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American Morning

Evacuees Flood into Cyprus; Can Israel Succeed in Neutralizing Hezbollah?; Family Defends Doctor Charged with New Orleans Hospital Deaths

Aired July 20, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Top stories are straight ahead.
Israel would like to wipe out Hezbollah, which after all, wants to wipe out Israel. But could the war backfire and actually make Hezbollah stronger? One of the questions we'll ask ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There are concerns among officials here in Cyprus that there are too many people coming through. There's an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 refugees and evacuees who will eventually make their way through Cyprus. If you understand already that the population here has ballooned because of all the holiday travelers, you can understand their concerns.

So we made our way to the airport this morning early to gauge the crowd there. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (on camera): Not too far from the Port of Larnaka is Larnaka Airport. It's only 6:30 a.m. local time, and you can already see it's pretty crowded. Now, if you go inside, what you first discover is that there are no flights directly to the United States. You can get to London or Paris, you can get to Amsterdam, Zurich, but you can't fly directly back to the U.S. And so for many Americans who are trying to make their way back home, they come here, hoping to get on a connecting flight, eventually back to their home.

And as you can see, it's already filling up. The line's getting longer. We've been here for most of the morning. What people here told us is that, frankly, to sit here and wait, even for 24 hours or maybe even more in some cases is a better option than trying to find a hotel room. They don't seem to exist in sort of a short radius around the airport. Or even trying to get a cab, really hard to get one.

And keep in mind we're in the high season for tourists. The normal population of Cyprus is about a million, but with high season, you're talking about an additional 2.5 million visitors. On top now, 60,000 to 70,000 estimated evacuees.

We heard from the Cyprus foreign minister, who said that that's going to be impossible -- literally the words he used, impossible -- for his country to assist all those people. And those remarks, I think first are signs of the strain that Cyprus is beginning to feel on all the people who are coming here in the hopes of returning to their country.

What he wants, more airplanes. And we've seen examples of that already this morning, already so crowded that it was hard for some of the planes to even land. He wants airplanes to come in more quickly, take people back out to their home countries.

The U.S. is expecting to take in a total of 6,000 or so evacuees. And we've seen already approximately, by our math, about 1,400 get out, which means you have several thousand more still to go. Some of those Americans will be housed at the fairgrounds near the capital. A bulk of them will be coming here to eventually make their way back home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, no indication that those evacuations, in fact, are going to slow down.

Let's check in now with Barbara Starr. She is on board the USS Nashville. They are right off the coast of Beirut and assisting in the efforts there. Barbara joins us by phone.

Hey, Barbara. What's going on there?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, hello to you.

We are on board the Nashville, and one of its landing crafts, one of the small boats that comes out from the deck of the Nashville, has now made several runs into Beirut to pick up stranded Americans. CNN went with them earlier today as they picked up the first several boatloads of Americans who had been told to assemble at a port area along the Mediterranean.

The Navy ship came in. There were about 40 marines on board. They got off. They went into -- stepped onto Lebanese territory, which was quite a historic event in itself, because, of course, the marines haven't really been here in many, many years, and began helping people get on board that landing craft and get back to Nashville, where they are now going to spend the next several hours.

You were talking about the crush of evacuees from this situation. In the last several hours, this ship has already picked up some 700 Americans from literally the shoreline of Beirut, and it's going to try and make several more runs into Beirut before dark, before the end of the day. And they hope to eventually load, they tell us, 1,200 American citizens onto this Navy warship.

I wish everyone could see the scene on deck right now as we sail, approaching sunset off the coast of Beirut. Hundreds and hundreds of Americans sitting on the deck, music is playing. They are sitting on cots, and. As you would well expect in situations like this, small children running around, playing, pretty happy to be on a Navy warship, talking to marines, talking to sailors. Of course, many of the parents, many of the elderly people here, trying to get some rest. They are very exhausted. They've been in Beirut for many days now, waiting to be taken out.

