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Evacuation of U.S. Citizens Caught in Crossfire in Lebanon Under Way; President Bush Set to Use Presidential Veto Authority for First Time

Aired July 19, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching a special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm coming to you live from the port of Lanarca in Cyprus -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien in New York. Thank you, Soledad.

The evacuation of U.S. citizens caught in the crossfire in Lebanon is under way. They're headed to right where Soledad is in many cases.

And while Americans who have made there are grateful to be there and out of harm's way, they also tell a tale of disorganization and disappointment that their government didn't act a little faster and more efficiently.

Joining us from the State Department is spokesman Sean McCormack.

Mr. McCormack, good to have you with us.

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: Good to be with you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad has been talking to several people there in Larnaca, including a student who left Beirut and talked about -- as a matter of fact, let's listen to her for one second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY MARINACCIO, AMERICAN STUDENT: The Dutch students got out the day -- you know, three days ago. The Swiss students, they sent a convoy, they got out. The French students, I believe they also got out, and a bunch of other embassies. Like everybody had their people out already and, you know, here we are just sitting there. And it was really disappointing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: What do you say to that?

MCCORMACK: Well, Miles, we've been working for the past several days, as a matter of fact. We started getting people out on Sunday, but we're operating on the scale of getting thousands of people out. This is an international operation spanning three continents. So we have been working very hard to make sure that our people get out in a safe, orderly and timely manner.

Now certainly we would like to make sure that people get out as quickly as possible, but we want to make share they're safe as well. So we have been laying the groundwork to make sure that people not only Beirut, but in the south of Lebanon, but also in the north of Lebanon, are able to get out, and those operations are under way.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, you're talking about three continents. Lebanon is a small country. We're not talking about three continents; we're talking about a small country, and some Americans who are there who need to get out.

MCCORMACK: That's right. But once they get out of Beirut, they have to have some place to go. And there are people want to travel on to the United States. We have to make sure that they are able to get to the United States.

If they don't want to go to the United States, then we're going to work with them to make sure that they are able to get to go where they need to go.

M. O'BRIEN: But I'm sure they would have been happy just to get out of Lebanon and get to Cyprus and figure that out later.

MCCORMACK: Right, but you want to make suer they're well cared for when they land in Cyprus as well. So we have been laying that infrastructure in Cyprus, back here in Washington and in Beirut. So this has been a very complicated, complex operation. Certainly we understand that people are in distress. They're if a battle zone. And we have been working very hard to make sure that they kept up to date on our planning, to make sure that they're able to get out in a safe manner. That has been our highest priority, making sure that they're safe.

And while we understand that people have been in some distress, we think that we have a good operation in place. We're moving more than 1,000 people today. We're going to ramp that up to about 2,000 tomorrow, and the day after that 4,000.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, in the midst of all this, a lot of controversy over that decision to ask people to essentially pay their own way out. That's been reversed.

MCCORMACK: Correct.

M. O'BRIEN: But is that in any way reflective of -- well, maybe a little of callousness on the part of the U.S.? A tin ear, maybe?

MCCORMACK: Miles, this is a part of the law. It's a law that's been in place for 50 years, but Secretary Rice, when she took a look at that, she talked to members of Congress, she also talked to the White House. She wanted to go the extra mile. She wanted to go the extra mile to remove any possible worries people might have. She understands that they're in a very difficult situation, and while we have been working very hard to make sure that they get out and get out in a safe, timely manner, we also want to eliminate any concerns they might have had about having to pay.

I want to emphasize that nobody, nobody, was turned away on the basis of this question of whether or not they would pay. So any American who wants to get out of Lebanon is going to have that opportunity to get out of Lebanon, and now there will be no charge for that.

M. O'BRIEN: Let me shift gears here. You mentioned the secretary of state. She's headed to the region. We don't know just when yet. Going back 10 years ago, Clinton administration, predecessor of Condoleezza Rice, Warren Christopher, in the case where there was some conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, engaged in a week-long flurry of shuttle diplomacy between Damascus and Tel Aviv. Some would suggest that Damascus is a necessary destination to come up with a real solution to this crisis now. Are you going to rule out the secretary of state going to Damascus?

MCCORMACK: Well, Secretary Christopher and President Clinton did what was right for the time. I don't anticipate that Secretary Rice will be traveling to Damascus. Right now, Damascus is isolated. They're isolated from the rest of the international community. You have Hezbollah, Damascus and Tehran, the backers of Hezbollah, isolated from the rest of the region, isolated from the rest of the world.

