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American Morning

International Community Rallying to Find Peaceful Solution to Mideast Crisis; Thousands of Americans Trapped in Lebanon

Aired July 18, 2006 - 08:34   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad. Soledad is in Cyprus. We're going to get to her in just a bit.

But first, here is the latest on the crisis in the Middle East. A chartered cruise ship is in the Port of Beirut right now. The Orient Queen will pick up some of the 25,000 Americans trapped by the war. Keep in mind, it can only carry 750 passengers at a time. It is being escorted by U.S. warships.

Israel bombed a Lebanese army barracks today, killing nine soldiers. Hezbollah is firing rockets into Israel's third largest city, Haifa, and more than 200 people have died in the week of fighting so far.

Iran today is threatening that no part of Israel is safe. Iran supplies Hezbollah with missiles capable of hitting deep inside Israel.

The international community is rallying to help find a peaceful solution to this Mideast crisis. It was discussed at several G-8 summit meetings over the weekend, and just this morning a United Nations negotiating team in Israel says concrete ideas have been presented. So what are they? Let's go now to senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth to find out.

Good morning, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Those ideas right now at the negotiating table in the Middle East, shuttle diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon by this high-level U.N. team. The U.N., by the way, in Beirut announcing evacuations of non-essential personnel in Beirut for the U.N.

All of this, developing flurrying around here in a quick search for a short-term Middle East peace solution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH (voice-over): Mideast diplomatic hopes are currently riding with shuttling United Nations envoys. Stop one Monday was in Beirut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can announce today that we have made some promising first efforts on the way forward.

ROTH: The peacemakers say they have concrete ideas, but it's too soon for optimism. They have company in the region. French Prime Minister Dominique De Villepen is also in Beirut saying no magic solutions, but the immediate goal is a cease-fire.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will go, too, awaiting the outcome of the U.N. dialogue.

Their boss, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed, along with Britain's Tony Blair, a new international force to separate Israel and Hezbollah.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: To make sure we have the troops, well-trained, well-equipped troops that can go in quite quickly.

ROTH: But the U.N. already has a peacekeeping force in the same area, and it has been ignored by both sides.

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMB. TO U.N.: Would it be empowered to deal with the countries like Syria and Iran that support Hezbollah?

ROTH: The Security Council has met, but taken no decisions.

NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER, QATARI AMB. TO U.N.: Yes, we are late. We should take action two days ago, not today, not tomorrow.

ROTH: The U.S. is blocking any Security Council response to the Middle East violence, saying Israel has a right to defend itself.

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: Nobody wants to see a cessation of violence in such a way you end up back where we are today as some point in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: One of those concrete idea, Carol, you ask about, may be this stabilization. Kofi Annan in Brussels today, saying the concept still has to be modified, more soldiers than the 2,000 who are already there, who are really, in effect in a mission that really needs modification.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: So in the short term, more talking.

Richard Roth, live at the United Nations this morning, thanks.

O'BRIEN: Hezbollah, or the "Party of God," was born during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon -- excuse me -- 24 years ago. It is made up of Lebanese Shiites with the stated goal of destroying Israel. The U.S. and Israel call Hezbollah a terror group. But like many groups that are branded that way, it also has another dimension.

Yaroslav Trofimov spent time with members of Hezbollah, and traveled in southern Lebanon for his book "Faith at War." He's a reporter for "The Wall Street Journal," and he joins from Rome.

Yaroslav, good to have you with us this morning.

YAROSLAV TROFIMOV, "FAITH AT WAR": Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We see the militant side of Hezbollah, but Hezbollah derives support from its civilian component, its ability to deliver services and act as a de facto government in southern Lebanon.

Give us a sense of the breadth and depth of the kind of services they provide there.

TROFIMOV: Well, Hezbollah's goal was not just to combat Israel on the battlefield, but also to create a resistant society, that is to transform the entire Shiite community, both in south Lebanon and in south Beirut and the Bekaa Valley into a pot of support and sustainment for the fighters. So this means Hezbollah doesn't just fight, but it also runs a construction branch, which is the called the Construction Jihad, which builds houses for its members. It runs an agriculture outfit which provides livestock and seeds for the farmers along the border. And it even runs a social service for veterans, for the wounded in its battles, with a matchmaking branch. It finds wives, for examples, for the veterans, who marry them out of a sense of jihad, without even meeting them first.

O'BRIEN: So it really has become, in many respects, a government within a government, and, of course, the Lebanese government apparently does not have the power to reckon with this force. Does it?

TROFIMOV: Well, militarily, Hezbollah is beyond a militia, that has been allowed to keep its weapons once the war there ended. So the government doesn't have the military muscle obviously to take on Hezbollah at this time.

