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American Morning

Crisis in the Middle East; American Evacuees Come Home

Aired July 20, 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: To the shores of Lebanon -- the Marines are there for the first time since a searing loss two decades ago. This time helping Americans out of harm's way. All as the fighting escalates once again in the Middle East. Still no end in sight on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you from New York.

I'm Miles O'Brien.

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

We're reporting live from the Port of Larnaca in Cyprus this morning.

You can see over my shoulder, that's the French ferry. We've been actually talking about that particular ferry a fair bit over the last couple of days. That ferry came in early this morning, around 5:00 in the morning, with 1,250 passengers. It's a ferry that's gone back and forth to Beirut a couple of times now, at least two times that we have counted. We expect it to be going back out once again.

Earlier this morning, around 1:00 in the morning, it was the Americans who were coming in, over 1,000 Americans. We can show you some early morning shots as they disembarked from the Orient Queen. The ship a significantly different experience than the folks who were coming in on that Norwegian cargo ship yesterday. We showed you some pictures then.

They came through, were processed, went through Customs and then got some assistance from the embassy folks here, whether it was finding a place to stay, getting to the airport, getting a ride to the airport, all those things were sort of handled and managed.

There are some charter flights out, as well, getting people out of Cyprus as quickly as possible.

Let's show you some pictures of the Orient Queen. I mean a top of the line ship. The price of a ticket under normal circumstances, of course, somewhere between $2,000 and $7,000. People hitched a ride for free this time around. People were at the bar drinking and in the pool. They opened up duty-free shops, all trying to make everybody relaxed and feel comfortable in a circumstance, of course, that was incredibly uncomfortable and incredibly scary for many people.

A real sigh of relief for the people who only even got as far as Cyprus, didn't want to end up in Cypress, but got this far. They were really thrilled to be out of Beirut, out of Lebanon, various parts of Lebanon.

And some of the folks have already made their way home.

Let's check in with Bob Franken.

He's at BWI near Washington, D.C. this morning with a report, since some of those evacuees are back -- hey, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Soledad.

This is the other end of that trip, and it is quite an ordeal for so many. One hundred and forty were on the first plane to land here at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport. It's an airport and they're used to doing this kind of thing.

You can see in back of me an operation that includes officials providing travel needs, accommodations, money if the people who return need it.

But it's been quite a harrowing trip, as we've heard from any number of passengers.

We're talking now to Tom Charara and his 7-year-old son Ali (ph). You just, you were on that plane.

Talk more about your ordeal.

TOM CHARARA, EVACUEE FROM LEBANON: It was a long trip. But I'll tell you, that doesn't compare to my ordeal in Lebanon. My ordeal in Lebanon was a lot worse. I mean, getting out is pure adrenaline. You're getting out, you're OK, you're on a ship, you're on a plane, a little bit of inconvenience, a little bit of dust, your sleeping on a crowded ship. That's no big deal.

But getting out alive from Lebanon, that is a big deal.

FRANKEN: Where were you?

T. CHARARA: We were in South Beirut for the first couple days of the bombing, in the middle of the whole -- that square that they say -- the famous square where they leveled it out.

We lost our apartment. We lost everything in there with it. And we got out alive. And then we stayed with the grandparents for a couple of days. And that was also near the bombings.

So the kids lived through four days of intense bombing in Beirut.

FRANKEN: And one of those kids is a little 7-year-old, who doesn't seem to be the worse for wear.

How are you -- what was this like for you, Ali?

A. CHARARA: It wasn't very fun, but I don't think I like it. It didn't feel good to me.

FRANKEN: Was it scary?

A. CHARARA: Kind of.

FRANKEN: What was scary?

A. CHARARA: Well, the scary part was when the bomb that hit so close to us that it made me so scared that my tooth feel out, almost. It almost made it fall out.

FRANKEN: So -- but you held up fairly well, though, it looks like.

T. CHARARA: Yes, well so far. They survive, you know? They're young and they're adaptable. They survive very well, so.

FRANKEN: Well, you're an aerospace engineer living in Long Beach, so this isn't over for you yet.

What do you do now?

T. CHARARA: I go home. Try to relax and...

FRANKEN: You have to get a flight, right?

T. CHARARA: Yes, we have to get a flight home. Hopefully Delta Airlines will take care of my tickets. They're alive. I hope they do take care of me.

FRANKEN: You know, it was funny, Soledad, when I asked them to appear -- it was about 20 minutes ago -- and I said do you mind waiting about 20 minutes? And your answer was why not another 20 minutes, it's been an awful long time.

How long did it take you to get here?