So what we're doing right now is we're working with those states in the region, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, as well as others, who have an interest in seeing a permanent solution, so that we aren't in this position three weeks, six months or three years from now, where a terrorist organization can literally drag a region down into violence. So that's what Secretary Rice is focused on. She will travel to the region. The timing of that, she's going to determine based on when her trip might be most useful and when it might be most effective.

M. O'BRIEN: But that effort on the part of Warren Christopher did ultimately lead to a cease-fire. Is it not worth talking to the Syrians at some level, at a high level?

MCCORMACK: Well, certainly we do have an embassy in Damascus. Of course we have talked to the Syrians about this. But you also want to make sure that when you have a cessation of the violence -- and we all want to see the violence stop -- but when you have an end to that violence, you have an end in such a way that we are not back in the same situation once again, and you don't have the status quo ante. You don't have a situation where Hezbollah can sit back and rearm itself, only to fight another day.

M. O'BRIEN: When will the secretary of state travel to the region?

MCCORMACK: I anticipate in the near future she will travel, Miles. But again, the exact timing of that travel will be based upon when she thinks it's most useful and effective to go there.

M. O'BRIEN: Sean McCormack, State Department spokesman, thanks for being with us this morning. MCCORMACK: Thanks, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, word this morning that Israeli Defense Forces are engaged in gun battles in southern Lebanon.

Let's get right to Christiane Amanpour. She is on the Israeli side of the border with the very latest on the skirmishes there.

Christiane, good morning.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Soledad.

M. O'BRIEN: Hi, Christiane, I can hear you -- go ahead.

AMANPOUR: We are (INAUDIBLE), which is northern Israel, near the Lebanese border, and there has been, for the last several hours, continuing clashes between the Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah guerrillas.

According to the IDF, the Israeli military, it's happening on the Lebanese side of the border. Now, we've seen tanks. We're listening to very fierce tank fire going out, and on our way up here, we've also seen the hillsides here in northern Israel peppered with flame and smoke, and it seems that the Hezbollah rockets are still making their mark.

We've seen at least one village which was part of it in flames and smoking, and the aerial planes dropping sort of a red, sandy liquid to try to put out those fires. We've also seen ambulances up here.

Now, according to the Israeli military censorship rules we're not allowed to give details, but we have seen ambulances up here on the Israeli side. And the Hezbollah is reporting that there have been casualties in the ongoing clashes between the Israeli soldiers and the Hezbollah guerrillas -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Christiane Amanpour is on the Israeli side of that border. Christiane, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, the showdown over stem cell research. The Senate's passed a new bill, but the president promises to veto. How will it all play out?

And later, the tension in the Middle East conflict eerily captured on a cell phone. We'll take a Web tour, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Back now with live pictures. This is Avivim, Israel. Actually I'm not sure if that is Avivim, Israel. We've been looking at tanks along the border just south of the Lebanese/Israeli border as Israeli armored units continue a nonstop barrage into southern Lebanon. They say pinpointing Hezbollah locations where those rockets are fired from, that continued barrage of rockets that has been raining down on cities like Haifa in northern Israel. They responding with tank and artillery fire. But in some cases, we are told, on the other side of the border, by correspondent Karl Penhaul, civilian casualties, quite a few civilian casualties. We'll back to our coverage of the crisis in the Middle East in just a moment.

Now a bigger to tell you about domestically. President Bush is set to use his presidential veto authority for the first time to block the Senate's stem-cell bill.

Congressional correspondent Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill with more on this.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

And you know, this will be remembered as a defining and controversial day of the Bush presidency. He has threatened lawmakers here well over 100 times that he would veto legislation they've sent him. Now he's poised to actually use that veto pen for the first time on legislation to lift federal funding limits for stem cells on embryos that would otherwise be discarded. That is an idea that does have broad public support, but it one that the president's spokesmen equates with murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zara Johnson was adopted as an embryo. Her father is in a wheelchair and aches to walk again, he told senators, but not at any cost.

STEVE JOHNSON, OPPOSES EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH: I could potentially benefit from the embryonic stem cell research. But that means, you know, essentially, killing my daughter.

BASH: Actress Mary Tyler Moore, who has diabetes, came arguing, the best hope for curing her disease is embryonic stem cell research.

MARY TYLER MOORE, SUPPORTS EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH: It's so rich in the future in the possibilities for people who are sick.

