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American Morning

Quiet in Northern Israel; Condoleezza Rice in Beirut; Israeli Helicopter Crashes Near Lebanon Border

Aired July 24, 2006 - 06:32   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody, to a special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING, as we continue to cover the crisis in the Middle East.
A couple of updates for you. Some breaking news to get to right away.

Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, has arrived in Beirut, 13 days into the crisis in the Middle East. She is now there beginning her shuttle diplomacy. She is supposed to meet with Lebanese prime minister, Siniora, this morning, or our time. Afternoon, their time, of course. We will update you on what is happening in that meeting ahead.

Also this morning, we're get getting word of a helicopter crash, crashing near the Lebanese border in Israel. The Israeli helicopter, three soldiers on board by some reports. Our correspondent Paula Newton is heading to the scene. We'll have an update on that story just ahead.

I'm reporting from New York this morning. Miles O'Brien has swapped places with me. He's in Israel.

Hey, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Soledad, from Haifa, Israel, where it has been blissfully for the people here a quiet day thus far. Not a single air-raid siren has sounded.

Yesterday, it happened no less than nine times. Fourteen times missiles rained down in this city. Two people were killed, dozens were injured. An awful lot of damage.

Just to give you a sense of where we are, we're only 15 miles south of the border of Lebanon. And just to the north, sort of parallel universes, I guess you could say, is Tyre, Lebanon, which is where many people believe in the Israeli defense forces the rockets which have rained down in this city have been coming from.

Yesterday, Israeli defense forces, the Israeli air force, targeted a suspected rocket-launching location in Tyre, Lebanon. And today, we have quite here. Perhaps we can connect the dots on those two events.

In any case, this city by no means back to normal. Yesterday, many people went back to work, the first day of work for people in Israel. The hope was they could get back to some degree of normalcy. They got anything but normalcy.

Today it's another story. But it remains to be seen how this will play out.

In the meantime, the action is really much to the north along the border with Israel and Beirut. And diplomatically, a little farther to the north than that, in Beirut, where the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is now on the ground, a surprise stop in her shuttle diplomacy.

Anthony Mills is in Beirut with more -- Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Within the last 15 minutes, Miles, confirmation to me from two high-ranking Lebanese government officials that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is indeed in Lebanon. And she will, no doubt, be meeting with the prime minister, Fouad Siniora, who, of course, is under pressure to rein in Hezbollah and to stop Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel from south Lebanon -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Anthony, the situation in Beirut is a little bit quieter than it has been in recent days. I guess that probably factored into the decision for the secretary of state to visit?

MILLS: That's right, Miles. It has been fairly quiet here in Beirut, in the capital at least, since yesterday evening, when a series of loud explosions rocked the capital, those more airstrikes on the southern suburbs, the Hezbollah stronghold. The capital itself has been quiet since yesterday evening. And if Secretary Rice is going to meet the prime minister in his palace here in the -- in the capital, then one might assume that that calm would prevail, at least for a short while.

M. O'BRIEN: Anthony Mills in Beirut.

Thank you very much.

No such quiet a little bit south of there, a little bit north of where I stand, perhaps 25 miles from where I stand, in Bint Jubail, a suspected Hezbollah stronghold which the Israel defense forces are focusing on right now with some fierceness, we're told. This is Maroun al-Ras, the hilltop stronghold that the Israel defense forces have already captured, and now they're moving onward.

We're told there are reports of casualties, upwards of nine. Israel defense force soldiers injured, and no word on the casualties on the other side. And also reports of a chopper crash in the midst all of this.

CNN's Paula Newton is watching things on the border -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And hello, Miles.

We did see a helicopter crash from our vantage point here in Israel. Military sources confirm that a chopper is down and that they believe at this point that it was an accident. It did hit some kind of an electrical post, and so there were lots of sparks were flying. Very quickly, two ambulances pulled up and tried to get them out.

We have now dispatched a CNN crew there, and hopefully we'll get a closer look. But as I said, Miles, when we came in, there was lot of outgoing artillery, a lot of helicopters on the ground, a lot of soldiers being taken from the front injured. So it is a little bit frantic here this afternoon -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula, how close can you get to the front lines?