T. CHARARA: We've been on -- between the bus, the ship, the flight to -- from Larnaca to England, about two-and-a-half days.

FRANKEN: Two-and-a-half days, but they're back in the United States and there are thousands of others who hope to be able to say the same thing soon -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Two-and-a-half days with a 7-year-old, that is a tough, tough trip.

Bob Franken for us this morning at Thurgood Marshall International Airport. Other folks call it BWI, more commonly, too.

Thanks, Bob.

Appreciate it.

Let's get right back to Miles, reporting from New York today -- hey, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Soledad. Let's get you up to date on the crisis in the Middle East.

Israeli tanks and big guns still shelling Southern Lebanon, as Israeli ground troops cross the border, targeting Hezbollah guerrilla strongholds. It's not a full scale invasion, but Israel is not ruling one out, either.

Israel clearly trying to kill Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. Israeli fighters dropping 23 tons of explosives on a Hezbollah command bunker in Beirut.

U.S. Marines now back in Beirut for the first time since a Hezbollah suicide bomber targeted the barracks there, killing 241 Marines, in 1983. This time, the Marine mission? To help evacuate American citizens.

Israeli ground troops again moving into Southern Lebanon.

Let's take a look at that border area once again for you.

The search for Hezbollah hideouts and rockets landing to skirmishes on the Lebanon side of the border. Meanwhile, tanks and big guns firing away from the Israeli side, raining down shells in Southern Lebanon.

CNN's Paula Newton just back from the action at the border.

You remember yesterday she was right there. This time, the Israeli Defense Forces told her she needed to stay away from the tanks and artillery -- Paula, why did they kick you out, first of all?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, we were just on the outskirts of what was a firefight between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces. And that's why they moved us off. Yesterday, we were in an area where we saw the outgoing artillery shells. Behind me is incoming. And I think they just wanted to make sure that there wasn't any kind of retaliation from Hezbollah.

And you can imagine, the way Hezbollah has some of their armaments are a lot cruder than the Israeli Army. They may be trying to aim at an Israeli post that we were close to and would have instead hit civilians in the area. Civilians there in Avivim, which is a town just beyond my shoulder, have been told to stay indoors. Most of them, though, in fact, Miles, are gone.

That fight between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces continues. What happened, Miles, was that early this morning, in two separate places along the border, Israeli Special Forces went in to do what they say is a cleansing operation of missiles, rockets and launchers that Hezbollah, they say, has been storing along this border for years.

They -- Hezbollah took them on as they came in. An anti-aircraft missile was fired at a tank -- I'm sorry. An anti-tank missile was fired at a tank. It took it out. And in the meantime, three Israeli soldiers were wounded. We're going to show you some video now from when we were there.

What happened after that, Miles, was that a lot of air support came in and the artillery guns started up again. And you can see that there are a lot of tanks in operation there. I know they had to go in and get the disabled tank out once it was hit by that missile and get the injured soldiers out. They needed a lot of air cover for that and a lot of shells were flying and Black Hawks in the air.

But even since then, Miles, what's going on here is that the Israeli forces are refusing to pull back. They're trying to make a point to Hezbollah -- you want to take us on, fine. But we will not retreat. If we want to make these pinpoint incursions daily into Southern Lebanon to clear out your posts of weaponry, we will -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Paula, I've got to ask you, last hour you were not wearing your vest. Now you're wearing your vest.

Is there increased danger there?

NEWTON: Well, two things happened.

One is you got me in trouble, Miles. So CNN called and said, obviously, all crews put on your flak jackets.

But beyond that, we are at an Israeli military post and they have since told us that they feel that it will be a safer way to be. They are, in fact, making -- they're still here now. They're making plans to move away from the position right now that I can't disclose, saying that it is getting a little bit more dangerous here.

I want to remind everyone, it was around this time yesterday when we had the volley of Katushas coming in from Southern Lebanon that hit those centers very deep in the south of Israel, in a place, Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, which is, oddly enough, Miles, an Arab-Israeli town. And two little boys were killed there.

This still very, very tense here and no one really knows what Hezbollah has up its sleeve.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Didn't mean to get you in trouble, Paula. Just concerned about your safety, OK?

All right, you be safe out there, please.

NEWTON: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Day nine of the intense shelling in Southern Lebanon now that Paula has been reporting about.

On the other side of the border, many civilians have fled. But those less fortunate are now huddling in bomb shelters.

CNN's Karl Penhaul has made his way into one such bunker in Tyre, Lebanon and join us from there now -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, certainly interesting to hear Paula talking about the effects of the shelling and seeing the warplanes there, because here what we're seeing is the effects of those shellings and bombs by warplanes. And here, it's actually the basement of the building. But the citizens here, from two or three blocks away, have decided that this is the hardest cover they can find. And they will turn this into an improvised bunker.

