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American Morning

Israeli Guns Still Pounding Southern Lebanon; Group in Boston Trying to Bridge Gap Between Muslims and Jews in U.S.

Aired July 19, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli guns still pounding Southern Lebanon. Their target is Hezbollah rocket launchers, but many civilians are hurt. And Israeli troops crossing the border to root out those rockets. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you.

I'm Miles O'Brien in New York.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

We're coming to you live from Larnaca, the Port of Larnaca in Cyprus.

3:00, 2:00 in the afternoon -- 3:00 in the afternoon here. And it is hot -- 107 degrees by our last measurement.

Let's show you what's going on in the port because it's a working port and that means it's busy.

This is the Greek destroyer. It's been there since last night, when about 160 Greeks and 100 other folks, including four Americans, were able to disembark and make their way, actually, pretty quickly through the port here and get cleared and met with their embassies, etc. They were gotten through pretty quickly.

And then early this morning -- David, if you'd give me the shot here of our Norwegian ship that we've been talking about all morning -- that ship carrying about 1,000 people. Somewhere between 100 and 200 Americans, mostly students, docked. And the descriptions on board this ship of what was going on pretty -- pretty brutal. What we heard -- and we actually have some of the first home video that's been seen from on board that ship taken by one of the students -- people packed in very tightly. Very, very warm, 100 degrees, as they waited on the dock in Beirut. And they waited, in many cases, for many, many hours. And then it's an 11-hour long journey. Not a lot of food. Not a lot of water. People, at one point, fighting over access to food.

The American ambassador to Cyprus is a gentleman named Ronald Schlicher. And he said yes, there's no question that it wasn't a particularly comfortable ride, but he was grateful that everybody was safe and sound. And he also defended the embassy against some of the criticism, as well.

Here's what he told us this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD SCHLICHER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CYPRUS: I understand that, you know, people in urgent situations may have frustrations along those lines. I would also note that standing up major evacuation operations on little to no notice is an incredibly complex task. And I know just on my end of it here that my folks at the embassy have been working literally around the clock, since last week, trying to set up and receive our folks.

We're happy to do that because we're happy to help our fellow citizens. But it's not a simple operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that might be a big understatement. It's certainly not a simple operation.

I should mention that the American Embassy in Cyprus has gotten some very high marks from the people who came through, lots of them early in the morning, and said they were whisked through, their passports all cleared very quickly and they were given food and taken care of and given a sandwich. And many of the people here, the Americans who made it through, were very happy with their treatment once they got here to Cyprus -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we're glad to hear that.

Soledad, back with you in just a little bit.

Let's get you up to date on the crisis in the Middle East.

Israeli troops fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas on the Lebanese side of the border. Both sides reporting casualties.

Hezbollah says eight days of attacks have not weakened their capabilities, however. They vow to fight to the death.

President Bush supporting Israel by not insisting on an immediate cease-fire. But he warns Israel not to destabilize the Lebanese government.

Israeli troops also on the move in Gaza. Six Palestinians died as tanks moved into a refugee camp there.

Israeli tanks firing into Southern Lebanon this morning incessantly. Troops also moving in Israel say it's not an -- moving into Lebanon, I should say.

Israel says it's not an invasion, but, instead, an operation to neutralize those Hezbollah rockets.

CNN's Paula Newton on the phone now from just south of the border with Lebanon in Israel -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the artillery guns, the Howitzers, are still working here in the artillery field. And they continue to reposition because they have new information about new targets every hour.

On the other side of that shelling, we understand that there are still Lebanese civilians taking shelter. Yesterday, today again, the Army said that they flew leaflets over Southern Lebanon to warn civilians to get out of the way and that, in fact, this military conflict will just intensify.

That is what we're seeing on the ground here almost by the hour. We continue to hear more Israeli shelling, more Israeli air strikes and still we're hearing from the other side that there are civilians caught in the crossfire.

The commander here on the ground tells me that they are not hitting any kind of civilian targets from here and that they instead are hitting Hezbollah bases. Unfortunately, a lot of Hezbollah, the commander here says, go into hiding and use the civilians as human shields -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula Newton on the Israeli-Lebanon border.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, as the Israeli blockade continues to block ships from coming in and out of the ports, for the most part, people continue to want to get out. There were some concerns voiced this morning about just running out of food, frankly, over the next couple of weeks if supplies cannot get into the people inside of Lebanon. It's what's bringing people here to the port as they flee Beirut. And, of course, we're hearing reports that warplanes continue to pound the capital in Lebanon.