On the other hand, socially, the difference between Hezbollah and the other Lebanese parties is that Hezbollah has a direct line to Tehran, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid from Iran, which it then disburses to its communities, something other communities in Lebanon cannot do.

O'BRIEN: So Hezbollah is very careful to spread the largess from Iran, and that of course insures that it has devoted followers?

TROFIMOV: Well, absolutely, absolutely. In the areas of south Beirut, that are now being bombarded so heavily, which is a virtual Hezbollah stronghold, everything is run by Hezbollah. Even the drinking water is provided to this tower, apartment blocks, by Hezbollah, and if you walk the streets there, these drinking water containers are decorated with the portraits of the Iranian leader, (INAUDIBLE), Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, and with the Iranian flags.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, let me ask you this -- in spite of all of that, in spite of the fact they have gained political force, and now have 14 seats in the parliament, could Hezbollah exist without its opposition to Israel? In other words, does it need to be fighting in order to survive?

TROFIMOV: Well, in its present form, absolutely. Hezbollah's main reason, its only reason, is resistance, an once they secure south Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, said Jerusalem is next. So once he spoke to the Muslim and the Arab world in his latest speech a couple days ago, he didn't even bother referring or mentioning the existence of the Lebanese government. He spoke of himself as the sword of the entire arm of the Muslim nation. So he sees himself as far more than just a Lebanese faction. And in conditions of peace, obviously, this tremendous stranglehold that Hezbollah exercises over large parts of Lebanon would not exist.

O'BRIEN: Yaroslav Trofimov with "The Wall Street Journal," author also of "Faith at War," thanks very much for your insights.

TROFIMOV: Great to be here.

Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Still to come, we will meet a Michigan family separated by the conflict in the Middle East. The father and daughter in Lebanon. The mom's in the United States. We will see how they're coping.

O'BRIEN: Plus, conflict is nothing new to the Middle East, of course. We'll look at why religions have fought over the same piece of land for centuries. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We have been telling you about the thousands of Americans who are essentially trapped in Lebanon. Now we've been told that a cruise ship has arrived in Beirut port, but it's not clear if the ship was able to get past the Israeli naval blockade. This is all extremely frustrating for families separated by the crisis.

Joining us now from Southfield, Michigan is Victoria Chehade and joining us by phone Akkar, Lebanon, her husband, Nick.

Welcome to you both.

VICTORIA CHEHADE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: First of all, Victoria, I want you to say hi to Nick, because I know you haven't spoken to him for a week.

V. CHEHADE: Hi, Nick. Hello.

COSTELLO: Nick, can you hear Victoria?

Nick CHEHADE: Hello, how you doing, Vicki?

V. CHEHADE: Hi, hon. How's everything? N. CHEHADE: Everything's OK here. We're still waiting until we hear from the ship, you know, come, and we'll move on from here, but we don't have any information yet.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about that for just a second, because, Victoria, I know you've been trying to get Nick, and your daughter is also in Lebanon, right, your 13-year-old daughter?

V. CHEHADE: Yes.

COSTELLO: You've been trying to get them out. What have you heard from the U.S. government?

V. CHEHADE: We make calls to the State Department daily on a number that they have released, and it's difficult getting in, because many other people are calling this number. So you're put on wait, where you just have to wait until a representative -- but the answer's the same, that they're working on the crisis, and they're trying to get the families out. And when they do, that they'll probably take them to Cyprus.

COSTELLO: I want to play -- we interviewed the Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns earlier this morning, and this is what he had to say about the evacuation plans for Americans trapped in Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE: We're highly organized. We're very efficient. We've been very active. We're on this one, and I think doing a good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Victoria, your reaction to that.

V. CHEHADE: Well, the conflict is so big, that it's hard, you know. I'm sure they're doing the best they can with so many people. This was a record year for travel in Lebanon, and I know there's many people that went there this year. So I don't know how they're going to deal with this many number, but...

COSTELLO: Well do you think it's organized? The effort to get the Americans out, do you think it's organized and it's smooth sailing?

V. CHEHADE: How can I say that? All I can talk to is the phone.

COSTELLO: Nick, I want to ask you this -- we know there's a cruise ship heading to lob non shortly, we suppose, to pick up Americans. Have you heard about that ship?

N. CHEHADE: Yes. We've been hearing, you know, some ship coming over here (INAUDIBLE), some of the French people and some of the (INAUDIBLE) people and (INAUDIBLE) people. But we are still waiting for the American ship to be around. We hear something's going to come here, but we don't know exactly when. COSTELLO: How are you hearing that something is going to arrive to get you?

N. CHEHADE: I mean, we hear from news, TVs, something like that.

COSTELLO: Because the U.S. state department is telling us that they're in communication with people in Lebanon through the Internet, through e-mail. Have you been able to get any e-mails from the U.S. government?

