if you don't have to? If you can have it removed?
COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Amazing. You can see more of Elizabeth Cohen's reports on PAULA ZAHN NOW, weeknights at 8:00 Eastern only on CNN.
Now, still enriching uranium. The Iranians won't listen to the United States and they won't listen to the UN. What's next? A live report from the White House.
And struggling to survive every day. It's a trap millions of Americans find themselves in. "The Poverty Trap," is there an end in sight? My conversation with Dr. Sanjay Gupta in eight minutes. And a career for the ages comes to a close. The legacy of Andre Agassi. Straight ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Welcome back. Here is what is happening in the news. A massive manhunt underway right now in New York State for Ralph Bucky Phillips. The escaped convict is suspected of shooting two troopers last week and a third in June and one of them had to have his leg amputated. Police have posted a $250,000 reward and we're waiting for a 7:30 news conference out of there. We'll bring that to you.
In the meantime, in Chicago, six children killed today when a fire swept through their apartment. Their mother and three other children survived with injuries. A candle may have started the blaze. The apartment had been without electricity for at least a month.
And a bomb ripped through a cafe in southeast Turkey today. Police say two people were killed, a police officer and a city hall official. Several other people were wounded. So far, no one has claimed responsibility.
A linebacker for the San Diego Chargers has been shot and wounded by an off-duty cop in California. Now the shooting happened just a day after Steve Foley was cleared on charges stemming from a scuffle with police in April. Details of today's incident are still unclear, but we're going to bring you more information as we get it.
The nuclear standoff between Iran and the world. It shows no signs of easing today. That's despite U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's visit to Tehran this weekend. But as CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano reports, Iran's president isn't ruling out talks completely.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): After a face-to-face meeting in Tehran with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan walked away empty handed, rebuffed by the president who will not stop Iran's uranium enrichment activities.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: He indicated again that they do not accept suspension before negotiations, but that we should - they are prepared to negotiate.
QUIJANO: Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes and has repeatedly said it wants to talk.
ALI ASGHAR SOLTANIEH, IRANIAN REP TO IAEA: The best course of action is to start immediately the negotiating table and to build up the mutual trust and respect.
QUIJANO: Amid fears the regime is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, President Bush says Iran must stop its uranium enrichment activity first before any negotiations can begin and the U.S. has not ruled out sanctions against Iran if it doesn't comply, though Russia and China have balked.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's time for Iran to make a choice. We have made our choice. We will continue to work closely with our allies to find a diplomatic solution, but there must be consequences for Iran's defiance.
QUIJANO: President Bush is facing sharp criticism on Iran from fellow Republicans who are locked in heating reelection fights this year. Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum says despite the president's focus on Iraq, he sees Iran as the over arching threat.
SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R) PENNSYLVANIA: A big problem I have with this administration is it hasn't been tough enough on Iran. It should not have negotiated with the Iranians on a nuclear program. They're stringing us along and they're going to continue to string us along.
QUIJANO: And Republican Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut suggests the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq should give the Bush administration reason to consider reestablishing diplomatic ties with Tehran. REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R) CONNECTICUT: We really should have a diplomatic relations with every country, Cuba. We should have had it with Iraq before and we should have it with Iran today. When we have diplomatic relations, we have people on the ground. We have our intelligence community working in our embassies. There are arguments that say we should.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: And the debate over Iran comes as the president is preparing to deliver his second in the latest round of speeches aimed to rally public support behind his foreign policy. Carol.
LIN: All right, Elaine Quijano, live at the White House. Thank you.
Dozens killed in a massive offensive in Afghanistan today. Shanon Cook working that and other world stories -- Shanon.
SHANON COOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, thanks. Carol, you know, Afghanistan is facing some of the deadliest fighting since the U.S. ousted the Taliban there five years ago. And we're told that Afghan and NATO forces have killed more than 200 Taliban fighters in a major operation in the south. NATO says another 80 suspected Taliban were arrested while 180 fled the area. The operation is actually called operation Medusa, was designed to drive out Taliban forces and allow displaced residents to return to the area. Four Canadian soldiers were also killed in the fighting
And Russian police are battling rioters in a town north of Moscow. Mobs of young men set fires, smashed windows and threw stones in race-related violence. Police detained about 100 people. The riots were triggered by a fight in a restaurant between ethnic Russians and Chechens. This took place a week ago and at least two people were killed during that incident. The rioters say they want police to investigate or expel Chechens and other ethnic minorities from the region. Carol, that's all for me for now. Back to you.
LIN: OK, Shanon, a domestic story here Shanon. We came across an astounding number, 13 million children living in poverty right here in America. Add the adults and the number nearly triples. Can poverty ever be abolished? Well this weekend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta focuses on the poverty trap. First, a look at one woman in Detroit who struggles to make it every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Detroit's east side. Its people and neighborhoods have been hit hard by years of poverty and neglect. In 2005, the city had some 12,000 abandoned homes. Now, many are fighting back.