Let's get right to Anthony Mills.

He's in Beirut for us this morning.

Anthony is joining us by phone -- what's happening there?

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, about two hours ago, or so, a strike on the Christian East Beirut part of the capital. That took people by surprise because in the minds of Lebanese, that part of the city isn't associated in any way with Hezbollah at all. So a big surprise there for a city, and, indeed, a country already battered over several days by strikes along the whole breadth of the country, from south to north and then east to west.

This, of course, coming against the backdrop of American nationals boarding a boat, the Orient Queen. That's a luxury cruise ship. That's going to take them over to Cyprus, to the safety of Cyprus. There are four U.S. helicopters with 30 Americans apiece taking them over to Cyprus, as well. And in between, we understand, also, a boat has taken 180 Americans or so over to Cyprus.

So the bombing continues here unabated. Meanwhile, a massive evacuation process underway that affects not just Americans, but thousands of foreign nationals trapped in this country.

S. O'BRIEN: That's Anthony Mills for Beirut.

And, of course, many of those people he's talking about will come right through this port to be processed and make their way to better safety.

Paula Newton, just a moment ago, was talking about those Israeli strikes.

Well, on the other end of those strikes is where Karl Penhaul's location is.

He is on the Lebanese side of the border.

Let's check in with him by phone -- Karl, good morning.

What are you seeing?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, throughout the morning the area that I am in, about 10 miles from the Lebanese border with Israel, has been subject to heavy, heavy bombardment. Shells have been crashing into this part of the country, as well as bombs from Israeli warplanes that were actually flying through the skies throughout the night.

And it's easy to see some of the consequences of this constant bombardment. I went down to one of the main hospitals in this city and that -- those hospital wards, the emergency wards, are filled with civilian casualties.

As I was standing there in the hospital, an ambulance arrived. A 45-year-old man was dragged in on a stretcher. He leg was just about severed and his brain was speared with shrapnel from what doctors say was an Israeli bomb.

About five minutes after he arrived, even though doctors worked their hardest, that man died.

Then on the fourth floor of the hospital, I talked with a 13- year-old girl. Her car -- she was traveling in a car with her father this morning. Both were trying to reach a safe haven from the fighting. That car also was bombed, she said, by an Israeli warplane. And I said to her, do you have a message for the world beyond South Lebanon?

She just looked at me and she said in perfect English, she said: "I would tell them to stop this. Not everybody is a terrorist. It's not our fault. They have to stop this because children are dying," she said -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, what a brutal story.

Karl Penhaul for us.

He's on the Lebanese side of the border with more on what's happening as a result of this back and forth shelling.

Let's get back to Miles, who is in New York today -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Soledad.

More on the Middle East crisis in just a moment.

But first, a quick look at Tropical Storm Beryl, right now off the U.S. East Coast. The second storm of the hurricane season isn't expected to have much of an impact, unless you're a surfer, dude.

Let's go to Chad Myers now at the Weather Center -- the surf's up along the East Coast, I guess, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And one of our meteorologists that works for "HEADLINE NEWS" is a surfer from the Jersey Shore. And he says now the waves are going to be pushed onshore here, with the wind. But then, as the wind turns around and blows the other way, blows it offshore in a couple of days, that's when the waves will be absolutely perfect.

Still, though, you have to be careful. When you get waves like this and you're not used to how big they are, not used to basically surfing in big waves. If you're an Atlantic surfer, not a Pacific surfer, you have to be careful with those rip currents.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: While rockets and bombs fly in the Middle East, American Muslims and Jews are fighting to keep a dialogue alive here in the United States. We'll look at a special program that's tried to break down some barriers -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And also this morning, a 21-year-old student from New Jersey who makes her way out of Beirut, logging and rolling videotape every step of the way. We've got her story. She joins us live just ahead this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Twenty-one year Ashley Marinaccio of New Jersey is happy to be out of Beirut. She is, in fact, among the first group of Americans brought out by boat, courtesy of Norway.

Early this morning, she was on that ship, which arrived and docked. And she got off and now she's safe and sound and trying to figure out how exactly she's going to take her next step.

She joins us this morning.

Thanks for coming to talk to us.

I know it's been a little bit of a harrowing 28, 48 hours for you.

