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Emergency Summit of Nations in Rome; Israeli Bombing Attack Takes Out U.N. Observation Post

Aired July 26, 2006 - 07:35   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York.
Hey, Miles, good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Soledad. Miles O'Brien from Haifa. Back here in just a moment.

Back to you, Soledad.

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

We've got an emergency summit of nations going on in Rome today. They're trying to solve the crisis in the Middle East. We're expecting, as we've been telling you all morning, that news conference, and we're going to hear it's between -- there you're looking at live pictures, in fact, coming to us from the foreign ministry office in Rome. Condoleezza Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be addressing some of the media that's assembled there. We expect to hear what's going on in the region this morning. We also know that there is an agreement on reconstruction and humanitarian aid, but some very big differences on an immediate cease- fire and also a peacekeeping force. Those are the big, big stumbling blocks.

Bring us right to John King. He is in Rome where the foreign ministers have been meeting in fact.

Hey, John, good morning again.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Soledad.

And the reason you're not seeing that news conference is CNN is told by sources involved in the discussions and by sources in various capitals involved in these discussions, including back in Washington, that those major disagreements have all, at times, almost led to a breakdown, a complete breakdown of the high-stakes negotiations here in Rome.

They are delayed because they are hung up on the point you just made, the United States is holding out. Almost everybody else in the room wants to negotiate a deal that would call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and then deal with the difficult political questions. What political role should Hezbollah have in Lebanon? Should Hezbollah be forced to disarm? If it refuses to disarm, should an international force go in and forcibly disarm it? What most in this room want to stop the killing, stop the violence, then deal with those difficult political questions.

But we are told the United States is holding out, saying no, that that would simply give Hezbollah more time, or allow Hezbollah to escape from this confrontation with its rockets and the rest of its arsenal intact.

So at points we have been told the talks were on the verge of breaking down. Perhaps no statement would be issued at all. But we're told that the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, made an impassioned plea to the conference, saying his country is being destroyed, that his government is on the verge of collapse, and that the international community has to step in and try to help here. So we are told they have gone back to negotiating, hoping with another half hour, maybe an hour to or more to come up with some sort of a deal.

But, Soledad, they are hung up on a fundamental disagreement. The United States says there has to be some dismantlement of Hezbollah as part of any cease-fire. Others say put that off for down the road, get the humanitarian aid going, so we are watching these fascinating diplomatic discussions. And of course the bottom line there's no indication the fighting will stop any time soon -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, John King, we're watching and we're waiting along with you, as we wait for that news conference to begin.

Thanks, John. John's reporting from Rome this morning.

In first trip to Washington since taking the job, Iraq's prime minister has come under fire for comments condemning Israel, but not Hezbollah in the current crisis. Some Democrats wanted to withdraw his invitation to address a joint meeting of Congress today.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is on Capitol Hill. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us this morning.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Good to be with you. Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Here's what the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Al Maliki said -- he said, "I condemn these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

Some people are more concerned about what he has not said, which is any kind of condemnation at all of Hezbollah. Where do you stand on this?

FRIST: Yes, and, Soledad, I will be meeting with him in about 30 minutes, and I'm sure the topic of the Middle East, outside of Iraq, will come up. Clearly the purpose of his trip here is to thank the Americans for the lives that have been lost and sacrificed in support of a safe, and prosperous and a democratic Iraq. And then also we'll be looking ahead, as your opening piece said, in terms of planning, in terms of support, infrastructure, the economy, security and political stability, what's to be done.

You are right that he has made some comments in the past which I don't think are balanced in terms of the crisis that's going on outside of Iraq, that is instigated by Hezbollah in that border of Lebanon and Israel. So we'll talk about that, but again, that is not the purpose of him being here.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. Well, I mean, it's not the purpose of him being here, but frankly, it is what's going on in the world, and some Democrats have said, frankly, that he is working against U.S. interests when he is mum on the role of Hezbollah in this crisis. Would you push him to say something publicly?

FRIST: Well, two things, two things -- I would be very disappointed if in a few hours the Democrats walk away and do not show the respect of having an interaction with the prime minister, and don't show up, which has been suggested by the Democrats, at coming to his address to the United States Congress. And that's first and foremost.