But the scene here on board the Nashville is one of exhaustion but relief, certainly, to be out of Beirut. I must tell you that many people are telling us their biggest worry now, of course, is the relatives they have left behind. Many of these people, of course, Lebanese-Americans, and they have left many of their relatives in Beirut. All of them expressing a great deal of concern about what is going to happen to those people.

For its part, the U.S. military says they are willing and absolutely able to stay off the coast of Lebanon to rescue as many Americans as want to get out in the coming days -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr for us. And yes, Barbara, what could be a better sight to see if you're an American who's trying to get out of Beirut than to see the marines and have them bring you right on board the USS Nashville? That's where Barbara Starr is reporting for us this morning.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

Coming up in the program, what happens if Israel brings Hezbollah to its knees? Who or what would fill the vacuum? The answers may not offer much hope for peace. A closer look at that is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Hezbollah in English translated, "the party of god." It is more than a military force in Southern Lebanon. Like other groups labeled terrorists, they have a civilian and a political component, and in many respects serve as a de facto government. So what happens if Israel succeeds in its goal of neutralizing Hezbollah? Who steps into the vacuum?

Robert Satloff is the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East policy. He joins from us Washington.

Mr. Satloff, good to have you with us.

ROBERT SATLOFF, THE WASHINGTON INST.: Good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the region for just a moment. If Hezbollah is truly weakened, or neutered or brought to its knees, or whatever term you want to use, who are the players that stand to benefit? Who will step into that vacuum?

SATLOFF: Well, many players stand to benefit. First and foremost, the people of Lebanon. For many years, especially since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2,000, most Lebanese have been very upset at Hezbollah taking the battle to Israel's side of the border. Lebanon doesn't want to be in a war with Israel. Hezbollah has dragged them in. Most Lebanese want that to end. Of course, the people of northern Israel want this to end. Then there are other states around the region, the Saudis, the Egyptians, the Jordanians. Sunni-Arab states are fearful that Iran and its allies are exerting new power and influence. Bringing Hezbollah to reign would weaken that and cause the Iranians to think twice about being emboldened and active in the region.

Filling the vacuum, the objective would be the Lebanese government that was elected in some part with American support and blessing, just last year after the Cedar Revolution kicked the Syrian troops out of Lebanon.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, that sounds like it would be a good idea, but the government in Beirut doesn't seem as if it is anywhere close to being prepared to do that. How do they get strength? How do they get popped up in such a way that that could happen?

SATLOFF: You're absolutely right. At the moment, the Lebanese government is not strong enough and capable to exert its authority, but the idea is to try -- this is at least as I understand what the secretary of state's mind is -- the idea is to try to replicate this year this sort of perfect political storm that forced the Syrians to leave last year without anyone firing a shot. One has to build on the common interests of the Arab states, of the Lebanese population, and force Hezbollah to make a choice that it hasn't yet had to make -- is it a political party within Lebanon, or is it a regional terrorist organization? If it makes a choice to be just a political party, then you have the opportunity for the Lebanese government to use the Lebanese army to fill that vacuum.

M. O'BRIEN: What are the chances the Israeli attack on Hezbollah, which of course was prompted by Hezbollah actions, to be clear, but what are the chances that the reaction to what Hezbollah did could backfire on Israel and embolden Hezbollah? And after all, it would help them, at the very least, in recruiting.

SATLOFF: Well, I think the major danger would come if the end of diplomacy was merely to recreate the situation as it was the day before this all started. If Hezbollah is otherwise left more or less intact, if the sense is that Hezbollah and Iran can turn on and off the Israeli-Lebanon border at will, then Hezbollah will win. But any other diplomatic end that results in a different situation, a degrading of Hezbollah, the departure from Lebanon of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit that's there, that would undermine Hezbollah's hold on the Lebanese government.

M. O'BRIEN: But let's talk about the leader, though, Hassan Nasrallah. If he is there, still intact, in place when the dust settles, doesn't that mean Hezbollah is still alive and well?

SATLOFF: It certainly means Hezbollah is alive. Whether it means it is well depends on the outcome. Nasrallah has always balanced between Lebanon and the region. Is Hezbollah a political party or a regional Islamic terrorist organization? If Nasrallah is contained within Lebanon, then that's one outcome. Not allowing him to have both is really the objective here.

