Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Middle East Crisis

Aired July 25, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to that press conference.
Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, is talking now. She's doing a joint press conference with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. We heard him talk just a moment ago.

Let's listen in over the translation to hear what she's saying.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) President Bush's mission. But, indeed, because the position of President Abbas of three states living side by side in peace.

It is important that we end the Gaza crisis and I know that the president is working hard to do that and to create the conditions on which that can end.

But I also said to the president that I have been speaking with the Israelis about the need to implement the November agreement on movement and access so that the Palestinian people can have a means for economic -- their economic health and that the humanitarian considerations and concerns of the Palestinian people can be taken care of.

All in all, this was a very useful and constructive discussion. We are working with the Palestinian Authority and with its duly elected president on multiple fronts, on the security front, on the economic front. The United States continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people and we have done all that we can to re-program and to program even more humanitarian assistance.

But we need to be able to make progress, because the Palestinian people have lived too long in violence and in a sense of the daily humiliations that go along with the circumstances here. And so Mr. President, you have our pledge that our common work of bringing a two state solution to the people of Palestine and to the people of Israel, that we will not tire in our efforts.

And I thank you again for welcoming me here and I look forward to our continuing work.

(VIDEO FROM PRESS CONFERENCE)

They want us to turn and look.

S. O'BRIEN: Condoleezza Rice and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, wrap up their joint news conference.

The secretary of state saying the discussion was useful and constructive, but not a lot of detail on what happened there.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING is beginning right now.

And we're talking about that tough edge on her diplomacy, Miles.

The secretary of state has been in the West Bank all morning talking about those possibilities for bringing some kind of peaceful solution to the crisis. But, of course, she would like to see many, many different things met in her checklist before, of course, she's going to call for any kind of cease-fire. We've heard her say that a lot over the last several days.

The latest now on the crisis in the Middle East.

I'm Soledad O'Brien from New York today -- Miles, good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.

Miles O'Brien from Jerusalem.

We're watching the diplomatic front, as well as increased fighting both sides of the border. Back with that in just a second -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles.

Let's update everybody on what's happening this morning.

Hezbollah rockets have attacked Haifa in northern Israel today. There were reports that 19 people have been injured. The mayor of Haifa told us that the damage is extensive.

And Condoleezza Rice -- you saw those pictures just a moment ago -- working for a solution with some key players today. She's just finished her meeting with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. And then they did that joint news conference.

And earlier today, she met with Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

Israeli forces say they have taken a key Hezbollah position. They are in control of Bint Jabeil. Israel says they're looking for rocket launchers and weapons and stockpiles and secret tunnels. That town about two-and-a-half from the border.

An Israeli missile hit a house 16 miles north of that position today. Lebanese security says seven civilians have been killed.

And in Gaza, Israeli air strikes destroyed three houses today. Eight people reported injured. The Israelis say they are targeting munitions stored by the militant Islamic Jihad.

let's get right back to Miles in Jerusalem this morning -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Soledad. As the secretary of state, as you just saw, having finished her meetings with the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, continues her efforts to create some sort of atmosphere for a diplomatic solution here in the Middle East.

She will make her way, eventually, to Rome today, where she will meet with European and other leaders to try to come up with, among other things, a humanitarian package for the people of Lebanon, now beset by this two-week-old war.

The secretary of state, once again, just a few moments ago, you heard her talking about a commitment to a two state solution here, a Palestine and an Israel living side by side. Clearly setting her sights very high. And as a result of that, resisting the call for an immediate cease-fire in order to find some way for the Lebanese government, that fledgling democracy there, to reign in Hezbollah, this militant organization, this sort of government within a government in Southern Lebanon.

While all this has been happening, no letup in the fighting both sides of the border. We've been telling you about air strikes and artillery strikes in the southern port city in Lebanon of Tyre. And just about 30 miles south of that, the other side of the border, the port city of Haifa in Israel, more of these rockets and missiles raining down, some of them presumably Katusha, other types of rockets, which make their way from Iran through Syria and into the hands of the Hezbollah fighters.

More injuries to report.

CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is in Haifa -- Fionnuala.

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Miles, from hurricane forecast, where they have been a number of air raid sirens and a number of rockets falling. At least 16 people injured in this city, with a number of direct hits. One person was killed when a rocket landed near his house, killed by a heart attack, not as a direct result of impact from the rocket.

Elsewhere in northern Israel, more rockets have continued to rain down. One girl was killed near the border with Lebanon, an indication, perhaps, Miles, that despite the military action, the fierce military action along the South Lebanese border, and also up at Tyre, from where they believe these rockets are emanating toward Haifa, there is no letup in Hezbollah's capability to actually fire rockets, continue firing rockets.