They've been living down here now for nine days and the conditions really are very tough for them. There's no running water. There's no toilets or anything like that. And only the bravest few will go out each day to forage for food -- bottled water and tin food -- because most of them say that even during the day, it's way too dangerous to go out and try and find, pick their way through the streets because bombs are falling throughout the day.

Around the clock, we're hearing Israeli warplanes going and hearing Paula, they're also talking about helicopters in the air. From our position in Tyre, about 10 miles from that border, we did, in fact, see some of those helicopters flying in the course of the day -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Karl, tell us about -- I see all those children there, I see the mothers there.

Is there a sense of desperation, sadness, anger? What is kind of the general sense of things inside these shelters? Are people becoming a bit -- are tempers flaring, I guess is the question?

PENHAUL: Certainly from what I've seen. I've spent now about three hours with these people down here. There are seven families down here. There are about 40 people in total. The building itself, the basement itself is fairly large. We're talking probably 15, 16 yards long or square, in fact.

But for 40 people, they've been down here nine days and they certainly are going stir crazy. There's no real ventilation down here, a few electric fans.

But outside, it's about 35 degrees. So very hot down here. The young children, these two, for instance, Nura (ph) and Mohammed (ph), only four years old. They're getting very bored down here.

And obviously each time any of those bombs rock the city -- and today bombs have been falling from the southeast -- then they're being, getting very frightened.

That goes the same for the adults. They say that they're frightened. They fear that bombs could drop on this building any time -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul in a bunker in Tyre, where there's concern about sanitation and, of course, people pretty much at wit's end, with tempers frayed, to say the least.

So what, if anything, are diplomats doing to try and stop the war?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice comes to New York today. She will huddle with the U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, trying to come up with some solutions.

Our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth, joining us now live from the United Nations with more -- good morning, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

It's been described as a time for some major decision moments. That's according to a top aide to Kofi Annan.

Condoleezza Rice will meet later today with U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, not here at the U.N. She may be here tomorrow for meetings, for an update on what Annan's team of negotiators heard when they went on a swing throughout the Middle East.

Condoleezza Rice may head to the Middle East this weekend, though that has not been set yet.

Her ambassador here at the United Nations, John Bolton, described the significance of her visit to the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I think this is an effort to understand what the secretary general's position in preparation for her trip to the Middle East. She's doing a very extensive amount of preparation -- some up here, some in Washington, on the phone, meeting with people. So she's being very active in getting ready for this trip. And this is part of the preparation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: A U.N. official said it's time to get everybody on the same page with the same message going out. The Security Council will hear from Kofi Annan today and likely his special delegation.

One member of that delegation was not welcome in Syria. The team didn't end up going there. Syria's ambassador said Terje Roed Larsen wouldn't have been welcome. Syria also denounces Israeli attacks in Lebanon as genocide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASHAR JA'AFARI, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We are seeing, though, that the United States sidelined with Israel, with the aggression against civilian people. Where is this diplomacy? Where is the principles of George Washington, who was fighting for the independence of America against foreign occupation?

The issue is about foreign occupation. That's -- this is American values. We are defending American values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: France floated some ideas for the Security Council to consider, including some form of cease-fire, which the U.S. is not interested in at this point -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: The U.S. position, Ambassador Bolton saying yesterday how do you do a cease-fire with a group that he characterized as a terrorist group, how is that playing at the United Nations, Richard?

ROTH: Well, more countries think that there should be a harder drive to get some type of cessation of hostilities right now while the U.S. and some others want the root causes to be formed, they -- because they don't want to go back to where we were. And a lot of others point to a Security Council resolution, Miles, as you know, on the books, which called for a disarming of militias several years ago in Lebanon.

M. O'BRIEN: Richard Roth at the United Nations.

Thank you very much.

Let's get a check of the forecast now.

Chad Myers at the Weather Center in Atlanta -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: We've got some live pictures coming in right now.

Al Jazeera, the Arab language network, sending us pictures from Marjayoun, Lebanon. This is in Southern Lebanon. We just saw a little while ago, Paula Newton along the border. She has been spending time with the Israeli artillery and tank positions there. They have been lobbing shells into Southern Lebanon.

This is the receiving end of those shells that you're seeing. We just saw a dust cloud a few moments ago, some sort of strike in Marjayoun, Lebanon. We're trying to get some more information for you on precisely the amount of damage that they have incurred on this location in Southern Lebanon.