MIKE FISHER, PRES., DETROIT COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: Two new houses being built on the side of it, two new houses across the street. This has to go. Address right there. GUPTA: Mike Fisher DCI, the Detroit Community Initiative, a nonprofit organization that gives high school students a summer job and a chance to improve their neighborhoods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes me feel sad to look at something like that.
GUPTA: They're using a global positioning tracking device to mark the exact locations of destroyed and abandoned homes.
FISHER: We try to work with the mayor's office, Detroit city council, the department heads, other community groups to try to make it clean and safe, picking up tires, cleaning up dumping, rehabbing homes, building new homes. So we're bringing something to the table.
GUPTA: The city receives the information and prioritizes homes for demolition. They're replaced by low income housing that's paid for by a Federal tax credit program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'm actually achieving something because when I go out and I help out, I'm making an impact on the city.
FISHER: One block at a time, one family at a time, we can turn things around.
GUPTA: This is Saratoga Street, where Nadira Wade (ph) lives. Nadira has 14 grandchildren. She's lived in this house for 19 years.
NADIRA WADE: Look at that. You can see right up into the roof.
GUPTA: And it needs a lot of work.
WADE: There's a crack in the kitchen in here, right above the stove. It leaks right here. We're poor people. We don't have anything right now.
GUPTA: But she still has hope for her neighborhood. That's why she's working with Mike Fisher and DCI.
WADE: I'm on the board of directors. We're trying to rebuild the neighborhood back up from what it was to something better. Low income housing for people like myself, which I own my house now. Can't afford to fix it, but it's mine. When it rains --
GUPTA: DCI plans to help Nadira replace her roof.
WADE: It's just a struggle. Things are too high, your gas bill, light bill, telephone bill.
GUPTA: Despite the difficulties, Nadira still believes her work with the Detroit Community Initiative will increase the value of her property and improve the value of the neighborhood.
WADE: When we get through building all these 49 brand new homes, I believe that people will start having more respect and it will give them something to look forward to. This your neighborhood. Respect your neighborhood. You live here. These people don't have any hope. They don't have any hope because it's like they have just given up. I'm not going to give up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta now takes an even deeper look into poverty. It's part of a CNN special interview with former President Bill Clinton. I spoke with Sanjay about this earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: So we just heard from this woman Nadira who is struggling to pay for gasoline and for food. What kind of help can she expect?
GUPTA: I asked the president the same thing. I said, whose responsibility is this? He would say look, you know, that was part of what welfare to work was. Welfare to work I think, which is the tenth anniversary this month by the way. People would say it's a success, but we still have an incredibly high poverty rate and it's difficult for Nadira. I would love to see how she is two years from now.
LIN: Did he have a specific program or plan in mind? If you could take hundreds of thousands of Nadira, what should the Federal government do?
GUPTA: He talks a lot about these community initiatives like the one you just saw. What can a community initiative, it actually looks at 12,000 abandoned homes and says the reason these homes are abandoned is because people couldn't afford to live there. They could afford the homes. They couldn't afford everything else that goes with owning a home.
LIN: It's an irony.
GUPTA: That's right. It is an ultimate irony. So how could you somehow empower the community to make the homes more affordable?
LIN: The president also described the American dream to you. Let's listen to what he had to say.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Intelligence, dreams and willingness to work are evenly distributed throughout the world. What is not evenly distributed is opportunity, investment and systems, systems that work. Tell Sanjay Gupta if you go to school and you work hard, you'll get a degree. After which, you can do what you wish to do with your life. There has to be a connection between effort and result. In many poor and unstructured areas of the world, that connection doesn't exist.
LIN: So but what about the notion of personal responsibility? I mean, we recall that infamous moment back in 1984 when Ronald Reagan in the face of rising unemployment said look at all these want ads. Look at all these jobs that are out there for people. What is interfering with that American dream? GUPTA: What he'll say to you is, now we got to make sure there's enough jobs because in fact, those want ads started to disappear. There were people who wanted to work and not enough jobs were there for some time. So it was sort of a yin yang as far as that goes.
LIN: What do you make of some of the suggestions that President Clinton was talking about like micro-loans for people. These are strategies that are used in developing countries, now to be applied right here in the United States?
GUPTA: He loves this idea. Look at a country like Zambia. They've been the beneficiary of so much money and they are poorer than ever, poorer than their independence in 1964. Money's not working. And I asked the president the same thing and he said, you're right because it's not just the money. It's the inspiring the ambition. It's the inspiring the know-how to get things done as well. These micro-loan programs actually started businesses. They work very well. They worked in South America very well. They're starting to work in Africa. As part of it, you got to create markets for people to sell the goods that they have just created. In Arkansas, here in this country, you have programs where someone actually is given two cows, not as a gift but as a promise that you're going to go ahead, breed these cows, create a farm, get two more cows and give that to another farmer. It's sort of like this almost like dialing it up from person to person that seems to work the best according to the former president and according to a lot of these people who sponsor these micro-loan programs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Be sure the catch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's conversation with former President Bill Clinton, the poverty trap, tonight at 8:00 Eastern only on CNN.