They're alleged to have something like 13,000 rockets in their armory. That was at the beginning of this conflict. If you do the math, something like 1,300 rockets have rained down on northern Israel since the beginning of this conflict 13, 14 days ago. So I think it depends on how many rockets and rocket launchers the Israeli military have taken out. But it would seem that they still have a lot of rockets at their disposal -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So it seems, Fionnuala. Yesterday, no less than 100 rockets rained down. That seems to be about the average. We just have a report from the Israeli Defense Forces indicating one person killed in Galilee, a little bit to the east of where you are right now.

Any word on the casualties in Haifa today?

SWEENEY: Yes. They have been about 18 casualties, at least. I mean there was quite a lot of destruction downtown in the city area, in and around the city, when these rockets fell. And the Haifa mayor -- you talked to him earlier, Miles -- he's putting a brave face on things, saying that really it is business as usual, that this is a very strong city of 300,000, the third largest city in Israel.

The population division between Arab and Jew is about 50-50 and relations historically have been extremely good. But there's no doubt that these constant barrages of rockets are putting pressure on people, not just in Haifa, but along, particularly along the border in northern Israel, where the air raid sirens often don't get a chance to sound before a rocket lands because of the very short distance between where they're launched and where they are targeted at.

And so you have many, many, many people there living in underground bunkers 24-7.

At least in Haifa, people are remaining in their homes. Every Israeli building having a reinforced room within. There's not a lot going on in the streets of Haifa today, but it's not exactly as under siege as, perhaps, other towns and communities across northern Israel.

M. O'BRIEN: The blitz in Haifa continuing.

Fionnuala Sweeney in Haifa.

Let's move north about 30 miles or so, across the border to the port city of Tyre in Lebanon, where we have reports of a lot of fighting this morning. And this afternoon, the Israeli Air Force, the Israeli Defense Forces launching an artillery barrage and precision weapons on suspected sites where those rockets are coming from.

The question is are they having much luck in getting their target or are they just creating further civilian casualties? The military likes to call that collateral damage. That's the euphemism.

Karl Penhaul is in Tyre, as the bombardment continues -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the southern edge of Tyre have been taking a constant bombardment throughout the morning, both from Israeli warplanes dropping 500 hundred pound bombs, but also artillery shells that have been coming from about 10 miles away, close to the border and raining down on a position about a mile-and-a-half south of where we are now, just beyond the southern outskirts of the city of Tyre.

Now, the most recent bombardment began about half an hour ago now. And that, after we saw a small barrage of Hezbollah rockets fire into the sky and head off down toward Israel. What then happened, unmanned aerial drone buzzing overhead. That carries out reconnaissance missions. And that appears to then have called in the strikes, both by artillery and the warplanes, Miles.

And a little off in the distance there, there is still smoke coming up from that position.

In the last few seconds, as well, we can also hear Israeli warplanes overhead again. That may be some indication that they're about to strike more targets again on that southern edge of the city -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So, really, in that city, we talked earlier with our colleague, Ben Wedeman. He said there was no real operative warning system, air raid siren system.

The only warning people get are the sound of those airplanes, pretty much?

PENHAUL: Even that isn't a great rule of thumb guide, Miles, because, as you know, these Israeli warplanes can fire off both missiles and bombs from many, many miles away. You wouldn't necessarily hear the jets and by the time you hear those jets overhead, it may well be too late.

That said, what I've noticed in the last two days is that these warplanes have been coming a lot closer and swooping down, almost dive-bombing, to get much closer to their target before unleashing their bombs. That different from the -- earlier than that, let's say five, six days ago, when they were staying very high, presumably fearing that Hezbollah fighters may have some kind of surface to air missile that could hit those planes -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul in the city of Tyre, Lebanon, as that bombardment and the artillery shells keep raining in, on the part of the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Air Force -- back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.

We'll check in with you in just a little bit.

Let's first, though, turn to another international hot spot, Iraq, and the unending sectarian violence there.

Just 90 minutes from now, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is scheduled to meet with President Bush.

Let's take you live to the White House, where correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is for us this morning -- hey, Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Soledad.

Well, of course, it's going to be a very important time for President Bush. This comes at a critical time, while you see this violence in the Middle East. President Bush really considers the central front in the war on terror in Iraq and privately even Bush administration officials are acknowledging here that it is not going well. And, of course, President Bush looking to President Maliki for some sort of assurances here.

But what can we expect?

What we expect is some sort of a plan to emerge from these two, saying that they are going to redeploy U.S. and Iraqi forces from outside other areas, outside of Baghdad, to the main capital city to try to get a handle on things.

But as you know, Soledad, a very, very difficult situation. The United Nations just reporting recently that, on average, 100 Iraqis killed each day in the capital city. Clearly, President Bush and Maliki have a lot at stake here, political stake, and their legacies on the line, as well -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: In light of that number, Suzanne, 100 a day estimated killed, in light of how difficult the situation is, what's realistically expected out of this meeting between the president and Al-Maliki?