BASH: Tales of illness and questions of morality dominated the debate, centered on a bill to lift federal funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, destined for a presidential veto, the first ever.

Republican Gordon Smith evoked memories of relatives who battled Parkinson's and begged the president to change his mind.

SEN. GORDON SMITH (R), OREGON: Please, do not veto this bill. Do not deny them the hope that can come from this research.

BASH: The impassioned election-year debate exposed differences among self-described pro-life Republicans.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: By using these embryos for medical research, we are, in fact, promoting life. In fact, I believe we are aiding the living, which is one of the most pro-life positions you can take.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: It is human, and it's alive. And, under H.R. 810, we say that the federal government is going to fund the destruction, the killing of that embryo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now the president shares that view. We will hear from him later today at the White House.

But meanwhile, as soon as the president vetoes this legislation, House Republican leaders say they try to override it. That is all but certain to fail. Then the issue, Miles, moves from Congress to the campaign trail. Democrats insist they can use this Bush veto, first Bush veto, as a potent political weapon against Republicans in some of this year's closest congressional races -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana bash on Capitol Hill. Thank you very much.

Coming up, the crisis in the Middle East online, some chilling videotape of a mad dash for shelter amid this violence, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The crisis in the Middle East, a major topic on the World Wide Web.

Let's get to CNN's technology expert Daniel Sieberg to check in on that for us.

Daniel, good morning.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

That's right, the Internet is offering a very unique way to sort of circumvent the normal channels and see what's happening in the region. We've got some video to show you and some blogs. We'll show you video first. This is from a site called YouTube, where anybody can post video and share it with people around the world. Apparently, according to the profile site from it's from, it's from a 14-year-old. And actually in this case, the first one we're looking at here is a rooftop scene. You're hearing air-raid sirens in the background.

I don't know if we can bring up the volume in the background just for a second there. I'll let you listen to it.

This is apparently in Haifa. This was used -- this taken using a cell phone camera, at least according to the Web site. We can't verify the authenticity of any of video we're seeing here at CNN, but it's some amazing stuff. You can get a sense of what this person is going through up on the rooftop in Haifa.

If we can go to the next video now, this one should be of somebody who's going down into the bunker. You can see them going down the stairs here. This is the one from a 14-year-old, apparently in Israel. I'll give you a little awe sense of what he's going through here as he goes outside. I'll just pause and you can listen to it.

And So he runs outside to the bunker. And again, this is apparently from a 14-year-old. He says, "Look what we have to go through only to get to our shelter."

And finally, we've got one. I want to show you this one quickly. If you can just see in the background with this next one, it's actually a night sky, and on the right side you see an explosion there. I'm going pause, and you can hear the shockwave of the sound.

Some pretty powerful stuff. This video is apparently, according to the site, from a southern suburb in Beirut. The initial explosion happens there, you can see in the right-hand corner, and then the resulting shockwave. So some amazing video, Miles, that's posted on this site, YouTube, which is becoming increasingly popular during this conflict.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a whole new way of sharing a very frightening experience. Tell us about the blogs.

SIEBERG: Yes, the blogs also very active. We've got couple of them. This one caught our attention partly because of the title and the concept here. You see there it says, "live from an Israeli bunker." The whole idea with this one is this is apparently from a 17-year-old who goes by the name "Eugene." He's in Israel. He says he's using his laptop and a wi-fi connection to stay connected to the Internet and to offer his comments about what's happening. He says he's trying to circumvent some of the local media there. He is very savvy, this guy. He's already posted some ads, and he's posted a link to CNN.com.

And at the bottom, we thought it was interesting, because he says, "This is my blog, but I do not censor comments. Feel free to express whatever opinions or feelings you might have about the situation." But he goes on to say, "I did delete one comment that was poorly spelled. If you want to comment up here, keep it civil and try to spell adequately." So that, we thought that was kind of interesting.

And finally we've got one called "Blogging Beirut." And this one really highlights some of the everyday stuff that people are going through. You can see what he's showing here in his photos is garbage piling up in the streets. He's saying because the city is basically under siege in certain places there, that simple things like the garbage is simply not being collected. It's one of those thing you just don't think about in a conflict like this necessarily. And at the top there, he's actually got an testing thing where it shows in realtime the people around the world on his site, from the U.S. right through to Egypt and Italy -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: All right, Daniel Sieberg, thank you for that Web tour. I appreciate that.

SIEBERG: You bet.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

M. O'BRIEN: The latest on the conflict in the Middle East conflict coming up after a short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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