I think -- I don't agree with his views as have been expressed to date. I don't think they give a balanced view in Lebanon, but he is the democratically elected leader of a sovereign country, and has the right to think and to have the opinions he would like to. He is our ally in the war on terror, as it's being fought out in Iraq, and we need to continue to support him and support him aggressively, ask tough questions, and that's the dialogue we'll have over the course of this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the sectarian violence that has become a huge, huge problem in Iraq. More U.S. troops are going to be deployed into Baghdad, we're told, from the region. Do you think we're in a civil war right now?

FRIST: No, we're not in a civil war now, and what we're seeing is a reallocation of resources that have currently been committed to Iraq, and that's exactly what we keep saying, we keep supporting here in the United States Congress, and that is to identity whatever acute problems there are and where they are, and use those resources as determined by the generals on the ground, by the people who are actually there.

S. O'BRIEN: But to some degree, let me interrupt you there for a second, if I may, sir, you know, when you look at where the majority of the U.S. troops are -- you've got a bunch in the Anbar province. Outside of Baghdad this is. A bunch in Niniba (ph). You've got a bunch in Saladin. You know, to some degree, aren't you kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul, because you have problems in all of those provinces, big, big problems.

FRIST: No, but we also saw in the last two weeks where the coalition forces are turning over to the increasing numbers of Iraqi security forces, which allow that appropriate reallocation. And I don't think we can armchair it from here, from the Capitol, in terms of what's going on the ground in terms of where those resources are needed. Just like we shouldn't say cut and run from here. And we need to listen to the people who are on the ground.

And I think one of the things that will come up with Prime Minister Maliki today is the fact that there are today 269,000 Iraqi security forces who every day increasingly are assuming the responsibilities that had in the past been done by our coalition. And I think that's important. It's an important conversation. We need to continue to support building up the Iraqi security forces so that we can, yes, reallocate and eventually come home.

S. O'BRIEN: Take a look at these numbers -- on average, we're told now 105 Iraqi civilians are killed every day. That's from June of 2006, up from 25 killed every day last year. That's a more than 400 percent increase.

FRIST: There's no...

S. O'BRIEN: Is it possible to say progress is consistently being made in the face of numbers like that?

FRIST: Well, it's a little bit like what's going on in the Middle East now. Is progress being made in terms of fighting? The numbers, no question, have gone up, and that's one of the reasons, I think, you see the reallocation of our resources, of our troops to where the problem is, principally in the Baghdad region. And that's why you're seeing the response to what is an acute change, an increase in the violence, as you point out, over the last four weeks.

S. O'BRIEN: But isn't there a risk that U.S. citizens, voters, look at this and say, things aren't getting better there. I mean, you look at those numbers. And they say we're losing our people, our young men, primarily, in this war, and things really aren't improving on the ground there.

FRIST: You know, you can't say they're not improving when today in about 15 minutes I'm going to be welcoming to the United States Capitol where I am a leader from a sovereign country today that was democratically elected for first time in decades, that we are moving towards a more prosperous, a more open, a more transparent government there, now just -- now I guess about two or three months -- two months ago, for the first time a fully appointed cabinet. So you can't say we're not making progress.

Yes, violence has increased there on the ground against Iraqis, but at the same time, the Iraqi security forces are being increased by the hundreds, indeed, every week, and we've seen progress represented by the fact that we have Prime Minister Maliki here today.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but...

FRIST: ... representing in free elections in that part of the world.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, leader of a sovereign country, elected in free elections, with a big asterisk. Because as many experts have pointed out, if it weren't for the U.S. holding him up, he wouldn't be there.

FRIST: And that's why today -- and again, people want to be talking about what's happening -- the sad case on the Lebanese border with him, but we've got to focus on how to continue to support, as we have, as we are both fighting for, to give him the security forces so that he can, with his nation, protect the security interests there, and that's where the focus will be, and that's what much of the conversation was with the president yesterday, in looking at economic support, infrastructure support, military support, economic support, to continue the progress that has been made as represented by the fact that they do have a democratic government there for the first time in three decades.

S. O'BRIEN: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist joining us this morning. Nice to see you, as always, sir. Thanks for talking with us.

FRIST: Great to be with you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Let's get right back to Miles. As we've been telling you all morning, he is in Haifa, reporting for us there. Something like 37 rocket attacks already today.

Hey, Miles, good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning, Soledad.

On this side, rocket attacks. The other side of the border, in Lebanon, the Israeli forces continuing fierce fighting, reports of heavy Israeli casualties. We're getting further details. We'll bring them to you as they become available.

And now yesterday, word that an Israeli bombing attack took out a United Nations observation post right in the middle of the fighting, killing four U.N. observers.