NEWTON: Various times today we've been very close. In fact, right on it, on the border. The problem is, is that it tends to really be a little bit more sporadic in terms of the fighting. And so, the closer we get, because we can't actually cross into Lebanon, what's happening now is that the Israelis (INAUDIBLE), which was the front line town that we were also looking at.

They're on that hilltop looking down on Bint Jubail, which means that now they feel that they're in a good position to take that town, and they will continue to meet fierce resistance. What we see from our vantage point, beyond helicopters firing missiles and the outgoing artillery, is a lot of smoke. I can only imagine if we got back up to the top of that hill what we might see, and even the army describes it as very fierce fighting -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Paula Newton, you and your crew, please be safe there, just south of the border there watching this, events unfold, as the Israeli defense forces, the Israel army move farther into southern Lebanon, focusing on a Hezbollah stronghold -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks for the update. We'll get back to you in just a moment.

First, let's check the forecast with Chad at the CNN Center.

Hey, Chad, what are you looking at?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: How nice it is across the Northeast this morning. Really, it's a tale of two parts of the country, one where it's not even below 90 yet in Phoenix, and up toward the Northeast, where Detroit is 60, Albany's 58, Buffalo is 59, even Pittsburgh at 58 this morning, so very nice conditions.

If you can open the windows and let some of that cool air in, you'll need it later today, because Detroit still gets to 86. A typical day for summertime, though. Even a couple degrees cooler in some spots for the Northeast.

High pressure there. Lots of sunshine. No rain at all for the Northeast today.

There will be rain showers south of this little stationary front anywhere from North Carolina, down to New Orleans, and then some developing tropical-like moisture that will come out of the Gulf of Mexico and right over Houston for the next couple of days, maybe making some flooding rainfall there. Temperatures are still going to be warm, though.

There you go, New York City. You're in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees for the next five days. Your local forecast for Philadelphia in the 90s, right at 90 everyday. Dallas finally seeing some relief from mid-100, 105, 106. They had that all last week. This week, at least 10 degrees cooler -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks for the update.

MYERS: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Israel now supports a multinational force in southern Lebanon. The devil, of course, in the details. We'll take a look at that this morning.

Plus, what's it like to live inside an Israeli bomb shelter? The sacrifice of all the families jammed in there together in a small, relatively hot, cramped space. We'll take a closer look this morning.

Stay with us. You're watching a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: People of Israel, northern Israel, now know a little something first hand of what it was like for people to endure the blitz in London in World War II. The air raid siren blows, and if you're smart, you move as quickly as you can to shelter.

Every Israeli home has a safe place, and in some cases they move to communal shelters. There were no less than 95 rocket launchings heading in this direction, this general direction of northern Israel yesterday. Two people were killed, dozens were hurt, and untold numbers huddled for safety.

CNN's John Vause spent some time with some people who spent more time than they cared to in a shelter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the largest bomb shelter in the Israel northern town of Nahariya. On this entrance level are the bathrooms. What we have here is the only running water here which they use to wash dishes; just over there, showers, two showers here, and also, just over here, two toilets, as well, essentially for all those people who have been spending days and their nights.

If we come down the stairs, we head towards the living quarters here. This bunker is made of reinforced concrete meant to withstand the impact of a Katyusha rocket and other types of missiles.

We're about 20 feet underground. And just beyond this reinforced steel door here are the living quarters. This is where most people have been spending their days and their nights. Especially at night, it's very busy here.

Most people coming here to sleep. During the day people come in and they leave, they go up to get some air, they come back down. There's one television here. Every hour the parents here and the adults tune it to the hourly news updates which have been running on Israeli television.

The parents say it is hardest for their children, trying to keep them busy. Many simply don't really understand what's going on, why they have to be down here for so many hours each day.

Over here is the kitchen, basically a microwave oven and a freezer. The air here is thick and stale. It's very difficult to breathe. It's also very, very hot, as well.

Here is another room in this bomb shelter, the bunk beds, the mattresses on the ground. And we're told that on any one night, as many as 100 people could be in here taking cover from the Hezbollah missiles.

John Vause, CNN, Nahariya, northern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Over time, that is difficult to take for these people. It really wears on people's nerves and emotions. A lot of nerves people in this part of the world right now.