MALVEAUX: Well, it's very modest, what's expected here. What we're going to be listening for is if there is any kind of new news, if you will, out of this plan. They're going to say OK, we're a robust security situation, we're going to add in our forces here in Baghdad. But we heard that about six weeks ago from Maliki when he announced operation, putting in a curfew, putting in forces.

So there is a lot of skepticism over what these two leaders can actually produce. But clearly President Bush trying to convince the American people that this U.S.-Iraq mission is worth it -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. A big row to hoe, as they say.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.

Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at what's happening in America today.

A dramatic ship rescue off the coast of Alaska to show you some pictures of. Twenty-three crew members were saved by a helicopter from a cargo ship which had taken on water and was listing severely. The rescue took place in bad weather and choppy seas. Nobody was seriously hurt, though.

California is expected to get some relief today from those blistering temperatures they've been having. The state's energy supply really pushed to the brink yesterday. Still, there was no call for those rolling blackouts. Authorities are investigating at least 29 heat-related deaths. Nearly a week after violent storms blew through the St. Louis area, tens of thousands of homes and businesses still without power. Now, a Missouri senator is calling for an investigation.

And the power is slowly coming back on in Queens, New York after nine days of outages. Still about 1,000 homes without any electricity. Power company managers are being blamed for the big old power problems there. At this point, 25,000 people -- 25,000 homes without power.

And there's more bad news for Boston's "big dig." more than a week after a woman was killed in her car by a falling ceiling panel, investigators have found three more loose bolts. Traffic is now being diverted around the area.

The FBI joining the investigation into those sniper shootings in Indiana. One person was killed, another injured, on Sunday in a string of shootings along two interstates 100 miles apart. Police say they are investigating tips that additional shootings could occur.

And FEMA is changing the way it responds to disasters in an attempt to cut down on fraud and waste. Among those changes, displaced families will now receive $500 in emergency aid instead of $2,000 right away. The agency also will begin registering evacuees before storms making landfall and it will require government contracts with local companies to remove debris before disaster strikes.

Fourteen minutes past the hour.

Let's check the forecast with Chad.

He's at the CNN Center -- hey, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST:

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the Middle East. We're going to get a reality check on whether she's got the clout needed in the region to negotiate a cease- fire.

And Israel says it is determined to take Hezbollah out. We'll take a look at whether they're making any real progress in their battle.

And later, Hezbollah's support in Lebanon strong before the fighting began. Is that changing, though, as more and more civilians die?

We'll take a look ahead in this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice working a tightrope act, pretty much, in the Middle East this morning.

Today she's meeting with both the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president.

But are her efforts making a difference?

Robert Malley was the special assistant to President Clinton on Arab-Israeli affairs.

He's now the director of Middle East and North Africa programs at the International Crisis Group.

And he's in D.C. this morning.

Nice to see you, sir.

Thanks for talking with us.

ROBERT MALLEY, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Thanks for having me.

S. O'BRIEN: As you well know, Lebanese officials have characterized their meeting with the Secretary as pretty disappointing. We heard U.S. officials characterize it as "OK." No one seems to be overwhelmed at this point.

What do you think the Secretary should be saying as she continues her meetings?

MALLEY: Well, what happened was she didn't say the one thing the Lebanese people and even our Lebanese allies in the government, she didn't say the one thing they wanted to hear -- let's get a cease-fire now.

And that's -- if you put yourself in their shoes, it's obviously impossible for them to welcome a visit -- whatever they may think privately of the merits of Condoleezza Rice's approach -- but they can't welcome her visit, they can't welcome her warmly when she's saying the time isn't right for a cease-fire and when the violence is inflicting such suffering on the Lebanese people.

S. O'BRIEN: She also seemed to say we have to look at the bigger picture here -- big picture piece in the Middle East.

Let's listen to a little bit of what the Secretary said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: What we're seeing here, in a sense, is the growing -- the birth pangs of a new Middle East. And whatever we do, we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Is your characterization, that it's birth pangs and it's a new Middle East and it's basically going to be a painful process, to some degree?

MALLEY: I think it would be hard to -- looking at what's happening -- to view this as the birth pangs of anything new. This does look like everything we've seen in the past. So I think that's a characterization that the people in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Arab world are going to be -- find hard to follow.

I think there is a kernel of truth in what she's saying, which is we don't want to go back to the situation that created these conditions. But that shouldn't be a reason not to cease the hostilities now and then do everything we haven't done over the past six years to try to make sure that the conditions in Lebanon, and the Middle East as a whole, are not what they used to be.

And that means, of course, dealing with Hezbollah, but also with the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has been left unattended to, basically, for six years.

