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American Morning

Crisis in the Middle East

Aired July 19, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures from Israel. Israel continuing the pressure on southern Lebanon. Tanks continuing their shelling. Airstrikes in parts of Lebanon and southern Beirut. Ground troops battling Hezbollah at the border and beyond. The fighting wages on. No real end in sight on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning, it is Wednesday, July 19. Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Miles O'Brien in New York.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien coming to you live from Port of Larnaca in Cyprus. Welcome, everybody.

It's 1:00 in the afternoon. It is a very hot afternoon, very windy at the same time. We've got lots of developments to get to that have happened overnight here.

First, David (ph), if you get a shot over here of this Greek destroyer. That came in last night. On it, 160 Greeks, 4 Americans and about 100 other people who were able to disembark fairly easily, not -- process through quite quickly.

If you take a look, though, across the way to this big cargo ship right over here, that's the Norwegian cargo ship we've been talking about for quite a while now. That ship carrying somewhere between 100 and 200 Americans, the bulk of them students. Docked early this morning just before sunrise. And what a sight to see, people carrying everything they had as they came off, looking somewhat dazed, frankly, after their 11-hour journey.

For the first time, we're going to show you some home video on that ship taken by one of the American students that we'll talk to later this morning. Take a look at some of this videotape of the crowded conditions. Keep in mind that it was about, they estimate, something like 100 degrees on the deck there. There were two decks. People putting up tarps or whatever they could to protect their family members.

Also keep in mind, many of these folks had nothing to eat for several hours, in some cases 24 hours before they were able to get some kind of food. So it was quite a scene on that ship they came off.

Also processed through quite quickly for many of those students. Now the next step is figuring out where they go from here.

This morning, we're going to update you on exactly how the progress is fairing for Americans who are trying to get out of Beirut. And also we'll tell you exactly what the situation is here at the Port of Larnaca.

First, though, we want to get to Paula Newton. She is on the border between Lebanon and Israel in an undisclosed location. She's on the Israeli side. Let's check in with her first.

Paula, good morning.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning, Soledad.

They are working day and night here trying to hit Hezbollah positions. You know Hezbollah is a guerrilla fighting force. They seem to be hitting bunkers where they believe that missiles are stored. And they're trying to get to those guerrilla positions, although they believe that a lot of the guerrillas have now melted into the civilian population.

From these actual target locations, they claim to be having great success in hitting ammunition dumps and even hitting long-range missiles. These are 155 millimeter guns. They have a range of anywhere from about 4 to even as much as 18 miles. And they say that they have even hit long-range Hezbollah, long-range missile positions that Hezbollah has in its possession as much as 13 miles inside the border.

At the same time, though, they have had about over a dozen Katyusha rockets land in this location, but they have seen it slow down. Instead, Soledad, what is happening is that barrages of rockets are hitting deep into Israel in places like Haifa.

And the people here on the ground know that the more success that they have here with those artillery rounds, the more Haifa will start to feel the pressure, because Hezbollah will know they're not having an effect here and they need to get more of their fire power into civilian populations if they are going to have any kind of effect in this war -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Paula Newton for us this morning.

Paula, thanks.

We're going to bring you a report from across the border in Lebanon in just a few moments. First, though, let's go right back to Miles -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Soledad.

Here is what is happening this morning.

A Poseidon-like misadventure off the coast of Florida. The brand new Crown Princess cruise liner suddenly lifted steeply to the left, upending passengers and crew yesterday. About 100 passengers hurt, 2 critically. The ship returned to port. The Coast Guard suspects a problem with the steering system.

In southern California, air traffic slowly returning to normal after a power outage in a non-route radar center Tuesday. Officials don't know what caused the outage or why it took about 90 minutes for backup power to kick in.

And the lights are back on in LaGuardia Airport, here in New York this morning as well. Blackouts yesterday forced a lot of cancellations and delays causing plenty of headaches for passengers. Soaring temperatures had overwhelmed a power supply cable.

Yet another Katrina fraud and waste investigation under way. Government auditors say homeland security workers in New Orleans charged taxpayers for an $8,000 plasma TV, $7,000 for new iPods and a $230 beer brewing kit.

In Indonesia, the death toll rising from Monday's major earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Java. The death toll now stands at 525. Another 300 and maybe 3 (ph) are injured.

President Bush poised to veto that stem cell bill today. The Senate voted to loosen the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. It will be the president's first veto.

And Tropical Storm Beryl churning off the coast of North Carolina. Forecasters say it could pick up strength over the next day or so, but they do not expect it to become a hurricane.

