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Plane Arrives at BWI Carrying Evacuees From Lebanon; Stranded in War Zone; Where are Voices of Moderation in Arab World?

Aired July 20, 2006 - 06:33   ET

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

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Bob Franken. I'm at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The plane is in sight carrying people who have had a very scary story to a happy ending.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. 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. I'm coming to you from the Port of Larnaca, in Cyprus -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: We begin with the latest developments in the crisis in the Middle East for you.

Israelis soldiers fighting Hezbollah forces inside Lebanon as we speak. There's talk Israel may send a large force into Lebanon to root out Hezbollah positions.

In the air, Israeli fighters pursuing Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, dropping 23 tons of explosives on a command bunker in Beirut where it is believed he is.

U.S. Marines are now on Lebanon soil for the first time since a suicide bomber killed 241 Marines in 1983 in that city. They're there to help evacuate American citizens.

The first wave of evacuees expected to land in Baltimore any time now. You just heard about that from Bob Franken. Customs and border security bringing in extra people to help make that process as smooth as possible -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's been a pretty smooth process, in all fairness, Miles, at least when the folks get here to Cyprus.

Let's show you some pictures of the Blue Dawn. It's a ship that just came in, a Canadian ship. We're told about 200 Canadians, a little more than that, and some Americans on board as well.

Earlier this morning, we had an American ship with really the largest number of Americans out of Beirut, over 1,000 Americans brought out. And that was the Orient Queen.

We've got some pictures to show you shot by Chantel Kerry (ph). We gave her a video camera in Beirut and asked her to take some pictures of what it was like on board that ship. And she did. And you can see them -- I hope we're running them for you right now, some of the home video.

You can see the conditions significantly better than those conditions we were talking about yesterday on the Norwegian ship, which was essentially a cargo ship for cars and for tractors.

The evacuees come here, then they get processed, moved off by buses pretty quickly, moved pretty quickly through. They have to show their passports, and then essentially figure out what they're going to do next.

In some cases, they're going to be housed here until they get a flight out. In some cases, they're going to get on a charter flight. And some people actually opted to stay. People who had their vacations interrupted said, in some cases, well, Cyprus could be a good location for the next couple of days, I'm going to wait it out right here.

Shots at the airport that we took this morning just after dawn, and you can see some people just exhausted as they face a pretty long wait, 24-plus hours, to get on some kind of flight out. There are no flights directly to the U.S., so they've got to make some kind of flight -- connecting flight out of Zurich or Paris.

And so, it's really a long, long haul. And here in Cyprus, we're just in the middle of it, so to speak.

Let's get to Bob Franken. As we mentioned just a moment ago, he's at BWI.

And folks who've come from here, Bob, are heading your way, in many cases. That first charter is on its way, isn't it?

FRANKEN: In fact, it's just landed, Soledad. It's on the ground now.

They're getting briefed on the plane. The officials -- you can hear all the noise in the background -- have got a setup where the incoming passengers, about 140 of them, about 140 of them, are going to be going through a process, Customs, then they're going to be offered services from the Red Cross, relocation services, travel agency services, in effect, accommodations, that kind of thing.

Officials are all over the place. But we also -- we also have the mother of one of the passengers.

You can talk to him. That's OK. That was him. Tell me what just happened.

ANNA SUMI, MOTHER OF EVACUEE: He just wanted to let me know, "I'm here, mom. Are you here?" I said, "Yes, I'm here."

FRANKEN: Well, let me -- let's tell people who you are. You're Anna Sumi. You're the mother.

You are Sarah DeMarco (ph). You're the girlfriend.

Tell me what -- what just happened, more. You told him to do what?

SUMI: I said, "Be prepared." And he said, "Well, they're preparing me also." So I'm sure he's just glad to coming through the gate there.

FRANKEN: Did he give you any other information?

SUMI: No. I hung up.

FRANKEN: To be on television?

SUMI: To be on television.

FRANKEN: Oh, I feel guilty.

Tell me what happened. How do you feel right now?

SUMI: Well, I feel very relieved. I feel very relieved that he's home. I think he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I had spoken to him when he first arrived in Lebanon. He was only going to be there for a short time. And he said, "It's just beautiful here, mom." But, you know, within about three days all that had changed.

FRANKEN: Sarah (ph), this is your boyfriend. Are you going to have words for him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad he's home. I'm really happy.

FRANKEN: You've got -- this is one for two. Your husband is still over there right?

SUMI: Yes. He was going on to Turkey to visit his mother, probably for a night's rest. And then he's going on to Morocco to finish up his business trip.

FRANKEN: But he got stuck there, but he had to part with your son, right?