We just had been telling you some breaking news this morning, that the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, is on the ground in Beirut to begin her shuttle diplomacy. We're told by administration officials it was planned all along. We just found out about it for security reason.

We'll have more on her dramatic shuttle diplomacy after we come back.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): An essential part of any exercise routine or diet is staying properly hydrated. So how much fluid is enough? Registered dietician and author Ellie Krieger says that amount is a very individual thing.

ELLIE KRIEGER, REGISTERED DIETICIAN: The amount of fluid that you need throughout the day depends on your size, your body weight, the temperature in which you're living, and also your activity. The National Academy of Science recommends for the average woman the adequate intake is nine eight-ounce glasses a day. And the average man is 13 eight-ounce glasses a day. Now, that's total fluid, not just water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juice, smoothies, milk and even coffee count, too.

KRIEGER: The latest studies indicate that caffeinated beverages actually do contribute to your hydration. You don't have to have a water bottle strapped to your hip all day long. It is a good idea to get most of your fluid intake from water. It has no calories, it's all natural, and also, studies show that it does have an extra preventative effect in terms of a number of diseases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Ellie.

For the Bod Squad, Kelly Callahan (ph), CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We have some new pictures in. These come to us from Rehanya (ph), in Lebanon. This is the scene of an Israel defense forces helicopter crash. We're not sure what kind of helicopter it was.

We're told it was not a shoot-down, that it was some sort of accident in the midst -- in the midst -- actually, this is apparently -- the crash occurred on the Israel side in the midst of the attack on Bint Jubail, which is the capital of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. A fierce fight is under way there right now as Israel defense forces try to seize control of it after a previous hilltop town was captured nearby.

We're trying to get more information for you on it. We will bring it to you as soon as we get it.

In the meantime, let's get a historical sweep of things for a moment, a little bit of perspective that goes beyond the headlines.

We're joined by Amatzia Baram, who is a professor of history at the University of Haifa. He's been there for 22 years.

Professor Baram, good to have you with us.

AMATZIA BARAM, UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA: It's a pleasure, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: First of all, the significance of going after Bint Jubail, that -- that is -- as you put it, it is the capital of Hezbollah.

BARAM: Well, this is the -- absolutely the capital of Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon, the nerve center. And so it's not going to be easy.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, really? You think they'll fight -- they will fight long and hard?

BARAM: They'll fight long and hard.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk about the secretary of state. She's on the ground in Beirut, a surprise to us all.

Is it really a surprise to you?

BARAM: No. Nobody knew when exactly she would be arriving, but we knew she would be.

M. O'BRIEN: Really? OK. You felt pretty confident this would...

BARAM: Yes, because the only -- the only powers that can actually stop the war under conditions that would be acceptable to the Lebanese government, to Israel, are the Americans.

M. O'BRIEN: Prime Minister Siniora, though, does he really hold any sway in this? I mean, Hezbollah is not going to listen to him.

BARAM: Right. He only holds only one kind of sway, public sway with the majority of the Lebanese. He doesn't have an army that can -- can disarm Hezbollah. He doesn't have an army that can kick Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon and take its place on the border.

They cannot do that. But public opinion is behind him, except for the majority of the Shia, who are behind Hezbollah.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about southern Lebanon and how it became -- it became such a power vacuum there, and how Hezbollah gained such a foothold. Can you give us a short history lesson of that?

BARAM: Well, in 1982, when we invaded Lebanon, we invaded it because of the PLO, the Palestinian terrorists. Once they left, quite honestly, we should have left, too. But we were afraid that once we leave they'll come back.

So, out of being too protective, we stayed there for too long. When we stayed there, that gave Iran, Khomeini, especially Ayatollah Khomeini, enough time to build his own organization inside south Lebanon, the majority of which are Shiites. And when we left in 1985, already Hezbollah was a Lebanese Iranian-controlled terrorist organization of the first order.

M. O'BRIEN: So, Israel, in a sense, created Hezbollah by staying too long?

BARAM: No, we didn't create it. Well, we -- creating it is -- I wouldn't -- it's not correct.

M. O'BRIEN: But created -- created the atmosphere...

(CROSSTALK)

BARAM: It created the conditions under which it was easier for Khomeini to create Hezbollah. But once we moved out of Lebanon, completely, Prime Minister Barack, six years ago, then Hezbollah no longer had a cause, because their cause was we liberated -- well, we liberated Lebanon by moving out of it.