M. O'BRIEN: Final thought here -- why hasn't Hezbollah attacked directly on American soil?

SATLOFF: Well, it's a very good question. We do know that they have assets here. Hezbollah and Iran have undertaken missions in four continents. It is a very real possibility, and I know that security establishments here in the United States takes it as a real possibility, that this is one of the fronts that could be activated.

M. O'BRIEN: Robert Satloff is executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Thanks for your insights and your time, sir.

SATLOFF: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, we're going to take you live to Baltimore. American evacuees back home on U.S. turf. Now, we haven't seen any of them kiss the ground, but that certainly would not surprise us. The emotional reunions, ahead.

But first, the doctor charged with killing patients in New Orleans after Katrina. Her family claims she's a hero, not a murderer. A CNN exclusive, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Stay with CNN all throughout the Mideast crisis. One of the best places to follow things is on CNN.com/pipeline. That's a live picture of what you'd see if you logged on there right now.

On the main pipe, pictures of Baltimore Washington International Airport as evacuees come home. A couple of other things you can get there all the time: streaming Arab network coverage, as well as Israeli television. You can sort of make your own decisions about the coverage and see how they cover things from their point of view. All's going to be on Pipeline. There you see Bob Franken get ready for his live shot.

I'll also be on Pipeline, 10:30 Eastern time, answering your questions. Send them to me now at am@CNN.com.

More now on those alleged mercy killings in New Orleans. The doctor charged with murdering patients to expedite the evacuation of a hospital after Katrina is speaking out through her relatives. Is she really a hero? That's what the doctor's sister and brother are saying.

The only reporter they spoke with, CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To Peggy Perino and Michael Pou, it is inconceivable the tireless doctor they know, their sister, Dr. Anna Pou, would do anything to harm anyone, least of all a patient.

PEGGY PERINO, DR. ANNA POU'S SISTER: She's very attached to all of her patients. They all have her cell phone numbers because she feels like they need to be able to reach her at any given time.

GRIFFIN: Dr. Pou has spent these past two days calling patients, her sister says, and telling them for the time being, she cannot be their doctor. A career and a life on hold because, her family says, she did the right thing.

When Hurricane Katrina struck, her family urged Dr. Pou to leave New Orleans Memorial Hospital. Inside on a cell phone, Dr. Anna Pou told them she just couldn't. After the crisis passed, their sister, they say, said little about what went on inside. Peggy Perino learned later, she says, from a nurse, that some inside considered Dr. Pou a hero.

PERINO: I don't remember the nurse's name. She says, I just want to tell you that Dr. Pou was the most incredible -- I don't know if I ever told you this -- was the most incredible person that she had ever seen. That if it weren't for her, nobody would have made it out. That she took complete control of the whole situation. She gave orders, you know, all the children that had come with their families to evacuate there, she had them fanning the elderly people. You know, just anything that anyone could do. She had everybody organized with a job.

GRIFFIN: On Tuesday, the attorney general of Louisiana said it was Dr. Pou and two nurses that deliberately injected a lethal cocktail of drugs into four patients the day before the hospital was evacuated.

MICHAEL POU, DR. ANNA POU'S BROTHER: He used the word murderer. It was just not conceivable.

PERINO: And they're being accused of murder, and it just doesn't make sense. That was really offensive.

POU: They, along with many other doctors and nurses, worked through it. And to have this, you know, after the fact, is just unbelievable, from people who, in my biased opinion, have no idea what was going on, the attorney general in particular.

GRIFFIN: When their sister finally tells what was going on inside this hospital, her brother and sister say Dr. Anna Pou will be considered a hero, not a killer.

Drew Griffin, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: The attorney for Dr. Anna Pou is telling CNN his client is innocent and is already planning a vigorous defense. Drew Griffin will have more on his exclusive interview with Dr. Pou's siblings tonight on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

The latest on the conflict in the Middle East after a short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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