SUMI: That was the hard part. I think when they arrived in Cyprus, he said it was really crazy, and they were just pulling them both in different directions. One was coming home, he was staying. So, you know, all he could tell me was that he'll be home at 7:00, be at the airport.

FRANKEN: So what are you going to be saying to Ryan after you hug him?

SUMI: "I hope you learned something from this."

FRANKEN: And you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad you're alive.

FRANKEN: Well, I hope to see him later. You'll bring him over after you've done the hugging and all.

SUMI: Absolutely. Absolutely.

FRANKEN: Thank you very much and congratulations.

SUMI: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

FRANKEN: So, there are a lot of people like that here, they are waiting. It's just a few more minutes now, Soledad. And at this end of the trip, there's a happy ending. At your end of the trip, there's still an awful lot of anxious moments -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, it is nice to see that for some folks, BWI is the end of line.

We met some people here this morning, Bob, who -- who are going to BWI also, but their final destination was California. They still have a fairly long way to go.

Thanks, Bob.

Let's get right back to Miles in New York -- Miles.

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

There's still some Americans having a hard time getting out of Lebanon. They're making their way, but they're still having some difficulties. We've heard so many stories of harrowing journeys out of the war zone.

A father and his young kids we know of still trying to make their way back home to New Jersey. At the other end of that journey is an anxious mom. And that's probably understating it.

Dalal Haidar on the line with us now from Wayne, New Jersey.

Dalal, how are you doing this morning, first of all?

DALAL HAIDAR, CHILDREN, EX-HUSBAND IN BEIRUT: I am beyond ecstatic and beyond happy. I can't describe to you how happy I am.

Even though I have not heard the news they actually reached Beirut as of yet, but I know they passed all the danger zones in order to get to Beirut. They took it upon themselves not to wait for the U.S. Army or the government to help them because their village was completely bombarded and they ran out of food and water and medication over three, four days ago.

So, they finally took the courage to take that trip. And thank god it paid off.

M. O'BRIEN: Your son and daughter are young, 7 and 11, right?

HAIDAR: Yes, my daughter is 7 years old and my son is 11 years old. And their both asthmatic children.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh boy.

HAIDAR: And there was another family who are with children that are 2, 4 and 5. And the two of them also are asthmatic children.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, how -- is their health OK, first of all? Do they have plenty of medication? And certainly stress can induce asthma. Are they doing OK?

HAIDAR: Well, they were -- no, they had nothing left. They had no food, water or medication for three days. It would be day four.

M. O'BRIEN: Are they doing OK?

HAIDAR: I don't know yet. The naval Army is supposed to call me as soon as they arrive in Beirut. They should be there within minutes. They're in touch with them, they said they are fine, they are safe, that they're going to be on their way at any time.

They will call me to let me know. They're going to be transported to the U.S., through either heliport, by planes, or through -- by boat.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, their dad, your ex, is with them. What's he been telling you about how things have been going lately?

HAIDAR: He is amazed, because when they first left where they were, it was a dire, dire need. The area was severely bombarded with heavy, heavy bombing.

They actually had debris fall on the house, and they had been without water, food or medication for asthmatic children for about three days. I mean, it was an absolute nightmare.

The children were so terrified. They used to hide under the beds from all the bombings. They were so scared. My little daughter really didn't believe she was going to see her 8th birthday which is coming up in August.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh gosh. Just...

HAIDAR: They were basically really -- they wished me goodbye. They thought they were going to die. They truly believed they were going to die.

M. O'BRIEN: What an -- what an awful ordeal for them.

HAIDAR: I can't even tell you. I can't even tell you.

M. O'BRIEN: And to be...

HAIDAR: I can't wait to see them. My god, I'm just -- oh, god, so extremely relieved to know that they are safe now, that they are in an area where they can get medication, they have water, food. Even if I have to wait a few extra days to be with them, at least I know they're OK now and they're getting the medical attention that they need.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Final thought here, Dala. You've been -- I can't imagine how difficult it's been to be a mom sitting here in New Jersey.

HAIDAR: Oh, god, I've been worried every single minute of every single day.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but the question is, would you have rather been with them in harm's way, so to speak?

HAIDAR: Yes. Yes, absolutely. I wish to god I was there with them.

At least I could hold them and I could talk to them. I could soothe them. I could calm them.

But to be stranded in the U.S. and to listen to your children screaming and crying and pleading for your help, pleading for you to pick them up, and you can't do anything, is just one of the most unbearable terrifying feelings that any mother could ever experience. With every phone call, I didn't know if they were dead, I didn't know if they were alive. Every phone call is a nightmare. I was so, so scared to know whether my children lived through this or they didn't.

