[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories. Happening now, President Bush offers a warm embrace to the Iranian people and a cold shoulder to their leaders. It's 5:00 p.m. at the United Nations, where Iran's president will soon get his turn to speak. It's 4:00 a.m. Wednesday in Bangkok. Troops and tanks are now on the streets of Thailand's capital. But who is in control? And the space shuttle will stay up there longer than planned after space junk is spotted floating nearby. Did it fall from the shuttle? Did it hit the shuttle? Engineers scrambling right now to try to find out. I'm Wolf Blitzer in New York, where it's an extraordinary day at the United Nations. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. More warmth, fewer warnings. President Bush toned town the showdown when he took the podium at the United Nations General Assembly today. He assured the world's Muslims that the United States is not waging war on them and he offered people across the Middle East a vision of peace. The Iranian people were included in that offer. But as for their rulers, there was tougher talk about Iran's nuclear program. We'll soon hear what Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has to say. We have full coverage coming up. Our Brian Todd and Zain Verjee are standing by. CNN's Aneesh Raman is over at the United Nations. Let's turn first to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux Suzanne.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, President Bush just wrapped up a meeting, a one-on-one with the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, of course to try to bolster the leader's credibility at a time when things are going so poorly in his country, on the brink of a civil war. But the focus for President Bush today really was another hotspot, and that is Iran.
[Malveaux:] It was billed as a heavyweight match. In one corner, the man representing what Iran calls the "Great Satan." In the other corner, a leader of what the U.S. calls the "Axis of Evil." But as it turned out, the two were never in the same ring. They did not even bump into each other in the busy hallways. Anticipating President Bush would single out Iran during his address to the U.N. General Assembly, Iranian's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was in no-show for the public scolding.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
[Malveaux:] But the tone of Mr. Bush's address to the international body and specifically to Iran was noticeably more measured compared to years before. Four years ago, the president warned the General Assembly the U.S. would go to war with Iraq with or without the U.N.'s approval. Today he highlighted the diplomatic track he's taking with Iran.
[Bush:] We look to the day when you can live in freedom and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace.
[Malveaux:] The president's address was the culmination of a series of speeches in a P.R. campaign aimed at taking the focus off the unpopular Iraq war and on to the broader war on terror. Mr. Bush's speech on spreading democracy was targeted directly to the people of the Middle East.
[Bush:] We must support the dreams of good and decent people who are working to transform a troubled region.
[Malveaux:] Mr. Bush specifically called on the international community to support the fledgling democracies in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority. But is the president's audience still listening? Some political analysts believe the Bush administration's foreign policy, particularly the war in Iraq, has contributed to the chaos in the Middle East. And the president has little credibility on the world stage.
[Frederick Barton, Center For Strategic & International Studies:] Well, one of the dangers for President Bush is he has has not really established an international audience. And he does not have a group of people who really find him credible. And globally...
[Malveaux:] Now, Wolf, the focus tonight, of course, is what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to be doing. She's meeting with her European counterparts for dinner. They are going to be discussing the way forward when it comes to Iran. And quietly the Europeans have been talking with the Iranians trying to coax them into cooperating instead of focusing or emphasizing what President Bush has been doing, and that is the sanctions Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Suzanne, thank you. New political gains for the president. Today, seven weeks before congressional elections, the new "USA Today"-Gallup poll shows his approval rating up to 44 percent. That's his highest rating in a year. When the three latest polls are averaged together, Mr. Bush gets a 41 percent approval rating. Tomorrow I'll speak one on one with the president. I'll ask him about the showdown with Iran, the war in Iraq, the war on terror. And what would you ask the president of the United States? Send us an e-mail at CNN.comsituationroom. My special interview with President Bush right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, tomorrow, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. At the heart of the Bush administration's case against Iran, an alleged nuclear weapons program. CNN's Brian Todd is looking into that. He's joining us now live from Washington Brian.
[Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, at the heart of that Western suspicion about Iran is the regime's long history of hiding its nuclear program. Tehran now says it's being transparent about what it calls peaceful nuclear development, but the suspicions linger.
[Todd:] An ambitious leader positioning himself as a major Middle East player. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government says those ambitions don't include a nuclear weapon. His American counterparts disagree. We took Joe Cirincione, a weapons expert who has been to Iran recently, into THE SITUATION ROOM to look at three controversial facilities.
[Joseph Cirincione, Center For American Progress:] Natanz is where they have the centrifuges that will turn uranium into enriched uranium. In Esfahan is where they are taking uranium from the ground and turning it into the gas that they can turn into the centrifuges. And finally, over in Iraq is where the Iranians are moving on a heavy water reactor that can be used to make plutonium, the other material for nuclear bombs.