CNN's Karl Penhaul joining us from live from Tyre, Lebanon with one member of that U.N., United Nations interim force in Lebanon team -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, I'm here with an Irish, captain and he is one of the U.N. Military observers here. There are a number of operational security issues with U.N. operation right now.

But the captain can tell us a little bit about what happened yesterday. What can you tell us so far about what happened with the attack on the observation post?

CAPT. RONON CORCRONN, U.N. OBSERVER: Yesterday, throughout the day, we had a number of what we terms firing close. These are when artillery fire or rocket fire is directed in an area within a certain circumference as to make us feel unsafe within our observation post. While are (INAUDIBLE) are unmanned, it's a big part of our neutrality and freedom of movement. Everybody, all players out here, understand we are unmanned. We fly the blue flag. We are the secretary- general's eyes on the ground. And yesterday, there were a series of firings close on the position that was eventually hit.

PENHAUL: Can you tell me, and only if you can tell me, but can you tell me if you informed the Israelis that your men on the ground there were in danger?

CORCRONN: We have an excellent liaison with the Israelis and with Lebanese authorities, and nobody would be in any doubt. In any case, sooner to this, (INAUDIBLE) be informed that there were firings close ongoing, and would be requested to cease.

PENHAUL: Now this isn't the first time U.N. troops have come under attack. I understand this is the third attack in three days. Tell us more about that.

CORCRONN: It certainly is. We've had a number of firings close. We've had a number of injuries. We have UNIFIL, who are the force on the ground. We also have (INAUDIBLE) group In, Lebanon which I belong to, and we're unarmed, and because of that, we see ourselves as requiring protection from the force, and we have sustained a number of injuries prior to this. The day before, two days ago, three days ago, we had a peacekeeper who received injury, either shot or a piece of shrapnel entered his back and excited from his front, and a few days previous to that, we had a back injury created or caused when a Ceasar (ph), an armored car, came to an abrupt halt.

PENHAUL: And I also understand that there was an Israeli tank shell that hit a U.N. post down near Ramash (ph) and injured four (INAUDIBLE). Is that correct?

CORCRONN: I can't comment on the source of that fire, but there was injuries to the (INAUDIBLE) battalion personnel.

PENHAUL: So what are the United Nations doing to ensure that their personnel remain safe and can carry on and do their job?

CORCRONN: We actually have systems in place prior to this happening, where soldiers are given rules of how to behave before they come out there. We have shelters throughout our positions. It's the first thing you find out when you enter a new post. You ask, where's the shelter? And that's the first place you go to when something -- when you get the siren and you're told to go to shelter.

PENHAUL: So there you have it. At least three attacks in as many days on U.N. or military observers down there in the border region -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Karl, quick question for you -- is it possible that the Hezbollah militants were using that observation post either as a shield, because that U.N. flag was flying near them, or perhaps because it was on high ground and it had some strategic importance?

PENHAUL: I'll just put that question to the captain, Miles. I don't know the answer to that. But what we're being asked, is there any chance that Hezbollah fighters were using that U.N. post as a shield, or is that something that's out of the question?

CORCRONN: I certainly can't discuss any operational actions of that nature.

PENHAUL: Certainly, I have to say, Miles, there are a number of operational security issues here, and so we can't get all the details at this stage.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Karl Penhaul, and we appreciate that.

In just a little bit -- we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to check in with the general who's in charge of that evacuation effort. There's still Americans desperately trying to get out of Lebanon as we speak. They're making a harrowing passage through the port city of Tyre. We'll get you up to date after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk about the evacuation of Americans in just a few moments. But first a little bit of breaking news, this coming to us via the Associated Press. The prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, was apparently in a closed-door session in Jerusalem a short time ago with defense cabinet members and defense officials, as well as foreign affairs officials, outlined his plan for a new buffer zone a Hezbollah-free zone. He is proposing that Israel create a two-kilometer swathe into Lebanon where Hezbollah would not exist. That would be about a mile and a half or so.

What remains to be seen is how effective that would be, given the fact that the range of those Katyusha missiles well exceeds two kilometers, or a mile and a half. In any case, the broad outlines are starting to come forward as to what Israel's goals are here, as it continues this deep incursion into Southern Lebanon.

Let's talk about the evacuation now. Fifteen-thousand Americans who wanted out are out. But not everyone who would like to get out of Lebanon is out of Lebanon. We have reports today of 300 Americans trying to make their way with safe passage through the port city of Tyre to a cruise liner on their way to Larnaca, Cyprus.