S. O'BRIEN: What has not been done that should have been done, in your opinion?

MALLEY: There has been no serious Israeli-Palestinian negotiations of any kind promoted by the United States. There's been no Israeli-Syrian negotiations period. There's been no framework the United States has put on the table to really inhibit, constrain the actors. And there's been no engagement with two of the parties that currently are critical to the future of the Middle East, Syria and Iran.

S. O'BRIEN: The goal right now, we're told, is to create some kind of a buffer zone that may potentially be patrolled by a multinational force, a peacekeeping force, potentially.

Who, exactly, do you think would make up this force?

MALLEY: It's a good question. Everyone seems to be passing the buck. So far nobody -- I think perhaps Indonesia has proposed a few hundred troops. It's a difficult, difficult mission to send anyone into. And we see what's happening in Iraq today. We know the history of Lebanon.

The one thing that I would say is nobody should think of sending troops if you don't have the acquiescence, the consent, of all parties -- Israel, the Lebanese government, but also Hezbollah.

S. O'BRIEN: How can you ask for a cease-fire when certain conditions have not yet been met?

As the Secretary points out, she says the kidnapped soldiers need to be released, the rocket attacks have to stop, Hezbollah has got to be brought under control in some capacity.

That's a lot to ask before a cease-fire. But, by the same token, how can you possibly have a cease-fire that doesn't actually accomplish anything? MALLEY: Well, you know, Secretary Rice has said that a cease- fire under these conditions, that would be a false promise. But what she's offering the people of Lebanon, I think, is a false choice -- either you get a cease-fire now or you get a deal -- or you deal with these underlying problems. There is no reason -- and we know precedents from history where you could get the cease-fire, a cessation of hostilities, and then work very vigorously to try to get those other things in place which have to happen.

But you can't wait for all of that to happen to cease the hostilities. It's just not something that the people of Lebanon can accept. It's not good for our own interests because every day that goes by, the depth of anti-American feeling only rises. And it's not good for anyone in the region, because the risk of some step, some -- whether it's deliberate or not -- some catastrophic step that would raise this conflict to an entirely new level -- is always present.

S. O'BRIEN: Robert Malley is with the International Crisis Group.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for talking with us.

MALLEY: Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're going to take you live to Syria. That country home now to thousands of Lebanese refugees. We'll see how they are dealing with the strain.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: I'm technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg.

Coming up, we'll take you inside the conflict by way of the Internet, including some touching family video within an Israeli bunker.

That's next, when AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The crisis in the Middle East is being captured by those who are caught up in it and then shown on the Internet.

Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg live for us at the CNN Center with a look at that -- hey, Daniel, good morning.

What are you seeing on the Web?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We have to start this segment with our digital disclaimer, in a sense. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of any of the videos that we're going to show u. That said, this conflict is providing a real window into what the average, everyday person is going through. And people are continually posting their own personal videos on sites like utube.

And we're going to start with one that really provides a fairly touching and intimate portrayal of what some folks are going through. This one shows a young mother and her 22-year-old baby daughter in a bomb shelter in Haifa. You can see the title there, "Having Fun-At The Shelter."

This might be an experience that any mother and daughter would share, except in this case we're able to see inside what they're doing in the bomb shelter, which is pretty amazing. This is dated July 19th and it's getting a fair bit of traffic, you can see. It's kind of a very intimate window for us to get in to see what they're going through in the bomb shelter there.

The second video we want to show you is a montage of some images. We're seeing a lot of these types of postings. A very emotional one. This one from a Lebanese person who's posted on the site here. And you can hear the music in the background. That is apparently a very patriotic song that speaks of Beirut and its struggles and challenges throughout the centuries. And you can see some pretty powerful images included in here. In fact, we had to cut out a couple of them because they were just simply too horrific. But these types of postings are very common on utube.

The next one we want to show you goes back to Haifa. In this case, it's a type of video that we're also seeing repeated on there. It starts off with an air raid siren, a person frantically looking around, trying to find the source of this, trying to find where the bombs might land. And then in the background there you can just hear what sounds like something landing, maybe a mortar or a missile landing in the background there. This person is apparently a 20-year- old who posted it just a couple of days ago.

Again, we can't verify the authenticity of any of this material, Soledad, but some pretty powerful and amazing stuff.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow!

Really amazing pictures.

Daniel Sieberg for us this morning.

Daniel, thanks.

SIEBERG: You bet.

S. O'BRIEN: Israel has been relentless in its strikes on Hezbollah.

What kind of progress, though, are they making?

We'll take a closer look at Israel's strategy just ahead this morning. And Hezbollah's support in Lebanon -- is Hezbollah losing any influence as the civilian death toll climbs?

We'll take a look at that, as well.

Stay with us.

You're watching a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com