Which brings us to our severe weather expert Chad Myers at the CNN Center.

Hello, -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Miles.

No, we do not expect it to be a hurricane, although there will be some big gales on up there in the big fishing grounds up around the banks. And for that matter, New York City, Philadelphia, you guys are in the clear today.

Here is where Beryl is going. In fact, it's not that far from Cape Hatteras, not going to affect it, except with some waves. Maybe wind maybe 25, 30 miles per hour, but well off shore. And it stays off shore. It does not make an approach to Long Island, at least not for now, because there's a cold front that will push it away.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: I enjoyed it, definitely. Thank you.

MYERS: Back to you, -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: That was some storm last night, though, unbelievable.

MYERS: It was.

M. O'BRIEN: Unbelievable. Unbelievable. All right.

We'll talk to you in a little bit, Chad, thank you very much.

MYERS: You bet.

M. O'BRIEN: We just saw Paula Hancocks just south of the Israel- Lebanon border on the Israeli side. Let's move to the other side of the border, the Lebanese side. Israeli troops are on that side. They say it's not an invasion, they say it's part of an effort to root-out Hezbollah bunkers, strongholds and those rockets which continue to besiege the northern part of Israel.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is there. He joins us on the phone -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, we had reports from early morning from the Israeli defense forces in fact that Israeli ground troops have come across the border into southern Lebanon. And so far we've had no further word from that spokesman as to how many Israeli troops may have come across and how far they have come across the border.

We've also heard from Arabic language TV stations and has also now confirmed by the Israeli defense forces that there have been clashes between Hezbollah militia fighters and Israeli troops on this south Lebanon side. Now all that goes hand in hand with continued airstrikes, around the clock airstrikes by Israeli warplanes on targets inside southern Lebanon.

In a position that I am, about 10 miles back from the border, I've just come back from a hospital here and that hospital is full of civilian casualties. Doctors are overloaded with the work there. They say they don't have enough supplies, that they are not trained in these types of combat injuries that they're seeing right now, and yet all these people are civilians. They have sustained severe shrapnel wounds.

In fact, while I was there, a man was brought in on an ambulance and 10 minutes later he had died, massive bleeding from a leg injury that he had -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Karl, so clearly a fair amount of civilian casualties. The Israelis say the focus here is on these Hezbollah rocket sites. How do you explain all the civilian casualties or how do the Israelis explain it?

PENHAUL: Well, they may say that they're looking for Hezbollah targets. But what officials at the hospital I just visited said is that in the last seven days they have not had a single Hezbollah fighter admitted to hospital for treatment, although they do admit that the militia may have its own hospitals.

This kind of stories that we came across were civilians who said that they had got aboard family cars and were trying to flee the fighting to go to safe areas. And in broad daylight their groups of cars, three and four cars, were bombed by Israeli warplanes.

One family, in fact, had said that they had gotten out of their vehicles. They had gone under some trees in an orange plantation. An Israeli warplane came back for a second strike and hit those targets again. One of the people I talked to was a young girl, 13 years old, and she said to me, please tell the world to stop this. She said it's not our fault -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul on the line in southern Lebanon, thank you very much.

The fighting extends beyond that border region. Israeli warplanes are once again taking aim on parts of Beirut considered Hezbollah strongholds.

Anthony Mills live now from Beirut with more -- Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well just a short time ago, confirmation from security sources here that there has indeed been another strike on Beirut. However, this one was in the eastern part of Beirut, an area called Ashirafea (ph), and that is not a Hezbollah stronghold.

On the contrary, it is a home to, for the most part, a fairly wealthy cross-section of Lebanese society, predominately Christian I should note, and a portion of Lebanese society who feels really that they have nothing to do with this for the most part. So a certain degree of shock in that part at this strike.

We understand that it hit a truck, which a security source here conceded looked as though it might have been carrying a missile. No word on what he actually felt about the strike. But that's the latest here.

A few hours before that, another explosion resounded across Beirut. That was in the southern suburbs, the Hezbollah stronghold. And yes indeed, the strikes continue here in Beirut as well.

M. O'BRIEN: Anthony Mills in Beirut, thank you.

Still to come in the program, we'll check back with Soledad in Cyprus as more Americans escape Lebanon. We'll hear their harrowing stories.

And later, what are Hezbollah's real motivations for this crisis? We'll talk to our Arab affairs expert Octavia Nasr.