And that is where we find our next guest, General Carl Jensen, who is overseeing this evacuation effort.

General Jensen, good to have you with us.

Things started out slowly, I know, for this evacuation effort, but in the interim, things have rallied a bit. Seems as if you've got your feet on the ground well there. How are things going now?

BRIG. GEN. CARL JENSEN, U.S. EVACUATION MISSION COMMANDER: I'm pleased to say they're going well. We hope by the close of business today, we will have moved and assisted in the departure of over 14,000 American citizens from Lebanon.

You know, as far as I'm concerned, we can never move enough. As long as there's one American here who would like to depart, that's what we're here for, and that's our job, and I would agree with you that I think our efforts to date here have been pretty remarkable.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let me ask you this -- we've got reports by our correspondent in Tyre, Lebanon, Karl Penhaul, of some 300 Americans trying to make their way out of Southern Lebanon. This is obviously the most dangerous place to be for those Americans. Tyre, Lebanon, yesterday repeated airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force. Can you offer us some assurances that the Israelis are aware of this, and for that matter, the Lebanese, and will guarantee them safe passage?

JENSEN: Well, in a war zone, there's no way you can guarantee much of anything. We have assurances, and we worked those out through the European Command, who interfaces directly, has means of the interface with the Israeli government. We have deconflicted through the European Command, and so the Israelis are aware of this passage of Americans and also Australian citizens, I'm advised, into Tyre. And we hope that will go well. It is a long journey. It is, as you said, a very dangerous journey.

There are -- already, we're receiving some reports of some fairly remarkable heroism. The gentleman involved in going back, and he has made repeated trips from Tyre to this small city called Jarun (ph). He's made, we understand, three separate trips leading convoys of Americans and other nationals into Tyre, and hopefully onward to safety.

So it is a dangerous transit. Yes, we have coordinated to the maximum extent possible, established no-fire zones, but as you know, communications are very difficult. We've tried to do everything possible in conjunction with the State Department and the -- our ambassador here to Lebanon to help to assure the safety of these Americans and other nationals trying to get out of Lebanon.

M. O'BRIEN: General Jensen, let's shift gears here and talk a little bit about the humanitarian effort. I know you're not heading up that effort, but you're going to be a part of it one way or another, I suspect.

How grave a crisis, is it your understanding, is under way in Lebanon, and how can the U.S. help get supplies, and food and medicine to people who are in need without inadvertently resupplying Hezbollah?

JENSEN: Well, all I can tell you from my aspect, the details of this are going to be handled by the USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development. We're here to assist them as much as is practicable, particularly in the near term, before commercial carriers take over this effort. We will provide lift with various supplies. We've already done that. We've moved three health kits in already, and these are capable of providing basic medical needs for people for up to three months.

And -- but that's just the leading element. The USAID has pushed in some professionals right now, and they're on the ground, who are going to assess the scope of the humanitarian effort in Lebanon, and they'll be calling the shots as far as what other gear is required to help bring some relief to the Lebanese people.

M. O'BRIEN: General Jensen, I noted today that two Jordanian C- 130s, filed with supplies, have been able to land at the Beirut International Airport, even despite the cratering of that, those runways by the Israeli Air Force at the early stages of this war. Will we see more of that airlift, and will there be an effort to open that airport up more vigorously?

JENSEN: Well, I certainly hope so. I must tell you, I know of no official arrangements that have been made to open up the airport, but I have read press reports to that effect, that it appears that the necessary coordination has been made to potentially open up one runway, and, of course, that would be great. And it would speed the relief supplies into Lebanon. So I hope that's true, and that would certainly go a long ways toward relieving some of the suffering.

M. O'BRIEN: Final thought here -- Lebanon is a part of your anthem in the Marines, the shores of Tripoli and all. It's also one of the darkest chapters in the U.S. Marine Corps history, going back to 1983, the Hezbollah bombing of the barracks there, 241 Marines died. On a personal level, what's it like having marines back in Lebanon, one way or another?

JENSEN: Well, to step foot in Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, as an American Marine, it's -- we consider that sacred ground at this point. And it's -- it's certainly not an overstatement to say that when an American marine does set foot on that sacred ground, that memories flood.

M. O'BRIEN: General Carl Jensen, with the United States Marines, involved in the operations there in Larnaca, Cyprus, thank you for your time. Good luck to you and all the people who are under your command.

JENSEN: Thank you very much, Miles. Good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.

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