Israel says, in total, it has identified and pursued no less than 1,000 targets. Israeli Defense Forces saying they're seeking out Hezbollah locations. But as Karl Penhaul has been reporting from bunkers and from hospitals, many civilians, of course, caught in the crossfire in Southern Lebanon.

Coming up, Hezbollah denies that it has been severely weakened by these strikes we just told you about. But what would it mean for the region if it were? would there be a power vacuum? We'll take a closer look at that -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, Miles, would you give the government -- say they're doing a good job or would you say they're doing a bad job when it comes to evacuating their own citizens out of Beirut?

Ahead this morning, we talk to two people who say they've done a great job and give big kudos to the State Department. We'll talk to them just ahead.

Stay with us.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

We're reporting to you live from Cypress.

Take a look at this some of these pictures from across the Mediterranean, pictures from Beirut, where people making their way over the sand dunes into the hands of Marines who are helping them -- sometimes mothers with their kids, trying to help them get to safety and get on some ships. A pretty remarkable scene today. Those pictures new to us today.

We want to introduce you to two guests who came in bright and early this morning. We've spent a lot of time together now.

Professor Nabil El-Hage and his daughter Beatrice El-Hage were among the first people off the ship. Beatrice, in fact, was the first one who made her way over to the long line of reporters.

BEATRICE EL-HAGE, AMERICAN EVACUEE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: How -- you seem so calm and actually not too worried.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We were a little bit surprised by that.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes. We were actually staying pretty far up north, where there wasn't so much bombing around us. So I guess we weren't exactly in the middle of the fighting. So it was much more calming. We -- I was with a bunch of my friends who I've known since I was a little girl. So it was very comforting to have all of them there.

S. O'BRIEN: Your mother not so comforted.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Your mother wanted you home.

B. EL-HAGE: She did.

S. O'BRIEN: Were you worried about your daughter, too? I mean she's very mature, but she's 17 years old. NABIL EL-HAGE, AMERICAN EVACUEE: I was. I mean that was really the biggest reason I was worried is, you know, when you have your daughter with you, it just feels very different. And I knew Lucy at home wanted us out of there as quickly as possible.

S. O'BRIEN: So you got out as quickly as possible.

N. EL-HAGE: Yes. Well, I suggested that Bea stay home and Bea said a one word answer -- "No."

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I can -- that doesn't surprise me at all. She's a little bit of a tough nut here.

You were very adamant in your support of the evacuation process. The Department of State, you said, literally, they deserve huge kudos.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: There are many people on that same ship who said it was a nightmare, we couldn't get through.

What was the experience like for you?

N. EL-HAGE: I honestly can't imagine somebody saying it was a nightmare. I really believe they did a great job. It was very well coordinated. I mean it was nearly a thousand people and yet there were never long lines.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

N. EL-HAGE: We never felt unsafe. The buses were right on time leaving Beirut. We got on the ship. We were given these great staterooms, to everybody -- private rooms with showers. I mean this was an evacuation so...

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

N. EL-HAGE: ... it far exceeded anything I think we have any right to expect. So I think it made us proud to be Americans. It made us proud to have the State Department people working for us on this. It as incredible. I thought it was very well done.

S. O'BRIEN: What was the processing like?

They brought you not a really long distance, just from over here where they docked to into here. And it seemed actually very chaotic. And yet when you got inside, there were people with bullhorns. It was kind of running very smoothly, actually.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: What did they want you to do? What did you have to do there?

N. EL-HAGE: It was well staged. At every stage you had to do different things. From the time we got to the meeting area in Beirut, they checked our bags -- for good reason, to make sure everything was safe. Then we moved to a different area. We were given our room keys. You then boarded the boat. When you got here, we got off the boat, got onto buses. We went to an area where we cleared Cypriot immigration. That was a five minute process. So, again, I don't know how much better that could have been.

Then we had to essentially pick a flight home. There were three charters that State organized.

S. O'BRIEN: What have you picked? How are you getting home?

B. EL-HAGE: We picked the 8:00 charter this evening. And it's going to fly us straight into Washington and...

S. O'BRIEN: Which isn't home.

B. EL-HAGE: No, it's not exactly home.

N. EL-HAGE: Well...

S. O'BRIEN: It's close to home, but it's not quite home.

B. EL-HAGE: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: So then you overnight in Washington, D.C.

B. EL-HAGE: Exactly. And we'll take the first flight, available flight home, in the morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Are you just sick of traveling?

I know you've had an opportunity -- she -- you're so much like cleaner and dressed.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, you guys have been on a really long and tiring trip.

B. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: But are you ready to be done with this travel?