But first, more on Tropical Storm Beryl as it moves up the East Coast. Chad Myers will be back with more on that.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're pretty frustrated. The embassy contacted us yesterday and said we're leaving tomorrow. Then they called back and said we're not -- you're not evacuating. And then today we -- or yesterday, rather, we got 20 minutes notice to get our things together and just pack up and go.

(END VIDEO CLIP) S. O'BRIEN: A similar story from many of the evacuees, Americans who have been making their way out of Beirut.

It is hot here today. Our thermometers say about 170 degrees -- 107, sorry, 107 degrees in the direct sunlight. So you can imagine on top of that ship there just how hot it would be as they waited in the port in Beirut for literally hours. The first big evacuation of Americans at one time by a ship was actually done by the Norwegians.

And that you might say, gee, that doesn't look like a cruise ship. Well, it's not, it's actually a cargo ship filled with cars and tractors. And then last night, about 1,000 people, 100 to 200 Americans, many of them students who made their way.

Here's what it looked like this morning around 5:00 in the morning local time as they finally made their way to land here in Cyprus. People, as you can see, looking quite dazed. They were packed inside that ferry on the decks, in some cases just sleeping out in the ocean air, and in some cases under the decks as well.

Was packed, as I said, with students from the American University of Beirut and Lebanese-American University. And you'll notice the number of small children. Probably 50 percent of the passengers small children. Many of the little ones in life preservers as they were on that ship.

Consistent theme among the Americans that we spoke to early this morning, they were grateful for the help from the Norwegians. They were very unhappy about how the evacuations went, though. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN BERRY, AMERICAN EVACUEE: I would say extremely bad, very disorganized. We got off the boat around 1:30 in the afternoon so we just got off now. So it's good to be on ground; but, yes, very -- and no food, so it could have gone better as a plan (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY LABAKI, SWEDISH EVACUEE: Since 1:00 I've been -- had nowhere to sleep or to sleep.

S. O'BRIEN (on camera): How many children are you traveling with?

LABAKI: Three.

S. O'BRIEN: How old?

LABAKI: Thirteen, 11 and 3 (ph).

S. O'BRIEN: How are they holding up?

LABAKI: Well it's pretty hard for them, but we are very grateful to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTA KAYAT, AMERICAN EVACUEE: But I expected different (INAUDIBLE). It was like five days. Can you imagine waiting five days with your children (INAUDIBLE). It was terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN (on camera): Did you feel the embassy and everybody were helpful and organized to the best degree possible or did you feel like it was just a crapshoot?

MICHAEL BAY, AMERICAN EVACUEE: It was kind of -- the Norwegian government has been very helpful to us. It was a Norwegian vessel, obviously. There was only 200 Americans on it, so...

GEORGE HALE, AMERICAN EVACUEE: Yes, it was kind of disorganized in the evacuation coming out of the country. I appreciate, though, the embassy. But I mean this -- we could have had better circumstances. Like my parents heard it was a cruise ship. It was definitely not a cruise ship. There were no seats. We got wet. But I mean we're here and that's what counts, so, you know.

S. O'BRIEN: How do you mean by disorganized? Some of the descriptions that you know and some other people (ph) (INAUDIBLE)?

HALE: See how much my parents and people in the U.S. (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: In addition to those students, four Americans came off this destroyer that you're seeing right here, this Greek ship that came in a little bit earlier in the evening.

Ambassador Ronald Schlicher, the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, was actually on board that Norwegian ship as he greeted some of the Americans who were coming off. And he said we're expecting tonight the Orient Queen to finally make its way. It's left Beirut, make its way here and it should be filled with Americans somewhere in the number of 800 or so. And that will be the first big ship American-led evacuation out of Beirut by ship. So we're waiting for that to happen this evening -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Soledad. Back with you in just a little bit.

Happening this morning.

In Florida, a cruise ship is back at port after a rough ride at sea. Officials think a steering problem caused this ship to roll suddenly, throwing people to the deck. About 100 passengers hurt.

In Indonesia, the death toll rising from Monday's earthquake off of Java and the tsunami that followed. Officials now say 525 are dead.

And Tropical Storm Beryl is lurking off the coast of North Carolina. Forecasters say it could pick up strength, but it's not expected to become a hurricane.

And that brings us to Chad Myers in his brand new Weather Center.

Chad, what is the latest on this one?

MYERS: It will just barrel up the East Coast and then kind of out to sea. Here is the tropical storm watch, still not a warning, but just a watch just in case is what they put it out, just in case there's a gust or so to tropical storm strength. The storm is only 40 miles per hour, so it's not a big storm.