M. O'BRIEN: Dalal Haidar, hug them tight when you see them and keep us posted on their progress, will you?

HAIDAR: Oh, my god, are you kidding? I will never let them go out of my sight again for the rest of their lives, or mine.

M. O'BRIEN: You would not be blamed if you did that.

Thank you.

HAIDAR: Oh, I can't wait to have them home.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you for joining us this morning.

HAIDAR: I can't wait just to have them home.

M. O'BRIEN: Best of luck to you and everybody.

Still to come on the program, there are 18 member countries in the Arab League. How do they feel about this crisis and Hezbollah? We'll talk to the league's secretary-general and find out where the moderate Arabs are.

And American evacuees sharing some of their stories as they escape the Middle East war zone.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: So where are the voices of moderation in the Arab world? Are there any Arab leaders who have the desire, for that matter, the clout, to try to find a way to peace? And is the U.S. doing enough to end the fighting?

Amr Moussa is the secretary-general of the Arab League. He joins us from Cairo.

Mr. Moussa, good to have you with us.

AMR MOUSSA, SECRETARY-GENERAL, ARAB LEAGUE: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this, sir. Are moderate Arab nations afraid to take a stand against Hezbollah? And if so, why?

MOUSSA: The question is not a stand against this side or that side. The question is to stop the destruction of a country, the destruction of the infrastructure in Lebanon, and the attacks on civilian.

This is the issue. It's not a question of take a stand against Hezbollah or against this government or that government. How to save the situation now.

Then we can discuss later on any other issue pertaining to the situation on the borders, the exchange of prisoners, and so on. But the most important thing is to not ask questions, but to act and stop the carnage and stop the attacks against the Lebanese infrastructure.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So, just saying stop it is not enough, clearly. How do you go about stopping it?

MOUSSA: Now -- yes, there has to be a resolution by the Security Council calling for a cease-fire. This is job of the Security Council.

The Security Council is over 60 years old. And it has always acted that way, that when there is a situation of hostilities, anywhere in the world, the first job is for the Security Council to call for an immediate cease-fire.

This did not happen this time. There is a question mark. Is the Security Council in a position to let the destruction of a country go on and on indefinitely?

M. O'BRIEN: Let's listen -- the U.S. blocked that resolution. Let's listen to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and see what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMB. TO U.N.: How do you get a cease-fire with a terrorist organization? I'd like to know when -- when there's been an effective cease-fire between a terrorist organization and a state in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: How do you respond to that, sir?

MOUSSA: Our response to that is that the attacks are not against an organization. It is against the bridges, the electricity grids, against the houses, against the hospitals, against the infrastructure of a country. So, it is against a country and not against an organization. This is a wrong assessment of the situation.

M. O'BRIEN: But, Israel takes pains to point out that they are attempting to target Hezbollah positions and would suggest that whatever...

MOUSSA: That's what they say.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Would you suggest that they're doing...

MOUSSA: That's what they say. You don't have to believe them on this.

M. O'BRIEN: Is Israel targeting beyond Hezbollah positions, you think, and Hezbollah -- potential Hezbollah targets?

MOUSSA: It is -- it is very strange. Haven't you seen the pictures of the houses of the -- of the bridges, of the roads, of the buildings, of the people injured? What do they have to do with Hezbollah or any other organization?

This is our worry. This is why we call for a cease-fire.

M. O'BRIEN: Amr Moussa, who is the Arab League's secretary general.

Thank you for being with us this morning.

MOUSSA: Thank you. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: A little later today we'll have our Thursday Pipeline segment. It's the Miles Cam segment. And we're going to read your e-mails.

We're going to be talking an awful lot about the Middle East today. If you have any questions about that and about our coverage of the Middle East, we invite you to send them us to now. AM@CNN.com is the place for the e-mail.

The place to watch all that unfold and the responses is at CNN.com/pipeline, which, incidentally, if you really want to follow what's going on in the Middle East right now, is a great place to be, all kinds of specific video feeds from the region. You can really keep yourself informed by checking out cnn.com/pipeline.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, U.S. Marines have boots on the ground in Lebanon once again. The first time in 22 years-plus. We're live aboard a U.S. Navy ship that will ferry Americans to safety. That's why the Marines are there.

But first, let's check back in with Soledad in Cyprus. She will speak with evacuees who escaped the danger. We're going to hear some harrowing tales.

You'll want to stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Great news for evacuees who came out of Beirut, then got here to Cyprus, and then got on a plane to BWI. They've arrived safely.

Let's get right to Bob Franken. He's there.

Hey, Bob.

FRANKEN: I'm here. And we're waiting for Ryan Sumi to get off the plane. His mother is waiting with us, as well as his girlfriend. We talked to them a moment ago, and so we're going to try and give you some idea of the scene here.