N. CHEHADE: No, We don't -- I don't have e-mail. (INAUDIBLE) the I'm talking to you on, you know, right now, and (INAUDIBLE) go through their connection.

COSTELLO: Nick I know you're staying at the home of a family member, and you say you're located near the American embassy. Tell me what you're hearing as far as you know, the sound of rockets or warfare is concerned.

N. CHEHADE: Would you repeat that?

COSTELLO: Are you close to the fighting?

N. CHEHADE: I hear, but I'm not closer (INAUDIBLE), no. But we can hear things sometime.

COSTELLO: You have your daughter with you. How worried are you at getting out and getting out soon?

N. CHEHADE: You know, I'm not really worried too much, because you know, I mean, what's going to happen going to happen, and, you know, I'm waiting for the, you know, move from the American embassy and do something for their own people. (INAUDIBLE) anyway. I'm trying to be positive, you know, and take everything way.

COSTELLO: It is good to be positive. Victoria, do you share sentiment that what happens happens, and he's not worried anything will happen?

V. CHEHADE: Well I have to trust what Nick says and hope that he'll be home, but we both share the view that this is a war about hate. And these two countries live in the past. And we want them to work with each other and to resolve it. We're worried that it will go into a bigger conflict, and it's bigger than just these two countries.

But I hope to see them home. I hope top see them get on that ship just as I've seen other Americans get on helicopters, and I saw some on CNN leaving in an airplane. So I have those same hopes that they'll be home soon.

COSTELLO: We hope so, too. Nick and Victoria Chehade, thank you for joining us this morning opinion. We appreciate it.

V. CHEHADE: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Coming up, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the Middle East on a diplomatic mission, but has the United States already lost credibility in the conflict? We'll ask a former Clinton adviser.

And different sides have fought over the Middle East for centuries. You heard Victoria say that. Why is the same piece of land so important to so many religious factions? We're going to take a closer look at that. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Hezbollah militants still lobbing rockets onto the northern Israeli port of Haifa. As a matter of fact, yesterday at this time we told you about one such attack with some firsthand reporting from Anderson Cooper. Here's the story Anderson filed later in the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Haifa, chasing Hezbollah's rockets has become a daily routine.

(On camera): Most of us were just about to sit down to lunch as an explosion occurred. It's in the port area in downtown Haifa. You could see it from the hotel. We're now just racing there. We're not sure of the exact location, but we're just driving as fast as we can to get there to see what impact it has. I can already see some soldiers running. We'll see what happens.

(Voice-over): After a rocket lands, reporters and police all converge on the scene. There are moments of chaos, but it is surprisingly controlled.

(On camera): The Israelis, obviously, have a lot of experience with these kind of situations. They immediately cordon off the entire area. They push the press back. If there are not any casualties involved, they -- they really try to get it investigated and cleaned up as quickly as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, please, the sidewalk, OK? Thank you.

COOPER (voice-over): This rocket attack struck the roof of a closed courthouse building. There's some shattered glass visible, but no casualties. There is relief, but, suddenly, the air raid sirens start sounding again.

(On camera): Now another siren just gone off (INAUDIBLE) scrambling from the scene. So, we're going to try to figure out what we're we should go.

(Voice-over): Everyone runs for cover against a nearby building, unsure where the next rockets will land.

(On camera): We've heard several loud explosions now, a dull thud. The ground hasn't shook, so it doesn't sound like they were that close, but we're just going to have to wait and see, as soon as the air raid siren stops. We'll see what happened. (Voice-over): As soon as police give the all clear, we run to our van and head out to see where the new round of rockets fell.

This time it's a residential neighborhood that's been hit. On the way we make sure to put on our flack jackets. Hezbollah says they don't target civilians, but their rockets are inaccurate and the truth is they can't control where the missiles will land.

(On camera): The police are saying there may be a gas leak here. You see the building that was hit right over there, there's still smoke. I see some stretchers, but there's no signs of people that have actually been killed or injured.

(Voice-over): As we get closer we see there were people inside the building when the rocket hit. An elderly lady stunned, scared, is carried out and taken away on a stretcher.

(On camera): Some firefighters have arrived now on the scene, a small fire has broken out on the second floor of this building, this residential building. They're trying to deal with fires, but they continue searching the complex to see if there are any more people trapped inside.

(Voice-over): In the end, three people were removed from this apartment building. No one, however, was killed. It could have been much worse. There has already been so much bloodshed on either side of this border. Tomorrow it's likely there will be still more.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Haifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Anderson joining us now way look at what's coming up on tonight's program -- Anderson.

COOPER: Miles, tonight on "360," 25,000 Americans caught in the crossfire, desperate to get out of Lebanon any way they can. When will evacuations begin? When will the Americans get out? That's tonight on "360," 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Big question this morning. Thanks, Anderson.

AMERICAN MORNING will be back with the latest headlines from the Middle East after a short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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