First, let's talk a little bit about the boat. When you got to the dock in Beirut and there's so many people who want to get out, describe the scene for me there. Were people panicking? Was it relatively calm?

ASHLEY MARINACCIO, AMERICAN STUDENT: No. There were buses and we were -- I was with Lebanese-American University. So we were one of the last people to get on the boat. Apparently people had been there what's interesting since 9:00 in the morning and we got there at 3:00.

So when I got there, it was just our group and then there were about 200 other people. And I believe that they were people, families and people with special needs.

So we stayed out. We went into these tents and they kind of looked over our passports and processed some information, which I wasn't exactly sure what they did. They wrote down our passport numbers. And then they put us back on the buses and they took us to the dock where they were loading the ship.

S. O'BRIEN: You took some pictures on the ship which we have been showing all morning, frankly. But before we show them, I want to ask you a question.

The first mass evacuation by ship of Americans done by the Norwegians.

Did that surprise you?

MARINACCIO: Honestly, I mean I'm on CNN so I don't want to like kind of just shoot myself in the foot for saying this, but no. You know, I kind of look at the evacuations...

S. O'BRIEN: Everybody seemed better organized than the Americans? Is that what you're saying?

MARINACCIO: I mean, look at the evacuations from Katrina. We didn't expect to be getting out any time soon. And maybe, you know, I wish we had more faith. But that was the general feeling. And there are -- I mean and I have to say there are lots of people who are working really hard. We're really thankful for that and we were so thankful to be on that -- the boat, all of the students.

S. O'BRIEN: Which sounded like a pretty awful trip. I mean you got some shots for us and we're going to roll them while we talk about them.

First, on the deck, hot.

MARINACCIO: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: It looks hot and you see people covering themselves with tarp and sort of arranging their children around cardboard.

Describe what that was like. Pretty crowded.

MARINACCIO: Yes. It was a -- it was, unfortunately, a floating refugee camp. It was awful. There were people who, you know, they were leaving their homes. And we were going home. So we were trying to put that into perspective -- and I'm speaking on, you know, I'm speaking in we, saying like the students at LAU, the people who I was talking to, anyway.

Yes, I mean it was really -- it was surreal to see it. And I don't think I have even processed all that information yet. I think I'm still kind of shocked at what's happened and where I am and the fact that I got out with a bunch of people.

S. O'BRIEN: As we said, it's been a long...

MARINACCIO: Yes, it has been.

S. O'BRIEN: ... 24 to 48 hours for you.

Then you had some of the shots below deck, where it just showed even more crowds...

MARINACCIO: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: ... and sort of children sort of sleeping anywhere. And there's pictures of kind of a mad rush when the food arrived.

What was that like?

MARINACCIO: Oh, that was sad because there's people with 10 kids -- you know, seriously, 10 kids. And they're trying to get food. And then there's other people yelling, saying that they're stealing food and, you know, I'm assuming that they were hungry because they had been there since 9:00. And apparently, from what I hear, at around 11:00, when they came around giving food out, this was the first time that people were being fed. And a lot of people did bring their own food.

But, yes, it was sad. And I really -- there wasn't a lot of food. We were told that it was a five hour ride. You know, it's -- it's -- they were trying their hardest. So we're appreciative of that and...

S. O'BRIEN: Nicholas Burns is the undersecretary of state for political affairs. And here's what he had to say yesterday.

Let's listen.

(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 we're doing a good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Highly organized, we're on it, we're doing a good job.

Is that how you would describe it? MARINACCIO: Well, we're out. It wasn't -- it wasn't awful. But I mean the boat wasn't -- the boat's not made to hold people, so they really, they did, the Norwegian crew that was on there tried their hardest. And I hear that today the first American crew is coming through. So I don't know what that -- what the situation for them is going to be like.

But it wasn't -- I mean, it wasn't comfortable and there were lots of flies. It was -- by the end of the trip, people were sort of going crazy and...

S. O'BRIEN: You've been blogging all the while, except when you got on the ship when you sort of lost your access.

MARINACCIO: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: What's been the reaction?

At one point you wrote that some of the smells in Beirut reminded you of the aftermath of 9/11.

MARINACCIO: Oh, yes. It's that burning rubber, smoky -- I can't quite describe it -- smell. But that's what it was -- what it was like after 9/11 in New York.

S. O'BRIEN: Ashley Marinaccio, thanks for talking with us.

We certainly appreciate it.