[Todd:] Cirincione says the Iraq facility is designed to make plutonium quickly. No reason for that capability, he says, expect to make nuclear material for bombs. Then there are the mysterious tunnels at the sprawling Esfahan plant.
[Cirincione:] In these tunnels near Esfahan the Iranians say they are storing the uranium gas there, again to protect it from possible attack. But they might also have a duplicate facility in those mountains. That's why we need intrusive inspections to ferret that out.
[Todd:] Inspections that would be difficult to carry out under current rules that Iran has insisted on. But experts say all three facilities could also be used for legitimate peaceful nuclear production, which is Iran's stated intent. As for evidence...
[David Albright, Fmr. Weapons Inspector:] There's no smoking gun. And there's no evidence that Iran has made the decision to actually build nuclear weapons.
[Todd:] A finding backed up by the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the IAEA also says Iran hasn't stopped enriching low- grade uranium and hasn't allowed inspectors to interview key scientists. An Iranian official at the U.N. tells me his government has complied with the agency for several years now and will continue to do so. We may know more soon about this, Wolf. Inspectors are on the ground as we speak.
[Blitzer:] And we're following every aspect of this story, Brian. Thanks very much. We are also standing by to hear from the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad. He's expected to speak fairly soon before the United Nation General Assembly here in New York. Other important news we're following, the prime minister of Thailand attended events at the U.N. today. Meanwhile, his opponents back home are trying to take advantage of his absence. Right now in Thailand, tanks and troops are on the streets. But who they are taking orders from, not exactly clear. Some are part of an angry mob from Thailand's military trying to overthrow the government. Let's go to CNN's Dan Rivers. He is in Bangkok right now with the latest Dan.
[Dan Rivers, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, you can probably see behind me, there are tanks, as you say, on the streets of Bangkok. Soldiers at every intersection in the center of town. The army has staged what they are claiming is a coup d'etat. They say they have revoked the 1997 constitution. They have sacked Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister, and they are now in charge, effectively. What we are being told is that senior army officials, including General Santi, who it's believed is now effectively caretaker prime minister here, they met the king a few hours ago. We don't know what was said in that meeting, but it appears that the king gave some sort of tacit approval for this coup d'etat. And now the army has imposed martial law across Thailand. The streets, as you can see it's late at night here now the streets are deserted. But so far there's been no violence. There's been no antagonism. Most people, it appears, are almost thankful that the controversial prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, may have been deposed. What remains to be seen, though, is whether the army will restore democracy.
[Blitzer:] And he was supposed to speak for the United Nations General Assembly. We are getting word now that speech not going to happen. We're following what he does next. Dan Rivers in Bangkok. We'll get back to you. Thank you very much. Jack Cafferty is here in New York with me. Good to have you here.
[Jack Cafferty, Cnn Anchor:] A busy day you came to town, huh?
[Blitzer:] Always busy, but especially you know, there's a lot of traffic on the streets with all these world leaders in New York.
[Cafferty:] Yes, it's great, isn't it? Instead of taking an hour to get home it takes you two. A comforting thought, Wolf. A new study shows that radical Islamists are able to move from prison to prison in the United States, preaching what researchers are calling jailhouse Islam. In some cases, they convert prisoners with the idea of them joining terrorist groups once they're released. Apparently, prisons are an ideal environment for radicalizing people. Muslims who preach violent versions of the Koran get easy access to prison ministries because nobody keeps track of who these people are. Prison administrators are stretched too thin to monitor religious meetings, and many anti-social prisoners tend to go along with radical religions. Here's what the study recommends: Congress should establish a commission to investigate the issue. There's a good idea, another government commission to do another government investigation. Here's the question: What does it mean if Islamic extremists are recruiting terrorists in United States prisons? E-mail your thoughts on that to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.comCaffertyFile.
[Blitzer:] We'll do that. Thank you.
[Cafferty:] You're welcome.
[Blitzer:] And still ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM, one problem after another. Not one, but two mysterious pieces of debris floating near the space shuttle Atlantis. Now NASA says the shuttle is not yet ready to land. And it's a question troops, military families and others are asking, when will we see fewer U.S. troops in Iraq? The U.S. military commanders in the Middle East answering. We're going to tell you what he's saying. And should two enemies try to talk things over to avoid a confrontation with Iran? Should the U.S. speak directly with Iran's leadership? Stay with us.