They're coming out very slowly, pretty much like they always do off an airplane. And what they do is, as they arrive, they have to go through Customs, just like anybody who is arriving in the United States. And they are doing that, and, of course, that sometimes takes time.

Then, they come into this concourse, and this is what is different. You can see some of the people walking past us now. I'm just going to ask somebody.

Tell me what it was like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, glad to be back to the U.S.

FRANKEN: Like it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FRANKEN: So, anyway, what you're seeing is now people just walking past. They have the opportunity to take advantage of a variety of services here.

The services include everything from travel agent service. There are people here who can book them on flights home, or they can put them up in hotels, even provide them with cash, if necessary. The Red Cross is here. There's food, there's the possibility of medical service, if people need it, and even counseling, if they need it.

And also, families, like Mrs. Sumi here, waiting for her son, Ryan, and Sarah (ph), who is waiting for her boyfriend Ryan to get off the plane.

You've talked to him, right?

SUMI: Yes, I have.

FRANKEN: Where is he now? SUMI: He said he just came through Customs and he's just waiting to come out.

FRANKEN: Is he always this slow?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he's a very slow walker. He runs track, but he's a slow walker.

SUMI: Yes, he's slow.

FRANKEN: Probably feeling real slow about right now.

SUMI: He's probably tired. He's probably tired. I'm sure he probably didn't sleep at all on the plane.

FRANKEN: What are you thinking right now?

SUMI: I'm thinking that I'm just glad he's home. I am glad that he's home.

FRANKEN: It must have been tough for your husband who had to split up with him. You were telling us about that earlier. They had to at some point -- one took one bus and one took another?

SUMI: Yes. In Cyprus, they -- when Ryan knew he was coming home, I guess the plane was ready to go. And my husband was staying, so they were putting them on a bus. So they had to split up. And all he could tell me was that he would be here at 7:00.

FRANKEN: Tell me when you realized that they were in trouble.

SUMI: When did I realize?

FRANKEN: Yes.

SUMI: Probably early last Thursday morning. I got a call from my husband that said, you know, "I'm sure you have not watched the news yet, but the runways have been bombed." I knew then they were in trouble. So -- and then it was just a waiting game after that.

FRANKEN: Did you talk to him regularly?

SUMI: I did. They would regularly phone me from the hotel, and I would call them, also, when I thought time had gone by -- excuse me -- when too much time had lapsed, I would call them.

FRANKEN: So aren't cell phones wonderful?

SUMI: They are. They are. And luckily, the hotel they were in Lebanon had lost electricity, but they were running on generators, so they were able to keep cell phones charged up.

FRANKEN: Did you get to talk to Ryan, Sarah (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he would call every once in a while for like 5 or 10 minutes. He was like -- it was no big deal for him. He wasn't scared at all, but he was definitely scaring me.

FRANKEN: It sounds like he was having a bit of an adventure.

SUMI: I think maybe just to reassure me that they were all right, just to reassure me. They thought that they were far enough away, but they could hear the bombing. And they would go up on top of the hotel, and they were seeing smoke and things like that also.

FRANKEN: Did they have any discussion? Did they give you any descriptions of it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said -- one time I was on the phone with him, he said the hotel actually shoved a little and that the sky would light up red. And -- but he wasn't scared, so I guess I wasn't either.

FRANKEN: Still don't see him.

SUMI: No. I know. He said he had been through Customs. He was through Customs and he was on his way out. So...

FRANKEN: Well, in any case, we're going to stay with you. And we're going to stay here waiting for the arrival of Ryan Sumi. And there are 140 who are going to be coming home to families who are very relieved.

But Soledad, we go back to your end of this trip now.

S. O'BRIEN: Nice to hear that we're just a few moments away from a very happy ending, Bob.

Bob Franken, thank you very much.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.

M. O'BRIEN: U.S. Marines moving into Beirut for the first time in more than 22 years. They're helping desperate Americans escape the fighting there.

Are we more likely to see an escalation instead of a solution, however?

That's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

We are reporting live from Larnaca, in Cyprus. We've got a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

We are in the port again today, and we've got some pictures to show you. First, let's show you videotape of the Blue Dawn.

I think you've got that ship. It's a Canadian ship that brought some Americans in just less than a half an hour ago. We've been monitoring them as they've been coming off.

If you take a look right behind me, this is the French ferry. We've also been monitoring this ferry for the last couple of days. They've made now at least two trips to Beirut and back. They look as if they're preparing at some point to head back to Beirut and pick up more passengers.

But, of course, it was the Orient Queen that made its arrival this morning just after 1:00 a.m. Got some pictures to show you. People on the dock looking out the window, hanging over the balconies, really excited and ready to disembark and to begin the first steps home. But it's a long way for many people.

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