What it is, it's kind of this little pressure relief valve kind of releasing a little bit of that hot water. It picks up the hot water and it uses it as thunderstorms and then rains back down so that cools the water, at least a little bit. I mean it's all in theory. It is the gulf stream, so the gulf stream will eventually be replaced with warmer water coming back up from the south again.

There goes the track. It does not approach the coast. It will make some really good waves, though. If you are in to surfing along the Jersey shore, this week will be really nice. You've just got to be very careful, because at this point in time now we are expecting those rip currents to start as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

M. O'BRIEN: We will take it.

Thank you very much, Chad Myers.

A short break. More news making headlines this morning, including a huge blaze at a busy commercial waterfront terminal. A gasoline tanker caught right in the middle of it. We'll tell you what triggered this explosion.

And check this out, that's a wall of dust. More on that monster storm when we return.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening in America.

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney may be celebrating, but it's not a victory dance, not just yet. She has to face a run-off election now. The Georgia Democrat failed to get 50 percent of the vote needed in yesterday's primary election.

Also in Georgia, former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed conceding defeat in the Republican race for Georgia's lieutenant governor.

A massive fire in Rhode Island now under control this morning. Take a look at those flames. A huge explosion shook the Providence waterfront last night. A tanker was unloading gasoline at a dock at the time. Lightning struck, igniting the whole thing. The tanker pulled away safely. No one was injured, believe it or not.

And along the California-Nevada border, a lightning-triggered wildfire raging this morning that broke out in the Sweetwater Mountains yesterday and has scorched more than 6,000 acres.

Three people in Louisiana killed when a small plane crashed into a mobile home. The Beechcraft single-engine plane was just blocks from an airport when it went down. Two people on board the plane. One person inside the mobile home killed.

In Arizona this morning they are searching again for some illegal immigrants who may need some help. Yesterday, authorities found about 90 of them trying to cross the border, apparently waiting for some smugglers to pick them up. Many of them were suffering from dehydration and exhaustion in the triple-digit heat in the desert.

Also in Arizona, a monster dust storm blowing through the Eastern Valley. Sixty-mile-an-hour winds pushed through a massive wall of dust in the 100-degree heat. The dust storms are amazing out there.

The morning's top stories are straight ahead, including the latest on efforts to evacuate Americans from Lebanon. We'll talk to a woman who is hoping to get out today. We'll also talk to her worried family right here in the U.S.

And the fighting continues this morning, gun battles and rockets across the region. Our reporters are standing by live to bring you the latest.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Better count your pennies now. In the future, they may be part of the past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think you should get rid of anything that has a purpose. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pennies aren't very useful to me, it just kind of weighs me down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always pick up pennies. A penny saved is a penny earned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just a pain. I say get rid of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it would kind of screw up taxes, like the sales tax.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being a small business owner, it would affect me tremendously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps coins are really a thing of the past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is a part of Americana, just like baseball and hot dogs.

M. O'BRIEN (on camera): Pity the poor penny. See one on the sidewalk, I bet you wouldn't even bend over to pocket it. In fact, these days it costs the U.S. Mint 1.23 cents to make a penny. Clearly, for the penny, there is a scent of impending doom.

(voice-over): There's talk in Congress of abolishing the penny while pro-penny groups add their two cents. But coin expert Dave Bower (ph) says the retirement of the penny is inevitable. And for that matter, it's not unprecedented to phase out our smallest coin.

DAVE BOWER, COIN EXPERT: The transition will be made and probably in a year or two the situation will be forgotten. One time we had half cents and then we became in 1857 a half centless society. Nobody missed the half cent.

M. O'BRIEN: But now is not the time to start hoarding, penny lovers. The government will mint 8.7 billion shiny new pennies in the next fiscal year at a cost of $107 million. That's nearly 20 million more than they're worth.

BOWER: I think that no matter what happens to the penny, it will still be nostalgic and sentimental. It's part of American society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING Quick News at cnn.com/am. It won't even cost you one penny.

Still to come, we'll talk to an American woman who, as we speak, is trying to get of Lebanon with her mother. She's got some worried family members on this side of the ocean. We'll get them all together here in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

More fighting on day eight of the Mideast crisis. Israeli ground troops are moving into southern Lebanon. There are already reports of clashes with Hezbollah fighters there.

At the same time, Israeli troops have moved into central Gaza. Six Palestinians killed in that offensive. That operation began last month after Palestinian militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier.

And about 450 Americans have now been evacuated out of Lebanon. A thousand more are expected to leave today aboard a Greek ship bound for Cyprus.

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