That's where they rein in the state's -- Iran, they rein in Ayatollah -- decided to use it as a tool to bleed Israel wide. Their idea is to destroy Israel; Hezbollah's idea the same.

Hezbollah was regarded by them as the best tool to bleed Israel. Why? Because you couldn't -- they couldn't destroy Israel with one big bang.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

BARAM: We were too powerful. But to bleed us, why? They could, and they will if we don't stop it.

M. O'BRIEN: Amatzia Baram, professor of history, University of Haifa.

Thank you for your time.

BARAM: You're most welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: And as we speak, the fighting remains fierce as Israeli defense forces try to go after that very capital in the south for Hezbollah.

We'll keep you posted as details come in. We'll bring them to you.

Back with more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

You're taking a look at some new video into CNN. These are some of the most recent evacuees heading out of Tyre in Lebanon, where they are trying to get into a more secure location. Unclear how many of those boatloads of people have gone to the bigger ship, and unclear how many are Americans. But some 12,000 Americans have now been evacuated out of Lebanon, a big portion of them, of course, right out of Beirut.

This word just into us a few moments ago. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Beirut, where it is just after 1:00 -- almost 2:00 in the afternoon now. Her shuttle diplomacy coming 13 days after this crisis began.

Her day will begin with a meeting with the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora. The visit a surprise to some. It was planned all along, we are told, but not really announced because of security concerns.

She's going to be focusing on the humanitarian situation and also, of course, bringing some kind of security to Lebanon. The pressure, of course, has been on the Lebanese prime minister to put pressure on Hezbollah to stop the shelling into some of Israel's northern cities.

Let's get you right to Haifa, Israel, right now. Miles is reporting from there.

Do we have a live picture we can show folks? Let's see if we can bring that up. No.

Well, he says -- he's been telling us that while there was a lot of shelling over the weekend, in fact, it seems as if things have calmed down quite a bit.

And, of course, we're also going to update you on this helicopter crash on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border.

That's all ahead as we continue to follow the Middle East crisis.

Andy Serwer, though, has got business news for us.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad.

Obviously stocks have been very volatile over the past several sessions, responding to the crisis in the Middle East.

Last week, some of the major indexes were up, some were down. Let's check out the numbers and see.

The DOW, of course, was up on Wednesday. That was a big day for the markets when Fed chief Ben Bernanke talked up the economy. The DOW was up over 200 points. That was really the big up day for the markets for the week.

As you can see, the Nasdaq is more volatile. The index is down.

One analyst saying the markets will react one way or the other. Basically, the flip of a headline this week. That's what you should expect out of Wall Street.

Futures are up this morning, however, Soledad. In fact, in part because of a very, very large deal to tell you about, the biggest deal ever, in fact.

Hospital operator HCA, according to published reports, is in talks to buy itself and to sell itself to an investor group for $21 billion. This would be one of the biggest buyout deals of all time. Not a merger, but a buyout.

KKR, Bain, and the Frist family, which founded the family involved in that. And, of course, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is a part of that family. He no longer owns stock in the company. So we'll maybe give you some more details on that later on.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. You're watching it for us.

Thanks, Andy. Appreciate it. SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the weather this morning. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center.

Hello, Chad. What are you watching this morning?

MYERS: How beautiful it is across the Northeast and how well airports should do today. All that being said, I'm sure something else will go wrong.

Rain showers up across northern Florida, but the heavy rain across central and southern Florida from yesterday, that's all gone.

A beautiful day in Toronto, 82. Boston, 81. Even New York City 88 today.

There will be a few scattered storms across the upper Midwest, even some showers in the Southwest. That is welcomed news. It was 125 degrees yesterday in Death Valley, and that's hot even for Death Valley standards. In fact, that ties a record.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

As we follow the crisis in the Middle East, there is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has arrived in Beirut, beginning her shuttle diplomacy. We're live with the very latest on her visit.

Also, an Israeli helicopter is down, at least six men injured, we're told, when the chopper crashed near the border. We're following that story as well, as we continue to follow what's happening in the Middle East.

Welcome back, everybody. You're watching a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

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