We know that you're sort of in the midst of making your plans to get out of here and get back to your family.

I've talked to your mom, who's relieved that you're OK...

MARINACCIO: Oh, did you?

S. O'BRIEN: ... as I told her this morning after I talked to you on the ship.

So good luck to you.

Thanks for being with us.

MARINACCIO: Thank you for having me.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, we appreciate you talking to us.

MARINACCIO: Really, thank you. I am so grateful for you guys. Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: We are happy to talk to you.

Ashley, thanks -- Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Soledad. Still to come, Israel puts Lebanon in its crosshairs as it tries to shut down Hezbollah. The response from one Lebanese woman? "Thank you, Israel."

You'll meet here and hear her tale.

Plus, you'll meet American Muslims and Jews trying to bridge some gaps at home even as a chasm widens in the Middle East.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: No sign of any letup in the violence in the Middle East.

We just have a report coming in now, just into us from a source at the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation that there are additional strikes targeting the Beirut International Airport, presumably Israeli air strikes.

We're trying to get some more information on that for you. But we've been talking about the tanks pounding Southern Lebanon today. We've been talking about Israeli troops crossing over the border, into Lebanon, seeking out those Hezbollah rocket installations. And now word of what appears to be an air strike, once again, targeting Beirut International Airport.

We'll keep you posted on that.

A world away from the violence in the Middle East, Jews and Muslims here in the United States are fighting to keep a dialogue alive.

CNN's AMERICAN MORNING'S Dan Lothian has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's only a small sign on the front door, but inside this Boston area home on an especially hot day, there's a powerful image -- Jews and Muslims talking, knocking down barriers and working together.

MARGIE KLEIN, MOISHE HOUSE BOSTON: Reading the headlines, it's possible to feel that our two communities are fundamentally incompatible in some way. And it's possible that you just couldn't imagine that we could see one another as people.

And that's why it was so powerful to sit down together and look at each other face-to-face and see each other as people.

BILAL KALEEM, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY: There's a lot more underneath that we share in common. I wouldn't want the entirety of Jewish-Muslim relations to be defined by Middle Eastern politics.

LOTHIAN: As the conflict in the Middle East intensifies, which bombs and rockets, and as foreigners are evacuated from Lebanon...

KALEEM: What organization brought us together?

LOTHIAN: The Moishe House of Boston, a Jewish social action group, has begun-a dialogue with young Muslim professionals. The first meeting a few days ago was planned long before the latest crisis. But the timing, they admit, couldn't have been better.

KALEEM: The issues that are going on do kind of motivate us to continue on what we're doing.

LOTHIAN (on camera): What they are doing now is understanding each other's religions. But the bridge building goes far beyond faith. They plan to work on issues of poverty and inequality, a social journey together that they hope will ultimately leads to real change.

KALEEM: Dialogue is only one step. And so to build a history of interaction, to build a history of cooperation, you actually have to have things that you've been working on and shared interests.

KLEIN: And think about how we can understand one another for the long time.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): They are not politicians. In fact, these young professionals don't have any illusions about solving problems in the Middle East. They're simply working to free themselves from the burden of hatred and hope that perhaps it will be contagious.

KLEIN: If our dialogue can do one thing that's positive that other people hear about what we're doing and decide that they want to make the same effort, that will be really part of our work.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston. (END VIDEO TAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, a Lebanese woman who has high praise for Israel. We'll hear what she has to say as you meet her.

And we'll also hear what Syrians have to say about Hezbollah. The group's leader may be a terrorist in Tel Aviv, but he's a hero in Damascus.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Count your pennies, folks. In the future, they will be a thing of the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think you should get rid of anything that has a purpose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The penny isn't very useful today. 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 penny.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 businesses 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 .0123 to make a penny. Clearly for the penny, there is a sense 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 Bauer says the retirement of the penny is inevitable. And for that matter, it's not unprecedented to phase out our smallest coin.

DAVE BAUER, 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 cent-less 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.

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

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back.

I'm Miles O'Brien in New York.

S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien reporting to you live from the Port of Larnaca in Cyprus.

Miles, you know, the port here, of course, makes lots of sense as a destination geographically for those refugees who are now fleeing out of Beirut -- a straight shot across the Mediterranean, obviously. And in a ship it can take, you know, as long as 11 hours or so. That all depends on the Israeli blockade, of course.

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