Well, he's certainly brought character to the sport of tennis. But today, Andre Agassi bows out, his parting shot and lasting legacy next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: He lost his final tennis match at the U.S. Open today, but Andre Agassi left the court a winner. Our Larry Smith here with the emotional send off for one of the game's most popular champions. It was gripping watching him on the court and just so filled with emotion.
LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even all this week, his other matches this week, it's been so much fun to watch him really battle through victories. We knew he would retire after the U.S. Open, but no one was really ready to say good-bye. The end game today, Agassi eliminated by a young 25-year-old Benjamin Becker of Germany who grew up idolizing Andre Agassi, an emotional send off followed by a loud lengthy standing ovation while Agassi cried and after several minutes, the eight-time major champion and tennis legend, finally then left the court, leaving an incredible legacy and leaving behind countless fans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRE AGASSI: They rooted for me, not just on the court but also through many, many low points of my life. I mean, they have pulled for me. You know, it's like, in many cases how they have pulled for me on the court has helped me in life. And other cases how they have pulled for me in life has helped me on the court. It's been -- I have -- over the years, it's been hard to separate the tennis from the relationships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Andre Agassi, 36 years old and who will take his place? We really don't know. James Blake, Andy Roddick, so many great young American players that we'll see now, which one will step up and what a great career for him and the only man ever to win tennis's grand slam, win all four majors at least once and win an Olympic gold medal as well.
LIN: Yeah, remarkable and 36 years old, a sign (ph) of age in the tennis world, his opponent, ranked at 112, said that he watched Andre Agassi while he was growing up.
SMITH: Even earlier this week, Andy Roddick again, one of the up and coming tennis players, said, as great as Andre is, we probably have not seen his greatest acts yet. He does so much with charitable work and everything.
LIN: You have to remember, really, in real life, he is very young, 36 years old. All right thanks.
SMITH: OK.
LIN: Coming up, the apology that still has Hollywood abuzz. What is it sincere or just some star studded damage control? You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Mission forgiveness. Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields have patched things up after their very public spat. But will the rest of Hollywood be so forgiving? CNN's Kareen Wynter has the latest on the apology that's got tinsel town talking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the apology that still has Hollywood abuzz.
BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: He had called me and he came over to my house and he gave me a heart felt apology.
WINTER: Tom Cruise's public beef with Brooke Shields over her use of antidepressants now squashed. The actress told the tale of the apology Friday on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.
SHIELDS: I was so impressed with how heartfelt it was and I didn't feel at any time that I had to defend myself.
WYNTER: Cruise's camp confirmed with CNN through a written statement, quote, it is true that Tom Cruise's friendship with Ms. Shields has been mended. He has not changed his position about antidepressants, which as evidenced by the black label warnings issued by the FDA on these types of drugs are unhealthy.
Will Hollywood look kindly upon this apology? Was it sincere or maybe a desperate attempt at damage control?
TOM O'NEIL, SR. EDITOR, IN TOUCH MAGAZINE: Hollywood believes in happy endings. Everyone wants Tom to have one. Where Tom blew it with this apology was that he issued a statement simultaneously saying but I still believe that prescription drugs are wrong. Come on. It was supposed to be all about Brooke and taking care of her. It wasn't supposed to be about Tom proving he's right again.
WYNTER: Critics say Cruise's popularity took a downward slide after a series of bizarre public appearances. From his couch jumping incident on the Oprah Winfrey show, to getting into a spat over prescription drugs with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today Show."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking you a question.
What Tom needs to do now is go public and offer this apology to the women of America, many of whom are mothers who have gone through depression too and were offended by his remarks. We want to see him say these things sincerely so that we can believe him.
WYNTER (on camera): Experts say Tom Cruise still has a lot of work to do to improve his box office sales. As for his apology, industry insiders say many film goers will now forgive him and perhaps go back to seeing his movies once again, but add, the actor will never regain his superstar status. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: There's much more ahead on CNN this evening. Coming up at 7:00, energy crunch. How wind can be the answer to all of our energy woes. And at 8:00, CNN present Dr. Sanjay Gupta's candid conversation with former President Bill Clinton on the poverty trap right here in America. And at 9:00 Eastern on "Larry King Weekend," a rare look into the capture of polygamist Warren Jeffs. And I'll be back at 10:00 Eastern with a Chicago alderman who represents the neighborhood where six children were killed by a fire this morning after living months without electricity. The hour's headlines when we come back.
(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