N. EL-HAGE: Yes.

B. EL-HAGE: I am, really. We left Beirut about, over 24 hours ago. And it's literally only 40 miles away. So it's a long time for a short distance. But it was smooth and it was fine.

N. EL-HAGE: Yes. And it'll be close to 72 hours door-to-door.

E. EL-HAGE: Yes.

N. EL-HAGE: But you know what? It's not bad.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a long trip. E. EL-HAGE: Yes.

N. EL-HAGE: Yes, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That's true. To be safe, that is very true.

N. EL-HAGE: To be safe, it's not bad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's not bad at all.

N. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You said something that I thought was just really moving as we were talking about that ship, about how beautiful the country is and how disappointing it is to see it come to this, really.

E. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: It's really sad.

E. EL-HAGE: Yes. We were both crying in the lines on the way here. So it's really hard to leave. He grew up there, so it's kind of weird to -- for him to be evacuated from where you were a kid. But it had to be done, yes?

N. EL-HAGE: It's a beautiful country and it just keeps suffering, I think, because we're just a peon in the stage of world politics. And hopefully some day that whole area will see through peace.

S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, we hope so.

N. EL-HAGE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We really hope so.

N. EL-HAGE: You do. We really do.

S. O'BRIEN: Beatrice, Professor Hage, thank you very much for talking with us.

N. EL-HAGE: Thank you.

E. EL-HAGE: Thank you.

Thank you very much.

N. EL-HAGE: Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's been a pleasure. We've spent, what is it now, about 12 hours, 13 hours, 14 hours or something together now. It's like -- I feel like we're family almost.

E. EL-HAGE: Exactly.

N. EL-HAGE: Right. S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, guys.

N. EL-HAGE: Thank you, Soledad.

E. EL-HAGE: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, Soledad, wherever you go you make friends.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, well, you know, anybody who can offer a glass of cold water at this point, you know, you've got a lot of friends, I'll tell you that.

M. O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

All right, thank you, Soledad.

Back with you in just a little bit.

More from the Mideast in just a moment.

If you think vaccinations are just for kids, you could be dead wrong, though. We'll tell you what folks in their 30s and 40s and 50s should be asking their doctor. And we're not just talking about flu shots here.

Better stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We'll return to our coverage of the war in a minute.

You know, it's too bad there isn't a peace vaccination, isn't it?

But doctors tell us there are a lot of other shots we should be aware of as we get older.

Elizabeth Cohen joining us now with another installment in our series for people in their 30s and 40s and 50s.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why do adults sometimes act like big babies when it's time to get a vaccination?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me and some of the friends that I know, these big monsters guys, there's a fear of needles.

COHEN: Fifty-four-year-old Gene Washington (ph) just got vaccinated for tetanus and Hepatitis A and B in preparation for a visit to China. But even if you're not going out of the country, you still need some vaccines.

DR. JIM JIRJIS, VANDERBILT MEDICAL CENTER: A lot of people don't know that there's vaccines they should be getting in their 30s and 40s and 50s that they may think they're relying on their provider to tell them, that they're not.

COHEN: One most doctors say everyone should get -- a shot against tetanus and diphtheria.

JIRJIS: No matter what age you are, 30, 40, 50, every 10 years you should be getting a tetanus booster.

COHEN: In your '30s, find out if you were ever vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella, and against chicken pox. If you weren't and didn't have these diseases as a child, doctors suggest you should get vaccinated.

In your '30s and '40s, ask your doctor whether your job or your health status means you should get shots for Hepatitis A and B, meningitis and pneumonia.

In your '50s, get a flu shot. Some people need it even earlier. Many doctors also encourage a chicken pox vaccine in your '50s to prevent shingles.

JIRJIS: Shingles can be horribly painful and can leave you with lifelong pain syndromes. And so preventing it is very effective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a question.

JIRJIS: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the side effects?

COHEN: Vaccines can, indeed, cause side effects. Many produce flu like symptoms. But most doctors believe the benefits greatly outweighing the risks.

JIRJIS: These vaccinations have made such an indelible impact on reducing pain and suffering throughout the world, that's a little bit offset by those few people who, for some reason, have some sort of reaction to it.

COHEN: And, he adds, the key is knowing your personal vaccine history and what you might need at various stages of your life.

JIRJIS: People in their '30s and '40s and '50s should have all been vaccinated before. But one reason to confirm is if you don't have proof that it happened.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: If you're not sure what vaccines you might need, talk to your doctor and check out this Web site, vaccineinformation.org/adults.asp. Does that make any sense? Oh, there it is below you on the screen there. Vaccineinformation.org. Go there -- all one word -- and make your way to the adult section. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com